✦ ✦ ✦
“A lot of teens in your generation still like Fate, don’t they? If we could create a franchise that long-lasting, we’d be rolling in it. By the way, how’d you get into Fate? The games or the anime?”
“When I was in sixth grade, I watched the Fate/Zero anime, and I thought it was really cool, so that’s how, mainly. Then I read the original novel, played the stay night game, read Fate/Apocrypha… You know.”
“Wow… Kind of a shock to hear that someone who watched the Zero anime as an elementary school kid is a professional writer now. Guess I’m not so young anymore…” Ayane let out a dry laugh at Izumi’s answer. “What else have you liked apart from Fate lately?”
“There’s a lot…but, like, Overlord and Re:Zero… Oh, I read the originals for both of those online, so…”
He was quick to add the second part of that. Maybe he didn’t want to look like some casual who started with the anime.
“Wow, you’re sure up on things. I didn’t get into either of those until they were published in book form.”
Izumi half smiled a bit at this cheerful praise.
Then Ayane turned toward Miyako. “What were you into when you were in high school?”
“Me? Um… I never read any light novels at all. I didn’t know much about manga or anime, either. Maybe I’d read a manga if they made a TV drama out of it, but that’s about it.”
“Oh? So how did you become a light novel editor?” Izumi looked curious about this.
“One of my college classmates was a professional light novelist… Well, Itsuki Hashima is his name, but… And he lent me a lot of books and games and stuff…and then a bunch of other things happened, you know…”
“I’d love to hear about those ‘other things.’ Right, Izumi?”
“Um, yes, I would.”
Ayane was grinning at her. Even Izumi was nodding along.
So the trio continued their rambling chat for about three hours. Why they wanted to become editors, why he started writing novels, their favorite works, their hobbies, things they used to be into, the clubs they were part of, love stuff…and by the time they were digging into their second slices of cake, it was nothing but friendly idle talk.
“Oh boy, it’s late. We’d better get going.”
Ayane, realizing that it was now completely dark out, led the other two out of the café. In the end, they didn’t talk at all about revising Dark Knight. Miyako was freaking out a bit—why did we even meet up in the first place?
“Thank you for coming to see us today,” Ayane said with a smile. “Let’s talk again soon, okay, Mr. Izumi?”
“Um, okay…”
Izumi blushed a little and nodded. Then he turned toward Miyako. “Um… Miss Shirakawa?”
Miyako’s face tensed up ever so slightly. “Yes?”
“I think I want to do some more work on Volume One after all…but do you think you could wait another week for me…?” he asked shyly.
“Y-yes, certainly,” Miyako stammered. “That’s fine.”
A visibly relieved Izumi replied with a guileless smile. “Thank you very much. I’ll be in touch with you.”
He bowed to Miyako and Ayane before walking away. Miyako silently watched him go, unsure of what to think.
“Well,” Ayane chirped, “I think we managed to work that out. So… Right! Wanna get some dinner? I heard there’s a good Chinese place near here.”
“No, I just had two slices of cake… But why did Izumi suddenly change his mind for us?”
“Because,” she casually replied, “he probably thought all along that some revisions would be good for the book release.”
“You think so?”
“That’s what my gut tells me. He got all huffy with his editor because he didn’t want to be at their mercy again, but once he got to know you and work things out a little, he was more willing to accept it. That’s my guess anyway.”
“…”
Miyako thought they had just wasted a few hours talking about nothing, but maybe it wasn’t such a waste after all. In fact, for Izumi and Miyako—and, by extension, for Izumi and his editor over at GF—this was probably more necessary than any editorial meeting they could’ve had.
“Now, some people don’t like authors getting too buddy-buddy with editors, of course. A lot of writers prefer keeping it all business. But me, I wanna get to know who I’m working with more, and I think talking about things like your favorite books is key to that. Besides, I wanna eat and drink on my company’s expense account!”
She laughed at her own joke.
