Eccentric (TechiNeru+) <DROPPED> - Thank You For Reading, a Summary

[MaYukiIsLife]

I have a feeling the person who bumped into Sugai-sama was the one who did it. If she pulled the finger at Nen, then there must be something they're hiding.

[RyoZakiji]

yeah theres a possibility that the girl is the one who did it, and techi saw something in the bushes i wonder what is it.... 
waiting for update 

[Shinoki]

Checkpoint 11

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Hirate Yurina looked at the soundless clock in the front of the classroom with sullen eyes. The lights seemed dimmer than usual, and the blinds were over the windows as well.

She heard the whispers of her classmates as they talked about crime and punishments. They talked about theft. They talked about Neru. Yurina let her bangs cover her eyes as she tried to ignore the voices.

They were whispering so loudly that it sounded like someone was screaming, that she couldn’t tell whose voice it was. Whispers. Whispers. Whispers. Whisper—

She couldn’t stand it. When she looked behind her to look at the class, she heard more whispers, louder whispers. Yurina couldn’t tell if they were screams, whose screams they were, or if she was just pretending that she couldn’t hear the voice.

“Who did it?” Someone asked.

Another person asked again, “Who did it?”

Yurina shook her head.

“Who killed him?”

The short haired girl shook her head again with more force. The crime wasn’t a murder. It was a theft. She told herself. She tried to ignore the voices, blocking out the sound even as the words of “who killed him” turned into “you killed him” in her ears.

Then, she saw a familiar face ask, “Was it Yurina-chan?”

—It was a nightmare, just a nightmare.

Hirate Yurina had woken up early in the morning. She couldn’t sleep, so she decided to head to the school building early. Luckily, her roommate Neru was still asleep, so the short haired girl left a note in the dorm and exited.

The only people up and coming to school at this hour were members of competitive sports clubs doing their morning practices. Even then, there weren’t many people at school yet.

After dropping off her bag in the classroom, Yurina walked to the back of the school where the out of place vending machine she had went to before was.

She rustled through the bush that she had looked at before, and there she found the object she had seen last time was still there. Making sure that no one was around, Yurina picked up the black rectangle.

It was a black binder, and underneath, there was something that she hadn’t seen the first time. There was a bag with a familiar looking uniform inside.

First, she took a closer look at the black binder. It didn’t take long for her to figure out what it was; the binder was the stolen grade book.

Putting the grade book aside, she then reached for the bag with the uniform. For some reason, there was a copy of the Keyaki class uniform stashed away in such an obscure corner of the school.

Yurina thought to herself, ‘Was this stolen? Who does this belong to?’

Opening the bag, she noticed another two things inside with the uniform. One was a long, black wig. The other was a card. Her suspicions of these items belonging to the thief were evident by the thinking look on her face.

She took out the card and read it aloud, “Fashion club outfit borrowing rules…” The card was from the fashion club. “Keyaki class uniform.” The uniform was a replica borrowed from said club, and it was due back by the end of today. “Borrower…” There was a name at the bottom of the card, the name of the person who borrowed the uniform and that person’s classroom.

Although Yurina didn’t recognize the name, she could at least conclude that the person who stole the grade book was a normal student, not one of her classmates.

The short haired girl thought to herself for a few minutes. Even though she found the thief, she needed a way to take the thief in. If she just gave the items to the teacher, she wasn’t sure if the teacher would believe her. That was why she needed a plan.

“Ah…” She let out a small voice. Yurina smiled.

—Let’s take in the culprit.

The afternoon bell rang. The school day was over, and Hirate Yurina got up from her seat. She walked up to Neru and gestured. They were going to catch the thief, and Yurina had told Neru about the plan beforehand.

Together, the roommates walked through the school hallways to an empty classroom that no one had classes in.

Yurina went to a desk in the corner of the room and took out the bag with the uniform and wig as well as the grade book. Making sure she had what she needed in her pocket, she looked at the clock and waited. There were seven more minutes until the culprit was scheduled to show up.

Neru asked, “Yurina-chan, will this be okay? This is the grade book, right?”

“Hopefully, the plan will work out.” Yurina replied.

“Okay. I trust in you, so let’s catch the culprit.”

The door to the classroom opened and closed. Yurina’s eyes widened just a tiny bit with surprise. Watanabe Risa and Shida Manaka had entered the classroom.

—Interruption.
“Hey, are you two the culprits?”

When class ended, Shida Manaka eyed her roommate, Risa who was glancing in the direction of Nagahama Neru. Manaka and Risa’s friend group plus Nijika who had recently been hanging out with Fuyuka were staying in the classroom after school for a while to chat and play cards.

Manaka felt unease in her heart as she looked at her roommate. When she saw that Risa saw Neru and Yurina get up to leave, Manaka noticed Risa get up from her seat as well.

The cool Watanabe casually said, “I’m going to the bathroom.”

“Bye.” Fuyuka replied.

“Come back quickly,” Akane added, “I have club practice after this.”

The friends easily accepted that Risa was going to the bathroom even though Manaka felt that those words were a blatant lie. Without thinking, Manaka stood up from her seat as well.

Hurrying after Risa, Manaka blurted out, “I’m going to the bathroom too.” Even if that looked uncool, she couldn’t be bothered with that at the moment.

She went out into the hallway where Risa was and quickly went to Risa’s side. Risa gave Manaka an odd look but shrugged, continuing what she was doing without trying to pretend or shoo her roommate away.

The pair was tailing Yurina and Neru.

