It was Sunday. We had come to a publishing company in Shinjuku.
Leaving from the Western entrance, we walked in the direction of the Tokyo Government office, and walked halfway around Shinjuku Central Park in the clockwise direction. The building we arrived at was a black, tall building. It seemed that the publishing company in question was housed in this building.
… But really, Shinjuku is just filled to the brim with tall buildings, isn't it? The district was so crowded with people, and the station was so difficult to navigate through. It was almost like an underground labyrinth.
I checked the time on my cell phone, and sighed, "That was close, but we seem to have made it on time."
"Hmph, there wouldn't have been a problem if we didn't get lost. I don't even have enough time to fix my makeup. What the hell?"
Today, Naruko was dressed up even more maturely than usual. I mean… usually she also dressed in quite a mature fashion, but this time it felt different… she was wearing a pair of light-yellow-brown pants suits, along with some light, tasteful makeup, and indeed looked like a trendy, professional woman.
"This is the first time we came here, so there's no way we would not get lost at all, you know?"
Also, this map was terrible. Walk for eight minutes from the station… how damn fast did it expect us to walk? Our getting lost in the station was a bit to blame as well, but it took us over fifteen minutes to walk here. I grumbled internally about the map I had printed out from the publishing company's public website.
"So, you were supposed to wait for them in the lobby, was it?"
"Yeah… they told me to be in the lobby by four-thirty… you, wait around here."
"… You sure you don't want me to come with you?"
"Idiot. I spent so much time dressing up formally today, and if I'm seen next to a punk like you it'll all come to nothing. You better not come with me."
… But, wasn't the entire point of this trip that she was afraid to meet with this guy alone, and so took me with her? Perhaps she understood my doubts, but Naruko tightened her lips and fell into silence. We stood there for a while, and she finally spoke.
"You don't have to come with me… but stay somewhere close. And, if I send you a blank mail, come."
"Yeah yeah, roger."
Alright, let's do it as you say.
"Well, I'm off."
"Good luck."
Naruko lightly lifted an arm in farewell, and entered into the lobby. The automatic doors opened and then shut behind her.
Not wanting to stand in the way, I moved towards a nearby pillar, and waited next to the entrance of the building. I might be getting an SOS from Naruko, so I held my phone in my hands.
… Was there really a point in me coming today…? Just as I was thinking that, Naruko came out of the building with a long black haired, slender man in a suit and sunglasses. Even though I had nothing to feel guilty about, I found myself quickly hiding in the shadow of the pillar.
I felt my cell phone vibrating.
"!" I braced myself, thinking that the SOS had come, but it wasn't that.
"We're changing the meeting place. Follow us."
Well, it seemed that she could multitask and mail me while she was doing other things. It definitely wasn't something I could do. But, I guess they weren't going to talk in the editorial department? Keeping a bit of distance between us, I tailed Naruko and company. They quickly crossed an intersection, walked South for a bit, and entered into a cafe.
"Hm… what should I do?" Should I go in as well? As I stood there hesitating, my cell phone once again vibrated. "… !? Ah… it's just a message."
Geez, because she had given me such a weird order when we parted, every time I got mail I was really surprised. I would start thinking that something dangerous had happened…
So… what was it this time? "Wait there"? Yeah yeah…
Looking up at the evening sun, I sighed. After that, I stood stock still near the cafe door for around an hour.
The day ended, and just as it was getting dark, Naruko came out of the cafe by herself. She was grinning and seemed very satisfied about something. It seemed that things had gone well.
I raised one hand in greeting. "So? How did it go? Was this editor a reliable person?"
Naruko answered my question energetically. "He said there were a lot of interesting points in the book! And, he said it really did feel modern girlish! And so he thought a lot of readers would be able to connect to it… he really praised it!"
"… I see." That's not exactly what I was asking… but whatever. From her response, I could at least tell that he wasn't a dangerous person. Nonetheless, I had to make sure. "What kind of person was he?"
"Hmmm… " Naruko thought with a finger on her lower lip. "He was definitely a serious person. How do I put it… an elite businessman? Something like that. He also had great manners. Yeah, I also asked him a lot of questions about his editorial department, and he answered them all without hesitation… and, best of all, he gave me lots of commentary about my novel. He wasn't as bad as you were worried he would be."
Hm, so it seemed he was legitimate. I'm glad. Well, certainly, he seemed like a punctual person. I didn't really see much of him except from the back, but with his classy suit, he really did seem like an able company employee.
"Hee hee… he was also pretty cute."
What does that have to do with anything? This is why women are so… don't judge a person just from his looks, dammit. When I fell into silence, Naruko said something like "Why are you getting angry?"
"See, he also gave me this." She held out the editor's business card. I took it, and took a good look at it.
MediAscii Works Second Editorial Department Mobile Division, Morino Ibiki. Under his name was written his company's phone number, and under there, in pen, was written what was probably his personal cell phone number and mailing address. This information was annotated with the comment "Use these please," so he probably wanted her to use the personal information should she want to contact him.
"So, Morino-san, huh?"
"I've gotten business cards from publishers while modeling before, and they do look like this."
"It's not like I was saying it was a fake card or anything… well? Are you getting your novel published?"
I could no longer tolerate my sister's arrogant tone, so I changed the subject. Naruko didn't seem to mind at all.
"Well, that's the other thing. They want me to write a new book. He talked about a lot of things with me, but he advised me that as it is now, the novel didn't have enough of an emphasis on the target audience. So, I should write it with more focus on the people reading it. A story that's conscious of the audience would be more popular, right? And if I can write something good, they'll publish it."
"… So, are you intending to take them up on that offer?"
At this point, a bunch of concerns were going through my head.
"Yeah. I've already made it this far, so I'm going to try."
I got the feeling that any objection I raised would be meaningless at this stage… but let me just bring up a single point.
"You've already decided, so it's not like I can interfere much with your decision… but there's one thing that might water down your motivation… do you seriously have enough free time to be doing this?"
My sister was a track and field ace, an active teen magazine model, an honors student who had some of the top scores in the prefecture, and after her Comiket debut recently, was also an otaku. So, how exactly was she planning to free up enough time to do this as well? Both your club activities and work were going swimmingly, so things pile up and you're especially busy near the end of the year, aren't you?
Didn't you also say that the game you made a reservation for in Akihabara was coming out near the end of the year? And because it's you, you would definitely make sure you cleared that game, right?
… Geez, this idiot, at the present moment I already didn't know how she found time for everything she was doing… and then she's planning on adding writing a webnovel on top of all that… what exactly is she trying to do?
"I'll manage… it'll definitely get busy though…"
Naruko probably had similar concerns about finding enough time. She crossed her arm and lifted her lower lip, seeming to sink into thought. She raised a hand and began to mumbling things like "there's that, and this, and that…" while counting on her fingers. But that stopped before long, and she made a firm declaration.
"Well, I'll figure it out. After all, who do you think I am?"
"I suppose… well, just do what you want." I responded nonchalantly. I felt a tinge of pride from somewhere, but it must have been my imagination.
"Even if you didn't say it, I would do what I wanted. Oh right. Before long, I'm planning to take a trip to Shibuya to collect data. And you are also coming with me."
Yeah yeah… whatever your command princess. It's not like saying anything to you would make a difference. Once she decided on something, nothing I said after that point would register.