— — — — — —
Less than twenty hours remained before the release of the second volume of Your Lie in April.
Early that morning, Utaha Kasumigaoka sent a message.
"Oikawa-Senpai, Love Metronome sold 5,300 copies in its first week. I really have to thank you for that. My editor told me the response has been excellent. Sales should easily break 100,000, and there's even a chance a single volume could hit 200,000."
Two hundred thousand?
Oikawa Toru murmured to himself as he read the message.
With 5,300 copies in the first week, hitting 200,000 might be possible at Dengeki Bunko.
But at Fujikawa… that would be tough.
Still, Oikawa didn't dampen her enthusiasm.
"That's because you wrote it well. Love Metronome is a genuinely great light novel. I didn't do much."
In his view, all he had done was push open a narrow crack in the door that had been blocking her path.
Actually opening that door and stepping into the sunlight—that was entirely her own achievement.
"No, that's not it."
After sending that short reply, Utaha suddenly called him on video.
Oikawa answered.
Her face appeared on screen, a little flustered, a little excited.
"Senpai, it's not like that. Without your promotion, Love Metronome would never have gotten noticed. There's no way it would be getting this much praise."
"You've helped me so, so much. I'm truly grateful, from the bottom of my heart."
Oikawa barely listened to her heartfelt confession.
His attention was fixed on her lips.
Soft pink, like two peach blossom petals.
Opening, closing. Letting her gentle voice spill out.
Without thinking, he touched his own lips. The memory from that day outside the haunted house surfaced again.
A faint warmth seemed to linger there.
A beautiful memory she had left him with. One that had shown up in his dreams more than once.
Oikawa suddenly spoke. He cut her off mid-sentence, looked straight into her eyes through the screen, and said softly, "Miss Kasumigaoka… did I ever tell you? That was my first kiss."
Utaha froze.
Like the video had lagged.
Her eyes widened, lips slightly parted, her mind completely blank.
She couldn't even remember what she had just been saying.
Her heart seemed to stop for two or three seconds, then started pounding at a speed far beyond normal.
In her world, all sound disappeared. Only her heartbeat remained.
"Utaha—"
Before he could finish, she snapped back to reality and immediately hung up.
Then, she clutched her phone to her chest and fell back onto the bed.
Her gaze unfocused. Her face flushed deeper and deeper as thoughts raced through her mind.
At first, it was embarrassment.
Then, not long after, it turned into joy.
Eventually, she started rolling around on the bed.
A smile stuck firmly on her face, refusing to fade.
After who knew how long, she took a deep breath and turned her phone back on.
She sent a message to the contact labeled "Idiot": {"Me too."}
...
..
At noon—
Oikawa uploaded the orchestral track he had spent a considerable sum commissioning.
Actually, because of Dengeki's slight delay, the lyrics were also completed, and he managed to find a suitable singer for it.
So it could be said that he had recreated the song that once made him cry for a long time in his previous life—a song that had become engraved in his memory alongside Kaori's letter.
"It… it seems no matter when... I listen to it, it'll still make me… cry."
Oikawa wiped his tears after listening to the song and rereading the letter. Really. No matter how many times he experienced it, the effect was always the same.
After calming down, he posted it on Twitter with the caption: {Your Lie in April - Ending Song || Orange}
{"Growth after sorrow... that's true healing."}
{"Friendly reminder⚠️: this track works best when paired with the ending!"}
Oikawa looked at the post and shook his head with a hint of regret.
"So this is the final lie…"
If he wanted to pull something like this again, he'd have to use a different alias.
But he probably wouldn't.
Doing it once was playful teasing, a little prank on the readers. Doing it twice would just be annoying.
From now on, he'd stick to his real core principle out in the open. "Deliver the sadness to the readers, and keep the happiness for myself."
...
Within minutes of posting, dozens—then hundreds—of comments flooded in.
["Why does this sound kinda sad...?"]
["There's probably a reason. But I'm a little scared."]
["Well, if we forget the lyrics, I hear piano and violin. That must mean Kousei and Kaori are together in the ending."]
["So the ending is Kousei and Kaori performing together! Ahh, I feel relieved now. I was seriously worried the author would hide a knife inside all that sweetness."]
["I'm so hyped. I can't wait to finish the final volume and get so much sugar I end up rolling around in bed."]
["Author, I recommended Your Lie in April to all my classmates! How about that?"]
["Same, I even bought it for my whole family."]
["We will always support you, author. Keep it up."]
[.....]
...
Oikawa nearly teared up reading the comments.
Such wonderful readers… how did they end up with an author like him? Truly, the world had gone downhill.
"I won't let your support go to waste. I'll do my best to bring you even better 'healing' stories in the future."
Deeply moved, he left that reply under the post and pinned it.
What great readers they were.
Shaking his head, Oikawa opened LINE and entered his group chat.
He dragged the soundtrack file in and sent it.
If others had it, there was no way his brothers in the group wouldn't. These were the same guys he'd traded… questionable images with, after all.
...
The group had already been buzzing about the upcoming second volume, but the moment Oikawa appeared, the chat exploded.
Messages flooded in like a raging torrent.
They scrolled so fast he couldn't even read them. This went on for over a minute.
Eventually, the flood slowed enough for him to catch what people were saying.
["Sensei, I love you so much! Can I reserve a signed copy of the second volume?"]
["Sensei, I really want to know what's going on with Kaori. She's not sick… right?"]
["Whoa, Such beautiful music! I seriously can't wait for the next volume!!!"]
["Am I the only one who feels bad for Tsubaki? She's liked Kousei since they were kids, but childhood friends just can't beat the 'new girl' trope…"]
["I feel so bad for her too. Sensei, please, I'm begging you—give her a good ending!"]
["There are so many unanswered questions. Like why Kaori only showed up in Kousei's life now, and her relationship with Watari feels kind of strange…"]
Faced with all these questions, Oikawa answered them with remarkable patience.
"Kaori is sick, but it's nothing serious."
"Don't worry, Tsubaki ends up winning in the end. No need to feel sorry for her."
"As for the unanswered parts, everything will be explained in the second volume. Don't worry, it'll be a good ending."
The lies came effortlessly.
.
.
.