Manaka thought about reaching out to hold Risa’s hand, but when she looked at Risa, she saw that Risa was only looking in Neru’s direction. Thus, Manaka didn’t hold Risa’s hand.

They stopped in front of the classroom that Yurina and Neru had entered. The cool pair peeked at what their classmates were doing in the empty classroom. To their surprise, they found that Yurina had a black binder, something that looked like the gradebook.
Risa narrowed her eyes in suspicion, still watching.

“Did they steal it?” Manaka muttered.

Risa replied, “Let’s find that out.”

Without much thought, the cool Watanabe took Manaka’s hand and opened the door to the classroom. She entered the classroom and closed the door behind her, giving Yurina and Neru a suspicious look.

“Hey, are you two the culprits?” Risa drawled.

—Accusations.
—Sometimes things don’t go according to plan.

This chapter took longer to write than expected. Sorry for the delay. I wrote one version but decided to rewrite it to this instead. Although the culprit was going to be revealed in this chapter, it looks like you'll have to wait one more chapter. Since tomorrow is Friday, I should be able to get the next checkpoint out then. Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed!

@MaYukiIsLife: I wonder if I should reveal the culprit now? That would be spoilers though. Thanks for commenting!
@RyoZakiji: Sorry for the delay. I'm glad you're curious about the mystery. Techi has found the grade book and a disguise in the bushes, and she's made a plan. What that plan is? That will be revealed soon enough.

NEXT CHAPTER

[RyoZakiji]

ara~ the Zakuuru appear and make the plan failed lol,, i think i get what the plan really is 
Well waiting for update   

[MaYukiIsLife]

I also have a faint feeling of what the plan could be, but I also have a feeling someone else in the Keyaki class will ruin it...

[Shinoki]

@RyoZakiji: What did you think the plan was? I'm curious~ Thank you for commenting! The next checkpoint should explain some of the intricacies of the plan, but let's see what happens first in this chapter.
@MaYukiIsLife: Thank you for commenting~ Will the plan work out to your predictions? You'll have to read to find out. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Checkpoint 12

Hirate Yurina frowned as she saw her two classmates enter the empty classroom. “We didn’t steal anything.” She put her hand on the grade book and said, “We’re going to catch the culprit.”

Risa raised an eyebrow sarcastically, “And that binder isn’t suspicious?”

“It’s bait.”

“Bait. That’s the excuse?”

Manaka interjected bitterly, “Risa, let’s just see how their plan works out, okay?” She gripped Risa’s hand tightly before drawing her hand away from her roommate.

Risa paused for a moment before replying, “Fine.”

There was silence in the room for a moment. Yurina looked up at the clock in the unused classroom and made sure again she had what she needed in her pocket. The culprit was supposed to come soon.

She glanced over to the cool pair and back to the clock. Their interruption could possibly throw off her plan.

Click. Then, she heard a hand on the classroom door from the hallway. The thief was here.

The door opened, and an unruly looking normal student with short hair and piercings walked into the room. She looked a bit taken aback at seeing four Keyaki class members in the room, but she recovered a sense of bravado and sent the girls a mean glare, closing the door behind her.

Yurina spoke the girl’s name and asked, “Aren’t you looking for something, A-san?”

“Y-Yea, give it back.” The student scowled, walking toward Yurina. She started hesitantly, but seeing the other three girls not saying anything, the normal student regained her confidence.

“What do you want? The grade book you took from the staff room? Yurina picked up a black binder to show the student.

“What do you want?”

“Did you steal this?”

“Tch.” The student growled, “What proof do you have?”

Yurina set the binder down on a nearby desk and picked up the card, “For example, this card from the fashion club with your name on it. And the clothes you borrowed, a Keyaki class uniform replica and a wig.”

“That! Give it back!”

“So, you stole it after all.”

“Ah…” The unruly student stepped back, realizing that she had given herself away. She grinded her teeth upset. “Tch.” After a moment of quiet, with her hands balled in frustration, she spat, “Yea, yea. I stole it.”

“I see.”

“Yea, I stole the stupid book! I hate you Keyaki class girls, thinking you’re so great or something!” The student burst out in anger. She pushed Yurina, tearing the card with her name out of Yurina’s hand and grabbing the black binder off the desk.

Yurina stumbled back a little, caught by Watanabe Risa.

Yurina got to her feet and calmly asked again, “So, you stole it.”

“Yea, I stole it.” The normal student smirked despite being caught. “But you don’t have any proof anymore. I have the card and the grade book, so f**k the Keyaki class.”

“Yes, but they’re fakes.”

“What…?”

“The card is just a random paper of the same color I had in my pocket, and the grade book? I took the contents out of the binder and replaced it with white paper.”

The thief flipped through the binder, eyes wide as she realized what Yurina said was true. “D*mmit!” She cursed, throwing the binder and the fake card to the ground.

“Can I ask why you stole it?”

“‘Cause I hate you stuck-up girls! Just because you’re in an elite class in an elite school doesn’t make you anything special! Fan club? What a joke! What makes you better than me!? Especially that Moriya and her group!”

Yurina nodded, wondering what exactly Akane had done to offend the culprit.

“B-but, you still can’t pin this on me just because I happened to borrow something!” The thief desperately yelled.

“Actually, I can.” Yurina said, voice steady and calm as it had been for the whole conversation. She reached into her pocket and retrieve a small recording device. “You confessed, A-san.”

The blood drained from the thief’s face. She was visibly shaking. “F**k.” She cursed, stepping back weakly.

“It would be simplest if you just went to the teacher and owned up to your theft. He said he would be more lenient if you confessed.”

“A-as if I could do that! You’re such a goody-two shoes!”

