This update is like an extended interlude focusing on the Ozeki Uemura roommates pair. It was originally going to be a 3-4 part mini-arc, but I thought I'd make it just one update. A fluffy back to school for the Keyaki class - although I also have to go back to school soon, haha.
Ozeki and Uemura aren't going to get their own arc, so they get their own little mini-arc Rest-stop.
@Minami-chan: I'm glad you enjoyed interlude 6! I'll definitely be covering more OdaMonPon in the future. Yuichanzu is the current arc, but the next one is the OdaMonPon arc. You might get to see some of Yuipon's perspective on the triangle in this current arc.
Rest-stop
Ozeki Rika felt a strange feeling that she was intruding on some intense story filled with tragic love stories and a hidden enemy that had yet to be seen. It was just a feeling that she had as she fell out of bed in the morning to the sound of her alarm clock ringing for the first time in over a month.
She let out a strangled yelp of surprise, realizing that she had exited her dreams and awoken to her dorm room in the Keyaki class dorms.
Quick footsteps sounded from the direction of the bathroom she shared with her roommate. Hair still wet, in a state of half dress, her roommate Uemura Rina hurried out to check on Ozeki, “Ozeki, are you okay?”
“I-I’m okay.” Ozeki stumbled to her feet and averted her eyes from her roommate for a second with a blush, “Did you just shower?”
The short, fairy-like Uemura replied affirmatively with a smile, “Yea.” Then Uemura glanced at the time. “If everything’s okay, I’m going to finish preparing for class. We don’t want to be late on the first day back.”
“We don’t want to be late on the first day back.” Ozeki nodded. She blinked once. She blinked twice. It took a few moments for her still sleep-addled brain to comprehend that summer break was over.
Ozeki finally did. The date was starred on their shared calendar after all.
Throwing her stuffed animal Shimajiro back onto the bed haphazardly with her summer blanket, Ozeki jumped into action to get ready. She had thought it was strange that her alarm clock had rang. She had thought it was even stranger than her roommate was up before her.
“Why did I wake up so late!? I’m going to be late!!”
“I thought you had everything ready already.”
The classroom door slammed open right before the bell rang for the first homeroom back from break. Everyone was in their seats chattering, a few classmates wondering where the last two members of the class were. Their eyes went to the door to see Ozeki bolting in, running with her limbs flailing about grossly, followed by Uemura who looked out of breath and dying.
Ozeki flew into her seat, “Not late!”
Following, Uemura melted into her own seat, “Haah… Haah… barely in time.”
“I’m sorry, Rina. I set my alarm clock for the wrong time.” Ozeki apologized. “You should go ahead of me next time.”
“It’s okay. I can’t let you be late by yourself.”
“It’s not like we get detentions, only point losses for being late, so you don’t need to. But, thanks.”
After Ozeki spoke, the bell rang. She laid her head down on the cool surface of her desk and peeked over to Uemura who was resting her head on her hands, elbows on her own desk. Her roommate really was like a beautiful porcelain doll.
The usual man on the screen came on and said his thing, the words filtering in one ear and out the other for Ozeki.
“Try not to fall asleep in class.” He made a parting statement that broke an odd stifling atmosphere coming from the front of the classroom.
Ozeki jolted, noticing that she had lost a trivial 1 point as a scolding from the organizers of the Keyaki class. She hadn’t fallen asleep as much as lost herself in thought glancing at her roommate. Ozeki’s eyes suddenly met Uemura’s eyes, and she averted her eyes for a moment without thinking before looking back with a sheepish grin.
Uemura giggled at her roommate’s antics. The short fairy-like girl gestured for them to pay attention up front.
Before long, classes like before resumed. The teachers on the screen had them do a little pop quiz to test how much knowledge the girls retained over the summer. As if all of the teachers conspired together, the classes felt like one quiz after another.
Ozeki felt like she did fine, being one of the members of the class with average smarts. However, she could sense an aura of despair coming off of some of her classmates.
Ozeki didn’t have fun taking so many quizzes either. Only Yone seemed to be a little excited during their science quiz, but Ozeki’s eyes started spinning after the third picture of circular micro-organisms.
Break time was a well deserved reprieve from academics.
“That… was intense.” Ozeki let out a sigh of relief, sitting on top of Uemura’s desk as Imaizumi and Aoi somehow took over her own.
Imaizumi nodded, words coming out half in English after making up all her answers to the English quiz she just took, “Ikageso is pool.”
Uemura tried to bring up a positive, “But then we get the sports festival and cultural festival, so no more studying!”
“When are those again?” Ozeki wondered aloud.
“Weren’t you paying attention when he made the announcement?” Aoi happily puffed out her chest to explain, “The sports festival is in only two weeks. He said that we’re signing up for activities tomorrow.”
