Tokyo: Oreimo

"Aoi is a new editor who joined the company this spring and has been learning from me for half a year."

Hayakawa Rumi said, "She is serious about her work and passionate about her work. Although she lacks experience, she has a good eye. The doujinshi she chose at Winter COMI yesterday is the best proof of that."

"senior......"

"I want Aoi to be the editor in charge of 'Kara no Kyoukai'."

After those words were spoken, the conference room fell silent for a moment.

Morikawa Aoi was the first to react, speaking urgently, "Senior, I haven't independently managed any work yet, and Shigaze-sensei is your most important author, how could I...?"

"It is precisely because you have never been in charge independently that you need to start."

Hayakawa Rumi calmly interrupted her, "Every editor has a first time. I can't pave the way for you forever."

Just like when Hattori Takuya put a newcomer like him in charge of the silver award for newcomer, 'Shigsawa Keiichi', it's only right that I should help Morikawa Aoi out when she's in charge of her.

Then Hayakawa Rumi turned to Ryosuke, "I know this suggestion is a bit sudden, but I have my own considerations. I have seen Aoi's growth over the past six months. What she lacks is not ability, but just an opportunity."

Ryosuke didn't say anything, but his expression was a little strange.

Suddenly I feel like I'm being treated like a family heirloom?

Chapter 266 New Work Project Planning (Combined Chapter)

"Editor Hayakawa."

Ryosuke didn't answer her immediately, but instead asked a seemingly unrelated question, "Has there been any personnel change in the editorial department recently?"

Hayakawa Rumi was slightly taken aback, then gave a helpless smile that showed she had been seen through.

"As expected, I couldn't hide it from you."

She put down her pen, her tone shifting from persuasion to candor, "Editor Hattori will be officially promoted to editor-in-chief next month, and I will take over the vacant deputy editor-in-chief position, barring any unforeseen circumstances."

Ryosuke nodded, showing no surprise.

Hattori Takuya has been with Dengeki Bunko for over a decade, and his qualifications and abilities are sufficient for him to be promoted to editor-in-chief sooner or later.

Hayakawa Rumi's achievements over the past few years, ranging from the Newcomer Award to the Bunko Award, are unmatched among her peers. With the position of deputy editor-in-chief vacant, she was the most natural choice.

"The deputy editor-in-chief's job is more about overall planning and quality control, and he will no longer personally oversee every book from beginning to end as he used to."

Rumi Hayakawa said, "Kara no Kyoukai is a work that Aoi has taken a liking to. She has the ability to do it well, and as her boss, I will continue to follow up on the publication progress of this book."

Her meaning was clear: the editor in charge had changed, but she wouldn't truly let go.

“So this isn’t about pushing the author out, but about giving him a more suitable frontline executor.” Ryosuke filled in the blank for her.

Hayakawa Rumi let out a soft breath and nodded solemnly.

Ryosuke picked up his teacup and looked at Morikawa Aoi, who was sitting opposite him, so nervous that her fingers were almost crumpling the notebook.

She's a newcomer with vision and enthusiasm, and she has a senior colleague who's about to be promoted to deputy editor-in-chief backing her up. If she were to be the editor in charge, there shouldn't be any major problems.

He placed the teacup on the table.

"can."

.....

As evening approached, Ryosuke opened the front door to find the entryway light already on.

The television was playing softly in the living room. Mieko was sitting on the sofa knitting a sweater, while Takashiro Isao hadn't come home from get off work yet.

Ryosuke changed into slippers and walked into the living room. His mother looked up at him and gestured towards the upstairs.

"Ling Nai is in the room. She asked you several times when you would be back when she came down to get water."

"Okay." Ryosuke put the canvas bag next to the sofa and turned to go upstairs.

Ling Nai's door was closed, with a thin sliver of light shining through the crack. Ryosuke knocked twice, and a muffled "Come in" came from inside.

Pushing open the door, I saw Ling Nai sitting at her desk, a thick math reference book spread out in front of her, her left hand supporting her chin, and her right hand holding a pen, writing something on a draft paper.

An empty mug and several scattered highlighters lay on the table. The power light from the kotatsu (heated table) was on, and the whole room was quiet, without any trace of game consoles or comic books.

She really is reviewing.

Since Ryosuke told her that "the entrance exams are getting closer and closer, all cooperation except for academic tutoring will be suspended," Lingnao surprisingly did not get angry.

There was no protest, no biting, not even a "why?" She just turned her head away and remained silent for a few seconds before replying, "I know."

Every day after that was the same: after finishing my meal, I would sit down at my desk without thinking.

The original manga manuscript was put away in a drawer, and the graphics tablet was leaning against the corner of the wall, covered with a thin layer of dust. Even when Mao Gokou sent her a game strategy link in the chat room, she only replied with "Save it for now."

Ryosuke walked behind her and glanced at the solution steps on the draft paper.

“Here,” he pointed to one of the equations, “it’s wrong.”

