— — — — — —
The cicadas started screaming early in the morning and never let up.
Oikawa was jolted awake again and again, until he finally snapped and shouted in frustration. Right then and there, he decided he was buying an electric bug zapper online.
Any cicada that dared come near his window…
was going to experience the cruelty of modern technology firsthand.
Dragging himself out of bed, he grabbed his phone and immediately opened Twitter to check updates about Your Lie in April.
Post after post of glowing praise scrolled past.
Before he knew it, he was grinning from ear to ear. Even the irritation from being woken up by cicadas vanished without a trace.
Of course, it wasn't all praise. There were still a few people nitpicking for the sake of it.
One tweet read: "What kind of trash novel is this? It's unbearable. A guy suffering over his piano?! Don't people remember Japan's worst days? Damn it, I hate piano guys—they should just die."
Oikawa stared at it for a second, then came to a conclusion.
This guy's girlfriend was probably stolen by someone who could play piano.
Otherwise, where would that level of resentment even come from?
He briefly considered arguing back.
But after thinking it over, he dropped the idea.
If someone got cheated on and could only vent online, weren't they already pathetic enough?
At that point, wasn't it kinder to just let them have their tantrum?
But that one tweet killed his mood for scrolling. After a quick wash, he turned on his computer and started gaming instead.
Isn't that what vacation is for? Wasting your time on games?
Drift through the day in a haze, repeat endlessly. Honestly, being consistently lazy could be its own kind of discipline.
The game he was playing was Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales.
To be honest, the story was kind of a mess.
He had no idea what the developers were even trying to say. This shouldn't even be a game—making it a DLC for Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered would have made more sense.
But whatever. Who plays Spider-Man for the story anyway?
Swinging through skyscrapers on webs, that was the real fun.
Oikawa was having a great time.
…Right until his phone started ringing at the worst possible moment.
Shizuka Hiratsuka.
Not good.
A bad feeling crept into his chest.
He flipped the phone over.
The ringing stopped. And he pretended nothing had happened.
"Phew. Safe."
A moment later, it rang again.
He ignored it just the same, continuing to guide Miles as he swung between buildings.
Then, after a while, the ringing stopped.
Instead, a message notification popped up.
Oikawa lit up his screen.
He didn't open LINE. As long as he didn't open it, he could pretend he hadn't seen anything. The moment he did, it would show as "read."
Still…
Even without opening the app, he could see the latest message preview.
[Shizuka Hiratsuka: If I don't get a reply within five minutes, I'm coming to find you myself. And I won't be this nice when I do.]
He thought about it for thirty seconds.
Then he opened LINE.
Scrolling through, he saw all the messages Shizuka had sent. Most of them boiled down to things like "How dare you not answer my call" and "You're dead."
"Shizuka-sensei, I was asleep just now. I didn't hear your call."
He decided to go with an excuse, even if it sounded flimsy.
"Heh."
That single reply, in his mind, translated directly to: You're finished.
"Tomorrow, 10 AM. We're going camping at Chiba Village."
"Sensei, I'm really busy," Oikawa tried to wriggle out of it. "You know my new book just came out. There's a lot I need to deal with."
"Oh really?"
"Because I heard someone's been at home doing nothing but eating, sleeping, and playing games."
Oikawa glanced around his room.
He was starting to suspect she had cameras installed in his house. How else would she know that?
"Tomorrow at 10. I want to see you at school."
That was a direct order.
In the end, Oikawa had no choice but to go along with the camping trip. He had a bad feeling this so-called "outing" was going to be a hassle.
Still, he found it hard to refuse Shizuka outright.
Because deep down, he knew she meant well. She just didn't want him wasting away like this.
These days, anyone willing to show you kindness deserves to be taken seriously.
…
..
Since he didn't know how many days they'd be gone or what they'd be doing, Oikawa packed light. Just a change of clothes, and the rest of his bag was filled with snacks.
He mentally prepared himself for rough conditions.
But the day wasn't all bad.
That afternoon, Ayame Kagurazaka called again.
The first-week sales for Your Lie in April were in.
Oikawa didn't really know what the number meant, but Kagurazaka told him that if sales stayed strong, the first volume had a very real chance of breaking 500,000 copies.
Half a million copies for a single volume.
That would make him a top-tier author at Dengeki Bunko, and his contract would be upgraded accordingly.
Third-tier authors got 6% royalties. Second-tier got 8%. First-tier authors earned a full 10%.
As for top-tier authors, they could even negotiate their own rates.
Which meant…
For the second volume of Your Lie in April, Oikawa had a shot at a 10% royalty deal.
Don't underestimate that extra 2%.
If the book sold 500,000 copies, that difference alone was worth 6.5 million yen.
Hearing that, Oikawa couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement. Who wouldn't want to earn more money?
Kagurazaka also told him something else.
The editorial department had held a special meeting just for this, praising Your Lie in April and openly acknowledging Oikawa's talent. They even criticized the authors who had been making snide remarks in the group chat earlier.
Apparently, some editors had gone pale on the spot.
Too bad Oikawa hadn't been there to see it. If he had, he definitely would've laughed his head off.
.
.
.