After Blue Spring Ride used chapters one and two to lay out its cast and untangle the relationships, the next two chapters shifted into a quieter rhythm. The focus became the everyday bonds between the male lead, the female lead, and the classmates and family surrounding them.
Futaba and Kou drew closer. Futaba and Yuri's friendship grew sturdier.
The reason the series held such a high rating in Fleeting Blossoms came down to how deeply its slice-of-life scenes resonated.
Anyone can write romance.
Anyone can write about friendship. But carving out multiple characters that linger in readers' minds, characters they remember clearly and even come to love, all within a tight word count, was genuinely difficult.
Whether it was the way Futaba's personality was shaped, or the care poured into a supporting character like Yuri, readers found themselves slipping into the story with unsettling ease.
So when everyone assumed the novel would keep coasting from here, smooth and sweet, serving candy-sweet moments all the way to the end…
Chapter five threw them a curveball.
During a class outing, an accident occurred, and Kou showed up at the critical moment when Yuri was in danger, helping her out of a tight spot.
What followed afterward, no matter how you looked at it, felt like Yuri had started to fall for him.
And that was the problem. A serious one.
Because in reality, Futaba and Kou were still only friends. Sure, after reuniting in high school, the feelings they once buried in middle school were slowly resurfacing, but no matter how you framed it, at this stage, if Yuri decided to pursue Kou, she would not be doing anything wrong.
She would not even be betraying Futaba.
And that was exactly why it hurt so much to watch.
On the Crimson Maple Literature website, the comment section and forum threads exploded.
"The author is stirring the pot!"
"Ugh, I'm scared now. This won't turn into the classic 'best friends ripping each other apart over the guy' plot, right?"
"I don't think so. From chapter one until now, it's been all youthful everyday life. No schemes, no ugliness, no messy love triangles where everyone acts terrible. I really don't think it will go there."
"I just want something light and sweet. I don't want to watch best friends tear each other down!"
"Shiori Sensei wouldn't do that. This series is peaking right now. It's still ranked number one in ratings in Fleeting Blossoms, and it's third in reader votes. There's no reason to gamble on a risky direction like that."
"I agree, but I'm still worried. It's so rare to find a novel this fun, and that's exactly why I'm terrified it'll collapse later."
Fans argued fiercely over the direction of the plot.
And those debates were not confined to Crimson Maple's official forums. They spilled into group chats and fan communities everywhere. On the surface, it looked like readers were questioning the story.
In reality, they were spreading it.
A novel with no discussion never becomes a hit.
If every plot point obediently followed what readers predicted, what was the author even there for?
A little controversy, a little argument, was often proof that a healthy buzz was forming.
That trend showed in the numbers too. Even with all the fighting, Blue Spring Ride still kept its momentum.
For chapter five, the total number of votes cast through the official website hit 5,123.
Second place on the magazine's vote ranking.
It overtook last week's number two, Summer Fireworks. As for the rating, it did not budge. Still the unshakable number one spot at 9.3.
To be honest, the editors at Crimson Maple had more or less expected this. Judging from the pace of its growth, Summer Fireworks was never going to hold its position forever.
Its author had tried. They had pushed harder in recent weeks, sped up the pacing, and even forced in a dramatic hook to keep readers invested.
But it was still too strained.
This week, in raw votes, it got surpassed by six hundred.
Thursday morning, at the editorial department, the staff naturally gathered and talked about Blue Spring Ride again.
A rookie performance Fleeting Blossoms had never seen before.
Whether Shiori Takahashi could actually pull off a miracle and claim both the top rating and the top popularity slot as a debut author.
Whether the later arcs could be handled properly.
What kind of ceiling Shiori Takahashi might have in the future.
The topics spread through the office like wildfire.
But someone finally sighed and said what needed to be said.
"We can't just stare at Blue Spring Ride all day. Look a little further down the list. Have you noticed? Yesterday's Starlight is also putting up ridiculous numbers."
"Chapter five of Yesterday's Starlight pushed its rating up to 8.5, which puts it in third place overall. And its vote support climbed to 3,223, still fourth place. If Blue Spring Ride wasn't shining so blindingly, Yesterday's Starlight would absolutely be considered a breakout hit."
"Back when Yesterday's Starlight debuted, most of us agreed it was solid, above average, definitely good, but not exactly jaw-dropping. But Airi's growth is obvious. From chapter one to chapter five, the quality has improved in every single installment. That's why its performance is rising so fast."
"She feels like one of those explosive-growth authors, the kind who gets better the more they write. Who knows, maybe in a while Yesterday's Starlight will even surpass Blue Spring Ride. Haha."
