— — — — — —
Oikawa remembered Keika mentioning before that her kindergarten wasn't far from Sobu High. Though when he went to pick her up, there was a small incident.
Because Oikawa was an unfamiliar face, the teacher called Keika's mother to confirm things were safe.
Kawasaki's mom grilled him over the phone for quite a while.
But strangely enough, the way she spoke made it sound like she already knew all about him.
Every other sentence carried a teasing tone.
So this counted as... meeting his future mother-in-law already?
Oikawa couldn't help thinking that.
"Oikawa-nii, let's go buy some snacks! Keika's treating!"
Keika proudly pulled out a thousand-yen bill from who-knew-where and waved it in front of him.
"Alright then, let's go buy whatever you want. And you know what? No matter the quantity, I'm paying… But you have to keep it a secret from your sister."
"Yay~ Oikawa-nii, you're the best!"
Holding Keika's hand, Oikawa marched straight toward the supermarket.
Soon enough, the two returned loaded with supplies.
Keika hugged her school bag tightly to her chest, grinning so hard she looked like she'd just won the lottery.
Kawasaki had originally greeted them with a smile.
But the second she noticed Keika acting suspicious, her expression instantly changed.
A moment later, she dragged Oikawa into a corner and began interrogating him.
"You bought Keika snacks again, didn't you? Didn't I tell you not to spoil her? And those things are so greasy. Girls will gain weight eating that stuff. Plus dinner's almost ready. She's definitely not going to eat properly later."
"You really—"
Kawasaki still hadn't changed out of her school uniform.
She wore an apron over it, and standing this close, the distance between them was almost nonexistent.
But Oikawa wasn't listening to a single word she said.
All he could see were Kawasaki's soft pink lips moving nonstop in front of him.
He glanced around.
After confirming nobody was nearby, he suddenly leaned forward and pinned Kawasaki against the wall.
This time, though, Oikawa had learned his lesson.
A quick kiss.
Just a brief touch before she could even react.
Then he immediately let go and bolted toward Keika's room while shouting, "Keika-chan, I'm here to play!"
Meanwhile, Kawasaki froze completely.
The world around her suddenly felt silent.
As if all the strength in her body had been drained away. Slowly, she slid down the wall and sat on the floor.
Her face, ears, and neck were all burning red.
Her breathing gradually became uneven.
Biting her lip, she looked both secretly delighted and deeply furious at the same time.
If Oikawa hadn't been playing with Keika right now, she absolutely would've beaten him to death.
"Idiot."
Kawasaki gritted her teeth as she cursed under her breath.
...
..
At dinner, Oikawa thoroughly enjoyed the chanko nabe.
Though it would've been even better if someone's murderous aura had been a little less obvious.
After returning home, Oikawa received a rare phone call from Kagurazaka Ayame.
"Oikawa-kun, I've got one good piece of news and one bad piece of news. Which do you want first?" Ayame sounded unusually cheerful.
Oikawa immediately suspected the good news was probably really good.
"The bad news."
As he spoke, he placed the pickled plums Kawasaki had packed for him into the fridge.
...Could these things be poisoned?
Remembering the terrifying look Kawasaki gave him before he left, Oikawa suddenly didn't feel very brave about eating them.
"The good news is... huh... Oikawa-kun, why can't you ever follow the script?"
"Whatever. The good news is that the monthly sales numbers for the second volume of Your Lie in April are out. It sold a whopping 203,000 copies. That's over two hundred thousand in a single month. Dengeki Bunko hasn't had a title hit numbers like this without an anime adaptation in ages."
"There's definitely hope for a million copies now! And the first volume is about to pass 300,000 too. You should've already received your royalties by now, right?"
Listening to Ayame, Oikawa genuinely felt excited.
At this rate, with an anime adaptation, Your Lie in April's second volume would definitely break a million copies sold.
Plus, if the lower volume could hit a million, then the upper volume would almost certainly sell even more.
Using the 8% royalty rate to calculate the first volume's earnings: 1,000,000 × 650 × 0.08
That came out to 52 million yen.
He'd already estimated the second volume's income before. Combined together, after taxes, the total earnings from the series would likely exceed 200 million yen.
At that point, Oikawa could probably buy an apartment in Ginza.
Though honestly... He'd already decided to settle down in Chiba eventually.
So what exactly was he supposed to spend all that money on?
He'd never really thought about it before, but now it seemed like something he should seriously consider.
Japanese bank interest rates were painfully low. Letting money just sit there felt wasteful.
"I got it. There've been several transfers already. Altogether it's around twenty million yen so far." Oikawa pushed the thought aside for now and answered Ayame's question instead.
No point stressing over it yet.
"So what's the bad news?"
"The bad news..." Ayame deliberately paused for dramatic effect before bursting out, "I quit my job! Hell yeah, I quit today!"
"Huh?" Oikawa was genuinely stunned. "You already found another job?"
"Nope. I quit cold."
Oikawa hesitated before asking, "Was it because of me?"
Ayame immediately burst out laughing.
After a while, she finally replied, "Oikawa-kun, you really think too highly of yourself."
"You were part of the reason, sure. But mostly I was already exhausted. This resignation just gives me a chance to rest for a while before starting over. But honestly, the reason I even dared to quit was because of you."
Oikawa blinked. "Because of me?"
"Yep. At Dengeki Bunko, editors also get royalty bonuses. If one of your authors has a hit series that sells over 500,000 copies, you get an additional 0.5% royalty share."
"I did the math. If both volumes of Your Lie in April hit one million sales each, I'd make about 7.5 million yen before taxes. That's basically over two years of salary for me."
"Oikawa-kun, you're seriously my lucky star."
Hearing that, Oikawa smiled too.
Ayame quitting right now obviously had something to do with him.
Still, that 0.5% royalty bonus genuinely surprised him.
Honestly, some of Dengeki Bunko's systems were pretty decent.
"Then get some proper rest. When I start my own publishing company someday, come work as my editor-in-chief."
Oikawa suddenly realized exactly where his money should go. He could already begin preparing now.
Because if he waited until his fame fully exploded before starting a publishing company, he'd already be behind.
"Oikawa-kun... are you serious? You really want to start a publishing company?"
Ayame remembered Oikawa mentioning it before. At the time, she'd assumed he was joking.
But now... He sounded completely serious.
"Yeah. I really do want to build my own publishing company."
"I want to handle my own books from now on. And honestly, I'm planning to start preparing for it soon."
"Though I don't have much money yet. And I definitely don't have people."
"Editor Kagurazaka... even so, I still want you to do this with me."
Oikawa's tone was firm.
That 25% royalty gamble had shown him just how profitable things could become.
Even Full-Drive Bunko offering him a 13% royalty rate still fell far short of the income he envisioned.
And beyond that... Owning a publishing company would make everything easier.
Novel adaptations. Anime projects. Audio dramas. Merchandise. Figures.
Every one of those was potential profit.
And he had too many novels to write, too many movie ideas, too many things he could do… Being the decision-maker was necessary for him.
Just Overlord or No Game No Life were actually enough for that decision, which was why he didn't hand them over to Full-Drive Binko.
"I need to think about it first. Oikawa-kun, starting a publishing company isn't that simple."
"Aren't you satisfied with your current life? Living freely without worries isn't so bad either."
Ayame didn't immediately agree.
If anything, she almost wanted to talk him out of it.
"But Oikawa only smiled calmly. "Once, I swore I'd stand among the very best the world had to offer. If they can do it, so can I. And besides, there's no real risk in trying for me."
A flicker of shock appeared in Ayame's eyes. Oikawa felt different somehow now.
.
.
.