Epilogue: Or Two Spicas

Monday. Mai-chan safely returned to Shirakami School.

The fact that she, who usually comes to school in a Benz, was walking with her two best friends caused a bit of a stir. But, Mai-chan didn't run away, she headed to her classroom and sat at her own desk.

Her classmates sincerely rejoiced at the return of their class's symbol.

So much so that when Mai-chan greeted everyone, a round of applause erupted.

While all this was happening, the first bell for homeroom rings.

Nakano-sensei, who had arrived in the classroom before homeroom, claps her hands to get the students to their seats. She asked Mai-chan to explain why she had been absent.

As Mai-chan solemnly steps up to the teacher's podium──

「...Do your best, Kurahashi-san!」

The gloomy loner sitting in the corner of the classroom opened his mouth for a change and sent a cheer.

Spurred by that voice, the classmates all began to shout words of encouragement.

Receiving the warm goodwill, the maiden had finally, truly returned to her class.

「Everyone, I am very sorry for causing you so much worry this time. The work for the school trip was more difficult than I had thought. I intended to rest for just a little while, but before I knew it, I couldn't bring myself to come to school...」

Mai-chan spoke about what happened to her as it was.

Of course she omitted the story about holling up in a net cafe the whole time, but she frankly confessed why she couldn't come to school and how she had felt.

Her classmates' reactions varied, but not a single person condemned her.

「Thank you, Kurahashi-san. And, I'm sorry. If I had watched over you more closely, I wouldn't have made you go through such a painful experience.」

「It's okay, Sensei. Thanks to this, I was able to realize something important.」

「I see, you've grown. But, so that something like this doesn't happen again, I'll do my best too, so... please rest assured!」

「Yes! Thank you very much!」

And thus, homeroom ends.

「Hey, hey, Kurahashi-san! What were you doing while you were absent?」

「You weren't in touch with Arisugawa-san and the others either, right?」

「Was there someone else you could rely on? For example... your boyfriend?」

Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Her classmates who love romance gossip start to poke at Mai-chan.

It's true that spending her time having cut off her friendships would stir the imagination. And Mai-chan had, in fact, run to a man's place to distract herself from her sadness and loneliness.

Now, how would the silver-haired maiden handle her classmates' suspicions──

「...Ehehe, that's a secret♪」

She gave a mature smile and deflected with a meaningful phrase.

And on top of that, she sent me a heated gaze over their shoulders.

「Good for you, Shibuya. Kurahashi seems more cheerful than I expected.」

「...It's none of my business.」

The extrovert guy in the next seat says something surprisingly admirable. It was annoying beyond belief, but I didn't want to rain on this happy occasion.

To my noncommittal reply, he muttered to himself, "You're right" and──

「But you like Kurahashi, don't you?」

he asked, with the cluelessness characteristic of an extrovert.

「Yeah, I do. You got a problem with me liking Kurahashi-san?」

I retorted, feigning anger.

「Then, isn't that great. Let's stop by McDonald's on the way home to celebrate today.」

「Why do I have to make a detour to McDonald's with you?」

「Ha? We're friends, aren't we?」

I responded to that question with silence.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

Time passes to the school trip.

At the glamping facility managed by Mai-chan's parents, we were made to have a social studies experience that was too much for students. We strolled through the natural forest, enjoyed activities, savored a high-class dinner, and had a great deal of fun.

「Come on, Mai! Eat more meat! That's why you can't grow bigger!」

「Heeere you go, Maa-chan, say ahh~♪ I blew on it, so~ it's not hot~♪」

「Geez~! You two! Stop treating me like a child!」

And, Mai-chan, whose participation was at one point uncertain, was also participating in the school trip.

However, she was dismissed as an executive committee member. To be precise, she was freed from the actual duties in an advisory capacity.

I don't know what forces were at work there. I heard a rumor on the grapevine that a student with connections to the Kurahashi family had reported the sorry state of the school trip executive committee.

Well, whatever the circumstances, as long as Mai-chan was saved, that's all that matters.

It's an anticlimax, seeing as I said I would support her, but as long as she can spend her days smiling, it's fine.

