Looking back, moving forward
Posted 25 May 2015 - 05:10 PM
I'm very late welcoming you back, hiromi, but wow, that was a fantastic chapter and well worth the wait!! 
You're an amazing storyteller! I am so looking forward to SayaDuu pursuing their happiness together. 
I'm really, REALLY enjoying this!
I read the latest chapter while listening to Mandy Moore's cover of Todd Rungren's "Can We Still Be Friends" and it lifted the story to a whole new level. 
6th gen member
Posted 13 June 2015 - 04:35 AM
Wow... I'm loving the pair more with each chapter. 
"KabeKabeDUUn!"
dance, dancing all of the night~ ♫
Posted 13 June 2015 - 10:40 AM
Thank you for your comments guys I'm sorry I haven't posted in ages, I'm working on the next chapter, but the story is getting to its end so I wanna make it good. And there is too much university stuff going on right now for me to be writing properly. I hope you can bare with me a little longer
☆ Yamazaki Mei ☆ Kaga Kaede ☆ Haga Akane ☆ Danbara Ruru ☆ Sasaki Rikako ☆ Akiyama Mao ☆ Hirai Miyo ☆
Alt Idol & H!P
Posted 08 July 2015 - 10:32 PM
^ I finally got around to reading this and good job. I do want to read more.
dance, dancing all of the night~ ♫
Posted 29 December 2015 - 12:13 AM
Hello guys~! Ohisashiburi desu! 
I don't know if anyone is still interested in this story since I've uploaded the last chapter more than half a year ago, but I've decided to finish it.
One reason is that Riho is graduating and this is a way for me to deal with it. She really was one of my favorite members and since I've become a fan in 2009, it's the first time I've experienced a member's joining and her graduation.
Another reason is that this story has grown on me a lot and I knew I wasn't finished with it yet.
So, here's a new chapter. 
I hope you like it! As always, tell me what you think! Also, corrections concerning my English are welcome as well 
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Chapter 15
In the evening that day, Haruka went to bed with a very warm and fuzzy feeling in her chest. At the lake, Riho and she had sat at the bench for at least another hour talking about all kinds of unimportant things. Lying in bed with the lights out, her lips still felt hot from their second kiss. She touched them with her fingertips and started giggling uncontrollably. Surprised about her own girly behavior she turned to the side and put the blanket over her head. This feeling is incredible, she thought. I have to cherish it.
Haruka heard the clock on her wall count every second that passed. Somehow, she was too excited to sleep, even though it was kind of late already. She had to get up earlier than usual tomorrow to prepare a bit more for a test. Is Riho still up, as well? She kept wondering about that and finally decided to text her. Something short, she thought. Just by sending the message she’ll know I think about her. So she wrote Good night! and added a heart mark to it. A heart, really? That was a level of girlishness she didn’t want to reach. She deleted the heart mark and added a smiley. Much better.
Only a few minutes after she had pressed the send button, her phone vibrated next to her head. She grabbed it so quickly she almost pushed it out of the bed. Good night, the message said. And next to the words was a light pink heart mark. Haruka pressed the phone against her chest and grinned. If she had been a Manga character, this would have been the moment when the words Kyaaa~ would have been written right next to her. Having that picture in mind and the phone still in her hand, she finally fell asleep.
The next morning, she turned the clock off when it rang and therefore didn’t get up as early as she had planned. So while eating breakfast with one hand, her other hand hurriedly ran over the pages of the book she should have studied. Even though she didn’t properly prepare for the exam, it went okay and she had the feeling she had passed. However, this was not a good way to do things. For the other exams she had this week, she would prepare more carefully.
During the break after the exam, both Maa-chan and Sakura came over to Haruka’s desk, asking her how about the exam. They were still the only ones amongst her classmates talking to her – all the others just whispered things behind her back and glanced at her when they thought she didn’t notice. Apparently, one weekend was not enough to not be the main topic of school gossip anymore. But Haruka could say that she honestly didn’t care about that. She was too happy. Even when she was sitting alone at her table, a slight smile was showing on her face constantly.
