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Author Topic: Eccentric (TechiNeru+) <DROPPED> - Thank You For Reading, a Summary  (Read 94382 times)

Offline Kairi65

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Re: Eccentric (MonaRisa, TechiNeru +) [Checkpoint 18 (Dec. 4, 2017)]
« Reply #60 on: December 05, 2017, 06:19:12 AM »
Please say akanen saw her tears  :cry:

And yes, i don't trust nor like this cousin of hers

Offline Shinoki

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Eccentric (MonaRisa, TechiNeru +) [Checkpoint 19 (Dec. 13, 2017)]
« Reply #61 on: December 14, 2017, 03:35:32 AM »
I don't understand how it took me this long to write this checkpoint. I'm really really sorry if it's lackluster. Thank you for reading. Yuuka's arc is supposed to really escalate in Checkpoint 21. (Maybe I'm just not good at pacing...)





Checkpoint 19


Three days had passed since the announcement of the exams. Habu Mizuho peered out from behind a bookshelf toward her classmates who were sitting in the library, reading books. In her hands, she had a copy of a manga about titans and she was both reading it and pretending to read it as she watched.

“Habu-chan, Habu-chan, what are they doing?” A sweet voice whispered to the tall girl.

Habu replied, “They look like they’re just studying.”

The owner of the sweet voice nodded. She had in her hand a manga with a penguin idol group. This girl, Koike Minami, stuck her head out as well to take a peek at her classmates at the table.

Together, Habu and Koike stared at their classmates, Sugai Yuuka and Moriya Akane. For some reason, Akane and Yuuka had an
awkward gap in the form of a seat between them.

“...They’re really just studying.” Koike sighed as she looked at Akane and Yuuka, letting out a bit of her Kansai dialect as she asked, “What is this…?”

“I don’t know.” Habu replied with a whisper.

“Are they fighting? Yuuka’s been looking down recently.”

“A lover’s quarrel?”

“Habu-chan, you’ve been reading too much yuri manga recently, I think.” Koike giggled, “Hehehe.” Then, she made a face to herself and thought, “But…”

“Maybe it’s not a lover’s quarrel. But, what is it?”

Instead of answering her tall friend’s question, the penguin girl suddenly asked as she squinted, noticing, “Is Yuuka reading that book upside-down?”

As the pair whispered behind the bookshelf, Akane put down her book for a moment and looked behind her toward the bookshelves. She didn’t see anything strange as Koike and Habu had pulled their head backs just in time.

The tennis club girl turned back to her book. She glanced over to her roommate and noticed that Yuuka’s book was upside down, Yuuka furrowing her brows while not reading in the slightest.

Akane pointed out, “Yuuka, you’re reading the book upside down.”

“O-oh, oops.” Yuuka sheepishly smiled and turned her book right-side up. “Thank you, Akanen.”

“What’s on your mind?”

“...It’s… nothing much.”

The two of them went back to reading after an awkward moment. Akane didn’t push further this time, and the two watching from the back felt a little frustrated.

Habu and Koike peered out from behind the bookshelves again.

Habu whispered, “Are you sure that it’s not a lover’s quarrel?”

Koike nodded, “Maybe it’s a lover’s quarrel.”

Habu and Koike once again retreated behind the bookshelf to get a plan down. The two put away their manga and thought to themselves for a moment. The penguin girl hugged the tall girl as she pondered.

“Operation Find out What’s Making Yuuka sad!” Habu pumped her fist into the air lightly.

Koike nodded, “Let’s observe more to try to figure it out.”

As the two conversed, Aoi passed by their bookshelf.

“What are you two doing?” Aoi asked.



Sugai Yuuka checked her phone as she sat in the library. No matter how much she refreshed LINE, her family didn’t send anything. She couldn’t bring her fingers to press the button to call them either.

She looked toward Akane who was properly studying.

Yuuka respected her friend whose long eyelashes fluttered every blink while reading a book. Comparatively, Yuuka couldn’t focus at all. She rubbed her wrist with the wristband from the Keyaki class, and looked down at her book.

Her attention drifted off again.

At the time when the rain seemed like it would never stop, she didn’t know anything about what happened with her father that made him overwork so much that he ended up in the hospital.

Yuuka had gone into her father’s hospital room as quickly as she could.

“Yuuka!” Yuuka’s older sister called out to Yuuka.

Yuuka wrung her hands in worry, asking, “Is father okay?”

“He’s…” Her sister started, noticing their cousin standing at the door and not knowing if she should say the whole truth.

Yuuka’s father called out, pushing himself up as if to reassure her, “I’m okay.” However, his voice sounded weak and even sitting up looked strenuous.

Yuuka looked at her father. He had IV drips slowly feeding him nutrients, lots of machinery around him. Her mother was holding his hand tightly. He looked pale, his black hair greying and his face filled with stress lines. He tried to push away his condition with his smile, but Yuuka could only see that he was weak.

The horse loving girl wondered why it was that she hadn’t noticed her father’s health deteriorating.

“It’s okay, Yuuka.” Yuuka’s father said, “I will be better in no time. We can go horseback riding together next time.”

Yuuka nodded. She felt a weight in her stomach, as if despite her father’s words, he was somehow pushing her away. She wondered why he had to pretend to be strong in front of her.

The horse loving girl looked down at her feet.

Then, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked toward the owner of the hand and saw her cousin, eyes coldly smiling despite his neutral expression. A chill ran up her back, and she quickly turned away.

The cousin greeted Yuuka’s father and politely said, “Uncle, please make sure to take care of your health.”

“Ah, yes, Seiichirou-kun.” Yuuka’s father acknowledged that the cousin was there with a pause.

Yuuka noticed her older sibling strangely shooting their cousin a venomous look.

The two men in the room began to talk about business and the upcoming business merger. There was a tense mood as the cousin, Seiichirou, spoke confidently as if he had already won something

Yuuka thought to herself, ‘They don’t tell me anything.’ She realized that she knew very little about her family members’ lives.



Rain started falling from the sky again. Pitter. Patter. Inside the library, Koike Minami, Habu Mizuho, and Harada Aoi all sat down on the floor, trying to figure out what was occupying their friend Yuuka.

Aoi sighed as if she was saying the obvious, “Shouldn’t we just ask Yukka what’s wrong?”

Koike frowned. “Can you ask? I don’t know if I’m reliable enough. I think she’d just worry more if I asked.” She knew that communicating was the most straightforward way to find out, but she didn’t have any confidence.

“Mii-chan…” Habu murmured.

“None of us are really that reliable, huh.” Aoi nodded, hugging her knees closer to her body, “Ah, this sucks.”

Koike quickly stood up and proclaimed, “If we’re always like this, nothing’s going to change. That’s why...”


« Last Edit: December 22, 2017, 04:19:09 AM by Shinoki »

Offline four4four

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Re: Eccentric (MonaRisa, TechiNeru +) [Checkpoint 19 (Dec. 13, 2017)]
« Reply #62 on: December 14, 2017, 05:39:37 AM »
I still don't trust the cousin.

Yuuka what is happening with you? You didn't even notice the book was upside down.  :cry:  You should open up to Akanen about your troubles.  :)

What was Koike going to say? Are they going to help Yuuka?

Offline Kairi65

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Re: Eccentric (MonaRisa, TechiNeru +) [Checkpoint 19 (Dec. 13, 2017)]
« Reply #63 on: December 14, 2017, 07:29:02 AM »
"That's why...." what? Wanna know the continuation already xD

Offline Shinoki

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Eccentric (MonaRisa, TechiNeru +) [Checkpoint 20 (Dec. 21, 2017)]
« Reply #64 on: December 22, 2017, 04:18:11 AM »
@Kairi65: Hopefully this continuation doesn't disappoint! Thank you for reading!
@four4four: Thank you for reading! The moral of this arc might be that sometimes, you just have to talk it out, but... for now, it seems that the girls will be fumbling their way through.

