OliveYou — Roleplayer Guild

🇫‌ 🇺‌ 🇯‌ 🇮‌  🇪‌ 🇮‌ 🇰‌ 🇮‌ 🇨‌ 🇭‌ 🇮‌

@Feyblue

"Eikichi! You're going to be late if you don't move that slow butt of yours out the door!"

"Okay, okay! I'm coming!"

Raised voices, slamming doors and feet stomping down stairs: just a normal morning in the Fuji household. 

The two-story house sitting in the most historic neighborhood of Minamikawa has seen its fair share of wear and tear over the years. From toddlers with access to permanent markers to middle schoolers playing baseball inside the house to teenagers performing over-eager kitchen experiments, there has been no shortage of excitement and chaos since the Fujis moved in. But, despite the noise and the occasional visit from the fire department, the neighbors all agree: life would be a lot more dull without the family's cheerful and vigorous presence in the neighborhood.

Coming down the stairs with minutes to spare is Eikichi Fuji, the middle child, handsomest child, and—as of today—second-year high school student. The reason for his lateness? Parting and styling his thick mop of black hair into something that says "I know how to have fun" instead of "I know how to study and not much else." Fingers careful not to touch a single strand lest he mess up all his hard work, Eikichi arranges the asymmetrical safety pin earrings that dangle from his ears. His shirt is, of course, artfully unbuttoned, and his black slacks are made flashier by the addition of a simple silver belt chain. All in all, everything is perfect for his first day.

"I swear, if you didn't spend so much time on your hair, you wouldn't be in such a rush to catch the train," says resident timekeeper and dear mother Fuji Anju, who stands at the bottom of the stairs with her hands on her hips. She huffs, hands already dangerously close to the hair Eikichi has just spent the last half-hour styling. He swats her away, moving out of range of her menacing mom-hands. 

"Mom, it's fine. You know the train always leaves a few minutes late. Did you make me a lunchbox?"

"Ingrateful son of mine…" Mrs. Fuji sighs and points to the counter. "Yes, of course I did. Take something for breakfast, too. At least a piece of toast." 

"Kay." Eikichi moves through the kitchen with seasoned ease, maneuvering around: 
	1) his mother, whose mom-hands cannot be stopped from patting him on the cheek, although she restrains herself from further damage;
	2) the dining room table, where Takeru is finishing his breakfast. Eikichi stops to ruffle Takeru's hair, because it makes him mad and that's funny, before moving on to
	3) his older sister, standing in front of the open fridge, who elbows him in the side, which means he must elbow back. The resulting elbow war ends in a tie and leads him to the
	4) snack cabinet, where he grabs some fruit snacks and a granola bar, raising them out of reach of Rei, who makes various snatching movements. Being the tallest in the Fuji household has many advantages.

"Okay, I'm out," he calls, mostly for his mother's sake. She gives him a wave. Rei sticks her tongue out, which is about all the sibling affection Eikichi can expect from her. 

Getting to the train station isn't too terribly hard, although Eikichi has to admit, he did cut it close this time. It's because he couldn't decide what earrings to wear. Gotta make a good impression—although, it's a lot easier than last year. Last year, he had to basically build himself from the ground up. All the people who called him plain in middle school, all the kids who clocked him as good for a laugh, all the teachers who expected him to lay low—he had to flip all their expectations upside-down and show them what he's really made of, who he really wants to be.

Who he is, now. 

Eikichi pops in his earbuds and watches Minamikawa fade away as he munches on his breakfast. Second year shouldn't be so hard, right? As long as he gets in a class with a few people he knows. And even if he doesn't, it's not so hard to win people over. Not after you get to know them a bit. He's pretty good at that—figuring people out, sniffing out their secrets. Hey, maybe he should become a private detective in the future!

His mind glazes over the entrance ceremony and announcements, more excited to see who's in his class this year (and if he's got a nice seat). Thankfully, everything seems to be in order in Eikichi's little world: Haru's here, and he's the sort of guy Eikichi can always count on to be honest and well-meaning. There are no hidden messages or whispering rumors with Haru; maybe that's why they hung out a lot last year. If pressed, Eikichi might even say he likes the guy! And the rest of the class isn't bad, either—they even have a transfer student. Which is always… interesting.

Wrapped up in such trivial thoughts, Eikichi is not prepared for the face that steps through the door. 

The messy black hair. The stone-cold, disinterested gaze. It's a face he hasn't seen in years — and yet, it's a face he could never forget. 

Eikichi has always prided himself on being hard to ruffle; he's perfected his poker face, an easy smile that doesn't give too much away. But, all his efforts are nothing against the sheer astonishment, the sheer amazement, at seeing Suzuka introduce herself to the class. If he wasn't so shellshocked, he might have laughed at the way she robotically wrote out her name, or smiled at her monotone introduction. As it is, shock does not cover the range of emotions that rush through his mind at seeing her, and his pencil slips through his fingers to bounce uselessly on the floor.

What is she doing here? She's joining the class? She's back? She's back. To stay? She's not leaving? She's back, she's staying, she's not leaving, she's here, she's here again—

Eikichi's mind spins and spins and spins until Suzuka finishes her introduction. His eyes stayed glued to her as she walks back to his row, and it's only in the seconds before she recognizes him that he regains some semblance of sanity. There's just—so much to notice. So much that's different, and so much that's the same! She's gotten a whole lot taller, and a whole lot bigger, too. Eikichi hadn't really been aware of the fact that Suzuka was a girl back then—too focused on the important stuff, like lunch and playtime and dinner—but now it's a fact that's impossible to ignore. But never mind that! He has so much to tell her.

It's with all of these emotions swirling in his chest and coalescing into something warm and fuzzy that may be called relief or joy or elation that Eikichi makes his high school debut:

"And you're Suzu-chan, aren't you? Boy, long time no see! Did you get a bit girly during your time away~?"

He tilts his head back, unable to stop the large grin currently spreading across his face. Her way of speaking is still so adorably direct, and her expressions are still so funny. His year has already been made. From here on, it's nothing but roses.

He's so, so glad she's back.

@Kensai Is there anything further that you want to establish with my char? I reckon Koharu and Eikichi know each other pretty well, they probably orbit the same friend groups, plus if she lived in Minamikawa for any amount of time she definitely got to know him and his family. 

@Vertigo If Ryuu was visiting in the summers and hanging out with Mikako, he most definitely hung out with Suzu and Eikichi too, but idk if you want them to be more than childhood playmates. Eikichi doesn't like trouble if he's not the one causing it, but since it's likely that Suzu and Ryuu will become close, he'll definitely be keeping an eye on the resident delinquent to make sure nothing funny happens with his best friend...

OliveYou Member

Status

Recent Statuses

Bio

Most Recent Posts