That seemed to have made one of her classmates suspicious. Between the last two classes just before the teacher came in, Haruka heard the guys next to her talk about her. When she didn’t react to them at all, one of the guys raised his voice and said: “Why is Duu smiling so much today? Did she meet up and kiss with her girlfriend again?” The guys around him started making kissing sounds and laughed, while the rest of the class held their breath and looked at Haruka.
Haruka put away the pen she had been writing with. Now that he had said this in such a disgusted tone, she remembered his voice clearly. It’s him, she thought. It’s the same tone the voice of the boy in the schoolyard had. He’s the one who made this mess. She felt anger boiling inside of her, but she also felt a little bit relieved because she finally knew who had shouted these things. While she had had decided that she wouldn’t waste energy on finding that guy, it had still bothered her somehow. So she was kind of thankful he just exposed himself like that. She stood up slowly and turned towards the guys with an intense look on her face.
“For someone who has never kissed anyone before you are really loud. Maybe you should just shut up and care about your own business for a change.” Haruka had never heard her own voice sound so confident and superior. She turned back to her desk and sat down, took her pen and continued writing where she had left off. The class was so silent you could clearly hear the steps of the teacher in the hallway. Just when the guys wanted to say something in return, the teacher entered and greeted the class. Haruka won.
As soon as the bell rang and the class was dismissed, Maa-chan ran over to Haruka’s desk. “You were so cool!” She was so excited she giggled like crazy. “You totally showed them who the boss is!”
Embarrassed by Maa-chan’s reaction, Haruka blushed. “It wasn’t that big of a deal…”
“It’s true though, you were pretty cool.” Sakura had appeared to, fully packed already, waiting for Haruka. Both her friends had relieved smiles on their faces. Realizing that they must have been worried about her over the weekend, Haruka smiled too. I’m lucky to have friends like them, she thought. She packed up her stuff, said goodbye to Maa-chan and went to the gym together with Sakura.
When they reached the dressing room, Riho was waiting outside, smiling to both ears. Sakura winked at Haruka and went inside the room to change, leaving the two by themselves. They greeted each other a bit shyly, talked about the exams they had had and their plans for today. It felt kind of weird talking to Riho casually like this, when they were actually dating – or whatever you might call their situation. Haruka didn’t know how to act, but she figured it would be best to just keep it the way it had been up until now. “So, how were your classmates today? Did they say anything weird?”
Riho shrugged. “Not really. Most of them don’t talk to me, but I’m pretty sure they talk about me when I’m not around. Kanon is the only one who is normal towards me, and I’m really thankful for that. How about you?”
“Actually…”, Haruka started, just about to tell Riho about her heroic incident in class today, but she changed her mind and ended up sparing the details. “Actually, the guys in my class did say a few weird things today. I just told them to shut up and it was fine.”
“You’re brave”, Riho said. “I wouldn’t be able to tell anyone to shut up…”
“That’s because you’re way too cute. No one could take it as a threat coming from you.” The words left Haruka’s lips so fast she couldn’t even think about them before saying them. Surprised by her own blunt compliment, she feared Riho would find it cheesy. But Riho just blushed and looked down, smiling.
“We should get changed”, she said. She was embarrassed, but not freaked out. Haruka was relieved, even if for a moment only. Because once they entered the dressing room, she realized she was about to change right next to Riho. Her head turned dark red and her heart started beating like crazy.
I thought everything would be easy now. She bit her lips as she took her gym clothes out of her bag. But I was wrong… everything stayed just as complicated. Just in a different way.
☆ Yamazaki Mei ☆ Kaga Kaede ☆ Haga Akane ☆ Danbara Ruru ☆ Sasaki Rikako ☆ Akiyama Mao ☆ Hirai Miyo ☆
8th gen member
Posted 31 December 2015 - 04:59 AM
Nen!
Posted 31 December 2015 - 08:04 PM
工藤～広瀬～岸本～鈴木
Looking back, moving forward
Posted 04 January 2016 - 08:00 PM
This was the best way to end a year and start a new one, hiromi!! Thank you for continuing your story.
dance, dancing all of the night~ ♫
Posted 18 January 2016 - 07:02 PM
Just a small correction:
'She kept wondering about that and finally decided to write her.'
