So, this is the point where I apologize for not updating for the last two weeks or so. Ahhhh! I'm sorry! This is the official (finally) end of Yuuka's arc, meaning I can finally put that label on, and this update will also have some one-shots attached. Really, I'm sorry for the wait. This is a light update too. Ah...
@Minami-chan: Thank you for reading! TechiNeru's strange entrance. Well, the secrets behind that might be covered in a future interlude, but in case I don't cover it. The truth is, they just overslept.
@mooza: Huhu, TechiNeru is great.
@four4four: The journey of Aoi... tomorrow... Tomorrow, it'll start. I tell myself I'll write it now.
Interlude 5
At the first moment that Yonetani Nanami met Nagahama Neru, she felt that she couldn’t be friends with the girl. Even with that awkward and guilty smile that appeared on the late arrival’s face, Yone couldn’t like Neru.
After that first quiz that the class took after Neru’s arrival, Yone felt even more wary about Neru. The organism-loving girl’s first impression of the new girl was just a gut reaction, but after the quiz, a prideful part of her felt upset to have tied with someone on first place.
Yone and Neru talked, introducing themselves to each other, calling each other ‘Yonetani-san’ and ‘Nagahama-san’ somewhat awkwardly.
Yone let the words out of her mouth, “I don’t think I can get along with you.”
“Oh…” Neru deflated.
Even though Yone wanted to convey her feelings directly to not hide away her distrust, she felt a little bad, “Nagahama-san, sorry.”
“No, it’s okay, Yonetani-san.”
When Neru went back toward Yurina, Yone couldn’t help but watch after the new girl. She kept feeling like she had been too harsh. When Neru was accused of theft and antagonized by Risa, Yone couldn’t stand up for her at all.
Yet, in the end, Neru proved herself to be a good person, getting stabbed protecting her new classmates during a confrontation with the real thief.
Yone watched as Risa later talked to Neru and added the girl to the class LINE. The organism-loving girl sighed. She hadn’t talked to Neru since her original declaration of incompatibility, but somehow, even the slightly delinquent-like Watanabe managed to get past her original misgivings.
The softer Watanabe, Berika, noticed Yone’s expression and asked, “Yone, are you okay?”
“Yea.”
“You should talk with her.”
Yone wondered why she was getting this advice from Berika of all people. Yet, she couldn’t deny that the simplest thing to do was to talk with Neru, get to know the other girl better.
The library was quiet. It was about a week after Neru had gotten stabbed. Yone browsed through the reference books, searching for some math books. Although the Keyaki class was very loose on homework assignments, the girls had still been assigned some.
Yone got her math book and walked over to the tables when she noticed Neru sitting and studying as well. Neru still had a bandage over her hand.
“Hey, can I sit here?” Yone spoke.
Neru nodded, a little surprised, “Oh, go ahead, Yonetani-san.”
Together, they worked silently. It was awkward, and Yone kept taking glances at Neru reading. No matter how much time passed, neither one spoke to the other.
Even as Yone realized that she forgot her eraser and Neru lent her own to Yone, they didn’t really talk at all.
Neru was about to say something, “U-”
However, Yone coincidentally started as well, “Na-”
Both girls fumbled over their words, gesturing for the other to speak first. In the end, neither ended up speaking. Quiet reigned their section of the library work space until they had to return to the dorms.
As Yone entered the dorm room, she received a message from Nagasawa Nanako. Reading it, she couldn’t help but let out a sigh.
Then, the organism loving girl had a revelation, “Wait… am I worse at communication than Berika?”
As Yone found herself somehow always skirting around a proper talk with Neru, she didn’t know how to feel when Tsuchida-sensei paired her up with Neru for gym class on a whim. They were doing stretches.
“Nagahama-san… Hi.” Yone greeted Neru.
Neru greeted Yone, “Hi, Yonetani-san.”
Their greetings were so terrible that Risa sent a sharp look of ‘what in the world’ toward them, to which her partner, the other Watanabe, quietly made her stop.
Neru and Yone started doing partner stretches. They were quiet. It was like a repeat of the recent library experience all over again, but it was in gym class instead of a library.
Yone asked, “How’s your hand?”