“I hope there isn’t anything too difficult.” Uemura said.
Imaizumi cheerfully spoke, “I think we can take it.”
“Confident, huh?” Suddenly, Kobayashi Yui walked over, placing her arms around her musical partner with ease.
“Yuipon.” Imaizumi greeted Kobayashi.
Ozeki said to Kobayashi, “Yuipon’s fast, right? I think we can leave the running events to you.”
Uemura laughed, placing her cool fingers on Ozeki’s hand, “At the very least, not us.”
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Ozeki Rika didn’t have a heart condition, not like that at least.
The next day came quickly, the sun still hot and bright, the seasons not quite transitioned despite the end of summer break. For homeroom, the Keyaki class had to assign or choose roles for the sports festival.
They were given a bit more information on the event, find that it was a one day event where the winning class got a special prize class trip. Unfortunately, even if the Keyaki class won, they wouldn’t be able to get the special four day trip to Guam due to Keyaki class rules. Instead, they would get points and a party.
As the girls didn’t have teachers in the real physical sense, one way or another, Sato Shiori and Sugai Yuuka were pushed up to the front of the classroom to organize who did what on the screen.
Yuuka gestured to the board, “Okay, so it looks like these are the events?” Touching it, she found that the screen had a touch screen, and they were supposed to go through each event listed and select participants from a checklist.
The two girls up front somehow figured out how to work the activity participant sign up program.
“I don’t know if this is the best way to do it, but maybe it would be good if we were to go through each event one by one and see who wants to do what. If there’s no one who wants to do something, we can just randomly assign someone.” Sato suggested.
“That sounds like a good plan.” Yuuka responded.
They started the process.
Ozeki looked at the list of events and tried to think of which ones she wanted to do. There were ones like the 100 meter dash, which were out of the running from the second she saw them. The cavalry battle sounded interested as did the costume race, but there was also some scavenger hunt event and the classic three-legged race.
Ozeki was brought out of her thought by Uemura’s voice, “What do you want to do?”
“The scavenger hunt sounds like fun.” Ozeki responded, “How about you?”
“I want to try the bread race, but I don’t think I can jump high enough to bite onto the bread.”
“Pfft.” Ozeki couldn’t hold back a laugh.
Uemura pouted, “Hey.”
“I just imagined it.” Ozeki found her roommate in front of her eyes to be too cute, and the image of her roommate trying to get bread dangling above her head was even more adorable.
Yuuka called out to the chatting roommates, “Ozeki, Uemura, do you two want to do the three-legged race?”
After silently confirming with Ozeki, Uemura replied, “That sounds like fun.”
“I’ll put you down for it then.” Yuuka smiled and fiddled with the board to select the pair for the event.
Before long, everyone had been assigned to their events. They had the next two weeks to get some practice in, and then, the sports festival would start without further ado. For the time being however, the girls had classes.
After the school day ended, Ozeki and Uemura found themselves outside, trying to practice. Tying their ankles together, the roommates nearly tripped over just getting up. They didn’t want to make an embarrassment of themselves at the actual event.
Stumbling over and over again, they weren’t in sync in the slightest.
Chanting to keep a rhythm, they still fell over for the nth time, “One, two. One, tw- Agh!”
It was good that they had thought to change into jerseys because their pants were getting covered in grass and dirt from each time they fell over.
With their ankles still tied together, the pair took a break and sat down on the grass, taking a sip of water and wiping away the sweat on their foreheads. They hadn’t made progress, tripping up after the first few steps, which was way worse than the average performance for a three-legged race.
Uemura tried to hug her knees only to realize that she was still tied.
“Let me undo it.” Ozeki untied their ankles. “This is probably enough for today?”
Uemura nodded, glancing away dejectedly, “Yea. Sorry for dragging you into this…”
“Don’t worry. We can do it. We still have two weeks.”
“But what if we still can’t get in sync with each other?”
“It’s only the first day, Rina.”
“You’re right.” Uemura exhaled.
“That’s good.”
Suddenly, the fairy-like girl’s eyes met Ozeki’s. Uemura looked straight at Ozeki’s face before starting to giggle, “Haha.”
“What is it?” The sound was pleasant like bells, but Ozeki was confused as to why her roommate was suddenly laughing.
“You have dirt on your face.” As Ozeki went to wipe away the dirt with her hand, Uemura laughed even more, “And on your hand, Ozeki.”
“Geez, that’s embarrassing. I was saying something good too.” Ozeki scowled.
Ozeki wiped her hand on her pants and used her shirt to wipe away the dirt that found its way onto her face. She scrunched up her nose in embarrassment, but her heart warmed up when she saw her roommate laughing instead of making that sad expression that didn’t suit her roommate’s face.
“Hehe, thanks, Ozeki.”
