The short chat with Tsuchiya Ryouta was the only interruption that morning.
After that, classes went smoothly.
Hiratsuka Shizuka, who hadn't seen Hojou Kyousuke all day, clearly missed him.
Not only did she keep bombarding him with questions in class, but even at noon—when Kyousuke asked to leave—she tried every possible way to keep him there.
'Sigh… I can understand why a teacher would favor an outstanding student, but Hiratsuka-sensei is a little too clingy, 'Kyousuke muttered to Yukari as they walked.
He had barely escaped Shizuka's pleading, and with Yukino seeing him off, they headed toward the school gates together.
Yukari didn't have afternoon classes either and was planning to leave early.
"Hehe~ Kyousuke-kun, it seems your relationship with Shizuka-chan has improved quite a lot," Yukino said, covering her mouth with a soft laugh.
Her laughter was always so subtle and elegant, like an ink painting—simple yet refined.
It had the clarity of misty southern rain, and just the curve of her brows and eyes carried endless charm.
The sound of her laughter was light, with the bashful sweetness of a young girl.
Kyousuke couldn't help but compare it to Eriri's fake "ojou-sama laugh", where she would cover her mouth and giggle.
To outsiders, it might look refined, but knowing her true nature, Kyousuke always ended up laughing until his stomach hurt—earning himself a death threat from Eriri's furious glare.
Only someone like Yukari, a woman who had endured hardship without losing her true self, could exude such natural elegance.
"She even threatened to call my parents if I skipped class again. I'm just worried my mom might get bored at home. If she really shows up, there's no way she'd be able to escape," Kyousuke said with a chuckle.
That was also the reason Yukari wanted to leave early today.
The well-mannered girl wanted more time to bond with her future mother-in-law.
Normally, even if she had no classes, she would still obediently stay at school.
Yukari was extremely popular—idolized not just by boys, but also admired by many girls who longed to be like her.
The moment class ended, flocks of girls would always gather around her, chirping away endlessly.
At the school gate, Kyousuke's family driver was already waiting.
He first dropped Yukari off near her home before heading to the publishing house.
By the time he arrived, the launch meeting hadn't started yet, but the place was already buzzing with frantic activity.
Kyousuke's offhand remark about releasing the book within a week had turned the staff into headless chickens.
First came proofreading.
Even though Kyousuke had already done his own, the publisher had to repeat it countless times—since if anything went wrong, they'd be the ones facing the consequences.
Next was binding: cover design, sizing, layout, printing method, paper stock—every detail had to be finalized.
And that wasn't all. Promotion, acquiring an ISBN, copyright registration… Each task required specialists.
At least dozens of professionals were currently running around on his behalf.
It was obvious Kisaki hadn't been the only one who pulled an all-nighter; the design team definitely hadn't slept either.
Proof of that was on the table before him—the cover drafts for him to choose from.
For the first edition of The Devotion of Suspect X, the cover had been a stark black background with a large crimson "X."
A red human silhouette—representing Kyousuke himself—was overlaid on the letter, and the title ran vertically down the side in the same blood-red font.
Mystery novel covers tended to be minimalistic and abstract—never as flashy or playful as light novels.
If a title had words like Killing the Girl, Mask, or Train, the imagery would usually be much more direct.
Kyousuke's new work, The Dream and Death of Writer K, offered only the symbol "K" as a visual anchor.
After agonizing all night, the design team finally produced what they believed was the perfect solution:
A light sky-blue background with a massive white "K" occupying about a quarter of the space.
Kyousuke's silhouette, also in white, mirrored the style of the previous cover, with the title written neatly below.
Anyone familiar with Suspect X's first edition would instantly recognize this as the work of the same author.
"This is exactly the same as last time!" Kyousuke said flatly, staring at the smug designer in front of him.
He had no particular demands, but this felt like outright laziness.
It wasn't that the design lacked aesthetics—it was just… copy-paste.
"What!? Not at all! This is a completely different design concept!" the female designer protested, her brows shooting up as she pointed at the draft.
"When we designed Suspect X's cover," she explained passionately, "the heavy tone of the story and Ishigami's love called for a somber atmosphere.
That's why we used black to highlight the seriousness.
The blood-red 'X' and silhouette symbolized the protagonist walking through darkness with blood on his hands. One glance at the cover told readers it was a serious story—it pulled them in instantly."
"But The Dream and Death of Writer K, while deep, has your writing style making it lighter, even entertaining at times. That's why we chose sky-blue and pure white—like clouds. Doesn't it blend perfectly with the heavens?"
She held the mock-up up to the window.
Kyousuke looked outside.
The storm from yesterday was gone, the sky clear and bright again.
Indeed, the blue on the cover looked like a fragment cut straight from the heavens.
"It does look like a piece of the sky," he admitted. "But… does that really mean anything?"
"You don't get it, Hojou-sensei!" she exclaimed. "What is the sky? It's dreams! Isn't that what Writer K's dream is all about? The limitless blue sky—just like human ambition, without bounds!"
"…That's one way to put it."
"Exactly! The blue sky is dreams, and the white clouds are death. Clouds scatter and gather, just like Writer K's life. Even when crushed by society, he clung to his dream. When it seemed within reach, tragedy struck again.
Each murder looked like him burying his dream with his own hands. And yet, seeing him end with a happy family—who's to say his dream wasn't like those clouds, disappearing only to gather once more?"
Her eyes gleamed with obsession as she stared at Kyousuke, almost as if she wanted to devour him whole.
"It's genius, Hojou-sensei! An absolute masterpiece!"