“It’s getting better.” Neru responded, waving her injured hand a little.
Yone sighed, “...I’m sorry.”
Neru raised her eyebrows in confusion, “You don’t need to apologize for anything? It’s not like you stabbed me.”
“No, no, not for that.” Yone shook her head, “It’s… um… what I said back then.”
“It’s okay. I was the suspicious new girl, so…”
“That doesn’t make what I said okay. You’re really nice, and I judged you before I even knew you. I’m really sorry.”
“I forgive you for it.”
“...but…”
“How about you treat me to something as an apology? Then, everything can be good.”
Yone reluctantly agreed, “Okay.”
They finished up their stretches, still communicating clumsily, but it was a start. Yone hoped that one day, they would be able to become friends.
—Enemies to friends, and friends to enemies.
“Do you want a bite?”
“No, it’s okay.”
Knock, knock. A cool, early summer night found Yonetani Nanami knocking at her friends’ door. From the inside of the dorm room, Neru opened the door and welcomed Yone in.
“Yone-san, thanks for coming.” Neru’s roommate, Yurina, greeted Yone.
Neru asked Yone as she led the organism loving girl to the place in their dorm room where they were ready to spend a night studying, “Do you want some tea? We have snacks prepared already.”
A pile of notebooks, textbooks, and practice problems stood next to some snacks and juice boxes. Yurina was reluctant to sit down, wanting to run away from the evil studying, but with the class’s top scorers next to her, looking at her earnestly, the short haired girl couldn’t do anything else but condemn herself to looking at those incomprehensible equations on paper.
Yone smiled as she saw Yurina’s expression.
“Yurina-chan, let’s do our best.” Neru said.
The short haired girl nodded, “Yea.”
Watching the roommates’ exchange, Yone had a feeling that there was something strange going on. However, she also felt oddly relaxed at the harmony between them.
Yone wondered aloud, “What are we studying tonight?”
Neru responded, “The first test is history, right? We should probably start there.”
They retrieved the history books from the pile and laid them out, ready to study. From there, the three girls spent the night chatting, eating snacks, and studying. By the time Yone left to go back to her own room, Yone felt exhausted from laughing and smiling even though she should felt exhausted from studying instead.
<YUUKA> fin
To be continued...
Perhaps it's weird to end an arc there. However, Yone's interlude really does drop in with the time frame of Yuuka's arc. Don't think too much about it? Tehehe?
One-shots this time include: Really gay MonaRisa, Monta needs to throw chestnuts at Dani, letters from Yuichanzu.
Steal Your HeartRed lasers showed up in the phantom thief’s eyes, making a web of security around the glass case holding the large diamond. The museum was dark. The footsteps of the security guard were silent, the flashlight wielding person having missed the thief and already moved onto watching over another part of the building.
The thief slinked through the laser web like a cat and reached the case. Taking out a special tool, she stealthily lifted the case, removing the diamond and replacing it with a fake. That would suffice for when the security guard came back.
She tugged the diamond into her pouch and snickered to herself. Yet another success for the Phantom Thief Mona. Tucking her calling card into a corner that would only be searched when morning came and the staff found out about the theft, the thief started to leave.
That was when the lights turned on, white flooding into her eyes.
The detective, Watanabe Risa, ran into the room with a Hirate-Nagahama police pair, “Stop right there, Mona! You’re under arrest!”
“Faster than usual, Risa-sama.” Mona gave the trio a cat-like smirk behind her black masquerade mask.
“You’ve been caught this time. I’ll have you give back everything you’ve stolen.”
“Okay, okay. I surrender.” Mona began raising her black gloved hands in defeat. That was when she suddenly dropped a pair of smoke bombs. “Just kidding.”
Smoke filled the room temporarily. A grappling hook attached to a string went flying up to a ceiling support near a window, and as the smoke cleared, the thief was already on her way up to the window.
Mona crouched near the ledge of the window, casually retrieving a tool from her pouch and broke through the window, exiting onto the roof of the museum. She felt that it was a shame that she couldn’t see the adorable look of frustration that must have appeared on Risa’s face at the thief’s victory, but there were more chances to rile up the detective.
