Yuri curled her hand into a fist and slowly reached for the door in front of her. As her hand gravitated to the divider between rooms and hallways, she couldn't help but stop herself, resulting in her arm snapping back to her side.
"Maybe this isn't a good idea…" Yuri mumbled under her breath.
Yuri started to turn away to leave, until a familiar voice caused her to freeze in place.
"Yuri?" she heard the voice say.
The surprised maiden turned around and felt embarrassed that Shujinkou caught her in the middle of leaving.
"Ah, h-hello," Yuri shyly greeted, tightly clutching the book between her arms.
"What are you doing here, Yuri?" Shujinkou asked.
"Ah…" Yuri closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The answer was in her head, all she needed was to find a way to get it out. After spending two minutes in complete silence, Yuri opened her eyes and clutched the book she was holding even harder. "I was wondering if you could look at something for me."
Shujinkou's curious gaze caused her to turn away.
"Look at what?" Shujinkou asked.
"This…" Slowly and reluctantly, Yuri started to hand her book over to Shujinkou, but the moment he reached for it, Yuri instinctively pulled it back towards her chest.
Embarrassed by her response, Yuri turned away once more and clutched the book even tighter than before.
"Sorry…" Yuri apologized. "It's just that… I never did this before."
From the corner of her eye, she noticed Shujinkou quietly scratch his right cheek. After another moment of silence, he extended his left arm to her. Yuri simply stared at his outstretched arm and once again tried to force herself to hand the book to him. After many constant pauses, the book finally reached his hand, which he happily accepted.
She watched him open the book and felt slightly worried when his eyes lit up with surprise.
"I was wondering if I could get your opinion on what lies inside," Yuri requested.
"Are you sure you want my opinion?" Shujinkou asked. "I mean I'm not exactly a good writer myself. I haven't even gotten past writing the first word… I haven't even got to the first word."
"Even so, I would still appreciate your input anyway," Yuri replied. "Plus, maybe reading the writing of another high school writer could help you with your writing anxiety."
"Writing anxiety?" the perplexed Shujinkou repeated.
"It's one of the things that can affect new writers," Yuri answered.
"Oh," Shujinkou opened the door to his room and walked inside.
Without saying a word, Yuri followed him inside and the two casually sat along the side of the bed. Once settled, Shujinkou got to work reading as per Yuri's request.
"Ah…" Yuri accidently said aloud.
Shujinkou looked up and gazed into her curious eyes.
"What is it, Yuri?" he asked.
"N-Nothing…" she stammered. "It's just that I never seen you look so focused before."
"Oh," Shujinkou turned his attention back to the book and continued reading from where he left off.
As he continued to read her work, Yuri closed her eyes and remembered the last time she seen that expression when it came to her writing.
1 year ago after school, the young writer was in the middle of finishing off her assignment. As she neared the end, she couldn't help but worry what he would think about or whether or not she was able to complete the task that was given to her.
Once finished, Yuri nervously approached the teacher's desk and handed her poem to its owner.
"So, how is it?" Yuri asked.
The timid maiden continued to watch her teacher read her poem as he scratched his left cheek. Once done, Akuma carefully placed her poem down on the desk and grinned.
"It's good, Yuri," he answered. "It's amazing how you keep improving with each assignment you give me."
A small smile appeared on Yuri's face. Receiving such praise from her favorite teacher was always able to brighten up her day.
"I think you finally established your own writing style too," Akuma added. "You're finally ready for the big assignments."
"You really think that I'm ready for those?" Yuri asked.
"Mm-hmm," Akuma nodded. "But if by some crazy chance you actually need any help; remember that my door is open anytime."
"I will," Yuri replied.
Those happy times were also bitter moments to look back on. So bitter in fact that anything that can keep her from thinking about them was welcomed. Her wish soon came true as she noticed Shujinkou close her book and sigh.
"Was it that bad?" Yuri worriedly asked.
"Huh? No, it wasn't bad. It was just a really crazy experience," Shujinkou replied.
"Crazy?" Yuri repeated, still wearing her trademark expression.
"I meant that I felt like I was in the protagonist shoes," Shujinkou explained.
"Oh, that's good," Yuri breathed a sigh of relief. "That's what I was going for. It's a tough task to balance giving the protagonist character while making them identifiable enough with the reader, but the results are well worth it."
"The writing itself also got me thinking and determined not to miss anything," Shujinkou added. "Plus, you did a good job at convincing me to keep reading. Overall, it was a very interesting first chapter."
"Hm… Well, thank you for your input," Yuri happily replied.
"No problem," Shujinkou stretched his arms and let out another sigh. "But man, I don't think I'll be able to write that well."
"Sorry! I didn't mean to discourage you!" Yuri apologized. "I was just trying to show you what a new writer can become as long as they practiced hard enough."
"But what can I do when I can't even get past the first word?" Shujinkou wondered aloud.
"Well…" Yuri closed her eyes and contemplated his question. "When you try to write, do you dive in head first?"
"Yeah…" Shujinkou answered.
"Well, not everyone can do that. Especially at their first attempt," said Yuri. "It can put too much pressure on oneself. Sometimes the first thing you should do is to write down every scene idea in your head. You should also make sure your character's motivation and goals mesh with whatever plot or themes you want to implement so it can complement their growth. From there you can start putting your story together."
"That… sounds so simple," Shujinkou answered, unable to hide his astonishment.
"It is, but it's also a crucial step that most new writers tend to skip," Yuri replied.
"Once again, I have not given writers as much credit as they deserve," Shujinkou chuckled. "Thanks for the advice, Yuri."
"No problem," Yuri brightly smiled. "If you need any more help, I'd be happy to help."
"I'll be sure to take you up on that offer," Shujinkou grinned.
Yuri breathed a sigh of relief and caught a glimpse of the clock mounted to his hotel wall.
"Ah, I guess it's time for me to turn in," she solemnly stated.
She didn't really want to leave but she was proud of herself for offering advice to someone in need. She also felt proud that she was able to find the strength to ask Shujinkou for his own critique. It wasn't easy, but it was worth it in the end.
Accepting her story back from Shujinkou, the happy maiden sat up and made her way to the hotel door. As she opened the door, she nervously looked back and locked eyes with Shujinkou.
"'Kept you waiting, huh?'" she quoted.
"What?!" Shujinkou exclaimed.
"I kinda did some research into Big Boss and learned a little bit about the series he originated from," Yuri said. "That way we could talk about something that interested you instead of my own all the time."
"That's…" Shujinkou scratched his right cheek before a smile appeared on his face. "Thanks, Yuri."
"Mm-hmm," Yuri smiled back. "Well... good night."
"Night," Shujinkou replied.