"Honestly, the difference between the two is clear. Blue Spring Ride reads like a finished, mature work. It started strong, and it stays strong. Meanwhile, Yesterday's Starlight keeps leveling up mid-serialization. Plot, prose, everything keeps getting sharper. Airi's growth curve is honestly scary."
"So which one is Crimson Maple's number one genius rookie of the year? Still, I'm betting on Shiori Takahashi. The pacing in Blue Spring Ride is just too comfortable. It has twists, but it doesn't have any poison. And the immersion is insane."
"When I read it, I honestly wanted to go back to my own high school days and finally confess to the person who was my white moonlight."
The editors were still chatting when Yukino stepped out of the editor-in-chief's office.
Almost immediately, the group lowered their voices, because talking like this in front of the editor in charge of both authors felt impolite.
Yukino, however, did not pay them any attention.
She returned to her desk and began organizing her workload at speed.
That morning, in Akira's office, she had received confirmed news. The first tankōbon volumes of Blue Spring Ride and Yesterday's Starlight would be released nationwide in Japan on the 25th of this month. Of course, nationwide was a generous description.
With Crimson Maple's scale, they could guarantee marketing and promotion across the Minamijo Prefecture where their influence was strongest.
In other prefectures, they could only let the books ride on their own momentum and allow the market to decide.
A regional serial magazine like Fleeting Blossoms required heavy groundwork, promotion, and distribution relationships. Otherwise bookstores would not bother stocking it. Magazines were time-sensitive, just like newspapers. Nobody wanted to buy last week's issue.
If a publisher's marketing power and distribution channels were not strong enough, issues would sit unsold, piling up, and bookstores would naturally hesitate to order more next time.
That was exactly why, in Japan, only a handful of major publishers could truly distribute widely across the country. Building channels was hard. It took money, people, connections, and more importantly, years upon years of consistent work.
But tankōbon volumes were different.
For bookstores, ordering a few new light novel volumes and placing them in a corner was easy. If they sold, great. If they did not, the store could return them. That meant most bookstores did not fear ordering tankōbon the way they feared ordering magazines.
So in reality, even with Crimson Maple's reach, they could still get Blue Spring Ride onto shelves in major cities across Japan.
Promotion outside their home turf, though, was another matter. Beyond that, they could only rely on the novel's own strength.
At this very moment, new illustrations, cover designs, and volume layouts for both series were already being produced at a frantic pace.
And the printing schedule was about to be sent to their partner presses.
On Friday, when Haruto and Reina came to Yukino's apartment again to submit their latest manuscripts, she told them the tankōbon release was coming.
"So soon?" Haruto looked genuinely stunned.
In his mind, most series only got a tankōbon release after a few months of serialization, when their popularity had clearly taken off.
"The publisher is taking you and Reina seriously right now," Yukino said.
Today she wore a black dress, stockings, and her long legs looked even more slender under the soft indoor lighting. Her hair was pinned up, and she sat on her sofa with a tired air that she did not bother to hide.
"As long as there's enough content for volume one, that's all they need. The rest can be published as you serialize."
She glanced at both of them.
"Also, your two series are both close to ending anyway, aren't they?"
After all, the manuscripts they had handed in today were chapters nine and ten.
"Yes. If nothing changes, Blue Spring Ride will end at chapter fourteen," Haruto replied.
"For me, Yesterday's Starlight will be a little shorter. It should wrap up in thirteen chapters," Reina Fujimoto quickly added.
"I see…" Yukino murmured, thinking for a moment before looking back at them.
"Objectively speaking, both of your novels are extremely high quality. Especially you, Reina. At first, I assumed Yesterday's Starlight would not perform at this level."
"But your growth speed has surpassed what I expected. In such a short serialization, the later chapters have become visibly more engaging than the early ones."
As she spoke, Haruto turned and looked at Reina.
He knew his own situation. The Blue Spring Ride he was serializing in Japan was already a proven masterpiece from a parallel world. Getting great results in Fleeting Blossoms was not shocking, it was simply one of the outcomes he had predicted as possible.
But Reina Fujimoto was different.
She was a true newcomer. No strange memories from another world. No cheat ability. No hidden advantage. She had done this through sheer force of talent and effort.
She maintained the top rank at Minamijo Third High School, a nationally renowned academic powerhouse, and still managed to debut with a light novel that was now serializing successfully in Fleeting Blossoms with impressive results.
For the first time, Haruto truly felt the weight behind the word "genius."
There really were people who were strong at everything.
Even her improvement in fighting games was visible. Every time they met, once the manuscript review was done, Reina would bring out Yukino's game console with an almost stubborn persistence.
She would sit there with a perfectly calm face, then ask him in a tone that tried very hard to sound casual.
"Haruto… want to play a round?"
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