'I really am a liar. What should I do now? Acting like I am hesitating, even though I had already decided from the start.'
'At times like this, I know it. Kou will definitely get off the train.'
There had never truly been a choice.
Futaba knew it. Kou would get off the train. From the very beginning, she had never intended to give him up.
The ending of Episode Six, delayed by an entire week back then, now unfolded clearly before Haruto's eyes.
"So this is a girl's inner world?" Haruto murmured, still immersed in the youthful emotions of the story. "It really is complicated."
At the same time, he felt completely lost. If this was how girls thought, then he suspected that no matter how long he lived, he would never fully understand their hearts.
The next morning, Haruto woke up early with dark circles under his eyes.
He had fallen asleep at two in the morning. Even though following memories in his dreams counted as rest in some sense, five hours of sleep was still far from enough, and his mind felt sluggish.
However, he had started to grasp a pattern in Shiori's memories.
It could not be a coincidence that the night he was unable to sleep because of Blue Spring Ride, he just happened to see that exact segment of her memories.
'So what determined which memories she showed me? Is it related to my subconscious?'
'If I am under pressure and desperately want to know a certain period of her memories, does the probability of seeing those memories increase when I fall asleep?'
Pressure came from deadline chasing.
Because he knew that if he could not quickly grasp the entire storyline of Blue Spring Ride, then in just a few weeks, he would be facing a very real serialization crisis.
More importantly, he did not want to disappoint Yukino, the editor who trusted him. She believed that a mere high school student like him would not stall, would not collapse midway, and would not abandon his work, which was why she fought for his serialization slot. At the very least, his first novel could not become a bad example.
Thankfully, the night before, he had watched the entire anime adaptation of Blue Spring Ride in one go.
After tidying himself up, putting on his school uniform, and slinging his bag over one shoulder, Haruto opened the door and headed to school.
"Haruto is actually a pretty decent guy," Kaito said cautiously. "Even though his family used to be well off, he never looked down on poorer students, and he got along with everyone."
"Oh right, at the end of last semester, he chased after Rin, for quite a while. They were really close for a time, but after this semester started, they completely stopped talking. I guess he hit a wall."
"Chasing Rin and dating her?" Reina replied coolly. "That sounds pretty irresponsible. Forget it, that is not what I am asking about. Kaito, what I want to know is not this kind of surface-level stuff. I want information that is less known and more… personal."
Reina stood in a quiet corner of the school, wearing the black-and-white school uniform skirt. Her figure was tall and slender, her appearance refined and elegant, long hair flowing down her back as she held her schoolbag with both hands. She was speaking with Kaito, her former middle school classmate, about Haruto.
'Less known. More personal?'
Kaito's expression turned strange.
'No way. Did Reina really have such terrible taste?'
After thinking for a moment, he asked, "What kind of personal information are you talking about?"
"Anything," Reina Fujimoto replied.
'Anything?'
Kaito lowered his head and thought hard. Finally, something came to mind.
"Well, last semester, a classmate of my mine mentioned during a chat that Haruto once said his ideal type was women with big chests. The mature, onee-san type."
He barely got halfway through before he noticed Reina staring at him as if he were a criminal, and he immediately shut his mouth.
'Hey, you said anything was fine. Why that look?'
Trying to ease the awkwardness, Kaito quickly changed the subject.
"According to some unreliable rumors, Haruto's father passed away unexpectedly during winter break, and his dad's small company left behind a huge debt, which bankrupted their family. I do not know if you are interested in that."
The rumor had spread among the girls after the opening ceremony yesterday. Kaito did not know if it was true, but he said it anyway.
"Bankrupt? His father passed away?" Reina had not expected something so heavy.
She fell silent for a moment, then spoke directly.
"What I want to know is this. Does Haruto have any hobbies? Like basketball, soccer, or… writing novels?"
"Probably not," Kaito said after thinking. "None."
"None?" Reina asked again.
"None," he confirmed.
"No one has ever seen or heard about him having hobbies like writing novels?"
"Writing novels?" Kaito laughed. "Why would that be his hobby? You must be misunderstanding something. That is like gambling. If you succeed, you win big. If you do not, you cannot even afford food. It is just like filmmaking. Movie stars look glamorous, but who remembers the extras?"
"Haruto is too smart to gamble his life on something like that. I have never heard of him doing that."
An awkward silence settled between them.
"I see. Thank you, Kaito," Reina said, smiling.
The smile was polite and forced, but it was enough to make Kaito's heart flutter.
For most boys, there was always a goddess during their school years. Back in middle school, and even now at High School, over eighty percent of the male students regarded Reina as that goddess.
Even knowing he likely had no chance, Kaito still felt happy just being a little closer to her.
"Um, Reina," he asked curiously, "why are you so concerned about Haruto?"
"It is nothing," she replied calmly. "A friend of mine is paying attention to him and asked me to look into it. I knew you were his classmate, so I came to ask."
"A friend is paying attention to him?" Kaito's lips twitched slightly.
"Yes. And I would appreciate it if you kept this confidential. Please do not tell Haruto that someone is asking about him," Reina said seriously.
"Do not worry," Kaito said with a grin. "You know me. I am famous for keeping my mouth shut. I will never mention this to him."
"Thank you," Reina said softly.
After exchanging a few more polite words, they parted ways. Reina headed toward her classroom with her bag.
She knew her behavior probably seemed strange to Kaito, but she understood herself very clearly.
She and Haruto had gone to Crimson Maple Literature on the same day.
They had submitted to the same editor, Yukino. Both Blue Spring Ride and Yesterday's Starlight had passed the serialization meeting. Both would begin serialization in Fleeting Blossoms two Wednesdays from now.
Most importantly, she had hidden all of this from her family, friends, school, and teachers.
She was happy, but she was also lonely.
No one around her would understand why a top student like her would waste time writing light novels and submitting them.
But that was how hobbies worked.
Under these circumstances, discovering that there was someone else at her school just like her made everything feel different.
Same age. Same school. Both rookie light novel authors. Serialized in the same magazine under the same editor.
All of it together triggered something deep inside her.
From childhood to now, she had never lost to any classmates in exams or academics. If being a signed light novel author under Yukino, serializing in Fleeting Blossoms, was treated as another subject, another exam, then the serialization performance and influence of a work were its scores.
And in that exam, Haruto was her only rival.
She could accept Yesterday's Starlight failing to dominate all other works in the same magazine.
After all, those veteran authors had more life experience and creative experience than her.
Just like a high school student losing to a PhD candidate, it was disappointing but understandable.
But Haruto was different.
Because his starting conditions in the light novel world were exactly the same as hers.
Losing to him was something she could not accept.
'Yesterday's Starlight cannot lose to Blue Spring Ride in Fleeting Blossoms,' she thought. 'Know your enemy, know yourself, and you will never lose. I cannot cut off contact with Kaito either.'
She clenched her small fist slightly.
This unreasonable, sudden competitiveness surged within her without warning.
Meanwhile, Haruto, yawning as he entered the classroom, had no idea that he had somehow become a rival in the eyes of a certain girl.
The moment he stepped inside, he noticed the class's notorious loudmouth, Kaito, whispering suspiciously among a group of boys.
They kept casting strange looks at him.
Haruto felt confused.
'What is wrong with them? Did Kaito find out that Rin dumped me during winter break and is spreading gossip now?'
'That big-mouthed guy.'
The thought annoyed him, but after a moment, he let it go.
'Let them talk."
He and Rin were already broken up. Why care about that kind of thing?
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