The promotional campaign for the second volume of Clannad was gradually getting underway under Chris Yamada's direction.
There was still more than a month before its release.
Chris wasn't in any hurry to distribute advance copies of Clannad. Instead, he first contacted bookstore owners across the country and discussed having promotional character standees and posters made for display.
The posters would be provided free of charge. All the bookstore owners had to do was put them somewhere prominent inside their stores.
Some bookstores that had enjoyed years of good relations with Full-Drive Bunko readily agreed to put up the standees and posters.
The rest hesitated.
It was spring break, after all. That was the fiercest battlefield of the year for the major publishing houses.
Every bookstore had only so much shelf space and only so many titles it could actively promote. Clannad was undeniably a bestseller, but the new volumes of 'That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime' and 'Classroom of the Elite' were also coming out during spring break.
Still Chris had anticipated this situation from the start, so he wasn't worried in the slightest. He contacted the bookstores one by one and offered to lower their wholesale price even further, by at least five percent.
Under normal circumstances, the wholesale price varied depending on the size of the bookstore.
A large chain like Banya would receive books from Full-Drive Bunko at roughly sixty to seventy percent of the retail price.
Smaller bookstores, meanwhile, generally paid eighty percent.
The big bookstores might not care much about a five-percent reduction. But for many small bookstores, that five-percent discount on the 1,500-yen second volume of Clannad amounted to a full 75 yen per copy.
Sell a thousand copies, and that was 75,000 yen in additional profit.
As for the possibility of not selling them?
Not a single bookstore owner had even considered that.
Why would anyone worry about being unable to sell Clannad?
The real problem was whether they could get enough copies in the first place!
Once the bookstores accepted Chris's terms, it took less than a day for quite a few bookstores in Tokyo to receive the promotional standees and posters sent over by Full-Drive Bunko.
The owners quickly put them somewhere highly visible.
Some even plastered the posters outside their stores.
Whenever students passing by caught sight of the name Clannad, they immediately stopped to take a look.
—The second volume of Clannad is finally here.
—Clannad is unquestionably the most healing light novel ever written.
—Kaori isn't the only thing that will make you remember spring. There is also Ushio.
—Without a doubt, Clannad will bring you warmth and give you the courage to face the cold world.
Those were the slogans.
At the Tsutaya bookstore in a Chiba shopping mall, Oikawa stood browsing through several novels while groups of boys and girls nearby chattered away.
"Oiii, do you guys really think Clannad is a healing story? Because I seriously don't trust that old bastard Copycat!" a boy from the group called out loudly and clearly.
Standing nearby, Oikawa smiled faintly and committed the boy's face to memory.
If he ever happened to run into this little brat at Sobu High, Oikawa was definitely going to teach him what it meant to respect his senpais.
"I kind of feel like it might still be an emotional-destruction story!" The boy continued, "Look at this character art. This new character, Ushio, looks way too sad. And besides... Copycat-sensei. You know what I mean."
The middle schoolers fell silent.
Oikawa fell silent, too.
What exactly did they mean by 'Copycat-sensei, you know what I mean?'
He had obviously written a healing story! And wasn't the ending of Clannad a happy ending?
Oikawa felt deeply wronged.
If he'd known people were going to react like this, he might as well have left the ending alone and let these naive kids cry their eyes out.
Oikawa walked a little farther into the store and found a novel titled Les Misérables. The old professor had recommended it to him in a letter a few days earlier.
It was Victor Hugo's famous novel.
Oikawa picked up the book, sat down at a nearby table, and began reading.
Les Misérables was even more unsettling than the movie. Jean Valjean's experiences made Oikawa feel sorry for him while, at the same time, leaving him furious on the man's behalf.
Time passed slowly.
He had no idea how long he had been reading when a pink-haired girl with her hair tied up in a bun quietly took the seat opposite him.
She rested her chin in both hands and simply watched Oikawa as he read, a smile of indescribable happiness spreading across her face.
"If only scenes like this could go on forever..." The girl murmured softly to herself.
For a moment, she could almost see it.
Ten years from now, on some ordinary afternoon, she would be sitting there with Sable and the two of them would quietly watch him together.
"You're here?" Oikawa didn't notice the girl sitting across from him until his eyes had started to feel a little dry from reading. "How long have you been here?"
