June 14, Thursday

The afternoon sun cast a warm, golden glow over the city as I made my way toward Keiyu's home. Classes had ended for the day, and it was time to return to our world of writing and illustration.

Keiyu had asked me earlier in the morning to come over this afternoon. Saying that we needed to start working on our new one-shot, one that would hopefully be good enough for serialization.

As I walked, my mind wandered back to yesterday's encounter. Meeting Kei Enishi, the president of our student council, and Keiyu's rival author, had been nothing short of a surprise. I was eager to share this encounter with Keiyu, but I was also a bit nervous.

Would he take it well?

We needed all the insight we could get if we were to create a story worthy of serialization. And if Kei Enishi's menacing critique had taught me anything, it was that we needed to find a balance in our storytelling. We needed to be unique, yes, but we also needed to understand and cater to the mainstream tastes a bit.

That was the key.

A few moments later, I finally arrived in front of Keiyu's front door. I reached out and pressed the intercom button, announcing my arrival. "Kurumizawa-san? It's me, Imaizumi."

Then, within just a few seconds the door swung open and there stood Keiyu, already changed out of his school uniform and into his casual clothes. He smiled at me warmly, anh my cheeks burned with a blush as I suddenly recalled the events of the previous Monday.

"Ah, Imaizumi-san, glad to see you," he greeted with a calm tone. He stepped aside, opening the door wider for me. "Come on in."

I took off my shoes at the entryway and followed Keiyu into the workroom. As I settled my bag by my usual art workspace, I couldn't help but feel like I haven't been here for ages. The large drawing tablet, the laptop – it felt like I was finally home.

Keiyu glanced over at me, noticing my wistful expression, "You miss working here?" he asked.

I smiled, nodding, "Yes, I do. Even though it hasn't been that long yet."

He chuckled softly, "Well, now you're here, time to continue your work, Miss Illustrator/Co-writer."

With a nod, I reached into my bag and pulled out the list of prompts that Satoshi and I had compiled, "Sato-kun helped me brainstorm some one-word prompts yesterday," I explained as I handed the list to Keiyu. "We thought it might be helpful."

Keiyu took the list from me and scanned through it, smiling with a little hint of surprise, "You did a good job," he praised, reaching out to ruffle my hair affectionately.

I pouted, swatting his hand away, "I-I'm not a kid, Kurumizawa-san."

He chuckled at my reaction with his amber eyes filled with delight, "No, you're not. But you're still cute."

My eyes widened in surprise at his words, caught off-guard by the compliment, "A-Are you flirting with me, Kurumizawa-san?" I asked him.

He shook his head with an innocent smile on his face, "No of course, it's more like... borderline flirting. Besides, it's not against our rules, right?"

I sighed at his response, trying to hide the smile that was threatening to appear on my face, "Geez... you shouldn't be doing things like patting someone's head so casually. Not everyone would find it endearing like I do," I warned him.

"But Imaizumi-san" he began. "I wouldn't do this to just any girl. Only to you."

His words made me giggle, and I couldn't help but compare him to his twin brother, "You're starting to act like Kiryu, Keiyu. Ah... your names are kind of confusing."

At that, Keiyu shook his head vehemently with a chuckle, "No, goodness no. If Kiryu was in my position, he would've been way more flirtatious. And if he ever tries to flirt with you, I'd punch him in the face."

I playfully poked his nose with a teasing smile on my face, "Oh really, Kurumizawa-san? Would you really go that far, even though we're not an actual couple yet? How audacious..." I asked.

He simply chuckled back at me, running his fingers through his hair, "I'd keep other guys away from you, couple or not. I am that selfish."

My eyebrows shot up at his admission, and I couldn't help but laugh, "You're such a selfish person." I accused, although there was no real heat in my words.

"I am," he agreed easily with a smile. "And I'm selfish enough to want you all for myself. So, I'll work as hard as I can to get our new work serialized... then we can keep our promise."

I giggled at his smooth words, unable to hide the blush that was spreading across my face, "Y-You've become such a smooth talker, Kurumizawa-san. You're really different from the quiet boy I knew back in middle school."

He simply smiled at that, reaching out to pat my head once more, "That's because I found you again. And I don't plan on letting you go this time."

I couldn't help but sigh at his last comment, shaking my head with a smile as I gave up on trying to get him to stop with his smooth talking, "Alright, alright... let's get to work. We have a lot to do," I said, shifting the topic back to our new project.

Keiyu agreed with a nod, his playful side giving way to his focused, professional side. But before we could dive into our work, I had one more piece of news to share.

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"Oh! By the way, I met Kei Enishi at my school yesterday," I revealed, watching as Keiyu's brows shot up in surprise. "It... turns out he's the student council president for my school."

The surprise on his face soon turned into a challenging smile, his amber eyes lighting up with a spark of competitiveness, "Really now? That's interesting," he mused, leaning back in his chair as he took in the news.

"He said something about Rose of Vermillion," I continued, recalling my conversation with Kei. "Basically, he thought it was disappointing. He criticized it for being 'too focused on being unique' and 'not appealing enough to the mainstream trends'."

Keiyu listened to my words, his fingers lightly tapping against his chin in thought. After a moment, he sighed, "I have to admit, Rose of Vermillion wasn't as good as it could have been. I realized that after the polls."

My heart sank a little at his admission, "So," I began, my voice a bit hesitant. "what kind of story do you plan on writing next?"

Keiyu reached out for the list of prompts that Satoshi and I had come up with and scanned through it, his eyes darting back and forth as he read each prompt, "Well, let's see..."

