— — — — — —
When people talked about autumn, the first thing that came to Oikawa's mind was an endless sea of golden wheat. The wind swept across the fields, making the heavy stalks sway gently back and forth.
You could even find scenery like that in Chiba. Though only out in the countryside.
Come to think of it, Oikawa actually owned a house in rural Chiba. It had been left to him by the original owner's grandfather after he passed away.
No one had gone there in years.
"It's probably covered in dust by now."
Stepping out of his apartment, Oikawa said, as always, "I'm heading out," even though he knew there was no one else home before closing the door behind him.
...
As he arrived at the bus stop beside the park, the rustling leaves overhead sounded almost like a melody drifting through the air.
"If Your Lie in April gets animated, the music's going to be amazing too."
Looking at the large tree in the park and the children playing beneath it, Oikawa suddenly pictured the first meeting between Kaori and Kousei.
Maybe... Maybe he should change Your Lie in April into a happy ending?
The thought made him laugh at himself. A healing story? Yeah, never happening.
"Autumn's here." He murmured it softly, though what he was really thinking was: And Your Lie in April was truly over.
For some reason, a strange emptiness welled up inside him. It felt like finishing the final page of a novel you absolutely loved, only to realize there was nothing left after it.
...
The bus soon pulled into the station. After paying the fare, Oikawa leaned against the window with his chin resting on his hand, quietly watching the city drift by.
Chiba really did feel like the kind of place that only existed in manga.
Bookstores lining the streets. Old men fishing by the riverbanks. The seaside bridge the bus crossed on its route.
He used to think that after graduating college, he'd move to Tokyo and settle down there.
But at that moment, Oikawa made up his mind. In the future, he'd stay in Chiba instead.
...
After getting off the bus, Oikawa quickly spotted Yukino.
Today, she was wearing a white shirt beneath a light blue fitted jacket. Jeans on the bottom.
The whole look gave off a very approachable, girl-next-door vibe. It reminded him a little of the time he'd seen Yui before.
Though Yui felt like the kind of dream-girl next door who only existed in fantasies. Yukino, on the other hand, felt far more realistic.
After all, girls-next-door definitely didn't have Yui's figure.
"The way you're looking at me is disgusting." Yukino's cold voice cut through his thoughts. "I'm pretty sure you were thinking something that would make me very uncomfortable."
Oikawa laughed awkwardly and waved his hand. "I wasn't thinking about anything. Come on, let's go. We've got a lot to do today."
Yukino really was terrifyingly sharp.
He'd only glanced a couple times, yet she immediately sensed something off. From now on, he'd need to be extra careful with his eyes.
"Hmph. Now I'm even more convinced." Yukino snorted softly but didn't press the issue. Instead, she followed behind him toward the Asu Sports Equipment store they'd researched beforehand.
Five minutes later, the two walked back out.
Negotiations: failed.
The store did have the equipment they needed for the sports festival, but the owner had zero interest in renting it out cheaply.
As for Oikawa's suggestion about using the event as publicity, the owner practically laughed in his face.
Oikawa sighed, though he wasn't discouraged. He'd known from the start this wouldn't be easy.
"Let's try the next place."
"Okay." Yukino quietly followed behind him, noticeably less overbearing than usual.
Maybe it was because Oikawa was the executive committee chairman for the school sports festival this time, while she was only vice-chair.
Yukino had always been good at understanding her role.
"Oikawa, did Shizuka-sensei get some kind of leverage on you? You really don't seem like someone who'd volunteer to be committee chairman."
That question had honestly bothered Yukino for a while now.
She felt Oikawa was actually pretty easy to understand. At least, the side he showed others was.
And in her opinion, there was no way he'd willingly take on something this troublesome unless there was some catch behind it.
"Nope. Yukino, I think you've got a serious misunderstanding about me." Oikawa turned toward her with a solemn expression. "I've always been a kind-hearted student who enjoys helping classmates and easing the burdens of hardworking teachers."
"Mhm." Without slowing down even slightly, Yukino walked straight past him.
Oikawa felt oddly defeated.
"If you don't hurry up, we're really going to run out of time, dependable Mr. Nice Guy of Sōbu High." Yukino Yukinoshita stopped walking and glanced back at him.
