The train slid smoothly along the tracks, illuminated by the soft light of dawn. Inside the cabin, the reflection in the window revealed a pair of clear, wide, slightly trembling eyes. They were Futaba's eyes, consumed by thoughts that swirled more forcefully than the moving train itself.
["I'm a liar! What should I do? Pretend to hesitate? But deep down I've already decided what to do."]
The thought echoed in her mind as if narrated by someone from the outside, someone observing her through layers of glass.
There was never a choice. Futaba knew Kou would get off the train; from the beginning, she hadn't planned to give up on him.
From the moment she saw him again, from the moment she relived memories she thought were buried, she had no intention of giving up on him, and never would.
Episode 6, the finale a week later, now played out before Ren Yamamoto's eyes, watching everything in a dream, within Mizuki Ito's memories.
He was still emotional, his chest warm as if he had just left the movie theater after a deeply moving film. The story had enveloped him without him realizing it, and now the narrative was repeating itself mentally, each scene fitting together like pieces of a sentimental puzzle.
"Is this what the inner world of a girl is like? It seems so complicated." Ren was still immersed in the youthful emotions of the story.
But he was also completely perplexed. If all girls thought like that, then he felt he would probably never understand a girl's heart in his entire life.
Honestly, he might spend his whole life trying to understand one and never succeed.
When he truly opened his eyes the next morning, Ren felt as if he had left half his soul on the pillow. Dark circles cast shadows under his eyes, and exhaustion ached to his very bones. He only managed to fall asleep at 2 a.m. the previous night. Although watching anime in his dreams was a form of rest, he only watched for five hours before waking up, and even then he was very tired.
Despite this, or perhaps precisely because of it, his body felt every minute of sleep deprivation.
The good news was that he was finally beginning to perceive a pattern in that strange phenomenon that connected him to her memories.
It couldn't be a mere coincidence that he couldn't sleep because of his "Ao Haru Ride" and, by chance, managed to visualize that part of Mizuki's memory that same night.
So… what exactly determined the memories that came to him? What exactly would her memories present to him? Was it related to his subconscious?
The idea seemed absurd and logical at the same time.
If he desperately wanted to know a certain period of her memory due to pressure, would the probability of seeing that memory while she slept at night increase?
Pressure.
The word clearly appeared in Ren's head. And soon after, along with it, the strange memory:
"Pressure? Pressure comes from… tires."
"Hmm?" Ren blinked.
A nonsensical thought suddenly appeared in his mind, but he immediately realized that this was probably due to the influence of some small fragments of Mizuki's memories.
Although most of Mizuki's memories were dormant, he didn't need to exert himself so much to access some of her basic knowledge about that world, social structure, etc. He could access and recall those memories directly, so those things would also affect him a little.
And, because of that, disconnected fragments sometimes surfaced naturally.
But the real answer… was something else.
The pressure certainly didn't come from the tires; The pressure stemmed from the obligation to finish the manuscript!
Knowing that he wouldn't be able to quickly grasp the entire plot of "Ao Haru Ride" would put him at risk of having to stop updating in a few weeks was the source of that worry.
And that would be a disaster.
More importantly, Ren didn't want to disappoint his editor, Miyuki, who trusted him so much. She had guaranteed him the opportunity to serialize the story because she believed that a high school student like him wouldn't stop updating or leave the story unfinished. He couldn't afford to set a bad example with his first novel.
Fortunately, he finished watching the entire "Ao Haru Ride" anime last night, in one sitting.
After packing his things, putting on his school uniform, and slinging his backpack over his shoulder with one hand, Ren opened the door and went to school.
Meanwhile, in another corner of the city…
In a discreet corner of the schoolyard, a girl wearing a black and white school uniform, tall and slender, with a dignified and beautiful appearance. Her long hair reached her waist. She was carrying her backpack, talking to a boy of ordinary appearance.
Shiori Haruki, wearing the impeccable black and white school uniform, held her book in one hand while looking at Takeru Hayashi, her former elementary school classmate.
"Ren is a very good person. Despite his family being rich, he doesn't discriminate against poorer students and gets along well with everyone. Oh, by the way, at the end of last semester, he was flirting with the class representative, Rina, for quite a while. They were very close, but since the beginning of this semester, they've treated each other like strangers. I think he's reached an impasse," Takeru said cautiously.
Shiori merely raised an eyebrow, a gesture so subtle and elegant that Takeru almost stumbled.
"Flirting with the class representative Rina and dating? Is he really that irresponsible? Never mind, that's none of my business. Hmm, Takeru, that's not what I want to know. I want to know other, more unknown, deeper information about him," Shiori asked.
Takeru was silent for a few seconds.
"More… deeper information? Of all people… she wanted to know that about Ren?"
His expression was strange. "Impossible. Is Shiori really that clueless?"
"What kind of unknown information?"
"Anything will do," she replied seriously, crossing her hands in front of her body.
"Anything will do?" Takeru lowered his head, thought, and finally remembered something.
"Well, last semester, my classmate Akira told me that Ren told him that her ideal type of girl is a mature woman, with black stockings, long legs, and ample breasts. The more mature type, like an older sister…"
The sentence died in the air when he noticed Shiori Haruki's expression: wide eyes, parted lips, as if she were staring at him like a criminal.
Takeru swallowed hard.
