Inside the conference room of the manga editorial department at Kadokawa Pictures.
Kousaka Kirino sat at one corner of the meeting table, her face taut with anxiety.
Seated across from her was an older woman wearing glasses.
This was her editor, Iori Setsuna.
From the initial unsolicited submission to signing the contract to the anime adaptation, she had been the one handling everything.
“Kirino, I don’t know where you’ve been hearing these rumors, but you know me.
I pushed past all the objections to sign the work you submitted, and I gave you the highest standard per-page rate.
You acknowledged that yourself, didn’t you?”
“But…
Editor Iori, a friend told me that a work which gets an anime adaptation should come with copyright income.
And at a mall in Shinjuku, I even saw Lunar Witch dolls…”
Kousaka Kirino felt torn.
She wasn’t sure if she should be questioning the editor who had been guiding her all this time.
And thanks to her, she really had earned a considerable sum.
More, even, than what her father Kousaka Daisuke made in an entire year as a detective at the public safety office.
“Is this friend of yours in the industry?
She probably doesn’t understand a thing.
You’re a newcomer.
To receive treatment like this is already something to be grateful for.”
Iori Setsuna placed a hand on her shoulder, her voice gentle and soothing.
“She’s my classmate, and does modeling part-time.
She’s the one who came with me today.”
So, an outsider.
Iori breathed an inward sigh of relief.
Honestly, what a pain.
The manga’s plot is nearly finished serializing, and now she shows up demanding answers.
If she signed the contract, then she should just fulfill it properly.
Children really are the biggest hassle.
The terms were there in black and white.
An adult in this situation would swallow the bitter pill and quietly devote themselves to their manga career.
“Then she must be jealous of you, saying nasty things to drive a wedge between us.”
“No way.
Ayase isn’t like that!”
Kirino’s voice shot up in volume, her tone turning sharp with displeasure.
She’d stepped on a landmine.
Iori Setsuna’s smile froze on her face.
She never imagined this little girl would have such an explosive reaction to a single sentence.
“My friend would never lie to me.
I’m demanding to renegotiate the contract, Editor Iori.
Let the old one go, but from here on, you have to pay me the copyright fees I’m owed!”
Kirino put force behind her words, glaring straight at her.
“Children really are children.
So immature and troublesome.”
Iori Setsuna took off the glasses resting on her nose and tossed them casually onto the meeting table.
“Who are you calling a child?
I’m already a high schooler!”
The other woman’s tone rubbed Kirino the wrong way.
What was that about?
She was about to enter high school soon, and she’d earned this much money through her own ability.
And this woman was calling her childish?!
“Enough!”
Iori Setsuna slammed her palm against the meeting table.
The huge noise instantly quelled Kirino, who had been poised to press the attack further.
“You signed the contract.
How could it possibly be changed just because you say so?
If you’ve learned a hard lesson, then swallow it quietly.
Coming here to kick up a fuss does you no good at all!”
Iori’s tone was harsh, a hint of mockery tugging at the corner of her mouth.
Once you entered the industry and signed the terms, they carried legal weight.
The copyright for “Lunar Witch Transformation” — that work no longer had any connection to its author.
Even if the girl was a minor, taking the legal route would yield the same result.
“You—!”
Kirino gritted her teeth in fury, the ends of her hair trembling where they fell over her shoulders.
“Ayase was right.
You deliberately gave me a solicited manuscript contract to sign.”
“And what if I did?
As a complete and utter newcomer, you should be groveling in gratitude to even get a contract like this.
At the very least, you’ve earned a tidy sum from Kadokawa over this past year or so, haven’t you?”
Iori Setsuna was growing weary.
She could no longer be bothered to play house with Kirino.
“Finish drawing the remaining parts of ‘Lunar Witch Transformation,’ and I’ll put in a request with the editorial department to give you a bit more in manuscript fees.
But as for revising the contract — don’t even think about it!”
“You scumbag!”
Kirino had never imagined that this editor, who had always maintained the image of a sympathetic older sister in front of her, was actually a person like this.
But there was nothing she could do about it.
Ayase had said that if the other party refused to amend the contract, she should try her best to play pitiful and win some sympathy, to fight for whatever extra benefits she could.
But Kirino couldn’t bring herself to say those words, no matter what.
Bowing her head to this editor, now stripped of her false exterior and baring her fangs — she simply couldn’t do it.
The conference room fell into a stalemate.
