Crossover Fan Fiction ❯ Happy Endings, And Other Lies ❯ Happy Endings: 9 ( Chapter 9 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Chapter Nine

 

A/N Now it is time for the crossover.

Onaka University of Arts, in Nara Prefecture, was an odd campus, I decided as I walked the ground. I’d moved into the Share House Kitayama the day before, paid for thanks to the scholarship associated with the New Novel grand prize. Winning that had gotten my first kiss with Yukino. And later a kiss from Yui, which surprised me, and an extremely passionate kiss from Saki, which promised all sort of consequences if we found ourselves alone together, again. My sister, naturally, mocked me. My parents were pleased at the astounding progress I’d made after 11 months of daily effort, polishing, working, studying, editing… It only seems like a timeskip. You don’t just write a first draft and you’re done. Good novels, even light novels like my series, of which the fourth is going to press as I walk around here on campus, take a lot of editing to get just right. Manga about manga do the entire “draw until the last possible minute!” trope. That’s not a way to success, but it is a way to suck.

The graduation speech, had been finished with a chant of "His Name is Robert Paulson" from around fifty of the boys, men I should say. I think I made a more significant impact at Soubu than I realized. My haters had created a web page dedicated to me and probably run by the jealous, the spiteful, and a certain fujoshi. I soaked it up and treat my collection of hate letters as the treasure it is.

The odd thing about the campus, besides the fact it was full of arts students with hopes and dreams and determination to prove others wrong about them is that the club rooms were below ground. I mean, they were in a long two story building whose roof was even in the main grounds, and the chasm which opened up leading to their entrances was a fabulous falling hazard which probably killed isekais like Truk-kun back in Chiba nearly took Tamagawa to a better life with a sword and shield and a princess to rescue using mostly hand gestures and confusing slogans about synergy.

The students range from normal-ish, like me in my black teeshirt and white jeans, because it was time to reinvent myself again. Sunglasses to hide my rotten playboy eyes and dark mischievious heart. At least that’s what Rumi says, though she relentlessly taunts me at all of 12 years old. Thirteen. Whatever. She won the national spelling bee a month ago and has been relentlessly mocking her fellow students in Middle School. I sent her the tack box and a blank photo album for the hate messages. Mine is a treasure, I tell you. Oh, the students. They were normalish to really weird. Clothes, attitudes, and I don’t know what. Kawasaki would probably love it here. I took pictures and sent them her way. She sent me pictures from her arts school. There was even a club for “society for modern mass media culture”. Whatever that was. They just called it Genshiken. She wasn’t joining.

The clubs were recruiting here tomorrow, from what I understood. I’d gotten into my boarding house early, and stocked up the fridge and cupboard from the local supermarket because I am going to be the responsible one and not eat junk food and get rickets. Even if my housemates were incompetent specialists, I will cook real food. And probably save their lives.

My return to the boarding house with yet another bag of groceries and cleaning supplies found more moving vans and stacks of boxes inside. I got past them to the kitchen, putting things away, then to the cleaning closet where I stocked up the various critical supplies for the inevitable puking incidents (thanks for that warning, Cake sensei), and a big box of condoms for the bathroom because this place is co-ed and that’s just inevitable. Thank Haruno for that suggestion.

“Don’t go knocking up any girls but my cute little sister!” she warned. I shuddered at that memory because her roving hands and pressing chest were manipulating me to an embarrassing end. When I did, she caught it with her hand and licked it clean in front of me with an expression I can’t forget. Sometimes I really wonder if Haruno wants me for herself.

Who am I kidding? Of course she does.

Anyway, the dorm was bright, much like Nara. Astoundingly bright, like an entirely different country than Chiba with its fogs and rains. Nara was warm with very different feeling to its sea breezes. I could work with this. I settled down to write another chapter for volume 5 of my novel series. It was starting to get dark when I heard voices and thumps from new arrivals and they rapidly stopped. I called it a night with a quick meal of rice and egg with soy and some thin marinated pork with green onion. Others might want beer with that, but beer doesn’t improve my writing, so I go without that particular indulgence. Eventually I grew tired, brushed my teeth languidly and went to bed.

The next morning a shower, shave, and dressed into an identical set of black teeshirt and white jeans, because it was funny, and I heard a thump. A fellow housemate, a blonde with big boobs, and I found the source of the noise.

“Is everyone okay? We’re coming in,” I said, after there was no answer. What I found was a charming scene. A luscious ass face down in a guy’s crotch. He looked startled.

“Whoa. Sorry to interrupt. We should.. we should give them some privacy,” I said, gently pushing the young lady back out before she got an eyeful.

“It’s not what you think!” denied the guy.

“Sure sure. Privacy. Gotcha.” I back away, shutting the door to let the woman work.

“Don’t get any ideas,” warned the busty blonde girl beside me. Woman. I have to remember there’s no girls in college. Only women. It’s a different kettle of fish, and everyone is hunting.

“Don’t mind me. I have someone waiting for me back home,” I warned in reply.

