Afterword
Hello, this is Mizuki Nomura. I drafted the
plot of this work while writing ‘Usa Koi’. Back then, the editor asked me, Do
you want to try writing a heartbreaking love story? There was lots of planning
from there. Back then, I asked a colleague at my part-time job about what kind
of story I should write. His eyes sparkled and he got really fired up.
“I want to see a love story spanning the
social strata, between a rich, sickly princess and a poor newspaper boy!”
So I was told.
“N-newspaper boy...! And pr-princess...? A
sickly one? In thi-this era...”
This request was really unexpected, and so out
of left field, that I timidly refused.
Then, while I was feeling really bored during
my part-time work, I somehow happened to think about this topic again. A
newspaper boy…probably a middle schooler. A high schooler would likely have
better job opportunities. Personality-wise, a silent type…an introverted one
for the girl … And why, despite having such different backgrounds, would they
be so attracted to each other… As I kept thinking, Riku and Chise started to
take shape. By the time I realized it, I had ten pages of notes.
This story was supposed to be published as a
short story after “Usa Koi”, but my sales figures were a little low, and it was
deemed too dull commercial-wise, so the entire project was suspended at the
time.
I stuffed the plot and the notes into an
orange envelope, on which I wrote in large words, “One day, I’ll write you!”. I
stored this envelope into the closet with other unused ideas. After that, I
tried my luck a few more times, only to be rejected again. This time, I finally
got to write it once I found the time to do it. The entire process took quite a
while.
Having finally published this work, I felt
that an assignment I had set aside for several years was finally complete.
To be honest, I had almost given up on
publishing this story. I felt that one day, I would write the rest of it just
to entertain myself, so some plot ideas or settings were used in the other
works.
The ‘boy who can’t smile’ and the ‘girl who
can’t cry’ were used in ‘Hikaru ga Chikyuu ni Itakoro…’; Shiori-san was used in
‘Tsuki-hana o Daku Undine’; ‘Midsummer’s Night Dream’ was used in the
uncollected anthology of ‘Bungaku Shoujo’. This story contains lots of
overlapping themes with these works, and to me, it is an important starting
point for them.
I hope for many more people to read this
story. I hope that everyone can be moved a bit by the Summer Story of Riku and
Chise, and then imagine their futures.
May 15th, 2014, Mizuki Nomura.
References:
“Japan Fantasy Literature Collection (10)”,
Kanoko Okamoto, edited by Naoto Horikiri, 1992, Kokushokankokai Inc. / “World
Poem Collection 11, World Famous Romance Poems Anthology” compiled by Sakon
Sou, September 10th, Showa Year 42, Kadokawa Shoten
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