The thief noticed the law enforcement trio hurrying to get up to the rooftop, but she was already on the roof. She sighed, tapping on her headset and looking up to the clear night sky.
In that moment, a helicopter appeared. The ladder unravelled down to Mona, and the thief quickly started up the ladder to get into the helicopter. At the same time, Risa reached the roof, panting, her hair slightly disheveled from her rush.
Mona found the redness on Risa’s cheeks to be rather cute.
“Stop right there!” Risa called out. “Receive your punishment!”
“I’d be willing to be punished by you… in the bedroom, but I guess I’d rather punish you instead.” Mona grinned as she made her getaway on the helicopter. She blew a kiss to the detective, “Adieu, until later. Maybe I’ll steal your heart next.”
Shida Manaka walked on the warm sidewalks, yawning lightly to herself. Last night was a fun time, stealing a diamond and all. No one recognized her in her civilian outfit, but her grand heist last night was plastered all over the news. She reached a small little coffee shop owned by her friend, Kobayashi Yui or Yuipon, who was actually her accomplice and helicopter pilot.
Ring-a-ling. Manaka entered the shop.
To her surprise, at the counter, there was a police pair already there. Yuipon looked a bit troubled, and the accomplice girl shot Manaka a look and mouthed, ‘Help me.’
Manaka casually sauntered over to the counter and took her own seat. The police pair was the detective, Watanabe Risa, and another investigator by the name of Oda Nana who fell in love with Yuipon two weeks ago. The thief was surprised to see her not-really-nemesis, but she knew that as long as she acted natural, Risa wouldn’t realize who she was.
“Yuipon, what’s up.” Manaka greeted Yuipon.
Yuipon shrugged, “Nothing much. What do you want to order?”
“Some black coffee.” The thief replied. She noticed Risa’s curious gaze and wanted more attention from the detective.
Yuipon commented but proceeded to start a pot anyways, “That’s unusual.”
“But anyways, how was it last night? You know… between you and Zuumin.” Manaka winked, laughing innerly, “Neighbors didn’t complain? Zuumin on top? I bet you two went at it for the who-”
Oda Nana deflated and blushed before deflating again at the thief’s words. Half of it was actually a lie since Yuipon was helping with criminal activity the night before, but the other half was something up to the imagination.
“Stop talking about that!” Yuipon sputtered, embarrassed, causing Oda Nana to deflate even more.
Risa gave Manaka’s antics a small smile as she rubbed the half-dead Oda Nana’s back. The detective coolly sipped her coffee and looked at the thief out of disguise, wondering why Manaka seemed so familiar.
“You’re familiar with Kobayashi-san. Maybe you can convince Oda Nana to stop being a stalker.” Risa chatted up Manaka. “What’s your name?”
“Shida Manaka. How about you, detective?” Manaka asked. She felt that it was funny that as a thief and detective, they had known each other for three years now, but this was the first time that they’d introduced themselves outside of a heist situation.
“Watanabe Risa.”
“Hey, coffee’s ready.” Yuipon interrupted the conversation by placing down a cup of black coffee in front of Manaka.
Manaka picked up the cup and started drinking her coffee. Rather, she tried. Firstly, it was hot. Secondly, it was bitter. Taking just one drop of it in her mouth, she stuck her tongue out and grumbled that it was bitter and too hot. Thus, she asked Yuipon for sugar and cream, turning it into a milky drink with some coffee flavoring.
Risa smiled.
In the backroom of a villain’s lair, a certain conversation occurred. It wasn’t as much a lair as a normal condo. It wasn’t a backroom as much as the kitchen. Nonetheless, a conversation was occurring.
“I’m in love.”
“That’s great.”
“No, I’m seriously in love.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Yuipon, don’t treat me like Oda Nana.”
“Why don’t you just kidnap her? You always say things like that when we’re in the middle of escaping.”
The sky was a bit cloudy that night. Phantom Thief Mona hit the art auction auctioning off a highly valuable painting, and as soon as the police got news of that, Watanabe Risa was on the scene. To her surprise, the painting was unmoved, and even with the testing from an expert who had been brought along, it looked like the main item of interest hadn’t been stolen.
Thus, the group that was trying to find Mona headed out on a search and patrol. A small group was left around the painting, and the detective headed off on a patrol as well.
