VOLUME 5
Chapter 3 – And so the dynamic duo is unleashed. This is not a joke.
Part I
“It’s been a while, Tomoya-kun…and Kashiwagi Eri-sensei.”
Several hours later.
“So what’s up?”
“You took the words right out of my mouth, Iori.”
While it couldn’t have been later than five in the evening, our surroundings were already shrouded in the November twilight.
We were looking forward to having the pleasure of that summer’s brief encounter…
“Why are you here instead of Izumi-chan?!”
…But were thoroughly disappointed.
The place we had arranged to meet was a small park fairly near my house, and right next to Shimamura Middle School which I had once attended.
It was also the same place where I had reunited with my undercla.s.sman after three years.
“Why? I’m confused. If I recall it was you who arranged the meeting?”
“Yeah, but there’s no reason I’d want to meet you, Iori! What did you do to Izumi-chan?”
“But… you sent an email to my circle’s address…”
“I believe I was pretty clear when I wrote 「To Hashima Izumi-sama」!”
“All correspondence pa.s.ses through the eyes of our site admins first.”
“What?! Then what about fan mail addressed to the creators? Isn’t it the job of a circle representative to faithfully deliver spam, scam emails and letters from stalkers along with the 8000 yen you charge for a piece of game art all to the ill.u.s.trators you depend on? What the h.e.l.l happened to your dignity?!”
“That’s good enough, Tomoya.”
“But…you’re right, Eriri. I’ve said more than enough.”
Hashima Iori just regarded us arrogantly with an ironic smile on his face.
He’s a former cla.s.smate of mine, a representative of the 「rouge en rouge」 circle and a proper doujin racketeer.
He’s taller, more suave and maybe just a bit more handsome than me.
Whether it’s the fluffy hair or the mole beneath the eye, every part of his body oozes a certain deviousness you’d never a.s.sociate with a stereotypical otaku-type like myself.
And unfortunately, he also happens to be Izumi-chan’s elder brother.
Three months ago…
A chance encounter with an undercla.s.sman who had returned from Nagoya after moving there three years earlier.
Hashima Izumi.
Three years my junior, she became an otaku under my influence.
She’s since pursued her hobby and become a doujin creator.
I was fortunate enough to chance upon her work during Summer Comiket, and was thoroughly awed and moved by her then undisclosed talent.
Realizing what a waste it would be for such a masterpiece to go unnoticed, I audaciously canva.s.sed it to the surrounding crowd.
Yet behind the fun and bittersweetness we shared that day is a tale of shady transactions only a handful of people know of.
Her brother Iori, also back from Nagoya, making adept use of his personal connections and ambitious nature, soon had the mega-shuttle circle 「rouge en rouge」 in the palm of his hand.
Also in his sights: Kashiwagi Eri, who if she accepted would be the headline ill.u.s.trator for 「rouge en rouge」’s inaugural game.
It’s as though they’re purposely headed towards a deliberate collision with us at 「blessing software」, and we’re inferior to them in almost every way.
“Anyways, from what I read in the email, it seems that you’ve already experienced the trial version of the game we’re planning to release at Winter Comiket. Allow me to thank you for your support, Tomoya-kun.”
“Iori…”
At least I can take comfort in the small setback Iori’s plans should have suffered from Eriri’s rejection.
“The response we’re getting is greater than anything I could have imagined… we’re periodically trending and already surpa.s.sed ten thousand downloads, so I’d say we made a pretty good start.”
But the threat only seems to loom larger as Winter Comiket approaches.
Especially since he’s now installed his own sister as his latest sacrifi- the headline ill.u.s.trator for their project.
“But I can’t say I’m not worried about the popularity of the romantic adventure genre nowadays… will the appeal of tragedy, pa.s.sion and ‘moe’ continue to survive the test of time?”
「The Everlasting and Ephemeral Evangel」
Toyed by the same unfortunate fate, doomed forever to reincarnate and to love each other again.
The story of a couple’s love, struggle, life and death through endless union and separation.
That’s the game Iori is producing.
“Just what is your point?”
“Didn’t I tell you during the summer? It’s us against you.”
“Well, I don’t think you could have made it any more obvious!”
“It is?”
“Don’t play dumb with me, Iori! It’s pretty clear you’ve got information on the content of the game we’re making!”
“Well, it’s not like you bothered to hide it or anything, Tomoya-kun. All I did was eavesdrop a little at Summer Comiket.”
“Tch.”
Iori’s not fooling anybody by pa.s.sing the numerous similarities between the two games, the genre and literary style to name a few, off as pure coincidence.
He’s issued us a direct challenge.
“I retract my earlier statement a hundred- no, seven trillion steps.”1
“Sigh… Always with the otaku way of talking, Tomoya-kun.”
I wasn’t referring to Iori’s nefarious plots though.
Not the ends Iori’s trying to achieve, but the means with which he’s trying to achieve them.
“Keep Izumi-chan out of this, Iori.”
It’s only the beginning, but her extraordinary talent can only bode well for her future.
“Surely you can see the tremendous amount of potential she has! If only you would give her a bit more time and freed- ouch!”
I could’ve sworn it felt like someone just stubbed a toe into the back of my calf.
“Hmm? What’s the matter, Tomoya?”
“No, I just…”
The only possible suspect of the crime had her head turned towards the side and scarcely made any attempt at concealing her complicity.
You could at least try, you know.
“That’s funny, because I seem to recall somebody saying that he didn’t want to have anything to do with Izumi-chan not so long ago.”
Regaining my composure in an instant, I once again turned to regard Iori with a reproachful gaze.
“And I thought Izumi-chan was the one thing exempt from your dark twisted ambitions?”
Despite all that happened between us, that was the one line I still believed that my former friend would never cross.
It should be pretty obvious by now that Iori’s the kind of person that would use any underhanded means, wherewithal, and connections available to further his personal prestige, fame, or business card. But if anything, the people he dealt with then weren’t much better.
I still believed… that no matter how many female cosplayer also-rans, budding voice actresses and sketch artists he devoured…
You know what, I’m done defending this guy!
“My, it sounds as if you’re making me the villain here, Tomoya.”
“If you’ve got the time to make these kinds of jokes, then you’d better explain yourself while you still can!”
He’s despicable.
“I mean, it’s not like I had to make a game with the same genre as yours. But if the staff say we have to, then we have to.”
“What, the writers?”
“Actually, it was our head ill.u.s.trator.”
“What?!”
“Yup, you wouldn’t believe all the trouble she caused. Even I had trouble finding a capable romance writer in such a short time… in the end I was forced to poach somebody from one of our rival circles.”
“Y-You’ve got to be kidding me!”
“You know I have no qualms about saying the most sordid things, Tomoya-kun, but I never lie.”
“Oh, then what about to Izumi-chan, huh?!”
“But it’s the truth! It was Izumi-chan herself who said she wanted to fight all of you on the same terms.”
“Why on earth would she say that?”
“Because if I didn’t, then I wouldn’t be able to compete with Sawamura-senpai…”
“I…Huh?”
It took me a while to realize that last answer had come not from Iori’s mouth, but from behind.
Covered by the trees, in the thicket.
Deadpan’s Wonderland:
1Catchphrase from romance VN Cherry Petals Fall Like Teardrops