Yui smiled as she looked into Oikawa's eyes. "I saw how seriously you were reading, so I didn't want to interrupt you. Hehe!"
Today, Yui was wearing a white turtleneck sweater under the same brown jacket she'd worn when they went to Disneyland.
On the bottom, she had on a short skirt paired with black thigh-high stockings.
"Aren't you cold?" Oikawa asked.
Yui noticed where Oikawa's gaze had drifted. A faint blush appeared on her cheeks, but she simply shook her head.
The very next second, Oikawa reached out and gently patted her cheek.
She froze for a moment. Her face turned even redder.
"Where do you want to go? Did you still want to see that movie?" Oikawa smiled. "I remember you said you wanted to watch Teasing Master Takagi-san."
Yui nodded. "The Takagi-san movie is really good! Lots of people online who've seen it say it's great. Oikawa, have you watched the Takagi-san anime?"
"No." Oikawa shook his head and answered honestly. "I've been a little busy lately. The only thing I've watched is Your Lie in April."
"I watched Your Lie in April, too! It's so good, especially Kaori's animation. She was absolutely beautiful. She looked exactly like the Kaori I'd imagined in my head."
The moment Oikawa mentioned Your Lie in April, Yui's eyes lit up and her face filled with excitement.
But then, very quickly, her expression fell.
Her voice grew quieter as she said, "It's such a shame that Kaori will still die on the operating table in the end. I really don't understand Copycat-sensei. Why did Kaori have to suffer so much, only to give her such a tragic ending?"
"If I ever get the chance to meet Copycat-sensei, I'm definitely going to give him a piece of my mind! Definitely!"
Oikawa rarely saw Yui, who usually lost interest in things after three minutes, look so determined.
She really was furious with Copycat-sensei because of Your Lie in April.
"Uh... We'll get the chance." Oikawa awkwardly rubbed his nose before quickly changing the subject. "Come on. Let's go buy the tickets first."
Yui followed beside him.
Oikawa naturally reached out and took her hand.
Her delicate body gave a little start, and she lowered her head, silently letting him lead her forward.
'It's not like this is the first time. Don't be nervous. Come on, Yui. You can do this. You can definitely keep your cool.'
Yui's cheeks were bright red as she silently encouraged herself.
But no matter how much mental preparation she did, the moment she saw the smile on Oikawa's face, her heart still started pounding like crazy, and all her composure disappeared.
---
They were lucky.
They happened to arrive just as the audience was being admitted for Teasing Master Takagi-san.
Oikawa hurried over to the ticket counter and bought two tickets. Then, carrying a huge bucket of popcorn, he took Yui's hand and joined the line.
"Yui, this is my first time watching a movie. You have to take responsibility for me, okay?"
Once they stepped into the darkened theater, Yui already looked a little awkward. After hearing what Oikawa had just said, she became even more flustered.
"Wha... what do you mean, take responsibility?! I-I'd never take responsibility for a bad guy like you, Oikawa-kun!"
Yui lowered her head and spoke to Oikawa in a tiny voice.
The smile on Oikawa's face grew even wider.
He continued teasing her. "Yui, don't tell me you're actually a heartless woman? I gave you my first time, and you're just going to abandon me afterward?"
Yui blinked in confusion. "Your first... what?"
Yui then understood what he was implying; her ears turned bright red. "You... No wonder Yukino calls you a pervert!"
Oikawa answered without missing a beat. "I only act like a pervert around people I like."
Those words instantly caused Yui's brain to short-circuit.
Her thoughts began running wild.
What does Oikawa mean by that? Was he confessing to me just now?
Of course he was. He definitely was!
So... should I accept?
Wait. Of course I'm going to accept!
While she was frantically thinking about how she should respond to Oikawa, his voice sounded again.
Yui's heart felt as sweet as honey.
But then...
"Yui, the movie's starting."
She watched as Oikawa turned his attention toward the big screen.
Yui puffed out her cheeks unhappily, her face full of disappointment.
She'd been so happy just a moment ago.
'Jerk!'
---
(Teasing Master Takagi-san: The Movie)
Yui felt that, while the movie was still full of sweet moments, it wasn't nearly as sugary as the anime.
And seeing everyone preparing to part ways because graduation was approaching made her feel strangely emotional.
She couldn't help but feel as though she were in the same situation, leaving her with a vague sense of melancholy and loss.
