"Release that single volume as soon as possible, and show everyone how short-sighted they were to underestimate you!"
With that kind of unconditional trust, who could not be a little moved? At least Akifumi was deeply touched.
But
'Why does it feel like she got little more worked up than usual today? It's almost like she's the one who's being criticized'
Akifumi didn't think too much of it, quickly exchanging pleasantries with her before hanging up.
Turning his attention back to the tools laid out on his desk, he let out a sigh.
This was going to be a tough fight
Later, after the afternoon sun crept through the curtains into the room, Akifumi stretched and then sprawled out on his bed, arms and legs splayed like a starfish.
After returning from Shueisha yesterday afternoon, he'd barely spent an hour eating. The rest of the time had been consumed with work.
Only his 16-year-old body could handle such reckless overwork; by the time he turned 30, there wouldn't be enough energy left to act this irresponsibly.
Though he felt incredibly light after finishing the tasks, a deeper sense of fulfillment than anything else, that feeling quickly gave way to an overwhelming emptiness.
He didn't want to move a muscle, even his fingers felt heavy.
Lying there for about ten minutes, he started to feel some of his strength return.
"I can't keep doing this," he muttered to himself. After all, only his body belonged to him.
Using sheer willpower, he managed to resist the urge to fall asleep immediately and dialed the phone number for Mihari.
After a few beeps, the call connected.
"Akifumi-sensei, is the artwork ready?"
"It's done," Akifumi replied in a voice that surprised even himhoarse from exhaustion.
"What's up with your voice? Are you sick?" Mihari asked, concerned.
Rather than being more worried about the artwork, Mihari was more focused on Akifumi's health?
'Ugh, what a careless editor' Akifumi chuckled, shaking his head.
He cleared his throat, his voice getting a little steadier.
"I just stayed up late working."
"However," he added, "I don't have enough strength to bring the artwork over today."
"What!? If you can't deliver it today, the production of the single volume will be delayed!"
Akifumi was speechless. "Can't you think of something?"
"Iah! I can come to pick it up!" Mihari quickly responded.
Finally, she got some common sense!
"Haha, sorry, Akifumi-sensei, I got too excited and didn't think straight. I'll come right over to get the original work. Wait for me!"
"Beep beep"
Staring at the phone after it was hung up, Akifumi sighed.
"Still hasn't learned her lesson"
Though Mihari had been better this time, Akifumi knew it wouldn't be long before the same mistakes were repeated.
"I'll remind her next time, I guess."
With that, Akifumi turned the phone's volume to max, letting his thoughts swirl, and closed his eyes
[TL Note]
Hey there! If you're enjoying this, be sure to check out
p-atreon.com/InsomniaTL
Please remove the hyphen to access the page normally Just a heads-up, there will be advanced chapters available there! and Thanks so much for reading!
[033] A Visit from the Girls!
"Akifumi-sensei, are you okay?"
Seeing Akifumi's slightly pale face, Otosuna Mihari voiced her concern.
"I'm fine. Just took a short nap," Akifumi waved his hand dismissively, then added apologetically, "Sorry for making you wait."
He had turned his phone's volume up to the max before falling asleep, but he still hadn't heard it ring.
"And it's already been half an hour since you called," he added.
That meant she had been waiting outside for at least half an hour! Normally, he'd enjoy teasing her, but today it felt differentleaving someone to wait this long made him feel guilty.
Although he had imagined her apologizing, Mihari didn't seem pleased about the wait.
"It's fine, Akifumi-sensei," she replied with a warm smile.
"You worked hard all night. I was just waiting outside."
"Though, I couldn't really help much as your editor"
"Seriously?" Akifumi blinked in confusion.
"If it weren't for your help finding my work interesting, I wouldn't have even won the prize, let alone get the chance to release a single volume."
"That's already worth more than what most editors do," he added, earning a flustered laugh from Mihari.
"Really? You think so?" she said, her cheeks turning pink.
"Be confident! Drop the 'really'?'" he teased.
"You're just saying nice things!" Mihari grinned back, clearly enjoying the praise.
Her mood brightened, but then she added, "But, honestly, anyone could've done that, right?"
"Sure, but not everyone would," Akifumi replied, smiling at her response.
Mihari gave him a satisfied nod, looking pleased.
