Volume 1 - CH 5

Episode 5: The Joyful Return to Writing Acknowledged by the Family

After being harshly rejected by my childhood friend and declaring my retirement… the next morning.

“Big brooo… Good morniiiing…”

As I woke up, my younger sister Uta-chan was there to wake me up.

“U-Uta-chan, what’s wrong…? Why are you crying so much early in the morning?”

“Sob… Sniff… Sorry… I read the latest chapter of ‘Digimasters’ that you updated late last night… I was deeply moved… and couldn’t stop crying since this morning… Sniff…”

Last night, after parting ways with my editor Mei-san, I returned home and uploaded the latest chapter of “Digimasters” to the web.

I think I uploaded it around 3 am.

But now, when I checked the view count on my phone… it was crazy.

Even though it was late at night, the views were unusually high.

And there were more comments than usual.

Uta-chan must have read it in the morning.

“Big brooo!”

Uta-chan embraced me tightly.

Although she’s petite, she has quite a chest.

It deformed under her uniform with a squishy sound.

“W-What’s wrong?”

“Thank you for not quitting! I can continue reading ‘Digimasters’… I’m really happy!”

Uta-chan cried and smiled, showing her skillful ability to do both at the same time.

“This is such a touching story… there’s nothing else like it. I’ve been crying like a baby since morning…! Big bro, who can create such wonderful stories, is truly a genius!”

“You’re exaggerating…”

I changed my clothes and headed to the living room.

“Yutaaaaaaa!”(TL notes: lazy again to add that ‘u’)

Once again, there was someone who clung to me while crying.

It was my father.

“Yuta! Thank you! Thanks for retracting your retirement, I’m really grateful!”

Waaaah! My father cried loudly in the morning, like a howling dog.

“Now I won’t lose my job!”

My father works for a publishing company.

They publish my novels.

I don’t really understand how it works, but apparently, if I stop writing, my father will be fired.

“Thank you, Yuta! You’re the savior of our Uematsu family! Just as expected of my son!”

“You, calm down.”

My mother appeared from the kitchen.

“Good morning, Yu-chan.”

“Yeah, good morning, Mom.”

My mother firmly pulled my father away.

“You should be more responsible. Don’t rely on your own child forever… It’s pathetic.”

“But, there’s nothing we can do, right? Yuta is a once-in-a-century… no, a once-in-five-century genius writer! Unlike an ordinary person like me…!”

Sigh My mother let out a sigh.

“Just because of that, Yu-chan, it’s not right to burden our family’s fate on him alone. You should also work diligently. Even if Yu-chan quits as a writer, you should be able to support the family.”

“Ugh… It’s impossible… If Yuta quits as a writer, the Uematsu family is done for.”

“That may be the current situation. You can’t work, and you’re pathetic, but you’re still kept at the company just because you’re the father of the popular author Yu-chan.”

“Mom!? Isn’t that too harsh!?”

“It’s the truth, isn’t it?”

“Ugh…”

My mother and Uta-chan made remarks, causing my father to slump his shoulders dejectedly.

“Yu-chan.”

“What is it? “

My mother hugged me from the front with a gentle smile.

“I’m glad you seem to be feeling better.”

She enveloped me in her large chest and gently stroked my head.

“Yu-chan, you don’t have to worry about your father. If you ever want to quit, you can quit anytime.”

“But… What will happen to the family?”

“Don’t worry. We’ll manage somehow. Besides… it’s much harder for me as a mother to see you suffer.”

“I feel the same! If Big bro is crying, I feel sad too! So I was really upset yesterday!”

Uta-chan also joined in and hugged me.

Ah, both of them are so kind…

Family is warm.

“Thank you, I’ll be fine. I’ll continue being a writer.”

“Yutaaaahhh! Thank youuuu!”

“You’re so noisy, Dad.”

“You’re both too much.”

With a little disturbance, our family had breakfast in the living room.

“Wow, Big bro, look at this news!”

On the TV, there was a news report titled “Bestselling Author Kamimatsu’s Retirement!?”

“All the channels have been talking about this topic since early morning.”

“Seriously… Don’t they have anything else to report?”

I think there are more important news to cover.

“No! Yuta, you don’t understand!”

My father pointed at me.

“Kamimatsu-sensei’s work, ‘Digimasters,’ has been a huge hit in book sales, Blu-ray sales of the anime are soaring, and on top of that, a movie! It has earned 50 billion yen at the box office!”

“50 billion!?”

When did the numbers become so big!?

“Thanks to you, the publishing company is greatly saved! You truly are an amazing filial son! Wahaha!”

My father was in such a good mood.

Surely, his evaluation has also increased due to the impact of Digimasters.

“What a pathetic person…”

“Please, Dad, stop it.”

“Aren’t you both too harsh!?”

My father’s shoulders drooped with disappointment.

“Oh, right. I remembered. Yuta, what about the ‘celebration party’?”

“Celebration party? What’s that for?”

“Huh? Haven’t you heard about it from Sakuhira-kun?”

Sakuhira-kun is my editor, Mei-san.

“To celebrate the 50 billion yen box office earnings of the movie, they’re organizing a celebration party with only the cast of the anime movie. Here, the invitation.”

My father took out the invitation from his bag and handed it to me.

When I opened it, there was a venue guide included.

“Wow! This is amazing… It’s a super luxurious hotel near the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku! Are they really holding it there!?”

Shiko peered over my shoulder, her eyes widening in surprise.

“Hehe, and that day, the hotel will be exclusively reserved for the party! All thanks to the tremendous success of Yuta’s work!”

“Oh my, that’s impressive. As expected of Yu-chan.”

“Naturally! With Digimasters being a divine work, the author who created such a masterpiece is a divine writer!”

Yes, everyone in the family nodded in agreement.

Ugh… They’re such a warm family…

“But going back to the topic, what will you do about the celebration party?”

“Can’t we decline? After all, Yu-chan never attended such events in the first place.”

“Indeed, Big bro, you’ve been careful not to reveal your face!”

“Well, not exactly…”

Well, what Shiko said is partly true… The real reason I never attended such gatherings is simple…

…because I felt guilty towards Michiru, my childhood friend.

You see, at these gatherings, there would always be women, right?

Somehow, going to such places… felt like I would be…

…disloyal to Michiru, who likes me.

…Now that I think about it, it was completely self-consciousness on my part.(TL notes: hell yeah!)

“Then, I’ll decline and let them know.”

“Wait, Dad.”

But… now Michiru has rejected me.

I don’t need to worry about her anymore.

“I… I want to attend the party.”

It might be a good distraction for me as well.

My father widened his eyes but quickly nodded.

“Alright, I’ll reply on your behalf. It’s going to be fun! The party will have the director and also popular voice actress ‘Komagane Yuri’ as well as other voice actors!”

“Komagane Yuri…? The voice actress who played the main character, Ryo, in Digimasters’ anime? She’s a hugely popular beautiful high school girl voice actress!”

Come to think of it, I think I’ve heard her name during the anime auditions.

I recognize her voice, but I don’t know much about her detailed profile.

“Yay! I’m looking forward to the party! I’ll bring lots of autograph boards!”

“You. Are you planning to use our son to ask for autographs from voice actresses?”

My father laughed awkwardly, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

Anyway, I was going to attend a big party for the first time.

TL notes: Wish I was a popular author.