Hearing the voice on the phone say it was someone from the Secretariat of the Kyoto Prefectural Office, even Tsushima Kagami was momentarily stunned.
Why on earth would the Kyoto Prefectural Office be calling him in the middle of the night?
Tsushima Kagami glanced in astonishment at Yukinoshita Shizuku, who stood before him looking equally puzzled.
Then he continued speaking.
"Mr. Kinoshita, may I ask what business the Kyoto Prefectural Office has with me?"
As if the voice on the phone had known all along how Tsushima Kagami would ask, Kinoshita Seiichi on the other end immediately replied.
"Tomorrow, His Excellency the Governor of Kyoto Prefecture would like to share afternoon tea with Sensei Tsushima at the main hall of the Kyoto Prefectural Office."
"I wonder if Sensei Tsushima might be able to spare some time in tomorrow's schedule?"
Hearing this, Tsushima Kagami had not expected that the Governor of Kyoto Prefecture would suddenly be receiving him.
He hadn't even met the town mayor in ordinary times, so why had the difficulty suddenly been cranked all the way up to the Governor of Kyoto Prefecture, one of the forty-seven prefectures?
Still, Tsushima Kagami was curious as to what exactly the Governor wanted with him.
He thought it over—aside from packing up to head back to Tokyo, he really had nothing else going on tomorrow.
So he agreed to it directly.
After Secretary Kinoshita confirmed a few more details of the schedule.
And after Tsushima Kagami asked whether he could bring a few elders along, to which the other party also indicated there was no problem.
Both sides cheerfully hung up the phone.
Only then did Tsushima Kagami recount the whole affair to Yukinoshita Shizuku.
He then sought out Kobayashi Tomoaki, Professor Kosaka, and the others to inform them of the matter.
In the end, they discussed and decided that Kobayashi Tomoaki and Professor Kosaka would accompany Tsushima Kagami there together.
With that, everyone, who had been busy all day, could finally get some proper rest.
At seven the next morning, Tsushima Kagami was woken by the buzzing of his phone.
Groggily, he fumbled for the phone on the nightstand and squinted at the screen.
Missed calls: 47.
Text messages: 83.
He froze for a moment, then snapped completely awake.
He opened a few of them and took a look.
"Mr. Tsushima! I'm a reporter from Shūkan Bunshun—could we arrange an interview?"
"Tsushima-kun, I'm a producer from NHK, and I'd like to invite you onto our talk show..."
He scrolled through some more—all of them interview invitations from news agencies and TV stations of every size.
Honestly, did these news people have no professional ethics at all?
Tsushima Kagami recalled how in his past life, the day before he sat the civil-service exam he had filled out an information form, and the very next day his data had been sold off—yet all the cram-school ads and scam texts back then hadn't amounted to as many as this single morning.
This number was basically done for; once he got back to Tokyo he'd have to switch to a new one.
Tsushima Kagami rubbed the bridge of his nose, got up, walked to the window, and drew open the curtains.
Today was another clear day, the early-morning sunlight a little harsh on the eyes.
After stretching lazily, he noticed that Shizuku was no longer in the room.
She had probably gone ahead to the restaurant for breakfast.
Tsushima Kagami walked back to the bedside.
He picked up the remote on the headboard and switched on the TV.
NHK's morning news was on air.
"Yesterday, the mysterious author who has taken the literary world by storm—the Master of Dassai-ya—held a press conference in Kyoto, publicly revealing his identity for the first time."
"What is astonishing is that the author who wrote works such as 'No Longer Human' and 'The Setting Sun' turns out to be a high school student a mere seventeen years of age!"
The screen cut to footage from yesterday's press conference.
He sat there, answering questions in a calm tone.
Subtitles appeared on the screen.
[The Master of Dassai-ya, real name Tsushima Kagami, 17, a second-year student at Tokyo's Private Ousai High School]
He watched himself on the television with great interest.
It felt rather different from looking in a mirror as usual.
A peculiar sense of novelty and disconnect.
No wonder he'd heard that many actors never watch their own films after filming them.
Perhaps it was this same feeling?
