— — — — — —
"Shabu-shabu?"
"Okay."
Neither Oikawa nor Yukino needed to say another word. On a cold day like this, shabu-shabu was the perfect choice.
...
After searching for a while, he finally found a good restaurant called Kisoji Chibaten.
With their destination decided, he and Yukino took a bus across town.
The entire ride, Yukino quietly gazed out the window at the streets of Chiba, while Oikawa sat in the aisle seat. Neither of them spoke.
Even after getting off the bus, they walked toward Kisoji Chibaten in silence.
Oikawa didn't find it awkward in the slightest.
There was something about Yukino's presence. Whenever she was nearby, all the noise in his mind seemed to fade away, leaving behind a rare, peaceful calm.
As they passed a convenience store, Oikawa suddenly stopped. "Hang on. I'm going to grab us some milk tea."
Yukino looked up at the sign hanging outside: Today's Special - Bubble Milk Tea.
A few minutes later, Oikawa walked back out carrying two cups.
"Taro or strawberry?"
"Hm..." She hesitated for a moment before deciding. "...Taro?"
Oikawa inserted a straw into the taro milk tea in his right hand and held it out toward her. Then he noticed her eyes kept drifting back to his cup, "…Should I just give you both?"
"This..." Yukino's eyes kept drifting toward the strawberry one in his hand. "Well, if you insist... then I'll only have one sip."
She really was incapable of being honest with herself.
"Here." Oikawa handed her the strawberry milk tea.
A bright smile instantly spread across Yukino's face. She pulled the straw out of her taro drink and stuck it into the strawberry one instead.
Then she took a huge sip.
Several tapioca balls and chunks of fruit disappeared with it.
The sweet-and-tart strawberry flavor lit up her face with unmistakable happiness.
Maybe she wasn't actually as cold as she appeared. Maybe she was just socially awkward.
At least around Oikawa, the little expressions she let slip weren't much different from any other girl's.
"Yukino." He flashed her a shameless grin. "Don't you think we look like the perfect couple? A match made in heaven?"
At that relaxed moment, Oikawa's shameless, scumbag nature quietly surfaced.
"No." She rolled her eyes at him, pulled the straw back out of the strawberry drink, and resumed sipping her own taro milk tea.
"So that's it? You steal my precious drink and immediately ditch me? Let me tell you, you might have my body, but you'll never have my drink…"
The two continued walking toward Kisoji Chibaten, chatting—well, Oikawa was the one chatting, while Yukino simply gave him a cold look the entire time, cursing his shamelessness.
...
"So..." Yukino glanced sideways at him. "Are you planning to trick Zaimokuza?"
"Huh?" Oikawa blinked.
"The editor job. I saw that look on your face. You were definitely plotting something." Yukino said flatly.
"No way," Oikawa answered with complete righteousness. "I'm the same inside and out. I'd never smile to someone's face while scheming behind their back. Don't slander me."
"Heh."
Yukino looked at him, silently adding another entry to her ever-growing list of reasons he was shameless.
She hated liars.
But strangely enough... she didn't hate Oikawa.
"Hey, Yukino. Is the taro one good?" Oikawa asked. "Can I have a taste?"
She stopped walking and looked at him.
Then, without a word, she slowly held out her cup.
And just as she was about to remove her straw, Oikawa suddenly leaned in and took a sip directly from the straw she had been using.
For a split second... Yukino felt as if time itself had stopped. Her mind went completely blank.
"Your taro one tastes way better." He smacked his lips. "I should've bought two taro teas. The strawberry one's awful."
She barely heard a word he said.
Her thoughts were a complete mess.
'An indirect... kiss?'
'That was my... first kiss...'
'H-How could he...?'
'Just like that... it's gone?'
She lowered her head and stared at the taro milk tea in her hands.
What was she supposed to do now?
Keep drinking it? Throw it away?
She couldn't decide.
But... throwing it away felt like such a waste.
"Come on." Oikawa waved at her. "I'm starving. Let's hurry up and get some shabu-shabu."
