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When Kiyono came back to his senses, the whistling wind gently ruffled his bangs, and a girl ran up to him with great momentum.
The slightly out-of-breath girl placed her hands on his signing table.
"Hehe, this time I'm definitely Kiyono's number one, right?"
The beautiful, sunny girl spoke with a smile, revealing neat white teeth. Her bright, cloudless smile was very endearing.
"...Lemon?"
Kiyono looked at her in surprise, seemingly not expecting her to arrive so early. However, he quickly put away his astonishment, extended his fist, and showed a similar smile.
"Is this the bond between comrades? I'm very touched."
Yakishio Lemon lightly bumped fists with him, then sat down and began to chatter:
"I was so scared just now! When I first ran here, the bookstore wasn't open yet, so I thought I'd grab something to eat at the convenience store next door. But as soon as I came back, someone had already gone in... Luckily, they weren't your fans!"
"Huh? Don't say such hurtful things with such a cheerful expression!"
Kiyono retorted, then added, "Did you run here? I remember your house is quite far from here."
"Don't—don't misunderstand! I didn't get up early to queue specifically for you..."
Yakishio Lemon crossed her arms, turned her face away, then suddenly let out a giggle and playfully stuck out her little pink tongue at the boy in front of her.
"Hehe—just kidding! Actually, I did get up extra early and even ran all the way here just for Kiyono! Here, an energy drink! You'll probably be talking a lot today, so you need to stay hydrated."
The girl unreservedly revealed her feelings. She took out a sports drink she had prepared earlier from her bag and placed it on Kiyono's right side.
"Thanks, but you must have something else for me, right?" Kiyono said with a smile, extending his hand.
Hearing this, Yakishio Lemon thought for a moment, then quickly realized and took out the sample book she treasured from her backpack, handing it to the boy.
Kiyono casually flipped through the book. To his surprise, the sample copy he had given the girl showed clear signs of being read; one or two pages were even slightly yellowed, indicating she had read it repeatedly.
"So, even an athletic, popular beauty can fall into the 'otaku' mud pit after all."
Kiyono smoothed out a few wrinkles on the novel's cover for her, teasing.
"Eh, I just like reading Kiyono's novels, that's all. To be honest, I started with skepticism, but halfway through I couldn't stop at all. I finished it in one go that same day, and I couldn't resist reading it a second time in the middle of the night..."
Yakishio Lemon's pretty face was slightly flushed, her words filled with excitement and sincerity.
As she spoke, she inexplicably felt a bit strange—her relationship with Kiyono seemed to have changed a little. Before, they were friends, fellow travelers moving forward together, but now a fan-and-creator layer had been added.
"Ah, is it not good for me to chat with you like this? After all, there are other readers waiting." Lemon glanced behind her; someone was already running up from the stairs, clearly heading their way.
"The first reader definitely gets some special privileges."
Kiyono wrote his name on a blank page of the book—and next to it, he drew a Q-version girl smiling and running.
"I'm the first one... That's enough! I don't want to cause you any trouble. Let's chat again tonight!"
Yakishio Lemon gazed at the little figure in the book, smiling.
She carefully held the book, then stood up, giving her spot to the waiting reader behind her, and playfully waved at Kiyono from a short distance away.
While Kiyono was interacting with that real reader, she didn't rush to leave but stood aside, watching with interest for a while.
Is this what Kiyono looks like when he's working seriously...?
Looking at the gentle and elegant young man in front of her, Yakishio Lemon's heart suddenly stirred.
Before, she liked intellectual and gentle boys. After meeting Kiyono, she found she preferred passionate people, but now she realized these wonderful traits could exist in one person.
He could be elegant, passionate, and also run and chat happily with her...
The girl slapped her cheeks lightly, not daring to think further.
The crowd gradually grew.
The readers were even more enthusiastic than Kiyono had imagined, and the books on the table were decreasing one by one. This made him a little flustered, but the essence of a signing event is to chat with readers, and he was quite experienced in that aspect.
For male readers, he activated his "second-dimension" persona.
For female readers, he switched to "host club" mode.
A world where everyone was happy was achieved.
After entertaining the fortieth reader, Kiyono picked up the sports drink next to him and took a big gulp—this was truly a task that tested both physical and mental stamina. He had to chat, satisfy readers' requests, and try to write unique messages, like writing a sentence in the voices of different characters...
Up until now, he had written phrases including, but not limited to: "To the reader whose soul is about to be harvested," "Your soul is immortalized within the pages of my book," and even "Can I have your LINE account?"—which a junior high girl proactively wrote...
He stretched his wrist, preparing to continue signing, when his gaze was suddenly drawn to someone queuing in front. What caught his eye was a cute panda head, out of place among the people around it. Only the skirt she wore indicated she was a girl.
Every time the line moved forward, the panda head would jiggle a little.
Kiyono's mouth twitched. He had heard that some bold readers would cosplay at signing events, but he never expected to encounter such a situation!
In the blink of an eye, the queue reached this mysterious Miss Panda.
"Guess who I am." A muffled voice came from inside the head.
Kiyono thought for a moment. "Old Ba?"
With a pop, the girl instantly pulled off the head, and dazzling blue hair cascaded down. Her eyes widened in shock.
"How did you figure it out!?"
"Intuition, I guess..."
It came out very naturally.
And why wear such a meaningless head? Even if it's cosplay, at least cosplay something related to the work!
