Chapter 2

Your lips would tremble with fear under the cold. I would always hold you right in my arms and give off this warm radiance that you love so much. I remember how you held on to me till the end of your time. You held on so tight, I could feel your cold fingers burning deep down into my skin. You whispered oh so softly into my ear with every last bit of strength.

"Masaharu.."

You repeated my name with such ravishing delicate tone. It felt like a soothing sonata playing right through my ear as I hugged you closer.

"Masaharu!"

Niou woke up in a fright, startling the poor old lady who was sitting right next to him. He grinned and nodded apologetically. He glared at the source of the voice tracing it back to his best friend who was giving him the notion that this was the stop. Niou stretched as he got up from the seat and stepped out of the train.

He had almost forgotten that he was supposed to meet up with Yagyuu's co- workers from his publishing company. As much as he dreaded to take the train and such (as he finds public transportation a freaking drag) he was ecstatic to meet the people who are going to make his dream come true. Even if it means taking a few steps back, it didn't matter.

After all, he wanted to do this. Upon that thought, he remembered back his dream before he was rudely interrupted by the sound of his best friend's alarming call. But for once, he felt at ease. Tranquility took over as he recalled those final precious moments. Clearly, he was depressed that he couldn't do much to save her but he was grateful that he stayed by her side till the very end. It was the most difficult thing for him to endure. To see someone you love, slowly fading into the darkness as time consumed her slowly; it was blasphemy. He could not bear to relive that scene all over.

In fact, thinking about it, he shuddered with rage. Yagyuu of course noticed this as they were walking out of the station.

"Are you alright, Masaharu?" he asked with much concern.

"I'm fine Hiroshi. Heh. Don't have to worry about me." Was Niou said and he shrugged it off without having to continue the discussion of his daunting memories. Yagyuu took no interest to pry on it further and continued walking.

Fortunately, the building was only a mere walking distance from the station and before they know it, they were already right in front of Marukawa Publishing. Niou wasn't very impressed as the building is just like any other old boring architecture in Japan. But considering Yagyuu has been hitting off with quite a number of major bestsellers right here, he was willing to push that judgment aside and focus on his main goal. As they were walking in, a voice called out to them.

"Yagyuu! It's been a while!"

Both of them turned, only to be greeted by a very tall, handsome and brooding man. He had luscious black raven hair and a very long, slender, fit figure. However his face otherwise, says the opposite. He definitely looked like he did not sleep for almost a couple of years judging by the formation of the dark circles that circumference right under his perfectly good looking eyes nonetheless. Even with glasses on, it still could not hide the bags.

He had fair skin and this scared Niou for a bit and he reeked of strong coffee and cigarettes. So is this what it's like to work here? Niou thought.

"Ah Takano san! It definitely has been a while. How are you and the crew doing?"

Yagyuu replied with charisma as he reached out and shook the man's hands.

"We're at the end of the cycle. We just submitted our last manuscripts to the printers. Ah fuck those loathsome sons of bitches. They're always pushing us around with getting our manuscripts done and such." The man replied, adjusting his thick-framed glasses with the touch of his slender fingers.

"It can't be helped really. They're always pushing us around about the printing dates. It's also partially our fault for not keeping to the deadlines." Yagyuu cooed as we walked towards to the elevator and waited.

"Ah, I'm sick of dealing with them everyday. It doesn't help either that the authors are such a pain in the ass to deal with! They can't seem to produce any sort of fruitful storyboard and I have them redo them all over again. This was well one week before the deadline."

The fuck? One week before the deadline? Is this guy crazy? Niou thought, shocked at the statement.

"Still strict and harsh as ever Takano san. But that's what makes you a great editor in chief. I truly do respect you in that sense." Yagyuu replied, giving a good pat on the man's shoulder.

"I take pride in my work, Yagyuu. I can't be publishing some jack shit to my audiences." He cooed. At that second, he caught a glimpse at Niou who was right behind Yagyuu all the while.

"Ah? Is he an acquaintance of yours, Yagyuu?"

