All Beautiful Girls Want to Stick with Me

Lying on her bed, Yui Yuigahama saw Kotomi’s reply and happily hugged her phone, rolling around on the bed while letting out joyful mmm mmm sounds.

She knew that if Kotomi found out she was this excited, Kotomi would definitely laugh at her. But right now, Yui was just really happy!

Just thinking about how Kotomi had stayed home the whole day today, just to rest up so she could go sing karaoke with her tomorrow, filled Yui with endless joy!

Yui Yuigahama hurried to her wardrobe, opened it, and began rummaging through her clothes:

”When I go see Kotomi tomorrow, what should I wear? This dress? No, it’s too cold.

”This one? The color’s too plain.

”This one? The colors are way too flashy. Speaking of which, I bought this back in my first year of middle school. At the time, I thought clothes with lots of colors mixed together looked really good. But now that I’m in my first year of high school, I don’t think it looks nice at all—actually, it feels like a piece of my embarrassing chuunibyou history.

”Let me keep looking… Ugh, what on earth should I wear tomorrow?! If I had known, I would’ve bought myself a new outfit at the mall today.”

Yui stared at her wardrobe, but not a single outfit felt right.

Normally, she thought she had bought more than enough clothes. But now that she was going to karaoke with Kotomi, and since she wanted to be Kotomi’s girlfriend, Yui couldn’t help but treat it as a date—even though she knew it was just karaoke practice.

That was why she was being extra serious in choosing her outfit. But after all that effort, she still couldn’t find one she was satisfied with.

She thought back to this morning at Chiba Mall—hadn’t she seen an outfit that looked really nice? If only she had bought it then, she wouldn’t be worrying about what to wear to her ”date” with Kotomi tomorrow.

Ding dong.

Just as Yui was stressing over her clothes, the doorbell suddenly rang downstairs. It was already evening, and since both her mom and little sister were home, she wondered—who could it be?

Yui ran down to the entrance. Looking at the video screen connected to the doorbell, she saw… a delivery man.

A delivery???

Yui’s head filled with question marks. She hadn’t ordered anything online lately, so why would there be a package for her?

Ding dong.

The doorbell rang again.

”Hello, is Miss Yui Yuigahama home? There’s a delivery for you. Please sign here.”

My delivery???

Yui put on her shoes, stepped outside, and took a look at the package. The recipient’s name was indeed hers. Inside the waterproof bag was a cardboard box with a bit of weight to it, though she had no idea what it was.

”I don’t remember ordering anything online…”

She muttered in confusion, then glanced at the sender: Chiba Shopping Mall?

Why would Chiba Shopping Mall send her a delivery?

Puzzled, Yui hesitated for a moment before signing her name and accepting the package. Once she had signed, the courier left.

Holding the medium-sized box, Yui thought carefully. Instead of immediately carrying it inside, she set it down at the door and went to the kitchen to grab scissors.

She came back, cut open the outer waterproof bag and the protective bubble wrap inside, and found a shoebox-style carton with a clothing store’s logo printed on it.

”Isn’t this from that store on the 5th floor of Chiba Mall?”

Earlier today, when she and her mom and sister were shopping, they had passed by this store. The clothes were all pricey, so they only looked from the outside without going in.

Opening the carton, Yui froze. Inside was a long white down jacket.

This was the new release she had seen before in a fashion magazine. She had loved it at first sight—especially this white version.

Originally, she had planned to save up money and hopefully buy this down jacket next winter. But after seeing the estimated price, she gave up on the idea immediately. This down jacket was really expensive.

And now, this very white down jacket had been delivered straight to her door—with her name on it as the recipient?!

”Could it be that they wrote the wrong name?”

Yui Yuigahama stood blankly at the entrance, staring at the jacket inside the box, unsure of what to do. Should she return it? After all, she hadn’t paid for it.

...

After Yui signed for the package, Kotomi Izumi received a confirmation message on her phone, notifying her that Yui had already signed for the white down jacket.

”Same-city delivery is this fast? Not even a day, and it’s already arrived.”

Kotomi murmured to herself, then quickly picked up her phone to message Yui. If she had guessed correctly, that silly dumpling was probably staring at the box right now, wondering if it had been delivered by mistake, and even thinking about sending it back!

...

Yui’s phone suddenly chimed with a new Line message. She quickly grabbed it and saw it was from Kotomi.

Like a puppy running instinctively to its owner when facing trouble, Yui had just been about to ask Kotomi what to do about suddenly receiving such an expensive down jacket. But before she could, Kotomi’s message came in.

