The Tokyo Meteorological Bureau's weather forecast this time was quite accurate.

It had been raining for nearly a day and a night, and it stopped punctually at about two o'clock in the afternoon.

After more than three hours in the sun, there were shallow puddles on the uneven pavement, and a layer of fallen cherry blossom petals floated on the water.

With a book in one hand and a bag with a raincoat in the other, Narumi walked into a bookstore.

"Welcome~~"

Place the handbag next to the door and hold the cookbook in your hand.

He came to the bookstore to look for the next few volumes of "The Autumn Rain of the Nai River".

The eleven volumes of the latest volume are definitely available, and the tenth volume should also be in stock, but the seven, eight, and nine volumes are hard to say.

After all, according to the rate of one volume of light novels in one quarter, even if it is the ninth volume, it has been half a year since the release time.

The bookstore is not large, and in the most conspicuous position opposite the door is the light novel that has just been released.

On the left is "Sakuraso's Pet Girl", and on the right is "Radio Girl and Teenage Man". (Note (1))

And the eleventh volume of "Autumn Rain in Naigawa", which has passed a week since the first day of release, is placed next to "Sakuraso".

It's a treat that only best-selling light novels can have.

In fact, it was indeed very popular, and only the last three copies of the eleventh volume on the table remained.

In this way, volume 10 may not be in stock......

He picked up one of them and handed it to the shopkeeper to settle the bill.

"Excuse me, are there volumes 7 to 10 of Nai River?"

"Seven to ten...... It's not in the store, sorry. If you want to buy it, you can look it up on Amazon. ”

"It's fine." Expectations were disappointed, and even if I bought the eleventh volume, I couldn't read it directly.

He thought about it for a while, and took a copy of "Sakura Village" and "Radio Wave Girl", both of which were newly released in the first volume, and he could read them directly when he bought them.

"It's 4,536 yen, thank you."

The average tax exclusive is 1,400 yen, which is much more expensive than he estimated.

Narumi Yu took out a 10,000 yen bill.

"This is change, welcome to come again next time~"

"Hmm."

He stacked four books on top of each other, and the three 32k light novels combined were not as thick as a 64k cookbook.

In this way, light novel writers seem to make a lot of money......

It is also quite respected in the publishing world, and it can even be said that it is a profession at the top of the food chain.

Thinking that he had Lv.3 writing skills, Narumi suddenly had the idea of trying to submit.

Although there will be a gap of two or three months before earning the first manuscript fee, he has 3 million yen in the accident compensation in his hand, and he does not have to worry about starving to death due to lack of money in the gap period.

Counting the rent and various expenses, if he does not buy valuables, 150,000 yen a month is enough for him to live very comfortably.

"But if you want to write it...... What to write? ”

The cherry blossom streets that are sunny after the rain have fallen petals that have been knocked off by the rain everywhere, and the cherry blossoms on the trees have withered, and the beautiful scenery that flourished before the rain is gone.

But you can still see people taking pictures.

Instead of taking the train, Narumi chose to walk home and walk the streets for inspiration. At this time, I also took out my mobile phone and took a photo like them.

Fallen flowers always make people can't help but regret, compared to the beauty that has been praised and praised by too many people, the fading beauty seems to be more likely to affect people's emotions and memories.

"Meow~~"

On the side of the road, three junior high school girls who had just come out of school surrounded a black cat, and the girls wore sailor suits, over-the-knee skirts, and shoulder bags, adding a sense of vitality to the cherry blossom street.

"Huh~~So cute~~"

"I feel a little handsome, with cat's eyes."

"yes, yes~ looks like he doesn't want to pay attention to us."

Narumi Yu passed by and saw the appearance of a black cat.

The black and supple hair, the expression is smart, and the appearance is cold, which is indeed different from other cats.

"Meow—"

The black cat nimbly jumped out of the girls' circle and leaped towards him with light steps.

"Huh??"

"Huh?"

"......" Narumi looked at the black cat, and the black cat stopped in front of him, and one person and one cat looked at each other quietly.

The girls looked at Narumi and stood up in unison.

"Excuse me, brother, is it your cat?"

"What's the cat's name?"

"Can we play with the cats for a while?"

"Meow~~" The black cat answered the girls' questions and echoed.

Narumi understood what it meant.

The black cat wants to use him to play a play and deceive the simple little girls.

Cats are just tools.

"Its name is Neko." Narumi squatted down and put the book and handbag on the ground first.

Since you want him to cooperate, you naturally have to pay some compensation.

He stretched out his hands to the black cat and warned it with his eyes that it would not continue acting if it did not cooperate.

Although it looked a little inexplicable, he subconsciously thought that the black cat could understand what he meant.

"Meow!" The black cat looked at him, then at the hands, and barked rather reluctantly.

But in the end, he put his front paws up.

"Wow~ Neko is so smart!" One of the short-haired little girls next to her was amazed.

Narumi slid her hands under the black cat's armpits and hugged them.

"Meow Meow!!"

The black cat obviously didn't expect this step, and fluttered its hind paws in a bit of panic. Until Narumi Yu changed his posture, holding one hand under the black cat, hugging him in his arms, still with reluctance written on his face.

"It's so cute~!!"

"I want to hug ~~"

"Meow!" The black cat issued a warning.

Narumi Yu understood, but the little girls didn't understand, and still came over and wanted to play with the black cat.

"Neko said she wanted to go home, sorry......" Narumi Yu made an excuse for the black cat, and by the way, he reached out and touched the black cat's soft body a few times.

"Meow!!" The warning sound was even more dangerous, and even made him feel a little murderous intent, and immediately stopped touching the cat's head.

Finally, the little girls who saw that the black cat was not very happy were a little disappointed, but they had to wave goodbye to him.

"Okay......"

"Goodbye ......"

"Goodbye brother......"

"Well, goodbye."

He stood there with the cat in his arms and watched the girls disappear around the corner of the street.

"Meow!"

The black cat immediately jumped out of his arms and looked at him with a hostile look in his eyes.

"You have to get paid." Yu Narumi even tried to talk to the black cat.

The name [Neko] was not given by him temporarily, but by a cat in "Nai River".

In the novel, Neko can speak, waiting for the owner to return in the dilapidated shrine, waiting for the already desolate village to come alive again.

He always felt that the black cat in front of him was somewhat similar to the bed in the book.

"Meow!"

The black cat spotted his target and walked over to the book he stacked on his tote bag, the top one which happened to be the eleventh volume of "Nai River".

"Meow?"

It hesitated, raised its front paws to push Nai River aside, and stomped the cover of the next light novel.

"Meow!"

"......" Narumi thought for a moment and tried to shout, "Neko? ”

——————————

Note (1): The first volume of "Sakuraso's Pet Girl" was released on January 10, 2010, and the first volume of "Radio Girl and Young Man" was released on January 10, 2009. It wasn't at the same time, and it wasn't released in April.

There will be many settings in "Youth Fantasy" that are different from those in reality, I hope you can understand.