"Ah yes, this is my best friend, Niou Masaharu. He's actually here with me to discuss about his book that he wants to publish. I brought him here to get him familiar with how a publishing company works. It's his first time you see." Yagyuu replied, motioning Niou forward to meet his co worker.

"Ah I see. He looks fresh. I can expect quite some interesting content from him." He replied, looking at Niou with bright expectations. Niou honestly didn't know what to make of that expression but he was guessing it was a good first impression.

"Masaharu, this is Takano Masamune; Emerald team's editor in chief for shojo manga. You could probably learn a thing or two from him."

As expected, Niou's eyes widened as if it was about to gauge out from his sockets. This harsh, stoic, coffee reek of a man is editing cute, fluffy, angelic shojo mangas? Well of course, in a normal stereotypical world, he assumed shojo mangas were edited and published by adorable little women dressed up in french maid costumes, working in highly pink decorated office with flowers blooming from every segment and corner of the room with romantic music playing at the background. He imagined it to be well, girls' paradise, and sanctuary, whatever you call it.

But this?

What a way to crush hopes and expectations.

"Ah Niou san. I am guessing you were expecting shojo mangas to be edited by cute girls dressed up in French maid costume no?"

DANG! How did he know? Niou was taken aback by that response from Takano. But Takano smiled and reached out his hand to Niou.

"I'll be looking forward to seeing your work written and published. If there's anything, do not hesitate to ask me or Yagyuu san here. He's a very reliable man. You're lucky to be working with him."

Niou could only smile weakly and shook his hand without much thought. It's not like he was being rude, but the thought of just publishing a book really shook him hard. It wasn't like Niou to do something like this but it was something he wanted to do. At least, for Megumi..

"The lift's here!" Takano exclaimed as soon as the lift reached to a halt. The doors opened and three of them got in.

Throughout the lift journey, there was this deafening silence that greeted them. It was only a few floors but it felt like going up the Tokyo Tower. Upon arriving the designated destination, Takano bid farewell and moved on to his department. But before that, he handed his business card to Niou and smiled.

"Good luck to you Niou san. I'll be looking forward to your progress." He replied, before turning around and walking straight into his department.

"I'm glad you both hit it off well though, Niou you seem awfully quiet today." Hiroshi interjected, earning an irritated look from Niou.

"It's nothing really. Let's head off. " Niou walked off first, only to be followed by the very confused Yagyuu. It was the first time he saw the way Niou behaved today. He was clearly putting up a pretense to camouflage his broken pained expressions but Yagyuu knew Niou too well enough to know that his pretense could not fool Yagyuu Hiroshi himself.

But for all it seems, they were sauntering their way to the department where Yagyuu works. Niou thought back to why he was even doing this. He hated literature and writing more than anything else. But a part of him took that chance and told him, to just go with the river flow for once without hesitation; without looking back or any remorseful regrets.

Regrets. That put an arrow right through his heart.

A part of him could not forgive himself for the mistakes in the past but the other half, was missing. Missing as in, lost in translation. He admits that ever since the passing of his beloved, that part of him; his strength had left together with the ashes of his loved one. With that being said, he wanted to write this book. Perhaps it was a way to ease his pain and guilt. But the reason behind it was leaning towards his past love.

That had written motive all over.

It's a perpetual pain that surprisingly kept him sane for this long.

"We're here."

Niou snapped out of his thoughts by the alarming voice coming from his best friend. They were at the department where all the editors were seated comfortably on their tables, reading through thousands and thousands of paperwork. The sight was rather dense with a sense of intimidating aura. It seems some of them barely slept as he eyes motioned to the mountain of coffee cups that piled up right next to the bin. Heck, even the bin is quite full itself. He was greeted with this unpleasant stench; in this case it was due to the mixture of coffee and the perpetual routine of not bathing for months.

This was rather a horrific sight.

How the hell Yagyuu Hiroshi, the man of sanitary and a compulsive disorder could live in this sty? He wondered oh so deeply.