Really... somehow? This chapter took longer than expected. I'm sorry. Luckily, my winter break starts tomorrow. Thus, I'll check over the chapter and be able to write more. I didn't manage to put in everything I wanted to put into here, so I'll be sure to keep writing.



Checkpoint 20


A few light thumps echoed through the library. The sun was starting to set. Sugai Yuuka and Moriya Akane put away their books and pushed in their seats as they got up. The roommates exited the library together, feeling the air conditioned air of the library dissipate as they stepped into the hallways, where the windows were open, letting in a breeze.
Yuuka looked down as she walked. There was a gap between her and Akane.

Akane called out to Yuuka, “Hey, Yuuka.”

“What is it?” Yuuka responded.

The warm summer breeze rolled through the open window, blowing Yuuka’s hair a little, causing the horse loving girl move her hand to stop it. Akane’s cheeks flushed, not just from the warmth of the weather, but also from how pretty Yuuka looked. However, the smile that spread joy from one girl to another wasn’t properly present, so Akane couldn’t truly feel happy.

Akane pulled up her courage, her endless well of spirit that seemed to be unable to penetrate Yuuka’s wall of silence, and tried to breach the topic of Yuuka’s worries,“Recently, you’ve be—”

She was suddenly interrupted by a childish sounding voice, “Yuuka!”

When the roommates turned, they noticed Koike Minami coming along. Akane looked toward Yuuka again, but Yuuka had averted her gaze away from Akane.

Yuuka asked in confusion, “Eh? Mii-chan?” However, there was a hint of relief in her voice.

“Let’s head back together.”  The penguin loving girl mumbled, feeling nervousness come into her heart. She lightly grasped Yuuka’s sleeve and looked up, “I… I have something I want to talk to you about.”

“Okay.” Yuuka turned back toward Akane after nodding to Mii-chan almost instinctively. “Akanen, I…”

Suddenly, Habu and Aoi crept up from behind Akane. They each grabbed one side of Akane. The two flinched as they noticed Akane’s dark look, feeling Akane stiffen up as if ready to throw them off. They let out a light sight of relief as they noticed Akane relax.

The two, Aoi and Habu, blurted out, “Akanen, come with us! Yuuka, we’re stealing her for a moment!”

“Fine, but Yuuka—” Akane sighed.

Yuuka gently cut off her roommate, “I’ll tell you when everything is finished, okay?” The horse loving girl smiled weakly and gave a light wave.

Akane didn’t say anymore. She just nodded and waved back, dragging Aoi’s hands up with her arm.




As Akane watched Yuuka go on ahead, she removed Habu and Aoi’s hands from her arms. Crossing her arms, Akane sent a sharp look toward the two girls and waited for them to say whatever it was that they grabbed her for.

Aoi awkwardly asked, “... are you mad?”

Akane replied, “I’m mad.” She flicked Aoi on the forehead.

“Ouch!” Aoi yelped.

Habu stealthily covered her own forehead and looked toward Akane. “We wanted to ask you something.”

“What is it?” Akane questioned.

“Yuuka.” Habu quickly replied, “Did you do something to Yuuka? She’s been acting strange.”

Akane retorted, “Huh? I want to ask that to you.”

Aoi butted in, “Well, you two are like an old married couple having a fight, so there’s no way there’s nothing happening.”

“What are you talking about?” Akane sighed.

“I’m doing the interrogating here!” Aoi pouted.

Akane flicked Aoi’s forehead again, “Stupid.”

“Hey!” Aoi yelled, “Really, really, really. Yuuka’s been looking depressed recently. What happened? Did you break up? Were you flirting with Fuu-chan too much?”

“Aoi-chan…” Habu tried to hold Aoi back.

Akane responded heatedly, “What are you talking about!?”

“Akanen did you do something to make Yuuka sad? Hey, hey.” Aoi continued prodding, ignoring Habu, “Did you two break up or something?”

“We’re not going out!” Akane finally burst, “In the first place, Yuuka hasn’t been telling me anything either, okay!?”

The tennis girl grabbed Aoi by the collar angrily and glared into Aoi’s eyes. Akane’s hands shook with anger, but at the same time, her eyes glistened with frustration. She tightened her grip on Aoi’s collar, nearly picking the smaller girl off the ground.

“What do you think I feel!?” Akane shouted.

“H-how am I supposed to know?” Aoi replied, feeling regret that she asked too much. “Akanen, you’re scaring me!”

Habu flustered in the background, trying to coax both of her classmates to calm down.

Akane let out her feelings without meaning to, “Even though I love her, she won’t tell me anything no matter how much I ask!”

Aoi was speechless.

Finally, Akane let out a trembling sigh. She turned her head away and wiped her hand over her eyes for a moment, acting as if there hadn’t been tears. She shook her head and sent another look toward the pair.

“I’m not going to apologize, but…” Akane scowled.

Clenching her fists, she ran off.

Aoi and Habu looked at Akane’s retreating back. The shorter girl looked down at the ground and sniffled. She held her arms guiltily and glanced toward Habu who was similarly looking down.

“...I think I did something bad.” Aoi mumbled.



Feeling a chill despite the warmth of summer, Yuuka looked up at the sky. The moon had already come up even if the sky was still darkening, but it was covered by the clouds. She and Koike walked together, the penguin loving girl clinging onto Yuuka’s sleeve.

Yuuka asked, “Mii-chan, what did you want to talk about?”

Koike blurted out, “Yuuka, has something been worrying you recently?”

“Ah…” Yuuka’s expression froze for a moment. She didn’t want to reply.

The penguin loving girl apologized, “Sorry.”

“No, it’s okay. It’s just a little something. Don’t worry.”

“Yuuka…”

The two continued walking back to the dorms. Yuuka looked toward Koike who was still cutely clinging onto her sleeve. The horse loving girl felt warm inside knowing that she was blessed with such good friends, but she couldn’t bring herself to tell them her worries.

“Yuuka likes Akanen, right?” Koike inquired, hypothesizing what could be worrying her friend.

Yuuka paused again, “Eh?” This time, it was from surprise, not from a hesitation to answer the question.

“If you’re worried about it, I’ll be supporting you.” Koike fumbled her way through her supporting statement, clenching Yuuka’s sleeve as if to show her conviction. “Even if you’re going out with Akanen, we’ll still be friends.”

Yuuka smiled wryly, “We’re not going out.”

Thinking of going out with her roommate, Yuuka’s heart beat a little faster than usual. However, for her, the truth of the matter was that they were not dating and likely wouldn’t.

Koike followed up shyly, “Then, you just like her?”

“I…” Yuuka stopped. She realized to herself with a dejected smile that she hid away from Koike, “Yes, I probably like Akanen.”

The penguin loving girl perked up, “I’ll support you!”

“I don’t think we can be together like that though.” Yuuka whispered.


—That would be nice if it could come true.



« Last Edit: December 25, 2017, 12:50:23 AM by Shinoki »

Offline four4four

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Re: Eccentric (MonaRisa, TechiNeru +) [Checkpoint 20 (Dec. 21, 2017)]
« Reply #65 on: December 22, 2017, 07:12:03 AM »
Akanen, hang in there! You will get your Yuuka soon!  :cry:

What do you mean, Yuuka? Why can't you and Akanen be together?   :?

Offline Kairi65

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Re: Eccentric (MonaRisa, TechiNeru +) [Checkpoint 20 (Dec. 21, 2017)]
« Reply #66 on: December 22, 2017, 01:48:50 PM »
Well, good news is that both aoi, habu and miichan will know yukkanen liked each other when they met up. But yukka...so much sadness.. :cry:

Offline Shinoki

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Eccentric (MonaRisa, TechiNeru +) [Checkpoint 20.5 (Dec. 24, 2017)]
« Reply #67 on: December 25, 2017, 12:49:14 AM »
Checkpoint 20.5


“Yurina-chan, do you get along with your family?”
“Just normally.”
“Liar. That really is a lie. Because you—”


“Yurina-chan.”


