— — — — — —
Yukino's prescription had gotten stronger.
Oikawa Toru had a feeling he was at least partly responsible.
Ever since the midterms, when he'd knocked Yukino off her long-held throne as the top student, she'd been studying with near-obsessive dedication.
She'd even sacrificed more than half of her usual novel-reading time just to study.
That said... Yukino Yukinoshita almost never wore glasses. Oikawa had only seen her in them a handful of times.
Apparently, even she cared a lot about how she looked.
After giving up on the idea of buying Yukino a cat tail, Oikawa and Yui headed into an eyewear shop inside a shopping mall.
A huge sign over the entrance simply read: Eyewear
Yui was like an energetic little bunny that never seemed capable of sitting still. While Oikawa was internally grumbling, she suddenly tapped him on the shoulder.
When he turned around, she was wearing a pair of thick black-rimmed glasses. She even pushed them up her nose with exaggerated seriousness. "Well? Do I look like one of those genius honor students now?"
Oikawa didn't miss a beat. "You may as well rent the biggest speakers you can find and announce to the whole school, 'Good afternoon, everyone! I'm a dummy!'"
"You!"
Yui shot him a fierce glare and stormed off, looking like she'd decided never to speak to him again.
Of course, for someone like Yui, being mad only lasted about three seconds.
Before long, she'd already switched to another pair of glasses and was standing in front of him again. "How about these? Aren't they cute?"
People with cheerful personalities really were easy to be around.
"They look nice," Oikawa replied, a little absentmindedly.
"Hehe!" Yui grinned happily, either not noticing, or simply not caring, how halfhearted his answer had been.
Oikawa shook his head and picked up a pair for himself.
As he tried them on, a sales clerk came over and patiently introduced the different styles.
It felt like discovering a whole new world.
Not every pair of glasses was for correcting eyesight. Some were designed to keep sand from blowing into your eyes during strong winds.
Chiba was, after all, a coastal city. And if there was one thing every coastal city had in common, it was the wind.
You could call it a love-hate relationship.
You got to enjoy the beautiful ocean... But you also had to put up with its temper.
"Oikawa-kun, those glasses look really good on you! They make you look like a writer. Very... intellectual."
The compliment came almost instantly.
Though judging by the expression on Yui's face... what she really wanted to say was that he looked hilarious.
She was obviously trying her hardest not to laugh.
Oikawa rolled his eyes and took the glasses off. "You can tell? I'm actually Copycat-sensei. If you're nice to me, maybe I'll get you an autographed copy of Clannad."
"Yeah, right. If you're Copycat-sensei, then I'm..." She paused. "...Naoko Takeuchi!"
Apparently she couldn't think of a young, beautiful female author on the spot, so she ended up comparing herself to the now middle-aged creator of Sailor Moon.
...
After that, Oikawa finally settled on Yukino's birthday present. A stylish pair of glasses with an upside-down half-rim frame.
The design was pretty unique.
Too bad there wasn't any cat motif on them. Otherwise, Yukino probably would've loved them even more.
She really wasn't that hard to understand. She acted cool and distant on the outside... But deep down, she wanted someone to keep reaching out to her.
Someone stubborn enough to keep dragging her along, again and again, no matter how many times she refused.
Just like Yui. Even if Yukino turned her down ten thousand times... Yui would still cheerfully stick to her side, pestering her without the slightest hint of giving up.
It was always, 'Yukinon, come on! Let's go out! Pleeease? I really want to hang out with you! We can get dinner! Go karaoke!'
And then... Yukino would secretly be delighted. While wearing the most reluctant expression imaginable as she agreed.
If you wanted to put it bluntly, she was just the type who couldn't resist once someone insisted enough. A kinder way to put it... she always wanted to feel needed.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt he'd picked the right gift. He could almost picture it. During the holiday, Yukino curled up alone at home, hugging the panda plush he'd given her, wearing her new glasses while searching for cat videos.
...
..
Before leaving Chiba, Oikawa arranged to meet Taishi at a café.
As for his future brother-in-law, Oikawa figured it was worth staying on good terms. Today's meeting was mainly to help him work through some difficult study material.
In another month, Taishi would be sitting his high school entrance exams. He'd been studying harder than ever lately, but he still wasn't confident he could get into Sobu High.
It was simply reality. For some students, getting into Sobu barely required any effort. For someone like Taishi, though, even working his hardest didn't guarantee success.
