— — — — — —
Sitting in the shade, enjoying a brief patch of cool air, Oikawa watched the girls playing in the water in their swimsuits.
This, he decided, was basically his ideal life.
Leaning back against the tree, he started thinking about the second half of Your Lie in April.
What kind of angle should he push to convince everyone it was really a "healing" light novel?
After all, he only had one shot.
Once release day passed, there was a good chance the entire internet would come after him.
Everyone would go in expecting something heartwarming—
And then at the end, the tone would flip completely into something crushing.
The reactions from readers would definitely be… something he didn't wish to see.
"Those who've never known true pain can't understand true peace, right? I'm a good guy—just trying to heal the world with my novel."
A faint grin tugged at Oikawa's lips.
He shifted from sitting to lying down, staring up at the clear blue sky.
At some point, drowsiness crept in.
Maybe it was from all the work earlier.
Or maybe the sky itself had some kind of magic.
Either way, his eyes slowly closed.
Half-asleep, half-awake—
Oikawa felt like something soft had appeared beneath his head, like a pillow.
He slipped into a pleasant dream.
In the dream, the second volume of Your Lie in April was released, and readers across the world were shedding heartfelt tears.
Yui Yuigahama cried as she confronted him. "Why would you write something this sad?!"
Yukino Yukinoshita stood on a rooftop, apologizing to him.
Kawasaki… after he strongly recommended the book to her, she read it through with tears streaming down her face, then immediately chased him down to beat him up.
As for Utaha—
What did she even look like again?
He couldn't remember.
All he could see was the silhouette of a woman with a striking figure, talking to him. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't make out her face.
Just then—
He heard someone calling his name.
"Oikawa… Oikawa…"
He blinked awake groggily.
Yui was right in front of him.
"Huh?"
Still dazed, Oikawa sat up. "How long was I out?"
"It's already three in the afternoon."
"Everyone's discussing the test of courage. I noticed you weren't there, so I figured you were still here… and yep, you were asleep."
Yui was crouching in front of him, clearly surprised he'd slept that long.
"Oikawa… didn't you sleep well last night?"
"Is it because of Yukino?"
She thought back to their argument the night before.
But then her cheeks flushed.
Because she also remembered what happened just before that—the way they had ended up pressed together behind the tree.
Her heart started pounding again.
Weird.
She suddenly found it hard to meet his eyes.
"Give me a hand. My leg's numb."
Oikawa sounded a little embarrassed.
As he spoke, he grabbed her arm, trying to use it to stand up.
What he didn't expect was that Yui didn't brace herself at all.
The moment he pulled, she lost her balance and fell straight into his arms.
For a second, Oikawa froze.
With his leg still numb, he couldn't even react properly.
Yesterday had been a back-to-front kind of contact, so it hadn't really hit him.
But this time, face-to-face—
He felt it.
Very clearly.
It was… a bit overwhelming.
A luxurious kind of problem.
"…Um, do you maybe want to get up first?"
Oikawa spoke awkwardly.
At this rate, his body was about to react on its own, and that would make things way worse.
"Ah? Ah—!"
"W-Why did you suddenly pull me?!"
Yui scrambled to her feet, her face bright red from head to toe, completely flustered.
"I told you, didn't I? My leg went numb. I asked you to help me up."
"You didn't hear me?"
He was innocent here. Completely.
Sure, he might've appreciated Yui's figure, but this wasn't intentional.
Yui shook her head.
She opened her mouth to say something, then paused.
Thinking it over, she realized…
It really wasn't his fault.
It was hers.
Her thoughts had been all over the place, and she hadn't heard him properly.
"S-Sorry… I kind of spaced out." She lowered her head, looking guilty.
"N-No, it's fine. Just… help me up now. My leg's still really numb."
Oikawa felt like he might tear up.
Was this what a genuinely kind girl was like?
If it had been Kawasaki or Yukino, he'd probably have been killed by their glares already.
"…Okay."
Biting her lip, Yui reached out her hand.
Oikawa grabbed her wrist and stood up, leaning on her as he took a few limping steps. Gradually, the numbness faded.
"Thanks, Yui."
"It's nothing, really… I didn't do much."
She waved her hands quickly, still avoiding his gaze, then hurriedly changed the subject.
"Oikawa, we should head back. The test of courage is about to start. It sounds like it'll be fun."
Oikawa smiled and nodded, following behind her.
But then—
He suddenly noticed the faint warmth lingering at the back of his head.
"Yui… when you came over earlier, did you see anyone else around?"
"Anyone else?"
"Nope."
She shook her head.
Oikawa frowned slightly.
"…Guess I imagined it?"
"Imagined what?"
"Nothing. Let's head back."
And just like that, the two of them disappeared into the forest.
.
.
.