— — — — — —
Three days flew by in the blink of an eye.
Every afternoon after school, Oikawa and the others still gathered in the Service Club for discussion meetings.
They kept refining the details for the upcoming school sports festival while also preparing backup plans in case they couldn't secure the necessary equipment.
Everything was steadily moving forward in an orderly way. Everyone looked exhausted.
But at the same time, their eyes seemed brighter and brighter.
Even Student Council President Meguri Shiromeguri had sighed in amazement more than once at how absurdly efficient the members of the Service Club and Literature Club were.
Compared to them, last year's preparations were nowhere near this level.
Of course— How much of that was genuine praise and how much was polite flattery, Oikawa couldn't really tell. After all, what student council president wasn't an expert at handling people smoothly?
...
..
Friday evening—
The group gathered once again in the Service Club room.
Today's drinks were barley tea, along with macarons.
Yui looked especially happy about the macarons, while Oikawa found himself deeply envious that the Service Club actually had an activity budget.
He'd even complained to Shizuka Hiratsuka before, asking why the Literature Club didn't get one.
In response, Shizuka calmly replied. "If the Literature Club is willing to help troubled high schoolers with their emotional problems, then I can apply for a budget for you too."
Oikawa respectfully declined.
Honestly, things were already pretty nice the way they were.
As for snacks and tea... As the Literature Club president, he could just pay for them himself.
...
Inside the clubroom—
Oikawa stood before everyone and spoke up.
"The sports festival is next Wednesday, which means we have to settle the equipment issue this weekend. I looked into several equipment rental stores over the past few days. Tomorrow, Yukino and I are going to visit them ourselves."
"Yui, you'll go with Kawasaki to clothing stores and either rent or custom-order some colored shirts for team divisions."
"As for Zaimokuza and Meguri-senpai, you two should work on the field assignments for each class and coordinate with the sports clubs about facility usage on the day of the event."
"If nobody has objections, then that's the plan. Starting tomorrow, we'll split up according to these roles. If any problems come up, post them in the group chat immediately."
Oikawa laid out the arrangements in one breath.
Everyone fell into brief thought, quietly accepting their assigned roles.
A moment later, Yukino stood up and spoke in her usual calm tone. "Meguri-senpai, if communicating with the sports clubs becomes difficult, you can have student council members contact people inside each club directly."
"Okay." Meguri nodded readily.
After that, nobody else raised any objections.
Watching the harmonious atmosphere, Shizuka-sensei nodded in satisfaction.
She felt this school-wide sports festival would probably proceed smoothly and end successfully.
When it came to accomplishing something— As long as the person leading had strong enough execution skills, major problems usually wouldn't arise.
Shizuka cast Oikawa a meaningful glance. The more she watched him, the more she felt he possessed exceptional leadership abilities, enough to rival Yukino Yukinoshita.
The only thing she found regrettable… was that he was just too lazy.
Yes. Far too lazy.
Shizuka silently reaffirmed that opinion in her heart.
After the meeting ended, the atmosphere in the clubroom gradually became lively again.
Just as Shizuka took out a cigarette pack and prepared to slip away somewhere quiet for a smoke, a conversation suddenly reached her ears, making her stop in place.
"Hey, did you guys hear? That damn Copycat Transmigrator is apparently releasing another new book. I heard it's with Full-Drive Bunko this time, and the whole project's already finalized. Release date's set for winter break."
Everyone in the Service Club and Literature Club was a fan of Copycat's novels.
The moment Zaimokuza brought it up, the room immediately burst into discussion.
Even Meguri, who usually left right away, stayed behind this time.
"Is that the same Copycat-sensei who wrote Your Lie in April?" Meguri asked hesitantly, sounding uncertain.
"Yep." Zaimokuza nodded. "The exact same scumbag author who wrote Your Lie in April. Apparently the new book's called Clannad, and people say it's supposed to be a heartwarming healing novel."
"I seriously doubt that. Copycat-sensei already has zero credibility in my eyes."
Among everyone in the Service Club and Literature Club, Zaimokuza was probably the one most hostile toward Oikawa.
