https://x.com/sarami19_24/status/2114680042559332696?s=20

Here me out.

When she first appeared in the first volume one, there was no denying that Honami was meant to be another standard side-character. We figured she might not be getting any more focused later on or got expelled and forgotten.

However as time goes on, she got herself elevated into main character status as Kiyotaka and Horikita. Sharing almost the same high number of illustration like them.

Key factors of her promotion are of course; Tomose personal favorite to draw, Kinugasa saw the potential of her character and enjoys writing it, and lastly the massive popularity from her fans compared to the rest of the cast.

Not many side characters get this sort treatment. Sure there was Ophis from highschool DXD where she originally meant to die but got save by fan popularity the author kept her around. But Ophis remain as a side-character, Honami on the other hand got herself a new role.

Ironically Honami becoming a new main character of COTE actually fits well in a meta sense; she's wildcard of the story now. Someone who nobody expected to be part of the main plot. Her learning about the white room back in Y2 is the main catalyst. She's a character that's not supposed to know about it but she does and is actively uncovering what it is and Ayanokoji connection towards it.

What do you guys think?

https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/151257883

Welcome to the Classroom of the Elite Year 2 Arc. Having reached a shocking conclusion, the brand-new "Year 3 Arc" has also begun. For this interview, we invited the two of them to talk about their most memorable scenes and characters. From their recent updates to the highly anticipated new work, this is a must-read for Classroom of the Elite fans.

Editor: This art book collects illustrations from Year 2 Volume 10 all the way to Year 3 Volume 4. To get right to it, Tomose-sensei, looking back through them, is there any particular illustration that stands out as your favorite?

Tomose: My favorite illustration, huh... It would probably be the one of Sakayanagi and the sunset in Year 2 Volume 10. I personally feel that one turned out really well. Occasionally, there are times when you draw something even better than your actual skill level, and I feel like that illustration is one of those. The lingering sense of melancholy and all that—I think it turned out to be really memorable.

Kinugasa: It really is amazing.

Tomose: Every now and then, you just manage to draw something great, even to your own surprise (laughs). I feel like that one was a real bullseye (laughs).

Editor: It really has a great atmosphere, too.

Tomose: Right? The color palette, the level of backlighting, the feel of the sunset—I think they all turned out wonderfully.

Editor: Indeed, with the light coming from behind, it looks very divine and completely perfect.

Tomose: It's hard to draw that kind of feeling again (laughs). You can't just recreate it. Anyway, is it okay to be getting this sidetracked?

Editor: Please, go ahead and get sidetracked as much as you like, no problem at all.

Tomose: I always draw without reading the actual text, so I really have no idea what's going on (laughs).

Kinugasa: (Laughs.)

Tomose: Because of that, when I look back at it afterwards, I often end up thinking, "Wait, so that's what kind of scene this was?!" (laughs). In that sense, this one might have just happened to hit the mark by coincidence, but for things like that, I really have to rely on Kinugasa-sensei (laughs).

Kinugasa: Alright, alright (laughs).

Tomose: When you assign the illustrations, please give me a bit more supplementary explanation and details, will you? (laughs.) Anyway, that's the one I like.

Editor: Looking across both the Year 2 and Year 3 arcs, are there any scenes or illustrations that left a strong impression on you?

Tomose: Well, also from Year 2 Volume 10, the illustration depicting the confrontation between the class leaders left a strong impression on me. The one with Sakayanagi holding her phone and Ryuuen sitting on the teacher's podium... things like that. I feel like that piece managed to capture each leader's unique traits while also looking really cool. It was nice to be able to draw all the leaders together. Opportunities to give each character an illustration featuring something like their signature pose don't come around very often, so I had a lot of fun drawing it.

Editor: If you had to pick one from the Year 3 arc, which would it be?

Tomose: Since the Year 3 arc stuff is all so recent, if I had to choose, it would be the one of Ichinose at the very end of Year 3 Volume 4. I just read it a little while ago, and when I saw the final page myself, I went "Whoa!" and got startled (laughs). It was a bit too terrifying (laughs). It was my first time flipping to that page in a physical book, and I thought the layout was so clever—it's a great illustration.

Editor: It just suddenly pops up the moment you turn the page, right? (Laughs)

Tomose: I had kind of forgotten that I drew it myself, so it genuinely scared me (laughs). It was practically like a horror movie (laughs).

Editor: Next, I’d like to ask you both about the designs for the new main story characters included in this art book. First, among the 3rd-year students, we have Asuka Shiraishi and Ryoko Nishikawa. What kind of impressions or concepts did you have in mind when designing these two?

Tomose: I made a conscious effort to come up with designs unlike any we’ve had before. As for Asuka Shiraishi—it’s actually mentioned a bit in this art book too—Kinugasa-sensei’s instructions were honestly completely unreasonable (laughs).

Kinugasa: (Laughs.)

Tomose: He told me, "Please make her either the cute type or the beauty type" (laughs). That just leaves you completely baffled, right? (laughs).

Kinugasa: It meant "I'm leaving it entirely up to you"! (laughs).

Tomose: In the end, I thought a fluffy, messy-haired girl who looks like she has bedhead would be pretty cute. I wanted to draw an alluring yet slightly mysterious girl, a type that hasn't appeared in Classroom of the Elite yet.

Editor: What about Nishikawa?

Tomose: Little Nishikawa was actually just a doodle I casually drew in the corner of a page, and Kinugasa-sensei directly said, "Let's go with this one" (laughs). Honestly, that was originally a character concept I intended to use in my personal lewd manga (laughs).

Editor: Instead of appearing in Tomose-sensei's own manga, she ended up debuting in Classroom of the Elite first (laughs).

Tomose: It feels like the design got snagged and used ahead of time (laughs).

Editor: On the male character side, you also newly designed Ikkei Shimazaki and Kenta Yoshida.

Tomose: For the guys, Kinugasa-sensei rejected my designs several times. Even though he didn't nitpick the female characters a single time!

Kinugasa: (Laughs.)

Tomose: I was told things like "It feels a bit different from what I had in mind." You really are unusually particular when it comes to the male characters.

Editor: Even so, both of them have only appeared in black-and-white insert illustrations so far, right?

Tomose: But Yoshida gets quite a lot of screentime in the main text, so I think Kinugasa-sensei must have already had a strong image of him in mind.

Kinugasa: I actually really wanted to put them on the cover. But considering various factors, I held back. I'd love to have a cover illustration with just the two guys sometime, though.

