As night deepened, the commercial districts places like Ginza still maintained their charming nightlife, glowing with bright lights. But the apartment complex where Nanaya rented a unit was already quiet and deserted.
Aside from the occasional window still lit, hinting that someone inside remained awake, everything else was silent.
"Yawn—"
Sitting at his desk, Nanaya covered his mouth, let out a long yawn, stretched, and then turned his attention back to the drawing board in front of him.
On the white sheet of paper lay a rough pencil sketch he had made: a girl battling a spirit atop a building, wielding a short blade a scene both fierce and tragically beautiful.
It was a hand-drawn storyboard, one of many Nanaya had created to visualize Ryougi Shiki's movements in his mind.
"Hmm… should this be placed here?"
Nanaya erased one of the spirit sketches on the left, then redrew it above Shiki's head. Storyboarding like this is a method many directors favor, turning the images in their minds into something concrete that can guide filming.
Of course, different directors have vastly different drawing styles. Some produce storyboards that could pass as artwork; others create scribbles that wouldn't even qualify as children's doodles.
Nanaya fell somewhere in the middle. He wasn't skilled enough to sell his drawings as art, but they conveyed exactly what he needed. Much of that clarity came from the many years he had spent practicing sketching. After all, once he became famous, these could be auctioned off as movie merchandise, right?
"That should be about right. I'll go over it with Shonan tomorrow."
Nanaya picked up the freshly completed storyboard and stored it in a folder along with the previous ones.
Ding-dong!
Just as he was about to start the next drawing, the doorbell rang.
"They're here."
Nanaya stood up and headed for the door, but the person outside kept pressing the bell repeatedly, clearly impatient.
Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong!
"Hey, can you not overdo it every single time? You're going to disturb the neighbors," Nanaya complained as he opened the door.
Standing in the hallway was a maid in casual clothing, carrying a paper bag. She bowed and greeted him.
"Good evening, Mr. Kiryu. If anyone was disturbed, please place all the blame on me."
"Sera, you're way too serious!"
Nanaya complained to the maid. She looked as though she was about to give him a lecture on basic common sense when she suddenly shoved a paper bag into his hands.
"Here,this is your midnight snack," Sera said, her tone full of irritation.
"Oh… thanks."
Sera immediately grabbed Nanaya by the collar and scolded him, "Show some proper gratitude! The young lady made this midnight snack especially for you!"
"Made it herself? Isn't this just something she brought from school?"
Nanaya glanced inside the paper bag. It contained exactly two items, plain white bread and a can of nutritional supplement drink.
"Don't talk nonsense… cough cough. This is a token of the young lady's goodwill, so you'd better appreciate it."
Sera's expression froze for a moment, and she coughed twice to hide her embarrassment.
Miss Ilya clearly had very accurate information sources. After the film project was nearly finalized, she began contacting Nanaya every day to ask about the film's progress.
After learning that Nanaya had been staying up late every day to prepare for the film project, Ilya began preparing midnight snacks for him on her own initiative.
Originally, she wanted to deliver them personally, but because of her household curfew, she had no choice but to send them through her personal maid, Sera. (Nanaya agreed with this arrangement completely little girls shouldn't be wandering around at night anyway.)
At first, Nanaya had genuinely looked forward to these midnight snacks. Even though Ilya was still just a little girl, she was undeniably a beauty. It would be strange for any man not to feel excited about receiving care from a beautiful girl.
Unfortunately, most of the midnight snacks Ilya sent him were simply leftover afternoon tea from school far from the warm, handmade treats Nanaya had imagined. Gradually, his anticipation faded.
Still, having something to eat at night was better than nothing, so Nanaya continued accepting Ilya's gifts.
Sera, on the other hand, had been extremely reluctant to knock on a man's door every night. She wasn't targeting Nanaya specifically she believed no man should get close to the young lady. The idea that Ilya would care about another man was something Sera absolutely could not tolerate.
From day one, Nanaya had never seen Sera give him a friendly expression. He even suspected that if Ilya didn't call to confirm delivery every night, Sera might have dumped the snack straight into a trash bin.
When Ilya first asked her to handle this task, Sera had firmly voiced her opposition.
"This is the best chance to make my big brother remember me! You know, this kind of favor is the hardest to repay. He'll have no choice but to let Ilya participate in the entire film production!"
That had been Ilya's reasoning at the time, and Sera still had no idea what had gotten into her young lady.
(It's probably just a passing whim, Sera thought. Every rich girl dreams of being an actress at some point. But why this man, of all people?)
Sera examined Nanaya closely. In her eyes, his looks were only barely passable certainly not good enough for the young lady. However, after observing him over the past days, she realized he did have one redeeming quality: his dedication.
He was, at the very least, a genuine workaholic.
Looking at Nanaya's slightly messy hair, Sera silently reached this conclusion.
"Anyway, thank you for your hard work today."
Despite her unfriendly attitude, Nanaya still thanked her sincerely. "Let me walk you out."
"There's no need, Mr. Kiryu. Please continue working filming is about to start, after all." Sera replied with her usual distance. "If anything happens, I'll be the one taking care of you."
"…Right."
Remembering that, according to Ilya, this woman once hospitalized five thugs by herself, Nanaya could only fall silent.
"Good night."
Nanaya felt that since she clearly didn't like him, it was best to let her leave as quickly as possible.
"Mr. Kiryu."
Just as Nanaya was about to close the door, Sera suddenly called out to him.
"Hm?"
Nanaya turned back, puzzled. Under his curious gaze, Sera spoke calmly:
"Although work is important, proper rest and pacing are necessary. If you push yourself too hard and collapse, it would be a waste."
"…Thanks."
Nanaya was caught off guard by her words. He stared at her for several seconds before remembering he should thank her.
"I'm only saying this for the young lady's sake. If you die, the opportunity she's been waiting so long for to accompany you on set would be ruined."
He couldn't tell whether that was just an excuse. Sera's calm, expressionless face revealed nothing of her true thoughts.
"…Either way, thank you."
This time, Sera gave no response. She simply bowed to him, said goodnight, and walked down the corridor.
Back in his room, Nanaya placed the paper bag on the corner of his desk. Even though it was late, he didn't feel sleepy at all.
His mind was completely occupied with the upcoming production of Kara no Kyoukai. Although preparations had gone smoothly, no one could predict what problems might arise once actual filming began.
Even with the confidence built up over two lifetimes of experience and decades of learning, sitting in the director's chair for the first time came with immense pressure.
When a person has no opportunities, they pray for one; but when that opportunity finally arrives, they begin to fear losing it.
This is something almost everyone experiences and Nanaya was no exception. Even with a soul far more mature than his age suggested, he was still, ultimately, human.
Nanaya tore open the plastic wrap on the bread, took a big bite, then drank from the can of nutrient supplement.
"Alright… let's keep going."
After finishing the midnight snack prepared by the little girl, he picked up his pen once more and returned to drawing storyboards.
————————————————————————
A few days later, filming for Kara no Kyoukai finally began at the foot of an abandoned building!
With no launch ceremony, no press conference, and no big announcement, the Kara no Kyoukai crew quietly began production on their film.
Standing behind the director's camera, Nanaya raised the megaphone and shouted loudly to the entire staff:
"Action!"