Next Year’s Cherry Blossoms

When late March came around, the group decided to hold a cherry-blossom viewing party at a park near Gift Publishing and Itsuki’s apartment. The attendees included Itsuki, Nayuta, Haruto, Miyako, Chihiro, Toki, and Ashley from last year, as well as Kaiko Mikuniyama, Ui Aioi, and Makina Kaizu—all of them enjoying the food Chihiro made, as well as whatever snacks, beer, and sake they brought along.

“Here you are, Haruto.”

“Oh, uh, thanks.”

Ui poured beer into Haruto’s glass. It was Bieken, a Belgian beer notable for its honey content, and there was an illustration of a fetching lass dressed as a honeybee on the label.

Ui was in a sexy dress that exposed a lot of her chest, and if she was pouring beer next to you, this was hard to miss.

Talk about a literal honey trap…

The deep crevice, as well as the occasional glimpses at her bra, made Haruto blush and avert his eyes. Miyako, seated next to him, gave him a disapproving look.

“M-Miyako, this isn’t how it…!”

“…I didn’t say anything, did I?” She turned her eyes away from Haruto and began eating.

Ui approached her, carrying the bottle of Bieken. “Would you like some, too, Shirakawa?”

“Oh, sure… Thank you.” Miyako held up her cup as Ui poured.

“Um… You too, Ms. Aioi?” she offered, taking up the bottle.

“No need for the Ms. I’m still a new author, fresh from my debut. Besides, you’re not my supervising editor anyway.”

“…True. In that case, here you are, Aioi.” Miyako gave Ui a warm smile, ignoring the connotations behind what she said as she filled her cup.

“Thanks very much,” Ui said with a smile as she brought the drink to her lips. “Hee-hee! I’ve never had honey beer before, but it’s not all that sweet.”

“No. It does feel vaguely like honey, though.” Miyako took a sip herself. The sweet aroma brought out an elegant umami, creating a drink that was refreshing and packed a punch.

The two of them had met for a bit at the New Writers Contest ceremony, so they knew each other’s names, but this was the first time they had spoken. Ui had already surmised that Haruto had a thing for Miyako, and Miyako had a vague idea that Ui’s obvious overtures toward him were starting to make his heart waver.

“Why did you start working at GF Bunko, Shirakawa?”

“Um, well, Mr. Toki, Itsuki’s editor, introduced me to it. It was originally just going to be a summer-break thing, but they kept asking me for help after that, so I just sort of kept going.”

“Ahh. Do you want to be an editor later on?”

“Mmm… I’m curious about that, but I’m still not too sure. But you were going to writing school, Aioi?”

“Yes.”

“What kind of things do you study there?”

“Well…” Ui thought for a moment. “First, the elements of style. Then, creating characters, plots, coming up with ideas… A lot of things. You have professional writers and editors read your work and give you their expert advice, and I also helped write the story for a game on social media.”

“Wow. That sounds impressive. Like you’re on the fast track to going pro.”

Ui snickered at Miyako’s honest admiration. “Well, it’s not something that works for everyone.”

“Oh?”

“Some people haven’t really found anything to do with their lives, but they kind of like anime and light novels, so they join a school for it. Some of the students barely even read novels, much less write them. A lot of people quit midway, and even after graduating, a lot of them take jobs outside the entertainment industry.”

“That’s how it works, huh…?”

Miyako figured people wouldn’t attend specialized schools like this unless they had a real drive to turn professional, but apparently that wasn’t the case. Maybe they weren’t all that different from her, just kind of drifting from high school to college.

“By the way, Shirakawa, have you read any neat books lately?”

“Hmm… I’ve actually been reading a lot of novels and manga that have editors as the hero. Things like Henshu Girl and Juhan Shuttai!”

“Oh, I see. Yeah, I’m kind of interested in novels starring writers, too. Having someone close to myself as the protagonist helps me empathize with them more.”

“Yeah.”

…Miyako and Ui kept the conversation going, talking about novels, manga, movies, magazines, food, and more—but they never talked about Haruto. I’ve experienced these kind of probing conversations between girls before, Miyako thought, but they never get easier.

But I guess this is normal…

It wasn’t normal to start directly shooting for your potential rival in love at the first meeting, like Nayuta did…but of course, Nayuta’s abnormal approach helped her grab the heart of her beloved.

Miyako almost wanted to shout “I’m not thinking about Fuwa at all, so feel free to confess your love to him or whatever!!” but it wasn’t something to say in front of so many people at this party. Besides…if asked whether she really didn’t think anything of Haruto, she couldn’t concede to that. Seeing Haruto all but melt as Ui approached him absolutely irritated her. Her future, her friends, her love—she had so many troubles that it made her dizzy.

