But maybe that wasn’t so weird. She had never shown interest in expanding her work to more media, so maybe she was one of those authors for whom an anime adaptation was no big deal. There was something to her tone, though—it was likely she was preoccupied with something.
“Oh, I gotta go. I’ve got something important going on. I’m gonna hang up.”
“What? What on earth could be more important than discussing the anime adaptation of your work right now?”
“I’m gonna hang up.”
“Makigai-sensei?! Hey! I’m not done— Makigai-sensei! Makigai-sensei?!”
Click.
My pleas were banished by a sudden, merciless silence. Of course, I wasn’t about to stop there. I rang her back, again and again. Sent LIME message after LIME message like a crazed stalker. The calls kept coming back with “Sorry, I’m not able to take your call right now. Please leave a—” Well, you know how it goes. And my LIME messages weren’t even left on read.
I bet she’d switched her phone off.
She really expected me to just deal with this somehow?! I guess I did tell her to let me take care of all the parts that weren’t writing. I probably should’ve had some more foresight, huh?!
“Are you all right? You didn’t get in a fight or anything, did you?”
“Eep! O-Of course not, chirp, chirp! I’d never ever get in a scuffle with one of my authors, chirp, chirp, chirp!”
“I’m a bit concerned with how much you’re chirping, but I don’t have any reason to disbelieve you. So I won’t.”
“Ha ha ha ha!” I laughed like a lively kookaburra to ease the editor-in-chief’s worries. Or maybe a crow would’ve been a better simile; I was being a bit sneaky. It wasn’t especially reassuring that our boss was so gullible, but at least that easy nature of his meant he didn’t interfere too much. “Ha ha! By the way, sir, Snow White’s Revenge Classroom is getting an anime.”
“Yes, I know.”
“That means we’re likely to get a lot more inquiries—so I was wondering how far you’ve gotten with those new hires?”
“Hm? What makes you think we’re hiring?”
“What?! I thought I asked you to get me a team that I could delegate inquiries to?”
“You did, but I know how brilliant you are. You still seem a long way from burning out.”
“Even the fastest gears smash when you push them too hard, chirp!”
The editor-in-chief laughed. “Wouldn’t a quip about breaking eggs be more appropriate?”
“The reasonable thing to do would have been to respond to my point, not comment on my metaphor! I’m seriously this close to losing it!”
“It looks to me like you’ve already lost it.” The editor-in-chief paused. “And I do have a reason for holding off on those hires.”
“Please let me hear it.”
“I’m sure you know that hiring people is expensive. If I went ahead and took on more employees, but you never managed to get an anime for Snow White, it would have been a complete waste of money.”
“Even without Snow White, I’ve got so much on my plate right now it’s a wonder I haven’t died from overwork yet.”
“But you’re not dead.”
“Which is why I’ve told you, again and again, to please get me a team, before the breakdown comes and it’s too late.”
“You’re fine. You’ve still got enough energy to do all your idol stuff.”
“Gaaah! This is why the publishing industry is never gonna change!” I cried out from the depths of my heart.
Now, I was a working adult, and I was more than fully aware that my coworkers weren’t slackers, as much as I knew that the editor-in-chief also put everything he had into his duties. But I needed him to understand that my idol activities weren’t just a hobby or a bit of fun on the side; they were a marketing strategy that I’d developed for myself. I knew that was probably an impossible ask from someone of the older generation.
As an idol, it was important to make it look like you were fully enjoying yourself in front of your fans, and not let them see the business side of things too much. That also had the disadvantage of making it hard for businesspeople to take you seriously. Sigh.
“Okay, I’m done grousing for now, chirp!” I wiped my eyes and decided it was time to switch gears.
Brooding over things that couldn’t be changed was a waste of time; I was Canary-chan, workaholic, and my strongest attribute was the ability to bounce back from adversity with my nerves of steel. I was a bird who could spread her wings into the stormiest of skies, and make it safely to my destination!
“Snow White’s Revenge Classroom is getting an anime! And I’m gonna make sure it’s a success, chirp!”