"How's your novel? Has it passed the review yet?"
Kasumigaoka Touji casually tossed a cold can of cola to Izumi Masamune, who caught it with both hands as he plopped down on the sofa.
One glance, and Touji could already tell Masamune's mental state was miles better than it had been in the past few days. The sluggish aura was gone, replaced by a lighthearted energy that could only mean one thing: the manuscript had passed.
Touji mentally gave him a thumbs-up.
Hearing the words "passed review," Kasumigaoka Utaha, who had been quietly flipping through a book, subtly turned her head with interest. As a fellow author deep in her own revisions, those words hit a little close to home.
Pssht!
The sound of the can popping echoed lightly in the room.
"It just passed," Masamune said, grinning as if a thousand tons had been lifted off his shoulders. "Ten minutes ago, actually... I revised Volume 3 like, ten times. Thought I was gonna lose it."
With that, he took a dramatic swig of cola, downing nearly half the can in one go. His eyes sparkled with the joy of sweet, sweet liberation.
"Phew~! Then congratulations are in order," Touji said with a grin, taking a seat beside Utaha.
"Once Volume 3 drops, you'll finally have your representative work out there. So? Have you thought about your next project?"
"Has 'Reincarnated Silver Wolf' officially wrapped?" Utaha asked, momentarily intrigued.
"Yup, it's done," Masamune replied, stretching his back. "But I haven't thought of a new story yet. My brain needs at least two days of peace before jumping back into the abyss."
He slumped over the couch dramatically.
"And school starts tomorrow..." he added with a groan.
"Yup. Spring break's over," Touji nodded with mock solemnity. "We're officially high school students now. Time to become the protagonist."
Everyone knew the unspoken law of anime logic—
Homeless in America, transmigrated in China, and a high school student in Japan? Instant protagonist.
And he had two out of three covered.
Utaha turned her head with a teasing smirk.
"Does Touji-kun want to be the lead in a harem rom-com?" she asked in a voice so sweet it could cause cavities.
She reached over and gently placed her hand on his knee.
Bonus stage: activated.
Touji took her hand and clasped it naturally, pretending to frown. "What kind of trashy man do you take me for, hmm? I'm not the type who flirts with every girl he sees."
Their eyes met.
For a moment, they only saw each other.
Masamune sipped his cola awkwardly, feeling the sugar and carbonated loneliness sting his soul.
He shifted in his seat.
Why did it feel like he was watching a shoujo manga play out live?
He wanted to complain, but... he also kind of wanted a girlfriend.
But no! Not yet! He had too much pressure on his shoulders.
He took another cold gulp of cola to steady his resolve.
"In a few days, the sample copies of Volume 3 will arrive," Masamune said, changing the topic before he turned to dust. "I'll drop off one each for you guys."
"Looking forward to it," Touji replied with a grin. "We'll help promote it once we've read it."
"You have my eternal thanks!" Masamune clasped his hands together dramatically, bowing in his seat.
With time to spare before the five o'clock stream, the conversation wandered.
Touji brought up something that had been on his mind.
"Oh right, did you know a new neighbor just moved in next to you?"
"Next to me?" Izumi Masamune blinked in surprise, then furrowed his brows. "Are you talking about… that supposedly haunted house on the right?"
He recalled the house that had stood vacant for over a year. Once the residence of a well-known author who passed away from illness, it had since become the center of countless neighborhood rumors.
"People said weird things about it, you know," Masamune muttered. "Stuff like, 'a cursed house where misfortune follows,' 'you can hear eerie piano music late at night,' or 'a ghost in a white dress wanders the halls.' It was practically a horror movie set."
Due to his own family's odd circumstances, those superstitions had gained traction. Most neighbors avoided the place entirely.
"What kind of person moved in there?" Masamune asked, his curiosity piqued.
Kasumigaoka Touji crossed his arms, thinking for a moment. "Mm… she's a boastful, noisy, and kind of childish girl."
"Also," he added, "she's a light novel author. Her pen name is Yamada Elf, and her series 'Blazing Dark Elf' has been gaining popularity lately."
"EH?! You mean that Yamada-sensei?!" Masamune nearly fell off the couch, his voice rising in disbelief.
His second reaction came right after:
"She's a girl?!"
It was a fair question. Most authors who specialized in ecchi-harem genres were often imagined to be middle-aged shut-ins.
Kasumigaoka Utaha chuckled softly from her seat. "Even younger than us, in fact."
"…No way!"
Masamune stared in shock, mouth slightly agape. "Wait, is she a middle schooler? Or… don't tell me she's in elementary school?"
To debut at such a young age, and with a hit that sold over two million copies? That was practically superhuman!
And to top it off, there were already whispers of an anime adaptation in the works…
"She's a monster-level genius…" Masamune murmured under his breath.
Suddenly, he jumped to his feet, visibly excited. "I should go visit her and ask for an autograph!"
Kasumigaoka Touji raised an eyebrow. "You might wanna wait. She's still in the middle of unpacking. Utaha and I passed by when she was directing the movers like a pint-sized general."
"Tomorrow after school would be better," he added helpfully.
"Right, right. I'll wait until then," Masamune nodded and reluctantly sat back down, though his eyes still sparkled.
"…So, is she nice? Like, is Yamada-sensei easy to talk to?"
Touji stared at him, blankly.
So everything I just told you went in one ear and out the other, huh?
"She's… noisy," Touji replied flatly, "but not a bad person. A little much, that's all."
Masamune took it all in and, predictably, filtered it through fan-colored lenses. "Ohh, so you mean she's just lively!"
…This fanboy's hopeless.
Touji sighed silently, watching his childhood friend mentally build up an idealized version of Yamada Elf.
…