Walking alone in the dark with only a flashlight, Risa felt a chill run up her spine. There was no one around, which made her wonder if the thief was really going to come. She shook her head. It was better for Mona not to come since crime was a bad thing, but Risa had a bit of a soft spot for the thief.
Another cat-like girl also popped up in the detective’s mind as she pondered about her rival. Recently, she had become somewhat close to a girl named Shida Manaka who she met in a coffee shop. Risa didn’t usually stop by there, but she had gone because of her friend Oda Nana’s urgings. Now, she was a bit of a regular, although the main goal wasn’t the coffee.
Suddenly, Risa heard a swoosh behind her.
“Mo-” The detective turned and found Mona.
The thief kissed her index finger and put it on Risa’s lips to silence Risa, “Sorry, Risa-sama, I’m stealing you away this time.”
Before the detective could say anything else, the thief tied Risa up with a funny contraption and tied a soft cloth around Risa’s mouth to make sure that the detective didn’t make any loud sounds. More than anything, Risa was confused. Then, Mona knocked the detective out.
“You’ve really become a criminal this time. When you said you were getting the big prize…”
Watanabe Risa woke up slightly uncomfortable. She wasn’t in a damp, dark cave. Rather, she was in a nice room. However, she was also stuck on a chair, her wrists tied together with cloth that also tied to the chair.
“You’re awake, Risa-sama.” A voice spoke.
Risa noticed the thief, “Mona…? What? Wait, you kidnapped me.”
“Yes, I did.”
“Why?”
Mona took a seat on Risa’s lap, draping over the detective like a cat, playing with Risa’s short hair. Breathing in the thief’s scent, Risa felt herself get a little embarrassed; she could also feel the thief’s warmth. This was the closest they’d ever gotten.
“Mona?”
“I wanted to have you.”
The detective was wordless.
“I’m a thief. If I want something, then I steal it. Isn’t that how it works?” Mona explained, “I wanted to steal you away, so I did. Isn’t that fine?”
“You do know that stealing is a crime, right? Kidnapping is even worse.” Risa sighed.
“Yea.”
“Geez…”
“You have pretty hair, Risa.”
“I guess I use nice shampoo.” Risa blushed as Mona continued to play with her hair,“You smell nice too.”
At those words, the thief also got a little embarrassed.
Risa asked, “Can you untie my hands?”
Unexpectedly, the thief undid the cloth that was holding Risa’s wrists. Despite acting cool and aloof sometimes, Mona seemed eager to please. She didn’t get off from Risa’s lap and gave Risa a smile.
The thief leaned in for a quick kiss. Risa didn’t reject it, so Mona felt giddy with excitement.
“I like you.” Smiling brightly, the thief asked, “Can I steal your heart away?”
She went for another kiss. Slipping in a bit of tongue into Risa’s mouth, the thief felt her mask brush against Risa’s face. Hearing the detective’s soft moan, Mona’s mind went into overdrive. They only stopped kissing for air.
“Stealing my heart away…” Risa murmured, looking at the thief with mixed feelings.
The thief came in for another kiss, and she began to unbutton Risa’s top. Kissing deeply and barely coming up for breath, Mona’s heart raced. Her kisses began to trail down Risa’s jaw, to the detective’s pure collarbone where the thief decided to nibble, eliciting soft groans.
In a way, the detective would have like to lose herself in a night with the thief, wrapping her arms around Mona. However, she grew more and more aware of the mask covering Mona’s face even as a haze covered her mind.
“Stop.” Risa said.
Mona stopped in her actions, freezing at the look on the detective’s face.
“Take off your mask, and… stop being a thief.” Risa stated.
“...I can’t.” Mona looked away. The cowardly part of her wasn’t ready to give up her secret identity, to make it so that Risa could arrest her for her previous crimes. She realized that they didn’t have enough trust between them.
“Then, I won’t give you my heart.” Risa pushed the thief away. She frowned, “What? Will you steal it away forcibly?”
“No…” Mona shook her head and she got up to leave. “I’ll just leave then. You can leave… whenever you want. The door’s unlocked.”
