In the quiet room, Rei's pen traced delicate lines across the page.
The sound of the nib scratching the manuscript paper echoed softly in the stillness.
Rei's eyes were sharp with concentration; every ounce of mental processing was devoted to the sheet before him.
If someone broke into his apartment right now, as long as they didn't touch the tools on his desk, Rei probably wouldn't notice until he finished the page.
Soon, the outline of a girl took shape.
With a few additional strokes, shadows, and details, a vivid sketch of Maori Hino, the heroine of "Even If This Love Disappears from the World Tonight."
Rei didn't use drafts.
He didn't need thumbnails or name-drafts.
If other manga artists saw his process, they would be horrified.
Most creators could imagine a scene clearly in their mind, but the moment pen touched paper, the hand betrayed the brain.
But Rei, with two souls fused together, could visualize scenes like a movie with pin-sharp accuracy.
He could edit, pause, adjust everything in his mind, and when drawing, his hand never shook.
And his speed was unbelievable.
He didn't need to spend days brainstorming plots anymore. Combined with his monstrous drawing ability, this was why he could keep up with weekly serialization without assistants.
In his previous life, the premise wasn't new.
A girl, Maori Hino, who had an accident years ago while saving someone, and after waking up, she could no longer retain new memories.
Her life was frozen on the day of the accident.
Everything before that day remained crystal clear, her parents, her childhood, her school life.
But anything after that, every event, every conversation, every emotion, disappeared as soon as she fell asleep.
Each morning, she woke up believing it was the day of the accident.
So she could never truly make new friends.
Never truly fall in love. Never move forward.
The only way she understood her life now was, through the diary entries written by her "one-day" selves.
In that fragile state, Toru Kamiya, the boy who didn't know about her condition, confessed to her anyway.
And their bittersweet, fragile love began.
Rei once thought the premise was cliché, but after reading it, he realized how wrong he was.
The execution was entirely different.
The heartbreak deeper.
The emotions painfully genuine.
A sweetness that lingered in the beginning, only to shatter beautifully as the story progressed.
If Five Centimeters per Second could break hearts, Even If This Love Disappears from the World Tonight could crush entire souls.
Before long, another manuscript page was done. It still needed background work, but the core page was complete.
Rei leaned back and finally exhaled.
He reached for his phone to check the time, only to see several unread messages.
All from Miyu.
"Still drawing?"
"By the way, you've been working on your new manga for ages.You've definitely accumulated a ton of draft pages, right?Want to show me? I can point out flaws if you like."
"Also, after the tankōbon releases next week, buy a few copies of Five Centimeters per Second, sign them,and give them to me as a collection item."
"In return, I'll sign a full set of Lament for you."
"?"
"Why aren't you replying? Are you still drawing?"
"Hey! Stop drawing for a bit. You're stressing me out. Five Centimeters per Second is already finished. High school students should rest during summer vacation! Balance!Rei Kirishima…!"
Rei scrolled through the flood of messages, and despite himself, a smile appeared on his face.
At school, Miyu was always the model student: calm, brilliant, polite, a little distant.
Among classmates, she was admired but never approached too closely, a perfect, unreachable honor student.
But once she and Rei discovered each other's intrests, the "distance" evaporated.
Especially during summer break, Miyu messaged him constantly, asking about his new project, sharing her thoughts, complaining about deadlines, even checking up on his sleep schedule.
The moment she learned Rei could draw ten hours straight without stopping, her sense of crisis exploded.
It was exactly the feeling of watching a friend study like their life depended on it, while you yourself sat there scrolling your phone.
Rei typed back with a teasing tone:
"I'm not tired at all. Inspiration's overflowing today. Honestly, I feel like I could draw all night."
Meanwhile
In her room, Miyu had been lying over her manuscript paper for half a day, not even a single clean panel drawn.
Her expression twisted the moment she read his reply.
"Are you kidding me…? Does he never get stuck on plot? Even if he doesn't, how does he not get bored drawing nonstop?"
"Is he even human?!"
Just then;
A cold voice echoed from outside her door.
"Miyu. Your deadline is in two days."
It was Misaki, her older sister, speaking with the same calm sharpness she used in editorial meetings.
"If you don't finish this arc of Lament, I'll lock you in here every weekend until you do.
And if you don't focus, I'm confiscating your phone. And you can forget about sleep."
"Got it," Miyu said weakly.
Her flawless expression scrunched with misery.
All around the country, high schoolers were enjoying summer vacation.
But she was fighting deadlines.
Five Centimeters per Second had ended.
High-Scoring Romance had ended.
But her Lament still had a major final arc left, scheduled to run several more weeks.
This week, as predicted, Lament reclaimed the #1 spot in Sakura-iro Weekly.
But without her terrifying rival, that #1 felt strangely empty.
After scolding her sister, Misaki stepped into the hallway and took out her phone.
She typed a message to Rei and hit send.
It was short and professional:
"Please register accounts on the major social platforms. The group will verify 'Shirogane' officially. It will help boost the tankōbon release."
The collected edition of Five Centimeters per Second would be released in just a few days.
Having the author show up online, properly certified, and letting fans follow him would greatly increase the first-week sales.
The weekend passed in a blink.
On Monday morning, across all major social networks, a new verified account quietly appeared:
@ShiroganeOfficial(Author of Five Centimeters per Second)
At the same time, the Sakura-iro Weekly official forum pinned a global announcement:
"The official account of manga artist Shirogane has been verified."
There were only three days left before the tankōbon release.
The fans, who had been building pressure for weeks, erupted instantly.
"GOOD! Finally showed yourself."
"I was starting to think you'd run away forever, Shirogane, too scared of the Five Centimeters per Second fans to ever open an official account."
"And you open it now? A few weeks later? You think that changes anything?"
"Adorable. Truly adorable."
"What, did you believe the scolding would fade if you waited long enough?
Naive."