Oikawa blinked in surprise. If he remembered correctly, this was the first time he'd ever heard Yukino make a joke.
So she could joke around after all?
At that moment, Oikawa suddenly felt that the two of them probably counted as friends now.
...
..
After visiting their fifth sports equipment store, Oikawa and Yukino finally found one willing to rent them the equipment they needed.
And not just rent it out. The owner agreed to lend everything to them for free.
"So, where to next? Food?"
Oikawa felt like he was about to starve to death. The sun was practically setting by the time they finally settled everything. This had seriously not been easy.
"..."
Yukino didn't answer immediately. Her brows were slightly furrowed, as if she were thinking hard about something.
"Oikawa... How will you do it?" She suddenly stopped walking and turned toward him with a sharp look in her eyes.
"Do what?" Oikawa looked confused.
"What you said back there. About being able to get five full sets of Your Lie in April signed personally by the author. How exactly are you planning to do that?"
Her expression was unusually serious. She stared at Oikawa carefully, and a rather unbelievable possibility began taking shape in her mind.
But it was too unbelievable.
So unbelievable that even Yukino found it hard to accept.
"Oh, that. I'm in a group chat with Copycat-sensei. I knew him before he got famous." Oikawa answered as calmly as possible.
Honestly, he'd had no other choice.
Even after entering that store, negotiations had still been going terribly.
But then Oikawa noticed the owner's daughter sitting nearby reading Your Lie in April while tears dripped nonstop down her face.
And instantly, an idea hit him.
So he decisively told her he could get a signed set from Copycat-sensei himself.
The owner had no clue what Your Lie in April even was, but his middle-school-aged daughter immediately exploded with excitement and shot to her feet.
Seriously, it happened fast. Then she rushed over and declared that if Oikawa could get her five signed sets of Your Lie in April, she'd personally convince her father to lend them all the sports equipment for free.
What else could he do? Oikawa could only grit his teeth and agree.
Which naturally led to Yukino's current suspicion.
"You're in a group chat with Copycat-sensei? Then why didn't you ever mention it before whenever we talked about him?"
Big eyes. Big suspicion.
And Yukino wasn't doubting him for no reason either. She actually had evidence supporting her theory.
Several details lined up a little too well.
For example, in that earlier interview, the editor Ayame Kagurazaka had referred to Copycat-sensei as "Oikawa-kun." And online, some people also called the author "Oikawa-sensei."
Plus, the homeroom teacher mentioned in the interview seemed suspiciously similar to Shizuka Hiratsuka.
If that were true... Then Oikawa suddenly agreeing to become executive committee chairman for the sports festival finally made sense too.
Everything fit together perfectly. And yet, somehow, it still felt ridiculous.
In Yukino's eyes, Oikawa spent every day acting lazy and carefree. Where would he even find time to write Your Lie in April?
Not to mention Clannad, which was about to release soon.
And more importantly, the biggest reason she couldn't fully believe it was because Oikawa's Japanese grades were absolutely terrible.
"Oikawa, please answer me honestly."
Yukino stepped closer. The distance between them became dangerously small.
"I have proof! Actual proof!"
Oikawa hurriedly pulled out his phone and showed her the chat history.
It was a conversation log with Copycat-sensei.
From the moment they first met all the way to their recent messages, everything was there.
There weren't many chats overall, but the timestamps clearly proved they'd known each other for a long time.
And just last night, Oikawa had even messaged Copycat-sensei asking for a signed set of Your Lie in April.
Copycat-sensei had agreed almost immediately.
"...Sorry. I wrongly accused you." Yukino handed the phone back.
For some reason, she suddenly felt relieved. Maybe the idea that Oikawa wasn't Copycat-sensei was simply easier for her to accept.
"Wait, Yukino. You seriously thought I was Copycat-sensei just now? So in your heart, I'm actually that talented?"
Oikawa immediately brightened up and walked beside her, grinning nonstop as he talked. "Wow. If that's what you think of me, then I guess I can forgive you."
"Mhm. It seems I really overthought things. There's no way someone like you could be Copycat-sensei. I must've temporarily lost my mind." Yukino answered calmly.
"What's that supposed to mean? What's so special about Copycat-sensei? Why can't I be him?" Oikawa instantly became unhappy.
"Your Japanese grades are awful."
"..."
...
..
