postscript
I spent the whole day at work trying to recall the reasons for creating this story, just like when I talk about other stories. I wanted to give a reason that was touching or convincing enough. But then I realized that just as my childhood was only a very short chapter in Sanae Okada's life, this story itself was used as a supplement and derivative.
The initial starting point was Sanae's reunion with Sanada after joining the First Investigative Division. All the memories flooded back like a tide, pulling them into the same river. This idea originated in my high school days, and by the time it was put on paper, I was already in university. Back then, I had experienced love and separation, but I still felt I didn't truly understand what love was. I can't honestly discuss it in a story because I don't understand it.
Sanae, who reunited with Sanada in her twenties, had matured and easily used Sanada's attention to set a trap, thus fostering an intimate relationship between them. It can be said that their love was not ordained by fate.
Considering that I didn't have a mature perspective or the writing skills to complete my vision at that time, I chose to look back at Sanae's teenage years, starting from when she knew nothing, and thus "Bitter Summer" was born.
Most of the initial settings were carried over to "Bitter Summer," such as the standard childhood friend Tezuka Kunimitsu, Yagyu Hiroshi with the perfect ex-boyfriend setting, and the nemesis Sanada Genichiro who can never communicate properly.
I entered Sanae's world with the mindset of not exploring but following the character's own thought process.
She embodies both rebellious and disciplined traits. Her life belief is that "humans are born to compete with others." As long as it's within her power, she doesn't want to fall behind anyone. This effort is aimless, demonstrating a quintessential admiration for the strong. This is also the disciplined aspect of her; she wants the whole world to hear her voice, not just understand her ideas, but more importantly, follow them. Therefore, in her climb to the top, she experiences firsthand the importance of having a voice.
But Sanae wasn't born with a voice; first, she was a woman, and second, she came from an ordinary family. Of course, I know this shatters some illusions, after all, this is essentially a Mary Sue fanfiction!
Otherwise, her entanglement with the three male guests would be meaningless. I could easily draw up a few sweet scenarios for them to fall in love, making things easy for them and for me. But I still think that even if I borrowed the core of Cinderella and the Prince in this relationship, it doesn't mean that Cinderella's ultimate goal is love and marriage.
Assuming she started from the same point as them, I think as an ambitious person, she would have stood at the top and looked down on everyone much earlier. Indeed, this is also what the ordinary version of Sanae Okada secretly desires to do.
I've mentioned many times her desire to "be number one," a goal that resides within her comfort zone and drives her to keep running. The keen observation skills that led her to become a criminal investigator point to a desire for control; she wanted the darker side of the world to be open to her.
However, I used many self-deprecating jokes to downplay her ambition. Fortunately, she is a good person, otherwise she would not have ended up as a righteous person, but as an invincible villain.
Okay, let's not analyze Sanae too much as a person, let's talk about relationships.
As I mentioned in the description, I didn't actually know who she should be with. I felt that she could be with anyone, or not with anyone at all. I made the decision to have Tezuka end up with her quite late, which might reflect my own romantic inclinations and is the type of intimate relationship I'm most accepting of.
I tried to treat all three of them equally, but this is, after all, a story told from the female protagonist's perspective. Yagyu, who benefited the most, had to leave the story because of his personality, and Sanada lost his chance to appear because he needed too much indirect characterization. Therefore, Tezuka's presence naturally became stronger.
And considering that both Yagyu and Tezuka have enough inner thoughts to let everyone know their emotional journey, the focus will likely shift to Sanada's story from here on out.
Actually, the first of the three to meet Sanae was Sanada, probably when they were in kindergarten. Two years before Kotaro Kagawa passed away, he would still go out to sea. One night, while sea fishing, the playful Sanae secretly climbed onto the boat. Grandpa Sanada also brought his grandson along, intending to take Genichiro to see the sunrise. However, the little boy couldn't resist the sleepiness and fell asleep on the deck, so Grandpa took him back to the cabin.
Sanae was hiding inside at that time, but she had been hiding for too long and fell asleep. When the sunlight shone into the cabin, the glaring sunlight forced Genichiro to open his eyes. The first thing he saw was the girl sleeping soundly against the bench opposite him, but he didn't know that it was Sanae.
The two were assigned to the same class in first grade, but he still didn't know that the little girl on the boat was Sanae. Sanae, who had just started practicing judo, always held her head high, had an arrogant expression, and spoke in a way that was sharp and unpleasant, which was not endearing. But for some reason, she was always surrounded by many friends, which the taciturn and awkward Genichiro couldn't understand.