Hirate Yurina was startled out of her thoughts by her roommate’s voice. The short haired girl’s chopsticks had stopped moving for a while, and despite the sound of her classmates talking in the dorm cafeteria, she had gone into her own little world. It was nighttime, and they were eating dinner.

Neru sat next to Yurina. Imaizumi Yui sat on Yurina’s other side. On the other side of the table, the three roommates, Oda Nana, Kobayashi Yui, and Suzumoto Miyu were also eating. Some of their other classmates were also in the cafeteria, but not everyone ate at the same time.

The short haired girl replied, pretending that she hadn’t zoned out, “What is it, Neru?”

“How many siblings do you have?”Neru asked with a smile.

Yurina paused for a moment. Just thinking about it made her chest hurt a little bit, but she mumbled out her answer, “I… had a big brother.” She thought to herself that Neru didn’t know, and that she didn’t want to tell Neru either.

Not noticing Yurina’s hesitation, Suzumoto grinned as she gently pushed Oda Nana, “See, Dani, Techi’s a younger sibling.”

“Okay, I lose. I lose.” Oda Nana relented, having predicted that Yurina didn’t have an older sibling. As Suzumoto gave her a clingy hug, she retorted half-heartedly, “Get off me, Suzumoto.”

“Eh~ but I love you so much, Dani!” Suzumoto laughed.

Oda Nana turned away toward Yui-pon, “Pon, save me!”

Oda and Suzumoto’s roommate followed to turn away and pretend that her roommates weren’t being weird like always, “What are you two even doing…?”

Imaizumi said in reply to Yui-pon’s helpless look, “It looks fun.”

After taking another bite of her food, Neru looked toward Imaizumi, “Zuumin, how many siblings do you have?”

“Four older brothers.” Imaizumi answered. “They’re a bit noisy, but I kind of want to go home and see them soon.”

Oda Nana turned the question to Neru, “How about Neru?”

“I have a big brother and sister.” Neru answered.

“Dani?” Suzumoto asked.

Dani replied, “I have a little sister.” She smiled, “She grows up so fast though.”

“Ehh, I’m jealous. Of your little sister. I want to be your little sister.” Suzumoto whined, still clinging to Oda Nana.

“Eh, what’s with that?”

Watching the roommates and their third roommate who was trying to ignore them, Neru giggled, “Miyu-chan can become an Oda without being blood-related to Oda Nana.”

Suzumoto made a strange face of shock before blushing profusely, burying her face into Oda Nana’s shoulder. Oda Nana took a moment to stare at Neru before sputtering incoherently in retort, blushing as well.

All the while, Yurina continued eating the food that had started getting cold.

Imaizumi got up at some point and changed the channel on the television in the cafeteria. She smiled to the other Yui and hummed along to Nishino Kana who was performing on the Music Station channel.

“Yurina-chan, what type of family name would you like to have?” Neru asked.

“Anything but Hirate.” Yurina replied. “How about Neru?”

“Nagahama is good, I think. Yurina-chan can join the Nagahama family and become one of us.”


—Stop.
—----- doesn’t deserve this happiness.


The Keyaki dorms were far too vast for just 21 people, yet there they stood. Oda Nana walked through the building, feeling like trying out the gym. Suzumoto went toward the dance studio, eager to continue improving her dance that she studied since she was young, and her other roommate was with Imaizumi, the two of them headed toward the music studio that Oda Nana hadn’t realized existed.

Entering the gym, Oda Nana heard the sound of someone already inside, punching and panting.

She walked in, and to her surprise, she saw Moriya Akane in casual clothes, punching a punching bag in the corner as if the bag had murdered her family and her pet dog. The sweat on Akane’s forehead nearly made Oda Nana not notice the glistening in the tennis girl’s eyes.

Oda Nana headed toward a treadmill near the punching bag. She set down the two water bottles she grabbed beforehand and starting lightly jogging on the treadmill.

Vrmm. Vrm. Bang! Aside from the buzzing of the treadmill, the light blowing of air conditioning, and Akane’s mutilation of the punching bag, the gym was quiet.

Minutes passed. Akane’s breathing got heavier, and her face seemed flushed. Oda Nana didn’t know how long her classmate had been in the gym, but she noticed that Akane forgot to bring water.

Oda Nana slowed down on the treadmill and stopped her jogging. Reaching down to grab one of her bottles of water, she called out, “Akanen.”

Akane turned to look at Oda Nana, nearly getting hit in the face by the recoil of the punching bag that she had been hitting, “Dani?”

“Water, for you.” Oda Nana threw Akane the bottle of water.

Akane opened the bottle and took a drink, “Thanks.”

“It’s nothing.” Oda Nana shook her head, picking up the other bottle to take a sip. “Is there someone you want to punch right now?”

Akane nearly choked on her water with a laugh. “Yea. Just a bit. Myself mostly for being so useless.”

“You’ve already beaten your hands up enough.”

“This was dumb in hindsight.” Akane looked down at her knuckles, which were starting to bleed a little. “I don’t want to worry Yuuka more than she already is worried.”

“Akanen really loves Yuuka, huh.”

“Are you making fun of me?”

“No way!” Oda Nana rejected the notion. “I won’t tell anyone if you are. It’s your secret to keep, but I don’t think you should keep it bottled up. It’s better being rejected than not knowing the rejection.”

“Are you talking about you and Yui-pon?”

“Ahaha, I won’t give up on my love.” Oda Nana’s shoulders slumped a little. “One day, she’ll see my dedication.”

“Dani, don’t be gross.”

“It’s love!”

“I’m jealous of how straightforward you are.”

“Akanen?”

Moriya Akane cried quietly.




Merry Christmas! 
Somehow, eh... isn't this x.5 checkpoint a little dark? Just a little. I feel really bad doing this Akanen. Please don't kill me.

@Kairi65: Thank you for reading. I wonder if HabuMiiAoi will be able to help with YuukaNen. Somehow, Yuuka's issues have been driving the two roommates apart.
@four4four: Thank you for reading! As for why Yuuka believes that they can't be together... that should be answered later in the arc.


« Last Edit: December 26, 2017, 10:58:08 PM by Shinoki »

Offline MaYukiIsLife

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Re: Eccentric (MonaRisa, TechiNeru +) [Checkpoint 20.5 (Dec. 24, 2017)]
« Reply #68 on: December 25, 2017, 01:44:12 AM »
Its been a few chapters since I commented, Merry Christmas btw... but DUDE WHY DID YOU DO THAT TO AKANEN?!?!

Offline four4four

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Re: Eccentric (MonaRisa, TechiNeru +) [Checkpoint 20.5 (Dec. 24, 2017)]
« Reply #69 on: December 25, 2017, 02:45:58 AM »
Techi joining the Nagahama family.  :drool:

Akanen~~~  :cry:
Im rooting for you!  :inlove:

Offline Kairi65

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Re: Eccentric (MonaRisa, TechiNeru +) [Checkpoint 20.5 (Dec. 24, 2017)]
« Reply #70 on: December 26, 2017, 03:54:41 AM »
Lol, didn't expect mon to blush after what neru said.

Offline Shinoki

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Eccentric (MonaRisa, TechiNeru +) [Checkpoint 21 + 21.5 (Dec. 26, 2017)]
« Reply #71 on: December 26, 2017, 10:56:50 PM »
Checkpoint 21


The sun was bright and hot despite it being early morning. The Keyaki class girls filtered in and out of the air conditioned cafeteria for breakfast, some not even bothering with breakfast at all, just there to head out with their friends.

The television in the cafeteria flickered through channels before stopping on the news. There wasn’t much of interest on at the moment, so the girls let the news act as white noise behind their chatter.

