Kasumigaoka's New Work (Continued)

A middle-aged woman who looked somewhat like a store clerk appeared on the stage. This clerk, who also seemed rather unfamiliar with hosting such events, spent about five minutes explaining some tedious precautions. Following this, the partition inside the venue slid open, and Kasumigaoka-sensei appeared amidst a wave of applause.

Doma Umaru grabbed onto Jiang Yu’s shoulders, trying hard to peer forward, but her efforts were all in vain. She quickly gave up and pouted, saying, "...What is this? I can't see a thing!"

Jiang Yu could only offer a helpless smile in response. Standing about a head taller than Doma Umaru, even he could only barely catch the silhouette of a dark-haired girl bowing her head to sign autographs.

As an author who had promoted this city in her work, Kasumigaoka seemed even more popular here than he had imagined. While the venue could not quite be described as a sea of people, it was certainly packed shoulder to shoulder.

Come to think of it, once My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected gained more recognition, would he too, much like Wataru Watari in his previous life, receive an honorary citizenship medal from the mayor of Chiba?

At this thought, Jiang Yu could not help but shake his head with a chuckle.

They had not arrived terribly early to wait in line, seeing as they had taken the train from a neighboring prefecture, placing them somewhere in the middle-to-rear section of the queue. Although in Jiang Yu’s memories, he seemed to have had experiences of waiting in such long lines for author autograph sessions or buying doujinshi at Comic Market, this was likely the first time he was personally participating in such an event since coming to this world, so he did not find it boring at all.

Oh, right, just to mention it, the manga his previous incarnation used to buy was, of course, strictly general-audience.

Katou Megumi and Doma Umaru also seemed to be attending such an event for the first time, but the two girls quickly lost their curiosity and lowered their heads to play with their phones.

Aki Tomoya, on the other hand, despite presumably having attended many similar events, still wore a face full of anticipation and a hint of... a somewhat mischievous expression?

Seeing this, a thought stirred in Jiang Yu’s mind. He tapped Aki Tomoya on the shoulder from behind and whispered, "Hey! Tomoya, you didn't happen to tell Senior Kasumigaoka that we're coming, did you?"

Aki Tomoya looked startled upon hearing this and asked in surprise, "How did you know?"

Jiang Yu sighed, wearing a "just as I thought" expression, though it quickly morphed into the very same look of eager anticipation Aki Tomoya had worn earlier. Along the way, he even gave Aki a praising look that said, *well done*.

He, too, was looking forward to seeing what kind of expression Utaha Kasumigaoka would wear when she laid eyes on them.

The line moved much faster than expected, perhaps because even when Utaha Kasumigaoka was operating under the persona of "Kasashiko," she maintained her usual cold demeanor and reluctance to converse much with others.

Soon enough, it was the turn of Jiang Yu and his group.

"...Tomoya-kun?"

Naturally, the yet-unnamed game development club's signature scenario writer stared at the figure before her, letting out an astonished cry.

Aki Tomoya wore a smile as he handed over the light novel in his hand. "Hello, it's been a while since we met here. Although I've said something similar long before, I still want to... congratulations on the smooth conclusion of your work! Here, please leave your signature as Kasumigaoka-sensei."

Jiang Yu, standing right behind him, also stepped forward while handing over the fifth volume of *恋爱节拍器* (Falling in Love is a Metronome) he had just purchased, and said with a smile, "Hello, Senior Kasumigaoka."

Aki Tomoya turned his head and whispered to Jiang Yu, "Hey... in this kind of situation, you're supposed to call her Kasumigaoka-sensei."

"Yeah, yeah," Jiang Yu replied nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders before lowering the light novel in his hand, looking with a smile at the utterly bewildered Utaha Kasumigaoka.

...

According to Aki Tomoya, it was set in the burger shop where the two heroines first met in volume two, page 148 of the original novel *Falling in Love is a Metronome*.

Utaha Kasumigaoka gently stirred the whipped cream on her coffee, speaking in a seemingly casual tone, "So, what act are you lot putting on? Coming to flaunt your current girlfriend and girlfriend-in-training to break a former lover's heart?"

At the end of her sentence, Utaha cast her gaze toward Jiang Yu, who was idly munching on french fries with an indifferent expression.

"Cough, cough... Whew... Ha, leaving aside whether the delicate setup of 'girlfriend' and 'girlfriend-in-training' is suitable to be applied to an otaku like me at my core, when did senior add that 'former lover' setting to your own script?"

With some difficulty swallowing the french fries in his mouth, Jiang Yu quickly grabbed a cola from the side, took a large gulp, and then said with a helpless expression.

Utaha Kasumigaoka twirled a strand of hair by her ear, narrowed her eyes slightly, and said with a half-smile, "A long time ago, oh～ Did junior-kun forget? Would you like me to give you a hint～～ It was on that night when a man and a woman were left alone together, we..."

"Stop!"

Seeing this, Jiang Yu quickly made a pausing gesture, then turned his head to look at Katou Megumi and Doma Umaru sitting on either side of him, and said with some dissatisfaction, "Hey, you two could at least help a little, right? Once Senior Kasumigaoka starts running her mouth off, there's simply no stopping her, you know?"

Before Katou Megumi and Doma Umaru could react, Utaha Kasumigaoka's gaze suddenly sharpened, and her tone seemed to turn somewhat dangerous.

"Oh～ So in junior-kun's heart, I am such a woman?"

"I'm sorry, I was wrong, please forgive me!"

Jiang Yu indicated that he had... completely folded in a second, blurting out a triple apology. At the same time, he secretly blamed himself for suddenly blurting out his true impression of Senior Kasumigaoka—especially right in front of her!

As a side note, ever since Utaha Kasumigaoka spoke her first sentence, Doma Umaru had lowered her head with a blushing face. Katou Megumi, on the other hand, merely raised her head to glance at the other girl, then nonchalantly lowered it again to focus entirely on her phone, looking completely unfazed.

Watching the two girls' reactions of throwing their friend/older brother under the bus, Jiang Yu cried out inwardly that he couldn't take much more of this. After finishing his apology, he quickly changed the subject. "Right, it's already May, Senior Kasumigaoka's new work must be finished, right?"

Upon hearing this, Aki Tomoya—who had been wondering how to chime in—Katou Megumi, and even the blushing Doma Umaru simultaneously cast their gazes toward Utaha Kasumigaoka's face.

Feeling somewhat uncomfortable under the simultaneous gaze of everyone, Utaha twirled a lock of her hair, lowered her gaze slightly, and said, "Thanks to junior-kun, it's finished. Personally, I think it turned out to be a pretty good story, though I'm not sure if it aligns with junior-kun's initial vision."

Aki Tomoya exclaimed upon hearing this, "A-yu! When on earth did you privately discuss her new work with Senior Kasumigaoka? She wouldn't even tell me when I asked her before!"

Jiang Yu replied expressionlessly, "Probably because the senior figured you'd become awfully annoying once you knew."