The next day.
Kousaka Kirino sat at the dining table.
For the first time on a winter break morning, the brother she found so irritating was nowhere to be seen.
“Where is he?”
The girl couldn’t hold back her curiosity and reluctantly posed the question to Mieko.
“Eh?
Kirino, are you asking about Kyousuke?
He hasn’t gotten up yet.
It seems he was up far too late doing schoolwork last night.
When I went to his room, the desk was covered in open books.”
Mieko was both surprised and delighted that Kirino had taken the initiative to speak to her.
Compared to Kyousuke, Kirino’s attitude toward her was somewhat better, but she still rarely started a conversation on her own initiative.
“What the heck.
He was the one going on about how staying up late makes you age faster!”
Kirino couldn’t help cursing under her breath.
Because of that one remark, she’d washed up and gone to bed early yesterday, only to lie there awake for three full hours before finally falling asleep.
And those books — those were the study materials they’d brought back yesterday, weren’t they?
Talking about tutoring her, and here he was doing practice problems himself first?
“I’m going out to meet a friend.
I’ll be back for dinner!”
After finishing breakfast, Kirino went upstairs to change and called out to Mieko.
“Got it.
Have a safe trip~”
The girl waved and headed straight out the door.
…..
On the streets of Shinjuku, two young women, one in white and one in green, strolled arm in arm.
Their refined makeup drew involuntary stares from the men who passed them by.
“Ayase, don’t you think that guy is way too full of himself?”
“What?
Who are you talking about, Kirino?”
“My brother, obviously!”
Aragaki Ayase found the image of the figure whose jacket hem she’d tugged at in the department store surfacing unbidden in her mind, and her face felt oddly warm.
“It seems like Onii-san’s relationship with you has been improving lately, Kirino.”
“What?
No way.
Where do you see that?
I still find that guy totally annoying.”
“But you’ve been bringing him up a lot recently.”
Ayase smiled and tightened her grip on her friend’s hand, as if afraid she might slip away.
“That’s only because he keeps causing me trouble!
That guy told Father about my side work…”
“Straight out?
I would have thought your father would be against it.”
Ayase was curious.
Judging by Kirino’s current state, she didn’t seem to have taken any kind of blow.
“Not yet.
Because he made Father a promise about something I can’t possibly pull off — like getting into Chiba Daiichi High School.”
“Saying he’ll diligently tutor me, buying a mountain of materials and then sleeping in so late he can’t get out of bed the next day, claiming even the dumbest person could pass the entrance exams under his guidance.
Nothing but big talk.”
Hearing this, Ayase raised her eyebrows in surprise.
Chiba Daiichi High School — the name spoke for itself.
Getting into that school was no easy feat, and she knew Kirino’s academic situation all too well.
As classmates, she and Kirino occupied opposite ends of the spectrum.
She was at the top; Kirino was at the bottom.
When it came to getting into that high school, Ayase herself had a hundred percent confidence, but her dear friend — even with a miracle performance — probably had about a one percent chance at best.
Ayase had originally been planning to deliberately lower her own aspirations and control her exam score so she could get into the same high school as Kirino.
Could Onii-san really deliver on a promise to tutor Kirino into Chiba Daiichi?
Though Ayase thought this to herself, a thread of worry lingered.
She needed to confirm it.
If such a possibility truly existed, she’d have to prepare to adjust her own plans.
“And that’s not all, Ayase.
That guy also said he wants to team up with me to draw manga.”
At this, an expression of indignation surfaced on Kirino’s face, as if she’d been deeply offended.
“He said if I don’t read his Name, he won’t tutor me.
Does he seriously think just anyone can become a manga artist?
He’s way too arrogant.”
“You never know.
After all, Onii-san is so clever — maybe he’s a genius just like you, Kirino.”
Ayase studied Kirino’s reaction and realized she genuinely seemed to have no idea what had happened at the Kadokawa building that day.
She couldn’t help marveling at how oblivious her close friend was.
The Kadokawa building wasn’t a place just anyone could stroll into.
Without official business, random people couldn’t even get past the elevators.
To show up there, you had to be a related author or staff member.
Back at the department store, Kyousuke had admitted to her outright that he’d been at the Kadokawa building because he wrote light novels.
Ayase had even looked up the prerequisites for debuting as a light novel author afterwards.
‘It seems Kirino doesn’t know Onii-san writes novels.
