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“Ayane…?” Itsuki gave a subtle scowl. “How is she as an editor anyway?”
“Oh, she’s superb. She acts all chill, but she’s super detail-oriented. People love her, authors trust her, and she happily takes on the craziest requests from people… Like, I can tell Izumi loves her a lot more than me, too, so…”
“She always did like seducing younger dudes, huh?”
“What?”
“N-never mind.”
Itsuki looked away from the confused Miyako.
“Ahhh, but how am I ever going to establish myself doing this…?”
“Well, you better. Haruto’s waiting.”
He meant to tease her with that, but Miyako blushed a bit.
“I—I mean, I’m working on it. Not just for Fuwa’s sake but…you know. I feel like it’s just impossible for me to turn out like Ayane, no matter what I do. I feel like editors need to find their own weapons to work with, just like writers.”
She sighed.
“…Itsuki, what do you think are my greatest strengths?”
It was a question she’d normally be way too embarrassed to ask someone point-blank, but the comfortably warm water must’ve loosened her lips a bit.
“Your strengths?”
Itsuki thought for a short moment.
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“Maybe how dumb you are?”
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The reply was delivered decisively.
“What? What did you say?!”
Itsuki reared back from the understandably perturbed Miyako. “Whoa, whoa! I didn’t mean that as criticism! I really think that’s one of your strong suits!”
“You don’t call people dumb in a good way,” she replied, squinting at him.
Itsuki sighed. “Do you remember back when we all met up with the All About anime people?”
“Ahhh, yeah, I do.”
“I was about to let the screenwriter con me into making all these changes to the story for the series, and then you—this random part-timer—chimed in to stop him, right? You were all like, Isn’t this weird and Should you really leave it all to them and Isn’t this your project and stuff.”
“Yeah…”
The memory was a little shameful to Miyako by now. Looking back, she was speaking way out of turn there. But Itsuki smiled at her.
“But thanks to you, I kept playing a major role in the All About series. The way you do that—not going with the flow, letting your emotions take over, and going so far out of line—it’s helped me out, and Haruto, and Kanikou, and Kaiko, too. The way you’re just oblivious to the consequences… It’s so stupidly straightforward, you know? That’s a strength, and don’t let anyone say it’s not.”
“B-but… But I did that because I don’t really know anything about this business…”
Miyako pouted, her frustration showing on her lips.
“Exactly.”
Suddenly, Itsuki’s piercing gaze was on Miyako.
“You had a stint at GF editorial, you learned a lot about light novels and stuff so you could get a job, you read lots and lots of manga and web novels, you found work as a professional editor… You’ve got this knowledge and experience now, and, you know, maybe it’s made you a little too smart for your own good? You’re ‘knowing your place’ more these days, you’re able to go with the flow… You’ve devolved into more of a regular member of the industry, kind of.”
“Devolved…?”
The words stabbed into Miyako’s spirit like a sharpened blade. She got that part-time job; she studied; she worked; she was still a work in progress, but little by little, she was growing in her own way.
But…am I going about this the wrong way…?
Was she wilting instead of growing? Her ability to take action, thanks to being so unfamiliar with the unwritten rules of the industry, was her weapon. Had she tossed it in the trash at some point?
“But… But are you saying that was all for nothing? My experience, and all the stuff I’ve worked on…”
Her vision blurred. This was stunning her into tears.
“No,” Itsuki sharply replied.
“No?”
“Of course it’s better to have knowledge and experience than not to. I mean, I’d never want to get assigned an editor who has these rare flashes of brilliance but acts like a totally useless idiot otherwise. You should build that knowledge and experience and stuff…but if you ever find that it’s holding you down, keeping you from what you really wanna do, then just toss it aside. Keep barreling forward like a dumbass. Just do what you wanna do.”
“Itsuki…”
“There’s no need to hold back on that. Go ahead and figure out what the normal flow is, then ignore it all you want. Just do whatever comes to mind… Because there’s no point worrying about mistakes. It’s not like you’re gonna have this perfectly elegant life.”
The tone was matter-of-fact, almost dismissive, but there was a passion behind it that touched Miyako’s soul.
“Elegant, huh…? You’re right. Besides…I am dumb.”
She smiled as she mocked herself, slapping a hand up to wipe the tears from her eyes.
In that case…why don’t I talk out of place? Why don’t I just keep rushing forward? It’s been too long.
“You know, Itsuki…do you think I should do what I want? Even if it causes a ton of trouble for people? Like…even people who’ve done a lot for me, like Mr. Godo and Mr. Toki?”
“Whatever you want,” Itsuki said with a sarcastic chuckle. “But if you’re bothering them, are you talkin’ about trying to pick up Kanikou or something? Or maybe Haruto…? They’re both top-tier GF writers. It’d cause a huge scene.”
“…”
Her mind was made up. She moved around to face Itsuki straight on.
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“Itsuki…Itsuki Hashima. The novel that you wrote exclusively for Nayu… Would you allow me to edit it for publication?”