Should be 'finally decided to write to her' or maybe 'finally decided to text her' would fit better
Small corrections like that are very much appreciated, too! Thank you
Thank you, everyone, for welcoming me back like this. I'll give my best to write a good ending for this story! 
In this chapter, you'll see some MaaDuu as I've been liking this pairing a lot lately. 
No worries, SayaDuu will be back in the next one!
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Chapter 16
Haruka survived changing next to Riho by desperately staring at something that was in the other direction. She hoped Riho wouldn’t notice that her face was red like a tomato from embarrassment. The dance class went well and Haruka even got praised for her enthusiasm during dancing. Riho also winked at her which made Haruka smile brightly. At the end of the dance class, Natsu-sensei announced that they wouldn’t practice for the rest of the week because everyone had to concentrate on studying, but that, once spring break began, they would meet up regularly again. The competition would be in two weeks, so there wasn’t that much time left.
The rest of the week went by quickly and Haruka and Riho didn’t have time to meet up. Haruka had exams every day and when she came home from school, she went straight to her room to study. There were so many things to remember her head became more and more dizzy. In order to concentrate on the studies, she even put her Manga in a shelf, locked it and put the key away. Only when she was confident she knew everything she had to, she took them out and read a few pages before going to bed. She also barely wrote messages with Riho during that time because she knew Riho would be just as busy. At school, her happiest moments were when she opened her lunch boxes and found messages of support by her mom in each of them. Do your best today too! You can do it! They said things like that and gave Haruka a bit more confidence every time. That’s how she got through that last week of school.
On Friday during their very last class, Haruka felt like she was sitting on needles because she couldn’t keep still. She had gotten all her exam results back, and they had turned out to be pretty good. She had passed every subject and felt really happy about that. Her parents would be very pleased as well, since she even did okay in English and Math, her most hated subjects. Knowing she had passed everything, Haruka longed for the moment when she could get out of the building. She checked her watch every minute and couldn’t wait to hear the bell ring. When it finally did and dismissed them for the last time this semester, Haruka jumped up, packed her things quickly, grabbed Maa-chan’s hand and they ran out of the classroom. Through the windows they could see it was warm outside, the sun was shining, and the cherry blossoms were now in full bloom as well. Realizing they wouldn’t have to study for the next few weeks, it felt like a whole mountain was lifted from their shoulders.
“We should totally do hanami or something!”, Maa-chan said while they put on their shoes in the wardrobe. When Haruka nodded, she added: “You could invite Sayashi-san as well, and that college friend of yours, and Sakura. I think doing something together would be really fun.”
“We should definitely do that! How about tomorrow? I’ll ask everyone!” Haruka got really excited, too. They decided to meet in the morning to get a good spot at the popular cherry blossom viewing spot near school.
In the evening, Haruka called Riho, Sakura and Haruna to invite them. Sakura was all for it right away. Riho sounded very excited to meet more of Haruka’s friends, and Haruna couldn’t believe she was finally going to meet Riho. Riho also said she would see if Kanon wanted to come too. Since Haruka and Maa-chan said they would be there earlier to reserve a spot, the others would all come around eleven o’clock and bring something to eat.
The next morning, Haruka got up a bit early to get ready. After she had put on her favorite shorts, a cute sweater and some long socks, and had had a cup of tea, she left the house and got on the bus. When she reached the school, Maa-chan was already waiting there for her and they went to the park together. There wasn’t a single cloud to be found on the blue sky and the weather was warm enough to walk around in thin sweaters. Since it was Saturday and the first day of spring break, the streets and parks were full of people. They got a bit worried about getting a spot in the park near the river, since they probably weren’t the only ones who had the idea of doing a hanami that day.
“You really seem happy now”, Maa-chan said while they were walking. “I’m glad everything worked out okay.”
“Yeah, me too. It wasn’t easy, but somehow, we did it.” Haruka sighed.
“When did you know that you liked girls instead of boys?” Maa-chan’s blunt way of asking a question like this never failed to confuse Haruka.
“What do you mean?”