「Haah, anyway, I'm glad we could all come here safely.」

「You're right~♪ And what's more~ the three of us are even in the same room~♪ Since it's come to this~ let's make lots and lots and lots of memories~ until morning~♪ I'm not letting you sleep~ tonight~♪」

「Hey, stop! Takane, you're being lewd...!」

「Hmm? I was just talking about playing trump or card games, though~?」

Kaori and Takane-san start their usual squabble with Mai-chan between them.

The silver-haired maiden, who put down her chopsticks with an exasperated look, suddenly raises her face and shakes her head, looking around frantically.

What is she looking for?

As I'm tilting my head wondering that, her vibrant smile jumps into my field of vision.

「Mai! You tell this pervy woman off too!」

「I'm not pervy~♪ It's your fault for misunderstanding, Kaorin~?」

The secret reward I was sent was brought to an abrupt end by her best friends.

But this is fine. I was satisfied.

「"I'm not letting you sleep tonight", isn't that something every girl wants to be told at least once?」

「Wai… H-Hey, Mai!」

「Oh my! Maa-chan, you're quite precocious!」

Her two best friends follow up on Mai-chan, who let that slip out unintentionally.

It seems that if I try to take the main stage in her school life, things will get incredibly complicated.

It's for the best that there's no turn for a mob character like me. I reached for a small bowl on my tray and downed its contents in one gulp.

Now then, my school trip which seemed like it would end so anticlimactically──

「Ehehe. The stars are so pretty in the forest.」

「They are. Well, Mai-chan is prettier.」

「...Hauu! Kimito-san, saying things like that so suddenly is, not fair...!」

For some reason, Mai-chan and I were at the night glamping facility──or rather, on a trekking course a short distance away, sitting on a bench and gazing at the stars. And on top of that, holding hands tightly.

The cause was none other than this.

The boys in my room, every last one of them, went to visit the girls' rooms in our class.

Well, the extrovert guy's gyaru girlfriend came along, so I expected that to happen. But for even the serious-looking class president to go with them.

By the way, the president's girlfriend is a slightly chubby, short girl.

Apparently, he can't leave her alone because she's like a small animal.

「Heeh, so the class president has a girlfriend. I wonder how far have they gone?」

「Oi you! Have some decency! It's the serious class president and that small animal-type girl we're talking about...」

「About that... she's surprisingly assertive. Just the other day, in her back hole...」

「「No way!?」」

It seems that boys and girls our age have a lot going on.

It was a bit of a relief to know that it wasn't just Mai-chan and me who were moving fast.

In any case, after seeing those two off like that, I was left alone in the room, playing a game on my smartphone.

Once the school trip is over, Mai-chan's game training will start again.

Before the battles get serious, I need to get my player skills back too──

「Knock knock knock♪ Good evening♪ It's the night patrol...♪」

「Huh, Mai-chan!?」

Just then, Mai-chan popped in for a visit.

Of course, there's no such thing as a night patrol job.

A tent reminiscent of a Mongolian yurt. Dashing to the bed in the middle of it, Mai-chan leaped into my chest.

My smartphone falls from my hands.

「Ehehe...♪ I came to hang out...♪」

「Hey. That's not allowed, everyone is taking the school trip seriously...」

No, they aren't.

In this vacant room, those words had not a shred of persuasive power.

「So, with that said...♪ How about it, Kimito-san...♪」

「How about it, you say, that's just...!」

Honestly, if you ask me if I want a special memory, I do.

If I spend a hot, thrilling night with Mai-chan, it would surely become an unfading page of my youth. Even more so if I end up with her for life.

However──

「Let's not. Let's keep that sort of thing for inside the net cafe only.」

「...Ehh. Even though I worked up the courage?」

「Sorry. But, I don't want to leave an H-rated memory on the school trip that you worked so hard for.」

Mai-chan hugs me tightly and says "I see..." in disappointment. She's in her school-issued tracksuit, but this level of closeness made me a little dizzy.

「It's a night with such beautiful stars. Let's go for a walk instead.」

「......Okay!」

And well, we hurried outside before I could change my mind.