A week had passed since Habu and Aoi confronted Akane, and they were still on unsteady terms.

Watanabe Risa looked toward Akane worriedly. Although the cool Watanabe didn’t let her worry show on her face, she was getting a little sick of Akane’s moping and spoke up, “Hey, Akanen, are you okay?”

For some reason, two people twitched at Risa’s voice, Akane and Aoi.

Risa stared at the two blankly, noticing a spark of animosity come between the two. She sighed internally, and Fuyuka, who was by her side, let out a similarly troubled smile.

“I’m fine.” Akane replied.

“You’re not fine at all.” Risa snorted.

Akane grumbled irritatedly, “I know. I know. I know.” She glanced over at Yuuka longingly, and she quickly looked away, stuffing a chopstick full of natto into her mouth.

“No.”

“I’m going to make it fine.”

Risa relented. “Good.” She went back to her breakfast as well, carefully cutting up some French toast that had already been lathered with syrup.

Manaka called out from the other side of the table, “Risa, give me a bite.”

Not even waiting for Risa’s fork to come over to her, Manaka leaned across the table and ate the piece of French toast that Risa had cut. She grinned as if she had accomplished some great deed.

“Geez, impatient.”

“It’s delicious.”

“You have some syrup on your lips.” Risa reached out toward her roommate with a napkin.

Yet, before Risa reached Manaka, Manaka licked her own lips, giving Risa a wink.

Watching at the side, Fuyuka gave both of them a friendly bonk on the head, and said, “Go flirt somewhere else.” On the inside, she was glad that the roommates were getting along. There was somehow a heavy feeling in this area of the cafeteria.



Sugai Yuuka ate quietly. She hadn’t realized when, but a large gap had been created between her roommate and herself. She glanced toward Akane, but she couldn’t keep looking.

She thought back to a time when she had felt alone.

At that time, she had come to the hospital after school in order to visit her father who was sick. They had all thought that he would be getting better soon, and the Sugai family would be back to being a healthy, happy family.

Yuuka, still in her school uniform, was outside her father’s door when she heard her mother talking to him through the door.

She stopped. Even though she knew that she could go in, she felt as if she couldn’t. It was because they always stopped talking when she came. It was because they tried to hide everything from her ears. It wasn’t soothing in the slightest, as much as she knew her parents may have just wanted to protect their daughter.

“Dear, are you sure that we shouldn’t?” She heard her mother’s voice.

Her father’s voice replied, “I know, but we can’t worry Yuuka like that.”

“I know that.”

“What do you think of Seiichirou-kun?”

“Father, I don’t approve.” Even her sister was in the room. “He doesn’t deserve her.”

“I don’t have much time left. The doctor says that I may not make another two years.” Her father said with a cough.

Yuuka stepped back in shock. She put her hands over her mouth to stop herself from making another noise. She couldn’t help but shake at the idea that her father would die, that it wasn’t just a small illness.

A nagging voice said in her mind that she should have expected it.

As Yuuka moved back, she suddenly felt a pair of hands on her shoulders. She flinched, twisting back and instinctively going to jab the man in order to get him to move away.

“Cousin.” Then she heard his voice.

Her cousin removed his hands and adjusted his glasses. He put on a disarming smile, but like always, the smile didn’t seem to reach his eyes.

Yuuka’s shoulders slumped, relaxing, and she let out a noise of acknowledgment, “Ah..”

“Don’t worry. Uncle will be fine. I’ll take care of you.”

“Thank you.”

Yuuka moved away from her cousin, but he gently reached for her hand instead.

“There’s no need to thank me. Only...”

His smile chilled her heart.


“—Sugai—”


Yuuka was suddenly jolted out her thoughts when she heard her family name said in a familiar yet unfamiliar voice. It wasn’t any of her classmates. Then, she looked toward the cafeteria television, which was broadcasting something about her family.

She smiled wryly to herself that she had fallen to news stories and other people to find out about her family.

The horse loving girl looked toward the screen. Most of her classmates didn’t pay the news any heed, but she noticed that Akane and her friends were.

Her cousin Seiichirou was on the screen, being interviewed on the current activities of his companies. Meanwhile, the newscasters commented on his status as a very well sought after bachelor.

Yuuka thought to herself of a phone call that she had received a week earlier from him. He had said that her father was in worsening conditions, and the treatments were very expensive and were becoming difficult to pay for. Seiichirou offered a way for him to help, but he had a condition.

Yuuka shook her head. She didn’t want to think of it.

She glanced toward Akane and steeled her heart.

“We’ve suddenly received an urgent report.”


“The former CEO of the Sugai Company is currently in critical condition—”


She didn’t comprehend her own feelings at that moment.

She didn’t realize the loud sound of her standing up, and the silence that followed.

And she didn’t notice that she was crying when she ran out.

Except, Akane did.




Checkpoint 21.5


The sky was dark, but still, it seemed that the world was sparkling with the light of the stars under the lights of the towering buildings in Tokyo. The girl let out a small puff of white as she breathed out into the winter air. Snow had yet to fall this year.

The girl with long black hair was walking aimlessly through the city. She wore the uniform of a affluent private school under her jacket, yet she wasn’t enjoy the festivities that came with the winter season like many of her other classmates.

Instead, her eyes were a red from crying.

No one paid the girl any heed. She was outside by herself because she didn’t want the people who would have paid attention to pay attention and worry about her.

She rubbed her hands together and breathed on them. The tips of her fingers were red. She had forgotten her gloves. The hospital was just two blocks away, but she didn’t want to head back to retrieve the gloves.

People were walking all around, chatting and laughing and playing music.

She sat down at a bench near a tree and wondered about her future. She didn’t want to be a burden on her family, but she knew that she was one. She wondered what type of job she would have in the future, if she could continue onto college, and all those other things.

The future seemed dark compared to the city lights.

Once upon a time, it had seemed endless, and even if she fell, no one would be hurt. She could just start again. However, now, her heart was filled with doubt.

At some point, the girl had starting looking down at her feet, losing her attention on her surroundings.

Fwaph. Then, a flyer suddenly flew into her face.

The girl fumbled to remove the flyer, but the wind seemed to be against her. When she finally got the flyer, her hair was a mess. She sighed, clumsily fixing her hair.

She took a look at the unlucky flyer, eyes widening in surprise at what was said on the paper.

She just didn’t realize that she had made her decision in that split moment.


“I want to be financially independent.”
“I don’t want to be a burden.”

She said very simply as she showed her family her acceptance letter to the Keyaki class.


The sky was light. Walking through campus in spring, the girl saw flowers starting to bloom and sakura floating through the light breeze. She wore a different uniform than she wore a year ago, and now there was a metal bracelet on her wrist.

She noticed her new classmates enjoying themselves across campus. The school clubs were recruiting at the moment. One of her classmates was even talking excitedly about micro-organisms with the science club. She looked around, politely declining the offers of the clubs.

The girl noticed her roommate, Moriya Akane, with her hair up in a ponytail, talking with the tennis club. The girl, Sugai Yuuka, felt that Akane looked very nice with her hair up.

As Yuuka was about to continue strolling along, Akane finished her chat with the tennis club and turned around, noticing Yuuka.

“S-Yuuka.” The ponytailed girl quickly called out to her roommate, correcting herself in how she called Yuuka. She jogged over.

Yuuka greeted her roommate, tasting the nickname as it rolled off her tongue, “Hello, Akanen.”

“Have you joined a club?”

“No, not yet. I wonder if there’s a horseback riding club.”

“I haven’t seen one yet, but let’s go look for it together.”

Yuuka took the hand that Akane extended toward her. It was warm.



Before she knew it, her heart latched on and didn’t want to let go.