Ui, meanwhile, was smiling and talking with Miyako while trying her best to keep anyone from noticing how she was quivering. Upon hearing about her prize, she had successfully changed her whole look, trying her hardest to study modern fashion in anticipation of encountering Haruto again—but she still wasn’t used to contact lenses. A single misstep, and she felt like the facade would start to crumble.

Back at writing school, the only really notable thing about Ui’s looks were her breasts. Any time she could’ve spent out socializing and having fun, she instead used to study novel writing, so she wasn’t used to chatting with others. A flashy college student like Miyako wasn’t the type to attend writing school at all, so just striking up a conversation made her nervous. If it wasn’t for Miyako’s editorial job and conversational fluency in books and the industry, it would’ve been impossible.

So they engaged in a pleasant discussion while hiding the truth from each other. Haruto, meanwhile, watched on from a distance, kept in nervous suspense.

Kenjiro Toki, coming off two all-nighters in a row just like last year, quickly passed out from the beer. Itsuki fell asleep not long after, head carefully perched on Nayuta’s lap. Next to her, Kaiko was scarfing down food at an eye-popping rate. She had been working since yesterday, eating and drinking nothing, just so she could have the free time to join this party, so she was ravenously hungry.

Chihiro and Kaizu were chatting away about robot models, while the nearby Ashley was making quick work out of the sake and snacks around her. The sake was called Onna Nakase, which meant “makes women cry”—a sweet, mellow junmai daiginjo marketed to women. The snacks were ryukyu, a local delicacy from Oita Prefecture in western Japan, made with sashimi, chopped onions, and sesame seeds steeped in a half-and-half mix of soy sauce and mirin (ratio adjustable to taste) for about half a day. Inada, or young Japanese amberjack, was the fish of choice today; the crispy onions, fragrant sesame, and umami-infused fish in the sauce made for an excellent bite. It went perfectly with rice and sake, and you could basically eat it forever.

In fact, Ashley was caught in its magic right now.

“…I’m in so much trouble. So much. This is too good. Wow. This is crazy.” Her brain function was rapidly failing her, but the cycle of ryukyu and sake consumption was only accelerating.

“…Whoa, Ashley, don’t you think you’re going a little fast?” Kaizu asked, a tad concerned.

Ashley smiled back at him, content. “Hee-hee! I’m fine, I’m fine. I’m all grown up, you know.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.” Kaizu sighed, then grinned at Chihiro. “She usually acts so well put together…but I guess she’s really cutting loose today.”

“I guess so,” Chihiro replied with a vague smile.

The party began to break up once the sun went down.

“Zzz…zzzzz……”

“I’m so tired… I don’t want to move…”

“C’mon, Itsuki, hang in there!”

“You okay, Bro?”

As was now becoming the custom, Toki was left under a tree while Itsuki leaned on Haruto’s shoulder and staggered his way home while Chihiro trailed along behind.

“Oohhhh… I feel grrrooosssss…”

“Whoa, Kaiko, no puking out here, okay? Hang on until we reach our bathroom back home!”

“If you throw up here, Miku, that means there’s a jinx! Any creator who loves Itsuki’s books is doomed to barf during parties!”

Miyako and Nayuta were accompanying Kaiko, who had managed to both eat and drink too much.

“Thanks for inviting me today, Haruto. Hope I see you again soon, Shirakawa!”

Ui gave her a quick bow. They had exchanged contact information, but neither of them knew if anything would come of it.

“Hyaaahh…snort…”

And Ashley, who had managed to down three full bottles of sake, was awake but completely trashed, wobbling around as she walked.

“…Hey, can you get home okay, Ashley?”

“Yeahhh! I’m headin’ hoooome. I’m alllll growwwwwn up.”

Kaizu rolled his eyes at the currently inarticulate Ashley and sighed. “Ah well… I’ll join you on a taxi back home, okay?”

“Uhhh? I—I don’ neeeeeeed it.”

“…Ugh.”

Wincing as he hailed a taxi, he guided Ashley into the back seat before joining her inside. After a few moments, once the car pulled out, Ashley was curled up back there, head resting on Kaizu’s lap as she slept.

“……I hope…we can all view the blossoms next year, too…”

Noticing some twinkling light around Ashley’s eyes as she mumbled in her sleep, Kaizu silently looked away from her—only to make eye contact with the taxi driver via the rearview mirror.

“……”

“…?” Kaizu was puzzled at the driver, who made no effort to hide his suspicions.

“……”

Then he impartially considered his situation. Here was a middle-aged man who wasn’t exactly in the prime of health, along with a completely hammered girl who possibly didn’t look above the legal drinking age.

It reeked of criminal activity.

“Um, no, it’s nothing like that…” Panicking, he tried to defend himself, but the driver’s judgmental eyes only became more so.

It took a great deal of hard work to make him understand that Ashley was thirty-three years old and that Kaizu had done nothing to her. When it was all over, Kaizu swore to himself to never share a taxi with a drunken Ashley again.