Kobayashi Yui sighed as she looked at her friend, Manaka, who had her head down on the counter of her coffee shop. Manaka’s eyes were puffy and red from crying. This wasn’t an unexpected outcome for the thief’s antics, but it was probably the first time in a while that Manaka had received a backlash for them.
Ring-a-ling. Someone entered the coffee shop.
Yuipon saw the detective who was always chasing Mona around enter. Risa had light bags under her eyes as if she hadn’t slept well, and she looked rather disoriented.
Risa took a seat next to Manaka at the counter, and she ordered a coffee from Yuipon. When the detective took a seat, the thief out of disguise twitched ever so slightly. However, Risa wasn’t in the condition to really think about that.
“Bad day?” Risa asked Manaka.
“Yea…” Manaka nodded.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“...I… I confessed to the person I like, but… I’m not dedicated enough. I don’t treasure her enough. I didn’t want to give up my bad habits, so…”
“That person… I don’t know about that person, but I think that you’re sweet. She should at least give you a chance.”
“Thanks.” Manaka averted her gaze, knowing that she was about to start crying again. She got up from her seat and ran away, “I-I have to leave now.”
The detective could only watch as the girl left the coffee shop. Risa wasn’t sure what she had done wrong, but she let out another sigh. Her ordered coffee had arrived. Thanking Yuipon for the coffee and paying for it, Risa lost herself in thoughts.
As Risa pondered to herself, from nowhere, a black envelope floated down next to her. The envelope had Phantom Thief Mona’s calling card on it.
Risa quickly opened it to read, and her expression straightened out to a determined one.
“I don’t understand her. Telling me this type of thing...”
Wind blew by on the rooftop. The sky was clear tonight, the moon a half of what it could be but still shining brightly. There were no clouds in sight, and even the stars that usually hid away due to the light pollution of the humans seemed to glitter lightly in the back.
Watanabe Risa walked onto the rooftop, and she spotted a masked figure at the other end. As she approached that figure, the figure, the thief, Mona, starting walking toward the detective as well. They stopped with a little less than two meters between them.
“I love you.” The thief greeted the detective.
Risa nodded, “I know.”
“You didn’t bring anyone else along. To arrest me.”
“This is a personal meeting. Even if we’re detective and thief, I’m putting that aside right now.” Risa boldly declared, “To be honest, I like you too.”
“Eh…?” Somehow, Mona got flustered.
“I like you, Manaka.”
“Risa…”
The detective walked up to the thief. She wrapped her arms around the thief’s neck and leaned in for a kiss. At some point, she removed the thief’s mask. “This time, let me steal your heart.”
Office LifeLunchtime in the office was a time for everyone to relax. The office workers either went out to grab a bite with their friends or ate their bentos at their cubicles. Suzumoto Miyu finished compiling a folder of important papers for an overseas project proposal and sent an email to her supervisor.
The short haired woman had recently cut her hair, prompting her co-workers to ask if she had a heartbreak occur, but this office lady didn’t have any romance in her life. She wore a normal suit, forgoing the classic office lady pencil skirt for pants. The heels on her shoes added onto her height. Once in a while, she put on glasses when she forgot her contact lenses, but all in all, she didn’t pretty herself up for romance and made herself presentable for her own pleasures only.
Suzumoto took out her homemade bento and said a word before starting to eat.
As Suzumoto’s cooking was always meticulously arranged, her co-workers would often drop by to filch a bite. It was the cutely cute octopus weiner side dish or the tamagoyaki. It could be a bit of soup from her thermos. It could even be the desserts that she would bring once in a while. However, it was never the chestnuts. No one touched the chestnuts.
“Miyu~” The worst offender of food-theft made her appearance, rolling over on her chair.
This was Oda Nana, constant stalker of the CEO Imaizumi’s secretary, Kobayashi Yui. To Suzumoto’s chagrin, Oda Nana was also her neighbor—both in Suzumoto’s apartment complex and in the cubicles of the office.
Oda Nana reached over to grab a piece of tamagoyaki, which was right next to Suzumoto’s beloved chestnuts. Suzumoto sent a sharp look toward Oda Nana for even daring to come near her chestnuts. Oda Nana didn’t notice Suzumoto’s look at all as she chewed the tamagoyaki happily.