He'd cursed "Copycat-sensei" countless times right in front of him before.
Every single time, Oikawa had to fight the urge to beat him.
If Zaimokuza ever found out that the "damn Copycat" he kept ranting about was actually Oikawa himself…
"He's already releasing another book? Didn't the second volume of Your Lie in April only come out a week ago?" Meguri looked stunned.
"It's been confirmed on the writer forums. There are still discussion threads about it right now." Zaimokuza sounded just as shocked himself. "A lot of people are talking about it, so it's probably real."
Yukino nodded and calmly gave her opinion. "Clannad comes from the Irish word "clann", meaning family or children, and the title is often interpreted as relating to family bonds, home, and emotional connection. But I'm telling you, this is definitely another tragedy. And there's a very high chance it'll be a tragedy involving family."
Yui looked wronged as she protested, "No way! I still cry whenever I think about Kaori's ending. Can't Copycat-sensei write a real healing story for once?"
Hearing the conversation, Shizuka-sensei slowly turned her head with a smile on her face.
A very dangerous smile.
Her "kind" gaze locked onto Oikawa.
Then, in an unusually gentle tone, she asked, "Oikawa, what do you think? Will Copycat-sensei's new work be a happy ending or a bad ending this time? Surely he won't get influenced by his homeroom teacher again and turn a happy ending into a tragic one, right?"
Listening to her, Oikawa felt a chill crawl down his spine.
At that moment, Shizuka felt less like a human being and more like the physical embodiment of resentment itself.
One wrong answer and she looked ready to swallow him whole.
Oikawa swallowed nervously before carefully replying, "I think… maybe Copycat-sensei could turn over a new leaf. Maybe he'll genuinely write a healing story this time to make up for all the emotional damage he's caused his readers."
"People should learn to trust each other, after all."
Even at death's door, this man's mouth stayed stubborn.
"Really? Last time he also claimed it was healing, and look how that turned out... Oikawa, you're surprisingly forgiving."
Shizuka narrowed her eyes with the look of a predator preparing to devour prey.
"I believe in him!" Yui suddenly raised her hand excitedly. "I'm willing to trust Copycat-sensei! If he says it's a healing story, then I'll believe him!!!"
Oikawa was genuinely touched.
As expected of Yui.
She really was a kind person.
But kind people were also the easiest to hurt.
Oikawa looked at Yui with deep pity and slowly shook his head.
At last, he understood why scammers always used such repetitive tricks, yet people still kept falling for them.
Sometimes, the people being deceived weren't stupid. They were simply too simple, just like Yui.
"It better be true. Oikawa, I'm really looking forward to seeing an actual healing novel this time." Shizuka shot him a cold glance, stuck a cigarette into her mouth, lit it, and walked out of the Service Club.
Meanwhile, everyone else continued discussing Copycat-sensei's upcoming novel.
Oikawa felt like he'd just barely escaped a trip through the gates of hell.
He let out a long breath and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
At some point, Kawasaki had walked over beside him.
Looking worried, she asked. "Oikawa, do you have a fever? Why are you sweating so much? I've got medicine. Want some?"
Oikawa tilted his head and looked at her.
From a certain perspective… Kawasaki really wasn't all that sharp either. Cute and a little dumb, just the same.
...
..
Returning home, Oikawa sprawled onto the sofa and suddenly received a private message from Kagurazaka Ayame.
"Oikawa-kun, congratulations! The first-week sales numbers for volume two of Your Lie in April are finally out. It sold a full seventy-three thousand copies!"
"At this rate, volume two could easily surpass five hundred thousand copies within half a year. Even one million copies doesn't seem far away anymore."
Even through the text alone, Oikawa could feel Kagurazaka's excitement.
Even though he was no longer with Dengeki Bunko, Kagurazaka had never forgotten her responsibilities as his editor.
She still regularly updated him about Your Lie in April's sales figures and performance.
"Looks like I'm about to win the bet after all. Twenty-five percent royalties… wow, turns out the real rich guy was me all along? I did the math. One million copies, 25% royalties, 85 yen per book… 1,000,000 × 0.25 × 850… that's a full two hundred million yen. I think I've officially made it big."