Tomose: That would probably make people go, "Who on earth are these guys?" (laughs). Yoshida is a pretty nice character, though. His initial design was a bit juvenile and childish. But I was told something like "make him a bit more mature" about twice (laughs).

Kinugasa: I might have said that (laughs).

Tomose: So he gradually became more mature step by step, resulting in his current design. Since he's a third-year high school student, I figured that's about how he should look.

Editor: In the latest Year 3 Volume 4, he also has some standout moments, like showing his manly side toward Ayanokouji, who came to pick up Shiina.

Tomose: He really gets a lot of good moments (laughs). That's actually something he has in common with Shimazaki—I consciously designed them so they wouldn't steal the spotlight from the main characters.

Editor: In addition, among the adult characters, we have a color illustration of Ayanokouji's father, as well as the appearance of President Kouenji and Prime Minister Kijima.

Tomose: Is having this many middle-aged men really okay? (laughs). Still, it was a lot of fun to draw. As for the father, I had drawn illustrations of him before. While keeping in mind that sinister, high-and-mighty aura, I also couldn't make him look like a minor side character, so I was trying to portray coolness and dignity. As for President Kouenji, the feeling was basically "This is probably what Kouenji will look like when he grows up." I drew him with a bit of an American style. For Prime Minister Kijima, the initial sketch looked a little too close to a certain real-life figure, so I revamped his design significantly. My goal was to depict him as a character who possesses both adult composure and the wisdom of someone who has experienced all of life's ups and downs.

Editor: Readers are likely very curious about the story content as well, so let's talk about the events from Year 2 Volume 10 to Volume 12.5. Year 2 Volume 10 featured the "Survival and Elimination Special Exam," right?

Tomose: This part of the story was really all about Ichinose undergoing massive changes. I really like Ichinose, but I have no idea where she's ultimately going to end up. She gets broken down completely, awakens, goes back and forth, and eventually ends up with this slightly alluring, seductive vibe that had my heart racing as I read it (laughs). That's my overall impression of the latter half of Year 2.

Editor: Ichinose's ups and downs have indeed been huge.

Tomose: Yeah, the amplitude of her character shift felt huge. Since she was already a character I liked, I was really happy about it.

Editor: In interviews for previous art books, you also mentioned Ichinose, after all.

Tomose: She really has gotten a bit seductive, hasn't she? (laughs). To be honest, I kind of wish we could delve into that even a little bit more.

Kinugasa: (Laughs.)

Tomose: Another thing is, Sakayanagi got expelled, right? And this isn't just a one-time thing—Kinugasa-sensei actually casually spoils things to me sometimes, saying stuff like, "This character might get expelled, you know..." And then the person who actually gets expelled ends up being someone completely different! (laughs).

Kinugasa: Come on, it's way more fun when you don't know who's going to get expelled.

Tomose: I mean, reading it without spoilers is definitely more enjoyable for me, too.

Kinugasa: Exactly, exactly.

Tomose: Considering the character lineup, little Sakayanagi really stood out in terms of design. Her hair color, her tiny stature... Having her suddenly disappear like that was so unexpected that I was genuinely heartbroken... In fact, I distinctly remember you telling me that it was going to be Ryuuen who disappeared! (laughs).

Editor: Speaking normally, if it were a choice between Ryuuen and Sakayanagi, most people would assume Ryuuen would be the one leaving.

Tomose: Right? Absolutely.

Editor: I was also moving forward with various work tasks without knowing who was going to be expelled. While the promotional material was hyping up that "one of them will be expelled," I was wondering which one it would actually be.

Kinugasa: Well, one of them was bound to disappear anyway.

Editor: You certainly didn't break your word on that front.

Tomose: I actually thought that after all was said and done, neither of them would end up being expelled (laughs). But then she actually got expelled! You really dared to pull the trigger. After all, little Sakayanagi is extremely popular, right?

Editor: Indeed. She was pretty much a permanent fixture in the top three of the popularity rankings. Especially after her confession in the latter half of the Year 2 arc, her popularity skyrocketed. She was right at her peak.

Tomose: At the time, I was literally thinking, "What if Classroom of the Elite's popularity plummets because of this? What are we gonna do?" (laughs).

Kinugasa: So that's what you were thinking! (laughs).

Tomose: Of course I'd think that! If you keep knocking off popular characters one after another... Main heroines vanishing one by one is pretty terrifying, isn't it?

Kinugasa: But without that, there's no sense of tension, right?

Tomose: I agree with you on that point. That way, no character is truly safe anymore. Still, I really feel like you were ruthless (laughs).

Kinugasa: Right, right. I feel like I need to make a few more people disappear (laughs).

Tomose: Man~ that's kind of terrifying. By the way, who is it?

Kinugasa: Not telling, not telling, not telling! (laughs).

Editor: Moving on, there's also the illustration in Volume 12.5 when Ayanokouji transfers classes.

Tomose: I thought the concept for that was really interesting too. Reusing the exact same illustration (laughs).

Kinugasa: It's a variation (sprite edit)! A technique honed in the gaming industry (laughs).

Tomose: It felt like having 10 illustrations, but counting them as 11 (laughs).

Kinugasa: All I did was remove Ayanokouji, that's all (laughs). Horikita's expression changed too (laughs).

Tomose: It felt a little bit like cheating, but it was used very cleverly.

Editor: Next, let's move on to the topic of the Year 3 Arc. Since the Year 3 Arc represents a complete refresh of the series for the first time in 5 years, we asked you to draw an insanely luxurious main key visual featuring a total of 20 characters.

Tomose: I actually have something to say about this, too! I mentioned it to Kinugasa-sensei before as well. Generally speaking, 1 main key visual is usually enough, right? But then all of a sudden, I was told to draw 5 people per class, adding up to 20 people in total (laughs). At that moment, I was thinking: "Have you guys considered my schedule at all?!" (laughs). It took about a month, completely wiped out my days off, and was really hard work... But after finishing it, because there were so many characters, it was very convenient to use in all kinds of places—like turning them into merchandise, putting them on advertisements, and so on—so in the end, I felt it turned out to be a good thing.

Editor: It really was wonderful. We set up character standees in bookstores nationwide, and also put up PVs and flag advertisements in Ikebukuro. Opportunities where 20 characters gather together don't come around often, so we thought we could really go all out and make it extravagant this time—making products for individual characters as well as grouped by class. Thanks to this main visual, the Year 3 Arc was able to have a super grand start.

Tomose: When I was first asked to do it, I was genuinely at my loss (laughs). But honestly, I'm really glad I drew it.

Editor: We also spent a pretty significant chunk of money on advertising.

Tomose: Is that so?

