The morning after the interview, Haruki didn't wake up until nearly noon.
It was already late January, and his university had closed for winter break weeks ago. Most students had returned home for the holidays. His two assistants, after helping finish the manuscript submissions for this week and the next, had also headed home to spend New Year's with their families.
But Haruki? He had no plans to return anywhere.
His parents had passed years ago. There were no relatives he felt close to, and going back to his hometown felt pointless. So he stayed behind in the city, alone but content.
As usual, the first thing he did after waking up was open Fend account to check fan comments.
Predictably, the top of his feed was flooded with reactions to last night's interview—specifically, his bold self-declaration:
"Soldier of Love."
The comments were merciless.
"Bro really called himself a soldier of love. Still can't believe it."
"Did you catch Asamiya's face when he said it? That awkward three second silence? Legendary."
"Forget Asamiya, did you see Producer Mori? Man was in shock. Then he gave Haruki this 'I respect the hustle' kind of look. Peak comedy."
"The Voice of the Stars, Anohana, 5 Centimeters per Second all 'healing' stories, huh? Mizushiro's like some Heian poet reborn he says the most bizarre things, and no one questions him."
"I told my friend 5 Centimeters per Second was a heartwarming, hopeful story from our beloved 'Soldier of Love.' She hasn't said a word to me since."
Haruki stared blankly at the screen.
"…Is it really that ironic?"
He sighed and closed the app. At least people were running with the nickname. That was better than being called the "Master of Tears" or the "girlfriend Killer."
With time, once he published a few comedies, maybe that whole tragic label would fade out on its own.
Feeling inexplicably cheerful, he booted up his PC and opened his favorite game.
Since getting carried by Ryuko's support plays over the past few months, he'd managed to claw his way from Iron IV to Silver II in ranked. It'd been a while since he played solo. Most of the time, he duo queued with Ryuko or Airi.
Time for a solo session.
Two hours later, he closed the game window in frustration and stared at his demotion screen.
"Trash game," he muttered. "Wasted two hours of my life. Stupid jungle... no synergy... I should've just stuck to draft."
Back when Ryuko played with him, she ganked five times in the first three minutes.
Just as he was reminiscing, his phone lit up.
Ryuko.
He picked up.
"Yo. What's the Soldier of Love up to?"
Haruki groaned. "You too? Don't tell me you're buying into that ridiculous nickname."
"What, you don't like it?" she teased. "Anyway, don't tell me you forgot about tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" he blinked, then realized. "Oh right! The tournament at the amusement park!"
There was a pause on the other end.
"…You totally forgot, didn't you?"
"No way," Haruki said, clearly guilty. "How could I forget something so important? Our promise is sacred."
"Mm-hmm."
"But hey you're calling to finalize plans, right?"
Ryuko let his shameless deflection slide.
"Yeah. The matches start at 2 PM, but the park lets you ride everything with just the event ticket. I figured we could get there early and mess around a bit before heading to the arena."
"Sounds good."
"I'll swing by your place around 8 AM. We'll go together."
"…Wait," Haruki said. "The park... rides... you mean the whole amusement park?"
Ryuko raised an eyebrow. "What did you think it was?"
"I thought we were going for the League of Legends pro matches. Like, just two game nerds hanging out."
"This is the match. It's just... inside an amusement park."
Haruki sat in silence for a second.
"So, uh... you and me, going to an amusement park together... that kind of sounds like..."
"A date?" she offered casually.
"Exactly."
"So what?"
Haruki's brain short circuited. "…You're okay with that?"[Tl:-😂😂]
"Why not?"
"Well… wouldn't your boyfriend get the wrong idea?"
"Boyfriend?" Ryuko blinked. "What boyfriend?"
Haruki frowned. "You don't have one?"
"Nope."
"For real?"
"Dead serious. Who told you otherwise?"
"No one. I just figured. You're smart, talented, good looking. The other girls in our class all had someone."
Ryuko clicked her tongue. "Tch. You think everyone's like you? Falling in love during high school, juggling grades and manga deadlines?"
"That was a rumor," Haruki protested. "I was working nonstop in high school! There was no time for dating. I was barely scraping by, and I still don't know how I got into animation school."
"Oh?" Ryuko said lightly. "Then what about that former assistant of yours?"
Haruki sighed. "You mean Kotone? She was my assistant. That's it."
"Really?"
"Really."
There was a long pause.
Haruki scratched his head. "It's weird, huh. How'd we even end up talking about all this?"
"…Yeah," Ryuko murmured, eyes lowered as she sat on her bed. "Weird."
(TL:- if you want even more content, check out p-atreon.com/Alioth23 for 60+ advanced chapters)