~ Thank you, We've hit 100 Powerstones. This is the Bonus Chapter
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After they finished eating, Kai and Yui Yuigahama left the café.
"If you don't have anywhere specific in mind, Yui, I'll be the one leading the way today!"
"O-Okay!"
Yui was never one to have strong opinions. Whenever she hung out with Yumiko Miura and the others, she just blindly followed wherever they wanted to go. Even if she actually wanted to visit a specific place, she never had the courage to voice it out loud.
Ginza was packed on the weekend. The streets were bustling with heavy foot traffic, including plenty of couples out on dates.
Glancing at Yui beside him, who was practically radiating youthful, maidenly charm, Kai smoothly reached out and took her small hand in his.
"H-Hand...?"
The exact second their skin made contact, he could feel Yui's entire body violently stiffen. Her eyes darted around in pure panic.
"Sorry. It's just way too crowded around here. Holding hands is the best way to make sure we don't get separated. Is that okay?"
"..."
She wasn't a little kid, how could she possibly get lost?
However, meeting Kai's gentle gaze, Yui couldn't bring herself to utter a single word of rejection. Instead, she offered a tiny, almost imperceptible nod.
"Okay!"
Everything required a steady, step-by-step approach. Swinging for a home run right off the bat was a guaranteed way to strike out.
The goal right now was simply to get Yui completely accustomed to basic physical contact with him.
He could distinctly feel how nervous she was, her palms were already starting to sweat.
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"Where are we?"
Even though she honestly didn't care where Kai dragged her, staring up at the massive "Fujikawa Fantastic Bunko" publishing building right in front of them made Yui freeze in her tracks. She shot him a deeply confused look.
Kai just smiled, pulling out the manila envelope he had been carrying and waving it slightly.
"I mentioned it before, didn't I? The pay from my part-time job was just way too low, so I decided to try my hand at writing a light novel. I'm actually here to submit my manuscript today. I'm sorry I didn't tell you beforehand, but the truth is... I was just way too nervous to do it alone, so I really wanted you here to keep me company, Yui!"
"Writing a novel?? THAT'S SO AMAZING!"
Here in Japan, anyone who could actually make a living writing novels held a surprisingly high social status. Sure, light novel authors faced a bit of elitist stigma, but to the average person, it was still an incredibly prestigious, almost unreachable profession.
Seeing her overwhelmingly positive reaction made Kai let out a genuine laugh.
"It hasn't even been published yet. Hell, there's a solid chance they might reject the manuscript entirely in a few minutes, and then I'd be totally screwed."
Despite what he was saying, there wasn't a single trace of actual nervousness on his face.
"It's definitely going to pass."
This time, Yui proactively tightened her grip on his hand, her eyes shining with absolute sincerity.
"You're going to be totally fine, Kai."
It was as if she was trying to channel her own courage straight into him through those words.
"Yeah."
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"Please have a seat inside for a moment. Editor Machida will be with you shortly."
After stepping inside the Fujikawa Fantastic Bunko offices, a receptionist escorted Kai and Yui Yuigahama to a private waiting room, leaving them there to wait for an editor to review the manuscript.
The waiting room wasn't entirely empty. When Kai walked in, there was already another teenage girl sitting there. She had long, perfectly straight black hair held back by a white headband.
The moment they entered, the girl's striking burgundy eyes clearly swept over them for a fraction of a second before immediately returning to her book. Her long legs, clad in sheer black tights, were incredibly eye-catching.
[Senpai! Senpai! Drools!]
[I desperately want Senpai to step on me]
[Cling onto Senpai's legs and never let go]
[I want Senpai to verbally abuse me]
[Goddess-tier feet! Goddess-tier feet!]
[...]
Still the same barrage of absolutely degenerate, cultured quests.
Utaha Kasumigaoka? It looked like choosing to submit his manuscript here today was an incredibly solid move.
"Kai..."
Yui obviously noticed exactly where Kai's gaze had lingered. She gave his hand a light tug, calling his name in a slightly resentful, melancholic whisper.
You couldn't really blame her. Utaha Kasumigaoka radiated an incredibly oppressive aura that made Yui feel entirely outclassed. Between her mature figure and her flawless aesthetics, Yui felt completely overshadowed.
"What are you getting all jealous for?"
Snapping back to reality, Kai chuckled. He pulled Yui over to a pair of seats and leaned in close to whisper in her ear.
"I just realized that she's actually a third-year upperclassman at our school. Her name is Utaha Kasumigaoka, or something like that."
"Eh? Really?"
Yui was genuinely caught off guard.
Were high schoolers nowadays really this insane? They were out here literally writing and publishing novels? Looking back at her own absolute lack of skills, Yui felt even more painfully useless.
Kai obviously had no idea what kind of self-deprecating spiral was happening in her head. He just raised a hand and affectionately pinched her soft cheek with a smile.
"Besides, I already have you, Yui. Why would I ever bother looking at other girls?"
"Kai~"
The incredibly intimate gesture made Yui duck her head in pure, bashful bliss.
The brilliant flush on the young girl's face was genuinely intoxicating. Kai couldn't stop his breathing from hitching slightly, feeling a sudden surge of impulse.
"Yui."
Leaning even closer to her ear, he dropped his voice to a hushed whisper.
"You're so incredibly cute right now. Can I kiss you?"
"T-T-This..."
Kiss??
Yui was internally panicking. Was he just messing with her??
But after meeting the dead-serious, burning intensity in his eyes, she was absolutely certain—he wasn't joking in the slightest.
"N-Not here!"
There was literally someone else sitting right across the room. Her maidenly heart absolutely could not handle doing something so incredibly brazen in public.
So, she was basically saying that doing it somewhere private was completely fine? Kai suppressed the rising impulse in his chest, a satisfied smirk tugging at his lips.
"Then I'll make sure to savor you properly later."
"Stop saying stuff like that!"
Her entire face was already a brilliant, burning crimson.
'A couple?'
Sitting just a short distance away, Utaha Kasumigaoka was currently observing Kai and Yui out of the corner of her eye.
Tch!
Flaunting their nauseatingly sweet PDA (Public Display of Affection) like they were the only two people on the planet. They literally had zero consideration for the absolute single casualty sitting right in the same room.
She subconsciously began to rapidly tap the tip of her shoe against the floor.
It was Utaha's signature physical tick whenever she was feeling intensely irritated.
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"I'm the one submitting a manuscript here, so why does it feel like you're infinitely more nervous than I am?"
As the minutes slowly ticked by...
...Kai could distinctly feel Yui gripping his hand even tighter, the sweat on her palms growing noticeably heavier.
Her emotions were completely spiraling into nervous anticipation.
It prompted him to throw out a teasing remark to lighten the mood.
"Relax. You're my lucky star, Yui. With you here by my side, I'm absolutely guaranteed to pass."
"I..."
She didn't even have that much confidence in herself.
"YOU'RE GOING TO BE TOTALLY FINE, KAI."
But she still managed to muster up her courage and look him dead in the eye.
Right at that moment, the door to the waiting room was pushed open again. Sonoko Machida, dressed sharply in professional office lady attire, strode into the room.
"My apologies for the delay, I got held up with some business. You two must be the ones here to submit your manuscripts, correct?"
As a senior editor, Sonoko Machida's daily workload was absolutely massive. She had been slammed with tasks up until this exact second.
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