“Well…” As so often, Maa-chan was looking for the right way to express her thoughts. Moments like these made Haruka wonder about what was going on in that girl’s head. She always seemed to have really complicated thoughts that were very hard to put into words. “Well, I mean… have you always known you liked girls better? Or was it just Sayashi-san who made you feel that way?”
Haruka had actually never thought about that. It’s not like I ever think about other girls the way I think about Riho, she thought. But then again, I never think about boys that way, either. Does that mean I don’t like them? Does that mean I only like girls? She couldn’t quite answer that question. “I think it’s only Riho who makes me feel that way. I never think about other girls the same way.”
“Okay, so… you still like boys. But you also like Sayashi-san. Is that right?”
“I don’t know. Why are you asking complicated things like that?”
“But it’s not that complicated~”, Maa-chan complained in her whiny voice, making Haruka laugh. They finally reached the river and stopped for a moment to enjoy the beauty that was lying before them. Along the river, there were lots and lots of trees blooming in all shades of pink, their blossoms moving in the slight breeze. The air smelled fresh and sweet from the cherry blossoms. But when their gaze wandered to the spots underneath the trees, they realized there was no free space left.
“I'm not sure we’ll find a place to sit here..." Haruka’s voice sounded disappointed. She kept staring at the scene for a while, but still couldn’t make out any free space. Just when she wanted to turn around and get back to the bus to go to another park, Maa-chan grabbed her hand and started dragging her along. “What are you doing?”, Haruka shouted, but Maa-chan simply said nothing and kept walking. Haruka got annoyed. What is she thinking? There’s no way we’ll find a free spot here!
After getting past lots and lots of trees and blankets and people for a while, they finally ended up in front of a blank space. It wasn’t exactly next to the river, but the tree was very nice and it should be big enough for everyone to sit underneath. “I knew we’d find one!” Maa-chan jumped up and down from excitement. She opened her bag and took out a blanket that had lots of cute Sanrio characters on it. “Now let’s reserve the place and go shop for food! The others will be here in an hour!”
Finding a spot and seeing Maa-chan’s excitement made Haruka excited again, as well. She took out her blanket and put it on the floor. It had a One Piece print on it and looked like it belonged to a boy next to Maa-chan’s. After they had put a few rocks on it to make sure it wouldn’t be blown away they went off to the next combini.
At the combini, they got all kinds of things – rice balls, some sushi, various kinds of salty snacks, pink and green dango to suit the cherry blossom theme, and some tea and soda for drinks. They even thought about plastic plates and cups for everyone. Maa-chan kept talking about how glad she was that school was finally over and about the plans she had for spring break. When they got in line to pay, Haruka suddenly realized she had forgotten something. “I’ll be back in a sec!”, she said and left Maa-chan in line.
Haruka went back to the sweets corner and looked for the Matcha flavored things there. When she finally found them, she smiled and grabbed a big bar of Matcha chocolate. How could I forget to buy this? She was surprised by herself. This basically is what brought me back with Riho, after all. Thinking back to Riho’s happy face when she had seen the self-made chocolates made Haruka’s chest feel warm. This is not the same, she thought, but it’s still Matcha chocolate. I want to eat it together with everyone.
☆ Yamazaki Mei ☆ Kaga Kaede ☆ Haga Akane ☆ Danbara Ruru ☆ Sasaki Rikako ☆ Akiyama Mao ☆ Hirai Miyo ☆
8th gen member
Posted 20 January 2016 - 10:35 AM
Looking back, moving forward
Posted 22 January 2016 - 01:01 AM
dance, dancing all of the night~ ♫
Posted 08 February 2016 - 05:20 PM
Chapter 17
“I’m so glad you got invited to a hanami”, her mother said when she gave her the bento boxes. “I packed up some rice balls, karaage, and both sweet and savory mochi as well. Oh, and in the pink box there is some fruit for everyone.”
“You didn’t have to do all of this, I know you’re busy too Mom…”, she said, feeling a bit guilty for all the work her mom had put into the food.
“You know I like doing this for you.” Her mom gave her a warm smile. “Is your friend Haruka going to be there as well?”