“We’re friends after all.” Ozeki felt like she said something stupid.
With only three days left before the sports festival, the class’s most competitive member, Moriya Akane went up to the front of the room during break. Taking a deep breath, putting on a serious look, she got everyone’s attention. Even Imaizumi who was singing random Nishino Kana songs by herself as Kobayashi listened stopped.
Ozeki glanced at Akane, wondering what Akane would say. She thought that she saw a wry smile on Hirate and Neru’s faces, the two on the cavalry battle team with Akane, having intensely practiced.
“I just want to say a few words.” Akane spoke with severity. “We. Are. Winning.”
The class was silent.
In a smooth movement, Akane walked away from the front of the room like she hadn’t said something normal in an absurd manner.
Ozeki felt a little bad for the cavalry battle team, knowing that they had definitely trained hard. The words slipped from her mouth a little louder than she wanted to her roommate, “I’m glad we’re not on the cavalry battle team with Akanen.”
“What did you say, Ozeki?” Akane seemed to have snuck up on Ozeki.
Ozeki back peddled, “Uh, nothing!”
Taking that excuse, Akane inquired of the pair of roommates, “How are you two doing?”
“We’re doing okay.” Ozeki tried to redirect her classmate’s attention, “Why don’t you remind Berika that she has to run?”
“Hm?” Watanabe Rika found herself suddenly brought into the conversation. Her mouth was filled with chocolate bread.
Akane looked back at Ozeki after glancing to Berika only to find that Ozeki had run off. “Ozeki, don’t run away!”
Wearing jerseys again, this time pants not dirtied, the pair managed to do it.
“We did it! Maybe we can win the event!”
A hug. She hadn’t caught a cold, but her cheeks were still pink.
The day of the sports festival finally came. Each class had a different color designation, and the Keyaki class sat in their area with green ribbons about their right wrists. The teachers gave the opening speeches at the field they were using for this year group’s part of the sport festival. A refreshments stand and an announcer’s stand were set up.
A pair of upperclassmen, Iguchi Mao and Saito Kyoko, were apparently doing the announcements while student council members were working together with the staff for the events.
“We have the Keyaki class here too. Isn’t this interesting, Kyoko? Though I bet Kyoko-” Iguchi chattered brightly.
“Let’s move onto the first event.” Saito Kyoko pulled the announcing back on track in a cool, deep voice. “First up, we have the 100 meter dash. Each class’s runner, please head to the designated line.”
Ozeki thought that the announcer pair had an interesting dynamic that somehow just clicked.
Risa went up to the starting line for the 100 meter dash, and when the whistle blew, she flew. Going neck to neck with another class’s runner, the cool Watanabe from the Keyaki class managed to win the race.
Everyone cheered. The Keyaki class started the festival off to a good start.
The second event was the bread race. Ozeki and Uemura’s events were in the latter half of the festival, but even just watching and cheering on their friends was a fun experience. They saw as their clumsy Watanabe Rika ran forward, jumped for the sweet bread hanging from the string, and ran to the finish line in a shocking third place with the bread in her mouth.
Happy screams erupted from the other classes at Hirate’s handsome looks while wiping away the sweat on her sweaty bangs, as the Keyaki class cavalry battle team dominated the playing field.
For some reason, there was a horse riding competition as well.
Aoi, Koike, and Habu participated in the ball toss, eliciting commentary on how adorable they were when doing their best together.
Finally, Ozeki’s first event came.
“Now we have our scavenger hunt. What sort of object or person will they be asked to find? From a snack to a crush, there’s a lot of things. If it was me participating and I got the prompt of someone I like, I’d definitely choose Kyoko!” Iguchi exclaimed, hugging her companion.
“Thanks.” Kyoko took Iguchi’s words calmly. “The rules for this event are simple. Drawing from a box, each participant gets a prompt for something or someone that they must find. When the whistle blows, the participant can go find the prompt item or person. Whoever brings their scavenged topic to the student council member, the one currently raising her blue flag over there, wins.”
“But, what if they can’t find it?”
“The participant can swap prompts. However, they must wait until the whistle is blown to swap prompts, and for each prompt swap, they must wait five seconds.”
As the instructions were explained by the helpful announcers, Ozeki went to the prompt box and starting line with the other participants. Putting her hand into the box, she drew out a slip of paper and opened it up to take a look.
She paused with a sigh. She really wanted to know who wrote the prompts.
Heart racing, Ozeki waited for the whistle to blow and signal the start. The Rika who was never called Rika in the class because there were two Rikas already knew what she was going to do. With Akane wanting to win that badly, Ozeki thought that she should do her best in the events too.
The whistle blew.
Ozeki darted over to where the Keyaki class was. She quickly found her roommate, Uemura, nursing a bottle of water.