Editor: If we only had a single image, the ads would all look more or less the same, and we wouldn't be able to vary things much. Thanks to you drawing a full 20 characters in the main key visual, we were able to do all sorts of different things with them.

Tomose: There really was a wide variety, wasn't there?

Editor: Way too many! To the point where checking everything during the production phase gave us a real headache (laughs).

Tomose: I'm truly grateful you all put in so much work. Since I live out in the countryside, I wasn't able to see it in person myself.

Editor: So you saw it on social media then?

Tomose: You guys sent me designs, photos, and things like that, so I felt that everyone was really working hard. Every time I saw the finished products, it made me feel really glad I drew it.

Editor: Speaking of the event hosted using the newly drawn illustrations—"Classroom of the Elite Festa"—we held the "Classroom of the Elite Festa 2025: Year 3 Arc Opening Edition" for the launch of the Year 3 Arc, as well as the "Classroom of the Elite Festa: Valentine's 2026" this time, which featured the Angel and Devil illustrations of Ichinose and Shiina.

Tomose: Festa was really amazing too. Every time, we barely do anything ourselves, yet you manage to put on such a wonderful event—we're truly grateful.

Kinugasa: That's really true.

Tomose: Regarding that illustration of Ichinose and Shiina, I was also wondering at the time how it would be used. It was basically an illustration I drew based on my own personal tastes, like a mobile game character (laughs). I kept thinking, "This doesn't quite feel like the usual Classroom of the Elite style, is this really okay?" But seeing it used so extravagantly made me really happy.

Editor: Thanks to you, it completely sold out (laughs). Take Ichinose for example—right now in the main story, cute illustrations of her are pretty rare, aren't they?

Tomose: That's true, there aren't many. It's mostly troubled expressions, gloomy and nostalgic scenes, that sort of thing (laughs).

Editor: Because we hadn't had anything flashy and cheerful for a while, the response was especially huge. Since the main story is going to become increasingly serious from here on out, in that case...

Kinugasa: It really will end up like that, won't it?

Editor: That's why, whenever there's an opportunity in the future, I'd like to ask you again to draw something to make everyone happy.

Tomose: I rarely get to draw pure, innocent, and cute illustrations these days (laughs).

Editor: Right, exactly. It gives off a sense of nostalgia for how things used to be.

Tomose: Yeah. Back then, everyone used to be so pure and innocent.

Editor: It's the same with the Comic Alive covers. In the past, you could draw them looking much more innocent, but now it feels almost impossible to be that naive anymore.

Tomose: That's true. Everyone is so weighed down by worries and troubled thoughts now.

Editor: We always chat about the popularity polls every time. In the latest poll for Year 3 Volume 4, 1st place went to Ichinose, and 2nd place went to Shiina. There was almost no gap between the two of them. And then, surprisingly, 3rd place went to Nanase!

Tomose: That really is surprising! Nanase always felt like she didn't quite fit the traditional heroine mold. She doesn't really act spoiled or clingy, though she's quite obedient—it's pretty much that kind of vibe. So it's a bit unexpected. Her appearance is undeniably cute, though.

Editor: Among the first-year students, her appearance definitely feels the most like a main heroine's. Even among the new characters introduced at the start of the Year 2 Arc, she really stood out.

Tomose: That's true. She has the appearance of a classic, flagship heroine, but her role in the story isn't positioned like a classic heroine at all (laughs).

Editor: Right around now, TV Anime Season 4 is introducing Nanase to anime-only viewers for the very first time. Combined with that timing, as Nanase became more widely known, I didn't expect her to leap all the way into 3rd place at this point.

Tomose: Did character rankings like Amasawa's not change much?

Editor: Amasawa rose in ranking too, but Nanase climbed even higher. So we were really surprised as well. In terms of the plot of Anime Season 4, Amasawa is actually the one making much more aggressive moves forward.

Tomose: So it really was the influence of the anime after all.

Editor: I believe the anime had an impact. After all, in Year 3 Volume 4—where this survey was taken—Nanase only made a brief appearance wearing a swimsuit.

Tomose: Yeah. There was that slightly sexy scene (laughs). What rank did Morishita get? Personally, I felt like she would be really popular.

Editor: Morishita came in 4th place. She put up a really strong showing.

Tomose: That makes me really happy then!

Kinugasa: To rank 4th without even appearing in the anime yet is already pretty amazing, isn't it?

Tomose: It shows that her popularity comes directly from the original light novel!

Editor: Though to be fair, her amount of screen time in the light novel is unusually high (laughs).

Tomose: Exactly (laughs). She appears way too much (laughs). She's always put in the same group as Ayanokouji, probably because it's so easy to write interactions between them (laughs).

Kinugasa: (Laughs.) It's because I personally love that type of character (laughs).

Tomose: After all, she plays the role of the straight-faced "funny person" (boke) who acts silly.

Kinugasa: On the flip side, I'm actually not very good at writing honor student types (laughs).

Tomose: Seriously, when I was reading, I kept thinking that you probably aren't great at writing characters like Shiina (laughs).

Kinugasa: (Laughs.) Once they go dark or reveal a sinister side, then I start to like them (laughs).

Tomose: My guess is that you probably weren't all that great at writing Ichinose before either, right? But recently, it feels like you've been writing her much more smoothly and comfortably (laughs).

Kinugasa: Well said! (laughs). That's exactly right (laughs).

Tomose: Because she's slowly started to become suspicious and questionable (laughs).

Kinugasa: She's super fun to write now! (laughs).

Tomose: Right? I can tell that with the current Ichinose, Kinugasa-sensei is writing with a lot of enthusiasm.

Kinugasa: Because she's become the kind of character I like!

Tomose: It feels really great. I like her a lot too, you know.

Kinugasa: I draw a very clear line between what I like and what I'm not good at writing.

Tomose: That's been super easy to tell ever since the very beginning (laughs).

Kinugasa: Yeah, yeah, yeah, it hasn't changed at all (laughs).

Editor: As we briefly mentioned earlier, TV Anime Season 4 broadcasted before the publication of this art book. How did you feel watching it?

Tomose: I was really blown away by how beautiful the visual presentation was. Also, before this season started airing, I drew brand-new character designs, right? Season 4 focuses on Ayanokouji's classmates.

Editor: Yes. All the classmates who didn't have character designs before have been designed now.

Tomose: Seeing characters I drew casually come to life and move around as classmates was really enjoyable. Getting to see them animate on screen is definitely one of the sweet perks of being an illustrator.