Yurina didn’t say anything to that accusation although she disagreed vehemently in her heart.

“I-I… There’s no way I’m going to let this happen…” The culprit muttered to herself, fumbling around in her pockets for something.

The next thing the four Keyaki girls knew, the thief had a pocket knife in her hand and was charging at the nearest person to her in a last ditch attempt to get some sort of victory. That nearest person was Shida Manaka.

—A knife. Who killed him?
“Manaka!”
—A loss dragging down a loss into a hell of losses.

Stab. The culprit shakily dropped her knees, hands letting go of the knife as she realized what she did. She glanced up at the girl she stabbed, and she realized, she had lost.

“Neru!”

Watanabe Risa’s eyes widened in shock as she saw the thief come toward Manaka with a knife, yet she couldn’t reach Manaka in time. The thief was too close, and Risa realized that she was somehow too far away.

She wanted to squeeze shut her eyes. She couldn’t bear to see her roommate hurt.

Before Risa realized what was going on, Neru ran in front of Manaka, grabbing the thief’s knife in her hand. Risa needed a moment to comprehend that Neru had protected Risa when Risa couldn’t do it.

Even though the thief had fallen to the ground, giving up, Risa was stuck in her realization that Neru wasn’t a villain. In fact, Neru was a good person, a complete oddball who would take a knife for a classmate. Risa thought to herself, ‘Nagahama is strange, but… I was wrong about her.’

Yurina ran over to Neru and began to fuss over the wound. She made a conflicted face and then said, “I’m getting the teacher.” She exited the classroom, disregarding the thief.

Risa walked over to Manaka and asked, “Are you okay?”

“I’m okay.” Manaka replied.

Then, Risa turned to Neru who was standing awkwardly, trying to ignore the pain in her stabbed hand. “Sorry for doubting you. I was wrong.”

“Ah, it’s okay.” Neru replied, not knowing what to say.

“No, really, I’m sorry.” Risa pursed her lips. “You’re a good person, Nagahama. Thank you for protecting Manaka.”

“...Then, let’s become friends from now on.”

“That’s fine. Friends.”

—What makes up human relationships?

NEXT CHAPTER

[RyoZakiji]

"—A knife. Who killed him?
          “Manaka!”
—A loss dragging down a loss into a hell of losses."

I thought Techi will be the one who will be stab, i'm wrong lol..

And A-san i'm the culprint same description but she's like techi in Zankoku always saying F*ck 

About the plan i though Techi will use camera to capture the culprint but nahhh... I'm wrong again   

Anyway, Waiting for the next upadate  :

[MaYukiIsLife]

The outsider does a good deed to someone who initially doubted her....  but that scene with the knife instantly made me think of that one scene in Tokuyama Daigoro wo Koroshita ka, where Risa did the same thing for Neru.

I'm happy Risa apologised to Neru. Even though Neru came in different circumstances to everyone else, she should at least be treated the same as everyone else. And I'm happy this is the start of change... right?

[Shinoki]

Checkpoint 13

It was late afternoon, and even the students who stayed after school for club practice were heading home or to their dorms. Hirate Yurina walked beside her roommate, glancing at Neru’s bandaged hand.

After the short haired girl retrieved a teacher, the thief was taken away along with the evidence. Although the case of the theft was quickly solved with so much laid out in front of the staff, the four Keyaki girls were scolded for not telling a responsible adult and instead taking the matter into their own hands. Just like that, in a whirlwind, the grade book theft case was resolved.

The ‘+1000’ points on the bracelet was just further proof of the resolution.

Yet, Yurina felt that she had messed up badly. Originally, having found the items in the bush, she decided to leave a note for the culprit to meet her in an unused classroom. There had been a chance that the culprit wouldn’t come, but Yurina had bet on the chance that the culprit would discover the note and come to the classroom given that the fashion club outfit was supposed to be returned today.

During the confrontation with the culprit, Yurina was supposed to get Neru to run off and call a teacher so that the culprit would be caught confessing, but in the actual event, that didn’t happen. Instead, Neru got stabbed.

Neru spoke, bringing the short haired girl out of her thoughts, “Yurina-chan?”

“Neru?” Yurina replied.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, but… I got you hurt. Sorry.”

“It’s okay. You couldn’t have predicted that the thief would have a knife.”

Yurina nodded. She looked at Neru who held out her unbandaged hand, her non-dominant left hand.

“Let’s hold hands.”

“Sure.”

The short haired girl took her roommate’s hand. She noticed that Neru’s hand was slightly trembling. It was warm, and Yurina protectively held that hand.

“...it was a bit scary. But I’m glad we managed to catch her.”

“Yea.” Yurina nodded. “Next time, I’ll protect you.”

“It’s okay. Hopefully, there isn’t a next time.”

Holding hands the whole way, Neru and Yurina returned to their dorms.

—I am unable to take on your pain.

The class LINE group was bustling, many of the girls joining in, asking about what had happened to make them suddenly receive 1000 points. Watanabe Risa looked at her phone, briefly typing an explanation.

“Hirate caught the culprit. It was a normal Sakamichi student. Manaka and I were there.” Risa posted.

Manaka added, “Neru got stabbed. She protected me.”

Then, a huge influx of questions appeared.

“Details, details!”

“There was a knife?”

“I knew it wasn’t Neru.”

“You okay?”

“Neru okay?”

“Why?”

“A normal student?”

“Techi!”

“Why doesn’t Techi have a phone?”

“Neru’s not in the group either.”

“Risa?”

“Mona?”

“Explanation, please.”

