#I was looking for the part where they said they wanted to see Yumoto cry since the finale happened

[towaniegaita]

FAQs [Nozakibento, 16th October 2010]

Original post in Japanese

I collected together some of the questions I'm often asked.

 Basic Information

Name: Nozakibento

Date of Birth: 28th April 1986 (Showa 61)

Height: 177.5cm (as of 2018)

Weight: approx. 60kg

Blood Type: A

Home prefecture: Hokkaido. I was born in Sapporo. I also lived in Tokachi and Kushiro.

Current location: Tokyo (I moved there from Hokkaido in the year I turned 30)

Occupation: A 33 year old amateur idol

Hairstyle: I used to wear a wig, but now I mostly go for a messy style

Visual Acuity: Both eyes are around 1.5 without glasses

Characteristics: Nozakibento

Likes and Dislikes

Favourite food: Sliced senmai (boiled tripe), vegetables in general, meat in general (especially meat sashimi), seafood in general (especially octopus and oysters), anything cherry blossom flavoured, anything yuzu flavoured, rice, miso soup, soba, udon, niboshi ramen, yakuzen herbal soup, grated yam, tofu, shiokara, sushi, sashimi, seaweed, mochi, rice flour dumplings, wheat gluten cakes, keihan rice, oyster soy sauce, slow-boiled eggs, Indian curry from Tokachi, ice cream (especially citrus, mint chocolate, watermelon and vanilla flavours), hard gums, mini Ramune candy, agar jelly, almond tofu pudding, oroblanco

Least favourite food: None.

Favourite drinks: Tea in general, kale smoothie, scented but not sweetened sparkling water, vegetable juice, tomato juice, soba water, miso soup, dashi, non-alcoholic beer, ginger ale, black coffee

Favourite alcoholic drinks: Campari-based cocktails (especially Spumoni), Violet Fizz

Favourite animals: Daring crabs, spotted garden eels, owls, sea urchins when they eat cabbage

My type: Someone with a big heart, who isn't rude and doesn't complain all the time. Decisive, speaks logically and is a fast worker

Favourite scents: Bergamot, yuzu, oroblanco, lemongrass, lemon and lime, eucalyptus, vanilla, incense, hinoki cypress, the smell of hot springs, medicinal water, struck matches

Favourite sports: Table tennis, endurance running, non-competitive swimming, walking

Favourite instruments: When I listen to bands, I tend to focus on the drums, bass and keyboard. If I go to see a symphonic orchestral concert or something, I tend to watch the percussionists. I myself can't play any instruments.

Hobbies: Gaming, listening to game soundtracks, table tennis, reading, darts, being enveloped in aromas, checking my daily electricity bill using a bill management app

Special skills: Ability to work as a librarian, can sing The Tortoise And The Hare starting from different positions, a little bit of competitive eating (can eat up to about 2kg)

Qualifications: Librarian, teacher's licence (for primary, middle and high schools), certified member of the Sports Boy Scouts (link in Japanese), Kanji Aptitude Test Level 2, driving licence (for manual cars)

Person I most respect: My mother

Favourite subjects: Japanese (especially modern Japanese), contemporary society, ethics, politics and economics

Favourite season: The shade in midsummer

Favourite phrases: 

80% Preparation 20% Performance (dandori hachibu)

The early bird gets the worm (sente hisshou)

Niche business (sukima sangyou)

Information, Communication, Discussion (houkoku renraku soudan)

Easier said than done (iu wa yasuku okonau wa katashi)

Haste makes waste (tanki wa sonki)

Drink if you want, but be swallowed up (sake wa nondemo nomareru na)

The frog in the well knows nothing of the great ocean (i no naka no kawazu taikai wo shirazu)

A picture is worth a thousand words (hyakubun wa ikken ni shikazu)

Stress-free

Favourite Japanese poem:

'If I live long,

I may look back with yearning for these painful days -

The world that now seems harsh

May then appear sweet and good!'

By Fujiwara no Kiyosuke, translation by Peter McMillan

Favourite place to hang out: Inside a game

Favourite characters: Domo-kun (NHK), Moji-kun (Kotoba no Puzzle: Mojipittan), Zushi Hokki (official mascot of Hokuto city in Hokkaido), Jack Frost (Megami Tensei series), Morgana (Persona 5)

Favourite anime: Eureka Seven

Favourite manga: Love Roma by Toyoda Minoru

I Wonder If I Can Make 100 Friends by Toyoda Minoru

Yoake no Toshokan by Nonou Tao

Other manga I like: Nangoku Shounen Papuwa-kun, PAPUWA, Final Request, Yu☆Yu☆Hakusho, Revelations: Persona, Mind Assassin, Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei, Arakawa Under The Bridge, Fushigi Yuugi, Ranma 1/2, Psychometrer EIJI, The Kindaichi Case Files, Rakudai Ninja Rantarou, Soul Hunter etc.