Yanami blinked, then gave a subtle "oh," with a prolonged ending, her eyebrows arching slightly. The familiar scent of citrus mixed with the synthetic smell of the doll head rushed toward him.
"Didn't you say last time it was too far and you wouldn't come?" Kiyono coughed.
"I was just passing by and decided to check it out..."
The blue-haired girl lightly played with her hair.
The atmosphere between the two paused, but Yanami glanced at the people queuing behind her and didn't feel comfortable dawdling as usual. She temporarily placed the panda head on the signing table and took out the newly bought, still warm and fragrant paperback from her embrace.
"Quick, draw me a Death God's stamp." She pushed the book over. Everyone else used "please" when talking to Kiyono, but she used this commanding tone.
"Got it... By the way, don't you already have one? Why buy another?" Kiyono asked while drawing.
"If I don't buy a book, they won't let me queue!"
The girl's eyes flickered, as if it were obvious.
"Done."
"Also, page—page 134..."
Under Kiyono's gaze, Yanami took the book, skillfully flipped to a certain page, and her slender finger pointed at a paragraph. "The Death God said: 'Your body temperature and soul are far more fervent and vivid than anyone else's.' Author-sama, could you explain the meaning of this passage to me?"
Kiyono raised an eyebrow. Why didn't you ask normally? But he still explained it to her—this was a line spoken by the Death God in the book when he touched the female protagonist's hair.
"I see, I understand!"
The girl nodded with a smile, then, not wanting to waste other people's time, quickly slipped something into Kiyono's hand, picked up the panda head, and moved to a nearby bookshelf, her hair swaying gently.
Kiyono opened his hand and saw two strawberry candies and... a folded piece of paper lying quietly in his palm. On the paper was written: "No peeking! You can only read it after work is finished!" The note ended with a small, serious caricature of Yanami herself.
He looked up at Yanami and suddenly noticed the hair tie in her hair.
This is...
Kiyono was startled, and the passage the girl had specifically pointed out earlier came to mind—in that part of the story, the male protagonist first noticed the hair tie in the female protagonist's hair.
Yanami stood in front of a bookshelf from which she could clearly see the signing event, carefully observing the situation there.
—Oh, oh! Another ten sold! How amazing!
She kept counting, and the little person in her heart shrieked.
She didn't know if this was considered good or bad among authors, but the long queue still brought her a sense of awe.
—Ah, ah, ah! So many people are looking at that guy with adoration!
Yanami unconsciously clenched her small fists, a sense of harvest joy in her heart... But, were there too many girls? Not just high schoolers, but even junior high girls... Ah! Their eyes are sparkling! And they're taking out their phones!
Private contact is not allowed!
The girl made a big X with both hands.
She just stood silently in the corner, watching.
Watching the smiling Kiyono, the surrounded Kiyono, the Kiyono who had become a wonderful adult.
He was at the very front.
Gradually, her smile disappeared.
Facing such a Kiyono, for some reason, a complex emotion gradually welled up deep inside her: blessings, bitterness, jealousy, and a hint of... inferiority.
She had never been very confident in her true self. She didn't have Lemon's athletic talent or family background, wasn't like Kiyono with his firm goals, and didn't even have Komari's courage to change. She... was just an ordinary high school girl who grew up drifting with the current.
And Kiyono seemed to have pulled away from her. While she was still a student, while she was still working part-time at the restaurant, Kiyono was already more capable than adults in society. Editors, security guards, and fans all revolved around him.
All she could do was contribute a tiny bit of sales and concern for him.
He was no longer the weak boy who needed her help—at this moment, she deeply realized this.
Although she was genuinely happy for him, besides happiness there were many other emotions in her heart that couldn't be called positive.
"Oh dear... Am I really such a dark person?"
Yanami was startled.
But she couldn't control herself... If only she could be a bit more carefree.
The girl's fingers tightened around the book. Could they still work together and ride bicycles home as before? After making money, that guy probably wouldn't have a reason to keep working part-time, right?
Kiyono was constantly changing.
What should she do to keep up with him?
A flustered Yanami picked up the panda head from the floor, put it on, and hid her expression.
At 4 PM, all three hundred paperback books prepared by the publisher were sold out. Kiyono slumped in his chair, his right wrist aching and his eyes unfocused.
He considered himself a hardworking person, but after this day he still felt drained and now only wanted to be healed by a beautiful girl's lap pillow.
"You worked hard, you worked hard."
The editor quickly walked behind him, massaging his shoulders, his tone unable to hide his joy—Kiyono's performance was much better than he had imagined. Sales at other bookstores on the first day were also very pleasing, all exceeding his expectations. This was the potential of a great emperor!
"A little more pressure," Kiyono said lazily.
"Yes."
"Ouch, a little lighter."
"Okay... Are you treating me like a masseur?!" The editor looked helpless.
After resting with his eyes closed for a while, Kiyono felt much better, and the first thing he thought of at that moment was... taking out the note Yanami had secretly slipped to him earlier.
"What did she write? So mysterious."
He opened the paper.
The words shone like sunlight.
—"In the future, can we also spend an eternal summer together, like the one in Kiyono's writing?"
Komari rushed out of the train anxiously, not even caring that her petite body was constantly being bumped. She just silently recited the address she had memorized and hurried along.
Is—Is there still time...?
Ah, why do I always encounter such things at crucial moments...?
Komari irritably brushed her bangs aside. Because she had previously scouted the location, she rushed to her destination smoothly.
"..."