At ten o'clock at night, the hotel lobby was still ablaze with light.
The reporters were scattered in twos and threes across every corner of the lounge area, some still scribbling away in their notebooks.
Some were making phone calls in low voices, and others had simply leaned back against the sofas to rest with their eyes closed.
The coffee tables were covered with emptied coffee cups and the wrappers of rice balls bought from convenience stores.
Tsushima Kagami stood at the fifth-floor window, looking down at the front entrance, where the silhouettes of many people coming and going were still visible, and let out a soft sigh.
"Not asleep yet?"
A voice came from behind him.
He turned around to see Yamada Kenta standing in the doorway in his pajamas, his hair all in a mess.
"Can't sleep?"
"Mm."
Yamada Kenta walked over and also leaned in by the window to look down.
"Those people are still here?"
"They left some behind to keep watch through the night."
"Persistent, aren't they."
Yamada Kenta smacked his lips, then turned his head toward Tsushima Kagami.
"Are you nervous?"
Tsushima Kagami thought about it.
"I'm okay, I guess."
"Okay?"
Yamada Kenta's eyes went wide.
"Tomorrow you're holding a press conference, and the whole country will know you're that Dassai-ya author.
"And you're just 'okay'?"
"What else am I supposed to be?"
Tsushima Kagami looked at Yamada Kenta with a smile.
"If I started picturing all those cameras and microphones pointed at me, asking all sorts of strange and bizarre questions, then I really wouldn't be able to sleep!"
Yamada Kenta mulled it over and only after a long while managed to squeeze out a sentence.
"Your nerves really are something, Kagami."
The corners of Tsushima Kagami's mouth turned up slightly: "Thanks for the compliment."
Just as the two of them were talking, footsteps sounded in the corridor.
Then came a knock at the door.
"Kagami-kun, it's me."
It was Professor Kosaka's voice.
Tsushima Kagami walked over and opened the door.
Professor Kosaka stood outside, a touch of weariness on his face.
"Not asleep yet?"
"Mm."
Professor Kosaka walked into the room, saw that Yamada Kenta was there too, gave a slight nod in acknowledgment, then said to Tsushima Kagami.
"Did you get in touch with Shinchōsha?"
"Mr. Kobayashi and the others are already on their way—they're coming by Shinkansen."
"That's good then."
Professor Kosaka sat down on a chair, then suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, right—did the Yomiuri Shimbun call you?"
Tsushima Kagami nodded.
"They did. Both the Osaka head office and the Tokyo head office called."
Professor Kosaka was taken aback for a moment.
"Both of them called?"
"Mm."
Tsushima Kagami briefly recounted the contents of the two phone calls.
After listening, a complicated expression appeared on Professor Kosaka's face.
"When they asked me for your number, I hesitated for a bit, but then I was rushing to get over here and forgot to mention it to you."
Tsushima Kagami had still been wondering how both of the Yomiuri Shimbun's head offices knew his mobile number.
So it turned out they had gotten it by asking Professor Kosaka.
"It's all right."
Tsushima Kagami said.
"You're not angry?"
"What good would being angry do?"
Tsushima Kagami said in a flat tone.
"It's already happened, and being angry won't change anything.
"So I'd rather communicate properly and see if I can take the chance to maximize the benefits.
"After all, it's not as if some scandal of mine got exposed and couldn't be hidden anymore.
"And besides, the way things look right now, the outcome seems acceptable enough."
Professor Kosaka looked at him.
This boy really was nothing like a high schooler.
"Kagami-kun, sometimes you're as shrewd as a businessman."
A flicker of complicated emotion finally passed through his eyes as he spoke.
"There's nothing wrong with being a businessman, as long as you don't earn money against your conscience.
"And whether you do pure literature or academic research, don't you still need money for it?"
To this, Professor Kosaka gave a noncommittal nod.
True enough—at the very least, this way, if everyone only treated you as an ordinary high schooler, they'd surely be the ones to come out badly.
After that, the two of them chatted for a while.
Off to the side, Yamada—along with Sato and Tanaka, who had been chatting with Tsushima Kagami before Professor Kosaka arrived, had just lain down to sleep, and then woken up again—all watched, utterly dumbfounded, as Tsushima Kagami conversed and laughed with this professor from the University of Tokyo.
"Do they always talk about such high-level topics?"
Tanaka Toneri, off to one side, suddenly asked.
"Yukinoshita—oh no, I should say Tsushima—he really doesn't feel like someone our age right now.
"It's like he's an adult."
After what had happened that afternoon, by now many of the students also knew that Tsushima Kagami's actual original surname was Tsushima.
As for why he later took the surname Yukinoshita, out of respect for the relationship and his privacy, no one pressed for details.
"I figure none of us are going to be able to sleep tonight."