“Yes, she is.” Just thinking about her made her blush. So that her mom wouldn’t notice that, she put the bento boxes in her bag and turned to the door. “Okay then… I’m off now.”
Riho left the house and went to get on the same train she always used to go to school. She then got off at the usual stop and walked to her school. Once she arrived there, she took out her phone and checked her messages. She read the description Haruka had sent to her so that she would find the place. Riho had to smile at how carefully she had written the message, even pointing out buildings and shops on the way so that it was impossible for her to get lost. It’s so cute how she’s caring for me, Riho thought. That’s what she’s always been doing, ever since we met in the school hallway that day.
When she got to the park, she blinked in surprise at all the people sitting under the trees, laughing and eating. Considering the warm weather and spring break, she should have expected this, but Tokyo and its masses of people still surprised her. In Hiroshima, there were very popular spots as well, but even those didn’t usually get as crowded as this. Well, I should finally get used to this, Riho thought, sighing. Just when she wanted to step into the crowd and look for her friends, she heard someone call out her name. She turned around and saw Haruka walking towards her, waving. She wore a more girly outfit than usual with the long socks and the cute sweater, but this look suited her well, too. She was always so stylish! Riho felt like her simple long-sleeved dress couldn’t keep up with that at all.
“There’s no way you’d find our spot between all these people, so I came looking for you!” Haruka grabbed Riho’s hand and showed her the way. Riho blushed from embarrassment. Was it okay to hold hands in front of all these people? Haruka never seemed to worry about things like that. But that was another thing she liked about her, so Riho decided to just go along with it.
The spot they had reserved was laid out with blankets. Riho had to smile as she could immediately make out which one was Haruka’s. Maa-chan, Sakura and Haruna were already sitting and filling the cups with tea. Haruka introduced her to her friend Haruna, since it was the first time the two of them met. “Nice to meet you!”, Riho said politely and bowed slightly. Haruna smiled at her in a friendly way and asked her if she had to take a long way to get here and if she was adjusting to Tokyo. She seemed really nice and Riho felt at ease around her right away.
Just when she sat down as well, Riho’s phone rang. It was Kanon, asking for the exact spot they were at. Riho tried to describe it the best way possible, but since there was nothing but trees and people around them, she couldn’t find a good explanation. At some point, Haruka just took the phone and told Kanon she would come to get her. She went off and disappeared in the crowd, leaving Riho behind together with Maa-chan, Sakura and Haruna. Since she wasn’t particularly good at conversations, Riho simply started to take all the bento boxes out of her bag and put them in the middle of the blankets. Maa-chan made excited noises, amazed by the amount of food she had brought. “Did you make all of this yourself?”, she asked. “What are these filled with?” She pointed at the rice balls.
“No, my mom made them for us. And I actually don’t know what they are filled with, because it’s always a surprise.”
“Oh, Haruka told me about that. She said your mom’s rice balls are the best.” Haruna looked at them more closely. She then looked at Riho and smiled at her. “You know, Haruka really, really likes you. I’m glad everything worked out with you guys. These past few weeks weren’t really easy for her. And for you neither, I guess.”
Riho nodded. There really have been a lot of hard times, she thought. When I first moved here, I had no one. Haruka was the first one who talked to me… because I’m always too shy to talk to anyone. And I was so happy to have a friend like her. But then she suddenly kissed me, and that moment, everything changed. I didn’t think I liked her that way. That’s why I left the school roof that day. Riho looked up at the cherry blossoms above her. There were lots of branches on the tree they sat under, and each one must have carried a hundred blossoms. I know I put her through hard times because of my constant running. But it wasn’t easy to understand all those feelings. I think I still don’t understand them. But for now, it’s all good. She looked back at her bento boxes. I know I like her too. That’s all that matters.
Haruka came back, bringing Kanon with her, who greeted everyone with a big smile on her face. They both sat down next to Riho and Haruka got excited seeing the rice balls Riho’s mom had made. She turned to Riho and winked at her, her shimmering eyes telling her that she remembered exactly the last time she had seen those. Riho did, too. And she blushed again.