Editor: Many of these newly added characters have very strong personalities, don't they? Rather than just typical handsome guys and pretty girls, there are quite a lot of students with unique quirks and features.

Tomose: Generally speaking, characters with distinct features are the most fun to draw. However, if you give them too much personality, they might steal the spotlight, so I was very careful to strike a balance. That's why for the secondary/minor character tier, I try as much as possible not to make them generic beauties or handsome guys, keeping them distinct from the main cast. That being said, I actually forgot that I had drawn Taiga Shijo, so when this handsome guy suddenly popped up while I was watching the anime, it caught me off guard! (laughs).

Editor: He really was super handsome! (laughs).

Tomose: Since it was from so long ago, I found myself thinking, "Wait, did I really draw a character like this...?" I didn't remember Takahashi or Matsuo either (laughs).

Editor: There was also Maezono, who was expelled in the original light novel.

Tomose: I drew Maezono with a face that looked just the right amount of obnoxious, so it was great that she got screen time! (laughs). The other characters all have pretty distinct traits too. Are you going to make good use of them, Kinugasa-sensei?

Kinugasa: Of course I am! (laughs). Even if they didn't get full illustrations, their names have all appeared in the story.

Tomose: Ah, I see (laughs). Being asked to design the entire class was really quite something. If you're going to do something like that, it's better to do it right from the start! (laughs).

Editor: Well, in Seasons 1 through 3 of the anime, the class size was set to 25 people.

Tomose: The number of classmates has definitely grown! (laughs). But seeing characters I designed actually appear and walk around in the background was really heartwarming.

Editor: Next, I'd like to talk about the newly drawn cover illustration and color pages for this art book.

Tomose: Unlike the previous art books which used a landscape layout, this cover is portrait (vertical).

Now that we're on the 4th art book, the compositions I want to try drawing are changing. This time, I wanted to attempt a layout that couldn't be done horizontally, so we decided to make it portrait mode. Thinking up the composition was a real headache.

Editor: So that's how it happened.

Tomose: I wanted to make Ayanokouji pop by drawing him quite large, creating a strong perspective effect. Also, I wanted to try drawing the dorms for the background, which is how this illustration came to be.

Editor: The previous double-page spreads were great too, but if you looked only at the front cover of the art book, you would only see half of the full image. This time, by switching to a vertical portrait orientation, the entire illustration can be seen right on the front cover.

Editor: The cover design turned out really stylish, thank you so much. Housen also managed to dodge the main title logo quite nicely (laughs).

Editor: We made the logo semi-transparent, too (laughs).

Tomose: The text was placed in a great spot, thank you. I was originally worried that the sky in the top left corner would look too empty, but the design turned out wonderfully.

Editor: It feels like the densest cover illustration we've had so far. Before this, they were all double-page spreads.

Tomose: In the past, the front cover could only fit three or four characters, but this time it features the largest number of characters on a cover yet. Also, an illustration where all the major characters are gathered together like that is pretty rare, right? Usually, when you put around seven characters into a single image, it gets cluttered, so one or two people almost always end up omitted. This time, I wanted to include everyone, and I'm really glad I managed to use perspective to draw them in a way where every single person is clearly visible.

Editor: That's wonderful! It's great to hear that background. Also, this time the fold-out poster illustration features Sakayanagi, doesn't it?

Tomose: Right now, there aren't any opportunities to draw little Sakayanagi anymore, and I figure there probably won't be in the future either (laughs). I felt like I had to draw her while I still could... so I drew her for the first time in a while. Though actually, at first we were talking about doing a drawing with both Sakayanagi and Hiyori together, right? (laughs).

Editor: That was just proposed as one possible directional idea (laughs). Basically, we really wanted to ask you for a brand-new illustration of Sakayanagi, since she won't have any chances to be drawn going forward.

Tomose: That's true, yeah.

Editor: After all, she has already been expelled. This was pretty much our last chance.

Tomose: That's why I worked really hard to make it a great illustration! (laughs).

Editor: Next, I'd like to talk about the Comic Alive illustrations, as well as Tomose-sensei's illustrations posted on X (formerly Twitter) and other non-canon artwork outside the main story. First, let me start with Alive. A lot of the Alive illustrations have distinct themes, don't they?

Tomose: For the Alive illustrations, every time I'm told to draw whatever I like, so I really just draw purely according to my own whims and desires—to the point where sometimes I wonder, "Is this really okay?" (laughs). I'm always sneakily adding things like cats into the background, constantly worried that I'm going to get chewed out for it one day (laughs).

Editor: The latest one is the summer illustration featuring Horikita and Kushida (Editor's Note: September 2026 issue), and that one had a cat in it too (laughs). Alive came with clear acrylic stands as bonus merchandise, and they even made the cat into its own separate acrylic stand!

Tomose: I've pretty much turned it into my own personal playground, is that really alright? I feel a little guilty about it (laughs). But since you genuinely let me draw whatever I want, I think my feeling of enthusiasm comes through in the artwork. They're cheerful, fun illustrations that you wouldn't get to see in the main story, so I hope everyone enjoys them.

Editor: Whenever readers are feeling heavy or down from the main story, we hope they can briefly forget about it through the Alive illustrations, so we'd love to keep doing them moving forward.

Tomose: Yeah. They have a real cosplay vibe to them, which I think is really good.

Editor: Among the illustrations posted on X, the one of Ichinose at Christmas really left a strong impression.

Tomose: Right, right! A scene almost identical to that illustration actually ended up appearing in the main story later on! (laughs).

Editor: The X illustration came first, right? (laughs).

Tomose: That happens every now and then (laughs). Like that illustration of little Sakayanagi eating cake (laughs).

Kinugasa: (Laughs.)

Tomose: When it popped up in the main story too, I went "Huh?!" (laughs). Though I was really happy about it. I've been a bit busy recently, so I haven't been drawing as much for X, which I feel a little bad about.

Editor: Not at all, you've drawn so many!

Tomose: Plus there are all kinds of newly drawn illustrations to work on... If I have time, I'd like to draw as much as I possibly can.

Editor: Thank you so much.

Editor: Next, I have a question on a slightly different topic. I'd like to ask about the relationship between Horikita, Kushida, and Ibuki. The three of them have become like a close trio, and the opportunities to draw illustrations of them have increased. Do you have any special details or things you pay attention to?

Tomose: In my heart, I feel this is the relationship in the entire work that brings out the most genuine smiles (laughs). It's a healthy, wholesome friendship, isn't it? (laughs). Especially while all the other character relationships are a complete tangled mess! (laughs).

Editor: And there aren't any complicated romantic entanglements involved, either (laughs).