"Well, this isn't the worst yet Masaharu. We're on our way there." Yagyuu replied bluntly, as we paced forward to his working area.

Niou heave a sigh of relief; knowing Hiroshi for so long, he will never let his guard down when it comes to cleanliness. His workspace in comparison to any other workspaces he had seen was perhaps organized and clean. For the first time, Niou actually appreciated Yagyuu's obsessive-compulsive cleaning attitude.

"This is where all the editors work on the manuscripts and discuss ideas with the authors. You will be seeing a lot of your editor here discussing your work and progression. You don't have come in every now and then but it's good to know how this works."

Niou nodded and the both of them walked through the department, making a few introductions and understanding how the publishing company and the gears inside work. It was very different from what Masaharu would have expected. He didn't come in here with high expectations but from his experience here, he definitely felt a little intimidated by the vast amount of gears that are working thoroughly to get one no wait, millions of books published.

Soon, both of them moved towards the Sales department but were rudely interrupted by the loud commotion that was coming from the department where Takano is.

Yagyuu rubbed his temples once again and shakes his head in distraught. It would have seem that a commotion like this for very common in a publishing company but in this case, it was Niou's first time therefore, he was taken aback by the pounding, deafening sounds of the frustration that was being expelled out.

There was an array of bad words that followed along with it but not that it was anything new for the company itself. It's quite the norm actually. Niou peeked in to the department only to find another man in a brown suit having a go at Takano. The rest of his team were buried under the mountains of books with their hands clamped on their ears.

"OI TAKANO! I DON'T WANT TO GO THROUGH THIS SHIT AGAIN! WE MUST PRINT MORE COPIES NOW AND IT'S GOING TO COST US A LOT MORE MONEY! IT'S YOUR RESPONSIBILITY, YOU IDIOT."

"HAH? MY RESPONSIBILITY? I SPECIFICALLY TOLD YOUR DIRECTOR TO PRINT EXTRA COPIES FOR ONODERA'S MANGA BUT NOOO! YOUR BOSS SHOT DOWN THE IDEA SAYING IT WAS TOO RISKY, THAT THE MANGA MIGHT NOT SELL AND I'VE EXPLAINED THIS COUNTLESS TIMES IN THE MEETING THAT WE SHOULD HAVE SET A HIGHER NUMBER BUT NOOO, THE FINANCIAL DEPARTMENT SAYS IT'S TOO MUCH, TOO THIS, TOO THAT AND NOW WHAT? WE'RE HAVING THIS FREAKING CONVERSATION NOW. I DON'T WANT TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS SHIT! WE'VE JUST FINISHED OUR MANUSCRIPTS AND SUCH, GIVE US A FUCKING BREAK!"

"MASAMUNE! I AM NOT GOING TO TOLERATE THIS ATTITUDE FROM YOU! YOU BETTER COME UP WITH SOME SORT OF SOLUTION FOR THIS!"

"ME? YOKOZAWA, LET'S BE LOGICAL HERE AS TO WHOSE BOSS SHOT THE FUCKING IDEA DOWN? MY TEAM AND I WILL NOT TOLERATE SHIT LIKE THAT FROM YOUR DEPARTMENT AND THEREFORE, YOU SHOULD BRING THAT SHIT UP TO YOUR BOSS NOT ME!"

The heated argument simmered down after a couple of poundings on the table and more bad words spurted out at each other. It ended with the brown suit man telling Takano he will resolve issues with his boss and therefore stormed out casting off a hostile glare at a young editor who clearly did not know his place. After the dramatic exit, things went back to normal with Takano still in flames while the others tried to calm him down but to no avail, Takano was still mad about the error.

It didn't take long enough for Niou to realize that he will be working very close with this bunch of people in the next few months. Though not exactly in the same department but somehow or another, he has a vague idea that he might be stumbling upon them really soon.

Yagyuu appeared behind Niou and patted his shoulder, smiling.

"No worries, Masaharu. You will get used to it."

The hell I would. Niou thought sheepishly.