"By the way, why are you still here at this hour?"
Kiyono took a sip of black tea and asked curiously. It was Saturday afternoon, break time, and usually Yanami would have already gone out to eat her fill.
"Th-this..."
The blue-haired girl's gaze darted around, then she replied righteously, "It's to finish next week's home economics homework! After all, the tools in the shop are very complete!"
"This isn't a tailor shop..."
After complaining, Kiyono then saw Yanami holding several balls of yarn and a book with an unreadable title on the table. She really was learning to knit something.
From his perspective, the girl sat quietly at the table, her head slightly bowed, a sewing needle passing through felt, like a virtuous and elegant young lady—even her occasional flipping through the book and scratching her head looked beautiful.
Kiyono smiled and also focused on his work.
Clack clack clack, rustle rustle, gurgle gurgle.
The sound of keyboards, turning pages, and drinking water intertwined in the small lounge.
At one point, Kiyono stopped what he was doing, tilted his head to glance at the girl, opened his mouth, then closed it again.
Strange... It should be easy to just say it honestly like usual, but why do I feel a hint of nervousness now?
Words constantly wove in his mind, and finally, he said to himself:
"I saw the sticky note. The rabbit is very cute. Thank you."
—Although he could express his feelings with an exaggerated joke, he was too embarrassed to say it out loud.
The gentle words that rang in her ears made Yanami's hand tremble slightly.
"Ouch."
The needle tip accidentally pricked her index finger, and a tiny drop of blood instantly seeped out. The blue-haired girl frowned, subconsciously glanced at Kiyono, and, after confirming that he hadn't noticed, she wiped it with a tissue—minor bumps and scrapes were inevitable during work, and as long as it didn't leave a scar, she didn't care much about such small injuries.
Yanami had never been a delicate girl.
More than that, what she cared about was...
Yanami secretly looked up at Kiyono again, and this time Kiyono looked over, their gazes inadvertently meeting.
In the silence, Yanami lowered her small head, her soft blue hair covering her expression and ears. After several more seconds, she suddenly stood up.
"I-it was just something I did on the way... I'm going to the restroom!"
She quickly opened the door and then closed it with a bang.
Behind the door, the girl finally let out a soft, hot breath, placing the back of her hand gently on her cheek.
So hot.
Kiyono glanced at the girl's hurried retreating figure, but didn't think much of it. In his opinion, Yanami could unashamedly share even snacks as important as her life, so brewing a cup of tea to encourage a good brother was also very normal, right!
Hmm, that's right!
He nodded repeatedly in his mind, then saved the document and picked up Yanami's teacup, placing it on the table for her.
It was then that Kiyono's peripheral vision noticed the title of the book Yanami had been flipping through.
10 p.m.
After routinely sending Yanami home, Kiyono, smelling of ingredients, hurried to the internet café.
He sat down, turned on the computer, and opened the webpage.
The computer screen displayed the Dengeki Bunko submission examples:
"Pen name, real name, contact information, home address..."
Kiyono couldn't help but scratch his head. He could write the restaurant's phone number for contact information, but what about the home address? Was he supposed to fill in a certain internet café or a certain hotel?
Even if the review process for Dengeki Bunko was much more lenient than for other jobs, it didn't mean he could just write anything.
"How about... I fill in the Yanami family's address first?"
Kiyono pondered for a few seconds, a thought leaping into his mind. After all, this wasn't anything important, just like a shipping address.
"I'll ask Yanami for her opinion tomorrow."
Once his mind was made up, Kiyono felt much more relaxed. He temporarily wrote down the Yanami family's complete address in the document—huh? Why could I naturally memorize her address?! Am I a stalker?!
He inexplicably felt guilty. Just then, a dazzling red dot flickered in the notification bar of the webpage—someone had sent him a private message.
He clicked on the red dot.
"Being pestered by a stranger for writing guidance at midnight—is this a new type of cyberbullying?"
—That was the reply from the user named "Yuki."
Kiyono then remembered that he had sent a message to the other party yesterday... Is your aggressiveness a bit too strong?
Immediately after, there was a second reply.
"If I have extra time."
—It seemed to be a tsundere.
Kiyono blinked, glanced at the time in the bottom right corner, thought for a moment, and decided to send the other party a message anyway—he needed more opinions for reference now, and any extra chance of getting published was good!
"Do you have time to be bullied right now?"
His tone was a bit flippant, but since the other party had adopted a similar attitude, he also cast aside his reservations.
To Kiyono's surprise, a reply came back quickly.
"I have half an hour before bed."
So arrogant…
And going to bed at this time—are you a primary school student!
"Just so you know, my review might be a bit harsh. If you can't handle it, it's better to give up early, okay?" Yuki gave him a heads-up.
"As long as I can improve, that's not a problem. Bring it on!"
Kiyono was full of bravado, sending the new plot to the other party, while he used the time to continue researching Dengeki Bunko's submission requirements.
Fifteen minutes later, Yuki's comments—like frost-laden words—pierced his screen.
'Yuki': "Having the Grim Reaper use an invisible scythe to sharpen a pencil to help the female protagonist—this level of expressive power is as out of place as adding curry powder to red bean soup."
'Yuki': "Additional reminder: If the old-fashioned pocket watch from the Meiji era truly loses two minutes and seventeen seconds per hour as described in the text, then the 'fifteen minutes alone' that the Grim Reaper voluntarily offers the female protagonist at the end of Chapter Three should actually last twenty-two minutes and nine seconds (attached: Tokyo University Mechanical Engineering paper)."
'Yuki': "For a true Grim Reaper, time is undoubtedly linked to souls. With such chaotic time management, it would be better for him to just stop the female protagonist's heartbeat directly."
Kiyono gasped, involuntarily averting his gaze and rubbing his arms—that was the embarrassment and awkwardness of being interrogated.
It seemed that last time this guy held back his comments because he was facing a stranger; this was him at full throttle!
To be honest, having something he worked hard to create so directly negated felt a bit unpleasant, but compared to this trivial negative emotion, what filled him more was joy—problems mean there's room for improvement, which is definitely a good thing!
It's much better to accept criticism now than to be completely rejected by an editor when it's time for battle, right?
This is a rare talent!
He looked at the messages on the screen, his eyes shining, momentarily forgetting to reply—and his reaction seemed to be misunderstood by the other party.
"If you can't even accept this level of feedback, you won't become a novelist."
"No, no, please continue."
—He couldn't help but use an honorific.
"I can understand Author-kun's obsession, longing, and lewd thoughts about high school girls, but eyes that have truly witnessed hundreds of deaths shouldn't be focused on the second button of the female protagonist's uniform, which has come undone."
"No, no, no, everyone would notice that! This is an essential part of appreciating school-themed stories!" Kiyono finally found a point to refute.
"Is that so? I, on the other hand, think it's Mr. Author's own thoughts at play, perhaps? But… this description does have good comedic effect. Considering the target audience for light novels, I'll reluctantly let it pass."
"…Also, the dialogue about death and eternal life at the end of Chapter Three is quite brilliant. A single line of dialogue explains the Grim Reaper's emotions better than ten pages of internal monologue."
This is praise, right? Kiyono smiled slightly. After this series of conversations, he had pretty much grasped Yuki's general personality: outspoken, aloof, intelligent, yet with a hidden concern.
Hmm…?
This character setting seemed to be getting more and more familiar?