"Guess I was wrong about you before."
"That's one of the few good things about you, Editor Otosuna-san," Akifumi teased.
"..."
Mihari's smile immediately turned to a scowl.
"That didn't need to be said!"
The conversation turned back to business, and Mihari took the manuscript, carefully inspecting the artwork.
These were just color pages, but their quality was goodAkifumi's skill was impeccable. The drawings were stunning and could easily be used as bonus posters for fans.
"What do you think?" Akifumi asked, eager to hear her opinion.
"Your artwork is as amazing as always. It's really impressive!" Mihari nodded enthusiastically.
"But if only you were half as good with people as you are with drawing..." she added, her tone sarcastic.
Before he could respond, she swiftly turned to leave.
"I have a lot of work, so I'll head out now!"
"Well, that's a win for you, Otosuna-san!" Akifumi smiled wryly as she left.
Later that day, the clock read 15:48.
Time had flown by. school should be over now, he couldn't help but envy the students who were off enjoying their carefree lives.
'You guys are wasting your youth, but I can't help but envy it,' Akifumi thought, then sighed.
"Guess I'll nap while I can."
He closed the door, collapsed onto the couch, and shut his eyes.
When he heard his doorbell, he woke up again, he look at the time and it was already 17:08.
"Seriously? I'm too tired for this," he groaned.
The doorbell rang incessantly.
"Ugh, if I'd known this was coming, I would've just pulled the plug for my doorbell," he muttered, annoyed at the interruption.
"Who...?" He was about to ask, but then the figure in front of him caught him off guard, and his irritation melted away.
"Why are you here, Kato?" Akifumi asked, surprised.
Standing at the door was Kato Megumi, who, instead of answering, just studied him quietly.
Her voice was softer than usual, and her complexion looked a little pale. She seemed unsteady on her feet.
After a moment, she decided to be directreaching out and placing her hand on his forehead.
"Normal temperature," Kato said calmly.
"Thank god you're fine."
Akifumi blinked in confusion.
"If we didn't know each other, I would have thought you were a stalker," he remarked dryly.
"Huh?" Kato tilted her head in genuine confusion.
"Come on, using 'violence' to knock on my door, staring at me like I'm some strange specimen, and then checking my forehead like I'm a patient?" Akifumi raised an eyebrow.
Kato didn't flinch, maintaining her usual tone.
"The 'violence' you mentioned was just me ringing the doorbell. And the strange stare was me thinking, sorry if I offended you."
"Is it really just a cold?" she asked.
"But it doesn't seem like anything serious", Kato confirmed.
"That's good, I guess," she muttered, still perplexed.
"Did you really come all the way here just to check on me?" Akifumi asked, half-joking.
"And to visit a sick friend," Kato replied matter-of-factly, then paused as if something suddenly struck her.
"Is my behavior that weird? I thought a friend visiting when another is sick would be normal."
Akifumi froze for a moment, reflecting on the question.
Was it really that strange? The answer, of course, was no.
It was a simple act of friendshipbeing there for one another when needed.
And yet, for some reason, he had felt odd about it.
It made him realize that adulthood sometimes clouds these simple, pure moments of connection.
"Seems like I was misled by a bad teacher, huh?" Akifumi mumbled to himself, realizing the real reason behind his feelings.
Kato, with an almost imperceptible smile, continued her observation.
"It's just natural to check on a friend who's not feeling well, right? I thought you'd appreciate the gesture."
"Yeah, but..." Akifumi hesitated, still caught in the complexity of his emotions.
"I guess I wasn't used to this kind of straightforward kindness anymore."
Kato tilted her head again, looking at him with a puzzled expression.
"Is it really that hard to accept help from a friend?"
The quiet tone in her voice made Akifumi pause.
He hadn't realized how long he had been closed off from others.
Perhaps he had gotten so used to being alone, that even a simple act of care felt unfamiliar.
"Maybe it's not that strange," he admitted, finally understanding.
"But I still can't believe you run all the way here just for this."
Kato smiled softly.
"I don't mind. Besides, it's the least I can do as a friend."
Akifumi chuckled, shaking his head. "You're too good at this."
He was half-joking, but deep down, he felt something stir within him.
It had been so long since he had someone genuinely care, and now here was Kato, showing up just to check on him.
