Tokyo: Oreimo

".....What, that guy?"

Her voice leaked out from between her fingers, muffled and slightly nasal.

Her heart was pounding so fast that she felt a pain in her chest.

She almost couldn't hold back when he put his hand on her head.

It's not that I hate it, it's that I like it too much.

She liked it so much that just the warmth of that hand made her feel completely out of sorts.

Ling Nai lifted her face from her palm and looked down at her right hand.

This is the hand he held all day today.

On the train, on the streets of Shinjuku, at every stall in the Christmas market, and in the midst of a heavy snowfall.

Their fingers are intertwined.

She turned her hand over so that her palm was facing up.

".....What is that?"

The corners of his mouth couldn't help but curve upwards, and he couldn't suppress it no matter what he did.

She simply stopped pressing down, leaned back, lay on the tatami mat, raised her hands in front of her eyes, and looked at the warm yellow chandelier on the ceiling.

The light cast a small shadow in her outstretched palm.

"...He accepted it."

She spoke softly, as if confirming some important fact.

He accepted it.

And he said "thank you".

He even patted her head.

Ling Nai rolled over on the tatami mat, buried her face in the neatly folded blanket beside her, and unconsciously kicked her legs twice.

".....Fool."

Her voice came out muffled from under the blanket, it was unclear whether she was talking about Ryosuke or herself.

After a while, she finally lifted her head from under the blanket. Her hair was a mess, like a bird's nest, and the blush on her face hadn't completely faded, but her eyes were bright.

She rolled over, lying on her back, and took out her newly bought white phone from her pocket, turning on the screen.

On the standby screen, two people stand side by side at the entrance of an electronics store, with heavy snow falling behind them and the warm yellow lights of Central Avenue.

Her eyes crinkled as she smiled, and Ryosuke's lips curved into a slight smile.

Snowflakes fell between them, blurring the boundary between the two.

Ling Nai stared at the photo for a long time, then stretched out her index finger and gently poked Ryosuke's face on the screen.

".....Fool."

She repeated it again.

Chapter 205 EL PSY KONGROO

Christmas has passed this year.

Correspondingly, the winter vacation quietly came to an end, and the brother and sister resumed their daily routine of going between school, home, and company.

White Album 2 has achieved impressive sales figures and received very positive feedback.

Aniplex recently received a number of packages addressed to 'Gen Urobuchi'.

Ryosuke was already used to this kind of thing.

Early January, Saturday.

Ryosuke took Ayano with him to the company.

The atmosphere within the company remained relaxed. Since the end of "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" at the end of October, the members continued to work in two groups.

A team was responsible for refining the Blu-ray version of Madoka Magica. Because the DVDs burned and printed by NHK, the production committee, sold well, they specially allocated funds to produce the Blu-ray version of Madoka Magica.

The other group was responsible for the production preparation of the "Haruhi Suzumiya" anime.

After arriving at the company, Ryosuke held a private meeting with Hououin Saori and Saito Ritsu.

"To be honest, we're a bit short-handed."

Because Saori has been urging him to meet the deadline recently, Ritsu Saito is feeling quite distressed.

There are only about seventy people in total. Even though some of the work is outsourced, the production efficiency of original drawings and in-between cuts is among the top in the industry. But not everyone is Rumiko Takashiro.

Phoenix Inu Saori has been pulling manpower away from the game from time to time to create game CGs, which is why "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" has not yet officially started production.

At the current production speed, we should be grateful if it can be released before summer vacation.

"Then let's hire some new people, and it's time to expand a bit."

After thinking for a moment, Ryosuke made a suggestion.

Given Aniplex's current status, it has already made a name for itself in the industry with "Puella Magi Madoka Magica," which will likely attract many outstanding talents.

"There are still empty seats upstairs, aren't there?"

Previously, when Phoenix Inu Saori needed to recruit programmers, Ryosuke simply asked the landlord to rent the entire building because the three floors downstairs were not enough to accommodate the existing staff.

The upstairs office area is now quite spacious, easily enough to accommodate another forty or fifty people.

After a brief discussion, Ritsu Saito left the meeting room.

Ryosuke handed over the entire task of recruiting new people to the other party.

...

After Saito left the meeting room, only he and Hououin Saori remained in the room.

Saori sat on the other side of the conference table, her hands supporting her chin, her long black hair falling over her shoulders, framing her delicate face.

"Shi Yuze, have you thought through the programming requirements for your new work?"

"almost."

Ryosuke pulled a document from his backpack and pushed it in front of her.

Saori took the paper and opened it, her gaze sweeping over the surface, her eyebrows slightly raised.

"Steins;Gate?"

"Ah."

Ryosuke leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers lightly twice on the table.

"The main storyline revolves around time travel and shifts in the world line. The protagonist sends emails to the past via his mobile phone to change history, and each change causes the world line to shift."

"Therefore, the programming needs to implement a mobile phone trigger system, which allows players to make choices by sending and receiving text messages and making and receiving phone calls, giving them a high degree of freedom. Every choice will affect the rate of change of the world line, ultimately leading to different endings."

Saori flipped through the sketches in the document, pondering the feasibility of Ryosuke's idea.

"This system is much more complex than White Album 2. It's not a simple choice between options, but requires accumulating multiple choices to make a decision."

"Can it be done?"

"Of course, it's possible, but it will take time."

Saori closed the file and looked up at him.

"Logically, it's not difficult to implement. The problem lies in the animation display effect on the phone, but it shouldn't be a problem to study it."

Phoenix Institute Saori has this confidence in its programming capabilities.

"As for the script, we might have to wait a little longer."

Ryosuke smiled. He had actually started writing recently, but it would take a long time to finish, at least two months.

Of course, we will still prioritize releasing the character design collection and hand it over to Ling Nai; this has always been our division of labor.

Phoenix Inu Saori nodded and did not raise any objections.

Ryosuke put the documents away, got up and left the meeting room.

.....

Ryosuke spent the whole day in the office writing a script.

At 3 p.m., there was a knock on the office door from the outside.

"Come in."

The door was pushed open, and Ling Nai poked half her body in, carrying two paper bags in her hands, with an expression that said, "I'm busy, but I just happened to come and take a look."

"What? You're still busy?"

She came in and placed the paper bag on the table.

"I brought you some dessert, strawberry daifuku. It's a new winter limited edition from the shop at the station. I had to queue for ages to buy it."

As she spoke, she took out a small transparent box from the paper bag, inside which were four pink and white daifuku neatly arranged, with a thin layer of powdered sugar sprinkled on top, shaped like snowflakes.

Ryosuke put down his pen and took the box.

Thanks.

"I just bought it casually, I didn't queue up specifically for it."

Ling Nai sat down in the chair opposite him, resting her chin on her hands, her gaze sweeping around the office before finally settling on the computer in front of him.

"You're writing a new book again?"

The blonde girl leaned closer and glanced curiously at the computer screen.

The text box title is "Steins;Gate".

"What a strange name."

She said this, but her eyes couldn't help glancing at the screen.

Ryosuke noticed her little gesture and couldn't help but chuckle.