Utaha Kasumigaoka stared fixedly at her phone screen, her fingers trembling subtly.
Taking a deep breath, she tapped open the message.
「Thank you for your message.
The path of creation has never been an easy one; being able to persevere this far is already a testament to your talent and fortitude.
For a work to be noticed and recognized, sometimes it merely requires a little bit of time and a little bit of luck.
And what you possess extends far beyond just that.
Please keep writing; your story deserves to be read by far more people.
——The Blade That Strikingly Swift」
Utaha re-read this brief reply several times in succession.
It didn’t employ any flamboyant rhetoric, nor did it contain any superfluous flattery.
Yet, for some inexplicable reason, her rims felt a fraction moist.
”Please keep writing.”
She had waited an incredibly long time to hear those exact words.
It wasn’t the relentless badgering of an editor chasing corporate performance metrics.
It was an individual standing at a much higher peak, explicitly telling her: You can do this.
Clasping her phone tightly against her chest, Utaha fell backward onto the bed.
The dim, twilight glow from outside window cast soft shadows across the ceiling.
Closing her eyes, the corners of her mouth progressively curved upward.
”…What do you know,” she murmured softly.
“So you are capable of returning my messages after all!”
The heavy, suffocating atmosphere that had dominated the room seemed to dissipate into thin air.
Those lingering feelings of deep-seated insecurity, helplessness, and raw doubt regarding herself and her work were gently cradled by those few lines of text, relegated to a far less agonizing corner of her mind.
She rolled over, burying her face completely into the pillow.
After a good while, she retrieved her phone once more, reviewing the reply one final time before typing out a response.
「Thank you.
I will keep writing.」
Dispatch.
Staring at the “Sent” confirmation indicator on the screen, the chaotic events that had transpired within the Service Club that very afternoon suddenly flashed across her mind.
One individual had utilized clinical rationality to completely back her into a corner of silence, while another had laid bare her entire facade with a mere handful of statements.
Yet right now, this reply arriving from “The Blade That Strikingly Swift” felt precisely like a warm, soothing cloth, gently draping over those raw psychological wounds.
Utaha lay fully extended across the bed, her slender fingers resting over her chest, tracking the rhythmic thumping of her heart.
One beat, two beats—accelerating to a frantic velocity.
A faint blush bloomed across her cheeks; after weighing her options, she ultimately archived that specific block of text securely within her phone.
A brand new day, Tuesday.
When Hiroto Tachibana snapped his eyes open and cast a glance at the sky outside, he discovered it was still pitch-black.
Retrieving his phone to check the metrics, the screen logged 5:00 AM.
He had merely clocked six hours of sleep, yet his mental reserves were completely saturated with energy.
His historical lifestyle routine had basically devolved into a continuous cycle of eating, sleeping, and rushing manuscripts—his biological clock was entirely scrambled, completely devoid of any physical exercise.
He couldn’t allow himself to continue down this path of degradation.
Downing a quick glass of warm water, Hiroto stepped out the door for a long-overdue morning jog.
The crisp dawn air carried a subtle chill, proving immensely refreshing as it filled his lungs.
The faint chirping of birds drifted out from the roadside shrubbery.
The sky was progressively brightening, a soft milky hue bleeding across the absolute perimeter of the eastern cloud layers.
A scarce handful of fellow joggers could occasionally be spotted along the streets, reciprocally panting for breath as they crossed paths.
As he rounded a specific street corner—
A dachshund suddenly bolted out from the blind spot, crashing square against his shin.
”Woof—!” The little canine was instantly deflected by the momentum, tumbling half a rotation across the ground before shaking its head in a dizzy, disoriented daze.
Hiroto lowered his gaze to inspect the collision, squatting down to casually stroke the dog’s head.
The fur was remarkably soft, yielding an excellent tactile texture.
”I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry!” A familiar voice, heavily out of breath, drifted over from the opposite side of the corner.
“Sable, you’re running off without permission again!”
Yui Yuigahama rounded the turn at a light jog, clutching a snapped section of a dog leash in her hand, fine beads of sweat clinging to her forehead.
The exact millisecond her eyes landed on Hiroto squatting on the pavement, she froze instantly.