Favourite game: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers

Other games I like: Shin Megami Tensei 1-4, Shin Megami Tensei 4 Final, Shin Megami Tensei if, Persona 1-5, Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha 1 and 2, DIGITAL DEVIL SAGA Avatar Tuner 1 and 2, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 1 and 2,  Little Magic, Jake Hunter: Let Time Pass By, LIVE A LIVE, Final Fantasy 5 and 8, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem, Secret of Mana, Trials of Mana, Schoolhouse Horror Story, Banshee's Last Cry, Jungle Wars 2, Ranma 1/2: Hidden Treasure of the Red Cat Gang, Renegade, The New Hot-Blooded Tough Guy: The Eulogy of Kunio and Co., Puyo Puyo, Puyo Puyo 2, Saga Frontier, Monster Farm, Monster Farm 2, KOF98, SAMURAI SPIRITS, vib-ribbon, Clock Tower 2, Clock Tower Ghost Head, Maria: Kimitachi Ga Umareta Wake, Double Cast, Sakura Wars 2: Thou Shalt Not Die, Kotoba no Puzzle: Mojipittan, RPG Maker Series, etc. As for social network games, I like Kuroneko no Wiz Dx2 Shin Megami Tensei Revelation, and Ensemble Stars!

What I most want right now: Time

Do I smoke? Never. But I have nothing against those who do. I don't mind if someone smokes next to me.

Things I struggle with: Exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, English, mental arithmetic, making other people cross.

What I like about myself: Large earlobes

What I don't like about myself: The fact that I easily neglect my work if I lose focus.

Do I like nurses? I like them if they're good at giving injections.

Favourite way of heating things up in a microwave: 2 minutes at 500W

Ideal way to spend a day off: Sleep like I've melted into the bed, do the cleaning and laundry when I wake up, play games like I'm bathing in them, sleep again.

Novels I’m glad to have read and why: There's a lot, so I'll just list what I can remember off the top of my head.

★ Criss Cross - Konton no Maou by Takahata Kyouichirou, published by MediaWorks. This was the very first book that made me interested in reading novels.

★ Natsu no Niwa - The Friends by Yumoto Kazumi, published by Shinchousha. When I felt down, I read this and my heart was cleansed.

★ Rirekisho by Nakamura Kou, published by Kawade Shobou Shinsha. Because it gave me courage.

★ Tsubasa wa Itsu Made Mo by Kawakami Ken'ichi, published by Shuueisha. I simply thought that it was a really good book, and reading it made me want to read more books like it in the future.

★ Tsumetai Kousha no Toki wa Tomaru by Tsujimura Mizuki, published by Kodansha. This was the book that reminded me that I wanted to keep reading novels forever.

NicoNicoDouga and Dance covers

When did you start using NicoNico? 2007, in the earliest days of the RC version.

What kind of videos do you watch on NicoNico? Anything.

Were you learning how to dance? I've never learnt how to dance.

Why did you start dancing? I wanted to take part in the first large-scale Cirno meeting. (T/N: An event where a whole bunch of people from NND get together to dance to Cirno's Perfect Math Class. Here's the 2009 version.)

What's the average production time for a single video? It varies.

What's been the most fun thing to dance to so far? Ren'ai Hunter

Which of your own dance videos are you most satisfied with? Domo-kun's dance to MERRY GO ROUND

Where you happy to be chosen in the Geiran videos (A series where a gay man ranked dancers on NND)? I was.

Which version is your current Domo-kun?

Hokkaido and Tokyo version: Tiramisu (Original version. Mainly stays at home. On active duty)

Osaka version: Chocolat (Retired)

Fukuoka version: Fondue (Retired)

Tokyo version: Belgium (Retired)

Tokyo version: Demel (Retired)

What kind of expressions do you make and what feelings do you have when dancing as Domo-kun or in the blue full bodysuit? None

What would happen to you if you drank a strange potion? I'd become aggressive.

Aren't you going to wear a wig anymore? I'd like to wear one again some time soon.

Other

Were you in any clubs during middle school? I was in the table tennis club for all 3 years. My high school club is a secret.

Do you have a girlfriend? It'd be annoying to have to update this page if I got a girlfriend or if we broke up so that's also a secret.

What are your dreams and goals? To make the people I love happy. I want to live in a way that I can look back when I die and think that I lived a good life.

