[Vol 2] The Cheeky Junior Gal Becomes Too Cute When She Gets Attached to Me Afterward

Afterward

 

When I stood on stage for the first time during the student council election, I was so nervous that my thighs were trembling.

Right up until just before that, I felt perfectly fine. I didn’t think I was the type to get nervous, and I had the contents of my speech planned out perfectly. I even thought I might throw in a joke or two to get some laughs. I was in the mood to really make an impact.

Even though it was called an election, it was really just a vote of confidence, and it almost never resulted in rejection. It was an election in name only.

I knew the students weren’t interested at all and were barely listening, just waiting for it to end.

But the moment I stepped up onto the podium and looked down at the rows of students from that slightly elevated position… my legs suddenly froze.

Even though my eyes were open, it felt like no information was getting through. My heart was pounding loudly, my throat felt tight, and I couldn’t hear the moderator’s voice at all.

It was an emotion and a physical reaction I’d never experienced before. At the time, I didn’t even know how to deal with it.

They say you should imagine the audience as potatoes? But if a huge number of giant potatoes were lined up in a gymnasium, that would be terrifying, wouldn’t it? Or writing the kanji for person on your hand and eating it? Why are people treating humans like food in the first place?

My mind went completely blank, and I turned into a machine that could only read the script.

I somehow managed to finish the speech, but I don’t remember a single thing I said.

I’d never been nervous at sports tournaments or even at graduation ceremonies in middle school. That was the first time I realized how terrifying it is to convey words in front of a large crowd.

After that, during my one year as vice president and one year as president, I held a microphone countless times. Opening remarks for events, moderating, morning assemblies—student council officers surprisingly have many opportunities to give speeches.

By the latter half, I’d gotten fairly used to the nerves and even grew enough to crack ad-lib jokes.

The trick to not getting nervous is to convince yourself that you’re a genius!

You tell yourself that giving a speech is no big deal, and approach it with the mindset of a hero interview.

With my self-confidence maxed out, I faced the graduation ceremony, fully intending to steal the show with laughter during my reply speech… but only my friends laughed. How sad.

Maybe I should’ve tried harder to make people cry instead, since it was a graduation ceremony…

Anyway, I thought I’d completely overcome the feeling of nervousness long ago, but even now, there’s something that still makes me tremble.

That is when I publish a book.

Will people enjoy it? Will they say it’s interesting?

Did I write what readers were looking for? Will they be satisfied?

As the release date approaches, the nervousness grows stronger and stronger, until I can’t focus on anything else.

No matter how many books I publish in the future, I don’t think this nervousness will ever disappear.

Even if I believe I did everything I could, there’s no way I can be confident enough to think I’m a genius when it comes to novels.

But maybe it’s fine if I never get used to it.

Readers obviously aren’t potatoes—they’re real people, each and every one of them. It’s only natural, but while that fact makes me nervous, it also fills me with genuine happiness that there are people who read my work.

And when someone even takes the time to write a comment or impression, I get so happy I practically float. I’ll be ego-searching nonstop, so please don’t be scared…

Even now, as I write this afterword, I’m nervous… but since this publication involved so many people, I want to send it off with confidence.

To Kagachisaku-sensei, and to my editor in charge. To everyone involved in publication, distribution, and sales.

And to all the readers who picked up this book.

Thanks to each and every one of you, I’ve been able to publish another novel like this.

Thank you so very much. If you enjoyed it, there is no greater joy for me.

Futaba Ono