Greetings. My name is Minami Kotsuna.
Thank you so much for picking up You Can Have My Back. It is truly a miracle that I have been able to deliver this story in this format.
For a long time, I held on to the desire to write a story in the back of my mind.
Then, out of the blue, I thought, “Okay, let’s make this story happen!” I impulsively wrote the first chapter of You Can Have My Back and submitted it to syosetu.com in September 2019.
From there, more people read my story than I could have ever anticipated. Encouraged by their warm support, I was able to write my first novel over the course of a year or so.
It’s a miracle that I was able to turn that momentary impulse into three volumes.
I am truly grateful to Mr. Y of the Kadokawa Ruby Bunko editorial department for reaching out to me that day. I also had the unbelievably good fortune to have Hitomi Hitoyo add color to this black-and-white world with her beautiful, majestic illustrations. I am still filled with gratitude.
I wrote this story on the theme of two questions that I have been holding onto for a long time.
The first was “Where does one find self-affirmation?” People sometimes lose sight of the meaning of their own existence and lose confidence in themselves, wondering if they are valuable to someone dear to them. I wanted to write about the process of healing from such despair to being able to affirm oneself for who they are once more. From this question Leorino was born, a young man who suffers from estrangement from his previous life.
The second was the contrast between the “haves” and the “have-nots.” Even those who appear fortunate may in fact carry deep pain within. Superficial factors such as status or titles may not be enough to bring a person happiness. It was from these thoughts that Gravis was born.
Leorino and Ionia. Gravis and Lucas, and Smirnov. In this story, each character is a mirror image of another. None of them are truly correct, but each has his own truth, justice, and love. These are revealed as a result of their fate, taking on various forms throughout. That was the world I wanted to depict, and I put my all into this story.
I can only hope that this story will receive a small sliver of space in the hearts of its readers.
I may be asking for too much. But I am not ashamed to say that I wish for such a thing now, as if I were talking to myself back then, when I secretly had a story I wanted to tell in my heart.
Thank you very much for finding your way to the world of You Can Have My Back.
April 2021, Minami Kotsuna