Afterword

First and foremost, thank you so much for picking up Volume 1 of The School Madonna Who Rejected Countless Confessions Has Completely Cornered Me.

This work—well, I should say, this work too—started as a serialization on a web novel site and has now been published as a book!

The serialization began about a year and a half ago, and I’m truly delighted to finally deliver it to all of you.

To my editor, Higeneko-sensei, and everyone else involved in the publication process, thank you so much for your invaluable support.

My editor, in particular, went above and beyond to make this book a reality, and I can’t thank them enough.

We’ve been working together since the days of Otonari Asobi, and I know I’ve caused plenty of trouble and headaches, but thank you for making The School Madonna Who Rejected Countless Confessions Has Cornered Me a published work as well.

Also, a huge thank you to Higeneko-sensei for so graciously taking on the illustrations.

Honestly, Higeneko-sensei is incredibly popular and juggling multiple projects, so I was worried they might turn me down…

Not only did they accept despite their busy schedule, but they also drew a ton of absolutely stunning illustrations, which I couldn’t be happier about.

Misaki and the others’ character designs are just perfect, and I’m so glad Higeneko-sensei took this on.

Thank you!

Now, it’s about time I talk about the work itself, but first, there’s something I need to get off my chest.

“I finally got to feature a pink-haired heroine!!”

Most people probably don’t know this, but Nekokuro loves pink-haired characters.

So, I’ve always had this burning desire to write a story with a pink-haired heroine.

I’ve written works with pink-haired heroines as the main character on the web novel site before, but this is the first time I’ve gotten to feature one in a published book.

Actually, in the web novel version of this story, I deliberately avoided mentioning her hair color.

Normally, when I write rom-coms, I specify the main heroine’s hair color, but for this one, I thought, If this ever gets published, I’ll negotiate to make her pink-haired.

I figured leaving the color unmentioned would give me more freedom during the publication process.

There’s another reason I avoided mentioning her hair color in the web novel, but I’ll leave that to your imagination. (It’s kind of like a trick to make the story feel seamless.)

I was already hyped about having a pink-haired heroine, but Higeneko-sensei’s jaw-droppingly charming illustrations of Misaki left me speechless—it’s just too perfect.

Of course, I love the character designs for the other heroines too, and Hiyouka, in particular, is totally my type.

Those who’ve been reading my works for a while probably know this, but I’m a huge sucker for cool, beautiful girls, so Hiyouka’s design hit all the right spots.

So, yeah, this is a rare case where I had these plans in mind even before the book was greenlit for publication, but as always, I aimed to write a warm, enjoyable story for all of you.

And yes, there’s a little girl in this one too, as expected.

These days, people associate me with foreign heroines because I’ve been featuring them back-to-back, but before that, I was known for my little girl characters.

Not as love interests, of course—just written in a cute, endearing way.

In this story, the little girl plays an important role too.

The protagonist, known for being aloof at school, shows his true self only to his little sister.

It’s exactly because the heroine learns this that she starts to open her heart to him. Kokoa-chan is a big reason why Misaki begins to let her guard down around Raito, so the little girl is absolutely shining in this story too. (lol)

So, yeah, I hope you enjoy Raito and Misaki’s interactions as they look after Kokoa-chan, as well as their moments with Hiyouka and Sasagawa-sensei.

I’d love for this to become a huge hit and get an anime adaptation!

I’m a big fan of heroines who seem like poised, perfect students but have a surprisingly clumsy side, so I’d love to see Misaki’s quirks shine in an anime.

It’d be amazing to get a Volume 2 and even a manga adaptation, so I’d really appreciate your support.

With that, I hope we can meet again in Volume 2.

Once again, thank you so much for picking up The School Madonna Who Rejected Countless Confessions Has Completely Cornered Me.

I look forward to your continued support!