.
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It was a few days later. We were in a Media Ascii Works conference room. On the fifth-floor of the building… in other words, right above where the Second Editorial Department was.
We were sitting on a sofa that surrounded the long table in the room. There were decorative plants placed in the corners of the room that gave the room just a bit of color. It was a simple, plain reception area. According to Puurin-san, it was a room intended for large meetings or magazine interviews. Along the fifth floor hallway, conference rooms like this were lined up one after the other like karaoke rooms.
We were in just one of those conference rooms. Only Kuroneko and I were here, sitting side by side on the sofa and waiting for the appointed time. Perhaps it was the fault of the soundproof walls, but the interior of the room was dead silent. It almost made my ears hurt.
"You know, you really didn't have to come."
"… Nii-san. That's the third time you've said that."
Kuroneko faced front, and spoke without even sending a glance in my direction… also, even though nobody else was here, she continued to faithfully call me "Nii-san." Each time she said that I felt a bit embarrassed…
"The ship has already set sail. Or do you intend to leave me out at the end after having me accompany you up until now?"
"That's not what I'm trying to do…"
"Also, I detest people who can cause me to go through such unpleasant things. So I want to be here and relish in the moment when they fire this person… you won't mind if I kick them a bit too, right?"
"I do mind. Stop it."
Her words were filled with pronounced weariness and hateful resentment. As I suspected, having been subjected to such harsh criticism for over four hours was still grating on her nerves.
That previous meeting was just a bit… Even I, who was just listening as an innocent bystander, couldn't get his voice out of my head, and even had a dream about it that night. Did all editors treat everyone so harshly during business meetings?
This segment here just won't do; you should fix this part here; also, this part is not good either… it was just so annoying! Idiot! Was there anything you didn't think was bad!? Dammit! If you're going to be like that, why don't you just write the damn thing!? I really wanted to just throw the manuscript at his face. But I didn't.
Well, it's not like it's possible to make something that would please everyone. That was true no matter what you were, whether you were a police detective, a Japanese sweets maker, or a novelist.
… Well, so let me explain what's going on right now. Puurin-san was precisely the person we had been searching for, Ryuunosuke Kumagai. Call it fortunate if you want, but once Kuroneko had finished badmouthing him, I decided to just explain the situation to him directly. About the other reason we had come to the editorial department.
When I showed him the business card we had brought with us, that of Ryuunosuke Kumagai, Puurin-san aka the real Kumagai confirmed that it was indeed his card. It seemed that he had a different set of business cards for the Dengeki Books Editorial Department and the Mobile Division. It also seemed that the Mobile Division was created for the sake of public image, and that the staff belonging to it was essentially the same as the staff at the Dengeki Books Editorial Department. They operated out of the same place, and the same editors worked there.
Kumagai-san had told us… "This is quite a complex matter I suppose, but if I had to explain it, I would say that it's a strategy to maintain our public image. The target audience for cell phone novels is young women, so we have to try to hide the moe moe sides of the business. So, the mobile division might have the same staff as Dengeki Books, but we say to the public that it's a separate department. The public homepages of the two departments also don't mention each other. That's why we use different business cards for each side of the business… I apologize if that confused you."
That's how he explained it. I had been agonizing over how to find a way to Ryuunosuke Kumagai in the Mobile Division from the meeting with the Dengeki Books editor we had snagged with the help of Rias's connections, but… it turned out that the person we met was Ryuunosuke Kumagai himself. What's more, the Ryuunosuke Kumagai we met was a scary-looking old man, and bore not the slightest resemblance to the elite-looking, suit-wearing Ryuunosuke Kumagai that Naruko had met. So the person Naruko had met really might have been an imposter. That realization really raised goose bumps on our flesh.
"By the way, where did you get that card?"
"Umm, before that, there's something I wanted to ask you…"
I quickly turned the conversation to the topic of My Wing, what we had originally come to talk about. But I didn't immediately broach the topic of plagiarism, instead just asking a few questions about "Ruko," the alleged author of My Wing.
"Ahh, Ruko-sensei? To be honest, the one I was talking about before, the one that worked hard for ten years to finally debut with us, that's Ruko-sensei. After she switched recently to writing cell phone novels, her writing got much more interesting… it's like she was completely different person. I honestly was quite moved that someone like that had the talent to write something like this. You could say I was shocked. Maybe it was my own incompetence for not realizing she had this much talent even though I was in charge of her for so long… seriously… I was surprised… and regretful… dear me, this is just an editor's intuition, but I have a feeling that the novel is going to become quite popular."
Kumagai-san spoke passionately and confidently. He was probably excited that someone he was managing for so long was finally beginning a brilliant debut. Well, it was pretty clear by now I think. This "Ruko" was undoubtedly the mastermind behind this plagiarism scheme.
The conference room door opened, and Kumagai-san appeared. A single person entered the room after him. Once that other person realized we were sitting on the couch, she blinked.