What are your habits? Looking at the ingredients and nutrition facts labels on food. Looking at the ingredients labels on shampoo. Moving around unsteadily. Clicking my tongue without any thought behind it.

What are your typical phrases? Okay (ii yo), I see (naruhodo), Why?! (nande dayo), hahahaha, hah hah hah hah, HAHAHAHA

What are your main principles? To always live calmly, and to never miss an opportunity

Does your Roomba have a name? It's called Junpei.

When did you first meet Domo-kun? A friend gave me a Domo-kun plushie for my birthday and the rest is history.

What was it that drew you to Domo-kun? His loveliness.

Where did you get such a large number of plushies from? Some of them I bought, some of them I received. A few of them I got from a crane machine.

What do you want to do right now? Sleep.

What part time jobs have you done in your life? Waiter at a sushi restaurant, library work, private tutoring.

If you have a child in the future, what book would you absolutely want them to read? You Are Umasou by Miyanishi Tatsuya, published by Poplar

Do you have any rivals? No (because no-one will compete in the same ring as me).

What's your image of the ideal human? Someone who can do fundamental things reliably.

What's your motto? Stress-free

What's the reason for your name?

Nozaki → Named after Nozaki Megumi from the idol group CHECKICCO

Bento → My inspiration

 -------------

First published 16th October 2010, updated 1st December 2019

[boueibu-valentines]

The one time Yufuin made an effort with his uniform

Creator: @mystofthestars Recipient: @pyrachan Title: The one time Yufuin made an effort with his uniform. Characters/Pairings: En/Akoya Summary: En has never really cared about his school uniform, so why is it so important now to find the button of his jacket, which has suddenly gone lost after the graduation ceremony? Comment: After crying over the OVA, I didn’t want anything to do with the graduation ceremony anymore. But then my recipient wanted some EnAkoya, and I am always complaining that there is basically no EnAkoya in this fandom, and all I came up with was a graduation-related idea… Pyrachan wanted something awkward but cute. This is definitely awkward, I hope it’s also cute! Happy Valentine’s day! :D

____________

There had never been much of a relationship between En and Akoya.

Akoya seemed to get on well enough with Io, Ryuu and the Beppu brothers and, in his own way, he even got along with Yumoto—although the interactions with all of them were mostly bickering, it was that kind of friendly, cozy bickering, which made the Kurotama lively and the club room warmer that it had ever been.

Toward his Student Council senpai, of course, Akoya showed nothing but respect and affection.

Out of the whole group, En and Atsushi were the ones who could claim less familiarity with the beautiful, long-haired Akoya, and between the two of them, En was the one who never thought the second year would ever take him into consideration.

Atsushi was the ever gentle, sweet yet authoritative senpai, no one could ever not get along with. And he was Kinshiro’s lost and found again best friend, a fact that alone had to gain Akoya’s respect, if not true sympathy. 

En, on the other hand, was the lazy, listless boy, who was essentially everything the old Caerula Adamas had fought against. 

It was all in the past, now, but En had never thought that the well-educated Akoya would ever show him anything behind the respect and politeness due to an older student.

The idea that he and Akoya would never be anything more than schoolmates had, in a sense, been comforting. En had already enough kouhai to take care of.

As the graduation ceremony came closer, he grew more and more convinced that he was happy with the thought of retiring from his duties as a high school senpai (duties which he mostly neglected anyway). 

It was much to his surprise, then, that, on the day of their graduation, Akoya bumped against him when they all were converging to the big room of the ceremony.

It was unexpected enough that Akoya would walk into someone when he usually moved with grace and kept a fair distance from everyone else, but En didn’t have neither the time or energy to give it much thought.

The fight against the buttons monster had just ended, and all of them had their minds still struggling to focus on what laid ahead, behind the doors of the hall.

Akoya himself seemed caught off guard by his close encounter with En, but he effortlessly regained his composure. He shot the taller boy a disdainful glance.

“You could have worn your tie, even if just for today’s ceremony, Yufuin-san,” he reproached him, eyes fixed on the undone collar of En’s shirt.

The older boy shrugged. That kind of remark, at least, was not unusual.

“One should live their last day as a high school student the same way he’s lived the rest of his high school life. I’m a huge fan of coherence.”

 Akoya turned his head away, as if annoyed, but En didn’t miss his snort.

“As you say. Still, I’d button up this jacket at least,” the younger said, and then proceeded to do it for him.

Akoya’s hands were fine and swift, and En ended up with his jacket done before he could even begin to protest. After that, Akoya turned and preceded him inside and En lost him in the crowd.

The rest of the day proceeded quickly, and En lost track of time after Kinshiro’s speech, Wombat’s sudden disappearance, and what followed after.

