After the opening ceremony for the new semester in the morning, Ichin was, as expected, called to the office by Shizuka Hiratsuka.
As soon as he entered the office, Ichin noticed that all the other teachers were looking at him.
He walked over and sat down next to Hiratsuka and quietly asked, "Sensei, does everyone know already?"
Spreading her hands, Hiratsuka replied, "Yep, everyone knows. After all, you made a public appearance yourself, and with how fast news spreads online these days, it's hard not to see it. But don't worry, the teachers won't bother you. Although, you might have to deal with some curious students from time to time. It's not every day they meet someone their age who's accomplished as much as you have."
Ichin scratched his cheek a little awkwardly. "It's not that big a deal, is it?"
"You know exactly how big a deal it is," Hiratsuka said with a chuckle. "Anyway, try to lay low for a bit. As for the recommendation spot for Todai (Tokyo University), there was originally going to be some debate among the homeroom teachers of other classes. But now that your career has come to light, it's basically a done deal."
"That kind of effect too, huh?"
Ichin was stunned. He hadn't expected things to turn out like this.
"Wait—what about Utaha?"
"I knew you'd ask," Hiratsuka said, tapping her finger on the desk and glancing around at the other teachers before lowering her voice. "For the students ranked third to fifth in the year, their homeroom teachers still want to compete for a spot. So I was thinking—why don't you help Kasumigaoka out a bit with her studies? That way I can go to the principal and the head of the year and bring up her achievements as a published author. With talents like you two who are not only academically strong but also have special skills, there's no doubt you'll both get in."
"Hmm~~~"
Ichin rubbed his chin, then gave Hiratsuka an OK gesture. "Alright, I'll go ask Utaha. If she agrees, I'll text you."
With that, he left the office and headed back to the classroom to find Utaha.
When he returned, Ichin told Utaha what Hiratsuka had said. After a moment of thought, the girl nodded and replied, "Then go ahead and tell Hiratsuka-sensei. You can inform the year head and the principal, but let's not spread it any further. I don't like flaunting my identity as a light novel author. I'd rather quietly keep writing."
"Alright, I'll send her a message."
Taking out his phone, Ichin quickly typed a message and sent it to Hiratsuka.
She replied with a simple "OK" after seeing it, so the matter was basically settled.
"Okay, now we just wait for the official word. Once we've secured the recommendation, all we have to do is attend an interview and then take the standardized test in January next year."
"Is it really that easy?" Utaha asked skeptically.
"Relax." Ichin lightly pinched her cheek and grinned. "If the two of us can't get a recommendation from Toyogasaki, then no one else stands a chance, right?"
"Now that you say it… yeah, that makes sense."
Originally, Utaha thought just good grades wouldn't be enough, and she might have to enter some extra competitions or events. She hadn't expected things to be settled so directly.
Thinking about it carefully, it really was true. With Ichin's achievements—and her own—their academic records alone were more than enough to secure a spot at Todai.
Given the current situation, the two of them could finally relax a little.
As for whether it was unfair to the other students competing for the recommendation slots—Utaha certainly didn't think so. If they had managed to secure first and second place in the year, that meant both of them had put in serious academic effort. And as for their achievements outside of school, those came from long hours of hard work that no one else had seen.
Back when she first started writing novels, Utaha often worked into the dead of night or even pulled all-nighters. Otherwise, she wouldn't have needed to catch up on sleep during the day at school. When her first novel was published, it didn't go smoothly either—she had to pour in a lot of time and energy to revise it.
As for Ichin, there was even less need to explain. Making a game all by himself was far more intense than writing novels. Although Utaha herself had only worked on the scenario side of game development, she had learned quite a bit about the overall process.
One person managing everything—programming, art, balancing, planning—it wasn't something just anyone could pull off.
There were a few in the industry who had made hit games entirely on their own like Ichin, but every one of them was extraordinarily skilled and talented, and they'd all put in massive effort too.
So for Ichin and Utaha, there was no guilt or burden in receiving the recommendation spots.
---
At lunchtime in the Service Club room, Yukino and Eriri also found out about the two of them basically securing the Todai recommendation.
Yukino looked at the two and smiled softly. "Congratulations, senpai and senpai."
Eriri clapped her hands in surprise. "So it's pretty much decided? Then does that mean you two won't be coming to school as often now, and will be focusing more on game development and writing?"
"Not quite," Ichin shook his head. "We'll still come to class on regular days. But if something comes up, we'll take leave more decisively than before. And of course, we'll still take the exams. I don't want to lose my position as top of the year."
As he said that, he glanced at Utaha beside him.
Utaha glared right back, unwilling to back down.
"I'll be taking the exams too. I was thinking of snatching the top spot from you in the few months we have left."
Just as it looked like the two of them were about to start another academic showdown, Eriri quickly stepped in to stop them.
"Save the exam stuff for later! There's something else—if I remember right, you guys have a school trip coming up in October, right? The third-year trip. Has the destination been decided?"
"The school trip?"
At the mention of that, both Ichin and Utaha paused.
Ichin thought for a moment and said, "Someone asked Hiratsuka-sensei during homeroom this morning. She said it's not officially confirmed yet, but it'll probably be Kyoto. Japan doesn't really have that many fun places to go for school trips. Somewhere far like Hokkaido is out of the question, and the only place with some worthwhile sights is probably Kyoto. It's definitely not going to be a trip abroad."
A three-day school trip didn't leave much room for great destinations anyway.
Utaha nodded. "Exactly. And in any case, Ichin and I will be letting Hiratsuka-sensei know that we're not going. I'll be busy with the launch of my new book next month—I don't have the time. And Ichin has to arrange promotional streams every month too. A multi-day trip like this just isn't practical for us."
As for travel, they'd already gone on a week-long vacation together in Shanghai over the summer, so neither of them had any interest in going to Kyoto.
Eriri nodded in understanding. "That makes sense. There really isn't much fun stuff there. I just wonder where we third-years will go next year."
"I think you should be more focused on what university you're going to apply to," Ichin said.
"Don't underestimate me! I'm not the same girl I used to be!"
...
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