Thank you very much for reading! This update came quick, but really, it turns out that the boom I thought would happen in Checkpoint 21 might not have actually been that big of a boom. (perhaps, I don't know what I'm doing) Nonetheless, it's a pseudo-double update.

Although the titling of the chapters range from Checkpoints to Checkpoint x.5s to Interludes, there is a bit of a system. Checkpoints are main story. x.5 means that it's within the bounds of the current arc but slightly not main story. Interludes are exposition scenes or little peeks into other parts of the story before or after an event happens. Though... ah, this system is really loose.

Really, thank you for reading!

@Kairi65: Oda Nana x Suzumoto or Oda Nana x Yui-pon. Suzumoto is smitten with our resident camel.
@four4four: I'm rooting for Akanen too. (seriously, Akanen should go beat up that Seiichirou dude)
@MaYukiIsLife: Merry Christmas~ (belated) Suffering is the start of happiness? It's okay, I'll make sure our beloved girls are happy!


« Last Edit: January 01, 2018, 06:15:53 AM by Shinoki »

Offline four4four

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Re: Eccentric (MonaRisa, TechiNeru +) [Checkpoint 21 + 21.5 (Dec. 26, 2017)]
« Reply #72 on: December 27, 2017, 01:01:55 AM »
Akanen, go after Yuuka! :cry:

I agree, Akanen should go beat up Seiichirou. :angry:

Offline Kairi65

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Re: Eccentric (MonaRisa, TechiNeru +) [Checkpoint 21 + 21.5 (Dec. 26, 2017)]
« Reply #73 on: December 27, 2017, 06:01:22 AM »
Akanen, go after Yuuka! :cry:

I agree, Akanen should go beat up Seiichirou. :angry:

I agree! Can't wait to see akanen beat him up!

Offline MaYukiIsLife

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Re: Eccentric (MonaRisa, TechiNeru +) [Checkpoint 21 + 21.5 (Dec. 26, 2017)]
« Reply #74 on: December 27, 2017, 12:37:52 PM »
omg...  :panic: :panic: :panic: :panic: YUUKA!!! :'(

Offline Shinoki

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Eccentric (MonaRisa, TechiNeru +) [Checkpoint 22 (Jan. 01, 2018)]
« Reply #75 on: January 01, 2018, 06:14:34 AM »
Happy New Year! 2018! Let this be a good year for Keyaki! Seeing as it's basically midnight here in the east coast of the USA, ah... perhaps there are some errors in the writing of this checkpoint. And I might say some weird things. But, happy new year!

Haha, thank you all for reading this fic. I started it in like October, so it's been a little less than 3 months. Of course, it'll keep going for quite a bit. Thus, thank you for reading, and I hope that everyone who reads continues to enjoy this fic even if there are a lot of ups and downs along the way.

@MaYukiIsLife: Thank you for reading! Ah... Yuuka. Um... I'll do my best not to make her cry anymore after this arc is done!
@Kairi65: Thanks for reading!
@four4four: Akanen chases, but will she truly be able to catch Yuuka? Dun dun dun. It's that type of question. (I think?)

@everyone: Thank you for reading! I say this a lot, but these are my true feelings. Knowing people enjoy this fic is a really happy feeling. To the people who only lurk and read, I hope you're enjoying the fic. To the people who only leave thank yous, thank you for showing that you enjoy this fic. To the people who have told me that they enjoy this fic through other mediums (ie. PM, other forum posts), thank you very much! Uwah, I'm so happy. Of course, to the people who comment, thank you for reading. I hope you'll keep reading in this new year! (Also, I've been yabbering on for a while, so enjoy the checkpoint~)




Checkpoint 22


Akane dropped her chopsticks, not minding that they clattered to the ground. She got out of her seat so quickly that she nearly tripped. When she saw Yuuka ran out, her mind had frozen for a moment, but she was still screaming at herself to chase after her roommate, to ask what was wrong even if Yuuka wouldn’t tell her.

—Even if Yuuka wouldn’t tell her.

A cold thought crossed her mind. Suddenly, she felt a slap on the back from Manaka of all people.

“Go.” Manaka said.

“I don’t need you to tell me that.” Akane nodded. “But, thanks.”

With that one second interaction done, Akane went after Yuuka. Using the muscles that she developed in morning trainings for the tennis club, Akane sprinted out the door. For a moment, Akane almost couldn’t spot her roommate.

She ran.

Even though Akane knew that she was faster than Yuuka from those times that their gym teacher had the whole class run during class, Akane felt as if she couldn’t catch up to Yuuka. She pushed her legs to go faster.

“Yuuka!” Akane called out, ignoring her need to breathe while running.

They had exited the dorm building a while ago. Rather than heading along the paths toward school, Yuuka headed through the foliage near one of the school gardens.

The two girls entered the garden, still running. Although the light filtering through the flowers and trees made for a beautiful image, all they could focus on was the movement of their feet and that sound.

Yuuka’s shoulders shook with her hiccups from crying as she ran. She didn’t know where she wanted to go, but hearing Akane behind her, she didn’t want to face her friend or anyone.

Akane reached out her hand toward Yuuka and grabbed onto Yuuka’s hand without thinking. The two came to a halt in the middle of the garden.

They didn’t exchange any words. Yuuka’s hand simply slipped from Akane’s grip. The horse loving girl’s back was facing Akane, but Akane could still see that Yuuka was crying, Yuuka’s hands moving to wipe away tears that kept coming out. Akane’s heart was pounding from running, and she was breathing hard.

“Hey, Yuuka…” Akane quietly called

Yuuka shook her head and replied, sobbing, “Akanen… hic… go away.”

Akane hesitated for a moment. She looked at Yuuka’s back, the shaking shoulders. Akane didn’t want to see her roommate crying like this, and a part of her told herself to run away. Then, a mental bucket of cold water splashed her, slapping her for even thinking of leaving Yuuka.

Akane firmly replied, “I’m sorry, Yuuka, but I won’t go away.”

Yuuka shook her head again. Turning to look at her roommate for a moment, the horse loving girl wiped her tears again and again until her eyes were puffy red. She moved to run away.

Without thinking, again Akane grabbed Yuuka’s hand.

“Let go…” Yuuka whispered.

“I won’t let go.” Akane shook her head.

“My father is dying… and I… hic… can’t even do anything. J-just leave me alone.”

The tennis playing girl brought Yuuka closer into a hug, “I won’t leave you alone.”

Yuuka didn’t reply.

“Tell me what I can do. Tell me what’s troubling you.” Akane said strongly, “What happened to your dad isn’t your fault!”

“I-It is! Because I’m the worst kind of daughter…” Yuuka cried.

The horse loving girl smothered her face into Akane’s chest as she let out her tears, wailing incoherently. Akane held Yuuka, and she wished that she could just send Yuuka’s sadness away. Akane ignored the wetness from Yuuka’s tears that was staining her uniform.

Hiccuping a last few times, Yuuka took a deep and unsteady breath as her tears finally stopped for a moment.

“I’m sorry. I got your clothes dirty.” Yuuka mumbled, not looking up.

Akane still shook her head, “It’s okay.”

After calming down, Yuuka began to explain her troubles. She was hesitant to say, but once the dam was opened, the words spilled out along with her painful emotions.

Her family, the Sugai family, was rich and her father was the CEO of the Sugai Company. However, a few years earlier, her father fell very ill. The company went through many restructurings, ending with a merger that led it to fall into the hands of a cousin.

Her family, while not thrown into complete debt, was left in a harsh situation, with her father’s medical bills growing and their former rich lifestyle becoming more difficult.

Even despite their struggles, Yuuka’s family continued to pamper their youngest daughter, as if trying to protect her from the outside world. However, that pampering was like the harshest form of torture because Yuuka couldn’t help but feel a lack of trust toward herself.

She ran away. She told herself that she would separate from them, stop burdening them. She came to the Keyaki class.

