After leaving the karaoke place, Tsushima Kagami and his group said their goodbyes to Shimizu Nayotake and the others. Kosaka Akane called her driver, and despite Shimizu Nayotake's repeated protests, Kosaka Akane personally saw her ho.
After parting ways, Tsushima Kagami was about to head back to his apartnt alone.
He hadn't taken more than a few steps when his phone rang.
He pulled it out and checked the number — it was Kobayashi Tomoaki.
He answered.
"Kagami-kun, are you free right now? I'm over in Shinjuku San-cho — there's a great yakitori place nearby. Want to co grab a seat?"
Tsushima Kagami glanced at the ti. For a working stiff, this hour barely counted as the start of a night out, and besides, Editor Kobayashi's tone didn't sound like he was just looking to catch up.
Having nothing else on, Tsushima Kagami agreed without hesitation.
"Sure, I'll head over now."
Inside the private room of the yakitori restaurant, the aroma of charcoal-grilled skewers mingled with the scent of soy sauce and sake.
Tsushima Kagami slid open the door to find Kobayashi Tomoaki already seated inside, with a man who looked a few years younger than Kobayashi sitting across from him.
The mont Tsushima Kagami walked in, Kobayashi Tomoaki — who had been glancing toward the door — spotted him at once and imdiately waved him over with a shout.
Seeing Kobayashi, Tsushima Kagami smiled and made his way over.
"Kagami-kun, here, sit down."
Kobayashi Tomoaki called out cheerfully.
"Let introduce you — this is my junior from university, Sato. He's currently an editor at Kodansha's Gunzo."
Tsushima Kagami sat down, took the hot towel offered by the server, wiped his hands, and then smiled at the editor.
"Editor Sato, nice to et you."
Editor Sato looked a little nervous, but managed to maintain a professional smile.
"Dassai-ya-sensei, I've heard so much about you. I've read your Shayo — it was absolutely stunning. I honestly couldn't believe you're actually a high school student. No wonder Kobayashi-senpai and the others have been keeping you under wraps so carefully."
"Since we're all acquainted, just call by my na."
Tsushima Kagami said.
Editor Sato imdiately smiled and obliged.
"Then I won't stand on ceremony."
"The reason I've imposed on Tsushima-sensei this evening is mainly because I have a request."
Having said that, Editor Sato knelt up properly and gave Tsushima Kagami a deep, formal bow.
Tsushima Kagami glanced over at Kobayashi Tomoaki, who was sitting beside them sipping his sake with a contented smile.
"He wants to commission a piece from you."
Kobayashi Tomoaki said with a grin.
"This guy — he was just as roundabout back in school. Always has to talk in circles."
Caught out, Editor Sato scratched the back of his head with a slightly embarrassed laugh.
"That's right. On behalf of Gunzo, I'd like to commission Tsushima-sensei to write a novella."
"In terms of compensation, we can offer the sa terms as Shinchosha."
Tsushima Kagami didn't answer right away. Instead, he reached into his bag and pulled out a sheaf of manuscript pages.
"Funny timing, actually — I've been working on sothing lately. It's not finished yet."
He handed the pages over.
"You two editors can take a look and give so feedback."
Kobayashi Tomoaki and Sato exchanged a glance, then accepted the manuscript.
"Hear the Wind Sing?"
Kobayashi Tomoaki turned to the first page, and Editor Sato shifted closer beside him. The two of them began reading together.
The private room fell quiet — nothing but the soft crackling of the charcoal fire and the whisper of turning pages.
[There is no such thing as a perfect piece of writing, just as there is no such thing as utter, absolute despair.]
[Even so, every ti I sit down to write, I find myself sinking into despair. Because the range of what I am capable of writing is simply too narrow.]
At that, both editors looked up from the page and stared at Tsushima Kagami.
"Um… Kagami, is there sothing troubling you lately?"
It wasn't hard to understand why they'd jumped to that conclusion. Literary editors develop an almost heightened sensitivity to the written word, and whether in Japan or abroad, great writers have always been a high-risk group — people who spiral into obsession over small things, slide into depression, and in so cases, take their own lives.
So rather than analyzing the literary intent behind the words, their first instinct was to check on Tsushima Kagami's ntal state.
"No need to worry, you two — please, keep reading."
Faced with a Tsushima Kagami who looked entirely sunny and clearly wasn't performing, the two editors settled themselves and continued reading.
What followed was a narration of how the "I" in the story found his answers through a writer nad Hartfield.
["In the act of writing, one must first establish one's distance from the things around oneself. What is required is not sensibility, but a sense of scale." (from What's Wrong with Being in Good Spirits, 1936)]
Reading that passage, both n nodded inwardly in agreent, and then looked up to ask Tsushima Kagami with curiosity.
"Who is this writer nad Hartfield? I don't think I've ever co across the na — what country is he from?"
Tsushima Kagami gave a mild smile and waved his hand lightly.
"He's just a fictional character within the story."
The two understood and continued reading.
After using the fictional writer Hartfield to lay out the narrator's perspective and ideas, the latter half of the piece at last brought forward the central thread: the "I" and a young man called "the Rat," trading complaints and sharing in a string of absurd, freewheeling, everyday monts at a bar.
Unlike Kagami's usual style — dense, complex pure literary prose — this gave you the feeling of reading sothing popular and accessible.
The language was plain. Simple and clean.
Every line breathed with a quiet sense of humor and the absurd.
The two of them finished the page marked "01" in the bottom-left corner of the title sheet.