"Okay," Akifumi said, his tone softening.
"Thanks for coming over, I guess I owe you one."
Kato gave him a knowing look.
"You don't owe me anything. Just take care of yourself, alright?"
With that, she turned to leave, but Akifumi stopped her for a moment.
"Hey, Kato..."
She turned back, raising an eyebrow.
"You're right, maybe I should stop pushing people away so much," he admitted, his voice uncharacteristically sincere.
Kato's smile widened, and for the first time, Akifumi felt like he wasn't completely alone in the world.
As she left, Akifumi stood at the door for a long moment, reflecting on the small interaction. It wasn't much, but it felt like something he needed.
[034] The Girls Grievance
"You already came all the way here, are you sure you don't want to come in and sit for a while?"
"I don't want to know anything about a otaku's room."
Kato, who said this with a deadpan expression, paused for a moment, then sighed in resignation.
"As expected, what the books say are all lies."
"Huh?"
"They say that if you say something like that in front of a otaku, they'll definitely get upset, but Akifumi didn't react at all."
No, no! I'm just shocked to hear such a sharp comment from Kato and was so stunned I completely missed the point of what she said!
Unfortunately, Kato clearly didn't want to give Akifumi the chance to explain and continued:
"As long as I'm sure you're okay, that's enough for me."
"And you need to rest more when you're sick, right?"
"Besides, your place is pretty far from mine. If I leave too late, I might miss curfew."
Holding the get-well gift Kato brought (common cold medicine), Akifumi didn't look away until Kato's figure disappeared from view.
'She's really a good girl.'
In his past life, the title 'Sage Kato' wasn't exactly a compliment about her character, but more about how she could always speak her mind in any situation, completely ignoring the typical 'read the between the line' behavior unique to Japan.
'I'm almost embarrassed to act on this...'
Just kidding, of course.
Letting a girl like this go to someone else? That'd be such a waste, right?
What? You say I stole Eriri's first kiss but still want to go after other girls? Isn't that totally the actions of a scumbag?
Sorry.
The moment his past life memories resurfaced, he had already decided to embrace the scumbag life.
But when you really think about it, it wasn't entirely his fault.
After all, this world was overflowing with "2D Waifu" characters.
His heart had already been split into countless branches in his past life.
Closing the door, He made sure to remove the doorbell's batterythis way, no one could disturb him...
"Bang bang bang."
"Damn it! Are you seriously not letting me sleep!?"
Akifumi's face darkened as he opened the door again.
"I said..."
What he was about to say was instantly erased as soon as he saw the girl standing at the door.
Her golden hair danced in the breeze, like a mischievous spirit.
Her skin, as delicate as porcelain, seemed to glow with collagen, and she looked extraordinarily enticing.
Though she was wearing a simple white dress, it made her appear as if she'd stepped out of a painting, a true fairy-like figure.
"Shiina-san!?"
If it's Kato, as a friend, she couldn't find a reason not to visit.
Shiina Mahiru's presence here left him completely puzzled.
Especially since she was dressed in casual clothes.
Given that, Shiina could only have gone home, changed, and come back with a bag of fruit only lead to one reason...
'Does this girl live nearby?'
The world's so small, it's strange that they've never bumped into each other before.
Looking up at Akifumi's confused gaze, Shiina Mahiru's fair skin flushed a light pink.
"Well... because Hiratsuka-sensei said you were sick, I thought maybe there was something I could do to help, so I couldn't resist coming over."
Noticing the puzzled look on Akifumi's face, Shiina hurriedly tried to explain her intentions, her hands fidgeting in an awkward attempt.
"You must be having a hard time after being sick, right? And since you live alone, I got worried"
"At first it could be just a small cold, but with no one to take care of you, the condition could be worsened over time, and you had to go to the hospital... then the check-up found..."
"Stop!"
If she keeps going like this, she gonna said that I will be dead for real!?
This is ridiculous!
Her reasoning was full of holes.
There was no reason for her to be explaining such things. It was something Shiina could do as a friend.
It's not like I have many friends, and Shiina knows that. So no one would be keeping track of whether I came to school or not.
There's no need for her to talk about this unnecessary stuff.
After all, "being sick" was just a reason he made up, and fewer people knowing about it was better.