It's not so much that we're away from the city; Hirosaki is just rural. You can come across a star-filled sky right away.

There was nothing particularly special about it, but the night sky I gazed at with Mai-chan was a little bit fresh.

「We've only ever met in that small private room at the net cafe after all.」

「This is the first time we've... hung out outside, isn't it♪」

「Mai-chan, do you know how to look at the stars?」

「I do... hmm, I don't. Maybe I've forgotten.」

Taking her hand as she acts spoiled, I point out and teach her the constellations.

That's Arcturus, that's Spica, and that one over there is Denebola, making the Spring Triangle.

As I draw lines in the starry sky, she nods yes, yes. It feels like she already knows, but she was looking with such enjoyment, her eyes sparkling so cutely that I stopped caring.

「Do you know about Demeter, the goddess of the harvest who became the model for the constellation Virgo?」

「This is the first time I've heard of her.」

「She protested when her daughter was forcibly married to the king of the underworld, and descended to the earth.」

It's the Greek myth of the "Abduction of Persephone".

It's a story often seen in Western mythology, based on the theme of the changing seasons.

The goddess of the harvest wanders the earth, worrying about her deceived daughter.

Holding the fruits of the earth hostage, she finally manages to get her daughter back, but…

「Her daughter, Persephone, ends up accepting becoming the wife of the god of the underworld.」

「I wonder why... it's strange.」

「It really is. With a normal sensibility, I don't think you'd fall for the man who abducted you...」

As I say that, I recall what I myself have done. Luring her into the net cafe, teaching her this and that, and in the end, turning her into such an erotic girl.

Mai-chan puts a hand to her lips and giggles.

In her figure now, there isn't a trace of the somewhat dangerous air she had in the past.

She had a beauty like a fixed star, burning and shining on its own, the complete opposite of the moon in the night sky.

「Fufufu♪ I'm sure her husband was a really good person.」

「...Is that so?」

Mai-chan looks up at the night sky. Shining where she looks is the first-magnitude star of Virgo──Spica.

「From now on, please take care of me, my Hades-san.」

Well, I can't just leave a goddess who suddenly collapses on the roadside alone.

I pull Mai-chan's shoulder closer.

Gently stroking her silver hair, which is as dazzling as the starry sky, I buried my face in it.

「Thank you, Shibuya-kun. Thanks to you, I was able to come on the school trip.」

「I didn't do anything. I just gave Mai-chan a little push.」

「That little push is what made me happy.」

And then, she places a hand on my cheek──

「Fufufu♪ Let's all be happy together… okay♪?」

she said, stealing my lips and then blushing bashfully.

Every time I see her smile, I will probably remember this day from now on.

Afterword

To those I'm meeting for the first time, it's a pleasure to meet you. To those it's been a while, good to see you again.

My name is kattern, an author of light novels and novelizations in the genres of married woman harem, ecchi, gyaru, mature woman, men's beauty salon, hard violation, TS, onahole, NTR, and cuckoldry. This time, I'm working on a super-mainstream bishoujo game, and it's my first full-price project. I had the honor of novelizing a classic work where you deepen your bonds with the beautiful girls you share a school life with, have sex, and build a harem.

Emm, as for the game's title... huh, where are my notes?

No way, did I delete them...?

Ehh? Original? Isn't this an original light novel? It's not a novelization! You've gotta be kidding me, my second book to be published in print is──an original light noveeeeeeell!!!!

Yes, a farce! (What a contrast with my debut work's afterword, I know.)

O Light Novel, I have returned! (Anal/Toy)

It's been exactly three years since my debut. I managed to just barely, just barely slip in on the so-called light novel author survival curve and somehow get my second work published.

This is all thanks to everyone who has always supported me!

Are all of you who stuck with me reading this~?

I did it, everyone~!

I got to write an original light novel again~!

So, why was I able to get another book published in the first place? This work didn't particularly go viral online, and I had been focusing almost entirely on novelizations for Paradigm Publishing-sama, so I hadn't been able to release any original work. I'm sure many of you are wondering about that.