Kobayashi Tomoaki looked up at Tsushima Kagami, surprise written across his face.
"Kagami-kun, this style of yours…"
Kobayashi Tomoaki chose his words carefully.
"It's noticeably different from Shayo."
"It's more like a return to the style of My Cheese-Cake-Shaped Poverty."
"But the writing is more mature now."
"This reads much more like popular fiction."
Sato eagerly added his praise.
"The narrative approach is really interesting — like cinematic montage."
"And even though the overall feel is very light, there's this emotion that lingers in you after you've finished reading — sothing you can't quite na."
He paused, then quickly added another line.
"It reads close to popular fiction, but the literary depth is absolutely still there."
"Since Senpai's Shincho leans more toward pure literary craft and artistic quality — why not leave this 'popular read' to this junior of yours~"
Having said his piece, Editor Sato straightened up, then bent forward into a bow.
"Tsushima-sensei, this Hear the Wind Sing — please, you absolutely must let us at Gunzo publish it!"
Kobayashi Tomoaki heard that and felt a small pang of regret for what he'd just said.
True, the style did lean closer to popular fiction.
But Kagami-kun's very first submission — that Cheese-Cake — hadn't he pushed it through to Shincho against all objections himself?
With Kagami-kun's current standing in the literary world, forget popular fiction — even if he wrote sothing as lowbrow as a light novel, Kobayashi Tomoaki would find a way to get it published in Shincho.
But in the end, Kobayashi Tomoaki said nothing. He simply smiled, lifted the small cup of sake he'd just refilled, and drained it in one go.
"You've got so nerve, poaching right in front of ."
Sato suddenly realized what he'd walked into and looked a bit sheepish.
"S-Senpai, that's not what I ant…"
"I know."
Kobayashi Tomoaki waved it off, then turned to Tsushima Kagami to explain.
"Gunzo's editor-in-chief reached out directly to our editor-in-chief, which is why they specifically sent this junior of mine to et with you."
"When the higher-ups have already signed off, what else can I say?"
"As long as you don't have any objections, Kagami-kun, that's all that matters."
He looked at Tsushima Kagami, his smile carrying just a trace of wry resignation.
"So this ti — let Gunzo have it."
Hearing all this, Tsushima Kagami understood the situation and couldn't help feeling a quiet sense of wonder.
Writers aren't restricted from submitting to multiple publishers at the sa ti, but having two rival heavyweights coordinate behind the scenes just to arrange a commission — that was sothing he'd never seen before.
Sure enough, it's all about relationships wherever you go. They might look like bitter rivals on the surface, but behind closed doors, these higher-ups are probably old classmates, senpai-kohai pairs, teacher-student duos — or in so cases, family.
Competition and mutual exchange of favors, all at once.
Upon hearing Kobayashi Tomoaki's words, Editor Sato excitedly gave him a deep, grateful bow.
"Senpai, thank you!"
Kobayashi Tomoaki waved him off.
"Don't thank — go thank our editor-in-chief. You think you'd be sitting here otherwise?"
"Oh, and you're picking up the tab tonight!"
"Ahaha, naturally!"
"As for the editors-in-chief — they can sort that out among themselves."
"Well then, business is done — ti for us to have a proper drink and catch up."
Editor Sato mid the gesture of raising a small cup toward Kobayashi Tomoaki.
"Agreed."
Kobayashi Tomoaki noticed that the yakitori skewers on the table — grilled long ago — had already gone cold.
He smiled and poured Tsushima Kagami a glass of juice.
"You can't keep drinking fruit juice forever, Kagami-kun."
"You're practically a grown man now."
"How can you not drink at all?"
"Can't hold my liquor, can't hold my liquor."
Tsushima Kagami lifted his juice glass and raised it toward the two of them.
"To both of my senpai — thank you for your hard work. I'm truly glad this piece has found its audience."
The three of them clinked glasses.
Sato took a sip and then couldn't help asking eagerly:
"Tsushima-sensei, roughly when do you think Hear the Wind Sing will be finished?"
"Soon."
Tsushima Kagami thought for a mont.
"Just a matter of days. The story is already mapped out in my head — all that's left is to write it down."
"That's wonderful!"
Sato's face lit up.
"Then we'll…"
"Hold on."
Kobayashi Tomoaki cut him off, eyes on Tsushima Kagami.
"Kagami-kun, giving this one to Gunzo is fine."
"But the next piece — you give Shincho first priority, understand?"
Tsushima Kagami smiled.
"Deal."
Only then did Kobayashi Tomoaki give a satisfied nod and pour himself another drink.
In the private room, the warmth of the charcoal fire mingled with the scent of sake, and the three of them fell into easy conversation — about literature, amusing stories from the editorial departnts, and the embarrassing monts Kobayashi and Sato had shared back in their university days.
Sato drank too much and started complaining about his editor-in-chief's peculiar habits. Kobayashi Tomoaki listened with a grin, occasionally throwing in lines like "our editor-in-chief has a similar thing."
Tsushima Kagami leaned back in his chair, listening to the two of them go back and forth, occasionally jumping in to share so industry anecdote he'd picked up in a previous life.
The three of them sat there, trading drinks and stories.
In the yakitori restaurant, the charcoal still burned in the chef's grill, and the fragrance of grilled skewers drifted out alongside the laughter of the guests — spilling through the windows, dissolving into the neon-lit night of Tokyo.
____
👻🔥 40 ch: Walnut-chan🔥👻
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