She looked me up and down, including my unguarded eyes since we were indoor there were no sunglasses.

“Really? Pull the other one. It’s got bells on,” she laughed.

“Hikigaya Hachiman, at your service,” I introduced myself. “Creative writing track.”

“Really? Do I know that name from somewhere? I’m Kogure Nanako, Voice Actress track, from Shiga Prefecture.”

“I’m from Chiba City. And no, the sky over the port is not the color of television, tuned to a dead channel. We even have a monorail.”

“Does anyone even ask that?” she asked, confused.

“Literature majors do,” I confirmed.

“Weird. So those two were doing it?” she asked.

“Probably. We’re all adults here. Maybe they hit it off. If you find yourself needing privacy, remember the sock on the doorknob and try not to shout too much. I was given a box of condoms, which I put in the bathroom behind the sink mirror. Help yourself, but please replace if they get used up. It would be embarrassing to need and not have,” I warned her. She turned nicely red. Still got it.

“I was going to cook breakfast. Want anything?” I offered.

“Rice? Egg? Miso?” she asked. I nodded. I led the way to the kitchen and began prepping, keeping an eye on the clock. First class was at nine am today. There was time, as the sun rose, but not a ton of it. I worked, Nanako poked around into the cabinets.

“I didn’t realize that room and board included food.”

“It doesn’t. Those are mine. If you want to contribute groceries please do. We’ll make it work. Miso is ready. Rice in three minutes.” I’d gotten an automatic programmable rice cooker because time matters in a place like this. We’d always be in a hurry. She returned from upstairs carrying a heavy box of kitchen things and extracted a food bowl. She was going with minimalism, which would require washing after each use. She’d manage. I brought actual plates and cheap dishware suitable for the college life. I served her some miso soup with a ladle and she slurped it down along with soft tofu and mushroom. She seemed pleased to also find bamboo shoot in there. The other two residents shamefacedly descended the stairs. I noticed a streak of white goo on the upper breast of the busty woman. She noticed me looking, looked down, grinned at me, then scooped it up and sucked her fingers clean with a wink. The guy didn’t seem to notice. Just dazed and confused, staggering and blushing.

Youth.

I can’t really object. Haruno did that to me before I left. She really knows how to make an impression.

“I made enough for everyone. Miso, rice, egg. Sit down and eat. You did wash first, right?” They smelled like.. yep.

“Wash your hands and face first.” They tromped to the downstairs half-bath and cleaned up before returning and sitting. Nanako wrinkled her nose at the two of them. We ate quickly. I prepped onigiri for myself and Nanako who looked grateful, getting away from the table quickly. I shooed the lovers away for proper bathing and prepared to leave for school. Hopefully those two wouldn’t get too noisy in our boarding house. Maybe they’ll share a room, leaving one for a study room. That would be decent, if so.

 

+++++++++++

 

“Look around. How many of you are going to find careers in your chosen field?” asked our teacher, a rather stunning redhead. “One in twenty, from last years graduating class. This is a brutal profession, and it cuts away the untalented and undisciplined without remorse. There are no shortcuts to success.”

I raised my hand.

“Put your hand down, Hikigaya. You are an exception.” I put my hand down. She continued with warnings and brutal honesty I actually preferred from a teacher. She also reminded me of Cake Sensei. Rather strongly. It was the exhaustion, I think. She looked tired, and wound up.

After classes the short brunette who’d been proving her oral ability before breakfast approached me.

“She said your name is Hikigaya. Isn’t that the guy who won the national first novel award?” she asked. She was very cute up close. She’d cleaned up well, but even fresh she would probably cause Yui to scream with jealousy. Exceedingly cute. Ripe, even. Ripe was a good word for her everything. She was going to exhaust her new boyfriend.

“That’s me. They gave me a scholarship here.”

“I’m Akishima Shino. I’m from Itoshima, in Fukuoka. Call me Aki. Where are you from?” she asked, her Kansai accent drifting in. Very cute.

“Chiba City,” and I repeated the Neuromancer joke. She laughed, having read the book.

“I wish more people would tell that joke,” she said with genuine warmth.

“So you and your boyfriend know each other long?” I asked.

“Just met. Sometimes you just know, you know?” she laughed. It was open and I couldn’t fault her for that. Saki felt that way, more often than not. Then again, Yui tried so hard you had to love her. She was like a puppy. Or not. No, Yui was a like the tide. She wanted to be unavoidable. Or Haruno. Now Haruno was like a typhoon. A storm that would whip you and turn you around and leave you devastated.

“Ah, you’re getting glassy eyed. Got someone waiting for you?” she asked, as we walked to lunch. I wanted a Max Coffee, but I was going to try the cafeteria black and see if it was okay or just dreck.

“Yeah. It’s complicated. There’s someone really serious, and three who just want to take me for a spin. Probably.” She laughed again.

“You’d look great in bib overalls and a straw hat,” I said idly. I plucked at big straw hat off a scarecrow and plopped it on her head. She moved to lift it off with both hands and I snapped a picture, then showed it to her.