Just then his phone rang again.
It was Kobayashi Tomoaki.
"Hello?"
"Kagami-kun! Have you seen it?! The NHK news!"
"TV Tokyo is broadcasting it too!"
"Every channel is broadcasting it!"
Kobayashi Tomoaki's voice trembled with excitement.
"Oh, right."
"There's also the situation the editorial department reported to me today."
"The printing plant's phones have been ringing off the hook! Orders are flying in from bookstores like snowflakes!"
"The people in the statistics section just told me that today's orders have already exceeded 200,000 copies!"
It was clear that Kobayashi Tomoaki was truly thrilled.
The sales of this issue of the magazine, which had originally begun entering a decline, surged once more after this exposure brought them back into the spotlight.
Its sales entered an explosive reverse-growth.
He was so excited that, even though they were in the same hotel, he hadn't had time to come find him and had simply called instead.
After chatting a bit more with Kobayashi Tomoaki.
Tsushima Kagami hung up the phone, took another look at the TV, and was just about to head down to the restaurant downstairs for something to eat.
At that moment, Yukinoshita Shizuku happened to return.
She had a takeout box in her hand.
Seeing that Tsushima Kagami was just about to go out, and glancing at the news about him still playing on the TV, she handed him the breakfast in her hand and said with a smile.
"You'd better not go out."
"Just wait until the people from the Kyoto Prefectural Office come to pick you up this afternoon."
"What's the matter?"
Taking the breakfast, Tsushima Kagami picked up a croquette and asked between bites.
"When I went downstairs, I saw another batch of reporters down in the lobby."
"They're probably hoping to interview you again."
What a clingy nuisance.
Tsushima Kagami said with a smile.
Then I won't go down after all.
Saying this, Tsushima Kagami heartily dug into his breakfast.
After noon had passed, Tsushima Kagami rested for a while longer.
At that point, the people arranged by the Kyoto Prefectural Office came to pick them up.
By then Tsushima Kagami, Kobayashi Tomoaki, and Professor Kosaka were all ready.
After getting into the car in the underground parking garage.
No sooner had they left the garage than they were blocked by a crowd of reporters.
They had no choice but to slow down.
Tsushima Kagami went ahead and rolled down the car window, and was about to say something when a cluster of microphones was suddenly thrust inside.
Tsushima Kagami spoke directly into the microphones and cameras.
"I am an author, not an entertainer."
"From now on I will not frequently accept interviews, will not appear on variety shows, and will not take part in commercial activities."
"Everything that needed to be said was said yesterday."
"So please, everyone, go home."
The moment Tsushima Kagami finished speaking, the car's horn sounded.
The car began to accelerate, forcing the reporters to dodge and give way.
In the end they watched the car drive off into the distance.
...
At 2:45 in the afternoon, the main hall of the Kyoto Prefectural Office.
Tsushima Kagami stood before this building, first constructed in the Meiji era, and looked up at its exterior.
Red brick walls, white granite ornamentation, arched windows, and a verdigris-green roof.
This was a typical Meiji-era Western architectural style, yet it also incorporated quite a few Japanese elements.
Above the main entrance, an enormous chrysanthemum crest shimmered with a golden luster in the afternoon sun.
"This building must have over a hundred years of history, no?"
Professor Kosaka's voice came from beside him.
Tsushima Kagami turned his head.
Today Professor Kosaka wore a dark-gray suit with a striped tie, looking far more formal than usual.
Standing beside him was Kobayashi Tomoaki, likewise in formal attire, holding a briefcase in his hand.
"It was completed in the thirty-seventh year of Meiji."
Professor Kosaka nodded.
Kobayashi Tomoaki glanced at his watch.
"It's just about time. Let's go in."
The group walked up the steps and pushed open the heavy wooden doors.
Inside the doors was a spacious hall.
An enormous crystal chandelier hung from the high ceiling, and the floor was a parquet of black-and-white marble.
On the walls hung portraits of successive Governors of Kyoto Prefecture, each one painted vividly to the life.
In the center of the hall, a young man in a dark-blue suit was already waiting there.
____
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