The answer is "pitching". After my proposals could no longer be published at Fantasia Bunko-sama, I properly explained the circumstances and then bowed my head to various publishers, asking, "Would you be willing to talk with me, starting from the proposal level?" Among them, Micro Magazine Inc.-sama was the one who said, "If you have an interesting proposal, please send it over and we will take a look at it", and that's how things got started. I thought it was a completely hopeless endeavor myself, so when I got a reply, I cried.

And so, this work is my second book, but my first to come from a proposal.

I started from a situation where I myself couldn't believe I would ever make it to publication, so I'm astonished to see it now as a physical book.

I worked hard. I'm so glad I didn't give up.

Of course, the real start is from here on out.

That said, when I look around me now──I see that many authors who supported Kakuyomu in its early days, authors who created huge booms, and authors who wrote solid, distinguished works at Fantasia Bunko are enrolled here and thriving. I feel that perhaps my story was able to come together thanks to the achievements and trust built by these senpai authors. I am simply grateful for this connection.

Well, talking about myself is getting a bit old, and this is my second book, so──

How about I talk about my recent favorite VTubers? (So sudden)

In order to write this book, I had a face-to-face meeting and discussion with my editor-sama at Micro Magazine Inc.-sama's office in Tokyo around May of last year.

During our back-and-forth, our tastes were perfectly split between "the Samba Carnival (my editor-sama)" and "starting a horror game at this hour (me)". With that group, I had only been following the queen of Nico Nico who was the driving force behind her hometown's revival, the singing onee-san named after her hometown, and the ordinary woman aiming to be an ojou-sama, but I figured this was also part of my studies and started watching.

The result, I got completely hooked. (Isn't this great?!)

As you can probably guess from the status of my VTuber web novel posted on Kakuyomu-sama, I've started following quite a variety of people. Diversity is important, isn't it?

And so, this work was written while carefully preserving the kind of modern character details seen in those VTubers. If I could get even just a little bit closer to the movements and sensibilities of young people... it is with that wish that I have published this book. I believe that light novels are fundamentally for the young people living in the now, and I hope that through this work, I can give those kids experiences and opportunities for thought that they can't have in their daily lives.

Ah, but please be careful with your family planning! Your financial situation is just as important as your feelings! Also, don't do that kind of thing in a net cafe! This is fiction after all! But if I could get you to think about such "extraordinary things" or "an awareness of sexual love"──as the author, it would be the greatest possible honor.

Now, it is time for my words of thanks.

First, to my editor-sama, who reached out to me and asked, "Would you like to do this?"

Thanks to you, I was able to take on the challenge of a novel head-on once again.

Furthermore, this work could never have been created without the help of my editor-sama. I am sincerely grateful that you accompanied me on a challenge that went beyond my own limits.

If you'll have me, I look forward to working with you for a long time to come.

To everyone at Micro Magazine Inc. Despite my sudden and rude inquiry, you listened to my story with sincerity, connected me with my editor-sama, and guided me all the way to publication; I am deeply grateful. Come to think of it, I have always been rescued from predicaments by warm people reaching out a helping hand. I pray that this work can, even in a small way, repay your kindness to your company.

To the illustrator, Mappa Ninatta-sensei. With your catchy character designs and cover illustration, as well as your risqué illustrations, you fully depicted the charm of this work that cannot be expressed with words alone. I am truly delighted to have been able to work together with sensei. Every time an illustrator-sama carefully finishes their art, I am always moved, feeling it is a happiness beyond what I deserve, and I will cherish this work's illustrations and display them on my shelf for the rest of my life.

To the designer, Mori Masafumi-sensei. Thank you for the wonderful book design. As I am a layman when it comes to design, I am grateful that you brought out the maximum appeal of this work.

Also, to the printing company, Edupress Inc. To the sales, publicity, and proofreading staff at Micro Magazine Inc. To the distributors and bookstores──I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone involved in this work. I will hold your warm kindness in my heart and continue to devote myself to my work in the future.

And finally, to you, who are reading this book. Thank you for picking it up.