Yet, when they stopped contacting her, she couldn’t help but worry. That her father was in deathly condition showed her just how foolish she had been, acting as if everything was okay in coming to the Keyaki class.

Yuuka finished spilling out her feelings.

Seeing Akane’s silence, Yuuka quietly pried herself away from Akane’s hug and gave her roommate a sad smile, “I’ve already come to my conclusion.”

“What do you mean?” Akane asked, her heart dropping.

Suddenly, Yuuka’s phone buzzed loudly in her pocket. She slipped it out and checked who the caller was. Her expression fell a little when she saw that it wasn’t her parents or sister, but she had made up her mind before he even sent a message.

“I’m quitting school.” Yuuka said.

“What do you… mean?”

“I’m… m-” Yuuka couldn’t get the words out of her mouth.

“Yuuka…”

“A deal.” With the devil she didn’t name. “In order to help my parents.”

“You don’t need to make such a deal.”

“Akanen, I’ve already told you everything! There’s nothing that I can do! And there’s nothing that you can do!”

“Even so… I can’t accept that!” Akane retorted, hurting at the idea of losing Yuuka.

“There’s nothing else!”

“Yuuka, I love you!”

There was a deep silence.

Yuuka broke the silence with a small voice. “I’m sorry.”

Yuuka couldn’t bear to look at the expression on Akane’s face. She quickly averted her eyes and ran away. This time, she couldn’t hear Akane’s feet chasing after her, but Yuuka cried.

Akane watched as Yuuka left.

She brushed her hand against the stems of the roses growing in the garden. Suddenly, Akane felt a sharp pain in her finger, but that pain was far eclipsed by her own heart. She looked at the finger, at the droplet of blood welling up from a prick from the thorns of the roses.

“Is that it?” Akane whispered to herself.

She clenched her fists tightly and shook her head. She wouldn’t give up.


« Last Edit: January 06, 2018, 04:08:15 AM by Shinoki »

Offline four4four

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Re: Eccentric (MonaRisa, TechiNeru +) [Checkpoint 22 (Jan. 01, 2018)]
« Reply #76 on: January 01, 2018, 09:07:10 AM »
Happy new years!

I really hope it will be a good year for Keyaki.
After what happened at Kouhaku, I hope they get a well deserved break, so they can start the year even stronger.

I guess Akanen was able to catch Yuuka. :P
But... Noooooooo, Yuuka! :cry:
Must have hurt for Akanen when Yuuka ran after she confessed to her. :(
I'm expecting that Akanen will do something drastic to help Yuuka break free of the deal with the devil.

Offline ametakarano

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Re: Eccentric (MonaRisa, TechiNeru +) [Checkpoint 22 (Jan. 01, 2018)]
« Reply #77 on: January 04, 2018, 09:07:59 AM »
Just came across this fic recently and I guess this is pretty interesting.  :thumbsup

It reminds me of the anime "Classroom of the Elite".

Anyways, I'm looking forward for the next update.  :heart: :heart: :heart:

Offline Shinoki

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Eccentric (TechiNeru +) [Checkpoint 22.5 + 23 + OS (Jan. 05, 2018)]
« Reply #78 on: January 06, 2018, 04:07:21 AM »
@ametakarano: Thank you for reading! Huhu, I'm glad you like it. I've never watched that anime before, but I won't deny that there are parts of the story that have been inspired by other things I've read/watched.
@four4four: Thank you for reading! Akane's going to be able to turn the tide soon. Just not this checkpoint. (Actually, this wait for happy YuukaNen flirting is killing me too, but... ah, somehow the pacing of this story...)




Checkpoint 22.5


A day before the television in the cafeteria showed the news about Sugai Yuuka’s father, Saitou Fuyuka wouldn’t have expected the way her friend Akane’s relationship with Yuuka would develop.

It was a hotter day than usual, and as the bell rang, signalling one of the long class breaks, Fuyuka quickly went over to Akane. She was sick of seeing her friend brooding, and she felt like they needed a change of pace.

Fuyuka smiled, “Hey, Akanen. Want to go out for ice cream now?”

Akane nodded, “Sure.”

“Want to bring Aoi along?” Thinking back, Fuyuka joked about a request Akane made when Yuuka scolded Akane for bullying Aoi.

“No.” Akane scowled. “Don’t treat Aoi to ice cream.”

Fuyuka smiled wryly, “Okay, okay.” She had expected such an answer since she wasn’t blind enough to ignore the tension between Aoi and Akane that had gone beyond teasing recently.

The two girls got up to leave for the ice cream place on campus.

“Hey, we’re going to get ice cream. See you later.” Fuyuka called out to her friends who had migrated over to Yurina and Neru’s area this break period.

Manaka waved casually, leaning on Yurina, “Bye bye.”

“Bring me something.” Risa held up her wristband, signalling that she would pay later. She was sitting next to Neru.

After saying a few words, Fuyuka and Akane left the classroom. Soon enough, they were outside with the hot sun beating down on them.

“Geez, it’s hot!” Fuyuka complained.

Akane bantered in reply, “That’s why we’re getting ice cream.”

“Yea.” Fuyuka laughed. “Risa’s ice cream is going to be all melted when we come back.”

“She wanted a Haagen-Dazs, right?”

“Expensive ice cream for Risa-sama. As expected of King Mona’s Queen.”

“Pfft. What is that? The normal students write weird stuff on that site.”

“You’re also called Moriya-sama by some of your fangirls.”

“Not that much.”

“Risa has been getting annoyed with the -sama thing recently though.”

“Yuuka doesn’t really like the being called Sugai-sama either.”

The conversation trickled down. Fuyuka noticed the look that always appeared on Akane’s face when she talked about Yuuka. It was a worried face.

“Ah, we’re here already.” Fuyuka was glad when they reached the ice cream place. “What do you want?”



Fuyuka and Akane got their ice cream and sat down, allowing themselves to enjoy the cold sweets despite the weather. Fuyuka got a new flavor of ice cream sundae that had come out while Akane got herself a frozen yogurt.

“So, is it good?” Akane asked Fuyuka, looking apprehensively at the green parts of the ice cream sundae.

Fuyuka took a spoonful of the sundae and tasted it. “It’s surprisingly good. The green stuff is mint chocolate chip.”

They chatted for a while about mundane things like ice cream and whether or not dieting was effective.

Then, Fuyuka inquired, “You’ve been kind of annoyed with Aoi recently. What’s with that?”

“She kept prodding me on a topic that I didn’t want to talk about.” Akane sighed.

“Oh.”

“Yea.”

“I won’t ask then.”

“No, it’s okay.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

A silence fell over the two girls. They continued eating their ice cream. Fuyuka was willing to drop the topic if Akane didn’t want to say anything.

“Actually, I’m worried about Yuuka.” Akane started.

Fuyuka nodded.

“I don’t really know why, but she’s been really out of it recently. I wish she would talk to me about it. Every time I say that she can rely on me, it’s like she tries to run away.”

“Akanen…”

“Yea.”

Fuyuka listened to Akane’s problems without judging. She offered a few suggestions like simply talking it out, but she felt that Akane probably tried that already. Nonetheless, Fuyuka encouraged Akane not to give up because she didn’t want to see her friend’s friendship fail.

Before long, they had finished their ice cream.

The two looked at the clock in the ice cream place, and they found that it was time to head back to the classroom lest they have to run all the way back.

As Akane pushed in her chair, she grinned at Fuyuka, “Thanks, Fuu-chan.”

“No problem. I didn’t do anything but listen.” Fuyuka shook her head with a smile. She looked forward to when Akane’s problems with Yuuka would be solved.

They headed back to the Keyaki class together.



In the classroom, Watanabe Risa took a look at her phone, noticing a LINE message from Fuyuka. Manaka had come over and placed her head on Risa’s shoulder, and Neru looked from the side, encouraging Manaka and sending Risa teasing looks about Manaka’s actions.

