10:32 AM.
Hayakawa Rumi sat in the first-floor waiting area of the Kadokawa Building, a touch of restless anxiety in her posture as her eyes locked onto the main entrance, tracking every single person who stepped through the doors.
Before long, she spotted a familiar figure among the crowd — a blonde girl in small leather shoes, her footsteps ringing out crisply against the polished marble floor, followed closely by a clean-cut young man in plain attire.
The young man’s gaze quickly met Rumi’s, and he raised a hand in a brief wave.
“Shi— no, Mr.
Kousaka.”
Rumi hurriedly rose to her feet and made her way toward the front desk, where the two siblings were in the middle of signing in as visitors.
Thank heaven, Editor Saito hadn’t come down personally to receive them.
Rumi breathed an inward sigh of relief, guessing that he must have been too swamped with work to get away — which was exactly why she’d managed to intercept Kousaka Kyousuke.
“Someone you know?”
Kousaka Kirino’s attention had been caught, her eyes locking onto Rumi.
“It’s been a while, Editor Hayakawa.
Good to see you.”
Kousaka Kyousuke offered a polite greeting.
He and Kirino had met up at the station and taken a cab together to the entrance.
Though he’d sent a text to his editor in advance, he hadn’t expected her to come downstairs to receive them personally — but thankfully, he’d given her a heads-up to change how she addressed him, otherwise he would’ve been exposed the moment they met.
If Kousaka Kirino got hold of his pen name, she’d be able to track down his work in no time, and that was a weakness he couldn’t afford to let his sister latch onto — who knew how she’d torment him with it.
“You know an editor from Kadokawa?”
Kousaka Kirino eyed the two of them with open suspicion.
“We’d chatted online before.
She’s the one who showed me around last time, remember?”
At his prompting, Kirino recalled that after her confrontation with Iori Setsuna, when she’d stormed out of the conference room, there had indeed been someone else standing beside Kyousuke — it seemed that was the woman right in front of her.
“You go on up first.
I’ll exchange a few pleasantries and join you shortly.”
Since they’d run into each other downstairs, he might as well use the opportunity to say what needed to be said right here.
It was all the better to do it out of Kirino’s earshot.
“What’s your deal?
We actually have business to take care of!”
Kousaka Kirino was visibly annoyed, but seeing Kyousuke refuse to budge, she couldn’t bring herself to grab him and drag him off — not with an outsider present.
For some reason she couldn’t name, Kirino felt a faint flicker of hostility toward Hayakawa Rumi as she swept her gaze over the woman from head to toe, her eyes lingering for a few extra seconds on her chest and lower body.
Does this guy actually like older women?
And seriously, that woman’s work attire does a way-too-good job of showing off her figure — it’s practically indecent!
Rumi’s professional outfit perfectly accentuated her curves, and in comparison, Kirino’s own outfit suddenly felt terribly childish.
She couldn’t help measuring herself against the other woman, only to be brutally crushed by the stark reality.
“Well, you still have to submit the ‘Lunar Witch Transformation’ manuscript first anyway, don’t you?”
“Whatever!”
Kousaka Kirino let out a huff and strode off toward the elevator hall.
What was that about?
Was she mad?
Kyousuke felt thoroughly bewildered.
His sister normally played the part of the well-behaved girl in front of outsiders, reserving her prickliness purely for behind closed doors.
“Sorry about that, Editor Hayakawa.
“No, not at all.
Let’s talk over here.”
Rumi hadn’t noticed anything off about Kirino in the slightest — right now, her only concern was whatever it was this young man had to say to her face.
The two of them sat down in the waiting area.
“Well then, I’ll get straight to the point, Editor Hayakawa.” Once seated, Kyousuke prepared to lay out his intentions directly.
“I’m planning to co-create a manga with my sister.
We’ll be submitting it to her editor for review today.”
“Eh?!”
Even though Rumi had braced herself and felt a premonition of exactly this, actually hearing it from Kyousuke’s mouth still made her head spin.
So he’d already made up his mind.
The fact that he was having Editor Saito review it meant they’d already finished at least the opening chapters.
It’s over.
I’m really about to lose him.
And so fast, too — had Editor Hattori’s mouth been blessed at a temple or something?
Was this what he’d wanted to discuss in person?
Had working on it eaten into the time he needed for “Kino’s Journey”?
Was he planning to go on hiatus after wrapping up the third volume?
Rumi couldn’t stop her thoughts from spiraling in that direction.
She sat frozen in place, her mouth opening and closing without a single word coming out.
Get a grip, Hayakawa Rumi!
This is the moment to persuade Sigsawa-sensei to focus his energy on his novel!
