Kono Monogatari O Kimi Ni Sasagu - Volume 1 Chapter 1.3

Even as the other editors left, she refused to give up on Yuto.
“…I’m sorry.”

Feeling guilty for betraying her expectations, Yuto apologized.

Deep down, wishing she would stop expecting anything from him.

“So, what’s today’s call about? If it’s about a new work, as I said before, I’m already──”

“Oh, no. I just wanted to let you know I mailed you something today.”

“Mailed?”

Yuto went to the front door and opened the mailbox to find a brown package slightly larger than a standard business envelope. The sender was written as Inamura.

“Oh, I got it. What is this?”

“A fan letter that recently arrived.”

Yuto stood still, holding the package.

“Hiiragi-kun?”

“Thank you. But you didn’t have to go out of your way to send it.”

“But… I wanted you to know there are people waiting for you.”

──Mind your own business. He almost said it but held back.

Inamura did it out of concern for Yuto. To react with harsh words would be too rude. Yuto was mature enough to understand that. Or maybe, the experience from three years ago made him so.

Yuto returned to his room and silently shoved the package into the black box on the bottom shelf of the color box.

Then, on a whim, he spoke.

“Inamura-san, by the way, you haven’t told anyone about me, right?”

“Told anyone about you?”

Inamura’s puzzled voice came through.

“What do you mean?”

“For example, that I’m… Fuyutsuki Haruhiko, the novelist. You haven’t told anyone, right?”

“Of course not.”

Inamura replied firmly. Her tone carried a hint of anger.

“It’s unthinkable to leak an author’s personal information.”

“Right… Sorry for asking something weird.”

Yes, it’s unthinkable for someone in the publishing industry to do that.

“…Did something happen?”

“No, nothing.”

“Really…?”

Though she didn’t seem convinced, Inamura didn’t pursue further.

“Well then, Hiiragi-kun, sorry for calling out of the blue. If you ever feel like writing again, just contact me anytime. I’ll be waiting.”

“…Okay.”

Thinking it would never happen, Yuto ended the call with “Goodbye.”

A breeze, unusually cool for summer, blew in through the open sliding window.

Looking outside, the sun had already set, and the lights on the bridge and houses beautifully reflected on the river’s surface.

That shimmering strangely reminded him of Kotoha Natsume’s eyes.

***

Cheerful music blared from the smartphone, waking Yuto up.

He crawled out from between the futon and towel blanket, reached the noisy smartphone on the table, and stopped the alarm.

He had studied later than usual the night before, so he was still sleepy. Not to mention, being low blood pressure, mornings were his weak point.

After trying to get up for a while but succumbing to the temptation of falling back asleep, he collapsed onto the towel blanket.

Just as he was about to lose consciousness──

Ping-pong, a sound far more jarring than the music from his smartphone rang out.

Startled, Yuto sat up.

Could it be a newspaper solicitor or something?

But it was just past 7 a.m. That was awfully inconsiderate.

Yuto, deciding to pretend no one was home, burrowed back into the towel blanket, but then.

Ping-pong-ping-pong-ping-pong-ping-pong-pipipipipipipipinpopinpoping-pong-ping-ping-ping-pong-ping-ping-pong-ping-pong

The relentless doorbell ringing, completely inconsiderate, assaulted Yuto.

Angry, Yuto got up and headed to the front door.

Pipipipipipipipipipipipipipipipipipipipipipipipipipi──

The storm-like ringing showed no sign of stopping. It seemed like they were pushing the doorbell to its breaking point, possibly about to break it.

“Who’s making such a racket?! Who──”

Yuto opened the door and froze.

“Good morning, Senpai.”

“Ah, um, good morning── what?”

Yuto was bewildered. Only nonsensical words came out of his mouth.

He couldn’t believe the scene before his eyes.

A girl with a long bob in a school uniform was smiling cheerfully.

“Huh? Did you forget about me?”

There’s no way he could forget.

In Yuto’s life, she ranked number one by far on the “most dangerous people” list. Even now, she was breaking records by not letting anyone else come close.

“N-Natsume Kotoha.”

Yuto groaned out her name, and Kotoha smiled happily.

“Good, you remembered me. And with my full name, too.”

“Why are you at my place…?”

Yuto gradually regained his composure.

He told himself not to let her control the pace.

“As your editor, I came to pick you up for school.”

“Oh, thanks for… wait, what kind of editor does that?!”

Despite his resolve, Yuto couldn’t help but retort to Kotoha.

“More importantly, how did you find out where I live?”

“Of course, I followed you─ just kidding.”

“Hey, you were about to say you followed me, weren’t you?”

“It’s a joke. I asked your homeroom teacher, saying I wanted to deliver something you forgot. They told me right away.”

Yuto put his hand on his forehead and sighed deeply.

What happened to our school’s sense of compliance?

“So, what is this thing I forgot?”

“There’s nothing, of course. I made that up.”

Kotoha cheerfully laughed.

“You…”

“If there is something.”

Kotoha suddenly turned serious, interrupting Yuto.

“It’s that you haven’t given me a good answer yet.”

“…I thought I already refused. And what do you mean by ‘editor’? Are you from some publishing house or what?”

“It doesn’t matter if I’m from a publishing house or not! What matters for an editor is passion!”

“That makes no sense!”

Their voices must have carried over, as some housewives who were chatting nearby turned to look at them.

For the first time, Yuto imagined how they must look from an outside perspective and felt the somewhat nosy stares of the housewives. He raised the white flag.

“Keep it down. Wait for me at the convenience store down the street. I’ll change into my uniform and come.”

She wouldn’t leave even if he told her to go away. If anything, she might barrage him with the doorbell or bang on the door loudly again. Living alone as a high school student already drew curious stares from the neighbors—he wanted to avoid any more trouble.

Kotoha’s eyes widened, and she took a deep breath before loudly replying, “Yes!” even louder than before. Naturally, this drew even more attention from the people around them.

“Please… please, be quiet…”

Holding his head, Yuto went back inside his room.

***

“I forgot to mention, I’m the head of the editorial department.”

“Editorial department? Head?”

“Yes. So, I need writers. We can’t do anything if we don’t have authors to write, right?”

Yuto and Kotoha walked side by side. They were on a one-lane asphalt road, with rice fields spreading out on both sides, the green rice plants swaying in the wind.

The unique smell of summer rice paddies, a mix of water, soil, and grass, filled the air around them.