Iruma-san wants to win the Akutagawa Prize

Goto Ichiri began to prepare to go abroad.

Her father also provided assistance at this time. He happened to have a friend who was doing overseas trade in Shanghai.

The other party became Goto Ichiri's guardian after he landed.

"Just think of it as an experience, celebrating New Year in another country."

Eventually, her mother agreed.

Such blessings were given.

And Goto Ichiri boarded a plane for the first time in her life, looking out at the city where she grew up.

For her, such scenery was particularly shocking.

It turned out that the place where she lived was just a very small corner of the world.

Tokyo is huge.

Even bigger than Tokyo is the vast ocean, which is so vast that you can't see the camera at a glance.

Above the sea and the land, there is a city made up of a sea of clouds, extending all the way to the direction of the sunset, as if it were on the ground.

Yes, for Goto Ichiri, the endless sea of clouds was as big as Tokyo.

And she is going to the other side of the sky.

Find the most important person in your life.

No matter how far the distance between two people is.

Ichiri Goto lost consciousness on the plane.

Her social energy for the day had been exhausted the moment she boarded the plane.

08 Choose one of the two options in the third round

Machida Sonoko remembers Iruma Hibiki saying to her:

"The band failed, it was over, so I wanted to get back to writing. Writing was all I had left."

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to use writing as a retreat, I just feel..."

“Maybe writing is what I should be doing.”

When hearing him say this, Machida Yonko was stunned.

"What do you want me to do?"

Her first reaction was to say these words helplessly.

She was the most humble editor, and she got along well with the authors. Unconsciously, she also expressed her maternal love, which she had nowhere to vent due to her being unmarried at an older age, on her authors.

To the author, she is absolutely terrifying yet gentle.

"I'm planning to try submitting my work to the Akutagawa Prize soon."

"Aha?"

"Do you know what you're talking about?"

Machida Sonoko was so angry that she laughed.

"First of all, putting aside the fact that the Akutagawa Prize is an award for newcomers, secondly, the Akutagawa Prize isn't a competition held by some library, did you know that?"

"is that so?"

Hibiki Iruma asked.

"You really said it without understanding anything!"

Machida Sonoko was really angry.

Of course, compared to the current situation, she cares more about the original topic.

But after all, Machida Sonoko is a mature working woman and understands that some topics should not be brought up at this time.

"Anyway, give me some time, okay?"

"Of course, it would be a stretch if you can't produce the corresponding work. I need to do some research on the Akutagawa Prize."

Machida Yonko responded.

And in front of her, Kasumigaoka Utaha had already cast her gaze here.

Yes, the person in front of Machida Sonoko is Kasumigaoka Utaha from the Department of Literature at the University of Tokyo. For her, the Akutagawa Prize is also her goal.

Or--

All students in the literature department probably regard the Akutagawa Prize as their first goal.

After all, this is a completely newcomer award.

After hanging up the phone, Iruma Hibiki bought a large box of salmon sushi at the store and also bought some salmon-related dolls from the store.

"Hibiki likes stuff like this? Huh? I had no idea."

Nagasaki Suyo was right beside him.

She watched as Hibiki Iruma made his decision.

Of course, although the relationship between the two of them today cannot be said to be friendly, it can be said that they are brothers who are friendly and respectful to each other.

Hibiki Iruma made some decisions.

"Su Shi."

"Hibiki...are you going to leave me alone?"

Under the Christmas lights, Nagasaki Suyo asked this question.

"This is something Ichiri and I agreed on, Sushi."

Iruma Hibiki responded calmly.

"I know it's an appointment, but, Xiang, I'm Xiang's lover, right? Today is a day for lovers to be together, Xiang doesn't know that, right?"

Hibiki Iruma remained silent.

In fact, he made a mistake.

After all, what kind of agreement is "Salmon and Santa Bear"?

It just suddenly occurred to him at the time, so he acted cool in front of Goto Ichiri, just like many things he had done in the past, he did it without considering the consequences, until he was crushed by the price of the facts.

Yes, [Salmon and Santa Bear] is an engagement.

In the story, the hero and Tomoko Amano made an agreement. They agreed that when the hero becomes the real author, the two will meet again, their love will bear fruit, and the "love curse" that has been bothering Tomoko Amano will be resolved because of this.

There's actually no curse.

This is probably how Hibiki Iruma thinks about this story.

It’s just that at first, Amano Toko was too shy when facing the male protagonist, so she didn’t know what to do, how to respond to that feeling, and how to face the inevitable separation that followed.

Touko Amano is a senior and will graduate earlier.

Although I don't want to accept it, I have to face the established facts.

Finally, by some strange coincidence, he suddenly spoke and revealed the promise.

After I said it, I found that the other party took it seriously and took it very seriously. So I waited for many years with anticipation and longing until the agreed time arrived.

The same goes for Hibiki Iruma.

At that time, he was facing Goto Ichiri.

Besides the determination and expectation to change.

Perhaps at that time he also—

Iruma Hibiki suddenly understood something, and he looked at Nagasaki Suyo who was frowning in front of him.

She put on some beautiful makeup today, probably because she took a shower and put on makeup early. Her winter clothes were really beautiful. Just looking at them would make people write such famous lines as, "Winter is here, can spring be far behind?"

Before, she was furious and said:

"If it's just a big one, I can satisfy Xiang."

Such strange words.

It seemed like that day.

He stood at the door of the book signing event, faced with a choice between the two.

But this time, unlike before, Iruma Hibiki's heart suddenly became as clear as the summer sky, as if it was the moment when he, who had decided to start all over again, was thrown to the ground by Toyokawa Shoko on the overpass, and the back of his head hit the ground hard.

"Su Shi."

Iruma Hibiki called out the name of the person in front of him.

"Wait, Hibiki!"

As if realizing something, Nagasaki Suyo quickly moved forward, but was stopped by Iruma Hibiki.

"and many more!"

She seemed to still want to fight for it.

"I can do anything, so please don't..."

"..."

Iruma Hibiki remained silent, looking at Nagasaki Soyo in front of him.

"Su Shi from the very beginning..."

"You should have realized this was going to happen, right?"

Iruma sighed and looked at Nagasaki Suyo in front of him.

"No."

"There's none?"

"Ok!"

Nagasaki Suyo nodded.

"Su Shi, I want to say something."

"let's break up."

Iruma Hibiki answered Nagasaki Suyo accurately.

Actually, the relationship between the two was not pure at all.

Just like the beginning.

This time it was just—

Both of them just need an identity and an excuse to comfort each other.

But in fact, the problems between the two have never been resolved.

Hibiki Iruma made his own decision.

He held a salmon doll in his hand and walked towards the giant Christmas tree in the center of the square.

There, Goto Ichiri was waiting with a Christmas bear in his hand, his little face red from the cold. It was indeed a bit cold today, but not cold enough to snow.

Tokyo is a city without snow.

Unlike the distant Hokkaido, which is famous for its snow and even has romantic stories like White Lover.

However, the artificial snow machine still made a few snowflakes float in the square. Iruma Hibiki took another step forward and saw the pink figure.

Christmas.

Hibiki Iruma made his own decision.

he.

I decided to take some time, alone, to think about some important things after fulfilling my promise.

In Hibiki Iruma's pocket at this moment, there is a plane ticket to Pudong tomorrow night.