After a moment, he looked up at me with a serious expression, "Imaizumi-san, would you mind staying overtime today? I want to draft a few plot outlines and have you review them with me," he said. "Of course, I'll compensate for the extra hours. I'll make sure to send the payment directly to your bank."

I hesitated for a moment, glancing at the clock. As much as I wanted to come home early today, I found it to be okay to stay for a bit. I considered Keiyu's place to be my second home anyway, not to mention that I knew how important this was for him.

Finally, I nodded, "Okay, I can stay until 10 PM. I'll just let my stream viewers know that I won't be doing my usual art session today. I'm sure they'll understand."

Keiyu's face was filled with gratitude at my agreement, he turned back to his computer, ready to begin working, "Since you're not drawing anything today, would you mind sitting beside me and reading as I type?" he asked, glancing over at me. "I think it'll help if you can give me immediate feedback."

The request took me by surprise, but I found myself nodding in agreement. It made sense, after all, since the two of us are a team. I moved my chair next to his so that I could watch as he typed, "You won't get distracted if I'm this close?" I asked with worry.

Keiyu shook his head and smiled, "No, I think you'll help inspire me more than distract me," he reassured me.

And with that, he began working on his plot ideas. We went on for a good hour or two, with Keiyu typing away at his computer while I read over his shoulder, offering comments and suggestions whenever necessary.

We took a few breaks in between to stretch, chat, and had dinner once again cooked by Keiyu, but most of our time was spent focused on the task at hand.

By 9:30 PM, Keiyu had managed to write an astounding 21 plot outlines, each one unique and following the prompts that Satoshi and I had compiled.

As I scanned through the list of plot outlines, I couldn't help but feel that despite their uniqueness, something was missing. The ideas were all intriguing, but there was a certain element, a spark, that seemed to be lacking.

Keiyu must have noticed my troubled expression because he reached out and gently pulled the papers from my hands. He skimmed through the plot outlines, with his brow furrowed in concentration.

"You're right," he finally said after a moment with a hint of slight frustration. He ran his fingers through his hair, a clear sign that he was feeling stressed. "I thought the prompts were perfect, but I had to skip a few because they felt... too simple."

"Which ones did you skip?" I asked, tilting my head.

"Fire and Ice," he replied, his gaze drifting back to the pages in front of him. "They were the first two on the list."

"I think... it's not about the complexity of the prompts, Kurumizawa-san," I began, trying to articulate the thought that had been nagging at me. "It's about how we can build on that simplicity. I-I'm not an experienced writer like you, but sometimes, starting simple means more potential of branching off, don't you think?"

He sighed, removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes, "Do you think such basic elements could really give us a good, mainstream story? I've never been one to follow the mainstream. To be honest I don't think I even know how to voluntarily write one."

"Just... just give it a try?" I urged him with a smile.

Keiyu was silent for a moment as he began to think. Then, as if a light bulb had turned on in his mind, he wore back his glasses and reached for a blank sheet of paper.

He started jotting down words, seemingly random at first, but as I watched, I realized they were all related to the prompts we'd compiled.

"Fire... Ice... Elements... this could work," He murmured, his pen moving rapidly across the paper. His gaze flickered over the prompt list again, and he added more words, "Magic... Darkness... Stones... Fragments... Academy..."

When he finally stopped writing and looked up, his amber eyes met mine, his gaze was that of pure amusement, as if his thoughts were screaming: "Jackpot."

"Did you figure something out?" I then asked him.

Keiyu nodded, holding up the paper with a flourish, "I think I might have something," he said with a light smile.

He began to explain the concept he had sketched out, his words flowing as if he was telling a story. "Imagine this. It's a modern world but with a twist. Magic exists, and there are academies specifically for those who can use it. Then there are the Fragmi, humans who can transform into weapons. These transformations are made possible by magical stones embedded in their bodies. Some have these stones naturally, while others, the Synthetics, have them artificially inserted."

His voice slowly grew more and more excited as he continues, "The story would follow two main characters. They're both Fragmi, but one of them, who has the power of Ice, is a Synthetic. It's rare for a Fragmi to become a Wielder, which makes our protagonists unique and powerful because they have the potential to be both a Fragmi and a Wielder at the same time. They're students at a magic academy, participating in tournaments and such."

He paused, his brow furrowing slightly as he thought about the next part, "And there's a common enemy, beings I'm thinking of calling the Fallen. I'm not quite sure yet how they'll fit into the story, but I'm sure I'll figure it out."

Listening to Keiyu's excitement over the new plot, I couldn't help but smile as I could already see myself drawing the scenes, capturing the unique characters and their journey through my illustrations.

"I like it!" I finally responded. "It's unique, but it has elements that are more mainstream. The magic academy, tournaments... that's something readers would be familiar with. This is probably what Enishi-san meant by finding the balance..."

Keiyu let out a relieved sigh, the weight visibly lifting from his shoulders, "Ah... I'm glad," he admitted. "But the real work starts here."

"I know," I nodded. "If we want to top Kei Enishi's Mirror of Thoughts, we have to put our all into this. We need to win the polls, and my illustrations need to be more than just good. They need to be spectacular, I want to help you reach your dream, Kurumizawa-san."

Keiyu nodded back and gave me a grateful smile, "Thank you, Imaizumi-san, I look forward to working on this with you."

"It's... my pleasure, and thank you as well, Kurumizawa-san."

As we basked in the relief and anticipation of finally figuring out the plot for our new project, a thought suddenly occurred to me, "Oh! Wait, Kurumizawa-san?" I called out to him, planning to ask one more vital thing. "What are you going to name the story?"

He paused for a moment, searching within the depths of his mind to think of a title. After a few moments, he gives me a smile before giving an answer.

"The Ballad of the Emberfrost."