Late June arrived, and another issue of Sakura-iro Weekly was about to hit the shelves.
After a week of buzz, the popularity of 5 Centimeters per Second had spread from the internet into real-life conversation. Word-of-mouth promotion from passionate readers was far more effective than anything the publisher could manufacture.
A quick search on TWKAN showed that two of Sakura-iro Weekly's veteran romance series, Lament and High Score Love, were both nearing their conclusions.
Among the top ten ongoing titles, 5 Centimeters per Second now stood out as the dark horse: a newcomer series with exceptional art, emotional weight, and powerful storytelling.
With growing online discussions, many readers who had been ignoring the series out of bias toward newcomer artists were now picking it up to see what the hype was about.
Of course, the internet wasn't filled with praise alone, there were detractors too.
Fans of Love like Fireworks were especially loud, accusing 5cm of being overrated.
Not because of any flaw in the work, but because both series launched in the same issue, creating an inevitable rivalry.
When Yuto's Fireworks lost to 5cm in week two's popularity rankings, its loyal fanbase was furious.
Still, whether praise or criticism, discussion was better than silence.
And thanks to all this noise, the popularity of 5 Centimeters per Second continued to rise across Tokyo.
On Wednesday mornings, readers in every district visited bookstores specifically to look for Sakura-iro Weekly.
Hoshimori Publishing Group wasn't blind, they immediately increased promotional focus on 5cm, partnering with major bookstores for marketing space.
Large posters were displayed beside magazine racks:
Takaki and Akari kissing beneath a snow-covered cherry blossom tree, the barren branches in their minds blooming into a full spring scene as snowflakes turned into petals.
Rei had drawn and colored this artwork in advance, and it was now being used everywhere as the official promotional image.
At the bottom of the poster, bold text read:
A masterpiece by the brilliant young mangaka "Shirogane"!
Hoshimori Publishing had sensed the spark and was now fanning it into a blaze.
And the results were immediate.
Throughout the industry, manga critics, editors, and rival publishers began turning their eyes toward the mysterious newcomer "Shirogane."
After all, in recent years, several young mangaka had risen from obscurity to national fame, sometimes surpassing top veterans and dominating annual sales rankings. They appeared on talk shows, earned fortunes, and became celebrities in their own right.
Everyone wondered: Was Shirogane the next to join them?
Inside a downtown Tokyo bookstore, a hand reached toward the shelf and picked up the latest issue of Sakura-iro Weekly.
The man, Reo Wakaba, currently in his thirties and the owner of a successful company, walked straight to the counter and paid.
Being a grown man with money didn't stop him from loving romance manga.
Just as countless women devoured shonen action, there were plenty of men who appreciated the emotional depth of shoujo stories.
And among all the manga serialized in Sakura-iro Weekly, his reason for buying today's issue was clear:
5 Centimeters per Second.
For high schoolers, it might just be a bittersweet romance. Something fleeting, something they would forget in a year.
But for Reo, he could feel everything.
Having experienced career success and marital failure, Reo felt this manga differently from most readers.
Especially the story between Akari and Takaki.
His own marriage had failed for a simple reason: there was someone he had never been able to forget, his first love from high school.
And the reason they couldn't stay together was equally simple: they went to different universities… and eventually drifted apart.
So of course, deep down, he hoped that someone in a manga could fulfill the dream he himself had failed to realize.
What would happen to Akari and Takaki after their tearful separation in chapter two?
Carrying the magazine to his company, Reo tore open the plastic wrap as soon as he reached his office and flipped straight to the new chapter.
The first bold line he saw was:
5 Centimeters per Second – Part 2: "Cosmonaut"
"Part 2 already?"
Turning the page, Reo's eyes widened.
A vast, lonely field. A girl sitting with her knees pulled tightly to her chest.
A moon hanging over a cloud-filled sky, under a starfield far more vivid than anything on Earth.
A beautiful, dreamlike night sky , yet the two figures standing beneath it looked unbearably lonely.
Then the scene shifted.
A rural island town. A timid girl riding a tiny electric bus to her high school.
She parked the bus, straightened her hair, took a breath, and casually walked up to a boy in the schoolyard.
The boy was Takaki.
And the girl was Kanae.
The narration made it clear:
Kanae liked him.
Absolutely.
Reo only needed two pages to understand.
Because he had once approached his first love the exact same way, shy, hopeful, pretending it was casual.
Through the narration, he realized the truth:
Takaki and Kanae were now second-year high school students.
'High school?!'
That meant…
Six years had passed since Takaki and Akari parted ways at the snowy train station.
"S…Six years?"
Reo's grip tightened around the page.
He and his own first love had broken up just three months after entering university.
Had Takaki and Akari stayed in touch? Were they still writing letters? Had they met again during those six years?
He turned the page.
The entire chapter was told from Kanae's point of view, following her quiet, unspoken love for Takaki.
Reo let out a long breath.
"Is this really a shōjo manga?"
Reo hadn't expected the answer to be revealed so quickly.
In fact, he was a little afraid.
Afraid that the manga might show something he didn't want to see. Afraid it would mirror his own life too closely.
Still, he inhaled deeply, steadied himself, and turned the page.
The new pages followed Kanae's quiet days in high school.
Every afternoon, she would pretend to leave school at the same time as Takaki.
She would linger in the bicycle lot, adjusting her ponytail, tying and untying it again, all so she could appear casual, as if she'd "just happened" to meet him on her way out.
Then, she'd ride her bike beside him.
Not too close. Not too far.
Just enough to share the same stretch of road.
Her inner monologue was soft, painfully sincere:
"I think… I started liking him back in middle school. Maybe it was love at first sight."
"I studied so hard just to get into the same high school as him."
"When I found out he liked a certain drink, I made sure to like it too."
Reo felt the ache building in his chest.
He had done the same things at her age.
From Kanae's point of view, Takaki was always alone.
Always staring at his phone. Always typing. Always sending someone a text message.
Reo's breath caught.
A cellphone…texting, of course.
Six years had passed since the snowy night at the station. This was the era when cell phones were just beginning to spread through high schools.
Takaki's family was comfortable, buying him a phone wouldn't have been strange.
So…who was he messaging?
Akari. It had to be Akari.
Reo flipped the page faster.
And then he saw Kanae's inner voice:
"Whenever I see him texting someone, I always wish, just once, that message could be for me."
That one line stabbed Reo right through the heart.
He closed his eyes for a moment.
"Ah… Kanae… poor girl."
He whispered it aloud without thinking.
He understood too well.
Everyone who has ever loved someone silently, has had that exact thought.
Takaki's high school days were drenched in loneliness.
There was no sweetness in his life.
Only Kanae's soft, hopeless affection And Takaki's unreachable heart