— — — — — —
The fan group, which had once been close to a hundred members, dropped to fewer than sixty in under ten minutes.
The resentment that had been simmering beneath the surface finally exploded.
But in truth, it hadn't appeared out of nowhere. It was the result of one uncomfortable incident after another, piling up bit by bit until people couldn't ignore it anymore.
The deeper the love, the sharper the hate.
Back in the beginning, the Copycat Fan Club had been made up of people who genuinely loved Your Lie in April.
That included the group owner, Kentaro.
Sure, everyone cursed "the bastard Copycat" now and then. Fair enough. The guy had marketed a soul-crushing tragedy as a healing story.
But attacking other people? A lot of them had only gone along with it in the heat of the moment, acting before thinking.
And when their heads cooled off... or when something struck a nerve, just like the reason the first person gave when they left...
They realized. They'd gone too far.
Of course, not everyone reflects on themselves in the middle of the night.
Before long, different voices started cropping up in the group.
["The hell? Why's everyone acting like saints all of a sudden?"]
["You're sympathizing with that crook Copycat? Seriously? The guy sold over a million copies of Your Lie in April. He's loaded. Worth at least hundreds of millions. And you're sympathizing with him?"]
["Man, it's been forever since I got to roast people this hard. Those middle-aged dudes couldn't even fight back. That was cool."]
[....]
The group went quiet again for a short while.
Then even more people started leaving.
This time, most of them didn't even bother saying anything.
A book fan group wasn't like a gaming chatroom. There weren't that many trolls to begin with, and when people saw opinions they hated, most just ignored them.
…
..
At nine that night, after finishing karaoke with Yui and the others, Oikawa finally got home.
He had just finished showering when a message popped up from Utaha Kasumigaoka.
『Utaha』: "Senpai, check Twitter. You're trending again."
"Huh? What now?"
Scratching his head, Oikawa unlocked his phone and opened Twitter.
Soon enough, he spotted a trending topic: "An Apology From A Fan."
Oikawa raised an eyebrow and tapped it.
As he read through it, his expression turned increasingly colorful.
Shock. Confusion. Then anger. And finally, helpless exasperation.
Well, damn. The mole had been one of their own.
Without hesitation, Oikawa jumped straight into his official group chat.
The chat was in complete chaos.
Almost everyone was cursing out "Kentaro."
…
Seeing the entire group tearing into the guy, Oikawa nodded in satisfaction.
Then he jumped into the fray himself.
『Copycat (Admin)』: "Well, well. I was wondering why there've been so many people trashing me online lately. Turns out it was you stirring the pot...
Oikawa paused for a moment, holding back the truly filthy things he wanted to say.
Was he angry? Of course he was.
Especially with how all the drama lately had gotten on his nerves. His DMs had been flooded with hate, though that wasn't exactly new.
Still, after thinking it over... the guy's intentions hadn't been completely rotten.
Just selfish.
If Oikawa wanted, he could've let the group, or even the whole internet, dogpile him.
But there wasn't much point.
Besides, the two of them went way back. Countless sleepless nights spent in the group chat, swapping lewd pictures and discussing questionable file codes.
That kind of friendship counted for something.
『Kentaro』: @Copycat "Can I get another chance? I really know I was wrong about what happened."
——(Kentaro) has been muted by the admin for 30 days——
『Copycat (Admin)』: "A chance?" "Go ask the fans you flamed if they're willing to give you one."
Being an admin really did mean you could do whatever you wanted.
Oikawa's eyes flicked over the chat, then he typed again.
『Copycat (Admin)』: "Alright, time for some perks. I'm raffling off thirty signed copies of Clannad. Kentaro can enter too, but even if he wins, I'm not sending him one."
Reading the message, Kentaro was on the verge of tears.
If he didn't win, he could live with it.
But if he did win... that would hurt a lot.
...
Online, the whole thing quickly blew up into a hot topic.
["What the hell? I thought those were paid trolls from rival publishers. Turns out this was the truth?"]
["A depressing author and his depressing fans. Weirdly dramatic. But I have to say, that's about what I'd expect from Copycat's diehard fans, heh."]
["Copycat, you really are evil to the core."]
["What kind of fans are these? Still, I can't lie, it feels weirdly satisfying. Usually it's Copycat making everyone else miserable. Nice to see him get a taste of it."]
["I just saw Copycat's tweets. He actually looks kinda aggrieved. Does he seriously think we'd sympathize?"]
["Nope. I'm just counting down to January 2nd now. Knife's ready. Even rewatched all the John Wick movies to get in the mood."]
...
..
The comment section quickly spiraled into complete chaos.
Oikawa, lurking and reading it all, felt the corner of his mouth twitch.
Without a second thought, he messaged Chris Yamada: 'Can you arrange a few more bodyguards? I'll pay for them myself.'
Then, Oikawa climbed out of bed and started doing push-ups and sit-ups.
Building up his body couldn't stop. Not now
...
..
December 27th—
Today was the first day of winter break.
Oikawa had stayed up until three in the morning.
Why had he stayed up that late?
Well, it had started with the classic lie: just one quick game of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang before bed.
Then he lost.
And since he refused to sleep as a loser, he queued up for another.
Then another. And another... And another.
Before he knew it, it had turned into the worst losing streak of his life.
...
Ring ring—
In the middle of sleeping, his phone suddenly rang.
Half-awake and irritated, Oikawa grabbed it, ready to answer.
But the call ended before he could pick up.
"Who the hell… So annoying."
He sat up, grumbling.