"Hm? Hey, Kumagai-san, I thought today we were having a business meeting to discuss the second volume of My Wing? Ah, maybe we have the wrong room?"
She was wearing a pair of deep blue pant suits, and She has very long, blonde hair, which she ties at the back of her neck.
"No, this is the right room. Let me introduce Namikaze-san and Kuroneko-san. They have something important to tell Fate-chan."
… F-Fate-chan!?
"Kumagai-san! I told you to stop calling me Fate-chan! I'm writing under the penname 'Ruko' now, so like I told you before, call me that from now on."
… It seemed that this was "Ruko." And she seemed to have no problems asking other people to call her that… and right in front of me, no less… the image of my sister sick in bed popped up in my head and I felt my insides coming to a boil. Although, it probably wasn't a good idea to openly get angry at this stage of the game. Pushing down my anger, I stood up and greeted her.
"Nice to meet you."
"… Nice to meet you."
Next to me, Kuroneko followed my lead. This girl called Fate-chan (I really didn't want to call her Ruko) looked baffled as she returned our greetings.
"Ahh, hello… nice to meet you. I'm Ruko… hmm? Kumagai-san?"
"Well well, let's just sit down for a bit, and you should listen to what these two have to say."
"… I don't mind, I guess. Ah, I see, they want to find out more about me, right? I just got out of an interview though… so, what? Are these fans that have read the web version of the book?"
That's how she seemed to be interpreting the situation. Suddenly cheering up, she sat across from us. By the way, through all this, Kumagai-san remained standing by the entrance, emitting dark waves of menace.
"Well, nice to meet you two, then. Are you two siblings? Your little sister is quite cute."
"… Ahh, well, yes, we are."
Would I be able to break her composure in the allotted time I had agreed upon with Kumagai-san? For now, we had come with a plan, but it wasn't a plan that I was absolutely certain would succeed. Whether or not we would be able to get Naruko's novel back depended on how we fought this battle.
"… Can I just ask you one thing?" Kuroneko suddenly ask
"Of course! What is it?"
She responded in a cheerful voice. She seemed to have entered into her fan-pandering mode. Kuroneko opened her mouth. I wondered what angle she would attack from, but…
"What kind of name is Fate-chan?"
Really? From that angle? Although, it was something I was curious about too.
Schhhlp! The girl's face tightened up incredibly quickly. Panicked, she quickly tried to recover, but the smile she showed us was incredibly stiff. It seemed like a question that was hard for her to answer. Well, serves you right.
"I-It's nickname that Kumagai-san give me because I resemble to famous magical girl Fate Testarossa. My real name is 'Nanako Kuroi' so please call me that."
"… I think it's a cool name…"
Kuroneko's eyes sparkled, her cheeks flushed, and her breathing became ragged. That nicname seemed to really tug at her heartstrings.
"… Can I call you Fate-chan?"
"No! D-Didn't you listen to a word I said!?"
Enough with the chit-chat it was time to get down to business. I spoke to Nanako Kuroi.
"Hey, you not the real author of 'My Wing, isn't?.'"
"Huh? What are you saying so suddenly?"
Bewildered, Kuroi cocked her head to the side. That should have taken her completely by surprise, but she didn't seem very shaken. She was playing dumb quite perfectly.
"Don't play dumb, you fucking bitch!"
"W-What did you say!?"
"Well, I was talking about how you stole My Wing, you know!?"
"K-Kumagai-san! What is the meaning of this rude punk! He's accusing me of theft!"
Kuroi stood up violently as she pointed to us two. Her shout was harsh and serious, but Kumagai-san stood stock still like a member of the Secret Service and responded in his usual calm tone.
"… According to those two, the true author of My Wing was their sister, and you conned the manuscript from her and passed it off as your own work. They also claimed that you used my business card to pose as an editor."
Kumagai-san took out the business card that had Kuroi's cell phone number and mailing address on it, and placed it on the desk. Kuroi gave a single glance at the business card, and once again returned her gaze to Kumagai-san.
"Don't tell me you actually believe what they're saying? We get claims like this all the time."
"… Leaving aside what I think about the matter, this is a genuine business card belonging to me. And the contact information printed on it is the same as Fate-chan's. Of course, these things could mean anything. They could mean anything, but… there are elements in this case that put it on a different level than the usual claims we deal with. So, I called Fate-chan over here so we can deal with this."
"I can't believe this! Kumagai-san, are you saying you doubt me!?"
Kuroi yelled desperately. If Kumagai-san really completely believed in her innocence, he probably would have told her beforehand that we were here waiting for her. She probably realized that. The editor she had worked so hard with for years and years had possibly come to doubt her. Her bitter yell was probably not an act. Even though she was my enemy, I couldn't help but sympathize with her a bit.
"No, we were the ones who made Kumagai-san set up this meeting. We asked him to let us talk to you in private for the first thirty minutes at least. And we asked him to keep the purpose of this meeting a secret from Fate-chan and to just call you over."
"I told you to stop calling me Fate-chan!"