Ling Nai stared at the formula she had written for a few seconds, then grabbed the correction tape and quickly erased and rewrote it, her movements more decisive than ever before.

Ryosuke stood still.

In the past, after making such a basic mistake, she would at least have said something like, "I was going to correct it anyway," or "You're just nitpicking." But now she didn't say anything; she just buried herself in correcting the equation and then moved on to the next problem.

This collaboration surprised even Ryosuke.

He pulled up a chair next to him and sat down, casually flipping through the test questions she had done.

The accuracy rate has improved again compared to two months ago. The mistakes are basically some obscure and tricky questions, and there are no obvious gaps in the basics.

At this rate, getting into Waseda University shouldn't be a problem.

"Didn't you go out today?"

School has already started winter break. In previous years, Ling Nai would probably go shopping with Aragaki Ruri during this time.

"No." Ling Nai recalculated the revised equation, and this time the result matched. "Liu Li said that the model is shooting."

Ryosuke put the test questions back on the table. "Then why don't you go and keep her company?"

“She told me to study hard.” Ling Nai paused for a moment, “saying that if I don’t get into Waseda University, then all the time she spent with me in my senior year of high school will have been for nothing.”

"Liuli is even more concerned than you are."

Ling Nai's lips twitched, as if she wanted to refute, but in the end she just hummed softly and poked a small dot on the draft paper with the tip of her pen.

The room was quiet for a while. It was completely dark outside, and the light from the streetlamp seeped in through the gap in the curtains, drawing a thin trail of light on the floor.

"Once this book is finished, we'll be almost done."

Ryosuke flipped to the last few pages of the reference book. "After you finish these questions, take a rest and we'll continue tomorrow."

"understood."

Ryosuke stood up, preparing to return to his room, when Lingna suddenly called out to him as he reached the door.

"Wait a moment."

Ryosuke turned around, but Ling Nai still had her back to him, not turning around, with her pen still resting on the draft paper.

"Um, Winter COMI ended a while ago. Are you still going to the manga club afterward?"

"I will go. The club will be recruiting new members after the start of the semester," Ryosuke answered truthfully.

"Oh." Ling Nai's tone was indifferent. "What about the publishing? Have you reached an agreement with Kadokawa?"

"almost."

"That's good."

After saying this, Ling Nai fell silent again, her pen unconsciously drawing circles on the blank space of the draft paper, circle after circle.

"After I finish my exams," she said, her voice suddenly dropping to a low hue. "Um, the collaboration that was suspended before should be able to resume, right?"

Ryosuke leaned against the door frame, watching her slightly hunched back.

"We'll talk about it after you finish your exam."

"Ah."

Ling Nai didn't press for details, nor did she whine or beg for immediate recovery. She simply gripped her pen firmly again, circled the question number for the next question, and began to examine it.

Ryosuke stood behind her for a while, then quietly closed the door and left.

"This guy is more composed than before," Ryosuke thought.

If we could turn back time a year, and someone said something like "suspend all cooperation until the exams are over," Ling Nai would probably have exploded on the spot and then given the cold shoulder for several days.

Now, she simply sits quietly at her desk, working on test questions one after another.

In a sense, could this be considered growth?

.....

On Saturday afternoon, Ryosuke went to Aniplex.

The five-story building in Nerima Ward is quite different from when it was first rented.

The lobby on the first floor has been renovated, with posters of "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" and "Steins;Gate" hanging on the walls, and an LED screen behind the reception desk scrolling through the company's latest game PVs and anime Blu-ray release information.

When Ryosuke pushed open the door to the president's office, Saori was sitting in his usual office chair, with three monitor screens spread out in front of her.

One of them displayed the financial software's report page, another was the development progress tracking table for "SAO", and the third scrolled through the real-time data panel of the Future Dimension Forum.

With her left hand, she pressed her fingers against a stapled paper document, while her right hand held the mouse. She stared intently at the data until Ryosuke walked to the desk before she looked up.

"Hmm?" Saori took off her glasses and placed them on the table, a smile curving her lips. "You're here?"

Ryosuke stood in front of the table and looked at her. "This is my seat."

"It's mine now, anyway, the president has absolutely no intention of coming to the company recently."

Saori leaned back in her chair, showing no intention of standing up. "If you want to sit, there's a sofa next to us, or..."

She reached out and gently patted her leg.

Ryosuke glanced at her, went behind the table, bent down and placed a kiss on her forehead.

Saori tilted her head back to receive the kiss, then reached out and pulled his scarf down a little, giving him an even deeper kiss on the lips.

“This is the interest for your lateness.” Saori loosened his scarf and looked with satisfaction at his loosened collar. “Since you started university, you can calculate how many days you owe me.”

"Sorry, I've been tutoring Ling Nai lately, and my schedule is packed every night. I'll make it up to you once I'm done with this." Ryosuke said, sitting on the sofa next to him.