Manaka read the message with a snicker, “Queen Risa, the ice cream’s going to melt, so let’s go get some later instead.”

“Yea, yea.” Risa snorted, ignoring the nickname.

“I’ll be your king then. Right, Risa?”

“That…” The cool Watanabe was at a loss for words for a second, feeling her heart race from Manaka’s casual proclamation, but found herself retorting, “I’m the king. You’re the queen.”

“Yurina-chan, you should cover your eyes.” Neru covered Yurina’s eyes to protect her roommate’s innocence.

Risa scowled without much heat behind her expression, “Is there a need to do that?”

“Is there a need?” Yurina wondered as well, removing Neru’s hands from her head. She wasn’t really all that averse to Neru’s gentle touch.

“It’s okay.” Neru replied mysteriously.

The four continued talking for a while before Risa stood up from her seat and said, “I’m going to the bathroom.”

“I’ll go with you.” Manaka said.

Just like that, the cool duo left the classroom. Walking through the hallways, they didn’t say much but enjoyed the quiet side by side. Risa took Manaka’s hand, and they continued forward.

The bathroom closest to the Keyaki class was for some reason out of service.

Risa frowned as it was fine in the morning, but she couldn’t pick out a reason why there would be some hidden motive for someone to make the bathroom suddenly out of order and saw it as just bad luck.

As the pair strolled through the hallways to the next bathroom, they noticed a young man chatting with another person.

Looking at the other person gave Risa a sudden jolt of phantom pain, but she felt that the other person seemed familiar. She and Manaka turned their eyes toward the young man who they had never seen before in the school.

Sakamichi was a girls’ school, so there weren’t any male students, and most of the male faculty was older. The young man wore a suit and a sharp pair of glasses. When he spotted the cool Keyaki pair, he turned to ask the other person about the two.

Not liking the aura that the glasses man gave, Manaka took Risa and turned around to find another bathroom somewhere else.



Checkpoint 23


Sugai Yuuka’s tears streamed down her cheeks. She had run away again to some secluded place on campus, and she wondered if Akane followed. The horse loving girl didn’t see her roommate anywhere, so even if Akane had chased, Yuuka had escaped. However, she didn’t feel like she had escaped.

Looking around, there was only foliage.

Yuuka dropped down the ground, taking a seat. She knew that she looked like a mess, and she couldn’t be bothered to care about getting her uniform dirty.

She took her phone into her hand. All her troubles seemed to stem from the small device. In a spur of the moment, she threw it down to the ground, but it didn’t break.

Her family hadn’t contacted her. Yuuka should have called, but she didn’t.

The horse loving girl just sat there for a while. She stayed until it was even time for class to start. Although her metal bracelet buzzed with a demerit of points, she didn’t even glance at it.

Her cell phone on the ground shook with the sound of notifications.

Yuuka looked over to it without picking it up. Her friends were sending her worried LINE messages, yet she didn’t know what to respond and could only watch the words as they flitted by with the notifications.

Akane’s icon didn’t show up at all.

Just as a single sliver of disappointment showed up in Yuuka’s heart, she suddenly heard footsteps. Yuuka grabbed her phone and turned it to silent so she wouldn’t be noticed.

“Yuuka…?” Akane called out for Yuuka, searching.

Akane was searching and calling out for Yuuka, but from her dejected and somewhat sore-sounding voice, Yuuka could tell that Akane had been going on for a while. Yuuka stayed silent and waited for Akane to pass.

Yuuka berated herself for her actions.

She swiped the screen of her phone, unlocking it. She read through her classmates messages, but even she was aware that a message of ‘I’m okay’ meant nothing if she was clearly not okay. Thus, she didn’t send one at the moment.

Yuuka went to the chat she had with Akane. It hadn’t been touched much in the recent days, but just from the history, she could see the silly things they’d said through the past months together.

Yuuka flicked upward through the history and glimpsed over Akane’s words, ‘My special skill is saying food in a sexy way.’

She had responded at that time with, ‘Eh? What’s with that?’

Yuuka started drafting a message to Akane. The length grew from something one would send in a messaging app to something more like a letter. As she wrote, she let her fingers pour out everything else that she had held back when she spoke to Akane previously.

The words she wrote were her own cowardly feelings and hopes that perhaps Akane would be able to give her courage. Yuuka stopped for a moment, looking as the draft of her words automatically saved. She hadn’t had courage to talk to her parents, but her finger started toward the send button to Akane.

Then, the phone rang.


—Because you had already completed the deed.
—Can there be any hope anymore?


Yuuka picked up the call. The number that had appeared made her heart fall, but she picked up the phone nonetheless.

“Hello.” She greeted.

A male voice sounded out from the phone, “Hello, cousin. Although, I suppose I can call you Yuuka.” It was Seiichirou.

“Hello, cousin.” Yuuka greeted him again, not using his name. “What are you calling for?”

“You know what it is.” Seiichirou humored Yuuka. “Our engagement.”

“I see.”

“I’ve liked you for a long time, Yuuka. I’m glad that we can come together like this. Do you not agree?”

Yuuka could only mutely nod, forcing out some noise of agreement.

“There’s no need to worry about uncle. I will take care of you and his health. I won’t go back on our deal. I will make sure to dedicate resources to bring him back to health. The hospital payments won’t be an issue.”

“Thank you.”

“Anything for you, Yuuka.”

Yuuka replied softly. Through the phone, he sounded kind, yet she knew the chill in his eyes and how he had a hand in the fall of the Sugai Company. She couldn’t love him in the slightest, and there was someone else already in her heart.

“I’ve visited your school recently.” Seiichirou spoke.

“Eh?”

“If I remember correctly, you are in the Keyaki class? It’s quite interesting, a class named after the zelkova tree.”

“Yes.”

“It’s a new system as far as I’ve heard, but the class is held in positive regard by some of my acquaintances. Yet, I feel mixed about it.” He laughed. “All of the girls wear a metal bracelet around their wrist? That seems a bit barbaric. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you. Yuuka, you won’t have to wear such a thing anymore.

“I will come to pick you up soon. I will arrive in Tokyo from a business trip tonight, so I will come tomorrow. The man in charge of your class offered for us to stay a few days longer, so if you would like, we can delay leaving the campus.”

“Thank you. I would like that.”

“Of course. You will be leaving that place soon, so one or two extra days won’t matter.”

Yuuka looked at the metal bracelet on her wrist. If she were asked about it, she wouldn’t have said she liked it. However, she didn’t hate it either, and parting with it now seemed like a symbolic parting with the bonds she had made in the Keyaki class.

Seiichirou’s words were like everything had already been decided. It had.

He suddenly asked, “When do you want to get married?”

“...I don’t know.”

“I suppose that was a sudden question. We can get married any time. Next year in June would be fine, and you could be June bride if you’d like. This winter or fall would also be fine. It will be extravagant. We can talk about the future heirs later.”

Yuuka’s words were stuck in her throat.

“My apologies. Our conversation will have to continue later. I have a meeting soon. We can talk much more later.”

“Yes. Good bye.”


—Future. What future?
—The person who was supposed to have the future was...







The Eccentric update goes up to here. I've got a Wattpad account now! And I'm uploading Eccentric there too, but... ah, it's kind of a pain to format, so Eccentric will update here first as usual. However, I also have some one shots (well, just one right now). The one shots will probably be uploaded there first, and they'll be bundled with the Eccentric updates on jphip.

Just a note, the one shots aren't in the same universe as Eccentric.



An Afternoon and Bread


The cool afternoon sun of early winter shined down on the earth without a cloud in sight. There wasn’t much wind, but the students heading home were still coated up with their winter wear, eager to get out of the cold and into their homes where they could relax after a day of hard work studying.