"I'm home!"
After an exhausting day, Oikawa collapsed dramatically onto the sofa and let out a long breath.
That had been way too close.
When Yukino started suspecting he was Copycat-sensei, his heart had practically stopped on the spot.
Thankfully, every devil had its match.
Oikawa had already predicted this kind of situation might happen someday, so he'd prepared a backup plan in advance by creating a fake LINE account and staging the entire conversation himself.
This move was actually prepared for Hachiman Hikigaya.
"Damn, Oikawa Toru, not only are you handsome, you're a genius too. Sigh… You're seriously too perfect."
Oikawa shamelessly praised himself without restraint.
Still, Yukino really was absurdly sharp. With only a few vague clues that barely counted as evidence, she had almost figured out his identity completely.
Terrifying. A woman like this wasting her talents helping people in the Service Club was honestly a tragedy. She should've become a detective.
"Wait... how many signed full sets of Your Lie in April have I already promised away recently?"
Only now did Oikawa suddenly realize the problem.
After doing the math, he discovered he'd probably already committed at least a dozen sets.
Five or six for the Full-Drive Bunko editorial department.
Five more for the sports shop owner's daughter today.
And he'd also promised some to the group chat admin dog.
"…Crap."
He seriously couldn't keep giving them away anymore. At this rate, his wrist was going to die.
In fact, Oikawa was already starting to worry about what would happen if he ever held an actual autograph session.
Would his hand just fall off?
"No… maybe I'd get assassinated first. Someone would definitely try to avenge Kaori."
And as if things weren't bad enough already, his stomach growled loudly at the worst possible timing.
"I should've just grabbed dinner with Yukino before coming home."
Dragging his exhausted body toward the fridge, Oikawa opened it and immediately spotted a box of rice balls.
They were from Kawasaki yesterday.
Oikawa almost teared up.
Waifu Kawasaki was way too considerate.
Eating the rice balls alongside the leftover fried pork cutlet from last night, he finally managed to deal with the hunger problem.
Just as he was about to open League of Legends and log onto his account "Chiba's Most Devoted Lover," the doorbell suddenly rang.
Oikawa instantly thought of something.
He sprinted to the entrance in a single leap and yanked open the door.
Before the delivery guy could even react, Oikawa spoke first, "Yep, that's mine. I'm Oikawa Tōru.... Right, I sign here? Done. Here you go."
And the door slammed shut.
"???"
The delivery worker stood outside completely dumbfounded, scratching his head in confusion.
Meanwhile, inside his room, Oikawa tore open the package and found exactly what he'd been waiting for inside.
A full 2B cosplay outfit. And two unsharpened longswords.
Oikawa immediately snapped a photo and sent it over to Kawasaki.
...
..
Full-Drive Bunko Editorial Department | Editor-in-Chief's Office
A bald man sat holding a phone to his ear, discussing something important with an unusually serious expression.
Then came a knock at the door.
"Come in."
After receiving permission, Chris Yamada walked into the office and took a seat across from the editor-in-chief.
"Yeah, that's right. It's confirmed? An initial investment of 200 million yen? Fine, let's proceed and see how the final product turns out."
"Alright, alright. I'll inform Copycat-sensei."
The moment he hung up, Chris immediately stood up excitedly. "Editor-in-chief, did upper management approve the Your Lie in April anime adaptation?!"
"That's right." The editor-in-chief smiled and nodded. "But for now, they've only approved adapting the first half. Whether the second half gets produced depends entirely on the viewership numbers."
"Not everyone believes Your Lie in April will succeed as an anime. But for Copycat-sensei's sake, the higher-ups are willing to spend the money and take a chance."
Whether the anime adaptation itself would make money was uncertain. But the novel absolutely did make money.
And Full-Drive Bunko lacked many things. Money wasn't one of them. The executives were more than willing to spend a little cash to show goodwill toward Oikawa.
Especially after hearing that Copycat-sensei planned to release a new book during winter break. That made them even more eager to support him.
After all, if his next work also sold over a million copies, forget 200 million yen. Even 2 billion yen could easily be earned back.
"This is fantastic. I've honestly been worried about the anime adaptation. And it just so happens I'm meeting Copycat-sensei tomorrow. When he hears this news, he's definitely going to be thrilled."
.
.
.