Still clutching her milk tea, Yukino let him take hold of her arm and absentmindedly followed behind him.
'That jerk... he actually acted as if absolutely nothing had happened.'
Yukino gritted her teeth.
This time, she genuinely wanted to stab a certain someone when he held his next autograph session.
...
..
For the shabu-shabu dinner… they didn't split the bill this time.
Right after the silent meal ended, Yukino suddenly stood up and paid for everything herself.
Then once it was settled, she shot Oikawa a sharp glare, turned on her heel, and walked off without so much as looking back.
Oikawa was completely baffled.
Back home, he opened LINE and sent her a message.
『Oikawa』: "You make it home?"
『Oikawa』: "You seemed upset earlier. Didn't like the shabu-shabu?"
『Yukino』: "I'm home. Studying."
That was her reply. It was short, flat, and left no room for further conversation—clearly signaling she wasn't in the mood to talk to him.
Oikawa scratched his head in confusion.
'She... actually got mad?'
He couldn't figure out why, and eventually stopped trying. Instead, he opened his official Copycat group chat.
Everyone was talking about the upcoming autograph session.
["Already sharpened my knife. Just waiting for the day I can finally take down that bastard Copycat!"
["Didn't someone say they were pooling money to hire an assassin? So what's the progress? I'll chip in. Not because I want Copycat-sensei dead or anything. I've just never seen a real assassin before and I'm curious what one looks like."]
["Don't worry, Copycat-sensei. I'll be gentle. I'll make sure you get a painless death—just like Kaori."]
...
Reading the absolutely unhinged messages, Oikawa felt a chill run down his spine.
'Good grief. Are these people seriously planning to gang up and stab me?'
---
Meanwhile, in Tokyo, at the Full-Drive Bunko editorial office, Chris Yamada sat at his desk with a deep frown, worry clearly etched across his face.
His mouse kept scrolling across the screen, the constant clicking echoing through the room.
After a long silence, he let out a weary sigh and slumped back in his chair.
"Chris? What's wrong? You look miserable." A nearby editor patted him on the shoulder.
He'd originally come over to invite him to lunch, but one look at his expression made him swallow the invitation.
"What else?" Chris sighed. "I'm worried about the autograph session. People all over the internet keep saying they're going to stab Copycat-sensei. If something really happens that day... I don't even want to imagine the consequences. Honestly, I'm starting to regret approving the event."
For the past several days, he hadn't had a single good night's sleep.
Every time he closed his eyes, he'd dream about Oikawa getting stabbed.
He was terrified. Genuinely terrified.
Full-Drive Bunko had finally found a million-selling author. The writer who could carry the company for years to come.
Chris had been counting on Oikawa to challenge giants like Dengeki Bunko and close the gap between their publishers.
If Oikawa were actually attacked... wouldn't all of that hard work have been for nothing?
And beyond that, it would be a devastating blow to Full-Drive Bunko's reputation.
"It can't be that bad, can it?" The other editor tried to reassure him. "People online are all talk. Nobody's actually going to go that far..."
Halfway through the sentence, he fell silent.
Four words suddenly surfaced in his mind— Kyoto Animation arson attack.
Just thinking of those words filled him with sorrow.
One madman. One fire. One unimaginable tragedy.
Countless incredible works were lost to the flames.
But compared to the thirty-six lives that were taken, those works hardly mattered.
"Not everyone is sane."
"...Yeah."
The two editors exchanged helpless looks.
Editors at other publishing houses might not understand. But Full-Drive Bunko accepted people from every walk of life. More than anyone, they knew just how different people could be.
"..."
The worry in Chris Yamada's eyes deepened.
He stared at the ceiling, his expression shifting as thoughts raced through his mind.
Then, after sitting there for quite a while, he slowly rose to his feet. With firm, determined steps, he headed straight for the editor-in-chief's office.
Increase security.
If ten guards weren't enough, then deploy twenty.