“Miyu, you’re a great chef.” Oda Nana praised, “You’d be a great wife.”
Suzumoto replied half-heartedly, “Thanks.”
The two spent a few minutes eating quietly. Halfway through the meal, Suzumoto realized that Oda Nana was completely leeching off of her. She had gotten so used to this glutton next to her that the size of her bento had gradually increased to include a portion for Oda Nana. The increased chestnuts were still Suzumoto’s though.
As they were eating, the manager Ozeki popped in grinning, “We’re going out drinking tonight! Everyone’s free right?”
The people in the office at the moment made varying sounds of commitment. Suzumoto and Oda Nana nodded as well. After work drinking parties were just a part of office life. If someone didn’t go, they could miss out on a promotion. Although, in this company, missing the drinking party wasn’t a big deal.
Ozeki spotted Kobayashi Yui walking by, “How about Yuipon?”
Kobayashi shook her head with a smile, “Ah, sorry. I have plans tonight.”
Shida lazily snickered, sliding out on her office chair, sitting on it backwards, “Haha, probably spending the night with Imaizumi right? Enjoy yourselves.” She made a few suggestive movements with her hands.
“No comment.” Kobayashi replied somewhat flustered with an embarrassed expression on her face.
After Ozeki finished chatting up the office workers, she quickly left. Everyone knew that she was going out to chat with the tiny university student that worked part-time during later lunch hours at a food stand outside. The office workers had covertly promised each other that they would cover for their clumsy manager if she forgot to come back to work.
“Yuipon is so cute.” Oda Nana let out a longing sigh.
Suzumoto huffed at Oda Nana’s melting expression, “Treat me to a few drinks tonight in exchange for eating my food.”
“Okay, sure.” Oda Nana nodded, still looking toward Kobayashi’s direction dreamily.
“I’m holding you to that.”
“Hm, I got it.”
Knowing that she wouldn’t get a better response from the distracted Oda, Suzumoto went back to eating, somewhat annoyed. At least she had her chestnuts.
Work was out. Since the company had recently finished a large project, there wasn’t much of a need to pull all-nighters or extreme overtime hours. The office workers went out to a bar to grab a drink and some dinner, side dishes to go with the alcohol.
The sky became dark soon enough. The place that the workers were in was lit a yellow light, creating a drunk ambience. Everyone ordered their drinks and food and ate. Soon enough, they were just sipping at their alcohol and chatting.
The workers noticed that their manager Ozeki had only taken a sip or two of alcohol the whole night.
Habu asked, “Oze, you’re not drinking tonight?”
The manager’s eyes darted back and forth as she explained suspiciously, “Uhhh, actually, I have plans tonight.”
“You invited us out thou-” Shida who had been drinking suddenly made a realization, “Oh, I get it. A date. Our Oze-manager got a date! And she doesn’t want to be drunk!” Afterward, she started laughing, slapping the person next to her with laughter.
Oda Nana clapped, “Congratulations!”
“H-hey, cut it out.” Ozeki scratched the back of her head in embarrassment.
Shida gave Ozeki a thumbs-up after she finished laughing, “Congrats.”
“Thanks.” Ozeki smiled and returned the thumbs-up in the Ozeki style. “Yey.”
“When do you have to go?” Harada asked curiously.
“Actually… right now!” Ozeki jumped to her feet, nearly spilling over her drink in a panic, as she looked at her watch. She fumbled to put on her jacket and mumbled, “I hope Rina doesn’t get mad at me if I’m late…” Hurriedly, she left, “See you tomorrow!”
“See you.” Suzumoto said.
Everyone waved the manager goodbye. Once Ozeki left, they returned to chatting about random things and drinking.
Shida let out a sigh, ears red, signalling that she was drunk, “Young love. Ozeki’s romance. That’s cute.”
“You’re younger than Ozeki.” Suzumoto asked, sipping some chestnut flavored beer, “What, something wrong?”
“You know that Saitou Kyoko girl? Risa’s been mad at me since I apparently flirt with Saitou a lot.” Shida sighed, taking another gulp of alcohol, “I was just talking about ramen with her, you know? But I can’t go home right now.”