Risa put her phone down on her desk. She looked over to her roommate Manaka who had also set her phone down. The two of them were in their dorm room, still a bit of time left before they usually ate dinner with their friends.

The cool Watanabe saw that her roommate looked a little down, but she couldn’t tell why.

Then, Manaka met Risa’s eye, looking away after a short glance. She bit her lower lip, feeling that she shouldn't ask, but in the end, she opened her mouth and asked Risa, “Do you like Nagahama?”

“I don’t dislike her now.” Risa replied, “She’s good.”

“I see.” Manaka looked down at her lap. “Yea, Nagahama is a nice girl.”

The two were silent for a moment. Risa looked toward Manaka who was looking away. The cool Watanabe pondered on what exactly was going through her roommate’s head, wondering if Manaka was mad at her for being mean to Neru for such a long time.

Seeing Manaka stand up, Risa called out, “Manaka?”

“It’s nothing.” Manaka shook her head.

“Manaka.”

“I’m going to go outside for a little bit.” Manaka gave Risa a weak smile.

Risa stood up and reached for Manaka’s hand, “Manaka, you’re acting strange.”

“Risa…” Manaka’s shoulder was trembling and she faced away from Risa. She pulled her hand away before her roommate could take it. “It’s okay if you like Nagahama. You’ve been looking toward her the whole time.”

Risa’s eyes widened in surprise and she said, “I don’t like Nagahama like that.”

“Really?” Manaka replied dully.

Risa called out for Manaka again. “Manaka.” The cool Watanabe made a pained expression as if her heart was about to burst. She didn’t think that Manaka of all people would think that she liked Neru.

“It’s just that… recently, I’ve felt that you have no love for me anymore.”

“Manaka, you’re completely wrong.”

“How? You’ve been looking at her the whole time.” Manaka twisted around to face Risa. Tears welled up in Manaka’s eyes.

Risa retorted, taking Manaka’s hands. “I’m always looking at you.”

The cool Watanabe felt that her words were the truth. Even if she had always glanced at Neru suspiciously, she had always thought that Manaka was beautiful and fun to be with, to the point that Risa’s heart would flutter.

“Liar.” Manaka mumbled tearily.

Risa said, “I love you.”

“What?” Manaka looked away, not believing her roommate’s words. “Are we playing a game?” They had exchanged those words before when playing games with Fuyuka and Akane.

Risa repeated, dreading being rejected by the girl she realized that she had fallen in love with, “I love you.”

“Risa, you’re cruel.”

“I love you. I’m not joking around.” Risa shook her head. She looked down at her hands, afraid to see Manaka’s expression. “I love you. It’s just that you probably won’t return my feelings because we’re friends.”

“Stupid Risa…” Manaka put her head on Risa’s shoulder, using Risa to wipe away her tears.

Risa asked quietly, “Manaka?”

“I love you, Risa.” Manaka said. “I love you.”

Risa felt the butterflies in her stomach flutter even more than before. She was speechless with happiness.

“Risa, are you crying?”

“I-I’m not crying. I’m really happy.” Risa noticed the tears rolling down her cheeks, but she hastily denied them.

Manaka cried too, “I’m h-happy too.”

“Manaka, I love you.”

“Risaaaa…” Manaka threw her arms around her roommate in a hug.

The roommates stumbled as Manaka tried hugging Risa, and they fumbled around, ending up on the floor with Manaka pushing Risa down. They stared at each other awkwardly for a moment before Manaka gave Risa a light kiss on the lips.

Manaka blushed and she tried to avert her gaze, wondering if it was okay for her to have kissed Risa.

Then, Risa wrapped her arms around her roommate’s waist, pulling Manaka down to her and returning Manaka’s kiss.

They stared into each other’s eyes shyly for a moment. They shared another kiss, a longer kiss. It was still too short for Risa though as the cool Watanabe couldn’t help but savor the softness of her roommate’s lips. She thought to herself, 'Manaka is really beautiful. I love her.'

As Manaka moved to get off of Risa, the two roommates got tangled with each other. Floundering around for a moment, they eventually rolled over to their sides on the floor so that they were facing each other.

Risa and Manaka started lightly laughing. Holding hands while relaxing on the floor, they felt a huge weight off their chests, and they could feel that an incident had been resolved—both the theft and a misunderstanding of love.

“Risa.” Manaka spoke up again.

Risa responded, “What is it?”

“I have to thank Nagahama.”

“For this afternoon?”

“No, for making it so I could tell you my feelings.”

“Yea. Me too.”

—A happy resolution exists too, right?
—Thank you, Neru.

<NERU I> fin

To be continued...

That's the end of the first arc <NERU I>. Yay~ Sorry for the delay in updating, but this chapter was somewhat difficult to write (what is romance? I don't know how to write romance.) and I was translating some Keyakizaka46 stuff over the weekend. Nonetheless, I hope you've enjoyed this chapter.

@RyoZakiji Ahh, Zankoku Techi? Yea, Zankoku Techi said f*ck a lot. (But she was also a cute glutton, haha). The camera plan theory is a good theory.
@MaYukiIsLife The knife scene was indeed like the knife scene in TokuDare. As I wrote it, I thought that maybe it was too similar, but I needed a catalyst for Risa to start trusting Neru. From now on, Neru will be a closer part of the class. As they say, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger? (That might be the wrong proverb, but since the class's bonds with Neru weren't broken, they've become stronger.) Look forward to the next chapter~

NEXT CHAPTER

[MaYukiIsLife]

Ahhhhhhh~ TechiNeru! Also 'The Cool' duo finally together?