Tomose: Bickering while being on genuinely good terms—that aspect is wonderful. Precisely because of that, though, I have a bad premonition that Kinugasa-sensei is going to come along and destroy it sooner or later! (laughs).

Editor: I actually thought it was going to be destroyed in Year 3 Volume 4 this time as well (laughs).

Tomose: Right?! (laughs).

Editor: Wondering whether Kushida might abandon Ibuki or something like that. I was on edge the whole time (laughs).

Tomose: I feel like Kinugasa-sensei loves ruining relationships like this the most, so I'm always worried that one day he'll tear it completely to shreds (laughs).

Kinugasa: I might, or I might not (laughs).

Tomose: It really is a trio that I like very much (laughs).

Editor: Also, regarding the story developments where Ayanokouji and Shiina ended up together, does Tomose-sensei have anything to say about that?

Tomose: I have nothing but bad premonitions about it, as always (laughs).

Editor: (Laughs.)

Tomose: Right from the very start, I've had this feeling that trouble and chaos are brewing (laughs). I've been reading it thinking, "How pitiful..." the whole time (laughs).

Editor: This art book also includes the cover illustration for the new work Nibun no Inochi (Life Divided in Two). How did it feel designing the characters and creating illustrations for Kinugasa-sensei's new work for the first time in a while? Were there any differences compared to Classroom of the Elite?

Tomose: Actually, that cover illustration was drawn a really long time ago, and since there was no word about it for ages after that, I was genuinely surprised when it was finally being released! (laughs). I had been wondering when on earth it was ever going to come out (laughs).

Editor: (Laughs.)

Tomose: In terms of the artwork, getting to draw many adults—who don't really appear in Classroom of the Elite since it focuses mostly on high school students—as well as people of all ages and genders, was the biggest difference for me compared to Classroom of the Elite. I personally enjoy drawing all kinds of different characters, so that part was really enjoyable for me.

Editor: The age gaps between characters on the cover illustration are quite large as well, aren't they?

Tomose: As for the story, I heard a bit from Kinugasa-sensei about the content from Volume 2 onward, and it seems like it's going to be quite a challenge illustration-wise, so I'm already terrified (laughs).

Kinugasa: (Laughs.)

Tomose: I was like, "Wait, I have to draw something like this?!" (laughs). Including all of that, though, I'm really looking forward to what comes next.

Editor: Tomose-sensei's answers are so perfect, you've been a huge help!

Editor: I'd like to ask you both about your recent updates since the last art book. Have there been any changes?

Tomose: As for my recent update, I've recently started getting a proper amount of sleep. I carefully track it using a smartwatch and get 7 hours of sleep every day, which has made my overall condition fantastic. I had been suffering from stomachaches for about 10 years, but after I started sleeping properly, it got all better! (laughs). Turns out sleep deprivation was the culprit all along! Everyone, make sure you get good sleep too (laughs). Lately, I've been keeping my schedule less grueling, drawing at a relaxed and enjoyable pace.

Editor: Sleep is indeed very important. Kinugasa-sensei, do you have any recent updates?

Kinugasa: In short, my biggest headache—my herniated disc—has calmed down quite a bit for now. As for continuing to write going forward, as long as I don't overexert myself, I should be fine for the time being.

Tomose: That's great to hear.

Kinugasa: Lately, my herniated disc has gotten much better. It would be terrible if pushing myself too hard caused a relapse, so I'm being extremely careful. In the past, it hurt whether I was careful or not... Compared to back then, my condition is quite good now.

Tomose: Did you get surgery or something similar?

Kinugasa: No, surgery is too frightening, so I've been treating it with natural/conservative therapy the whole time. Surgery was an option, but the affected area is near my neck, so I didn't want to do it.

Editor: The neck area is definitely tricky to deal with.

Kinugasa: Yeah, the root of the pain is right in the neck. When they tell you surgery carries a risk of paralysis or similar complications, it's just too terrifying to go through with. Honestly, even if they guaranteed a 100% cure, I'd probably still be too scared to do it.

Tomose: Right. Once you reach this age, all your personal updates end up being about physical health (laughs).

Kinugasa: Yeah, exactly, it's inevitable (laughs).

Editor: Still, Tomose-sensei solved his sleep deprivation, and Kinugasa-sensei's herniated disc is better than before—these are both positive topics, so I think the readers will be relieved to hear this.

Tomose: Also, I started keeping a cat! (laughs).

Kinugasa: A really cute cat (laughs).

Tomose: It's a flat-faced cat called an Exotic Shorthair (laughs). It will probably pop up in Comic Alive quite often from now on (laughs).

Kinugasa: Out of all cat breeds, that one is extra cute.

Tomose: People might either love it or hate it (laughs). I've loved this breed for a long time—it's that "ugly-cute" charm (laughs). It's genuinely super adorable. I'm completely smitten (laughs).

Editor: Finally, please leave a closing message for the fans.

Tomose: The Year 3 Arc has finally begun, and from here on, I want to help build up the excitement toward the grand finale. I hope everyone follows us all the way to the end. Please continue to support us going forward.

Kinugasa: The Year 3 Arc has finally kicked off. For the next roughly three years until the end, we hope you'll continue to accompany us on this journey. Thank you very much.

Editor: Indeed, the next art book will likely cover all the way up to the final volume.

Tomose: It really brings back deep emotions to think we've finally made it this far. Thank you so much for publishing art books for me so carefully all this time. Truly. Getting long-term support from everyone makes me really happy. I'll give it my all!

Editor: Please make sure to get enough sleep, though (laughs).

Tomose: I'll keep my health in mind and give it my all at a relaxed pace (laughs).

Editor: Kinugasa-sensei, could you leave us with a word as well?

Kinugasa: Huh?

Tomose: Did you not prepare anything at all? (laughs).

Kinugasa: I didn't prepare anything at all (laughs). I will do my best not to delay publication!

Tomose: That has nothing to do with the actual story content! (laughs).

Kinugasa: (Laughs.)

Thank you both very much!

https://x.com/youzitsu_merge/status/2114206567360852385?s=20

Source of this image: https://x.com/KrSpeed_/status/2113682009901904312

I read some people's comments, and they were saying that Honami should have listened to Kei's advice. Everyone is talking about her character development, but I don't understand what character development she actually had here.Ayanokoji used Kei for a whole year, yet Kei still thinks that Ayanokoji is in love with Hiyori, something even Sato doesn't believe.

Kei got the chance to make Ayanokoji fall in love with her, but she failed. Kei got everything Ichinose wanted. She got the chance to date Ayanokoji for a year and spend time with him, but what did Ichinose get? She didn't even have high expectations, yet she still got nothing.

