Seeing that Kuroba Akira's attention was focused only on Aizono Momo, Shiroi Shiori felt a surge of jealousy and brought over the polished manuscript she'd just finished.
"Akira-kun, take a look at the manuscript too. Last night I finished revising the prologue and chapter one. See what you think… If it's not good enough, I can revise it again."
Honestly, Shiroi Shiori was a little proud—she usually hated letting others mess with her work. But right now, she was imitating Aizono Momo, putting on the kind of "I'm willing to accept any suggestions" humble front.
"Oh? You even finished chapter one already? That's quick."
Akira was genuinely surprised—Shiroi Shiori had only started revising yesterday, and now she'd already finished a fifth of it. That pace was about the same as his own when he'd been rushing to meet deadlines.
Editing can sometimes be more annoying than drafting, after all, because it takes real rethinking—almost like a second creation.
At the end of the day, there aren't many story types left in the world that no one's used before. The light novel Akira was writing wasn't exactly groundbreaking, either.
But even with similar stories, you have to give them a unique flavor—put new wine in old bottles, as they say. Same goes for revisions.
Thanks to his otherworld experience, Akira brought over a giant raw gemstone. It would already fetch a high price as-is, but if you cut and polish it—or even carve it into a piece of art—the value skyrockets.
That's where you need someone who can make a story gripping—a powerful pen. In other words, it all came down to Shiroi Shiori's writing skill.
"Class Rep, come read with us. You're the supervisor here, after all."
Anri Hitomi sidled up beside Akira, shoulder to shoulder as she read, and flashed her trademark smile at Shiroi Shiori.
"Alright, then, Shiori—don't blame me if I get too picky, okay?"
"I'm not that petty. If you have any suggestions, just let me know—I'll revise everything!"
Shiroi Shiori pouted. She wasn't afraid of criticism; she just thought Hitomi and Akira-kun were sitting too close… Friends are friends, but even so, this was too close.
After reading the chapters Shiroi Shiori had revised, Akira felt reassured he'd picked the right person.
With her editing, the LN's entertainment value had jumped another notch.
She'd even slipped in a few local sayings and in-jokes Akira the transmigrator didn't know. But seeing Class Rep's knowing smile, they must have landed well.
It was like those storytellers who could make a novel come alive out loud—hearing it again just gave it a different flavor.
"This is great. You didn't mess with the plot or dialogue, but used action and detail to make the scenes more interesting. The transitions are smoother, too—hard to find fault."
Just seeing Shiroi Shiori so serious and open-minded made Akira want to give her a perfect score.
"I do have a few suggestions, actually—like here…"
Trying to make a good impression in front of Akira, Anri Hitomi showed zero mercy, pointing out a ton of nitpicky details. Even Akira started to feel the pressure.
Geez, is this for some kind of literary award?
It's just an entertainment light novel…
Sisters, why are you making it so hard for each other?
Shiroi Shiori dutifully took notes on all the feedback, then turned to Akira.
"What about you, Akira-kun? Any thoughts?"
His opinion still mattered most to her. She just wanted to show her best side to him.
Akira honestly couldn't think of much, so he scratched his head.
"Uh… if I really have to nitpick, I'd say, try to keep an eye on the word count. If you keep adding this much color to later chapters, the editor will complain about each volume being too long."
"Ah… word count… That's on me… LNs can't get too thick, or the price goes up…"
Last night, Shiroi Shiori had been focused entirely on making the writing more fun and totally forgot about the page count.
Feeling like she'd made a huge blunder, she snatched the manuscript from Akira's hands.
"I'll trim it down right away!"
"Hey… No rush, there's still more than a month before publication. Take your time."
On the other side of the room, Aizono Momo raised her hand.
"Akira-kun, should we try coloring today?"
"No, let's leave the coloring for later."
Aizono Momo frowned, her face full of anxiety.
"Um… Akira-kun! I have to tell you something—back when I said I could color, well, actually I'm not that confident with it…"
"Oh?"
So coloring was Aizono Momo's weak point. Probably because she liked manga more—so she hadn't practiced it as much.
If she was good at coloring too, she'd be the perfect illustrator.
Still, if her coloring wasn't great, it'd definitely hurt the impact of the art. After all, covers and color inserts are the big deal.
But Akira didn't see it as a huge problem—there was plenty of time left, so he could help her level up her coloring skills.
"It's fine. Tomorrow, just try a practice run with coloring, and I'll take a look. Sound good?"
"Okay…"
Aizono Momo nodded quietly and lowered her head, suddenly looking a bit downcast.
By admitting her weakness, Aizono Momo finally gave the other two a bit of relief inside—at last, she wasn't the only one basking in Akira's favor… But they also felt guilty for having such a dark thought.
The solid sisterhood between the three girls of the Literature Club was starting to crack, slowly and quietly.
And as for the culprit—Kuroba Akira—his mind was already somewhere else.
Illustrations, basically done. Revisions, fantastic. Class Rep supervising. There was nothing left with the LN that needed his attention.
Everything was ready—just waiting for publication.
Next, he could finally turn his focus to Shiginomiya Shion. But the most urgent thing was winning over Tashiro Benika—getting her to become Shion's manager.
Back at the family restaurant, Benika-san had said she'd give him an answer within the month, but with September almost over, there was still no word from her.
Akira had wanted to ask her directly, but lately, Benika-san had gone back to her old ways, barely showing up during the day.
Like that day they went to Shiroi Shiori's house—Akira got to eat some real hometown fried rice again, and wanted to thank Benika-san in person. But she wasn't home. Shion said Benika-san got a sudden work notice and had to rush out.
Was that black company piling on the overtime again?
Akira just couldn't get it.
Benika-san hated that job so much—why force herself to keep at it?
Was it really just for money?
To be honest, even if she quit on the spot, she wouldn't starve—she was part of the Kobayashi House family, a fellow transmigrator. At least, she'd always have a place to stay and something to eat… even if it was just curry every day.
So there had to be another reason keeping her chained to that corporate hell.
Maybe, like Hijikata-san, she was stuck with some massive debt?
Akira decided he'd find a chance to have a proper talk with Benika-san.