Chapter 16

Special Thanks! To the writer, Kotoko Hachijo: You did a great job with the Hirano and Kagiura novel, and in this follow-up, you really captured the nuances of these characters and a bunch of great behind-the-scenes details. Thank you for working so hard right until the deadline! To the editor, Sakurazawa: Thank you for going over the proofreader’s corrections so many times and managing to work so many of my hopes and dreams into this book. I appreciated how I could trust you to make sure all the spelling and lettering was correct, including the handwritten stuff. I know how many times you checked to make sure the glosses on words throughout the book were right. I can only apologize for all the trouble I caused you! I’m sure you also did other things I don’t even know about, but I’m grateful for those, too. I had a lot going on at once, including this novel, and it was your prowess at organizing things that kept me from getting overwhelmed. Thank you so much! To everyone at the Gene Editorial Department who cooperated: You’re all amazing. Thank you for helping me get a second novel out! I’m sure some of the people in this department helped check this book, and they have my thanks! I look forward to working with you again on the next one. To my assistant Kana Toka: You helped with drawing backgrounds, thanks to which I was able to submit the manuscript. Thank you very much! To my assistant my mom: Thank you for always getting the screentone painted in about an hour before the deadline. Oh, and also for the fact that I exist. To the designer, Kawatani Design: This time the front and back covers are different colors; the whole feel of the book is something different than usual—but thanks to you, it’s still just as sweet and refreshing as ever! With you behind me, I’m always able to draw the covers I want at the size I want them. Thank you! To everyone at RUHIA Ltd.: You handled the typesetting for this book as well as the last one. Once again, I was fiddling with the text until the last possible moment, and I know that could have impacted the final product… You worked yourselves to the bone and got this out the door. Thank you so much! To Daisuke Shinseki (RUHIA Ltd.): You were in charge of proofreading once again. Thank you for giving the manuscript an incredibly thorough reading, from correcting slips in the first-person pronoun usage to hounding me about parts of the narrative that didn’t flow to pointing out how real people tend to relate to their past actions. You gave me so many opportunities to think harder about how the story was constructed. To everyone in the Sales Department: I owe you a lot, not just for the last book, but now for this one, too! Thank you for your ideas for bookstore-specific bonuses! Looking forward to working with you on the next one. Also, the printer, who always comes up with the most beautiful colors; the delivery person, who makes sure everything gets to us safely; all the bookstores; the publishing agency; and everyone else without whom this book wouldn’t and couldn’t exist. Thank you all so much! Finally, thank you to everyone on Twitter and Pixiv who read and supported the original manga. Thanks to you, the novel project was a success. And extra-special thanks to those who picked up this book!