But Miyako looked as muddled as always. “Um… Thank you very much.”
“Hmm?”
“If you didn’t reach out to help, Ayane, I think I would’ve ruined my relationship with Izumi. So…sorry about that. Really.”
Ayane grinned at her somber companion. “Well, it’s partly my fault for asking you to handle a teenage web novelist by yourself. They can be tough to handle even in the best of times. So don’t worry about it! Mr. Tsukemono’s a lot more sincere than I thought, too. Best of luck with him!”
“Yeah…”
Miyako nodded at her boss’s encouragement. But it was impossible not to worry about it. She was still so immature, and it ate at her terribly. She basically hadn’t been able to do anything today; it was Ayane who had solved the problem, start to finish. Working to understand and trust each other… She hadn’t cared about that in the slightest, and it made her feel pathetic enough to cry.
I’m still no good at this at all…
Splitting with Ayane at the Chinese restaurant she’d mentioned, Miyako dragged her heavy feet back to the office. There, at the entrance, she ran into Nobunaga Shirogamine, the president.
“Good evening, Shirakawa. I heard you were having trouble with one of your assignments?”
“…Yeah. I’m sorry.”
“Did you fix it?”
“Y-yes, it’s better now. Mostly thanks to Ayane, but…”
“You don’t look too happy about it.”
Miyako emphatically agreed. “It just reminded me of how immature I am still. How will I ever be an editor like Ayane…?”
“Well, you won’t be, will you?”
“Huh?!”
Miyako, confused at this sudden knockdown, watched as Shirogamine gave her an inscrutable smile.
“That ability Mitahora has—to just slip right into people’s business like that—I don’t know any editor as good at it as she is. Kind of like Toyotomi Hideyoshi, if we’re talking ancient warlords. There’s really no way you could imitate someone like her.”
The praise surprised Miyako.
“…Didn’t you call her a dunce earlier, Mr. Shirogamine?”
“Ha-ha-ha! You think I was gonna go out of my way to headhunt a total dunce? I just don’t tell her that because I don’t want her getting too full of herself around me.”
Miyako looked troubled at Shirogamine’s total lack of remorse.
“Besides, Shirakawa, it’s not like you’re aiming to be exactly like Mitahora, are you?”
Miyako blinked at his words. She had always wanted to be one of a kind, impossible to replace with someone else. And now she was feeling so sorry for herself that she’d even lost sight of that.
“…You’re looking more down than I thought. Why don’t you head home for tonight and get some rest?”
“All right… I’ll do that.” She nodded weakly at the suggestion.
“Right, have a good one.”
As he began to walk away:
“Ah, Mr. Shirogamine?”
“Yes?”
“…I think maybe you should be more earnest with your praise for Ayane sometimes. I don’t want to say this…but I’m wondering if maybe she really does hate you, so…”
“Huh?”
Shirogamine’s eyebrows rose. Apparently, this hadn’t occurred to him.
Miyako had asked Ayane once what she thought of him while they were drinking alone. Their friendly chitchat at the yakitori place stoked her curiosity.
Ayane’s response, eyes staring into space: “He’s the number one most abusive psychopath in glasses I’ve ever met. I’d love to punch him someday. Also, he kind of resembles this ex who cheated on me, so just looking at him makes me puke.” Miyako was convinced she meant it, too.
“It’s not…like, she says that because she wants to hide how much she likes me?” he ventured.
“No.”
She shook her head at Shirogamine, who looked visibly upset.
“…Oh dear.”
From what she could tell, Miyako began to wonder if Shirogamine actually had some special feelings for Ayane. Think about it. Nobunaga Shirogamine, ace editor; Ayane Mitahora, a brilliant rising star he values and cherishes—and there was just so much discord between them.
And if that was how they worked, how would Miyako, a half-witted newbie editor, and a bunch of twisted, quirky novelists ever find a way to work in harmony?
Now she was more nervous than ever about how she’d manage to make it in this business.
✦ ✦ ✦