"Damn it, said you will do anything! I already told you, and you still look at me like that." How was he supposed to know not to say that!? To try and fix things, he blurted out the first thing that came to mind:
"According to unreliable rumors, Ren's father passed away unexpectedly during the winter holidays, and his small business is heavily in debt, leading the family to bankruptcy. Are you interested in this information?"
This news came from the girls after yesterday's opening ceremony. It's unknown whether it's true or not, but he mentioned it anyway.
Lingyun became serious.
"Bankruptcy? His father passed away?"
She hadn't expected something so serious. Imagining a tragic story involving Ren made her heart clench, but that wasn't what she wanted to know.
After a few seconds of silence, she took a deep breath and rephrased:
"What I want to know is: what are his hobbies? Playing basketball, soccer, or writing novels?"
Takeru almost laughed out loud.
"Ah, probably not." He shook his head.
"None?" Shiori asked again.
"Nope."
"Has no one seen or heard of any of his hobbies, like writing novels or anything like that?"
"Writing novels? Why would his hobby be writing novels? You barely know him. Isn't it like gambling? Success makes you a winner in life, but most people in that field don't even earn enough to eat. It's like making movies; the stars are glamorous, but who knows the extras?" Takeru mocked.
"Someone as shrewd as Ren wouldn't bet his life on that. I've never heard of anything like that."
The atmosphere seemed to become a little quieter.
"I understand. Well, thank you, Takeru." Shiori smiled gently at this.
Although her smile was polite and forced, it still made the young boy's heart flutter.
If every boy has a muse from his school days, then for 80-90% of the boys from Takeru's old school and now from High School, that muse was Shiori Haruki.
Although he knew he had little chance with her, he was still quite happy to have at least a brief relationship with her.
"Um, Shiori, I wanted to ask, why are you so worried about Ren Yamamoto?" he asked, curiously.
She smiled softly.
"It's nothing, it's just that a friend of mine is quite interested in him and asked me to ask her about the situation. Knowing that you and Ren are classmates, I decided to ask you." Shiori already had her answer prepared.
Takeru narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Really? You have a friend interested in Ren?" Takeru's lips twitched slightly.
"I hope you can keep it a secret, Takeru. Don't tell Ren that someone is interested in him," Shiori said very seriously.
"Don't worry, you know me. I'm famous for being discreet. I certainly won't tell Ren about this," Takeru said with a smile.
"Thank you then," she said softly.
After a few pleasantries, they said goodbye at school, Shiori carrying her backpack towards the classroom.
As she walked towards the classroom, her uniform fluttering slightly in the wind, Shiori Haruki let out a discreet sigh.
She knew her behavior might seem strange. But there were very clear reasons for her curiosity.
A girl had submitted her work to Red Violet Literature on the same day as her, to the same editor, Miyuki Hime, and both Ren Yamamoto's "Ao Haru Ride" and "The Light of Yesterday's Stars" had been approved for serial publication and would begin publication in the 'Momentary Blossoms' issue, which would be released two weeks later, on Wednesday.
The crucial point is that she kept all her publishing activities a secret from her family, friends, school, and teachers.
To them, she was the perfect student: studious, disciplined, following the path they expected of her.
She was happy, but also very lonely.
Because almost no one around her could understand why a brilliant student like her neglected her studies to create and publish light novels.
But that's how people's interests work. Under these circumstances, discovering a kindred spirit at her school completely changed her feelings.
Furthermore, the combination of being a classmate, a former student, a budding light novel author, having her work published in the same magazine, and being edited by the same publisher, awakened memories in her DNA.
Ren was her only real competitor.
From childhood to adulthood, she had never lost to any of her classmates in tests or studies.
She couldn't accept that her novel, 'The Light of Yesterday's Stars', would be surpassed by Ao Haru Ride.
If being a contracted light novel author under Miyuki's label, with serial publication in the same magazine, is considered another type of proof, then the publication's performance and the work's influence are the marks of this proof.
She accepts that the popularity of her novel "The Light of Yesterday's Stars" might not be enough to surpass all the other competing novels. This is because she has a gap in life experience and creative knowledge compared to these veteran authors.
Just like a high school student who can't beat a doctoral student on a test, it's a pity, but even the most talented and best-performing high school student can accept that result.
But losing to Ren? Someone in the same conditions as her?
That… she wouldn't tolerate.
Shiori found it difficult to accept that her novel's performance had lost to Ren's.
"The serialization of 'The Light of Yesterday's Stars' can't possibly lose to Ao Haru Ride. Knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to consistent victory. And I can't let my connection with Takeru break." Shiori's delicate fist clenched slightly.
That damned competitive spirit of the girl... it arose inexplicably, but with such force.
Meanwhile, Ren arrived in the classroom, still sleepy, almost stumbling as he crossed the threshold. He had no idea that he had inexplicably become a rival of a certain girl.
But something strange happened.
As soon as he entered, a cloud of whispers filled the air. Takeru, the notorious gossip of the class, was whispering and discussing something among the boys.
The boys also stared at him strangely from time to time.
He frowned. What was happening to these people?
"What… is happening?"
Did Takeru find out that Rina dumped me during the winter break? Is that why he's spreading gossip in the classroom now? And now he must be spreading it behind his back like the gossip he was.
He sighed.
"That damn chatterbox."
Ren felt a little uncomfortable thinking about it, but soon thought: never mind.
Let him spread rumors. Anyway, she and Rina had already broken up, why worry about these things?
He had more important problems to worry about. Like finishing chapters. And how to survive school without falling asleep.
He took a deep breath and opened his notebook.
End of Chapter 13