「CHAPTER 9」
If he was going to repay Hatori with anything, it was to do his work diligently.
That was the only thing he could do right now. With that thought in mind, he
concentrated and because of that, finished his upcoming plot. It was easily given the OK.
Then, he started on the storyboard for the plot. He worked on the storyboard more
smoothly than usual, so surely he had good progress with it than how it was in his
previous schedule. This miraculous schedule didn't happen many times in a year, but
finishing with extra time to spare surely put both his mind and body at ease.
I have to contact my assistants soon and give them their next agenda.
Yoshino thought, and looked at the calendar nearby as he tried to figure out the
plan.
“Lets see…I feel like the next crunch time will be from here to here…But, the
finished work to give to my assistants is…”
Presently, he had three regular assistants, with Yanase being at the top, and if he
didn't have enough people to help out, he had one more assistant to call.
However, that didn't mean that all of them belonged only to Yoshino, so if they
had already made plans with other authors, they wouldn't come. So even if they saw the
work plan, he always directly contacted his assistants since it was necessary to make sure
they were following his schedule and everybody was on the same page.
…I need to contact Yuu.
He wanted to thank Yanase for his previous work and to make peace with him
once and for all. Yanase was his dear friend, so he didn't want them to drift apart from
such a misunderstanding. He thought that, but he couldn't quite find the opportunity to do
this. Even when they fought when they were students, it was inevitable that they were
going to see each other the next morning in school, so there was a time slot to apologize,
but now, he couldn't see them talking if he didn't willingly contact Yanase himself. He
thought about texting him, but he couldn't deny that it will come out cold, because it's
hard to be clear through that. He felt like he couldn't express his feelings too well, and
picking the right words for the situation was not his forte.
I should call him, but how do I start the conversation…?
As he hesitated about what to do, his home phone rang. Perhaps Hatori was
calling him at this time, just check that he sent the envelope throughout home delivery
service.
“Yes, this is Yoshino – “
“Chiaki? It's me.”
He had picked up the phone without checking the number on the display screen,
so his heart leapt when he heard that voice. He wasn't mentally prepared, so he had
difficulty replying.
“Yu- Yuu, umm…it's been a while.”
On the other side of the line was a sign that Yanase was appalled at Yoshino's
stupid reply.
“It hasn't been a while. What will the next assistant do? We can't form this
schedule if you don't contact them.”
He felt relieved that Yanase spoke like he always did and tried to not let his
happiness show as he chose his words.
“Ah, sorry, I was going to contact them today.”
“We're starting somewhere around next weekend as usual?”
“Ye- yeah. I look forward to working with you.”
He still felt very awkward, so his word choice came out too polite.
“What are we strangers now? That's not nice.”
“No, um…Thanks for the other day. We were saved once you showed up.”
“You're welcome.”
“I figured I'm useless if you're not here Yuu. I don't know what to do. Oh, but you
knew I was drawing at the company?”
Suddenly, he remembered that time and only asked now. He wasn't even thinking
at that time because he had been panicking, but where in the world did Yanase hear that
he was in a mess? Yoshino wondered until Yanase gave him a simple explanation.
“Hatori called me. He said to come help you, because you guys were in a tight
spot.”
“Tori did?”
Hatori hadn't said a word to him about this. Now that he thought about it, Hatori
was the only other person besides Yoshino who contacted Yanase, so how did Yoshino
not realize this before?
He planned on hiding this too?
Yoshino was happy that Hatori worried about him, but not telling him anything
was a little depressing. They weren't children, so he wanted them to communicate
properly.
“I waited for you to contact me, though.”
“S-sorry…”
He shrugged his shoulders at Yanase who sounded annoyed about this.
“Anyway, I'm sorry too, for sulking. But you should make it up to me for ditching me at
the onsen.”
“I know. We can go to your favorite onsen next time, Yuu.”
“Then let's go to Yufuin. Just the two of us, of course.”
“Eh? Not with Tori?”
He panicked, remembering the words Hatori had told him before: “Promise that
you'll never go out with him anymore, where it's just the two of you alone.”
Yoshino had agreed to that obviously jealous-sounding order. It was a situation
that happened because of a situation, but he didn't want to break his promises unless they
were deadlines.
“Absolutely not. As if I'd go with such a work fanatic.”
“B- but…”
“Anyway, this is a promise. Then, contact me when you figure out where your
manuscript is going,” Yanase said just what he wanted to say and quickly hung up the
phone.
“Wai-wait… Yuu! Listen to what others have to say…!”
It was useless to talk into the disconnected phone receiver, but he couldn't help
complaining at how one-sided their conversation had been.
“Honestly, he's so selfish and does everything his own way…”
He was dumbstruck but glad that he had patched things up with Yanase for now.
Relieved, he started working on the storyboard again. He was to go on a business meeting
with Hatori in the evening, so he had to have at least a rough idea by the time he left the
house. With a small load off his shoulders, Yoshino decided to concentrate on the
storyboard.
* * * *
As soon as he finished the storyboard he put it into a file folder and left his home
to go meet Hatori for their business meeting. The place he was heading to was the shop
they often used in the past to have their business meetings. When he opened the door of
the shop that read “kissaten” rather than “café”, a ringing sound of a bell resonated. There
wasn't a single person inside the shop today as well. It seemed that people showed up at
night to get their intake of alcohol, but during the day, their favorite manager made coffee
as a hobby.
“Welcome.”
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