If twenty weren't enough, then deploy thirty.
He refused to believe that, with that many people protecting the venue, anyone could still cause trouble at the autograph session.
He was going to turn the entire event into an impenetrable fortress.
Money? That wasn't an issue.
Full-Drive Bunko might lack a lot of things, but money definitely wasn't one of them.
...
..
JUMP Forum—
This was JUMP's official forum, a gathering place for everything related to anime, comics, games, and novels. Most major light novel publishers maintained a presence there.
Virtually every top-tier publisher was represented.
Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Dengeki Bunko. Famitsu Bunko. Fujimi Fantajia Bunko. MF Bunko J. Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Full-Drive Bunko. Famitsu Bunko. And many more....
On an ordinary day, the forum only saw a few hundred new posts.
Today, the thread count had already broken a thousand, and it was climbing rapidly.
[Gilgamesh] : The results for JUMP's annual rankings should be announced today, right?
[Hades] : Yep! Jujutsu Kaisen is definitely taking first place. After the anime came out, it completely exploded worldwide!
[The_Revenger] : Excuse me? Where does that leave Tokyo Revengers?
[Reminiscing]: Guys, chill.
[LN_Geek] : I just want to know who's topping the light novel rankings. Probably Tensura, right?
[Hades] : Most likely. The anime gave it a huge sales boost.
[Kaori_Didn't_Die] : Does anyone think Your Lie in April will make the Top Five? I heard the first volume alone passed 500,000 copies, and that's without an anime.
[LN_Geek] : Maybe. Half a million copies is insane. It has to make the list.
[Nerd-Sama] : If I remember correctly, JUMP's annual light novel sales rankings have never included a rookie author before. I'm really curious to see if they'll make it this time.
...
(A/N: I used data from early 2022, which I personally consider the peak era. Anime, manga, novels, games—everything was at its best. The 2022 data is also the most complete available, so it was used as the reference point.)
...
..
Sitting in front of his computer, Oikawa was refreshing the rankings as well.
JUMP's annual sales list carried enormous prestige.
Making the rankings didn't just bring recognition. It also boosted sales even further.
More importantly, it often opened the door to adapting a light novel into a manga in partnership with JUMP.
That was what Oikawa was really looking forward to.
JUMP was the industry's undisputed giant. Or to put it another way, if he ever wanted to start his own publishing company in the future, working with JUMP would be inevitable.
Light novels receiving JUMP manga adaptations wasn't unusual at all.
Soon... the clock struck nine.
A pinned thread immediately appeared at the top of the JUMP Forum.
The manga sales rankings came first.
Just as everyone expected, the number one spot belonged to Jujutsu Kaisen, boosted by its anime adaptation that year. Second place went to Tokyo Revengers.
Manga sales really were on an entirely different level from light novels. Every series on the list had sold well over ten million copies.
Oikawa scrolled farther down.
Soon, the words Annual Light Novel Sales Rankings appeared on his screen.
[#1] That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime (Tensura) — Sales: 3,984,763 copies
Oikawa sucked in a sharp breath.
Holy...
Almost four million copies.
Absolutely terrifying.
Sure, the anime adaptation had contributed enormously to those numbers, but they were still nothing short of incredible.
[#2] Classroom of the Elite: Year 2 — Sales: 1,372,172 copies
That number looked much more reasonable.
He kept scrolling.
[#3] The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten — Sales: 1,098,934 copies
[#4] Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian — Sales: 1,013,762 copies
Oikawa felt a flicker of disappointment.
The light novel rankings only listed the top five.
Then... his eyes suddenly lit up.
[#5] Your Lie in April — Sales: 993,425 copies
"YES!"
Oikawa couldn't help pumping his fist.
Following JUMP's usual practices, Your Lie in April now had a strong chance of receiving a manga adaptation through the magazine. It might even happen before the anime aired.
And the most joyful part was that Your Lie in April was now close to one million copies sold, meaning he was about to be drowning in cash very soon.
.
.
.