The fact that he’s debuted means he’s genuinely impressive — he must have won the Newcomer Silver Prize at least.
Him getting involved in manga production probably isn’t just talk, either.
And Onii-san kept his word — he didn’t tell Kirino about that matter.’
Ayase felt a small surge of happiness, and an unconscious smile spread across her face.
“Ayase, what are you smiling about?
Oh, I get it — you’re laughing at how that guy doesn’t know his place, right?”
Kirino had noticed the expression on her friend’s face and assumed Ayase was agreeing with her assessment.
That was more like it.
An amateur trying to break into the manga world — the very thought was laughable.
“What?
No!” Ayase hurriedly denied it.
She wasn’t entirely sure herself why she was smiling.
She just felt a little happy.
Though, seeing Kirino like this now, it wasn’t hard to imagine what her reaction would be when she found out Kyousuke was a light novel author.
The thought made Ayase burst out laughing again.
“You’re definitely laughing!
Fine, laugh at him — it’s not like there’s anything wrong with that.
Better he gives up early anyway.
If he ends up pulling all-nighters over manga stuff, he’s going to age really fast.”
“Kirino, are you worried about Onii-san?”
Kirino froze for a moment, then flushed crimson as if Ayase had struck a critical point. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
“What are you talking about?!
There’s no way I’d ever worry about someone as annoying as him!”
…..
Far removed from the carefree chatter of the girls, the atmosphere in the manga editorial department of the Kadokawa building hung heavy and oppressive.
Inside the conference room, Editor Iori was being publicly reprimanded by her superiors.
The commotion the Kousaka siblings had stirred up in the company a few days ago had ultimately spread.
Her anticipated year-end promotion to deputy editor-in-chief had, after this debacle, been completely dashed.
The editor in charge of “Lunar Witch Transformation” had been replaced as a result.
On the same floor, in the light novel editorial department, Hayakawa Rumi returned to her desk with a cup of coffee, a smile on her face that made her look exceedingly pleased.
Seated beside her was Hattori Takuya, the deputy editor-in-chief who oversaw her work.
“Editor Hattori, did you hear?
Editor Iori next door has been taken down, and her year-end promotion is as good as gone.
How delightful.”
Rumi delivered the latest news, which she’d dug up from the break room during her lunch break.
Hattori Takuya’s expression remained impassive.
“What does this have to do with you?
Focusing on your own work is the top priority.”
If this were back when she’d first started, seeing such a flat reaction from him, Rumi would have shut her mouth and obediently returned to her tasks.
But now that the two of them were well acquainted, she caught the slight twitch of Hattori Takuya’s ear — a tell that he wasn’t entirely uninterested.
“Of course it has something to do with me.
A few days ago, Editor Iori called Sigsawa-sensei an ‘unrelated person.’ How disrespectful was that?
But then he turned around and scared her half to death with just a few words.
It’s a shame you weren’t there, Editor Hattori.”
“Whether I was there or not makes no difference.
I’ve already heard about this.
On another note, the rumor going around — that Sigsawa and the genius girl manga artist behind ‘Lunar Witch Transformation’ are siblings — is it true?”
“It should be, I think?
He told me himself that they both share the surname Kousaka.”
Rumi tapped her chin with her index finger, mulling it over.
Hattori Takuya lifted his coffee cup from the desk and took a measured sip, staring thoughtfully at his computer screen before speaking slowly.
“Then go over to the manga editorial department next door and give his contact information to Editor Saito.”
“Eh?
Who’s that?”
Rumi looked at him curiously.
Kousaka Kyousuke was an author under the light novel division, so why would his contact information need to be handed over to the manga editorial department?
“Editor Saito has taken over Iori’s duties.
She’s refusing to cooperate and won’t provide the author’s contact details.”
“Is that so?
Well, that makes sense.
Going through Sigsawa-sensei should be a way to reach the author of ‘Lunar Witch Transformation.’ I’ll go right away then.”
“Just provide the phone number.
Don’t say anything unnecessary.”
“Understood!”
Without finding anything amiss, Rumi hurriedly rose from her seat and left.
Hattori Takuya watched her departing figure and shook his head with the weariness of a long-suffering mentor.
“So naive.
I hope you grow up quickly.”
He turned back to his computer screen and moved his mouse, closing the email whose subject line read “Advisory on Professional Ethics.”