Kono Monogatari O Kimi Ni Sasagu - Volume 1 Chapter 3.11

How did your exams go?

It snowed, but did you catch a cold?

Small talk like that, and then—

How did the revisions go?

Is the book production process finished?

Have you started working on your new project?

Can you tell me a bit about the new story?

Though she could no longer deeply involve herself in Yuto’s creative process, just talking about these things with him would be wonderful.

As she thought that—

“I’m sorry. I really wanted to come sooner.”

She heard his voice through the blanket.

She regretted making him apologize, but she was a bit happy.

Just hearing him say he wanted to come sooner made her feel that way.

Am I really this easy? she sighed.

Kotoha slowly peeked out from under the blanket.

Yuto was standing awkwardly beside the bed.

Seeing that, Kotoha couldn’t help but chuckle.

Yuto, too, gave a wry smile in response.

“…Have a seat.”

Kotoha sat up and offered him a chair.

Then, looking at Yuto’s face directly, she felt something different.

It had only been a few months, yet he seemed more composed.

Not quite a different person, but he had an air of maturity, as if years had passed.

“Senpai, did something… change about you?”

“Huh? Oh, Inamura-san kept nagging me to dress properly…”

Indeed, Yuto was wearing a gray jacket and had his hair styled with wax, looking much more put together than Kotoha remembered. But—

“That’s not what I mean…”

It didn’t seem to be about his appearance.

She couldn’t take her eyes off him. Yet, looking directly at him felt embarrassing.

Kotoha found herself caught in that strange sensation.

She thought she was the one always doing the teasing, and it made her a bit frustrated.

“A-Anyway, why did you suddenly come?”

When Kotoha asked to change the subject, Yuto’s expression turned serious.

Yuto looked intently at Kotoha. Then he slowly reached into the paper bag at his feet.

“I brought this.”

He handed it to Kotoha.

In that moment, her entire body trembled.

Her body felt warm, and her heart raced.

Golden sparks seemed to fly before her eyes; it was so dazzling.

Even more beautiful than the light snow outside.

It floated before her, as if detached from the real world.

“T-T-This is…!”

“It’s the completed ‘Shinigami ni Taisetsu na Koto.’ I kept our promise.”

“But how…? The release date is in March…”

With trembling hands, Kotoha caressed the hardcover.

It had a beautiful cover.

An illustration of two small figures walking side by side on a starry dawn beach, beautifully adorned with the title in a soft font.

The author’s name, Fuyutsuki Haruhiko, near the title, moved Kotoha more than anything.

Kotoha realized something and quickly looked up.

“This… is a sample copy, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I asked to speed it up a bit.”

“A bit…? Normally, samples aren’t ready until about half a month before the release!”

Kotoha couldn’t believe it, looking back and forth between Yuto and the book.

“I heard you collapsed, so last night I rushed to the printing house. I begged for just one copy.”

“So it was made from last night to this morning!?”

Kotoha, who had been studying to become an editor, understood how unreasonable that was.

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“Why go to such lengths…?”

“To see you. I can visit if I have the completed book, right?”

“Uh… yeah, but…”

Her heart raced at his reason for coming.

“S-Stop saying such embarrassing things…”

“Ignore that. Do you remember our promise?”

Yuto’s words felt like cold water splashing over her excitement.

The conversation they had before her transfer replayed in her mind.

‘If my novel makes you feel even a little like living, get the surgery.’

That had made her heart race too. It was natural to be excited when the writer she had risked everything for said such things.

But she had also felt resigned. Even a Fuyutsuki Haruhiko novel couldn’t achieve that, and now, after hearing the doctor’s prognosis, that resignation filled her heart even more.

“I remember. But—”

“That’s enough if you remember.”

Yuto’s earnest gaze left Kotoha speechless.

She stared at the beautiful book cover, then made up her mind and looked up.

“Senpai, there’s something I haven’t told you.”

She knew she had to say it.

How she had coaxed Inamura into revealing Yuto’s location and approached him to make him write.

If Yuto had come here without mentioning it, it meant he didn’t know yet.

But she couldn’t accept this book without telling the truth.

Receiving a sample wasn’t like buying a book. It was a special right granted only to those who contributed to the book. And Yuto had embedded a wish in this book under the guise of a promise.

Even if it meant being hated, thought of as creepy, or getting scolded, she had to say it.

“Senpai, I—”

“Read it.”

Yuto interrupted her confession-like words.

“Huh? But…”

“Just read it. You’re my editor, aren’t you?”

Saying this decisively, Yuto stood up.

Before Kotoha could stop him, he swiftly left the hospital room.

“Editor…”

Feeling both joy and guilt that Yuto still considered her his editor despite her stepping down, she stared at the closed door.

Still—Kotoha thought.

As long as he still saw her as his editor, she would reveal everything after fulfilling her final duty. With this guilt, she would read his novel not as a reader, but as his editor. It was the responsibility she owed for deceiving him.

Slowly, Kotoha opened the book she had longed for more than anything.