I'm hoping Neru doesn't go do anything stupid anymore. :|

I hope so, or I'll kill you! Also I need more SugaiAkanen moments

That reminds me, I need to finish a TechiNeru oneshot and a conspiracy theory I had in my head for a while :|

[RyoZakiji]

yeah the 'cool' are finally together.. i wonder when techineru will be together too..

yea the techi in Zankoku is always hungry its so cute 

and @MaYukiIsLife your writing techineru fanfict too?

Waiting for the next update 

[Shinoki]

Sorry, everyone for the delay. It's been a busy week for me in real life, and I've been a little stuck on the next checkpoint, so I've written this interlude instead. It's a bit premature (could probably be written a little later in the story since the other details will be filled in later), but enjoy~

@RyoZakiji Yea, MonaRisa are finally together~ TechiNeru. They're the main main ship of the story, so they'll probably have a slow burn romance.
@MaYukiIsLife Indeed. Hopefully Neru doesn't do any more stupid things. (...I'm sorry, Neru. Actually you might do more things that get you hurt... I am an evil author.) I wonder if you're psychic because the next arc is the YuukaNen arc. Look forward the next chapter~ Also, if you do write a TechiNeru oneshot, I'd love to read it.

Interlude 3

When Kobayashi Yui first came to the Keyaki class, she found that she was the only person from Saitama in the class. There were a lot of people from different parts of Japan. Although she sat alone at first, she found that she quite enjoyed their company.

It had been only a week since the school term had started. Class had ended a while ago, and it was raining outside. She and her roommates, Suzumoto Miyu and Oda Nana, had been given cleaning duty, and they finished rather quickly given that there wasn’t really a blackboard to clean or anything.

Thinking about the rain, Yui realized that she hadn’t brought an umbrella.

Oda Nana hollered from across the room, “Yui-pon, I’m going back to the dorms now.” She was planning to finish reading a Murakami novel that she had started.

Kobayashi Yui sighed internally, wondering why she had offered to help distinguish herself, using the nickname Yui-pon, from the other Yui who went by Zuumin and Zumiko. It was a strange nickname; both Zuumin and Yui-pon were strange names.

“Are you coming?” Suzumoto asked.

Yui-pon shook her head and replied, “No, I’m staying at school a little longer.”

The roommates said goodbye and left the classroom. Kobayashi Yui was then alone in the Keyaki classroom. Looking outside at the rain for a moment, enjoying the pitter-patter sound of water droplets, Yui-pon started humming to herself.

She decided to explore the school building.

Walking around, humming lightly to herself, she looked out the hallway windows to see that the athletic clubs weren’t practicing in the rain. Some of the cultural clubs had yet to start for the new school year.

Yui-pon didn’t know if she wanted to join a club or not. She loved playing guitar and singing, but she didn’t think she wanted to join the light music club.

As she entered an empty hallway in the music section of the school, she heard the sound of piano and a singing voice. She didn’t recognize the song or the voice, but in her heart, she couldn’t help but find that voice wonderful.

Yui-pon went up to the classroom with the singer and peered in through the open door.

Imaizumi Yui was playing piano and singing amidst the sound of the rain. Even though she seemed like a silly person at first, to Yui-pon at the moment, Imaizumi was really entrancing. Her song seemed filled with emotion.

Then, she played a key wrong on the piano.

Yui-pon stumbled out of her stupor. Imaizumi Yui’s eyes met with Kobayashi Yui’s eyes. They shared a moment of awkward silence with only the peaceful sound of spring rain in the background.

That was the first time the two Yuis truly met each other.

—The world works in strange ways.
“Yuichanz.”
—People who perhaps would have never met before meeting.

It was break time, two days after the thief who stole the grade book had been caught. Kobayashi Yui was sitting with Imaizumi Yui near the former’s usual group of Oda Nana, Suzumoto, Hirate, and Neru.

The two Yuis had paper and pencil out, scribbling out lyrics and guitar chords. Despite all the drama that had existed in the classroom, they were writing a song.

Imaizumi sung, “Do you know the Shibuya River?” Then, she asked Yui-pon, “Does that sound right?”

“It sounds good. Maybe the next line could be ‘You may have heard the name.’” Yui-pon replied, pondering to herself. It was the first time she had written an original song before, and she hadn’t sung many duets before either.

“What type of song should this be?” Imaizumi thought aloud.

Yui-pon nodded, “Good question.” She wasn’t quite sure either.

They looked at the classroom to try to find ideas. No one seemed to be acting any different than usual. Yui-pon looked toward the back of the room and noticed Watanabe Risa and Shida Manaka approaching Neru.

The cool duo was holding hands, and they seemed closer than before.

Risa asked Neru, “Do you have a LINE? You should join the class LINE group.”

It was a simple conversation where Neru finally joined the class LINE group. Yui-pon looked at the interaction, feeling glad for Neru that Neru was finally accepted by the class. Then, she turned back to Imaizumi.

“Maybe a song about trust?” Yui-pon suggested.

“That sounds like a great idea.” Imaizumi beamed. “Trust is important in love and friendship and really, everything, huh?”

Yui-pon smiled, nodding. Then, she had an epiphany. “Ah, ‘the stream continues to murmur’ might be a good line too.”

“My love for you
Will continue forever.”
—Shibuya River.

NEXT CHAPTER

[MaYukiIsLife]

@MaYukiIsLife Indeed. Hopefully Neru doesn't do any more stupid things. (...I'm sorry, Neru. Actually you might do more things that get you hurt... I am an evil author.) I wonder if you're psychic because the next arc is the YuukaNen arc. Look forward the next chapter~ Also, if you do write a TechiNeru oneshot, I'd love to read it.

Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. My top 3 is Nen, Sugaisama and Neru this is why I'm being very picky about what you do to them I think I'll be able to get me oneshot done by Sunday. Spoiler: I can admit that I'm a bit of a hypocrite when it comes to Neru in fanfics

[RyoZakiji]

so its yuiyui? eh goodluck in your next update i hope you can think of your next scene

waiting for your next update 

[Shinoki]

It's finally here!! Ah, hopefully, the next checkpoint won't take so long. Sorry for the wait. This is the start of the new arc, <Yuuka>.

@RyoZakiji: YuiYui. I wonder if the Yuichanz will be the ship in this story for the two Yuis. I don't actually know if it'll be romantic but the fourth arc focuses on them. Feel free to drop suggestions for what ships you want in the story since not everything is set into stone.
@MaYukiIsLife: I hope you won't kill me for any suffering I put Akanen, Yukka, and Neru through in this story. Haha. I look forward to your one-shot~

Checkpoint 14

The warm breeze and hot sun of summer entered the Keyaki classroom through the open window. It was already late June. Before the girls knew it, summer vacation was looming a month away.

Sugai Yuuka looked at her phone with a sigh. She had notifications from her various applications and some new messages from LINE group chats, but she had yet to receive a single note from her family since the start of the school term.

The bell had just rung for lunch. Everyone was moving their desks together to eat.

Yuuka’s roommate, Moriya Akane, moved her desk toward Yuuka. Akane wasn’t sitting with Watanabe Risa’s group today. “Hey, Yuuka.”

Koike Minami moved her desk over, “It’s finally lunch.”

“Math was hard.” The tallest girl in the class, Habu Mizuho, came over with Koike. “I don’t understand a single thing.”

Harada Aoi nodded to Habu’s words as she finished the lunch desk gathering, “I’m glad class is over.”

Engaging in small talk about their latest math quiz on the screen of their high-tech desks, the girls started eating their lunch. Their topics jumped around, but it was a lunch break like any other.

After Aoi took a bite out of her bread, she asked, “By the way, how many points do you have?”

Koike pressed the button on her bracelet to check and replied, “I have like 2,000.” She picked up a tamagoyaki from her bento, feeding Habu who sat next to her.

“How about Yukka?” Aoi turned to Yuuka.

Thinking for a moment, Yuuka replied, “Around 10,000.”

“That’s a lot!” Aoi exclaimed.

Habu questioned curiously, “Are you saving for something?”

“Well…” Yuuka smiled awkwardly.

Akane interjected to save her roommate from answering, “The conversion rate from points to yen is amazing. That’s… 120,000 yen.”

“Eh? That’s a lot!” Koike’s eyes widened.

Aoi smiled, “Sounds nice.”

“It’s kind of exponential or something.” Koike wondered aloud as she thought back to when she read the student handbook so long ago, “What’s it called?”

Habu held her hands over her ears once she noticed her friend from Kansai start talking about math, “Mii-chan, no more math…”

“Do your best, Habu-chan.” Koike gave the tall girl a pat on the shoulder.

The group laughed, and they continued chatting about the random things that happened in their lives recently.

—Secrets, secrets, secrets.

Lunch ended, and another class period started again. Sugai Yuuka was diligently taking notes on the lesson, drawing small horses in the margins of her notes to make them more interactive and aesthetically appealing.

Then, a small piece of folded paper landed on her desk. Yuuka looked around to see who threw the paper and noticed her roommate Akane give her a small wave. The horse loving Yuuka smiled in response.

Yuuka opened the note, and it read, ‘Yuuka, are you free this afternoon?’

The horse loving girl turned the paper around and replied, ‘I’m free.’ She tossed it back to her roommate.

However, the toss was a little haphazard, and Akane barely caught it. Yuuka sheepishly smiled and gestured apologetically, to which Akane replied with a gesture of ‘it’s okay.’ They were still in class, and Yuuka didn’t want to starting using her phone in class, so in the end, they were passing notes instead.

Akane’s next note read, ‘I have a tennis match this afternoon. Come watch.’ There was a cute drawing of a smiley face with a tennis ball.

‘I’ll cheer you on.’ Yuuka replied on another piece of small paper.

Akane wrote back, ‘I’ll definitely win!’

They continued exchanging notes for a while, but eventually, the roommates returned to paying attention to the lesson.

Watanabe Risa looked at her friend, Akane, who looked very happy after exchanging notes with Yuuka. Risa sighed, thinking that Akane was being too happy. Then, she noticed a note on her own desk.

‘I love you.’ It was in Manaka’s handwriting.

Risa flushed red and buried her head in her notebook to hide her embarrassed face. Then, she threw a note saying the same thing back to Manaka.

When the cool Watanabe peeked toward her roommate to see Manaka’s reaction, she couldn’t help but feel her heart race as she saw Manaka’s joyful smile upon seeing the words on the note.

In the front, Hirate Yurina had her bangs over her eyes as she trudged through taking notes in class. She wanted class to  be over, even if this class wasn’t the worst of the classes they had to take. The short haired girl completely didn’t notice the note-passing behind her.

Neru looked over her shoulder at the class, giving a mysterious smile towards Yurina.

The short haired girl gave her roommate a confused looked, not sure what Neru seemed to be amused by in the classroom. Even when Yurina glanced back for a moment, she didn’t notice anything off, having not looked back when the other girls were passing notes.