Of course, hard work always paid off. Even if Taishi couldn't make it into Sobu, he'd almost certainly get into Kaihin High nearby.
Before long, Oikawa spotted Taishi inside the café, completely absorbed in his textbooks.
Hearing someone approach, Taishi looked up and immediately smiled. "Happy New Year, Oikawa-niisan!"
"Happy New Year." Oikawa pulled out the New Year's gift envelope he'd prepared beforehand and handed it over.
Inside was 100,000 yen.
"Oikawa-niisan, I can't accept this." Taishi hadn't even looked inside. He refused out of instinct.
"Take it. You've been calling me 'Nii-san' long enough. I can't let you do it for nothing. And if you don't take it, I'm leaving." Oikawa shoved the envelope into Taishi's hands.
"...Thank you, Oikawa-niisan." In the end, Taishi accepted the envelope with a huge grin and carefully tucked it into his pocket.
"Don't tell anyone, especially your sister. Got it?" Oikawa said.
"I won't!" Taishi nodded emphatically.
Oikawa smiled and glanced at the coffee waiting on the table. "You ordered this for me?"
"Yeah. Cappuccino, your favorite."
Oikawa took a sip after sitting down, then immediately got to work explaining practice problems and sharing test-taking strategies.
About an hour later, they paused for a short break.
"So," Oikawa asked casually, "where's your sister? She didn't come with you today?"
"She's not feeling very well." Taishi kept solving problems while he answered. "I think her legs have been hurting. When we went to the shrine today, she'd stop to rest every time we walked for a while. Normally she isn't this frail. I don't know what happened."
Oikawa froze.
That... couldn't possibly be because of him, could it?
Normally, a girl's first time wasn't supposed to leave her in pain for very long. But that was under normal circumstances.
Last night... Oikawa hadn't exactly been gentle. And after walking all over town today, maybe he really was the reason.
An awkward smile crept across his face. He quietly pulled out his phone and sent Kawasaki a message.
『Oikawa』: Taishi said you're not feeling well. What's wrong?
Her reply came almost immediately.
『Kawasaki』: Nothing.
Oikawa scratched his head before typing again.
『Oikawa』: Is it because of... last night? Well, technically early this morning.
『Kawasaki』: No! Don't overthink it. It's not!
She answered so quickly that it only confirmed his suspicion.
『Oikawa』: Sorry. I'll be gentler next time.
For quite a while, the little "typing..." indicator stayed beneath her profile.
Two...
Three minutes passed.
Finally, her reply arrived.
『Kawasaki』: There won't be a next time!
Oikawa laughed as he typed back.
『Oikawa』: That's not really up to you. I'll make sure there's a next time.
『Kawasaki』: Jerk. You only know how to bully me.
His smile widened.
『Oikawa』: How am I bullying you? Wasn't it completely consensual? If it wasn't, you can tell me honestly.
She didn't answer.
After waiting a bit, he sent another message.
『Oikawa』: So... it wasn't? And here I was, already imagining our happy future together.
A long pause followed before her reply finally came.
『Kawasaki』: It... was.
After that, no matter what Oikawa sent, she never replied again.
He clicked his tongue and reluctantly returned his attention to helping Taishi study.
Still, the corners of his mouth kept lifting every few minutes.
Saki Kawasaki... She was definitely blushing bright red right now.
What a shame. He couldn't see it for himself.
_ _ _
Night fell on January 1st.
Throughout the day, little ripples had been spreading across the endless sea that was the internet.
But as night arrived, those ripples merged into one massive wave.
The first spark came from Yoshihiro Togashi's Twitter account.
What a terrible way to start the New Year. Because of certain fans' comments, I failed to win my first Full Flush of the year in mahjong and my wife cut off my allowance.
I'll update Hunter × Hunter this year. So please stop leaving nasty comments under my wife's posts. It's honestly starting to make me angry.
And finally, to my dear wife... I'm sorry. Please forgive me. If I had to choose between mahjong and you, I'd definitely pick you next time.
The replies exploded almost instantly.
There was no denying it. Oikawa's comments about "competition" and working harder had shaken up a huge chunk of the light novel and manga industry.
Even game writers and scenario planners had felt the pressure.
At that moment, Oikawa was already on his way to Tokyo. He had no idea any of this was happening.
.
.
.