It was only later that night—after they had tried to figure out where Wombat was, bought the curry for him, gathered at Kurotama to wash away the sweat and the sadness of the day—that he came home and discovered that one of the buttons of his jacket had gone lost.

How ironical, he thought, losing a button after the monster they had just fought that day. He looked at the floor in his room, down the stairs and then in the entrance, but there was no sign of the small object. 

For a moment, he even wondered if it was the monster that had stolen it instead.

Ah well, he told himself, it’s really just a button. Starting from tomorrow, I won’t even need this jacket anymore.

He draped it carefully on the hanger and then tugged at one of the sleeves. Still, it was a pity to lose it after three years of faithful company.

It was En’ first day out of high school and his original plan had involved sleeping until past noon and then perhaps meeting up with Atsushi for a walk downtown. 

Instead, he found himself pacing carefully through Binan High’s garden and yard, retracing his movements from the day before.

 As he walked in front of the entrance, where they had fought the monster, he recalled Akoya fixing his jacket before the ceremony began. Fastidious as he was, the younger boy would have surely noticed a missing button and let him know—probably even scolded him for being so careless to lose it.

To think I wouldn’t have given a single thought about a missing button until twenty-four hours ago, he told himself sourly. Yet, he kept searching.

It was around noon when Akoya found him, lying down on the grass. At first, he thought En was asleep.

A cherry blossom slowly floated down and landed on his nose, and En sneezed himself awake.

Akoya graciously covered his mouth as to not openly laugh at him.

“Of all the third years I know, I thought you were the most unlikely to return here out of nostalgia. Right on the day after your graduation, nonetheless.”

En looked up at Akoya from his supine position. The early spring sun shone through his long, silky hair, and his face was shadowed by his soft locks. Despite that, he could see the hint of a smirk on the boy’s fine features.

“Or perhaps you were too tired to return home last night, and decided this patch of grass would be just as good as your bed.”

En sat up and shook his head, then ran a hand through his hair, disentangling a few petals from the strands.

“You give me too much credit if you think I could really spend the night here. I love sleeping comfortably.”

Akoya knelt down beside him. “I bet you could still manage.”

En shrugged, and the other boy tilted his head on one side.

“So? Don’t tell me you really are too nostalgic to just stay home.”

“I’m just taking a break from what I was doing. Elderly people need to rest often,” he replied stretching his back and arms with a grimace.

“Elderly people should not rest on wet grass, it’s bad for their bones,” Akoya objected, eyebrows raised.

En massaged the low part of his back, then cautiously proceeded to stand.

“Well, perhaps a young man like you would like to help an oldie in his search, then.”

Akoya looked up. “Search?” 

Suddenly, En felt kind of stupid. “Yes, well, I lost one of my jacket’s buttons yesterday. Remember how you fixed it right before the ceremony? It must have fallen off after that, but I can’t seem to find it anymore.”

Akoya’s head lowered as if he was already looking through the grass.

“It might have fallen inside the building, or on the way to Kurotama’s. I already texted Yumoto but he hasn’t found it while cleaning, so I wonder…”

“Of course, you’re aware of the fact that—”

That I won’t wear my Binan High uniform ever again in my life? I’m quite aware of that, yes, En phrased for him in his own mind.

“—it is going to be difficult to find it, after yesterday’s ceremony. The whole school was gathered here.”

“I know. I have time to spare for the task, though.”

Akoya raised an eyebrow at him. It was probably the first time he had heard En speak like that.

In fact, En himself was surprised at his own words.

He expected some kind of sharp remark from the younger student. Instead, Akoya stood up. 

“Let’s keep searching then. Two pairs of eyes are better than one.”

Together, they kept scanning the yard all the way to the stairs that led downward to Kurotama’s. 

Despite his earlier resolution to find the lost button, En’s attention was divided between the ground and his unexpected adjuvant.

Akoya’s eyes carefully scanned the path as they went on. Engrossed as he was in his task, he kept curling a strand of his hair around his index finger, absentmindedly.

He looked like he was taking it more seriously than En.

“If you don’t mind me asking, Yufuin-san,” Akoya turned to catch En as he was staring at him. Akoya swirled away quickly, pretending to check the steps that led down from the school. “Why are you so concerned about your button? I can’t recall you caring about them before. In fact, your uniform could as well be buttonless for all the use you made of them.”

En looked down the staircase. The spring breeze felt fresh against his skin. It brought promises of new beginnings, and also of a very pleasant nap under a tree. Yet he could not give up his search.

“I still had it with me though. It’s simply disappointing that it didn’t make it out of school together with me, I guess.” 

