Afterword

Hello, I’m Shirai Muku. I’m once again writing the afterword for volume three.

First, I’d like to talk about the origin of Akira’s name.

While I had originally had the origin of her name in mind, when putting together the plot for this volume, my editor Takebayashi-sama gave me the idea of “two people looking at the starry sky together,” which I decided to incorporate into the story.

The kanji “晶” carries the meaning of “the brilliance of stars.”

Depending on the time of night when you look up at the sky, the season, the location—her expressions and gestures change constantly with each scene, yet she remains adorable or beautiful, radiating a gentle light that illuminates the people in the darkness. I felt this was perfect for her, so I named her “Akira.”

Originally she was written as “アキラ” in katakana in the YouTube version, but I was fortunate to be able to use this kanji when adapting it to the novel version. As an author’s parental affection, you could say, I hope she will continue to be a light of hope that illuminates Ryouta and many readers.

Now, in volume three, I tried to delve deeper into the theme of “family” through a family trip. The setting is the fictional hot spring resort “Fujimi no Saki Onsenkyo.” I depicted the “incident” surrounding the Majima siblings that occurred there.

Behind the scenes, another story is finally beginning to move as well.

The story of another pair of siblings—Ueda Hinata and Kousei.

This time I touched on some quite pivotal elements, and if a continuation is published, I hope you’ll look forward to seeing how the Ueda siblings will interact with the Majima siblings.

What exactly is the method to break the “curse of Mendel’s laws” that has been cast upon Ryouta?

Furthermore, just as in fairy tales where princesses are destined to be carried off by evil dragons, what of Akira’s fate?

And what “happy ending” awaits each of the characters—the Majima siblings, the Ueda siblings, and all the rest…?

I want to write about all of these things, so please continue to support “Jitsuimo” going forward.

Here I’d like to express my gratitude.

Following the previous two volumes, I was once again blessed with the support and cooperation of many people in publishing volume three.

As always, I can’t thank my editor Takebayashi-sama enough. Thank you for always supporting the incompetent me. I’ll continue to work hard as a member of Team Jitsuimo, so please continue to support me.

And to everyone at Fantasia Bunko’s editorial department, everyone in the publishing industry, everyone at retail stores, bookstore staff, and all the related parties—I deeply thank you for your efforts with volume three as well.

I placed a considerable burden on Chigusa Minori-sensei, who handles the illustrations, once again this time. Not only Akira in her yukata, but also Akira in casual clothes, the hot spring resort, the aquarium, the starry sky scenes—she drew various situations this time too, and I’m deeply grateful that her excellent expressive ability supports my clumsy writing. I sincerely pray for Chigusa-sensei’s continued development and success.

Also, to Hisaho-sensei who handles the YouTube manga, all the readers who send me warm messages daily, everyone who draws fan art, and all the senior authors and fellow writers who have cooperated with promotion—I bow my head in gratitude. Thank you so very much.

I also deeply thank Uchida Maaya-sama, who voiced Akira during volume two’s release, and all the production staff who prepared the PV.

I’m always supported behind the scenes by Yuuki Kanon-sama. My daily life is enjoyable thanks to you. Thank you so very much.

And gratitude to all my family members who support someone like me. I don’t think I could have written this “Jitsuimo” without everyone. Thank you always for the fun days. I’ll work even harder for everyone’s sake.

Finally, I express my heartfelt gratitude to all the readers who have read this far, and I sincerely pray for the happiness of everyone involved in this work.

May you all have happy days.

With love from Kouka City, Shiga Prefecture.

Shirai Muku