The Royals [Boarding School Juliet]

2. Friendship & Photos & Friendship

"Inuzuka, why are you still here?" A Black Dog yells when Romio enters the dorms of the Black Dogs.

"You cat-loving mongrel!" Another student yells.

Insults and nicknames keep coming in as he walks towards the stairs. Maru and his two lackeys are standing there with glares.

"If it weren't for the prince, you would've been thrown out." Maru mutters and walks past Romio. His minions follow him and Romio clicks his tongue before ascending the stairs.

"Yo Romio." A soft male voice greets him when he enters the room. A black-haired male with sapphire blue eyes is sitting on a black couch as he reads a book.

Their room like every other form is painted in a creamy white while the furniture are either black or made of wood. Unlike the girls dorm, they don't have a bathroom.

"Yukikaze-sama." He exclaims and bows respectfully.

"You don't need to treat me like that in school." Romio nods and takes a seat beside him.

"You look tired. Eat something. I bought a lot of snacks." Yukikaze points to the stack of boxes in a corner of the room. Romio chuckles a bit and goes to take a snack.

"You've bought a lot of snacks." He remarks as he opens a box and inspects its contents.

"We're allowed to visit Dahlia town only once in three months and until I become prefect, I don't have a choice." Yukikaze replies. The same reply he had been giving everyone since elementary school.

"If I become a prefect's servant, then that's another case." He continues.

"What's that now?" Romio absentmindedly asks, focusing more on finding a packet of chips amongst the variety of snacks.

"Prefects have servants who are usually the best candidates to inherit their positions once they graduate. There are ice creams and drinks in the fridge."

"Hmm. Not interested in servitude." Romio chooses a packet of chips and sits near Yukikaze.

"Because of your brother?" The packet is opened and he offers it to the prince who takes a few chips for himself. Romio retreats the packet and shoves a handful of chips into his mouth and loudly munches on them.

"Definitely." Romio remembers the times when Airu, his brother, used to lock him up in the store room to punish him and all their practice matches in which he was always defeated miserably.

"Hmm." They fall into a silence which makes Romio peaceful.

He's glad to have known Yukikaze not because he's the prince of Touwa, but because he's a kind and calm guy who reminds him of somebody from the past. Maybe his mother, minus the airheaded personality. His father was a humorous man who cracked jokes but had a boisterous personality unlike his roommate. Then who was it?

"If I told you that I wanted the Black Dogs and White Cats to get along," Romio begins apprehensively. Yukikaze darts his gaze to the Inuzuka beside him. "what would you say?"

The calm silence becomes tense. Romio doesn't even have the courage to look at Yukikaze because he has witnessed the outcomes of rare instances when the prince lost his cool.

"I'd agree." Romio has half a mind to slap himself to confirm that the reply was not an illusion but the reality.

"Really?" He asks a bit excitedly.

"Yeah. We're here for our school lives. And this island exists to promote better relations between the two nations. Touwa and the West will continue to have a strained relationship until the residents of Dahlia island get along." Romio sighs in relief while Yukikaze looks at him with suspicion.