Chapter 132

My curry ran out yesterday, so starting today I’ll have to go back to thinking about my meals every day, which is a real pain. Occasionally one of my readers will write in their letters, “Have you been eating properly? I almost want to come over and cook for you,” and I find myself pretty seriously thinking, “P-please come!” (No, no, of course the kind thoughts are more than enough…) Hello, I’m Yukako Kabei. My survival abilities are somewhat low. While I was writing the middle volumes of the series, I was looking forward to writing the Afterword to the last volume, and I know I thought up all kinds of material for it, but now that the time has actually come, nothing’s really coming to me. I can’t remember what I was planning to write…At this point, I don’t exactly feel a sense of accomplishment—or rather, the fact that it’s over doesn’t even exactly feel real yet. Or rather, I’ve already rushed into brainstorming for my next project, so I don’t have the time to be giving myself up to deep emotions…O-oh, so that’s the problem. On a different subject, my favorite part of a novel to write is the epilogue. That doesn’t mean I write the epilogue first or anything; it’s that I enjoy taking my time writing the epilogue at the end after making it through the process of getting there, the way you enjoy a dessert you’ve been looking forward to after you finish dinner. Now that I’ve finished writing the last volume, from my perspective as author I feel as if this whole volume, and the second half in particular, has been me writing one long, long epilogue. I’d decided on the ending quite a long time ago, so this is where I’ve been working all this time to get to. Many people have told me that the signature line I’ve been using ever since I randomly slapped it together in the Volume 1 Afterword “neatly sums up the story,” and hearing that from other people was what really convinced me that “Oh! I guess that’s true” for the first time, but yes—it’s “a story about a girl with a complicated personality and a man with a tiresome personality, getting together and being separated, and about a man who’s tired of living finding meaning in life again”—and I think I managed to end it that way. Many people assisted me during the process of writing this long nine-volume story. I give all of them my heartfelt thanks. To tell you the truth, back when I was a reader but not a writer, I was one of those people who thought, “The acknowledgments in the Afterword are just private notes that don’t have anything to do with the reader, so they’re boring and pointless!” But now that I’m in a position to write Afterwords like this myself, I know that I’ve received support from a great many people both on and off the job as I write, and there’s no place to convey my gratitude except the Afterword, so in the end I’ve been using this space to say my thanks every time. First and foremost, thank you to my editor, who graciously took me on, and to Taue-san, who has worked as my partner since the first volume. Let’s all keep doing our best. And I give my very finest thanks to all of you readers who have supported this series. Fortune has smiled on me over and over in giving me the opportunity to carry this story all the way to the final volume, and I was even blessed with radio drama and comic adaptations and merchandising. As an author, I feel very honored. W-wow, I really can’t think of a single interesting thing to say. I’m sorry I’m writing only this normal, serious stuff. I mean, I do know there aren’t any rules saying that people have to write interesting things in Afterwords, but still. I pray that this story will stick with you in some small way and live on in a corner of your heart. And if you were to take notice of Yukako Kabei’s future writings as well, that would make me happier than anything. I hope to be able to see you again in another story. Yukako Kabei