They all put the food they had brought next to Riho’s bento boxes and in the end, there was a nice amount of different dishes waiting to be eaten by them. Haruka had even brought matcha chocolate, Riho’s favorite matcha food. Riho knew that Haruka had bought it thinking about her, and that made her really happy. As they enjoyed the food, they talked a lot about the exams and their results, about the upcoming break and what they would be doing. Riho, Haruka and Sakura got asked about their dance competition and the others promised they would come to see them. Haruka told everyone about Riho’s dance skills and how she admired them, and everyone teased her about how in love she was.
“It might be true that Haruka is in love, but Riho really is a good dancer.” Sakura felt like she had to clear that up.
“No, but you are very good, as well!” Riho praised Sakura. “Getting to school early to practice… I really admire that discipline.”
“I can’t wait to see the show, I’m sure all of you are great!”, Haruna said. She sounded like she honestly looked forward to the thing. Riho couldn’t wait to show everyone what they had been practicing for. She might have gotten the hang of the routine quickly, but she still put a lot of effort into it. And she was also very proud at Haruka, who had gotten really good. She wondered if her dad would find the time to come and see the competition, as well. In Hiroshima, he had always supported her dancing career and came to every show. But in Tokyo, he had been very busy and Riho didn’t get to see him much. While everyone else was chatting, Riho became quiet and her gaze went off, when suddenly, she felt someone touch her hand. As she looked to her left, Haruka smiled at her. She seemed to have noticed that Riho felt a bit sad that moment. The feeling of being understood so well by someone was amazing. Cherishing that, Riho managed to smile back.
The only food that was left now were some of the rice balls Riho had brought with her. Before anyone could take one, Maa-chan announced that she had a great idea, grabbed the whole box and grinned at everyone. Each one of them should take one rice ball, and the one who didn’t have a filling in theirs would have to sing a song all by themselves. Even though the game didn’t particularly make sense, Maa-chan’s excitement made everyone agree to the terms. Every girl grabbed one rice ball and they started giggling. There was no point in this, but Riho kind of felt nervous when she looked at her rice ball. Maa-chan sure was a funny girl. She understood why Haruka liked her so much.
As each one of them took a bite off, it was very silent. Then, Maa-chan jumped up and shouted that hers had salmon in it. Both Haruna and Sakura made relieved sounds, as well. Kanon grinned at everyone and showed them the tuna filling of her rice ball. So Riho and Haruka looked at each other, both still chewing. Suddenly, Haruka’s face lit up with a grin and she started pointing at Riho. She was right. Riho was the one who got the bland rice ball.
Which song should she sing? She closed her eyes and decided to go with the one that first came to mind. She wasn’t particularly unconfident about her singing, but she usually didn’t sing in front of other people. And at the actor’s school she had been to in Hiroshima, she concentrated on dancing mainly. Nevertheless, after taking a sip of tea, she started singing. The song that their dance club danced to.
She sang the verses and when she reached the chorus, Sakura joined in as well. A little later, Haruka, Kanon and Maa-chan did too, and Haruna clapped to the rhythm of everyone’s singing. They all had big smiles on their faces as they continued the song. The other people around them looked at them strangely, but they didn’t mind at all. When they finished singing, they ended up clapping and laughing loudly. Riho felt Haruka’s hand grabbing her and pulling her closer, so that their shoulders touched.
Moments like these make Tokyo so much more beautiful, Riho thought. Moments like these make me happy. I want to thank everyone for this. She looked at Haruka, who laughed so much she had to wipe tears out of her eyes. And I want to thank you the most. You are the best.
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thanks for you comments, as always!
for this chapter, I decided to shake it up a bit by changing the perspective. Hope you liked it anyways!
☆ Yamazaki Mei ☆ Kaga Kaede ☆ Haga Akane ☆ Danbara Ruru ☆ Sasaki Rikako ☆ Akiyama Mao ☆ Hirai Miyo ☆
Looking back, moving forward
Posted 09 February 2016 - 05:18 PM
Ah, excellent chapter as always! 
Now I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. Your experiments with the changes in narrative produce fantastic results, always something to look forward too. Can't wait for the next chapter!
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