Once they were divided into the science and humanities tracks... There was still a chance that she and Oikawa would end up in the same class.
But what if they didn't?
The thought that she might not end up in the same class as Oikawa filled Yui with a sudden, inexplicable sadness. For a moment, she even felt tears welling up.
But then, just as quickly, that sadness vanished.
Because a certain overly familiar hand suddenly appeared beside her, making her tense up as its owner casually pulled her closer.
Yui's face turned bright red. She was so embarrassed she could barely get the words out.
"T-Oikawa... th-there are people around us!"
Nervousness, embarrassment, uncertainty.
Those three words perfectly summed up Yui's feelings at that moment.
Oikawa, meanwhile, looked completely unfazed.
"So what if there are people? I'm just worried you'll get cold, so I'm keeping you warm." After getting comfortable beside her, Oikawa draped an arm over Yui's shoulders.
A cool breeze somehow found its way through the theater.
He really was worried she would get cold.
At least, that was his story, and he was sticking to it.
"Yui, I'm really only doing this because I'm worried you'll catch a chill. It's purely out of concern. I have absolutely no ulterior motives."
Yui bit her lip as her heart hammered away.
He was obviously taking advantage of the situation, yet he had the nerve to act so shamelessly innocent about it.
"Yui, look! Takagi looks like she's about to kiss Nishikata."
Yui immediately looked up at the big screen.
She didn't get the chance to see what was happening, though.
When she turned back to question Oikawa about what he'd just said, she suddenly found his face much closer than before.
Yui's whole body stiffened.
She instinctively clenched her fists and started lightly pounding his chest.
"Mm! Mm!"
It did absolutely nothing.
She could feel the warmth coming from Oikawa, and before long, her own face felt just as hot.
Her ears were especially red.
If she pulled her turtleneck down even slightly, her normally pale neck would probably be bright red too.
Oikawa didn't seem to have any intention of backing off.
Yui was so flustered that she nearly cried. This idiot had completely caught her off guard, and now he was acting like none of it was a big deal.
She finally steeled herself.
With a sudden burst of courage, she bit his lip.
She immediately regretted it and stopped herself from biting too hard.
"Ow! I'm bleeding!" Oikawa pulled back and looked at Yui with an exaggeratedly wounded expression.
"W-Well, you wouldn't back off!" Yui lowered her head, too embarrassed to even look at him.
"What?" Oikawa, completely shameless, said, "Yui, you really have to take responsibility now. That was my first kiss!"
"W-Who cares?!"
She said it firmly, but inside, her heart was strangely sweet.
It had been a first for both of them.
So, somehow, she didn't feel like she'd lost out at all.
If anything, Yui felt like she'd come out on top.
"Yui, it actually hurts a little. Can you check? I can't really tell how much I'm bleeding."
Yui looked up.
At some point, Oikawa had moved closer again. He was close enough that she could feel his warm breath, and her heart immediately started racing all over again.
"Look, I think it's actually bleeding."
His insistence snapped Yui out of her flustered thoughts.
Using the light from the movie screen, she carefully looked at his lip. "There's a little blood, but it doesn't look serious."
"See? I really am bleeding." Oikawa put on an exaggeratedly pitiful expression. "Yui, you're so cruel. And after I gave you my first kiss, too."
Yui puffed out her cheeks. "You're the one who forced me into it!"
"I don't care. You have to make it up to me, Yui."
"Then... what do you want?"
Yeah, Yui was simply too kind.
"A kiss," Oikawa said.
Yui's face turned scarlet.
Looking utterly embarrassed, she slowly leaned toward Oikawa.
.
.
.
AN: Well, there's no use hiding it anymore. It's a harem. Yeah, it always was. Sigh... I just wanted you to find out at the end, but I guess that wasn't really possible.
Some of you might say, "You tricked us! We're not going to read your future novels!" Well, sadly, I have to inform you that I won't be writing another one. I only wrote this story to reminisce about my days in Japan.
And I really want to say I'm sorry for tricking you guys, but... I'm not. Anyway, Oikawa is basically just a reflection of my personality, yeah, including all the negative things about him. Shit, I would make the same choices, and of course, I'd definitely lie to my readers too.
So, umm... goodbye. See you in the next chapter... maybe. Probably, I guess.
---
TL: That was... expected.