"Weren't you all so confident just last week?" one fan sneered.
"Some of you even said Mizushiro-sensei would catch up to Asami's ten years of work in just two weeks. So what happened? How did popularity drop so fast?"
Another fan added, "Looks like Asami-sensei really knows how to judge people…"
"Come on, why panic now?" another voice chimed in. "Let's see the next issue. Natsume is bound to break into the top ten!"
"Exactly," someone agreed. "It's just the setup. Next chapter will soar."
The fan arguments raged on, but even Mizushiro's supporters, while defending him, were starting to sound less confident.
In Haruki's apartment, Haruka relaxed on the couch, looking casual in her outfit. It was a far cry from her usual business attire.
"So, feeling the pressure?" she teased.
"Pressure?" Haruki shrugged. "Why would I be stressed?"
Haruka raised an eyebrow. "What if the next chapter doesn't break into the top ten?"
"Then it doesn't," Haruki said, calm as ever. "What else can I do?"
"But if it's anything like the first two chapters—where it ranked eleventh, just twenty thousand votes shy of the top ten—then I think hitting the top ten isn't a problem."
"No argument there," Haruka agreed. "The second arc is definitely stronger."
Haruka wasn't nervous. She had no idea how the manga would perform before it launched, but now, with over 200,000 votes even with minimal action in chapter three, chapter four was bound to push it into the top ten.
The storm of online chatter passed, and another week went by.
Chapter four of Natsume hit Shroud Line.
Back at home, Sayakae Kanezuka slammed the fresh issue onto the table. "No way the guy behind Rurouni Kenshin is going to lose to someone like Asami, who churns out shallow, crowd-pleasing serials."
Sayakae, a die-hard Remembrance fan and admin of three major Mizushiro fan groups, had been furious with the negative comments about Mizushiro.
"Arrogant young artist? One-hit wonder? Peaked with Remembrance? Ridiculous."
The drop in popularity was just due to chapter three being a setup. Expected, really. But the fans didn't care about context. They just wanted to tear someone down over a dip in votes.
She changed into loungewear, flopped onto her bed, and cast her vote for Natsume, as usual. Then she flipped straight to her favorite series in the new issue.
The Dew-God's Small Shrine — End
"Just like before," Sayakae muttered. "Chapters three and four are a two-part story, just like the first two."
This kind of compact, emotionally resonant storytelling was rare these days.
She read on.
The story continued gently from the previous chapter. Natsume found himself once again by the old shrine of the Dew God, where he unexpectedly met Hanako—a woman from the village. They spoke quietly of the forgotten deity. Hanako revealed that she had worshipped the Dew God since she was a child, even recalling a moment when she glimpsed him perched on a tree branch, smiling faintly and murmuring, "It's such a beautiful day."
She had almost spoken to him then—but hesitated, fearing that if she did, she might never see him again.
Sayakae, Watching the scene unfold, Sayakae felt her heart stir.
Hanako had been able to sense spirits—just not as clearly as Natsume. There was something achingly familiar in her quiet reverence.
As the story progressed, Natsume tracked down a spirit whose name had become entangled with the Dew God's in the Book of Friends. After a brief encounter, he carefully separated the slip, returning each name to its rightful owner.
When he did, memories of Reiko, Natsume's grandmother, flickered to life in the spirits.
"It's just like before," Sayakae whispered, recalling other moments when Natsume had returned a name and unlocked a forgotten bond to Reiko.
In a soft, sepia-toned flashback, Reiko stood before the Dew God, advising him to seek a new place of worship before his strength faded. "Thank you, Reiko," the Dew God remembered, his voice full of quiet gratitude.
"But even if only one person remembers me… then I won't truly be forgotten," he reflected.
Sayakae felt a pang in her chest. This wasn't just a story—it was a quiet truth echoing through lives, real or imagined.
Natsume continued to visit the shrine in the days that followed, leaving small offerings. One day, he returned to find the Dew God's form growing faint, flickering like morning mist.
"Hanako passed away," the Dew God said softly. "She was the last who believed in me."
"I believe in you," Natsume whispered. "I'm here."
"No… I'm fading," came the quiet reply.
Without a word, Natsume reached out and touched the spirit's hand.
"Let me go with Hanako."
And just like that, the Dew God was gone—his spirit drawn toward the warmth of the only soul who had remembered him for so long. It wasn't a tragedy. It was a reunion.
Sayakae closed the book, tears slipping quietly down her cheeks. It hadn't been a love story, not exactly. It was something deeper: a bond of memory, belief, and quiet grace that reached beyond life and death.
As she read through the fan group messages, one sentiment stood out among the rest:
"I take back everything I doubted about Mizushiro-sensei. I voted for Natsume with all my heart. This chapter… it broke me."
Sayakae wiped her tears away and immediately called on her fan group to rally behind Natsume's Book of Friends. They were pushing this story into the top ten—no matter what.
Shout out to Instinct for joining my p-atreon! your support means everything to me.
(TL:- if you want even more content, check out p-atreon.com/Alioth23 for 50+ advanced chapters)