Neru smiled again, gesturing that it wasn’t anything that important. She turned back to the lesson and thought to herself that her classmates really weren’t as subtle as they thought they were and that it seemed nice to be in love.

For a moment, that smile dropped. She thought to herself again, ‘Love?’

—What does a person deserve in this world?

Ding. Dong. Ding. Dong. The bell dismissing the last class of the day finally rang. Moriya Akane was filled with fighting spirit as she thought about how she wanted to win the tennis club’s tournament for today. They were doing a casual ranking tournament to encourage the club members to work hard.

Noticing Akane’s excitement, Fuyuka asked, “Akanen, tennis club?”

“Yea.” Akane replied.

Manaka lazily gave the competitive girl a thumbs up of encouragement, “Win it, okay? Fuu-chan will treat you to sweets if you do.”

“I’ll definitely win!” Akane laughed.

“Huh, when did I say that?” Fuyuka huffed but relented, “I’ll treat you to ice cream if you win. I’ve been wanting to try out the new ice cream flavor anyways.”

Akane cheered. As she waved goodbye to her normal friend group, she passed by her roommate and said, “Yuuka, I’m going on ahead. Come watch me, okay?”

“Okay. Ganbariki!” Yuuka made a cheering gesture.

Akane gave Yuuka a wordless look.

Yuuka mumbled awkwardly, pretending that she didn’t do such an embarrassing gesture, “Sorry.”

“No, that was great.” Akane shook her head and blurted out. “I’m going to do my best!” Akane hurried out of the classroom.

When she arrived at the tennis club’s changing room and changed into her tennis uniform, a clubmate mentioned that Akane’s cheeks were a little pink, joking that Akane was a bit too excited and ran over too quickly.

As the tennis club gathered at the school’s tennis courts, a summer breeze blew by again.

—To what extent…

NEXT CHAPTER

[RyoZakiji]

so its Sugai-sama and Akane-sama i wonder how their relationship will develop.. 

and for the shipping request.. i want to see nagasawa-kun and Rika-sama to be together 

anyway waiting for the next update 

[MaYukiIsLife]

so its Sugai-sama and Akane-sama i wonder how their relationship will develop.. 

and for the shipping request.. i want to see nagasawa-kun and Rika-sama to be together 

I think Akanen's that type of person who's desperate for Sugai-sama's attention/love but the latter's too blunt to see it. I also do want Naako and Berika together, as Sugai-captain said on that Relationship Chart part of that one ep of Keyakitte Kakenai they're the dream couple.

@MaYukiIsLife: I hope you won't kill me for any suffering I put Akanen, Yukka, and Neru through in this story. Haha. I look forward to your one-shot~

Genuinely no promises there, if I'm tempted I will kill you. Also I'm nearly done with the oneshot, I've got a few bits and pieces to finish but I'm stuck for the ending...

Lunch ended, and another class period started again. Sugai Yuuka was diligently taking notes on the lesson, drawing small horses in the margins of her notes to make them more interactive and aesthetically appealing.

Then, a small piece of folded paper landed on her desk. Yuuka looked around to see who threw the paper and noticed her roommate Akane give her a small wave. The horse loving Yuuka smiled in response.

Yuuka opened the note, and it read, ‘Yuuka, are you free this afternoon?’

The horse loving girl turned the paper around and replied, ‘I’m free.’ She tossed it back to her roommate.

However, the toss was a little haphazard, and Akane barely caught it. Yuuka sheepishly smiled and gestured apologetically, to which Akane replied with a gesture of ‘it’s okay.’ They were still in class, and Yuuka didn’t want to starting using her phone in class, so in the end, they were passing notes instead.

Akane’s next note read, ‘I have a tennis match this afternoon. Come watch.’ There was a cute drawing of a smiley face with a tennis ball.

This scene is really, really cute man! It'll give me diabetes if I re-read it again and again.

In the front, Hirate Yurina had her bangs over her eyes as she trudged through taking notes in class. She wanted class to  be over, even if this class wasn’t the worst of the classes they had to take. The short haired girl completely didn’t notice the note-passing behind her.

Neru looked over her shoulder at the class, giving a mysterious smile towards Yurina.

The short haired girl gave her roommate a confused looked, not sure what Neru seemed to be amused by in the classroom. Even when Yurina glanced back for a moment, she didn’t notice anything off, having not looked back when the other girls were passing notes.

Neru smiled again, gesturing that it wasn’t anything that important. She turned back to the lesson and thought to herself that her classmates really weren’t as subtle as they thought they were and that it seemed nice to be in love.

For a moment, that smile dropped. She thought to herself again, ‘Love?’

Techi either being too blunt to see Akanen and Yuuka as well as Mona and Berisa's note passing or she doesn't really care. Neru on the other hand... I think is going to do something to get Akanen and Yuuka together, maybe play a little matchmaker for the rest of the Arc lol Please tell me later if Neru gains feelings for Techi I wanna know!

[Shinoki]

I'm sorry for taking so long with this chapter. Well, it wasn't as if I had a schedule, but weekly updates of around 1000 words... This fanfic will never end that way. Hopefully, the rest of the this arc will go more smoothly than this chapter.

@MaYukiIsLife: Wah! Thank you for the comment! I'm glad you found that scene cute. Matchmaker Neru? That's an interesting idea~ TechiNeru will happen but they're going to take a while.
@RyoZakiji: Pe-chan and Naako-chan! Sounds like a good ship. Pe-chan's arc is arc six, but maybe the dream couple will be able to get some development earlier than that.