“Huh.” Suzumoto made a noise.
Moriya jabbed Shida and said, “You should just go home and apologize to Risa.”
Shida pouted, eyes becoming teary, “I don’t want to.” She wanted to make up with her wife, but she didn’t want to apologize.
“Hypnosis then?” One of the co-workers suddenly suggested.
“What’s with that?” Suzumoto asked, not believing in hypnosis.
The co-worker shrugged, taking out a coin on a string, “I found a cool thing online. Here, I have it in my pocket. Want me to show you?”
“Try it on Oda Nana.” Shida said offhandedly. “Tell her to kiss Monta.”
“Huh?” Oda Nana turned around in confusion upon hearing her name. She had been talking about the greatness of Kobayashi to Ishimori since Ishimori was too nice to tell her to shut up.
One way or another, Oda Nana ended up sitting watching her co-worker swing a coin in front of her eyes. Nothing seemed to happen. The co-worker laughed wryly and shrugged that the hypnosis item turned out to be a scam. The drinking party continued on.
By the time everyone was ready to head home, Shida was a sobbing drunk mess, clinging to Moriya and whining about wanting to make up with her wife. Oda Nana was half passed out on the table, mumbling something about ‘Yuipon.’ Suzumoto had enjoyed herself modestly.
“I’m going to take Manaka home.” Moriya took Shida and spoke to Suzumoto, “Suzumoto, you live next to Oda Nana, right?”
The chestnut loving office lady nodded, “I’ll take her home.”
With the power of a taxi and the elevator, Suzumoto Miyu somehow dragged Oda Nana home to her apartment. Suzumoto dug out Oda’s key from Oda’s pocket and entered Oda Nana’s apartment.
Dumping Oda Nana on the couch, Suzumoto was ready to leave. Just as she took on step, she found Oda Nana’s hand tugging on her sleeve not to leave.
Suzumoto said, “You’re awake? I left your keys on the table right in front of you.”
To Suzumoto’s surprise, Oda Nana mumbled, not letting go, “Miyu, don’t go.”
“It’s kind of late now. We still have to get up for work tomorrow morning.” Suzumoto shook her head, confused as to why she would stay.
“I like you.”
“Huh? The person you like is Kobayashi.”
“No, I like you.” Oda Nana flipped Suzumoto onto the couch, leaving the two girls in the situation where Oda Nana was pushing Suzumoto down on the couch. “I want to kiss you.”
“...you’re just hypnotized and drunk.” Suzumoto grumbled, pushing Oda Nana’s face away.
In a moment of Suzumoto slipping, Oda Nana gave Suzumoto a light kiss on the lips, “I like you, Miyu.”
Suzumoto was flustered, blushing. The co-worker with the coin on string said that once the hypnosis commanded deed was over, the person would snap out of the hypnosis. She hoped that Oda Nana would snap out of it soon.
Suzumoto said again, “You like Kobayashi.” She felt a small pang of jealousy at those words even though she didn’t like Oda Nana as far as she was concerned.
Oda Nana’s head jerked. A fog seemed to disappear from her eyes. She looked down at Miyu, realizing the situation, and she said, “I just kissed you…”
“Yes.”
“That was the hypnosis…”
“It was. Can you get off?”
“...I don’t want to.” Oda Nana shook her head. “Miyu, I like you.”
“What are you talking about?” Suzumoto’s voice came out robotically.
“You’re nice to me. You can cook. You’re cute. You’re hardworking. You’re a perfect wife.” Oda Nana began listing.
Suzumoto frowned, “But you still like Kobayashi.”
“I do like Yuipon… but…”
“That’s right.” Suzumoto laughed dryly.
“I only like her like I would like an idol.” Oda Nana fumbled through an explanation.
“Good night. See you tomorrow.” Suzumoto shook her head as she managed to slip through Oda Nana’s grasp, which had weakened.
She briskly walked out of Oda’s apartment. The chestnut loving woman felt her eyes tearing up as she stepped into the cool night air. Suzumoto entered her own apartment, closing the door behind her. She leaned on the wall weakly.
Her heart was pounding.
Then, she realized to herself. “I like Oda Nana too.”
"Are you well?"Are you well?