"I'll go make them some tea."
With that, Yamada Kenta got ready to head out to the pantry to brew some tea.
At this point Tanaka and Sato came out along with him as well.
"Those two's topics are way too overwhelming—let's just go with Yamada and brew ourselves some coffee instead."
At eleven-twenty, the screech of braking sounded at the hotel entrance.
A taxi stopped outside, the door opened, and Kobayashi Tomoaki practically leapt out of it.
Behind him followed three colleagues carrying briefcases, every one of them in an obvious hurry.
"This is the place!"
Kobayashi Tomoaki glanced up at the hotel sign, then strode inside.
The reporters keeping watch in the lobby instantly grew alert.
At this hour, with this kind of entourage, these were definitely not ordinary guests.
Among them, some of the news reporters who had rushed over from Tokyo that afternoon recognized Kobayashi Tomoaki.
"That's Editor Kobayashi from Shinchōsha!"
"He's the editor in charge of 'No Longer Human'!"
The shutter sounds rang out at once, and the camera flashes again lit up the lobby blindingly bright.
Kobayashi Tomoaki raised a hand to shield his eyes, his steps never stopping, and headed straight for the elevator.
"Mr. Kobayashi! Could you say a few words?"
"Is the Dassai-ya author really a high schooler?"
"What time does tomorrow's press conference start?"
Kobayashi Tomoaki didn't even look back, just waved his hand.
"Tomorrow, we'll talk tomorrow."
The elevator doors closed, cutting off all the questions.
On the fifth floor, the door to Tsushima Kagami's room stood open.
Ever since getting word that Kobayashi Tomoaki and his group had arrived in Kyoto, he had been standing by the open door, waiting.
Kobayashi Tomoaki stepped out of the elevator and saw Tsushima Kagami standing in the doorway.
He walked over quickly, grabbed him by the shoulders, and looked him up and down.
"Kagami, are you all right?"
Tsushima Kagami was taken aback for a moment.
"I'm fine."
"That's good then."
Kobayashi Tomoaki let out a breath of relief, then looked toward the room.
Inside, Professor Kosaka rose to greet him.
Yamada Kenta and the others also studied this travel-worn editor with curious looks on their faces.
"Professor Kosaka is here too."
Kobayashi Tomoaki nodded.
"Wonderful—with you here, we can rest easy."
Professor Kosaka waved a hand.
"It's what I ought to do.
"And besides, all of this trouble came about because of me in the first place."
With that, Professor Kosaka bowed to both Tsushima Kagami and Kobayashi Tomoaki.
"I'll leave the rest to you, Kobayashi-kun."
"Don't worry, we'll handle it well."
Several of them went into the room, and Kobayashi Tomoaki's colleagues filed in too, making the room feel rather cramped all of a sudden.
After serving everyone tea again, Yamada Kenta and the other two also knelt together in a corner, watching with admiration as these professors and editors—adults who, in their eyes, were the very elite of society—discussed weighty matters.
And this whole weighty matter, in turn, revolved around their very own classmate and friend—Tsushima Kagami.
It felt utterly surreal.
Yet it also fit perfectly the yearnings and fantasies of muddle-headed, chuunibyou youths about the kind of adult they wished to become in the future.
"Time is tight, so let's get straight to business."
Kobayashi Tomoaki took a folder out of his briefcase.
"For tomorrow's press conference, we have a few plans..."
Before he had finished speaking, footsteps sounded outside the door again.
This time it was a middle-aged man in a crisp, well-tailored suit, with two hotel staff members following behind him.
"Pardon the intrusion."
The middle-aged man gave a slight bow.
"I am the general manager of this hotel; my humble surname is Endo."
Tsushima Kagami rose to return the courtesy.
General Manager Endo's gaze lingered on Tsushima Kagami's face for a moment.
So this boy was the [Master of Dassai-ya] who had recently caused such a sensation throughout all of Japan?
He really hadn't expected him to be nothing more than a high schooler.
"We only learned tonight that the Dassai-ya author was staying at our hotel."
General Manager Endo's tone was respectful.
"I hear you're planning to hold a press conference on short notice tomorrow.
"If you don't mind, there's a very large auditorium-style reception hall on the third floor of the hotel.
"It happens to be free tomorrow and could serve as the venue for the press conference."
Kobayashi Tomoaki's eyes lit up.
He had come in such a rush that he hadn't yet settled on a venue for the press conference.
Hearing the hotel manager say this—if it could be held right here at the hotel, that wouldn't be a bad option at all.
"May we take a look?"
"Of course, please follow me."
The group headed to the third floor.
They pushed open the doors of the reception hall, and an auditorium capable of seating around two hundred people appeared before them.
A podium, sound system, lighting—everything was in place, and there was even a projection screen hanging up.