He shrugged, eyes still set to the stairs. It went straight down, among shops and cherry trees. Somewhere below was the entrance to Kurotama’s. 

He stepped down.

“When I’ll look at my uniform in ten years or so, it will still be missing a button, and it won’t be because it was given to a younger student, but simply because it fell down. It’s a waste.”

Under his feet, the stones were already paved with pink petals. If his button was anywhere around there, it was probably covered with them now. 

“You know, it probably has something do to with—” ah, it was awkward to say that out loud “—with not wanting to let go of my uniform just yet. Not that the uniform in itself is important, just, you know.” 

It wasn’t about the uniform, it was about napping in the club room, and scolding Yumoto over eating too much at lunch, and reading manga while Atsushi read books, and hearing Io and Ryuu bickering from above the screens of their phones.

It was about the new friendships they’d made. 

It was about the friends he hadn’t made yet.

Akoya was silent behind him, but En could hear the soft steps as he moved, still searching.

There was a particularly thick pile of petals close to the tips of En’s right shoe, so he knelt down next to it to disperse it with his fingers. A couple of cherry flowers were still whole, and he picked one up.

“Would that be better if one of your younger club-mates were to have it instead?”

En stood up and turned.

Akoya was holding out one hand toward him, the white button resting on his palm.

En blinked. He was positive he had checked that bit of stairs just now. 

“You found it.”

Akoya smirked, looking down at him from above.

In a flash, En replayed the moments before the ceremony in his mind. The crowd of students converging into the room, Akoya walking into him, his quick hands buttoning up his jacket. Could it be….?

“Of course I did. I have an eye for details.” Akoya shrugged and threw his hair back. “So?” He huffed impatiently. 

It was unfair and even a bit presumptuous for En to think a Student Council member would steal a button from his jacket. Even now, the boy was most likely helping him just so he didn’t have someone uselessly lazying around the schoolyard. 

En looked at him. Akoya was glancing sideways as if trying to ignore him. En walked up the steps and suddenly it was him who was looking at Akoya from above. The latter’s eyes darted up and his hand forward, as to prevent En from coming closer.

“I assume you won’t be sewing this back on your uniform, but I believe one of your club-mates would be happy to keep it.”

En picked it up and weighed it up in the palm of his hand, then carefully intertwined the fallen cherry blossom’s stem into the small holes of the button.

“Yumoto, Ryuu, or Io don’t really need this,” he decided. Not after a whole year of fighting weird monsters and green pet aliens. Not after all the afternoons spent in the club room and the evenings at the Kurotama’s. Besides, he had no intention of giving the latter up in the near future.

“But,” he added as he held the intertwined button and flower against Akoya’s hair. The soft pink of the petals really matched the color of his locks. En was certain that they must share the same consistency. “You can keep it as a token of the one time Yufuin made an effort with his uniform, if you please.”

He parodied a small curtsy, raising his hand to offer the gift.

Moments passed, long enough to make En realize he was acting like a complete fool.

Then, with an ill-concealed snort, fresh fingers brushed against his palm and the button was gone. 

He expected to hear it roll down the stairs. Instead, he rose his head in time to see Akoya patting his pocket. The same pink of the petals had appeared on his cheeks now, too.

“It will be duly noted in the annals of the school. The one time Yufuin spent a day looking for a button he would never use, only to give it away to the first person he encountered.”

En combed his hair back and sighed.

“It wasn’t how it went. Yufuin gave it to whom he wanted. There’s a difference.”

As if mirroring him, Akoya curled one strand of hair around his finger.

“Perhaps.”

They stood there in silence for a few more moments. The breeze grew chiller.

En glanced down the stairs, then gestured at Akoya.

“Kurotama’s?”

The boy turned to look at the school as if considering whether his duties there could be postponed until later that evening or not. Eventually, he turned to En with a curt nod of approval, locks of hair half hiding the blooming redness on his cheeks.

“Not a bad proposal.” He brought a hand to caress his face with a dramatic grimace. “My skin is getting all dry in this wind.” And he walked down without waiting for En.

It was not only the first time En and Akoya went to the Kurotama’s on their own but the first time they did something alone together at all.

In fact, En wouldn’t have minded spending some more time outside with him, letting the spring breeze play with their hair, and renewing its promises of new beginnings. 

And if the breeze made pink petals bloom on his warm cheeks as well, it didn’t matter at all. 

[crazy-grrrl-on-the-computer]

Really, boys? Are you sure about that? Maybe you should think this one through.

Oh no…

Now, you’ve done it…

ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?!

THOSE DON’T LOOK LIKE HAPPY FACES TO ME!