The fairy-like girl questioned as Ozeki came over, “Ozeki, is your prompt a water bottle?”
Ozeki hurriedly explained, extending a hand toward Uemura, “No, actually, I need you for it.”
The short girl readily took Ozeki’s hand and followed along as they rushed to the student council member. “Okay.”
Ozeki handed the student council member her prompt slip, waiting for a confirmation. A confirmation she received, unexpectedly winning first place for this scavenger hunt event. She also received a complicated look from the student council member, but luckily, the student council member didn’t say anything.
Standing at the finish line area where the student council member was, Ozeki watched the rest of the participants scramble to not finish last. The scavenger hunt event concluded quickly.
As Ozeki and Uemura went back to where the Keyaki class was watching, Uemura asked curiously, “What was your prompt?”
“Um…” Ozeki, still holding her roommate’s hand, looked away, unsure how to answer. Her eyes darted around wildly. “It-”
She was saved by announcer Iguchi’s voice. “Next up is the three-legged race! I hope everyone practiced. Be careful not to trip.”
“Please head to the starting line area and receive your ankle ties from Tsuchida-sensei over there.” Kyoko finished up.
Ozeki made an excuse, “I’ll tell you after the three-legged race.”
Luckily, her roommate accepted it. With a soft smile and a light squeeze with her hand, Uemura let Ozeki lead the way to the starting line of their pair event.
“The truth is…”
“Thank you.”
She didn’t mean those words that way, but both of them were clumsy fools.
Uemura Rina watched the emotions cycle through her roommate Ozeki Rika’s face as they tied their ankles together for the three-legged race. From the start, she had realized that Ozeki was an earnest girl who let out her thoughts, the good and the bad.
When they settled in as roommates, it was Ozeki who talked with her and made her feel better when Uemura felt homesick. Ozeki had also been homesick, but Ozeki still made sure to put her attention to her new friend.
The Ozeki that was kind, the Ozeki that did stupid things, the Ozeki that did her best, the Ozeki that was a slob, Uemura thought that she saw so many sides of Ozeki, and she wanted to see more.
Uemura wished that she had been able to call Ozeki by her first name Rika, but by an odd turn of events, everyone had taken to calling Ozeki by anything but Rika due to the presence of another Rika in the class. A little part of the fairy-like girl whispered to herself that she would be a special existence to Ozeki if she called Ozeki by Rika.
She had spaced out.
Ozeki brought Uemura back into reality, “The race is going to start soon.”
Uemura stood up with Ozeki and said, “Let’s win this race.”
The starting signal sounded. Holding hands and counting a rhythm, Uemura and Ozeki speed-walked together toward the finish line. Their speed was only average, but they were staying on track better than the rushed pairs that were stumbling across the course.
Uemura gave Ozeki’s hand a reassuring squeeze that they were doing well.
Although in the end, they came in a close second place, the pair felt a sense of accomplishment wash over them.
The pair untied their ankles and returned to the Keyaki class’s spot.
The shorter girl stretched her arms, glad that her job was over for the sports festival, “Second place is pretty good, isn’t it?”
Ozeki nodded, “Yep.”
For a few moments, they shared silence. Uemura waited for her roommate to say something more. Usually, there was something more to be said.
Ozeki gulped nervously, “The truth is… the prompt was ‘One-sided love.’” She could barely be heard when she said, “I like you, Rina.”
“Thank you.”
“Not the friend-type, but I think something a bit more-”
Uemura couldn’t tell if those were tears starting in Ozeki’s eyes. Without thinking, Uemura cupped Ozeki’s cheek and leaned in for a quick kiss.
At that action, Ozeki went silent with shock.
The fairy-like girl blushed, “I like you too. Like this.” Uemura’s own heart was racing, wondering if Ozeki was going to accept once Uemura responded, wondering if they had perhaps cheated a little in the scavenger hunt.
“Eh?” Freezing, Ozeki’s eyes widened.
“I like you, Rika.” Uemura said. Ozeki’s given name felt right.
Ozeki seemed to wobble, unsure if this was reality, “Can you do that again?”
Uemura gave Ozeki another peck on the lips. This time, she could feel how soft Ozeki’s lips were. This time, the words of her true feelings rolled more smoothly off her tongue. “I like you, Rika.”
“Can you… again?”
The rest of the sports festival went by like a blur. Even though the Keyaki class didn’t win overall, Uemura felt like they achieved a victory. Their cheeks burning red, the roommates didn’t let go of each other’s hands, knowing that their feelings were mutual.
Uemura Rina hadn’t felt a strange feeling that she was intruding on some intense story. After all, she was living her own happy love story with the eccentric person that she had fallen for.
Topic: Eccentric (TechiNeru+) <DROPPED> - Thank You For Reading, a Summary (Read 94454 times)