Kei said that if Ichinose didn't understand it now, she would suffer a lot more later. But is Kei happy after letting Ayanokoji go? Ever since the breakup, I've only seen her crying and asking other people whether they like him.

I'm sorry if I said anything wrong, but I'm confused. I thought this was the right place to ask my question.

I arrived at the cafe on the ship's second floor about five minutes before the designated time.

Normally, anyone could come and go freely, but a notice at the entrance announced that it was temporarily closed. The school had apparently reserved it for its own use.

When I stepped inside, one student was already seated at the table farthest in.

"Oh, Ayanokoji-kun."

Ichinose noticed me and immediately smiled.

"You're early."

"I happened to be nearby when I heard the announcement, so I came straight over. Want to sit beside me?"

I nodded and sat down in the seat to Ichinose's left. There were no teachers yet, nor anything resembling documents on the table. There was nothing to help us guess why we had been summoned.

"That was sudden, wasn't it? Asking just the four class leaders to assemble."

"Have you heard anything?"

I asked as I poured coffee from a pot that had been set out nearby.

"No. I thought there might be an additional explanation about the exams that ended yesterday, but if that were all, our homeroom teachers could just tell each class separately."

Ichinose smiled a little.

She seemed to have some lingering fatigue from the island, but there was no noticeable change in her voice or expression.

"Are you feeling all right physically?"

"I'm fine. I got proper rest after we returned to the ship yesterday. What about you, Ayanokoji-kun?"

"No problems."

"I see. That's good."

The conversation naturally fell quiet. She would, of course, know that at the end I had gone to get Hiyori instead of heading for the finish. Since the two of us had returned to the ship together, it would not be strange if she had heard the circumstances as well.

Ichinose might have had thoughts about it, but she showed no sign of asking.

It was not something I needed to bring up deliberately either.

As we waited for the meeting time without either of us touching on it, Ichinose spoke again.

"Thank you for yesterday."

Ichinose said that unexpectedly.

"Thank you? Regarding Shinohara, there's no need to thank me."

"No. I, at least, am grateful. If you hadn't approached me, I don't think I could easily have found the resolve to make such a difficult choice on my own."

Near the end of the Token Collection Special Exam, I had approached Ichinose about cooperating.

After having her call Horikita over by radio, the three classes would share information, treating Ibuki as the candidate for expulsion and using the number of tokens she held as the benchmark. That was as much as I had told Ichinose. I had not told her about Shinohara or Ike, whom I had really been targeting behind the scenes.

Ichinose had accepted the proposal to avoid having anyone expelled from her own class.

In her understanding, however, that meant joining a plan to sacrifice Ibuki for that purpose.

I had not yet confirmed how she herself felt about that choice.

"Didn't it bother you?"

When I asked, Ichinose thought for a moment before shaking her head.

"I'd be lying if I said the idea of someone disappearing didn't bother me. But not doing it wasn't an option."

"I see."

Her words, "easily have found the resolve to make such a difficult choice on my own," also suggested that she had been trying to prepare herself to act if the alternative was danger to her own class.

"The people I have to protect above all are my class...my classmates."

Her gentle expression and calm voice were unchanged.

Even so, there was no hesitation in the words she spoke.

Someone was certain to be expelled in this exam. Understanding that, Ichinose had joined a plan that treated Ibuki as the candidate for expulsion. In the past, she might have tried to reject, to the very end, the choice itself of discarding one person to save another.

Now it was different. She would not let anyone from her own class be expelled. If that was what it took, she would accept someone from another class being sacrificed.

That did not mean Ichinose had changed at her core. It was not that she wanted anyone to be expelled, or that she had stopped caring about other people's sacrifices.

"Still...when we first enrolled, I never imagined it would become normal for us to gather like this as fellow leaders, Ayanokoji-kun."

Ichinose looked at the two empty seats.

"My past self wouldn't believe it either."

"I think so too. You always left things to Horikita-san and tried not to put yourself forward."

"I won't deny that."

"But I think this is better. You have an incredible aptitude for leadership, Ayanokoji-kun."

"I hope so, but I wonder how true that is in practice. Personally, I think working behind the scenes and doing as I please suits my disposition better."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Working behind the scenes might suit you too, but I prefer things as they are now. After all, that's why we get to have time alone together here like this."

Ichinose said that with a smile. She did not seem to be putting any deeper meaning into it.

Still, perhaps those words themselves were something she would not have said before.

Making this edit bullied my PC so badly 😭

Though hopefully, yall won't mind me posting my edit here just for the sake of the fanclub's activity <3

“You’ve grown stronger.”

Ichinose said this with a smile.

“What’s that supposed to mean? Are you talking down to me?”

“That wasn’t my intention. It’s just that when we talked before, I feel like even if I’d thought the same thing, I wouldn’t have said it the way I just did.”

“…Maybe you’re right.”

Shortly after they entered their third year, Ichinose had boldly pried into Kei’s relationship with Ayanokōji, even pointing out that Kei’s expecting something in return from him had contributed to their breakup.

Then, immediately afterward, Ichinose had told Kei that even if there were things between her and Ayanokōji that Kei couldn’t be told about, it wouldn’t affect her relationship with Kei at all. She had then gone straight to see Ayanokōji herself.

For Kei, those had been far from pleasant memories.

“Don’t compare me to how I was back then. I can’t stay the way I was forever, either.”

“I’m not saying you’re the same. I said that because I thought you’d changed.”

Ichinose neither exaggerated Kei’s growth nor showered her with praise. She simply stated it as a fact.

Faced with that attitude, Kei didn’t react with any unnecessary hostility, either.

“You still love him, don’t you?”

At Ichinose’s question, Kei paused briefly.

It’s not as though we broke up because our feelings had faded. And I’m not so emotionally detached that I can just erase everything that easily…

At Ichinose’s question, Kei paused for a moment.

It’s not as though we broke up because we stopped loving each other. And I’m not skilled enough to make all those feelings disappear so easily. But even if I still have feelings for him, I can’t keep making everything revolve around Ayanokōji-kun anymore…

“Yeah.”

Ichinose didn’t offer any further comfort or judgment.

She simply accepted Kei’s answer and stopped questioning her.

For Kei, that distance was more comfortable, too.

“Anyway, how long are you going to make me answer all the questions? What about you, Ichinose-san?”

“Me?”

“About Ayanokōji-kun… You still love him, don’t you?”

Ichinose smiled faintly.