Kobayashi Tomoaki looked around and nodded in satisfaction.
"Excellent.
"Compared to finding a venue elsewhere, this place can be set up overnight, which saves a lot of time.
"By the way, does the hotel have any experience with this sort of thing?"
"Yes, we do."
General Manager Endo said.
"We've hosted many press conferences; we have both the equipment and the staff."
"Then it's settled—we'll book this place."
And just like that, the matter was decided.
At one o'clock in the morning, the plan was finally finalized.
The press conference was set for two o'clock the next afternoon.
The school had already been consulted as well.
The next morning, the school trip group would return to Tokyo as originally planned.
Apart from Yukinoshita Shizuku staying behind as his older sister,
one of the most robust P.E. teachers and a kendo club advisor were also left behind.
"Then it's settled."
Kobayashi Tomoaki closed the folder.
"Press conference at two in the afternoon—any problems?"
No one spoke.
"Then this meeting is adjourned. Get some rest, everyone."
At seven o'clock the next morning, Tsushima Kagami woke up.
Sunlight outside slipped in through the gap in the curtains.
He lay in bed, staring at the ceiling for a few seconds, then got up and walked over to the window.
The reporters downstairs were even more numerous than the night before.
A cordon had already been set up at the hotel entrance, with several security guards and police officers standing there to maintain order.
The broadcast vans of the TV stations were parked in a row, the antennas on their roofs pointing skyward like a forest.
His phone suddenly rang.
It was a message from Kobayashi Tomoaki.
"The morning papers are out—take a look."
Tsushima Kagami opened his door to find a newspaper placed outside.
It must have been Kobayashi Tomoaki who had a hotel attendant deliver it.
He picked up the newspaper and returned to the window.
The Yomiuri morning edition.
At the bottom of the front page was an eye-catching headline:
["Master of Dassai-ya" to Reveal Identity Today; Literary World Awaits the Birth of a New Star]
Beside it was another article, with the headline:
[A Literary Author's Social Responsibility and Personal Accountability—On the "No Longer Human" of Public Figures in Today's Society!]
Following it were several commentaries from literary critics.
[From 'Hear the Wind Sing' to 'No Longer Human' to 'Thunder God Tanka'—A Young Author's Classical and Modern Sides]
[17-Year-Old Author Tsushima Kagami Donates All Royalties from 'No Longer Human' to Charity—"I Hope to Become a Lamp in the Dark Night"]
Tsushima Kagami flipped open the newspaper and found that nearly the entire culture section was devoted to introducing him.
And his press conference hadn't even started yet.
The Yomiuri Shimbun's paper had already taken his identity as a given.
Then again, yesterday's actions had indeed amounted to acknowledging his own identity.
The press conference merely gave the reporters a chance to have all their various questions satisfied, while incidentally serving as a mouthpiece for the public and the readers.
And in the paper, when it came to his works, his literary style, his contributions to pure literature, and even his personal contributions to society,
there were even short reviews from several renowned critics—without exception, all of them positive evaluations.
This, one supposed, was the Yomiuri Shimbun's [remedial measure].
And not just today—according to Editor Kobayashi, over the next few days they would continue to report on him in a positive light.
In fact, even if they didn't do this, Tsushima Kagami was bound to be hot news these days, so they'd have to report on him anyway.
And besides, there had been no prior grudge or grievance between them, and their several reports had all taken a fairly friendly tone.
There was no need to make an enemy of him now.
So by reporting on Tsushima Kagami this way, they could at the same time obtain some inside, exclusive information.
Which in turn gave them more exclusive coverage than their peers, so naturally they were all the more inclined to repay kindness with kindness and write plenty of puff pieces for Tsushima Kagami.
On top of that, Tsushima Kagami himself had no dirt on him, and combined with his identity as a high schooler, there was simply too much that could be written into the news.
There'd be more than enough to write for the following days, and all those following days would be traffic hotspots.
So right now the Yomiuri Shimbun wished it could devote every single section to introducing Tsushima Kagami and his works.
They were just short of running a 'Ten-Thousand-Word Analysis: Have You Really Understood Dassai-ya Sensei's XXX Work?' for every single one of his works.
Looking at those words, Tsushima Kagami suddenly felt it was all rather absurd.
Just yesterday, it had been this very same newspaper company that, with one unauthorized report, had thrown him into the eye of the storm.
And today, they were once again using the very same column space, trying to lift him up onto a pedestal.
The faces the media put on really were quite something.
A knock sounded at the door.
"Kagami, are you up?"
It was Yukinoshita Shizuku's voice.
"Mm."
He opened the door, and Yukinoshita Shizuku stood outside, holding two convenience store bags.
"Breakfast."