Watanabe Rika was walking home by herself, her friends staying after school due to student council work or clubs. Her long hair was down as always, and she had a red scarf wrapped around her neck. She didn’t have any gloves on, but she was holding her bag in her hands, having not forgotten it this time.

As she was gazing off into space, strolling along mindlessly, she felt a hard hand on her shoulder.

Turning around, she saw a group of flashy girls grinning at her. They had always liked pushing her around, but they hadn’t troubled her ever since she made her first friends at school. However, Rika’s friends weren’t here with her.

“Hey, Watanabe Rika.” The leader of the gang grinned, calling out to Rika.

Rika edged back, “W-what is it?”

The leader grabbed Rika’s wrist and said, “Come with us for a bit. We found a place just for you.”

Rika was frightened, and she tried to wrestle her wrist away from the leader to no avail. Even though she was a bit forgetful and airheaded, she felt that she hadn’t done anything worth their ire. Yet, the group of bullies didn’t let up.

In response to Rika’s struggling, the leader girl scowled, “Quit it, you weakling!” The leader raised a hand to slap Rika across the face.

However, she was stopped by one of her underlings. “Wait. If Moriya or Sugai see a bruise, we’re going to be screwed!”

“Tch.” The leader clicked her tongue back at her underlings. However, she dropped the hand that was about to slap. Then, she turned back to Rika and spat out, “Don’t think you’re so great just because you have little miss rich girl and tennis freak godzilla behind you!”

Rika flinched, wrist starting to hurt from the grip.

She looked at the bullies with tears in her eyes. No one around them was stepping in to help her. However, Rika couldn’t stand her friends being insulted like that, so she retorted as she could, “Don’t say that about them!”

“Shut up!” The girl gang’s leader kicked Rika’s leg.

Without waiting and bantering any further, the group dragged Rika along despite the girl’s unwillingness. They kept going until they reached an abandoned building.

Throwing open the creaky door, they stepped into the building. There was a hole in the roof, letting sunlight into the building. There was a lot of dust around, and the furniture was all broken down. In the middle of the floor, there was another hole, leading down to a floor with only a dirty mattress on the ground and nothing else.

The bullies let out a few complaints about how gross the place was, but they said nothing to Rika.
Rika glanced around nervously, not knowing was they were planning.

Then, they stepped in front of the hole.

With a smirk, the leader girl and the others pushed Rika down through the hole. “Down you go. Into the trash where you belong.”

Exiting, one of the lackeys whispered to the leader, “Isn’t this going a little far?”

However, Rika was left all alone in the hole with no one else.

She landed on the mattress with a puff of dust coming off the dirty mattress. As she tried to stand up, Rika found that she had sprained her ankle. Seeing as she couldn’t get out of the hole, no doors or stairs in site on the floor, Rika could only make herself somewhat comfortable on the mattress, sitting and hugging her legs.

Rika looked up toward the sky sadly. She wanted to cry. She wanted to eat delicious bread and chocolate. She wanted her friends. She wanted her plushies, Aoko and Karaage.

The long haired girl didn’t know how long she was there, but she ended up crying quietly.

Then, suddenly, a voice called out to her, “Who’s down there?”

Sniffling, finishing up her tears, Rika let out a reply of, “Um…”

A girl on the floor above peeked into the hole, noticing Rika. The girl was wearing a different high school’s uniform than Rika, and along with her school bag, the girl was carrying a convenience store bag stuffed full with food.

“Are you okay?” The girl awkwardly asked Rika.

Rika shook her head, wiping away the last of the tears on her face.

The girl with the food made a series of faces as if wondering what to do. As luck would have it, she somehow fumbled over her own two feet and tripped, also falling onto the mattress, right beside where Rika sat.

The girl let out a wince of pain followed by a cry of shock, realizing that she squished some of her food.

“Oh no…” She sighed.

Rika asked quietly, “Um, are you okay?”

The girl replied quietly as well, “Yes.”

They spent a few moments silently staring each other. Then, they looked up at the sky. Neither knew how to get out of the hole.

“What do we do?” The girl murmured nervously.

Rika shook her head. “I don’t know.”

There was more silence between the two girls until the girl with food spoke up again, “If we’re going to be stuck down here… I’m Nagasawa Nanako.”

“...Watanabe Rika.”

“Do you want some food?” Nanako reached for her bag of smashed food. She sighed looking at the shape of her beloved snacks, but she knew that they were still delicious.

Rika nodded.

Nanako asked, “What types of food do you like?”

“Bread!” Rika suddenly perked up.

Nanako opened the bag and offered Rika a bread. She took one for herself as well.

The two girls happily munched on their food, almost managing to forget that they were stuck in the hole.

“Thank you, Naako-san.” Rika said, her voice muffled by the bread she held up to her mouth.

Nanako questioned, “Naako?”

“Sorry.”

“You can call me Naako if you want.”

“Thank you.”

They continued quietly eating. Chatting on little things, they found that they had similar hobbies and personalities. The sun was slowly beginning to set, and the two were very worried that they would be stuck in the hole forever. However, Rika felt somehow a little safer with someone friendly nearby.

Enjoying the food, they found that there was only one glazed donut in the bag.

“You can have it.” Naako said, giving Rika the glazed donut. On the inside, she wanted to eat it, but she also enjoyed seeing Rika’s joyful expressions more than she expected.

Rika took the donut.

She bit into the donut, letting out a smile of bliss. “Delicious!” She noticed Naako’s gaze. Then, she held out the donut to Naako and said, “Naako should eat it too.”

Naako looked at Rika for a moment to check if she heard correctly. Then, she took a bite from the donut as well.

The two of them shared the donut, enjoying the sugary sweet.

Before they knew it, they had spent the whole afternoon eating with breaks in between for drinks and breathing. It was a feast, but by the time the sun set, the bag of food had run out, and it was getting cold.

The moon was up, and a wind blew a cloud over half of the moon. It was dark.

Rika shook from the cold. Naako moved closer to Rika on the dirty old mattress in order to share her warmth. They didn’t know what to do now.

Just as the two girls were about to cry from the situation, a sparkling ringing sound came from Rika’s bag.

The forgetful girl’s head was blank for a moment before she realized that it was her phone. Fumbling around with her cold hands, she dug out her phone and found that her mother was calling her.

Naako’s phone rang as well, and Naako picked up the call as well.

Rika picked up her mother’s call, one hand holding the phone, the other holding Naako’s hand for warmth.

“Mom?” Rika asked to make sure the caller.

Her mother replied, “Rika, where are you?”

“I-I fell down a hole, and I don’t know how to get out...”

“Where are you?”

“Um, near the Hori Bakery.”

“Have you called the police?”

Rika and her mother talked. Rika realized how foolish she had been, forgetting her phone. Had she called the police right away, then she wouldn’t have been stuck in a hole for hours.

Naako came to the same conclusion from her own phone call.

The two girls stuck in the hole sighed, laughing at their own foolishness. Then, they called the police. Within minutes, people would come to pick them up and finally send them home.

“We’re finally getting out.” Naako said.

Rika nodded, “I’m glad to go home.”

Both girls started at the same time, ““But-””

They exchanged looks and giggled. Rika finished her sentence, “I’m glad I met you.”

“Me too.”


« Last Edit: January 16, 2018, 12:13:15 AM by Shinoki »

Offline four4four

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Re: Eccentric (TechiNeru +) [Checkpoint 22.5 + 23 + OS (Jan. 05, 2018)]
« Reply #79 on: January 06, 2018, 03:37:45 PM »
Fuyuka showing why she's the most popular among the members. :lol:

What was Yuuka about to send Akanen? I get the feeling it was her true feelings and what kind of deal she made with the devil. :cry:
Gaaah!  :angry: This cousin needs to stop. He's in the way of YuukaNen! I foretell something ruining his life like what he did to Yuuka's family.

Of course Berika would forget that she could have called for help. XD
It was cute that Naako joined her. There should be a sequel. :P

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