Kyousuke ignored her feverish enthusiasm.
He ran his fingers over the mock-up, studying it carefully.
Truthfully, he had no sense for art, and all that symbolic stuff went right over his head.
But the blue-and-white combination did fit the novel. Still…
"Go ahead and print it with this design. But I want the blue adjusted a little," he said at last.
"What? But Hojou-sensei, this is already the optimal shade. We tested dozens of variations—" she began.
"I know. Just use this exact color."
Kyousuke smiled, nodded, then pulled out his phone and opened a picture for her to see.
The screen was filled with a picture of Eriri, dressed up as a giant monster to play with Kasuko.
She was flailing her arms and glaring with exaggerated wide eyes—so ridiculously cute it hurt.
If Ultraman ever saw such an adorable little monster, he wouldn't bother protecting the world anymore.
He'd just want to wrap her up, take her to some lonely planet, and spend his days endlessly bullying the tiny monster.
And the spot Kyousuke was pointing to was Eriri's eyes.
If they were going to use blue, then it had to be the most beautiful blue in the world.
One of the female designers leaned over for a peek.
Her perfectly made-up face instantly twisted in disbelief.
What the hell is this? We're supposed to be designing a novel cover, not picking the color of flowers for some romantic date!
The first print run is already set at half a million copies—does he seriously want to confess in front of five hundred thousand readers?
Get it together, this is a multimillion-yen business!
Who is this girl!?
Damn it, she's undeniably cute, but Hojou-sensei belongs to everyone!
A sharp, overwhelming emotion rose in the designer's chest.
She knew that feeling all too well—it was jealousy.
Her nose and lips twitched slightly before she forced herself to look up and speak in a strained voice:
"Hojou-sensei, while this color is very beautiful… for the cover, maybe it's a little—"
"I like this blue. It's the most beautiful blue in the world."
Kyousuke smiled, warm and gentle as always.
"Let's go with this one, okay? If it doesn't match well with the white, then adjust the white until it does. Make it work."
His tone hadn't hardened, but the quiet certainty in it made her shrink her neck and kill any thought of arguing further.
She knew full well that agreeing would earn her complaints back at the design department, but with no choice left, she nodded firmly.
"Understood, Hojou-sensei. We'll adjust it right away."
She stood and bowed, ready to leave, but then hesitated.
"Um… could you send me a copy of that photo?"
"Oh, almost forgot."
Kyousuke smacked his forehead lightly.
Of course, he had no intention of letting such a personal picture circulate, but after a moment's thought he said:
"Check this website. You'll find her photos there, clearer than mine."
He pulled up Toyogasaki Academy's official site and sent it over.
As one of the school's top students and a regular at the Tokyo Youth Exhibition, Eriri's photos had long been displayed in Toyogasaki's "showcase" section—a handy way to lure in next year's hopeful applicants.
"Got it. Thank you." She bowed again and rushed off.
Every department was working at full throttle now; if her team lagged behind, they'd be chewed out mercilessly.
Once the design team was gone, editor Akamatsu Yuuki stood up, holding the finalized contract.
It had taken this long to complete because the print run and format hadn't been set until today's meeting.
"The first print run is confirmed at five hundred thousand copies. Format will be the standard single-volume paperback.
As for royalties, like we discussed earlier, it'll stay at fifteen percent—that's already the industry's top rate. Taxes are the same as before, the company will handle…"
Though Kyousuke was already familiar with all this, Akamatsu carefully pointed out each clause in the contract.
On the other side of the table, both Kyousuke and Kisaki listened attentively.
After some discussion, a few minor clauses were tweaked at Kisaki's insistence.
The real win was keeping the rights for both the anime and film adaptations—something the publisher quickly agreed to.
Kisaki, ever more ambitious after meeting Kosaka Akane, had started seeing their company's future as a full-scale multimedia empire.
Once Kyousuke signed and stamped the contract, 150 million yen would be wired directly to his studio's account.
Things weren't like before—he now had a whole team to support. And Kyousuke wasn't keen on handing over extra money to the Japanese government.
That was where Kisaki came in.
If necessary, he could maneuver things so that not even a single yen in taxes would be paid—gray-area tactics that were his specialty.
"If we weren't on such a tight schedule, we could've pushed the print run higher," Akamatsu said with some regret. "The novel's quality is outstanding, and your name carries enormous weight, Hojou-sensei. Still, the company decided to play it safe."
He recalled that "The Devotion of Suspect X" had also debuted with a 500,000 print run.
Given Kyousuke's current popularity, a million copies wouldn't have been unreasonable.
Kyousuke, however, wasn't hung up on it.
Half a million was already a lot, and with printing and distribution all on such a short timetable, he was more worried about the publisher being too slow and messing up his plans.
"I understand. As long as the release date's on track, that's all that matters," he said with an easy smile.
"Of course! If we miss the schedule, I'll commit seppuku—horizontal cut and vertical cut both!" Akamatsu swore, pounding his chest.
Kyousuke laughed. "What is this, eel slicing? Mixing Kanto and Kansai styles now?"
With the joking exchange over, the three of them made their way to the conference room, where booksellers and store owners were already gathering.
The moment they entered, a wave of chatter hit them. Clearly, not only the publisher's staff were busy—the store owners were too.
Kyousuke had never attended a promotional fair before, so most of the booksellers were strangers to him.
But he did recognize several bookstore owners, people he'd met back when he was running around doing signings for the Bookstore Grand Prize.
The instant he walked in, seven or eight of them stood up, warmly greeting him with cheerful shouts of "Hojou-sensei!"