She really didn't like that name. She honestly looked and sounded pretty scary, but I wasn't frightened off by it.
"… I just want to clear things up. Speaking personally, I am hoping that their claims of theft are just wild delusions. If that's the case, there's no issue. Fate-chan's innocence would be proven, and not only would these two be strictly reprimanded, but they would be banned from this editorial department. Don't I say this often? That I am always your ally, since I'm your editor."
Those were probably his true feelings. He listened to our story, let us show him the proof we had, and setup the meeting we were in now… but he was definitely not on our side. Considering he had just met us a few days ago, when compared to the novelist he had been working with for a long time, we were much less trustworthy to him. That much went without saying.
"… I understand, if Kumagai-san puts it that way… I guess I have no choice. I'll play along with this punk."
Upon hearing her editor's words, Kuroi seemed to have regained her composure.
"I'll listen to what you have to say. Umm… what was it? That I had stolen this novel? I want to get this over with quickly, so let's start from the heart of the issue. You have proof, right?"
Tch… I knew this was coming eventually, but I guess we're starting from there. This person hijacked Naruko's account on the submission website, and upon securing the manuscript data that was on there, she posted the entirety of My Wing online. Because of that, the evidence that Naruko was the real author of My Wing had been wiped clear. It was quite a cunning method.
"Let me just say that I definitely did no such thing, and that My Wing was written by me, and is my work. You appear to say differently, in which case you should take responsibility for making a false accusation. By the way, who exactly are you? You've been mouthing off to me, but do you really think you can get away with having that attitude?"
"What an bitch. Why do I need to be respectful to a thief? You're pretty cocky for a crap wannabe who wasn't able to take off for ten years. Stealing work that other people write and pretending to be a decent writer with that? How tragic. Honestly, is your life worth anything at all?"
"Don't screw with me and answer me punk! Do you have proof!? Or don't you!? Which one is it!?"
"Hah, you're showing your true colors, aren't you, you bitch? I was wondering what kind of garbage you were going to spit out with that filthy mouth of yours, but of all things, it was just 'Do you have proof?' It's almost as if you've half-admitted your own guilt. Take a look for yourself, here. This is the proof that my sister was the author of My Wing."
I passed the cell phone and notebook over to Kuroi. In that notebook was written the plot and the data notes that my sister had gathered for writing My Wing.
On Christmas Eve, I had gone with her to Shibuya… we had walked around the 109 building, went shopping at an accessory shop, watched a live musical performance, she suddenly poured water over herself and sat shivering, and for her to be able to take a shower I reluctantly went with her to a love hotel, and she even took the opportunity to take notes in there… those experiences were bound together in that notebook. That was the proof that Naruko was the author of My Wing.
By the way, we had already shown these two pieces of evidence to Kumagai-san. So if Kuroi tried to break the cell phone or rip up the notebook, it would be counted as a self-admission of guilt. Even she probably understood that much. Eventually, she flipped through the notebook and frowned. I thought she was becoming desperate upon having evidence shoved in her face… but she pointed to a corner of the notebook.
"What's up with this weird drawing here? Some mean-looking version of the Yaranaio?"
"That's not what I wanted you to look at! Look at what's written, what's written in the middle! Those sketches… they're probably drawings of me."
I mean, during Naruko's data gathering, I got angry, confused, upset, close to tears… and those were probably drawings of me during those times. And there were even little captions to accompany them. Honestly, I couldn't deny that they were strange, terrible drawings. And then, written next to the drawings…
-A drawing of Big Bro when he apologized to the shopkeeper after not having enough money to pay for an accessory (ˆ0ˆ).
ˆ''Sorry I don't have enough money," he said! Haha! So gross! (lol) I made him buy me earrings. I let Big Bro choose one himself, but he has no sense at all and spent such a long time! (ˆˆ;)
ˆBig Bro got really pissed when I got all wet (lol) How much of a siscon is he!?(lol) He got all excited seeing his little sister in a bathrobe. Nuuuuu, Naruru's chastity is in danger?!
Dammit! Kill me now! I don't want to remember any of that, just kill me now! Also, that curly handwriting just pissed me off! Every single little word got on my nerves. Also, what the hell!? Why does the guy presenting the evidence here have to be subject to such torture!? I wanted her to just look at the plot and the data written there, not to stare at the little drawings Naruko made of me!
"Both the things I just handed to you are the things my sister collected for the sake of writing My Wing. That cell phone also has the photos she took on Christmas Eve."
"…"
Kuroi fell into silence, and looked over the things Naruko had prepared in order to write My Wing.
"Hmph. Did you think that this was sufficient proof?"
"Pretty much."
"I looked over all of this, but… yes, it certainly is quite well done. It does certainly feel like the childish notes a high school student would make. Ahh, yes, yes, I see. I can see that you believed that your sister wrote My Wing after she showed you these. Ahaha, you really are quite big siscons, aren't you?"
Kuroi chuckled, and tossed Naruko's cell phone and notebook back this way.
"So, who cares?"