”Eh?
Tachibana-kun?”
”Morning,” Hiroto stood back up, casually brushing the dust off his knees.
”M-Morning!” Yui hurriedly bent down to scoop Sable into her arms.
The little dog burrowed into her embrace, letting out a series of aggrieved, soft whines.
“My Sable caused you complications just now, I’m so sorry, really…”
”It’s fine.”
”Um…” Yui cast a brief glance at him, then looked back down at the dog cradled in her arms, her eyes gleaming with a touch of curiosity.
“Is Tachibana-kun out for a morning jog as well?”
”That is indeed the case,” Hiroto cast a casual glance over her form before shifting his line of sight toward the dachshund in her arms.
“May I pet it?”
”Ah?
Naturally you can!” Yui extended the dog forward a fraction.
“But…
didn’t Tachibana-kun literally just pet him a second ago?
Furthermore, when you uttered that sentence, why exactly were you staring directly at me?”
”I am securing the explicit authorization of the dog’s owner; shouldn’t I naturally be staring directly at you while asking?”
”Ah…
I suppose that makes perfect sense.” Yui blinked her eyes, concluding that while the logic was technically sound, something about the delivery felt distinctly peculiar.
”His name is Sable?” Hiroto asked, his hand methodically stroking the dog’s head.
”Yes, that’s right!” Yui tracked Hiroto’s profile from the side, a subtle realization bubbling up within her mind.
This guy doesn’t actually seem nearly as unapproachable as he appears back at school.
Could it be that Tachibana-kun was actually an exceptionally easy individual to get along with?
Thoroughly enjoying the physical strokes, Sable narrowed his eyes contentedly, his tongue lolling out as his tail wagged rhythmically back and forth.
”He looks incredibly…”
”Incredibly cute, right?” Yui chimed in with a bright smile.
“Even though he can be quite mischievous on occasion, he really is an absolute darling.”
”Incorrect,” Hiroto lifted his head, his expression deadpan and serious.
“This dog looks incredibly plump and delicious.”
The vibrant smile completely froze across Yui’s face.
“Plu…
Plump and delicious?”
She lowered her head to stare blankly at Sable in her arms.
Sable’s tail was still wagging dynamically, entirely oblivious to the fact that he had just been evaluated as an appetizing piece of livestock.
”Indeed.
Boasting such a plump and delicious frame, it’s no wonder Yuigahama feels the absolute necessity to drag him out for a morning jog.”
”Ah, is that how it works?” Yui lowered her head further, staring intently at Sable’s contours for two full seconds.
“Come to think of it…
Sable genuinely does seem to have packed on a considerable amount of weight lately.
Dog food rations are officially being slashed!”
Sable’s tail continued to wag happily, completely unaware of the cataclysmic dietary shifts that were about to upend his existence.
But there was no helping it; such was the baseline penalty for colliding with a deity.
To dare crash into someone and fail to articulate an explicit apology—the absolute lack of etiquette was staggering.
The deity was highly displeased, and the consequences were bound to be severe.
”By the way, does Yuigahama conduct these morning jogs every single day?”
”Yes, that’s right!” Yui nodded dynamically.
“Though this is the absolute first instance I’ve crossed paths with Tachibana-kun.
Don’t tell me this is your very first time running out here?”
”It explicitly is,” Hiroto loosened his shoulders a fraction.
“I am still largely unfamiliar with a vast majority of the geographical layouts around this sector.”
”Is that so?” Yui tilted her head.
“In that case, how about I guide Tachibana-kun through the running routes?” Running solo while managing a dog was inherently a bit monotonous anyway.
Furthermore, Hiroto was proving to be highly entertaining, completely defying her original assumptions regarding his unapproachability.
”Is that an option?” Hiroto cast a brief glance at his phone.
“It’s acceptable in principle.
However, it’s getting far too late for today’s session; let’s execute it tomorrow instead.”
”Then it’s a settled agreement!”
”Mm,” Hiroto tucked his phone securely back into his pocket.
“Tomorrow morning, let’s coordinate a hookup for a run.”
Yui Yuigahama froze completely solid on the spot.
A…
A hookup?!