During the final week of July, the tenth chapter of Anohana was serialized in the latest issue of Crimson Maple. The internal friction within the group of friends had reached a boiling point.
Despite the emotional collapse of Menma's mother in the previous chapter, which had tempted everyone to abandon the project, the group ultimately decided to persevere.
They would do it for Menma.
However, a glaring problem remained: only the protagonist, Jintan, could see her. Naturally, the others began to harbor deep suspicions.
Was Jintan actually seeing Menma's soul, or had he been manipulating them this whole time?
Perhaps he had simply succumbed to a mental break. Following the incident with Menma's mother, the seeds of doubt within the team took root and began to grow at an alarming rate.
Everyone was questioning the point of their actions. If the Menma Jintan spoke of was merely a hallucination, then their quest to grant her wish and help her pass on was nothing more than a pathetic farce.
In this chapter, Yukiatsu finally reached his breaking point. He became hysterical once again, cornering Jintan and demanding tangible proof that Menma's soul actually existed.
"Menma is..." Jintan hesitated, his voice trailing off. He had no idea how to prove the impossible. He looked toward the soul of the girl standing right beside him, but to the others, he was simply staring at empty air.
"Hey, cut it out," Anaru snapped, her anger flaring. "Jintan, this is cruel. Are you still playing this 'ghost of Menma' game even now?"
"It's not like that," Jintan said, turning to look at the lonely expression on Menma's face.
"Everyone... she's saying she's sorry," Jintan explained to the group.
"Jintan, are you really going to keep doing this? Are you going to keep pretending her soul is right there?"
The group's patience had reached its absolute limit. Just as Yukiatsu pulled back his fist to strike Jintan, he froze. His expression twisted with agony as he looked at his old friend.
"Stop it. Just stop. What we did to her can never be undone. She couldn't possibly be apologizing, and she could never forgive us."
Right at that moment, a sound echoed through the room. A notebook sitting on the table suddenly slid off and hit the floor with a sharp thwack. All five people in the room froze.
"The diary? But... there's no wind," Tsuruko whispered, her voice trembling with sudden panic.
Poppo hesitated for a moment before reaching down to pick up the notebook. He opened it to a fresh page. In that childhood diary, where Menma had once recorded her simple dreams, there was now a new entry.
Today... I played in the secret base... with everyone... who's all grown up.
Everyone... shouldn't fight.
The Super Peace Busters... are always... best friends.
It was Menma's handwriting. These were newly written words. Just as the group was condemning Jintan for lying, accusing him of using the memory of a dead girl to weave a web of ghosts and wishes, Menma's spirit had picked up a pen and left a message.
As she read this scene, Reina's fingers began to tremble. She took a deep breath, but she couldn't suppress the surge of melancholy rising within her. Across ten chapters, the narrative had traced the roots of pain back to that single childhood tragedy.
Every character, Poppo, Anaru, Tsuruko, and Yukiatsu, wanted only to see her one last time and beg for her forgiveness. Everyone assumed Jintan was lying, and even the readers weren't entirely sure if Menma was a real spirit or a manifestation of Jintan's trauma.
In this moment, every reader and every member of the Super Peace Busters received their answer.
This was Menma's soul. She was real. This kind, selfless girl who only wanted everyone to stay friends forever was actually there. Combined with the masterfully crafted emotional atmosphere of the scene, the impact was devastating. Reina's eyes turned red. She wondered how such a simple plot point, the confirmation of a ghost's existence, could be so profoundly moving.
Up until now, Reina's understanding of the story had been no different from that of the general public.
While Yukino had her personal preferences, her professional ethics were beyond reproach; she would never leak the unpublished plot of one author to another. Reina only knew that Yukino's opinion of Anohana had skyrocketed starting with the tenth chapter. She hadn't realized how high the quality had actually climbed.
Reina opened the official Crimson Maple website to check the forums.
"I'm crying. I'm actually crying!" one user commented.
"Chapter ten of Anohana is a masterpiece."
"Yukiatsu always believed Menma would never forgive them. He thought she would hate them forever. After all, if they hadn't tried to pressure Jintan into admitting his feelings, the accident never would have happened. But now he realizes that even though their actions led to her death, she never hated them for a single second. She just wants them to be friends. That's so heartbreaking."
"Dammit, guys, I was wrong. I shouldn't have posted that thread earlier saying this book was boring."
"It's Shiori Takahashi-sensei's fault for being so deceptive! After Blue Spring Ride, everyone expected another shoujo romance. Reading the early chapters with that expectation made them feel slow. No one expected this to be a story about the weight of friendship. I'm an emotional wreck."
"I miss my childhood friends now. It's been ten years since middle school and I haven't talked to a single one of them. This really hit home."
"Shiori Takahashi-sensei is a genius at playing with our feelings. I honestly thought Menma was a hallucination until this chapter."
"So, what's next? Do they actually make the fireworks? Does she pass on after the wish is granted?"
"The cliffhanger in chapter ten is brutal. Menma's soul is real, and she can interact with physical objects. I can't wait to see how everyone reacts to this 'ghost sighting' in chapter eleven."
The data for chapter ten was undeniable.
Anohana received 8,321 reader votes, climbing to the sixth-place spot. The rating surged to 8.9, placing it fourth overall.
Readers are fundamentally honest; when a story is great, they do not withhold their support. This surge in popularity left the staff of the Crimson Maple Literature editorial department speechless. Even Yukino was caught off guard by the sheer scale of the jump. But the most incredible statistic was the rating: 8.9, the fourth highest in the magazine.
Chapter ten had proven to the readers that the previous chapters weren't "slow"; they were a foundation. After finishing the chapter, many readers logged into their accounts late at night specifically to revise their earlier low ratings. Since only a day had passed, many readers hadn't even finished the issue yet. By the time chapter eleven was released, the scores would likely climb even higher.
In the Editor-in-Chief's office, Akira sat with a furrowed brow, staring at the reports.
"What on earth is this?" she muttered.
"Eighth place for chapter eight, seventh for chapter nine, and now sixth for chapter ten. At this rate, is it actually possible for this book to break into the top three by the time the final chapter is out?"
If that happened, her plan to secure a three-year loyalty contract with Shiori would vanish into thin air.
On the afternoon the data was released, Reina also learned the rankings from Yukino. Anohana held 6th place in votes and 4th in ratings, while her own Star Sea was 4th in votes and 5th in ratings. She felt a sudden, hollow sense of helplessness.
She had done everything right. Star Sea had been a critical and commercial success from day one. In the last decade, no rookie in the Minamijo region had ever reached the fourth-place spot in a magazine as prestigious as Crimson Maple during their debut year.
Her talent was undeniable, and she was every bit the genius the media claimed she was. And yet, she couldn't shake the feeling that things were going wrong. The sensation of being pursued, the realization that she might be overtaken at any moment, was stronger than ever.
Meanwhile, the wider light novel community was finally waking up to the phenomenon. Previously, Anohana's rise had been gradual, a slow-burn climb that was easy to overlook. But now, it was sitting at sixth place. According to independent tracking agencies, the series' fan engagement across the region had cracked the top twenty-five among all active serials.
Haruto had actually done it.
He had taken a slow-burn story and, through sheer narrative force, brought it to life.
_______________________
Every 300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
Support me at patreon.com/CulturedOne and read 50 Advanced Chapters