"Yes. That's just some delusional data your sister made up after reading My Wing."
Kuroi spoke shamelessly. I could feel blood suddenly rushing to my head…
"You fu —" I felt a sharp elbow in my side and stopped moving. Kuroneko had inferred what I was about to do and had nipped it in the bud. She probably had learned to read my actions ever since I had yelled at Kumagai-san back then. I was out of commission, and in my place, Kuroneko began to speak in a calm voice.
"How do you explain the timestamp on the photos? They were all taken at Shibuya on Christmas Eve."
"So? I'm not too familiar with cell phones, but it's not difficult to forge digital data, right? Or rather, maybe it was just a coincidence."
"Coincidence…?"
"Yes. Ah, this is probably close to what happened, right? That is, your sister happened to take a lot of photos at Shibuya on Christmas Eve and stored them on her phone. And then she realized that the setting of My Wing was the same as the photos she herself took, and then she started to say that she was the author of My Wing! And then, of course, it was your cute sister telling you these things, so in your stupidity you completely were taken in, and without even considering what a bother you would be, you took the issue all the way to the Shinjuku publishing company. Ahaha, what an idiot simpleton, ahh, how embarrassing."
Right then, Kuroi mocked Kuroneko with as much condescension as she could muster.
"Geez, this is why brats like you are so much trouble. You're causing trouble for us adults, so keep your childish delusions to the confines of your own room, please."
"…"
All the light vanished from Kuroneko's eyes. To make matters worse, her pupils that I was sure had been black up until then had at some point become red.
"Nomobuyowoshihashitawadokeda…"
"Stop your chanting! I have no idea what's going on, but be quiet! Return to your senses!"
Kuroneko had suddenly stood up and began chanting some nonsensical spell or something, and I held her back from behind and stopped her. You aren't calm at all, are you!? I was so surprised I even forgot about my anger! Also, you're really damn strong, aren't you!? Was this the so-called placebo effect?!
"Let me go, Nii-san, you won't be able to kill her."
"Don't say such disturbing things!"
As I restrained Kuroneko with all my might, I yelled at Kuroi.
"Also, you cut it out! My little sister really isn't that cute! If she really ran her mouth with delusional claims like that, I would have smacked her and shut her up myself already!"
"The ones who are being unreasonable are you two… enough is enough. You two are just pathetic."
For some unknown reason, Kuroi watched Kuroneko with a pained expression, and sent us a scornful look.
"In any case… if you've said all you wanted to say, we're going to end here. The thirty minute mark is coming up soon, so I won't be playing along past this. Is that alright, Kumagai-san?"
"… Yes, it is."
Kumagai-san nodded expressionlessly. As I said before, we had already shown Naruko's cell phone and notebook to Kumagai-san. He told us the exact same thing — that these things alone were insufficient. Kumagai-san was fundamentally on her side. And it's not like we could choose a more impartial judge. But…
"We still have proof. Something decisive."
Dramatically, I took out my final trump card. It was a bundle of A4 sized paper.
"Namikaze-san, that is…?"
"It's the sequel to My Wing. My sister wrote it."
Geez… I was really surprised when I found out this thing existed. We were working hard to deal with this plagiarism issue, but we had kept that a secret from Naruko. So, we had a really hard time gathering every piece of evidence.
A little while ago, just like a certain someone had done, I snuck into my sister's room. I waited until she had gone downstairs to eat, and stealthily searched through her room. At any other time, she would have been stuck in bed, and the door would have been locked… I mean, if I had been found out, that would have been the end of me, so even though I could say it was for a just cause for the sake of my sister, I felt incredibly self-conscious and guilty during that.
While I was in there, I couldn't help myself from thinking "What the hell am I doing…?" But, you can't say I didn't get results. When I borrowed my sister's notebook and was checking through it, I found scribbles relating to a sequel for My Wing, and when I searched more deeply I found another notebook. And, in that notebook I found two passwords listed, one for "work use" and one for "personal use." They both seemed to be passwords for the Cell Phone i-Club. But on the "work use page," entering the password returned an "Incorrect Password" error and I couldn't login with it.
In other words, the "work use" page was the site that Kuroi had hijacked, and the site where the manuscript of My Wing had been kept. And then, on the "personal use" page, there was the thing that Kuroneko had called a rape novel, and a cell phone novel titled My Wing Another Side: Little Sister's Perspective. When I read the latter, it seemed to be the story of My Wing told from the perspective of the protagonist's little sister, Chino. You could call it a sequel in a sense. When Naruko had said that the little sister was an incredibly important character, she wasn't lying.
To summarize, it was like this: Naruko had registered separate pages for "work use" and "personal use," and the "work use" site, where the My Wing manuscript had been stored, was stolen by Kuroi. However, the "personal use" page remained, and therein lay what could be called a sequel to My Wing, or rather a different version of My Wing.