Oikawa replied jokingly.
"I'm so jealous. That's two hundred million yen! I'll never earn that much money in my whole life. Since we've worked together as editor and author, Oikawa-kun, buy me a Chanel bag, okay? I've never owned one before. Waaaah, I'm so pitiful." Kagurazaka teased him back.
"Nope! When I open my own publishing company someday and you come work for me as an editor, then I'll buy you one."
Suddenly, Oikawa felt like he understood the kind of worries billionaires had.
With this much money… How was he even supposed to spend it all?
Truly a troubling problem.
"Cheapskate!" Kagurazaka naturally assumed he was joking and quickly changed the topic. "Oikawa-kun, I heard you're already releasing your next book? During winter break?"
"Yep." Oikawa didn't hide it. "It's called Clannad. A healing novel. Super warm and heartwarming!"
The moment she read that sentence, Kagurazaka's mouth twitched uncontrollably.
...
..
Saturday morning—
The group chat named "School Sports Festival Task Force" was already lively early in the day.
『 Yui Yuigahama』: "Kawasaki and I agreed to head out at nine, but Kawasaki said if it's just simple colored shirts, she can actually make them herself."
『 Kawasaki Saki』: "Yeah, I can do it."
『 Kawasaki Saki』: "And they're pretty simple. I could probably finish enough for the whole school in a few days."
Seeing those messages, Oikawa shook his head.
He obviously hadn't forgotten Kawasaki's talent when it came to clothing design and sewing.
But, each grade at Sobu High had nearly two hundred students. That meant around six hundred shirts total.
Even for Kawasaki, handmaking that many would be exhausting.
『Yukino Yukinoshita』: "Too many people. It's unrealistic."
『Yukino Yukinoshita』: "Shirts in simple colors should be cheap enough. If we can't buy enough, we could also just use colored armbands instead. We only need them to distinguish teams anyway."
Yukino really was Yukino.
She instantly pinpointed the core issue.
After thinking for a moment, Oikawa replied, "Making six hundred shirts would be way too hard. This sports festival belongs to everyone, so the two of you don't need to shoulder that kind of burden."
『 Kawasaki Saki』: "Okay."
『 Yui Yuigahama』: Yukino, Oikawa, once Kawasaki and I finish up, we'll come help you guys!"
『Yoshiteru Zaimokuza』: "I'm already at school assigning event spaces for each class with Meguri-senpai. Looks like there's more than enough room."
Sobu High really was a ridiculously wealthy private school.
Some universities didn't even look as luxurious as it did.
Even after dividing the grounds among twenty-one classes across three grades, every class still ended up with a huge amount of space.
『Yukino Yukinoshita』: "Oikawa, where are we meeting?"
Oikawa glanced at it and picked an equipment store roughly halfway between them.
『Oikawa Toru』: "Tomorrow Equipment Store. Let's meet there at ten."
『Yukino Yukinoshita』: "Ten is too late. Nine."
『Oikawa Toru』: "…Emmm, fine."
Originally, Oikawa had been planning to sleep in a little longer.
Clearly, that dream was dead now.
After washing up—
"Almost healed."
Oikawa examined the bite wound on his lip and nodded in satisfaction.
Calculating the timing, the 2B cosplay outfit he'd ordered online should be arriving soon too.
Honestly, that thing was absurdly expensive.
It had cost him over seventy thousand yen.
Damn. Still, Kawasaki would definitely look amazing wearing it.
Just imagining Kawasaki dressed as 2B made the corners of Oikawa's mouth curl upward.
This... This was how money was supposed to be spent.
Buying outfits for fictional game waifus was pointless.
If you were going to buy clothes, you bought them for your real-life future wife instead.
Thinking that, Oikawa pulled out his phone and checked Amazon.
The package had already arrived in Chiba City, but there was still no exact delivery time.
Oikawa was speechless.
No matter the country or the world, one thing always stayed the same: deliveries were always late...
.
.
.