"Mr. Kobayashi said you'll be practicing how to handle the reporters this morning, so you can't do it on an empty stomach."
Tsushima Kagami took the bags and glanced inside—rice balls, milk, and a box of cut fruit.
"Thanks."
Tsushima Kagami looked at Yamada Kenta and the others, who were still fast asleep.
"Let's go eat in the pantry."
After Tsushima Kagami finished breakfast in the pantry with Yukinoshita Shizuku,
he went along to see his classmates Shimizu Nayotake and Ijichi Seika.
Seeing the big dark circles under both their eyes,
"What happened to you two?"
Ijichi Seika glanced at Shimizu Nayotake beside her and said with a smile.
"The classmates in the dorm were asking us questions about you all night long."
Tsushima Kagami nodded.
Still, if it could make their relationships a little warmer, that wasn't a bad thing.
At this point Hiratsuka Shizuka and Sayuri also came over, both in their pajamas.
Tsushima Kagami looked at the group and said.
"I won't see you off later."
"I'll have Shizuku see you out."
They all nodded reluctantly.
They wanted to stay behind to keep Tsushima Kagami company too.
Unfortunately, the school wouldn't allow it.
At this point Hiratsuka Shizuka said, also knitting her brows.
"You be careful, all right."
"Don't let the reporters trap you with their questions and catch you in some slip-up."
Tsushima Kagami laughed too.
"I will. Editor Kobayashi is going to give me some special training a bit later."
Hiratsuka Shizuka nodded.
At nine in the morning, after seeing Yamada Kenta and the other two off to the elevator,
Kobayashi Tomoaki came to Tsushima Kagami's room with two colleagues.
The room instantly turned into a temporary classroom.
"All right, let's begin our mock press conference now."
Kobayashi Tomoaki sat across from him, holding a stack of papers.
"These are all the questions the reporters might ask.
"We'll take turns asking, and you answer."
Tsushima Kagami nodded.
...
The mock Q&A continued all the way until noon.
"That's about enough."
Kobayashi Tomoaki checked his watch.
"There are still two hours left—rest a while, eat something, and we'll start right on time at two."
With that, Kobayashi Tomoaki and the other colleagues busied themselves with other matters.
At one-forty in the afternoon, Tsushima Kagami stood in the third-floor corridor, looking into the reception hall through the crack in the door.
The venue had already been set up.
On the podium sat a row of microphones, and behind it was a deep-blue backdrop board, on which was written "Shinchōsha Emergency Press Conference."
Below it, chairs were packed densely together, with reporters already filing in one after another, and the cameras were mounted on a raised platform at the very back, their lenses aimed at the podium.
The flashes were being adjusted, the clicking sounds rising one after another.
Tsushima Kagami took a deep breath.
He thought of the biggest occasion he'd experienced in his past life—just a provincial-level demonstration teaching competition.
Although there had been plenty of higher-ups there too, it was nothing compared to the oppressive pressure of a press conference like this one, where everyone seemed to be looking for a chance to make trouble for you at any moment.
Yukinoshita Shizuku stood beside him, saying nothing, only giving his hand a gentle squeeze.
"Nervous?"
Kobayashi Tomoaki's voice came from behind.
He was dressed very formally today as well—a deep-blue suit, a striped tie, his hair combed without a single strand out of place.
Tsushima Kagami shook his head.
"I'm okay."
"That's good then."
Kobayashi Tomoaki patted him on the shoulder.
"Remember, any questions you don't want to answer, you don't have to.
"You're an author, not an entertainer.
"This is an author's identity-reveal conference, not an interrogation over an entertainer's dirty secrets!"
Tsushima Kagami nodded and straightened the collar of his uniform.
He hadn't deliberately changed his clothes—he still wore that same Private Ousai uniform.
"Let's go.
"It's time."
The door was pushed open.
The camera flashes instantly drowned out everything.
After Kobayashi Tomoaki and the other colleagues accompanied Tsushima Kagami to the very center of the long table at the press conference and sat down,
Tsushima Kagami, just like the reporters below, surveyed the crowd in front of him.
On one side beneath the long table were several familiar faces.
Reporters from the Yomiuri Shimbun's Osaka head office.
He had seen them at the art museum the day before.
Following along down the row, looking at the name cards placed beside them.
A commentator from the Asahi Shimbun, a bespectacled middle-aged man.
A producer from NHK, who looked to be in his early forties, dressed in a well-fitted suit.
A director from TBS, an old man with graying hair.
There were also representatives from several other newspapers and TV stations whose names he couldn't place.
Everyone's gaze fell on him at the same time.
After watching the group take their seats, the hall fell silent for a few seconds.
Then he spoke up directly.
"I am the Master of Dassai-ya."
"The author of 'No Longer Human.'"
____
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