Excerpt: Arare

“So you're writing a doujinshi?” A smile grew on Chihiro's face, a soft, sweet smile. Her beautiful eyes were full of curiosity, wide and waiting for my response. She played with her glass, a half-empty glass of her favorite, melon soda. The little cafe was far more empty than usual, the atmosphere was at its best. Low-lit as always, this place had a calming effect on me, at least.

“Yeah... yeah, I am,” I said, nodding, tone almost nervous. Yeah... I almost couldn't believe what was happening myself. I took a sip of my drink, boring in comparison to hers, just regular cola.

“What's it about?” she asked quickly, eager for my answer suddenly, as if she had needed my initial response to confirm what I'd told her. I was definitely a little nervous now, but I tried my best to hide it.

“Well... it's... an original doujin... about this magical girl,” she giggled when I said that—I blushed. “But she's, like, a ghost.” Actually, I didn't know what the mystery author was planning, of course, which made explaining the manga... well, a lot harder. I continued my attempt to explain it, constantly tripping over my own words and explanations, sure that this or that was wrong, the more I thought about it... Yes, I'm completely wrong. It occurred to me I really should have waited for a few more chapters to be finished...

Chihiro was laughing by now, “Maybe you shouldn't write manga,” she said, so simply, so honestly. She was right, I shouldn't. But I wasn't, and that was the thing. That was why this would succeed. But, of course, that was the only thing, I couldn't tell her about it.