But no matter how much she tried to psych herself up, the blow was too much for her to bear all at once.
He probably found out how much his sister makes in manuscript fees from her manga.
Rumi pressed both hands to her face, forcing herself not to burst into tears.
On this point, she had crystal-clear awareness — just as Hattori Takuya had said, in this day and age, manga simply made more money than novels.
A best-selling manga artist’s income was many times that of a novelist’s.
As Kyousuke’s editor, she had naturally read through his work in its entirety.
With Sigsawa-sensei’s writing talent, if he really did switch over to manga scriptwriting, he’d probably achieve great success there too.
As his editor, she ought to tell him to focus on his novel, but as a friend, she absolutely shouldn’t stand in the way of him pursuing a better path — especially not when he was the person to whom she owed her career.
Rumi forced a smile onto her face, her hands resting on her knees as her shoulders trembled faintly.
“It’s alright.
I wish Sigsawa-sensei all the best in his creative endeavors.
Even if ‘Kino’s Journey’ goes on temporary hiatus, the third volume manuscript can hold things over for a while.
I’ll do everything I can to keep the series from getting axed at the serialization meetings.”
For a new author, unstable updates meant reduced standing with the editorial department, and unless the work was already a certified hit, the odds of an early cancellation were high.
If I can just find a new author before Sigsawa-sensei officially goes on hiatus, I might still be able to stay in the editorial department.
The thought had barely surfaced in Rumi’s mind before she shot it down herself.
What kind of fantasy am I indulging in?
Finding a new author isn’t that easy, and even if I did, there’s no way a find like that would fall into my lap!
I’m definitely going to lose my job over this, aren’t I?
After getting unbelievably lucky enough to be put in charge of a Newcomer Gold Prize work, only to fail at maintaining the relationship and end up driving the author into hiatus…
Kousaka Kyousuke sat across from her, his face the very picture of utter bafflement.
Something was clearly very wrong with her, and he hadn’t even been trying to tease her this time.
Sensing the mood rapidly deteriorating, he quickly spoke up.
“I never said I was going on hiatus, Editor Hayakawa.”
“Eh?
But Sigsawa-sensei, didn’t you just say you were going to create a manga with your sister?”
“That won’t take much out of me.
Besides, I’ve nearly finished the fourth volume of ‘Kino’s Journey’ — I should be able to submit it before winter break ends.”
“Then what Sigsawa-sensei wanted to discuss with me in person was…?”
“Isn’t it only natural to inform your editor when you’re working on two projects at once?
I guarantee it won’t affect the updates for ‘Kino’s Journey’ or the creation of future works.”
Hearing Kyousuke’s explanation, Rumi’s eyes reddened, and tears spilled helplessly down her cheeks.
“Why are you crying?”
Kyousuke was at a complete loss.
Surely he hadn’t said anything that harsh, had he?
“It’s nothing to do with Sigsawa-sensei.
I’m just…
so relieved I scared myself.”
Rumi realized she’d lost her composure and struggled to rein in her emotions, her hands continuously brushing across her cheeks to wipe away the tears.
She simply hadn’t expected her luck to be this good.
The pressure she’d been under — the fear of losing her job — had suddenly lifted all at once, and she simply couldn’t hold it back.
“Huh?
Relieved about what?”
Once she’d gradually regained control, Kyousuke asked with open curiosity.
“I thought Sigsawa-sensei was planning to abandon novel writing entirely and switch over to manga scripts, so I…”
“Ah, I see.
Don’t worry, I take full responsibility for my own work.”
Kyousuke suddenly understood.
So that was why Rumi had come down personally to intercept him after receiving his text.
He’d originally planned to accompany Kirino to meet Editor Saito first and then find her to discuss the matter, but it turned out she’d been worried that splitting his focus would lead to him botching the ending of “Kino’s Journey.”
Though, for an editor, his managing editor seemed far less composed than her professional exterior suggested.
The normal reaction should have been anger — from an editorial standpoint, an author juggling two works at once was indeed a major taboo, since it made it incredibly difficult to guarantee the quality of both.
So why had she ended up scaring herself to the point of tears instead?
Rumi stemmed her tears and took a deep breath, pressing a hand to her chest.
“I apologize for my mistaken assumptions, Sigsawa-sensei.”
“It’s fine.”
Kyousuke didn’t mind in the slightest.
“I’m truly glad to be Sigsawa-sensei’s editor.”
“Ah, likewise.”
Kousaka Kyousuke couldn’t help but laugh.
Any other editor would probably be lecturing him at length by now, trying to convince him to focus solely on his novel.
Having a crybaby editor like this — maybe it wasn’t so bad after all?