“Huh. Send me that,” she said. I returned the hat to the scarecrow while the club person glowered at us.

“First years,” they grumbled.

The cafeteria was pretty basic, but with good light with floor to ceiling windows facing the sea. Pretty much the whole area had a sea-view, which was kinda nice. It was inspiring from an artistic sense. We ate together, joking about ourselves and the things we found in life and she asked me about my books, interested to learn I was writing the fifth one already.

“They’re light novels so they aren’t heavy on detail and they’re both cheaper to publish and to buy so they sell really well compared to denser literature with mostly academic interest.”

“My main thing is illustration,” she admitted.

“Any good?” I asked her seriously.

“I’ve built up a fair number of things I’m happy with. I sketch and fill and develop. Maybe I’ll use the picture you sent me to do a new painting.”

“Really? That’s cool. Doesn’t that need a pretty high end computer?” I asked.

“Yeah. The video memory is intensive and I need as much as I can get. The files get big. I have a bunch of hard drives and CDROMs to store things,” she admitted. “I’m hoping to learn more efficient techniques and improve my speed.”

“Well, this seems to be good for that.”

“What about you? You’re already published and famous. What will you get from being here?” she asked.

“I’m not getting much money from my series. I have name recognition, but I need to learn more about the publishing industry so I don’t get screwed on deals. I need help with the money side of things, and contracts.”

“So what do you write your books with? Notepads or what?”

My personal laptop was thin, and not very fast, but it exchanged speed with battery life so it was good for writing with, and that was mostly what I needed. I wrote with it. I showed it to Shino-san.

“I only really need a word processor and spellcheck. That’s not that hard to do so a slow laptop works for me.”

“Lucky.”

“Eh, all the pictures are in my head, and I have to keep the character mindsets there as well. I can’t drink because I’d lose that critical perspective I need to write. So not all wine and roses.”

“Funny. Well, I’ll see you later. I have illustration 101 next.”

“And I’ve got intro to publishing. Later!” I replied and we went our separate ways for the afternoon. Class was quite interesting and I learned a lot, with useful resources and references. Considering it was already 2012, I also had to keep tabs on popular culture trends so I wouldn’t rehash something someone else already did, ruining my own book sales. So much of writing is about sales figures. And compromise. High school was so much easier. All those declarative statements.

I found Nanako arguing with our erstwhile Romeo about something or other related to voice acting and music. I wasn’t paying that much attention but they seemed worked up so I wasn’t sure if I should stop them or let them figure it out. Instead I just watched them banter and saw her interest in him. Huh. Pupils, nostrils. Ah. The old chemistry. Jealousy and sexual tension. Thank you Haruno.

“Ah, housemate. I’m Hikigaya Hachiman, creative writing track, from Chiba,” I said, introducing myself before Nanako could wind up and smack him. Something I could see was about to happen.

“I’m Hashiba Kyouya. I’m in games production track, I guess. I’m from Nara, about an hour away.”

That explained why he was living here rather than commute.

“So I wanted to let you know there are condoms in the bathroom medicine cabinet,” I informed our resident Romeo. “Please replace them if you use them up. I met your young lady. Quite charming. Please be sure to put a sock on the door if you want to make sure nobody opens the door to disturb your time together and do try to keep the noise down so we can pretend we heard nothing.”

“Ah… yeah. Thanks. Shinoaki is quite… wow. Dreamy,” he admitted. A first love, probably. Good for him. At least his love life was uncomplicated. I eyed Nana and found her glaring. Well, maybe a bit complicated.

“You should probably buy yourself a box and keep it by your bed. I suspect you’ll need them,” I cautioned.

“What about you?” he asked. “Aren’t you going to be rather busy yourself with Yu-I mean your own paramours?” he asked. Plural.

“Ah well, that will come out in successive novels.”

"So the Oregairu series will reveal that eventually?" he asked me, apparently a fan. The nickname was only over the last few months. Probably belonged to the unofficial website. I had a Lurker profile there because their site offered useful criticism sometimes. It also, unfortunately, had a forum dedicated to HachixTotsuka run by Shrimp-chan, who was almost certainly Ebina Hina. She had monetized her hobby. It was... very Japanese of her. When I told him about the place he was outraged. My sister just laughed.

“It’s in progress. The reality is more complicated. I will probably take trips home to visit my publishers, family, and touch base with my… paramours did you put it?” I added. “Yes, from time to time.”

“Men,” griped Nana behind me, seething.

I grinned. She was fun to tease. I hope I didn’t turn that into a mean-spirited hobby, but I can see why Haruno does it to me. It’s probably addicting. I took their pictures and caught their expressions before sending it to Rumi and Komachi. Nara is bright and filled with new friends, I wrote.

I put on the sunglasses.

“Now I see why you wear them,” grumbled Hashiba-san. Here’s hoping he didn’t keep us up all night. I dropped by the market and found some sets of comfortable sleeping earplugs. I think I will need them.