During a field trip in third grade, Sanae accidentally cut her calf. Sweat dripped onto the wound, and although she was in a lot of pain, she acted as if nothing was wrong, saying she was determined to be the first to reach the destination and get the teacher's reward. As she spoke, Sanada, who was next to her, unconsciously reached out and pulled her arm. Sanae misunderstood this as him trying to stop her from running first, so Sanada missed the chance to take out a band-aid from his bag, which his mother had specially packed for him before they left.
Kosanada was clearly not generous enough to continue being a good person after being slapped in the face, and this happened many times afterward, including when he refused Sanae's kindness when he needed help.
After the Kanto Tournament ended, they waited outside Yukimura's hospital room. Sanada was in very bad condition. Yanagi Renji lost sight of him and didn't know where Sanada had gone. Sanae, who had come with them, saw Sanada hiding under a tree in the hospital courtyard. Sanada guessed that Sanae wanted to say something to him, but he said "Don't bother me," which blocked the path of communication.
Compared to the many titles others gave them, Sanada secretly acknowledged, "She's a very amazing friend of mine," though it was a pity they couldn't become friends. He would also hear seniors in the student council talking about her. From the perspective of looking at the opposite sex, the topic of romance was honestly too far removed from him. It wasn't that he was resistant; after all, when he saw Niou waving to his girlfriend off the field before the match, he only frowned slightly but didn't stop them.
The seniors said Sanae's eyes were beautiful, her calves were lovely, and that sometimes being stared at by Sanae, even when she was arguing with them, made them think, "Ah, that's really nice." Sanada walked out of the office upon hearing this, but turned back as he opened the door, adding, "It's very offensive of you to talk about a girl like that." This wasn't an appreciative comment, but rather judgmental criticism, which made Sanada very uncomfortable.
It wasn't until the first year of high school, during the Haihara Festival, that Sanada was maintaining order in the auditorium. She was wearing a fitted long dress, and in the chaotic backstage area, the students waiting for the performance pushed her to his side. He subconsciously reached out to support her, his palm supporting her elbow. Her bare shoulder leaned against him, and the subtle feeling was like an electric shock. Sanae's casual "thank you" lingered in his ear for a long time.
The next second, as he looked in the direction she had walked away, he realized for the first time in his life the difference between men and women. The curves outlined by the dress made him blush.
As for Yagyu Hiroshi and Sanae, their relationship was closer to a classic case of love at first sight. The way she adjusted her tie in the auditorium during their first meeting really impressed him, so for many years afterward, he would pretend to be someone who couldn't tie a tie. Before Sanae even asked to borrow a book from him, he had already been secretly observing her for some time; he was a guy waiting for his chance.
As for Tezuka and Sanae's future, well, it's nothing more than Tezuka winning the championship and shining brightly, and Sanae getting a promotion and a raise at work. I can't stand seeing characters suffer after they grow up.
It's worth briefly mentioning their first time together. It was around the time Sanae had just reached drinking age, at a Rikkai University graduating class at the University of Tokyo. Tezuka happened to be in Tokyo for a competition and was planning to visit Sanae that evening. However, he received a call from Sanae's senior on his way there, saying that Sanae had accidentally drunk from the wrong glass and was drunk. He then went to pick her up from the gathering. The drunk Sanae clung to Tezuka in the taxi, and she was incredibly strong; Tezuka forcibly dragged her back to his hotel. Normally, given Tezuka's character, nothing should have happened, but Sanae was too proactive. The national judo champion easily overpowered him; how could he possibly avoid it?
So things naturally progressed, and the next day Sanae woke up in shock, only to find that Tezuka had taken the initiative and they had sex again.
(applaud)
There was no surprise proposal between them, after all, Sanae was a workaholic, and the two had always been in a long-distance relationship. When Tezuka returned to Tokyo from Munich after winning his first Grand Slam, he rented a high-rise apartment not far from the Metropolitan Police Department and proposed that he wanted to live with Sanae.
However, even though Sanae agreed, he was still severely reprimanded by his grandfather. At that time, Tezuka Kuniichi had basically accepted his grandson's life choice and therefore did not want his choice to affect his apprentice. The next day, he took him to the Okada family and solemnly mentioned the matter of the two children to the Okada couple.
The claim that Tezuka retired in his late thirties to stay home and raise his daughters is nonsense and should not be believed.
In short, this is their life!
That concludes the story. The Sanada IF route, which is the origin of everything, "The Romance of the First Investigation Division," will gradually be put on the agenda, but that may have to wait until I fill in other plot holes in my list of works and get a feel for it.
Thank you to all the readers of this story. Thank you for accompanying Sanae Okada through her childhood.
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