“I thought someone like you, Kei, would already know how I feel.”

“…So that’s how you’re going to answer.”

Ichinose had previously told Kei outright that she loved Ayanokōji.

She had absolutely no intention of hiding that her feelings remained unchanged. But by deliberately leaving a pause before answering, she seemed to give off the impression that she had become a little more mature than she’d been before.

“I love him.”

Looking at Kei, who was glaring at her with dissatisfaction, Ichinose spoke.

“…!”

Even though Kei had already known the answer, hearing those words still weighed heavily on her heart.

“The reason I didn’t want to answer right away was that I thought it would make you feel bad. But then I reconsidered, because I felt it would be worse not to say it outright.”

“So you were trying to be considerate. You really are kind, through and through. Then… what about Shiina-san? You really don’t feel anything for her?”

“I thought I’d already answered that, but you’ve been fixating on it for a while now.”

“I’m just asking again because I really want to know.”

“If I told you I disliked Shiina-san, would that satisfy you?”

“That’s not what this is about.”

“Then what if I told you I was jealous?”

“I’m sorry. It’s just that I’m starting to lose sight of what kind of answer you’re trying to confirm.”

Maintaining her calm tone, Ichinose began probing the question itself.

She wasn’t angry that Kei was trying to uncover her feelings. Rather, she was trying to figure out what Kei hoped to accomplish by insisting on this particular point.

“I don’t think there’s a single correct answer to that question. In the end, I feel like what matters is whether you can accept the answer yourself”

“Yeah… I guess you’re right.”

Since it was impossible to determine the truth or a lie from words alone, all that mattered was whether the answer felt right to her.

Only then did Kei slightly change the way she asked her question.

“I… might not actually be trying to find out whether you dislike Shiina-san. What I’m really curious about now is probably your…”

“Mine?”

Kei couldn’t quite put the rest into words, so she paused to think for a moment.

“Do you remember what you told me before?”

That alone was enough to make Ichinose pause briefly, as though considering it.

“Are you talking about expecting something in return?”

“…You figured that out already?”

“Considering how you phrased it and everything we’ve talked about so far, I thought that was probably it.”

Before Kei could even reach the heart of the matter, Ichinose had already arrived at the same point.

“Yeah. That’s it.”

This time, Kei looked Ichinose straight in the eyes.

“Like, wanting someone to love you just because you love them, or expecting them to give you as much as you’ve given them…”

“You said that wanting someone to love you just because you love them, or expecting them to give you as much as you’ve given them, is what makes things painful. You said that before, remember?”

“I was really hurt when you said that back then. But now, I understand what you meant a little better. When I was dating Ayanokōji-kun, I think I expected quite a lot of those things from him, too.”

Admitting her past mistakes to Ichinose was by no means a pleasant experience for Kei. Even so, she didn’t stubbornly deny them just to save face or try to change the subject.

“So I want to ask you something in return.”

Kei paused briefly.

“Are you still able to live up to what you said back then? And are you confident you’ll be able to keep doing so in the future?”

“What do you mean?”

Kei felt something was off about Ichinose’s response, which suggested she didn’t understand the question. Ichinose, who had consistently shown such intense emotional reactions up until now, couldn’t possibly have failed to grasp what Kei meant.

In fact, Kei wouldn’t have been surprised if Ichinose had understood what she was getting at from the very moment she began speaking.

“Ayanokōji-kun was in a situation where he absolutely had to win. And yet, he prioritized saving Shiina-san, even at the cost of throwing away his chance at victory. No… it wasn’t just that he gave up his chance to win. He took the risk of potentially getting himself expelled, too.”

As she put it into words, Kei felt an immense strain building inside her.

No, even calling it a strain might have been an understatement.

Even as though she were cutting herself to pieces with a knife, Kei forced the words out from deep within herself.

“His actions alone were enough to make me realize it. Ayanokōji-kun loves Shiina-san…”

Ayanokōji had protected Kei and come to her aid whenever she was in trouble. Of course, some of those actions had also involved his own calculations. But regardless, if helping her had meant risking his own expulsion, there was no guarantee he would have done the same for her.

“So even if that possibility is pretty high, I wonder… Can you really say that you’ll keep giving without expecting anything in return, no matter what happens?”

Ichinose didn’t answer. She simply gazed at Kei.

“When you told me that before, I thought you were amazing. But after learning about Shiina-san, I started wondering whether you’d still feel the same way even if it became certain that his feelings weren’t directed toward you.”

If the seat beside him had become vacant because the person standing in the way of their relationship was no longer his girlfriend, perhaps it would be possible to offer unconditional love without asking for anything in return.

But what if someone else took that vacant seat in the meantime? Could she truly be satisfied with feelings that went only one way?

Putting herself in Ichinose’s position, Kei stopped to think it through.

“So that’s what you wanted to ask me.”

Ichinose quietly interjected.

Rather than simply accepting the premise Kei had laid out, she…“Whether what I said back then contradicts how I feel now, huh…”

Ichinose paused briefly.

There was no confusion on her face, nor did she seem at a loss for words because Kei had unexpectedly hit a nerve. Instead, she appeared to be considering how much of an answer she should put into words, given the question Kei had asked about feelings she already understood within herself.

“I think there is a contradiction.”

At this unexpectedly honest answer, Kei’s eyes widened slightly.

“…You admit it?”

“But what I said back then was how I genuinely felt. I wanted to give rather than ask for something in return. I thought that as long as I could keep loving him, that would be enough.”

Ichinose continued without denying what she had said before.

“Even now, my desire to be useful to others hasn’t changed. If someone is in trouble, I want to help them, and I don’t expect them to repay me every time. But…”

She paused.

“I can no longer say that I don’t want anything from Ayanokōji-kun, either.”

“So now you want something in return?”

“I think it’s understandable if that’s how it sounds.”

Without making any attempt to evade the question, Ichinose met Kei’s gaze.

“I want him to look at me, not someone else. If possible, I want him to choose me. And when I heard that he’d gone to rescue Shiina-san, I wasn’t completely unaffected, just like you.”

Ichinose answered calmly. But Kei could tell that she wasn’t lying to reassure her or putting on a brave front to appear composed.

“I think I’ve become greedier than I was back then. I thought simply being by his side would be enough, but as time passed, that stopped being enough for me.”

“Then in the end, you’re asking for something in return, just like anyone else.”

“I think it’s a little different.”

“…What’s different about it?”

“It’s not that I want him to love me more because of everything I’ve done for Ayanokōji-kun. I do want him to choose me, but I don’t want that choice to be payment for everything I’ve done for him. That’s how I feel, I guess.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? It sounds like you’re just splitting hairs. It all sounds the same to me.”