I mean, I was admittedly pretty confused as to why that thing was there. Naruko had only been directed by the fake Kumagai-san to write just the one cell phone novel with Ruko as the protagonist. So, what was the point in writing a continuation novel that wasn't even going to be published? That's what I thought… but… it was not that cut and dry. She probably just wrote this novel because she wanted to write it. In any case…
"Earlier, Fate-chan said it, right? That she thought this was a meeting to discuss a sequel for My Wing… right? And, the sequel that Fate-chan wrote for My Wing already exists, and Kumagai-san has already read it, has he not?"
"Yes, that is correct."
Kumagai-san answered straightforwardly. Kuroi turned pale and bared her teeth.
"S-So what?"
"So… I'm saying that we should read both of these and compare them. Comparing both with the original, it should be easy to make clear which one is the real thing and which one is the fake. Am I wrong?"
"Are you saying that whichever one is better is the real one!? That's just a subjective opinion! You can't possibly think that you can tell between real and fake with just that!"
This was definitely a gamble. For one, she might not take the bait, and even if she did, if her sequel novel turned out to be better than Naruko's, then this all would have been for naught. The book Naruko wrote… take the absolutely unlikeable characters, or the simple premise and story filled with overly-convenient events, or the overly-idealistic, delusional dialogue between Ruko and Rito…
Those were things that came from Naruko, and were hers and hers alone. She put her all into thinking about her novel, even took her despised older brother out to collect data, and I'm sure her novel was profoundly influenced by her real life experiences up to this point. She had taken a break off from her modeling and club activities and just kept on writing and writing and writing… and like that this novel had come to fruition. And for that reason, her novel had been very well-received by this age's girls, and had become quite popular.
"I guess you're afraid to lose? You'll become a true defeatist like this, you know?"
I brazenly challenged her. I modeled my tone after Kagurazaka Senpai.
"What did you say!?"
Then I hummed Ray Charles Born to Lose to mock her, just like Kagurazaka Senpai did to me last year.
"Born to lose. Don't you think this song exists just for you? A loser, who's been training to be a novelist for over ten years and finally, happily made her professional debut, has no confidence in winning against a delusional junior high school student."
"Fine then! Let's do it, There's no way I will lose to a stupid junior high school girl!"
(◕ω◕✿)
And then, the time of reckoning had arrived. The manuscript Naruko had written versus the one Kuroi had written. Having read both of them many, many times, Kumagai-san resolutely put them back on the desk, and gave out a long, leisurely sigh.
He closed his eyes and sunk into thought. His already fiendish face tightened into something even more sinister, and he let out an almost poisonous-looking breath. After that, we sat there in silence for a long, long, long, long, long time… and finally, he solemnly opened his mouth.
"Let me tell you what I've decided."
Kumagai-san took one of the two manuscripts on the table and pushed it into the center of the table.
"This one was much more interesting."
It was the one I had handed over… in other words, the one Naruko had written.
"… So you mean…"
"Yes. I think that this one is the real one."
"Really!?"
Uwaaah, as expected from a pro editor! Amazing! Being able to judge impartially between the manuscript of the novelist he was in charge of and the manuscript we had just shoved in his face… and he saw that Naruko's was the real one! You're great, Kumagai-san! I'm sorry for ever doubting you!
Without thinking, I took up a guts pose. Wanting to share this moment of exaltation, I looked next to me, but to no effect, seeing as Kuroneko was staring at Kumagai-san with her usual emotionless expression.
"That's…"
Kuroi paled and seemed completely nonplussed, but the minute she came back to her senses, she grabbed at Kumagai-san.
"Y-You're my editor, aren't you!? Do you have any idea what you just said!?"
"Yes, of course. This is an exceedingly serious problem. After I report this to the higher ups, I'll have to consider my own resignation."
"What…!?"
At Kumagai-san's unexpected answer, the furious Kuroi was at a completely loss for words.
If there was something wrong with the novelist, some of the blame would probably fall on that novelist's editor. And Kumagai-san had acknowledged that Naruko's novel was the real one, even though he knew of the consequences. If I were in his place, I might have just continued to deny everything despite the evidence. As much as he was an old man that pissed me off in a few ways, when it came to work he was a sincere and honest person.
"This is probably the last project I'll ever do."
Kumagai-san laughed a bit, and then started speaking in the same ruthless tone he had taken up when criticizing Kuroneko's novel that other day.
"… The manuscript that Fate-chan sent me sounded and looked exactly like something 'Ruko' would write… but that really was it. Apart from the cosmetic similarities, the heart and soul of the work was completely different. The pure simplicity of the characters or the bizarre plot twists that I saw in the first novel, the things that excited me and got me to the edge of my seat, were nowhere to be found in this manuscript. In a word, it wasn't interesting at all. I really can't believe that this was written by the same 'Ruko,' and I'm almost certain it wouldn't sell well as the sequel to the very promising 'My Wing.' Even if these two hadn't come forward, you would have to rewrite… no, to re-plan the entire thing, I think."
"…"
As usual, the old man was merciless. I really do think there was probably a better way he could have put it… but regardless, this wasn't something Ruko had written. This wasn't something that would sell well.