Checkpoint 15

The tennis ball hit the racket with a thud, flying across the net like a sparrow, landing, bouncing, and scoring the final point. The afternoon sun was bright, and Moriya Akane wiped the sweat that had gathered on her brow and smiled, hearing her name declared victor for the match, moving her along the bracket for the club’s mini-tournament.

Her opponent stepped up toward Akane amicably, “Moriya-san, it was a pleasure to play with you.”

“Good game, Kato-san.” Akane reciprocated the sportsmanship.

It had been a tough game that had lasted longer than the other matches in the tournament. Akane’s opponent was a girl who didn’t look athletic but was extremely athletic, but Akane managed to win with the sheer force of will and a burst of spirit that came when she saw Yuuka cheering her on.

From the viewing area, a normal student yelled, “Moriya-san is so cool!”

“Kyaa!” Her friend jumped up and down, making a commotion with some more girls. There was a lot of excited screaming.

Akane walked over to her roommate Yuuka, “Yuuka, how was it?”

“Akanen, you played so well.” Yuuka gave Akane a bottle of cool water, “Have some water.” Their fingers touched for a moment.

Akane smiled, taking the water and drinking it, “Thanks.”

The crowd shrieked, “Sugai-sama and Moriya-san!”

“Too photogenic!” Someone nearly fell over.

There was more girlish commotion, “Kyaa!”

Someone from the photography club came over with a camera and asked, “Moriya-san, Sugai-sama, can you pose for a picture?”

Akane exchanged looks with Yuuka. Seeing that Yuuka seemed okay with the request, Akane put an arm over Yuuka’s shoulder and made a V sign with her fingers. Yuuka smiled for the camera as well.

Snap. The photography club member took a photo.

“Thank you!” Look at the photo on the camera, the club member beamed and ran off after bowing in thanks to the two Keyaki class girls.

Yuuka smiled wryly, “Akanen, they’re really excited.”

“Yea, they are.” Akane laughed, thinking that it was good that the normal students and the Keyaki class often had different break times between classes.

The roommates spent a bit standing around and talking, but the referee for the tennis matches quickly called for Akane again, starting the next match in the tournament.

—Drifting away for just another moment.

Sugai Yuuka watched as her roommate Akane played. Although the horse loving girl’s eyes had trouble following the tennis ball at some points, Yuuka felt that Akane was really amazing. The focus in Akane’s eyes was so intense that Yuuka felt drawn in.

The ball hit the ground and the opponent missed. The referee called the points. The match continued.

As Yuuka watched, she suddenly felt her phone vibrate in her pocket.

She took her phone out to check what notification she received, thinking that she would properly check it later. Yet when she saw the notice on the screen, her eyes widened in shock and her hand shook a little.

It was a LINE notification.

It was from her family.

Yuuka opened up the LINE family group chat only to see a simple message from her older sibling saying, “I’m sorry, Yuuka.”

Following that, there was text saying that her mother, father, and sibling had left the group chat. Yuuka was speechless, the sound of the tennis match and cheering audience seemed to not reach her ears as she stared at the screen.

Even though it wasn’t as if there was no other way to contact her family, Yuuka didn’t know what to feel about them leaving the LINE group. She didn’t understand why either.

Then, she jerked back into reality when she heard the ball hit the ground and the referee call points. To her surprise, Akane had missed a swing. Yuuka noticed her roommate send her a slightly upset look.

Yuuka took a deep breath and put her phone back into her pocket.

“I’ll… I’ll figure it out somehow.” She said to herself. It didn’t sound convincing.

The tennis match restarted. The ball was served, and another intense volley of the tennis ball began. Over and over the net, the ball flew. Akane hit the tennis ball, yet the angle was off, so she nearly hit the ball out.

Akane felt the pressure on her grow. She wanted to win, but she was slipping. She wondered what Yuuka was worried about.

Yuuka saw the pained look on Akane’s face, and she yelled with all her might, “Akanen, you can do it!”

Thunk! The ball was hit by the racket again.

—Pushing down your own worries.
—Painful, painful. Even when they look at you like that?

Hirate Yurina walked hand in hand with Neru, heading back to their dorms after spending the afternoon in the library as Neru looked for reference books and Yurina started out studying a bit and ended up reading manga.

Remembering that their classmate, Moriya Akane, was doing a tennis tournament today, the pair decided to drop pass the tennis courts.

Yurina halted in her steps as she noticed a pair of normal students talking near the tennis courts away from the commotion of the tournament, which appeared to have ended. Neru looked in the direction of the talking pair.

One of the girls grumbled aloud, “What does Sugai think she is being so close to Moriya-san?”

Her friend looked at her as if she had grown another head, “Huh?”

“I mean, she’s from the Sugai family, and they’ve been doing pretty terrible recently. Compared to us, she’s nothing.” The grumbly girl fumed.

The friend laughed awkwardly, “Hey, hey. Don’t be so jealous. Didn’t their company end up getting merged into another company?”

The grumbly girl crossed her arms, “Exactly. The high really fall.”

“Geez, don’t be like that. Jealousy looks ugly on you.”

“I-I’m not jealous.”

“Hm?”

“Okay, fine. I’m jealous. I mean, Sugai-sama is…”

The two unknown students chatted a little bit, and then they walked off. They didn’t notice that two members of the Keyaki class had accidentally listened in on their conversation.

Yurina frowned to herself before walking forward while holding onto Neru’s hand.

NEXT CHAPTER

[MaYukiIsLife]

Ooh commotion! ¬¬ I love it. But I feel bad for Yuuka...

[Kairi65]

This chapter really hit me in the heart

Yukka~!! (ToT)