Counting Stars - (Straight!AmeriPan)

Chapter 1: House 43

"Moshi-moshi? Hello?" Sakura said through her phone as someone picked up the other end of the line.

"Why hello, stranger! My name is Mathias Køhler. What brought you to pick up a telephone or whatever you're using and call our number on this fine day?" an obnoxious voice blared through the telephone. Sakura cringed and positioned her cellphone a little bit farther from her ear.

"Hello, my name is Sakura Honda, and, uh... I wanted to talk to whoever is responsible about that ad," Sakura said nervously.

"What ad are you talking about, buddy?" Mathias asked.

"Oi, told you ye shouldn't have put that ad up, you unawesome excuse for a Dane!" Sakura heard another voice talk, yet this sounded far away. The accent seemed suspiciously German, but the short Japanese girl wasn't sure.

"Oh! That ad!" Mathias's voice seemed brighter. "Well, what about it?"

Sakura bit her lower lip nervously. "I was thinking about it for quite some time now... so, is the extra room offer still open?"

"Yeah! If you're planning on moving in with us, we'll be happy to accept you! So when'll you be moving in?" Mathias asked cheerfully.

Sakura hesitated. "How about tomorrow?"

Even from far away, Kiku could sense Mathias grin. "Pleasure doing business with ya, buddy. Oh, and what did you say your name was, again?"

"Sakura Honda."

Mathias laughed. "Sounds like the name of some car company, which probably makes you fun to be around with! M'kay, see ya tomorrow!" and with that, their call ended.

Sakura breathed a few sighs as she stared at the stars in the sky. Tonight, she was sleeping on the grassy lawn outside Yao's house.

Am I doing the right thing?

.

Travelling to Oaken Village was a pain. Sakura didn't realize that it would be this far from Yao's house. It took him 7 train stations, 2 transfers, and a lot of walking to get here. That's why when she finally reached the address as said in the ad, she felt elated.

Sakura checked the ad he was holding in her right hand and looked back at the house in front of her. House 43. This seemed like the right address. One sensitive half of Sakura's mind told her it wasn't too late to go home.

Sakura planned to knock the door three times. She barely knocked a second time when suddenly, the door opened. Sakura was greeted by a tall, blond guy with half-rimmed glasses. Sakura nearly gasped when she saw the eyes beneath the glasses... those beautiful, blue eyes...

Sakura bowed awkwardly to shake the thoughts off her head. "Konnichiwa, I am Sakura Honda."

The blond guy laughed. "Mathias didn't lie when he said you were named after a car company! Man, this is hilarious!"

Sakura straightened himself. "Who's Mathia - oh, the guy in the call."

The blond guy snapped and nodded. "Yeah, that's him. So Sakura," the blond guy spread his arms. "Welcome to House 43... AKA the lair of the Awesome Trio!"

Sakura tilted her head in confusion. "Um..."lair"?"

"That's what I decided to call it! It sounded awesome like me! Mathematics here wanted to call it "castle," but Al and I told him that this was not Denmark!" the other guy from the call, somewhere inside the house, shouted.

"Who's "Mathematics"?" Sakura asked.

The blond guy whose nickname was probably "Al" laughed again. He had a loud, suspiciously American, laugh that annoyed Sakura. "Oh, that's just our nickname for Mathias, because, y'know? Mathias? Mathematics? Also, despite what he looks, he's really good at Math. Surprised he never failed it a single time. Although I assume his Norwegian boyfriend is helping him."

"I study too, you know!" Mathias protested from inside their house.

Sakura nodded her head, still trying to get by her confusion. As she looked around, he noticed that the perimeter of the front lawn was decorated with maple leaves, giving it a cozy, autumn-y look. The front lawn looked beautiful - it wasn't obvious that three, loud, aggressive, "awesome," college students lived here. Plus the house was pretty neat, too.

"Do you need any help with your suitcases? I mean, they look pretty heavy," the blond guy offered.

Sakura shook her head almost immediately. "No, no. Let me do this myself. Thank you for the offer, though."

The blond guy patted Sakura's shoulder as Sakura carried the suitcases inside. Inside their "lair," an albino sat in front of the TV screen playing video games while a cute, yellow chick was perched on his white hair. Sakura's eyes widened as she recognized the game - the Legend of Zelda, Breath of the Wild. Mathias sat at the other side of the living room, typing something on a laptop and laughing anonymously.

"Gil and Mathematics, introduction time!" the blond guy clapped his hands. The albino paused his game and rolled his red eyes, obviously annoyed that he had to pause the game, and Mathias turned to look at them, muttering something about the American's horrible timing.

"Aw, c'mon, give some respect for the people who are gaming, you fat stupid burger person!" Gilbert cackled.

The blond guy smiled. "Pfft. Burger person. Right. Well, Sakura, my name is Alfred F. Jones, AKA the HERO!"

"You know me as Mathias Køhler, AKA Mathematics," Mathias waved cheerfully from his place.

"And I am Gilbert Beilschmidt! AKA East Germany, Mr. Awesome, Prussia-" but Alfred threw a pillow in Gilbert's face to make him shut up.

This is a weird bunch, yet it seems interesting to know them more, Sakura thought. "I am Sakura Honda," Sakura bowed as she introduced herself politely.

"So what's your reason for being here?" Alfred asked. Gilbert resumed his game and Mathias had gone back to what he was doing on his laptop.

"Oh, um...let's just say I got kicked out by my relatives as a prank and I decided to leave for good," Sakuea replied monotonously.

Alfred's blue eyes twinkled with interest. "Your relatives must be bitches. Man, I knew a childhood friend of mine - he lives at the opposite street five or so houses down - he had four brothers and one sister, who separated herself," Alfred said.

"I have 2 female cousins and 4 male cousins. 4 of my cousins go to college here," Sakura said. "So, about that extra room..."

.

Alfred escorted Sakura to her respective room beside Mathias's. Sakura asked why there were only two occupied rooms when three people lived here before he came.

"Oh, um, Gilbert lives in the basement," Alfred said sheepishly. Sakura threw him a look of horror before Alfred placated his hands in a don't-kill-me-I-have-children-to-care-for way. "The basement is actually really nice! It's surprisingly clean and comfortable!"

Sakura placed her suitcases beside the bed. The room looked avergae enough - just a bed at the corner, a closet, a bedside window with white curtains, and a desk beside the window at the other side of the room. This looked okay, somehow. Sakura would have plenty of space to fit her books on the shelves on top of the desk.

"Thanks for the room, Alfred-san," Sakura told him.

Alfred waved a hand dismissively. "Nah, it's no biggie. Also, dinner starts at 6:30 so ya better come down before there ain't any food left for you. Also, house rules for newcomers will be told tomorrow, so you can relax this afternoon!" Alfred held the doorknob to exit Sakura's room. Before he did, he turned to look at Sakura one more time. "See ya later, Car."

When Alfred was gone, Sakura opened the window and separated the curtains. Outside, she could see people around her age, younger, or older, walk around the streets and do random things.

She may learn to fit in here, in an unfamiliar place like this.

Things might not be so bad at all.