“It’s frustrating.”
✦ ✦ ✦
It was his honest, unvarnished reply.
“Itsuki Hashima was the first writer I officially supervised when I joined Gift Publishing. I really thought we could work together to produce the kind of masterpiece that’d create a whole new era. We fought a lot, but we kept it going for six years, and seeing him develop so much as I worked with him was a lot of fun for me. He was probably the writer I cared about the most…and, you know, he got snatched away by this new editor from another company. Of course that’s frustrating.”
“Oh… Um, sorry, I guess…”
Toki smiled at Miyako’s apology. “But the most frustrating thing of all was I Want to Be the Protagonist…and the fact that I wasn’t the guy who drove him to write it.”
“It’s not like I was, either…”
That book was a love letter Itsuki wrote for an audience of one that Miyako, living in the same apartment, just happened to have a chance to read. She fell in love with it, then convinced him to publish it, and here they were.
“Maybe not, but if you weren’t there, Shirakawa, that never would’ve seen the light of day.”
“That… Well, yeah.”
It was the truth; she couldn’t deny it. Besides, Miyako herself was the model for Kei Kuroyama, one of I Want to Be the Protagonist’s main characters. In that way, certainly, she was quite involved with the content.
“I might have been Itsuki’s editor, but I never really became his friend like that. I think that might be the difference between you and me, Shirakawa.” Toki sighed. “Shirakawa…keep taking care of Itsuki for me, all right?”
He nodded his head a bit and began walking ahead. Miyako stopped him.
“Wait a minute, Mr. Toki.”
“Hmm?”
“It’s true that I’m both Itsuki’s business partner and his friend. I know there are things that only he and I together could create. But…I’m sure there are things only you and him can create, too. He was your first writer; you were his first editor; you worked together for years; you’re both men; you’re older than him…and I’m sure all those differences from me could absolutely result in something else.”
This wasn’t her trying to console or encourage him. Miyako really meant it.
Toki blinked, caught off guard. “…Do you really think so?”
“Yes!”
Miyako nodded. Toki smiled, almost letting emotion overtake him.
“Yeah… Well, I suppose I have to keep my hand on Itsuki after all, then.”
Miyako smiled at Toki’s resolute statement. “Well,” she said, “I’m gonna keep trying my best, too.”
“…You know, when I invited you to work part-time with us five years ago, I never anticipated this would happen.”
“Neither did I. When I think about what if you didn’t invite me, I think it’s fair to say that you changed my life, Toki-san.”
The two of them chewed over the mysteries of life for a moment. Miyako Shirakawa, editor at Branch Hill Bunko; Kenjiro Toki, editor at GF Bunko. Both of them worked with Itsuki Hashima, and both of them were ruthless competitors, working at the forefront of their respective departments…and this relationship would last for a long, long time to come.
✦ ✦ ✦
✦ ✦ ✦