I’ve reached the Nogi port up north. The waters at this time of year are beautiful and crisp. The model Nishino was having a photoshoot, and I was lucky enough to be able to look. I got an autographed photo of her for you. She’s very pretty against the snowy backdrop, I think you would fit the scenery even better.
Wow! It’s white! Even if it’s with just that type of feeling, I think we should come visit here together.
I’m doing well. How are you?
Right now, it’s still summer in Keyakizaka. The waters are clear here too, but recently, we had a boat race through the water-streets. Otter-team, Techi and Memi, won the race, but The Cool were close behind. I wish you could have seen.
I ate something strange.
Deserts are weird. I got all fired up by myself listening to Kana-san’s music and ate a weird fruit. I thought I hallucinated a desert camel race, but apparently Dani went on vacation too, and Miyu-chan tagged along.
As expected, I’m weak with deserts. When I come home, let’s ride on the gondolas in the water together.
Are you okay?
I was wondering why Oda Nana wasn’t around. Akanen received a shipment of mikkabi mikans that were supposed to be for Oda Nana. In the end, Naako-chan ate them all. I took a picture.
I’m well.
I’m currently in the Toku forests, but I might have gotten myself a little injured. It’s okay! Don’t worry. Reading your letter and seeing the picture heals me. I want to meet with you again soon.
Your letter smelled like mikans. Yui, did you eat some too?
Please come home safe!
It’s been over a year since you left. The annual red-white festival has already come around again. It just doesn’t feel right without you here. One day, let’s stand on that stage together as Yuichanzu.
This year, the stage went down the streets as usual. I’m glad that our streets are actually canals here, but there was actually an incident. Since the stage was a big float rather than the usual boat-thing, it got stuck making a turn.
Suzumoto almost fell down, but Oda Nana caught her. Afterwards, Oda Nana said something weird.
I’m okay.
I got some good ideas for lyrics for a song. Let’s make a new song together. Since I haven’t been able to practice guitar for a while, I’m sorry if I’m not good when I come back home.
It’s okay. Are you well?
I only received your letter yesterday. I wonder if it got caught up in the mail. Don’t worry if you haven’t played guitar in a while. I’m not very good at guitar either, so let’s practice together. I want to sing together with you again soon.
Recently, Techi finally confessed to Memi. Since they confessed near the streets, they ended up falling into the water. They’re cute.
…
…
…
Um.
…
…
I love you.
Are you well?
I still haven’t received a reply. Has something happened? I’m worried.
Yui?
Zuumin?
Kobayashi Yui looked listlessly at the calendar on the wall. It was the anniversary of when she had met Imaizumi Yui. They had both been riding boats in the streets of Keyakizaka, singing when they met each other. The boats collided lightly, throwing Imaizumi off balance into Kobayashi’s embrace, and the two girls ultimately fell into the water, getting soaked.
Imaizumi, or Zuumin, had gone off on a journey two years ago for a reason she hadn’t explained. Kobayashi, or Yuipon, eventually learned that it was for health reasons, to visit the various famous healers around the world. Even so, the two Yuis didn’t talk about that.
Instead, they exchanged letters about what was happening around them.
Yuipon waited patiently for Zuumin to come home to her. What she wanted the most was a happy, healthy Zuumin. Yet, at some point in the course of their letter exchanges, Zuumin stopped replying. Yuipon worried and worried over what could have happened to Zuumin.
Even if Yuipon put on a cool front, she could help but hope for the best for the girl she loved. She developed bags under her eyes from her anxious awaiting.
As she looked at the calendar on the wall, Yuipon grew tired and set her head down. Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.
She felt a warm feeling in the darkness. Then, there was a soft feeling on her cheek. Wanting to keep hold of that warmth, Yuipon slowly opened her eyes and grabbed onto whoever was there.
Yuipon’s eyes widened as she saw the familiar girl, her hand still not loosening from its grip on the girl’s shirt.
“Are you well?” Zuumin greeted Yuipon with a smile, “You looked tired. I’m sorry for worrying you.” Zuumin looked healthy and healed.
“Zuumin…” Yuipon’s words were lost on herself as she could only say Zuumin’s name.
“I’m home.”
“Welcome home!”