But the moment he saw who had called, a smile appeared on his face, and his irritation vanished instantly.
It was a call from Saki Kawasaki.
He was just about to call back when a LINE message popped up. Also from Kawasaki.
Opening it, he saw a photo of an ugly dog. Its name was Yuki.
『Kawasaki』: "Yuki misses you. Keika misses you too."
The smile on Oikawa's face widened.
『Oikawa』: "What about you? Do you miss me too?"
A while later, she replied.
『Kawasaki』: "Yeah."
『Oikawa』: "Does 'yeah' mean you do, or you don't?"
Oikawa refused to let it slide.
After another pause, Kawasaki finally sent back a reply.
『Kawasaki』: I do.
『Oikawa』: Hehe~ So, where are you?
『Kawasaki』: At the kindergarten.
Oikawa immediately figured out what was going on.
Kawasaki had probably taken it upon herself to look after Yuki, the kindergarten's dog.
...
..
After washing up and getting dressed, Oikawa headed out.
With New Year's approaching, the streets of Chiba were much livelier than usual. Most people wore smiles.
Along the way, Oikawa spotted plenty of fishing enthusiasts carrying gear, probably on their way out for sea fishing.
Well, one of the perks of living in a coastal city.
Seeing all that, for some reason, Oikawa felt strangely happy.
Maybe it was because seeing other people happy made him happy.
Or maybe it was because he was about to see Kawasaki.
Or maybe... it was simply both.
...
Keika's kindergarten was right next to Sobu High School, so it wasn't far.
At first, Oikawa had thought about taking a taxi. But after a moment's thought, he decided to take the bus instead.
Because if he showed up at the kindergarten in a cab and Kawasaki asked about it, she'd definitely give him that look.
That look that made him feel irrationally guilty.
Five or six stops later, Oikawa got off and headed toward the kindergarten.
Before long, he spotted Keika outside, happily playing with Yuki, while Taishi stood nearby, grinding through his vocabulary drills.
The siblings looked exactly the same when memorizing words.
Heads down. Brows furrowed. Faces full of misery.
Though if you compared them, Taishi looked like he was suffering even more.
"Oikawa-nii!"
The moment Keika saw him, she abandoned Yuki and ran straight over. "Oikawa-nii, come visit the shrine with me on New Year's!"
For the first three days of the new year, even people with no religious beliefs in Japan usually visited shrines or temples to pray for blessings.
It was practically tradition at this point, like setting off firecrackers.
Every year, people also tossed coins into offering boxes and made wishes for the year ahead.
Because of the cold weather, many shrines also handed out amazake, a warm fermented rice drink to help people warm up.
Oikawa only knew all this because Zaimokuza had explained it to him.
Zaimokuza had invited him to go together, too. And Oikawa had ruthlessly turned him down.
Come on. No way was he spending New Year's shrine visits with a guy.
Still... even if he went, Oikawa had no intention of touching that so-called amazake.
The fermentation process instantly made him think of kuchikamizake. Rice alcohol made with human saliva.
Yeah. Just imagining it was enough to make his skin crawl.
"No can do. I've already got plans that day." Oikawa smiled as he scooped Keika up into his arms and carried her inside the kindergarten. "It's freezing out there. Why were you playing outside?"
"Keika was waiting for Oikawa-nii."
After being rejected, Keika puffed up in visible disappointment and pressed on. "Who are you going to the shrine with? My sister?"
"No. I've got something else to do that day."
He wasn't brushing her off, either. He really did have plans.
He had to head to Full-Drive Bunko a day early. The signing event for Clannad started at eight on January 2nd.
Oikawa didn't want to risk traveling that same morning. Tons of people would be heading into Tokyo for New Year's, and if he got delayed and missed his own event, that would be a disaster.
Chris Yamada had also suggested he come early, saying everything was already arranged.
"Oikawa-nii, what kind of plans?" Keika clearly had no intention of letting this go. She stared at him with wide, curious eyes, determined to get an answer.
Oikawa had a feeling that once she grew up, she'd be a real handful.
Definitely the kind of girl most guys wouldn't know how to deal with.
In that regard... she was completely different from Kawasaki.
Kawasaki looked like a delinquent at first glance, always cold and distant. But in reality, she was surprisingly easy to fool.
No matter what Oikawa said, she never really doubted him.
How could she be this gullible?
...
As soon as he stepped inside, Oikawa spotted Kawasaki in the kitchen, peeling shrimp and pulling out the veins.
Hearing him come in, she looked up and smiled. "You're here."
Then as if declaring ownership, Keika immediately wrapped her arms tighter around Oikawa's neck the second Kawasaki looked over.
Then she shot her sister a challenging look.
Like she was saying: Hmph. Oikawa-nii belongs to me.
No, scratch that. She actually said it out loud.
"Sis, when I grow up, Oikawa-nii is gonna be my boyfriend. You're not allowed to steal him!"
"..."
Oikawa had expected Kawasaki to laugh it off.
Instead, after pausing for a second, she shook her head decisively, "No. I'm not giving him to you."
"Hmph! Like you get to decide that!" Keika turned pitifully toward Oikawa. "Oikawa-nii, you'll be my boyfriend in the future, right? Just like you promised me on Christmas!"
Oikawa sighed.
He was about to casually go along with it just to placate her.
But before he could answer, Kawasaki spoke first, "Say you choose ME."
Oikawa froze for a second.
Then he broke into a wide smile, "Yeah. I'll always choose you, Saki Kawasaki."
Keika's brain short-circuited instantly, her wide eyes filled with the deepest betrayal she had ever known.
.
.
.