Kotomi Izumi: [Did you just receive a delivery? Inside is a long white down jacket.]

[I lied to you earlier. I didn’t actually stay home all day today. This afternoon, I went to Chiba Mall alone. At first, I only went to the supermarket on the first floor to buy groceries for dinner for my parents. But since I was already there, I went up to the 5th floor to look around. When I passed by a clothing store, I saw a down jacket I really liked, so I bought one.]

[The salesgirl told me there was a promotion—buy two and get a discount. It was a really good deal, so I decided to buy two. But then I wondered, who should I give the other one to? And right away, the image of you, my little dumpling, came into my mind. Because when I saw this white down jacket in the store, I honestly felt that in this whole world, the person who suited it the best was you.]

[Both jackets have already been paid for! The discount’s been used, so you’re not allowed to be polite with me. Just accept it properly! If you really want to thank me, then tomorrow dress up nicely, wear this down jacket, and come see me. That way, you’ll prove that my eye for fashion was right!]

[Oh, and earlier you mentioned that you went to Chiba Mall with Aunt Tomoka and little Yuka this morning. If I had known, I would’ve gone in the morning too. Maybe we could’ve had a chance encounter~]

When Yui finished reading Kotomi’s messages, she was stunned again. But as the meaning sank in, an uncontrollable smile spread across her lips.

Her face flushing red, Yui squatted down, pulled the white down jacket from the box, and hugged it tightly in her arms. Her blushing cheeks pressed against it as she let out silly giggles.

”One for Kotomi, one for me… Does this mean… this is our first couple outfit?!

No, no, not yet. Kotomi and I aren’t lovers yet. At least, not until our relationship officially becomes that of lovers can these two down jackets truly be considered our first couple outfit!

Mmm~ I don’t want to wear it, I just want to treasure it. I want to save it until after Kotomi and I get married and have kids, then show it to them and say: Look, this was the couple outfit your mom and I wore back in our student days!

Uuu… I like Kotomi, super like! But… does Kotomi like me too?”

Yui Yuigahama: [I’ve received the down jacket, thank you Kotomi! I really love it!]

Seeing that Yui had already opened the package and tried on the jacket, Kotomi asked another question.

Kotomi Izumi: [Does the down jacket fit?]

Yui Yuigahama: [It fits perfectly! I just tried it on, and I’m super surprised. I never told you my clothing size, so how did you manage to buy the perfect one?]

Kotomi Izumi: [You told me your size before, didn’t you? Did you forget?]

Yui Yuigahama: [Did I? Hmm… I can’t remember. Maybe I did tell you, and then just forgot about it myself.]

Seeing Yui’s puzzled reply, Kotomi gave a wry smile. Yui had indeed never told her the size, and she hadn’t guessed either. Kotomi was terrible with numbers and would never be able to figure out someone’s size by guessing. But she did have an excellent memory.

Earlier, while talking with Tomoka Yuigahama about a female protagonist’s outfits, Kotomi had casually asked what Yui’s clothing size was. Tomoka had answered offhandedly, and Kotomi had taken the chance to also ask about Tomoka’s size.

That was when Kotomi remembered Yui’s measurements.

Yui Yuigahama: [Kotomi! Should I send you a picture right now?!]

Yui was even more excited than Kotomi, just like a puppy that, upon getting a new collar, immediately circles around its owner, wagging its tail and waiting to be praised.

And Kotomi, the ”owner,” couldn’t help but smile in quiet amusement.

Kotomi Izumi: [I’m not looking forward to you sending me a picture. Besides, since I chose this jacket for you, I’ve already imagined almost perfectly what you’d look like wearing it! Go to bed early. If you dare to be late tomorrow, I’ll kick you hard!]

Reading Kotomi’s ”threat,” Yui couldn’t help but secretly think about deliberately being late tomorrow, then lying on the ground and letting Kotomi kick her without mercy!

Wiping away the drool at the corner of her mouth, Yui hurriedly replied: [I definitely won’t be late!]

Kotomi Izumi: [Good night.]

Yui Yuigahama: [Good night!!!]

After putting down her phone, Kotomi booted up her computer. Her mouse skipped smoothly past the Word icon and headed straight for Steam. She had planned to send Kiyoko Matsumatsu a quick Line message, asking if she wanted to game together. But before she could even click on Kiyoko’s avatar, her phone rang—it was a call from Haruno Yukinoshita.

”Kotomi, have you written the outlines for Volumes 2 and 3 of Sword Art Online yet?”

”…Outlines?”

