September had now kicked off—and with it, the brand-new light novel imprint Branch Hill Bunko. The Hero, Chased Away from His Nation, Becomes a Dark Knight and Lives a Life of Freedom, the first book Miyako oversaw as editor, somehow managed to get done in time to join the launch lineup.
The initial response to the label was reportedly pretty strong overall, with Dark Knight in particular scoring a reprint within the first week of its release. The real work was only getting started, of course, but at least they were safely off the starting line, and everyone at Branch Hill from Miyako and Ayane on down was incredibly relieved.
Three days after the publisher committed to a second printing of Dark Knight Volume 1, Miyako took a few days off to go on a late-summer vacation with Nayuta, Itsuki, and the rest of the gang. They were going to the Nagashima Resort in Mie Prefecture, a three- to four-hour trip west of Tokyo; Chihiro told Miyako that the place ruled for her graduation trip, and they had all talked about paying a visit at one point or another, so they decided to commit to it once Miyako could take some extended time off. Having your project score a second printing is great news for any editor, and Miyako was in high spirits—even though Izumi was no longer her only writer, thanks to a spate of new assignments as of last month. She still had doubts about her job performance, as always, but with this trip, at least, she wanted to kick back and refresh herself.
So a rather large tour group—Miyako, Nayuta, Itsuki, Haruto, Chihiro, Kaiko, Ui, and Aoba—signed on for the trip. It began on a weekday, but when Miyako brought up the schedule with them, they all readily agreed to it. Light novel authors, of course, have a lot of leeway with their schedules; Chihiro was still on summer break, Aoba got a day off from school so she could make it, and Kaiko, forever chased by deadlines, brought her work tools along.
The gang left Tokyo Station early in the morning and reached Nagashima Resort a bit past ten AM, leaving their luggage at the front desk. This was the site of one of Japan’s largest amusement parks by square footage, and during the summer season, it also featured one of the nation’s biggest water parks. That’s where Miyako and the group decided to go first. Once they got past admission and were in the water park, they split up to change into their swimsuits.
All the women had brought two-piece bathing suits to this trip. Miyako had brought along one of the many suits Nayuta and Kaiko purchased for manga modeling purposes; it was maybe a little skimpy for her liking, but among all the erotic, provocative suits in the library, this was the most “decent” one. Nayuta, Kaiko, and Ui opted for proper, more mature designs, but the powerful presence of their breasts was unlikely to go hidden by any article of clothing at all. Aoba, meanwhile, went for a frilly top and bottom, focusing squarely on cutesiness.
Surprisingly enough, it was Chihiro who went the most daring on this front. She had on a triangle bikini, just a little bit of fabric held together by strings. Her breasts looked unusually large; she must’ve put in some padding.
“You wear that kind of thing, Chi…?”
The sheer surprise from Miyako made Chihiro blush. “I wanted to put up a good game here, so…,” she softly said.
A “good game” against Haruto, no doubt. But:
“Um, Chi, I hate to break it like this, but Fuwa and I—”
“Yes, I know,” interrupted Chihiro before Miyako made it any more awkward. “Haruhiko told me himself. But you’re not going to be together with him until you’re a full-fledged editor, right? So…I figured maybe I still had a chance.”
Chihiro’s eyes made Miyako flinch a bit, as if a gauntlet had just been thrown down before her.
“Mmmm… Well, I have no right to stop you, but…”
But, she thought, I don’t see how it’s too possible. She didn’t think it because she felt like some unassailable champion, but if you stepped back and gauged Haruto’s character, the chances of him giving up on Miyako and getting swayed by some other girl seemed impossibly low.
“Do you think I’m going too far?”
“…” Miyako averted her eyes, all but affirming it.
“I think so, too,” Chihiro said with a giggle.
“Oh?”
“But honestly, it’s kind of fun. I mean, I’ve never done anything so outwardly girly before.”
Chihiro—a girl who had supported her mother from an early age, devoted herself to her family even after Natsume remarried, and even went so far as to disguise her gender around her brother and his friends—seemed sincerely joyful right now.
Maybe fighting over a guy is a pretty girly thing to do…but then again, that girliness is bound to attract a guy sometime, I think…
As silly as she found it, Miyako couldn’t help but hope that the rest of Chihiro’s youth was just as beautiful as she was at this moment. Well, if Chihiro’s feelings for Haruto were ever being answered in kind, she couldn’t exactly cheer them on, though.
Everyone was back together now, and after a quick dip in the wave pool and flowing river, they decided to go hit the waterslides. There were a ton of different types, which was why the water park was so popular…but being part of Nagashima Spa Land, a renowned treasure trove of roller coasters, most of the slides were aggressively designed for thrills and speed. If the only waterslides you knew were the wimpy ones from the local family fun center, you were in for a rude awakening. Unlike roller coasters, which at least give you seat belts and safety bars to stay safe with, waterslides throw you into the abyss practically naked—some people, in fact, love all kinds of coasters but are too scared of waterslides to even consider them.
Itsuki Hashima was one of those.
“…I… I really can’t… I’m gonna die… I don’t get why anyone voluntarily goes down something so dangerous… Are these people suicidal or something…?”