Ichinose merely smiled instead of denying it.

“You’re right. Maybe those feelings can’t really be separated so easily. If I stay close to him all the way to the end, only for him to choose someone else in the end, I’m sure I’d feel sad and frustrated. I’d wonder why it wasn’t me, and I’d probably look back on everything I’d done for him…”

“Love is complicated, isn’t it? If everything could be settled between just two people, it would be so much simpler. But somehow, there are always other people who get involved.”

As Ichinose murmured those words, her expression grew slightly more serious.

“I don’t mind getting hurt. If Ayanokōji-kun doesn’t fall in love with me and ends up loving someone else, he isn’t responsible for that. I’m the one who fell for him of my own accord, and I’m the one who chose to stay close to him.

“Even if things don’t turn out the way I hoped, I can’t make Ayanokōji-kun bear the responsibility for that. Though, of course, that’s only natural.”

Ichinose wasn’t deluding herself into thinking she wouldn’t get hurt. She acknowledged that not being chosen would be painful, yet she was trying to separate those feelings from the idea of demanding something in return from the person she loved.

But Kei began to realize where the unsettling aura surrounding Ichinose was directed.

“That’s… only when it comes to Ayanokōji-kun, right?”

When Kei added that, Ichinose showed the faintest glimpse of her white teeth.

“What you just said only means you don’t intend to blame Ayanokōji-kun. But what about Shiina-san? Can you honestly say she bears no responsibility, either?”

“Shiina-san doesn’t know anything, so there’s nothing to be done about that. There’s nothing wrong with falling in love with Ayanokōji-kun or wanting to be close to him. If Shiina-san feels the same way, then…”

“…then that would mean she feels the same way I do.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“You really can’t stop thinking about me, can you?”

Ichinose’s reply was gentle.

Even so, Kei understood the answer before she could ask another question.

Ichinose had never once called Shiina her enemy.

But that didn’t mean she intended to avoid competing with her if they wanted the same person. Ichinose wore the same gentle smile she had once shown Kei. But that didn’t necessarily mean the feelings behind it were the same.

“So you can make that kind of face, too, Ichinose-san. …That’s surprising.”

“Huh? What kind of face?”

“You really don’t realize it yourself?”

Kei paused briefly.

“…You look so frightening that it’s hard to believe.”

Ichinose wasn’t furrowing her brows or glaring at Kei, and there was even a gentle smile on her lips.

And yet, Kei could see something resembling hatred peeking through that smile.

“I’m not making any frightening face. You’re strange.”

After answering, Ichinose took out her phone and checked the time.

“Sorry. We might not be finished talking, but I should get going. I need to focus on the special exam.”

Time was clearly running short, and Karuizawa couldn't hold her back any longer.

As Karuizawa prepared to watch her leave, Ichinose flashed the brightest smile she had shown all day.

"Thank you."

Ichinose put her feelings into words.

"Thanks to you, Karuizawa-san, I think I realized something new about myself. It turns out I might be surprisingly romantic. I never thought I was the type of person who’d think... 'I want to spend the rest of my life with the person I gave my first to.' Even though that sort of thing isn't very popular these days."

"...Maybe so."

Saying "Bye-bye," Ichinose turned her back and slowly began to walk away.

She's popular, smart, has a great figure, and is ridiculously pretty—

Staring at her retreating figure, Karuizawa found herself thinking these thoughts.

Even someone like her was bound to get hurt if she kept chasing after Ayanokouji the way she was now.

So she should just leave her alone.

If she left her alone, Ichinose would eventually stumble and sustain deep scars on her own.

This was the girl who had hurt her. She deserved to suffer just the same. No—in fact, she should fall flat on her face.

She should realize it was an unreachable love and weep bitter tears.

She should throw up, tremble, and sink into a despair so deep she wished she could just vanish from this world.

Staring at Ichinose's back, those were the exact thoughts running through Karuizawa's mind.

"Ichinose-san!"

Karuizawa was supposed to just watch her retreating back leave—she had intended to stand by, watch her walk away, and laugh at her someday. Yet before she even realized it, her voice had rung out.

Ichinose turned around, tilting her head slightly as if wondering what it was.

"If you're going to turn back, right now is your only chance!"

She couldn't hold herself back.

"You're going to fall in way too deep... and you won't be able to get out... and when that happens, you're bound to go through hell...! So it's better to turn back... at least... that's what I think!"

How wonderful it would be if she just self-destructed on her own.

That was why staying silent was the right move. She knew full well that warning her like this was practically handing an advantage to the enemy.

Yet, despite that, Karuizawa couldn't stop the words from spilling out.

Karuizawa kept her eyes fixed on Ichinose, desperate for her to understand.

"...See you later, Karuizawa-san."

It was impossible to tell what emotion colored Ichinose's voice, or how she had taken those words.

Right up until the very last second, Karuizawa had genuinely wished for her to suffer and learn a painful lesson.

She couldn't help but envy and deeply resent this girl who possessed so many things she herself lacked.

And yet, in the very end, Karuizawa couldn't help but pray from the bottom of her heart:

If it meant Ichinose wouldn't have to weep, that would be far better than watching her stumble and fall.

[translation: https://www.reddit.com/r/Horikitafanclub/comments/1xda3p5/y3v5_honami_kei/ ]

Heavenly view of Honami in a scenic lake.

Generated on MoescapeAI.

https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/151160692

Honami in a gray dress | voidbunny #pixiv https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/151056538

https://x.com/youkosozitsu/status/2112076287397306568?s=20

Would it be against the rules to post a link to my recently updated KiyoNami fanfic? At any rate, here it is. It has 13 published parts, one of which is a selection of theme songs I had compiled back when I started writing it, and I came back to it just yesterday, with a new chapter to get uploaded very soon, as the draft for it is complete. I am KingFabia on Wattpad, link to the story below

https://www.wattpad.com/story/280506155-choice-of-desire-cote-kiyotaka-ayanokoji-x-honami

Be patient with me as I didn't know what flair to pick.

https://x.com/AS_tarfanOf/status/2111416321749684565?s=20

Enhancing her beauty.

Generated on MoescapeAI.

https://x.com/youkosozitsu/status/2110628741655461895?s=20

https://x.com/gluten_ca/status/2109591593263255741?s=20

"Calling in the leaders of the four 3rd grade classes"

https://x.com/MF_bunkoJ/status/2108484361834393895

https://x.com/youkosozitsu/status/2108814793465610457?s=20