Having received the full force of Kumagai-san's biting criticism, Kuroi took it almost exactly the same as Kuroneko had taken such criticism a few days ago, and hung her head in shame.
Kumagai-san picked up the manuscript that Naruko had written.
"This one is definitely something 'Ruko' had written. To be blunt, it's quite interesting. It's even more ridiculous than the first volume, and the author took one too many liberties here and there, but in fact that may not be such a bad thing. I especially liked this ending segment. It ended in a deeply moving scene that rivals Nagisa's scenario from Clannad, and it tore my heart to pieces. I am confident that we can send this novel out to the people who had enjoyed My Wing."
Doing a complete, Kumagai-san began to give Naruko's cell phone novel high praise. This was the first time I saw this person praising something so openly. To think that Naruko's manuscript could cause him to react so passionately furthered my exaltation
"… I see. What I wrote… wasn't interesting at all…?"
It was Kuroi. It was almost as if she had grown old over the past minute. All her willpower and energy seemed to have left her. Completely beaten, Kuroi seemed to have almost admitted that she had stolen Naruko's work. As she had aptly said before, whatever Kumagai-san said, it would be nothing more than a subjective opinion.
If she had continued to be defiant and stubbornly feign innocence, it was very possible that she could have complicated the matter and thrown our argument into quicksand. And it wasn't as if I had any other cards to play in this situation. The delicate silence continued for a while longer, until finally, a light smile floated up to the surface of Kuroi's expression. In a bizarrely calm tone, Kuroi mumbled.
"… Ahh, I remember now. 'To be blunt, it's quite interesting'… those were the exact words you used the first time you praised my writing as well."
"That's true." Kumagai-san nodded with a hint of nostalgia.
"… It was my third year in junior high school, wasn't it? I had made it to the final screening round in this company's amateur competition… in those days they called it the Dengeki Game Grand Prize though… and you called me… and invited me to the editorial department in Ochanomizu…"
It was a common pattern to publish the winning entries of the amateur competitions, but there were also cases where editors would choose to take on authors who hadn't won at their own discretion. Recruit them, so to speak.
"… That really brings me back. At that time, you spent around four hours bashing my work. I was really depressed."
I heard Kuroneko's breath catch. What Kuroi said reminded us precisely of what had happened a few days ago.
"Ahaha… it really almost embarrasses me to death thinking about that now… but the things I was writing back then… although these words didn't exist at that time… they were just blatant Chuunibyou Jakigan novels, weren't they? I had thought they were so good at the time… I was brimming with confidence… and how I behaved back then was just painful to look at."
At that, Kuroi looked sadly at Kuroneko.
"You know, you really remind me of how I was back then. From how you talk, and how you dress… so it really struck a nerve when I saw you acting like that… hey, you don't have a single friend, do you? You're completely alone at school, aren't you? Thinking that you're more special than others, and believing that you're different from all the other lower beings around you… looking down on those around you, blaming your own incompetence and isolation on others, and then finding escape in the world of fiction. 'Ahh, if terrorists came and attacked this class, I would awaken the dark powers hiding inside me, massacre the attackers, and save these ignorant dogs around me'… can you honestly tell me that you've never thought that in the middle of class, looking around the room aimlessly with your head in your hands?"
"…"
Kuroneko didn't answer. Her eyes widened for just a second, but immediately returned to their usual emotionless state.
We had never mentioned that Kuroneko had aspirations to be a novelist… it was almost as if she were talking about herself. Well, granted, she was indeed just talking about herself.
"That has nothing to do with this situation."
I spoke up for Kuroneko, but Kuroi couldn't hold herself back.
"In any case, speaking from experience, you really should relieve yourself of those delusions as quickly as possible. Reality is not that forgiving. No matter how hard you may try, there are some dreams that just won't come true. There are plenty of things that you just can't do anything about. This sorry state of mine should prove that more than anything else."
"As I said, this has nothing to do with —"
Irritatedly, I tried to repeated myself, but Kuroi cut me off and just continued to talk.
" — I know, I know, this is about the story 'Ruko' wrote, right? Ahaha, isn't that hilarious, that someone like me, who has continued to write and write and write for ten years and has barely been able to find time to sleep… that something that I wrote was boring? And then the little brat who began writing a few months ago only half-seriously, with barely any understanding of the rules of good writing… that the novel she wrote would be interesting? A rising star? Expected to be a big hit? Hah… what the hell? This… can something like this seriously happen!? That's ridiculous, isn't it!?"
Not being able to take her incredibly annoying little ramble any longer, I raised my voice to find some way to shut her up.
"Hey, listen to me, Kuroi-san!"
"…!?"
Suddenly being call by her real name, Kuroi trembled in surprise. Not concerned about her reaction, I raised my voice up loud.
