As I pedaled as fast as I could down the winding roads toward the Urashima Tunnel, I felt a dampness on my cheek. Thinking it was a stray bead of sweat, I wiped it away, only for it to quickly be replaced by a dozen more rapid-fire droplets. Oh God. It was raining; and here it had been so pleasant out only a minute ago. The light sprinkle quickly turned to a full-on shower, and I was soaked from head to toe. With each rotation of the wheels, I felt the extremely unpleasant sensation of my wet clothes adhering to and then peeling away from my skin over and over again. Then, before I knew it, I was crying—though I wasn’t entirely sure why. Just couldn’t hold it all in any longer, I guess. Yet still, I pedaled onward, as fast as my legs would take me, even though they were on fire. Even after it started to hurt so bad that I thought I’d sprained both ankles. I just kept pedaling.
“Come on, Tono-kun… Please…!”
After what felt like ages, I finally stood at the entrance to the Urashima Tunnel. I’d thrown my bike to the ground farther back down the road and run the rest of the way barefoot, my sandals having fallen off somewhere along the way. The bottoms of my feet throbbed in pain from being stabbed by hundreds of tiny pebbles. I had to reach Kaoru as soon as possible, so I swallowed the pain and ran into the tunnel regardless.
A little ways in, I noticed a glass bottle lying on the ground. Upon further inspection, I saw a little paper note inside. A message in a bottle? I could only assume Kaoru had left it for me, so I picked it up and extracted the cork. Sure enough, it was a few sheets of folded notebook paper, all filled in with pencil. I wiped the rain and sweat from my hands on my clothes so as not to ruin the paper, then started reading the letter from the top, slowly and carefully.
To Anzu Hanashiro.
If you’re reading this letter and your name is not Anzu Hanashiro, please put it back in the bottle and return it to where you found it. Though that being said, I can’t imagine anyone but her would wander in here and stumble upon it, so I’ll continue under the assumption that the person reading this is, in fact, Anzu Hanashiro.
First things first: I owe you an apology. I’m really sorry for heading into the tunnel without you. You probably feel pretty betrayed right now. Hell, I wouldn’t blame you if you never forgave me. But if you could at least read this letter all the way through to the end before you write me off forever, I’d really appreciate it.
Now then. I’m sure you’re wondering why I decided to leave you behind and enter the tunnel all by myself. So I’ll tell you right now. The short answer is: I think you really need to pursue this manga opportunity right away. Whatever it is you think you might find in here, you don’t really need it. What you really need is to make a name for yourself as a manga artist ASAP. That story you wrote was riveting, and it deserves to be read by a much wider audience than just me. I’ll admit, I was a little surprised at first to hear that they were ready to assign you your own editor, but honestly? With how good you are, they’d be downright stupid not to. You deserve every bit of this. I really mean that.
But you know better than I do that manga trends change rapidly with the times, right? Pretty much anything that’s popular today will feel dated in four or five years, and it’s hard to tell whether something that’d resonate with people today would still be popular much further down the line. I feel like the average reader’s tastes and sensibilities fluctuate and mature along with the industry as a whole. Not that I’m an expert or anything, mind you. My point is, I really think you need to hit the ground running and make your big debut as soon as you possibly can. On that, I’m all but certain. If you really feel that manga is your true calling in life, then you shouldn’t waste any more time chasing fantasies like me. You’ve got the talent—your dream’s right there for the taking.
On that note, there’s one other thing I’d like to say. You told me a while back that your whole motivation for exploring the Urashima Tunnel was because you “wanted to be someone extraordinary,” remember? And, well…if that’s really your dream, then I’m not gonna stand here and spit all over it. To be honest, though, I’m not so sure you really need to be out here chasing the extraordinary for the sake of it. Because you strike me as the type of girl who’s totally capable of enjoying life and finding fulfillment in all the normal ways too. Granted, I get that we’ve only known each other for a single month, but I still feel like I got to know you pretty damn well in that short period of time.
When you clung to my shirt for dear life that first time we explored the tunnel at night, I got to see how scared and vulnerable you can be. When you showed me your manga and I gushed to you about how incredible it was, I got to see how ecstatic you can be when you realize you’ve created something with genuine artistic worth. When the three of us went to the festival together, I got to see how much fun you can be when you let your hair down and enjoy yourself. And when I told you how pretty I think you are (which I meant, by the way), I got to see how adorable and red in the face you get when you’re embarrassed.
Do you want to know the first thought that popped into my mind, each and every one of these times? “Wow, she really is just an ordinary girl deep down.” Yes, I realize that to you, that’s probably the single greatest insult imaginable. God forbid someone feel content with being normal, right? But like I said above, I’m really not trying to spit all over your dreams here. I want you to think long and hard about this stuff, is all. About what you really want out of life, I mean.
If you do take my advice and decide not to come in here, I want you to know that I don’t expect you to wait for me. I want you to make a ton of new friends, live your life to the fullest, and laugh so hard, you get ab cramps every single day. I want you to write the manga of your dreams and let the whole world see what an incredible storyteller you are. And when I finally make it out of here, I hope to see your name listed right up there alongside the all-time greats. Trust me when I say I genuinely, wholeheartedly cannot wait to see what wondrous worlds you’ll come up with.
Finally, I’d like to say one last thing, in case you’re still on the fence.
You’re already the most extraordinary person I’ve ever met, Hanashiro. And yeah, I realize that’s not really the same thing as having your name go down in history. But maybe the name Anzu Hanashiro doesn’t have to mean something to each and every person who ever lives.
Maybe it could be enough for it to mean the world to just one.