Compared to Kirino’s fury, Iori Setsuna was perfectly at ease, wearing the expression of someone who knew she had her opponent completely cornered.
A mere little girl who had gotten lucky creating a single decent work, and she dared to shout at her.
Today, she would teach her a proper lesson in seniority and respect.
If the girl was willing to lower her head and apologize, Iori wouldn’t mind being magnanimous and giving her a bit more in manuscript fees.
After all, it was thanks to this fool signing the contract so rashly that she’d been given the chance to catch the editor-in-chief’s attention.
Her name had even been noted by the higher-ups in the production division.
As long as this manga wrapped up smoothly, following the current trend of the anime adaptation, it was bound to stay hot for a long while to come.
With this work, she’d be able to secure her position as deputy editor-in-chief without a doubt.
They remained deadlocked like this for five minutes.
Iori watched Kirino go from agitated to furious, and from furious to aggrieved, a glimmer of moisture beginning to well up in her eyes.
She didn’t find the girl pitiful in the slightest.
Quite the opposite — it was deeply satisfying.
I really am amazing, being able to handle her this easily.
A child’s psychological defenses are so fragile.
And thank goodness she was a child.
If this were some hot-headed fool who decided to halt the manga’s serialization right at this stage, then she’d be the one in serious trouble.
After that brief standoff, Kirino could no longer hold back the grievance swelling inside her.
Large tears rolled down her cheeks.
Then, without a single word, she headed for the conference room exit.
“Think it over carefully, little girl.
I hope the next time we meet, you’ll have brought the remaining manuscript pages for ‘Lunar Witch Transformation’ with you.”
As she left, Iori Setsuna’s laughter was like a sharp blade.
It sent a stabbing pain through Kirino, and she fled the conference room as if escaping something.
…..
The conference room door swung open.
Kirino rushed out with her head down, but she never expected someone to be standing right outside.
She barreled straight into him.
“Ow!” The other party let out a soft yelp of pain.
“I’m sorry.”
Kirino apologized reflexively, tears still clinging to her cheeks.
She looked up and met a pair of eyes.
“Yo.
Small world.”
The voice belonged to none other than Kousaka Kyousuke, who had been waiting outside the door for quite some time now, along with Hayakawa Rumi.
The two of them had been listening at the wall for a while.
He rubbed his chest, marveling at how this cheap little sister of his had a head as hard as iron.
“What are you doing here?” Kirino quickly wiped the tears from her face and glared at him fiercely.
Before Kyousuke could even open his mouth again, she was already striding briskly toward the elevator hall.
The golden tips of her hair swept past him, trailing a faint fragrance.
‘Damn it.
Of all people, it had to be him seeing me like this.’
Kirino grew angrier the more she thought about it, so angry that the tears came again.
It wasn’t until the elevator doors slid shut that Kyousuke’s gaze finally left her face.
“That was absolutely awful, bullying a young girl like that.”
Hayakawa Rumi wore a complicated expression.
She even felt a sense of shame, being an employee of Kadokawa Pictures herself.
“Yeah.” Kyousuke’s voice drifted over, light and airy.
“I’m a little angry now.”
Rumi looked at him curiously.
“Is she an acquaintance of Sigsawa-sensei’s?”
Judging from Kirino’s reaction earlier, the two of them clearly knew each other.
Could they be classmates?
Rumi wondered.
“She and I share the same last name.
Kousaka.”
“Eh?”
Before Rumi could fully process it, Kyousuke pushed open the conference room door.
He came face to face with Iori Setsuna, who was just tidying up her documents, about to leave.
“Who are you two?
Who gave you permission to barge into the conference room?
Don’t new employees know the rules?”
Iori Setsuna’s face clouded with displeasure, harsh words spilling out before she even thought.
Hayakawa Rumi’s expression turned deeply awkward.
She nearly bowed and apologized on reflex.
This woman was a managing editor in the manga department, on the verge of being promoted to deputy editor-in-chief — practically a done deal.
A rookie like her, even if she was from the neighboring department, would normally have to take the initiative to greet someone of Iori Setsuna’s rank.
But after hearing the conversation that had drifted into her ears just now, she found herself unwilling.
She hesitated, the greeting stuck in her throat.
Kousaka Kyousuke, on the other hand, simply smiled.
He walked up to the woman and extended his right hand.
“Hello.
Allow me to introduce myself.
My name is Kousaka Kyousuke.
I’m Kousaka Kirino’s elder brother.”