"What you stole was something my sister had put her all into writing! Something she had tried so hard to write! She put in much, much more effort than I did on this! She even took her despised older brother out to gather data with her, and even though she collapsed from fever she just kept on working away on her cell phone. So I'm not surprised the result would be so good. Even though you didn't even look at it… don't just belittle her efforts! I don't know exactly what your feeling. It wasn't my place to say that I understood. But, At that time, when I saw my sister trying to act strong with tears coming out of her eyes, I really felt hurt."
I'm her brother, after all.
"I really don't know how much you've worked up until now. But, don't just use that as an excuse to say that my sister didn't try! Don't underestimate my sister!"
At that point, it seemed that the people around me had finally recovered from the surprise of my sudden outburst.
"What the hell do you understand?"
Kuroi glared at me, as if telling me to back off. But! I turned her anger right back at her!
"But I said I don't understand, right!? Just listen! Alright!? I have no idea what you feeling right now, but I really respect my sister! I love her! She's really amazing! So please, just give it back! That was something really important to my sister! So I'm begging you, just give it back! I'll do anything, just don't take away all her precious work! Don't just take all the hard work she had done! Dammit, I don't know how to say this… I don't even know what the hell I'm saying anymore… just please!"
I banged my head down onto the desk forcefully and begged desperately without even glancing to the side.
"Wha-"
"…"
Across from me, Kuroi widened her eyes. I heard Kuroneko's breath catch next to me. I might have said a bit too much, but at this point I didn't have the time to care. I clenched my teeth, tightened my fists, and my voice became strained.
"You…"
Kuroi opened her eyes wide at my unsightly, violent attitude. I really looked like a terrible siscon right now, didn't I? Even though I'm really not. Definitely, definitely not.
"… Quite shameful, aren't you, Onii-san…? My my…"
Kuroneko ridiculed me contemptuously, and then faced Kuroi.
"… I will ask you to return her work as well. To have your own story turned into a book, and to have it be read by many people… how happy and wonderful that makes you feel is something that you should know more than anyone, right?"
Kuroneko's prodding voice was kind, gentle… and overflowing with sincerity.
"So please, give her work back… I mean, just because our own efforts have not bore fruit up until now, no matter how frustrated or jealous or how intolerable you find it, this isn't just something where the ends justify the means. Say whatever you want about me, but please do not curse everything you yourself have done up until this point. If you do… I really will curse you to death."
Having been hit with both my pathetic entreaty and Kuroneko's sincere appeal one after the other, Kuroi caught her breath… and finally, resignedly sighed.
"You all… just saying whatever the hell you want… this is why I don't like brats. Now I know firsthand why Ruko's cell phone novel seemed so incoherent. If she used people like you as a model, there's no wonder it turned out that way."
She spoke slowly as if a burden had been lifted from her shoulders.
"… At this point, I think I would be able to write something like 'My Wing' as well. Just like the real Ruko."
It was, in effect, a declaration of defeat. I had begged her with a line of thought that bore no rhyme or reason, and was more driven by pure momentum than anything I had done before. But even so, I wanted to believe that I had managed to get something across.
"… Hmph."
One step before I could lift my head off the table, Kuroneko sent back her response.
"Not trying to brag, but I do have just a few friends."
Missing seeing her expression when she said that… it was something I would regret for the rest of my life.
(◕ω◕✿)
And then… well, let's talk about what happened afterwards in regards to the plagiarism situation.
Nanako Kuroi aka Fate-chan admitted to having stolen the novel. It seemed that Kuroi thought of the idea of stealing Naruko's work after reading her submission on the Cell Phone i-Club and being deeply impressed by that work.
"… This really might seem strange considering how much I was bashing it before. But it was really interesting, seriously. Of course, the writing style wasn't good at all, and the grammar was terrible… if this were me ten years ago reading it, I probably would have wanted to kill her. But, you could really feel that she was having fun from the bottom of her heart while she was writing it. It was as if she was proudly shouting 'Hey look, this is me!' right in your face. But really, that was how I was like ten years ago too. Writing my first novel, I thought in a similar way, and definitely had a great time writing it. 'Let's do that, and this,' and getting a thrill out of it all. It really reminded me of those times… and for some reason I suddenly felt this annoyed, absurd feeling welling up in me…"
And then she had given into temptation.
Kumagai-san also lowered his head towards us.
"I really do apologize as well. There was absolutely no excuse for what had happened. I will have to apologize to the real Ruko-sensei as well."
After that, he also said this:
"The special thing about cell phone novels may be precisely what Fate-chan had felt. If you ask me, each and every one of us has the power to write things that only we can write, and to use that uniqueness to deeply impact a great number of people. This does not apply to only cell phone novels, but also doujinshi and doujinshi games, web novels, and even submissions on Nico Nico Douga and pixiv. And in these amateur works, it is common to find scattered about hints of the unique visions that the creators had for their work.
"You can see all the interesting bits and pieces laid bare there; bits and pieces that wouldn't survive the editing process if the work were to be prepared for sale on the market. Just like how it works with cell phone novels, you should seek to capitalize as much as possible on the uniqueness your works have as amateur works — the fact that this type of model actually can hold its own in the market is proof in itself that amateurs can sometimes surpass professionals. Of course, I won't deny that there are works among these that are severely lacking technically… but nevertheless, just because these works can be a mixed bag is no reason to just lump them all together and reject them all."
