It’s been a long time, everyone. This is Yamagata. I finally submitted Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers volume three without incident. Did you enjoy the book? I have five whole pages for my afterword this time, so I’ve been thinking I have to add more lines somehow. This is an advertisement: The manga adaptation of Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers, which is currently being serialized in SD & GO! (Super Dash Bunko’s bimonthly manga magazine), has been published in volume format. The artist for this series is Mr. Kei Toru. His art is beautiful and powerful. He’s drawn such wonderful work. Mr. Kei Toru, thank you very much, and I’m very happy you’ll be working on this series. I think his work has a certain appeal that’s just a touch different from the novels, so I’ll be glad if you pick it up. Now, I suppose I’ll report on my current state of affairs. My poor quality of sleep has always been a source of anxiety for me. Just about every night, immediately after falling asleep, I’ll have a nightmare and jump off my futon. Typical nightmares include strange women strangling me, hands growing from the floor to drag me underground, something really heavy and creepy sitting on my stomach, or something holding my legs to keep me from moving when I really have to go to the bathroom. Less common dreams include a character from an eroge I played before bed cutting off my legs and taking them away, and a dream of a plump, fortysomething male I’ve never met before coming into my apartment to take a dump. I get these kinds of nightmares at least once a night, and at worst, two or three times a night. Every time, they wake me up. I’ve been dealing with these nightmares for more than ten years now, and I’ve tried many times to fix the problem—like by taking a long bath before bed, or listening to relaxing music before bed. The psychological approach has had some effect, but ultimately, wasn’t enough to resolve the problem. I’ve tried various other schemes, like exhausting myself with exercise before bed, or just staying up so late that I couldn’t keep my eyes open, but that just made it worse. I’ve also tried more spiritual methods, such as leaving salt in my room for luck, or visiting the temple, or reading sutras before bed, or meditating before bed, but none of these worked, either. It seems my problem is not within the jurisdiction of the gods and buddhas.
If I drink to my heart’s content, the nightmares stop, but that just causes other, health-related problems, so it’s not something I can do often. I was utterly at my wit’s end. What should I do? I wondered. But I found an unexpected solution: a body pillow. When I fell asleep holding a body pillow, the frequency of nightmares decreased dramatically to once every three days. It seems that the body pillow is most effective when I wrap both my arms and legs around it, holding it firmly while I sleep curled up on my side. I experimented with sleeping without the body pillow again, and I had nightmares, just like before. So I can understand just what an immense effect the body pillow has. Before, going to bed has always been accompanied by fear and pain, but thanks to the body pillow, I’m now able to sleep normally. I never could have anticipated that this cheap thing I bought casually for just two thousand yen would be so effective. It actually makes me frustrated that I didn’t realize the possibilities of the body pillow earlier. If anyone else has a similar issue, I would very much recommend trying a body pillow. But there is just one thing about this body pillow that rather gets on my nerves. That is, whenever I tell people about it, they always snicker a little at me. Some people will ask, “So which character?” or they’ll say, “If you want a pillow case for it, I’ll give you one.” It seems that society has a very strange view of body pillows. So I’ll take this opportunity to be very clear: The one I use does not have a pretty girl on it. It’s a plain, normal body pillow. Furthermore, I don’t use it to satisfy my sexual desires. I use it because it’s a necessary household item for me. I do feel slightly disgruntled that people don’t seem to be able to understand this. It does cause some other problems, as well. For example, I foresee this will cause me trouble when I go traveling, and it’s also really embarrassing when people see me sleeping. The travel issue in particular is a difficult one. Obviously, I can’t go traveling with my body pillow. Not that I ever go traveling much at all, though. Well, anyway, body pillows are the best. I believe I will continue to make use of it. And finally, the acknowledgments: To my illustrator, Miyagi-san: Thank you very much for your work on this volume, as well. It really helps me out when you point out the inconsistencies in my work, so I’ll take this opportunity to offer my most sincere gratitude. To my editor, T-san: I’m sorry for all the stress I keep causing you. And thank you as well to everyone in the editorial department, the proofreading staff, and the cover designer. And to all my readers: Thank you very much for your support. It’s thanks to you that I can continue the Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers series. I’ll see you again, after the next book. Best,
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