Kotomi twitched her lips and opened her folders. As expected—nothing there.

”The illustrator, Hanayui-sensei, has already finished nearly all the illustrations. The publisher is about to begin the printing process. The only thing missing now is your outlines. Judging from your tone… don’t tell me you still haven’t written them?!!!”

Busted! Not only had she not written them, Kotomi had completely forgotten she even needed to! She had already submitted the outlines for Volumes 2 and 3 earlier…

”Of course not. I already wrote them ages ago! I just need to read through them again and see if they need revisions. Tonight, I’ll send them over to you!”

Kotomi spoke with full confidence while at the same time opening a brand-new Word document.

”Really? Perfect. I’m working overtime tonight, so I’ll be waiting for your outlines. Remember to send them quickly, okay?”

Why did you have to work overtime tonight of all nights?! Kotomi cursed silently, then forced a smile. ”S-sure, no problem.”

After hanging up, Kotomi sighed. It seemed there would be no gaming with Kiyoko Matsumatsu tonight. Writing two entire outlines wasn’t much—together they wouldn’t even exceed a thousand words. But from planning, to writing, to polishing, it would still take at least over an hour.

The so-called story outline isn’t the formal outline an author writes for themselves and the editor. A formal outline could easily run into tens of thousands of words, and if more detailed with careful plotting, even hundreds of thousands.

The story outline, however, is what gets uploaded to the official light novel label website, online bookstore product pages, and printed on the back of the paperback volume.

Likewise, the copy on the volume’s obi strip counts as a kind of story outline too, and needs to be written separately. But the word count there is much shorter, since most of the obi is used to list limited edition extras or the price.

If the series has new developments—like an anime adaptation, drama CD, or manga—those announcements are also made on the obi strip.

Of course… Kotomi hadn’t written that either.

In short, the story outline is a teaser-style introduction for the volume, meant to spark readers’ interest and make them eager to read the main story.

And whether for the back cover or the obi strip, Kotomi hadn’t written a single word. Not even one!

”I completely forgot I needed to write the story outline. Think, think… Okay, I’ll write it like this!” After quickly organizing her thoughts, Kotomi placed her hands on the keyboard and began typing the outline into the new document.

Usually, story outlines are written by the editor after reading through the manuscript.

The outline for Volume 1 of Sword Art Online was written by Haruno Yukinoshita for Kotomi, and to be fair, it was decent.

Back in university, Haruno had studied science and didn’t really understand light novels. She would sit in front of her computer struggling for ages—typing ten words only to delete nine. It took her three whole days to finally finish the outline for Volume 1 of Sword Art Online.

But when Kotomi read it, she wasn’t very satisfied, so she told Haruno: ”Next time, I’ll write the outline myself.”

Some editors, when hearing this from an author, refuse—thinking, ”Writing the outline is the editor’s job. Don’t underestimate light novel editors! How infuriating!” They’ll insist on doing it themselves no matter what.

Others, though, are happy to let the author handle it, since one less outline means a lighter workload.

After all, some editors manage several light novels at once. If multiple series are scheduled to release around the same time, they could spend entire days doing nothing but writing outlines for authors—from clock-in to clock-out. And if deadlines are tight, they might even need overtime.

As for Haruno Yukinoshita—she simply wasn’t good at writing. Back in elementary and middle school, her language arts teachers often summoned her parents, because whenever there was a composition assignment, Haruno was always the last to turn it in. And when she did, you could always find the original version somewhere among her classmates’ essays.

A classmate wrote: ”Summer arrived, and I went to the pool with my parents on the weekend.” Haruno wrote: ”Winter arrived, and I went skiing at the resort with my parents on the weekend.”

In the middle of summer, it hadn’t even rained much, let alone snowed. Where did you find a ski resort? And how did your skiing essay suddenly turn into swimming midway through?

This was Haruno’s first time serving as a responsible editor, and when faced with the Volume 1 outline of Sword Art Online, she honestly didn’t know what to write or how long it should be. On top of that, she was never good at writing in the first place, and worried that a bad outline might hurt the series’ sales.

All she could do was keep asking her friend Ai Kagami for advice, fumbling through bit by bit until she finally produced a passable outline.

So when Kotomi said she would write the outlines herself, Haruno agreed without hesitation.

Fifty minutes later—

”Should’ve known better than to say I’d take on the outlines myself. If I’d asked Haruno to do it, she could’ve gotten some writing practice in too.”

With a faint smile, Kotomi saved the outlines for Volumes 2 and 3 and sent them to Haruno Yukinoshita via email.

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