Kyousuke couldn't believe how excited he felt. It had been a long time since he had felt such energy, such passion burning inside him. Was this how Kirino felt? He now understood why she did a lot of the things that she did. Seeing your work on display was just something else. Perhaps he had found his new calling.

Stepping forward, he examined the novels on display. There were hundreds of books in this store, probably thousands. He recognised a few of them, belonging to popular anime and manga series he had heard in passing. Others, he was at a complete loss.

He was alone for the moment. Kirino, Kuroneko and Saori were elsewhere in the store, preoccupied with their own needs. It hadn't been very difficult to slip away. Ordinarily, he would stick with them all the way - but he had something he wanted to do. For once, he was here in Akihabara because he had his own reasons to be.

Reaching out, he gripped the spine of a familiar book and pulled it free. Turning it over, he gazed down happily at the front cover. It was simple but eye catching, just as Kyousuke desired. He had a copy already, tucked away at home, sent straight from the press, but he couldn't help admiring it like it was a brand new treasure.

The art was simple but extremely well done, depicting a young man in high school, dressed simply in his school uniform. The title was scrawled around him in bright ink, capturing your eye from the start. It wasn't the largest book in the store, but it was far from the smallest. At the bottom of the cover, his pseudonym was on display; it was simple and completely impossible to work out, for he simply went as K.K.

And in the top corner, there was a number one.

It was the first of a series.

His novel had been out for awhile now but this was the first time he had been out and seen it for sale in person. It made him feel giddy and light headed, and proud. This was his book. He was an author.

He knew all these things, but again, it was like learning it for the first time.

It was selling extremely well. His royalties told him that much. And it had gotten rather good reviews, from what he'd glanced at online. His publisher was urging him to hurry on the next instalment, but he didn't want to rush it. Even if it was becoming rather popular, he wasn't a natural at writing. He wanted to make sure everything was done as well as could be before handing anything in.

He never thought he would ever find something to take pride in, but he had. He didn't want to mess anything up. It had to be perfect.

"There you are," a voice called from behind. Saori had found him. He turned to meet her. "You shouldn't wander off on your own, Kyousuke-shi - you wouldn't want to get loooost, would you~?" she teased.

"Yeah, yeah..."

"What are you holding?"

He suddenly felt nervous. What would she think of it? She didn't know he had written it, of course. No one did. Would she like it? Would she recognise the characters, even with all the changes? Or would she criticise it? He remembered the harsh way Kirino and Kuroneko had picked apart each other's work; he wasn't sure he could handle such scathing reviews - not from someone he knew personally and respected.

"Oh," she muttered, getting a good look. He silently handed it over and she gazed down at it in interest. "This art looks familiar."

It wasn't his, as he couldn't draw worth a damn. The publishing company had brought in somebody by the name of Ganma Yamanashi, who handled all the drawing. Kyousuke still had input, as they were his characters - but he left most of the work to Yamanashi-san.

Incidentally, Yamanashi-san was the author of Maschera: Lament of a Fallen Beast - Kuroneko's favourite anime and novel series. The art was completely different to that series, however. Not as sharp, not as serious. Kyousuke made it clear that his series was much more ordinary - in setting, anyway. The plot was... well, there was nothing normal about his life recently, was there?

"Oooh, I've heard about this novel," Saori exclaimed. "It's doing really well. People are already talking about a possible anime adaptation and it only has one instalment so far."

Kyousuke tried not to preen under her praise. Though that was the first he had heard about an anime.

"Are you thinking about buying it, Kyousuke-shi? This guy looks like you."

He made sure to keep calm. While the picture on the cover resembled him a little, it was no where near a perfect match. He looked like any generic teenage male character - in other words, plain.

"I don't know. Maybe."

"I think I will," she said, nodding rapidly. Her glasses nearly slipped off her nose at the action. "Yes, I must see what all the excitement is about!"

"What are you two talking about?"

Kirino and Kuroneko had arrived. It wasn't long before Kirino noticed the novel clutched in Saori's hands.

Her reaction was completely unexpected.

"Oh my god~!" she squealed, making Kyousuke and Kuroneko jump in alarm, while Saori stepped back in surprise. While her otaku friends were used to her bizarre outbursts, even they got caught off guard on occasion. "You have to buy that book! What a godly novel!"

Kyousuke tensed. Kirino had read it?

"Oh?" Kuroneko asked, looking at it casually. She smiled mockingly. "If you are reacting like that, it must be full of perverse siscon elements."

"Shut up!" Kirino snapped irritably, glaring at her friend. "I don't like your tone."

Kuroneko just laughed softly to herself.

"Damn goth loli," Kirino muttered, trembling as her annoyance vanished and she focused on the book. She was practically vibrating with excitement. "It's about an ordinary high school student who has this amazing imouto that he dislikes - but you can totally tell he is tsundere, no matter how good the author is at disguising it."

Kyousuke almost balked.

Who are you calling tsundere? he screamed in his mind.

"She's really popular, good at sport, intelligent and even has a part-time job even though she is still in middle-school. But she has a secret that she can't tell anyone, something that would bring shame to the family if it were discovered. Her brother finds out, of course," she waved her hand airily, as if this was obviously what was going to happen, "and he helps her keep it secret from everyone else. He likes to act tough, but you just know he totally liked helping her out. It's so cute!"

Saori was grinning at Kirino and her passionate display, while Kuroneko was frowning thoughtfully. Kyousuke was honestly baffled at what he was hearing. While he always knew that his sister might read his novel, he never thought in a thousand years that she would enjoy it, even if it did fall within her genre somewhat.

"She treats her brother rather poorly, though," she admitted, sulking at that. But she burst back into life quickly, "but you can really tell she appreciates his help. She just has trouble expressing it."

"It sounds really fun, Kiririn-shi!"

"I know, right? Right?"

Kyousuke watched blankly as Saori made her way towards the counter with the novel, Kirino explaining in detail why it would be her best buy of the year, waving her arms around ecstatically to emphasize her points.

What the hell just happened?

He was about to follow when he felt a light tug on his sleeve.

"Huh?"

Kuroneko stared up at him through her lashes, a taunting smirk in place. "If you ask me, that sounded rather familiar, wouldn't you agree?"

She had worked it out, then. It wasn't all that surprising. Kuroneko was a sharp girl - but he wasn't going to let her win. But at the same time, he wasn't going to deny her insinuation either, even though he was worried she would tell Kirino. He knew her game. She liked to humiliate others for her own amusement. This time, he was going to get the last word.

"I don't think so," he said with forced calm, gazing back into her red eyes. He knew exactly what to say. "I mean, I heard there is a ghost-like Japanese beauty in that novel," he shrugged hopelessly. "I kinda wish it was familiar."

Her mouth opened in surprise, and her smooth, pale cheeks flushed scarlet. He hated to admit it but she looked incredibly cute, standing there in her gothic lolita dress and blushing furiously.

"Come on," he said a moment later, after letting his words sink in a little. He placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled. "If we don't get going, they'll leave us behind."

OoOoO

Cow: Just the continuation of an earlier chapter, though after a considerable time-skip. Like that one, this doesn't contain a pairing, though I suppose you could say that Kuroneko's 'affection points' went up a little. Haha.

What's the title of Kyousuke's novel? You know, I never could really figure one out that sounded good enough. Also, Kanako's sister is the person who draws all the art for him.