"On the one hand, Fate-chan and Kuroneko-san. The work you two have done does not interest our company very much, and we definitely would not be able to publish it. That is something that probably will not change. But, I firmly believe that the work you want to do still has a wonderful possibility to touch a lot of people. In other words, it's like this."
A wicked grin appeared on his face.
"Please continue to try as much as you can."
To those same words, Kuroneko had once responded with nothing but animosity… but this time, her eyes soon burned with the flame of determination to triumph over this old man.
And then… That day, Kuroi got in touch with Naruko, and after Naruko recovered from the flu both Kumagai-san and Kuroi went to apologize together. They gave her a rundown of the facts and details surrounding the situation (of course, they kept Kuroneko and my involvement in the matter a secret), and lowered their heads.
Naruko responded with something like "Hmph, it's fine. To be honest, it really wasn't bothering me anymore," and readily forgave them. I thought "But you were crying about this, weren't you?" but it really did seem like outside of me, Kuroneko, and Rias, Naruko managed to be pretty nice. If only on the surface. Well, granted, it was true that she was quite famous in this neighborhood even though her real personality was like that. Geez, what a screwed up world we live in. By the way, I heard about what had happened from Kuroi and Naruko separately.
"By the way, you seemed to be pretty bothered by what was happening, so I'll tell you now."
"Not like I really care. Hmph, well, the book went out under your name, right?"
"Yeah. Well, it was a bother to change it, so we just kept the penname as 'Ruko.' Kumagai-san had said that doing that would make the book sell better. Hm, but…"
"What?"
"Nothing… hmm… it's just… there's something that doesn't make sense here. I mean, in the time I was stuck in bed, everything just resolved on its own, right? And I wasn't planning on doing anything about it either…"
"What's with that attitude? Just be happy that everything ended up going well."
It was February. Around half a month after those events, Naruko appeared to have recovered from the flu and jumped right back into her work and club activities. I stopped seeing the once familiar sight of her going around fiddling with her cell phone, so when I asked her about her novels, she gave me this response.
"Ah, that? I stopped."
She had already agreed to take on a second volume, but it seemed that her days as a novelist would stop after that. She had already written up the manuscript for the second volume, so there wasn't much left for her to do.
I was quite shocked. I mean… there are people who have been devoting themselves to this for ten years but haven't been able to publish anything, you know? Is it really alright… for her to just so casually throw that away? Did Kuroneko know about this?
Various doubts and feelings ran through my head, but Naruko seemed resolute. She had already sent her apologies to Kumagai-san and all the readers who were hoping to read more. Call it professionalism if you want, or rather a strong sense of duty.
"It's just that now, there are other things I definitely want to do. I have priorities, so I have to stop with the cell phone novels. I've also learned a lesson from collapsing after working too hard."
"Things you want to do? You don't mean new eroge releases, do you?"
"T-There's that too, sure!"
T-This girl!
"I want to play eroge, so I can't keep on writing books"
… If the aspiring novelists of the world heard you say that they would kill you, you know!? Geez, this is why people who are overly talented piss me off. Producing incredible results, but then nonchalantly throwing that away and moving right onto the next thing. For people who have spent their lives grinding away for results, all they would be able to say would be "I can't take this anymore!"
"You're thinking something rude, aren't you!? That's not the only thing I want to do!"
"Well then, what?"
"Huh? Why the hell do I have to tell you?"
"Fine! Forget I asked!"
Well, leaving that little exchange aside, today, for the first time in a while, Naruko's otaku friends had gathered at our house. Now that I think about it, this was the first time Rias had come over to our house. Also, I may have said that this was the first time in a while, but it really had been a few months since Naruko, Kuroneko, and Rias (with me as the extra) had been under the same roof together. Well, granted, they didn't go the same school, so it's not a surprise. Things pile up, and they don't have enough time to see each other. So, really, you could say that this was a bit of a reunion party for friends who had not seen each other in a while. You might think that sounds pretty charming, but…
"Honestly, wasn't this supposed to be the continuation of the anime appreciation event we had last time!? So isn't it obvious we should finish watching Madoka when we stopped in the middle of an episode last time!? But you want to play Siscali!? Why the hell would I invite you over just to be forced to play what you're good at!? Hey, answer me, you piece of shit cat!"
"Isn't it natural that the host should make the guest feel comfortable? Even though I used up my long-awaited break to come here, the host seems intent on forcing us to do only what she wants to do… exactly what is the meaning of that? I even went so far as to bring a present for you."
When these two got together, it quickly devolved into this. Didn't they have other things they wanted to talk about that had built up over the past months? Why did they have to break out into a fight every time they met? Or was it that these fights were just their way of showing their affection for each other?
By the way, I guess I should mention that right now, we were in our living room. When I returned from the kitchen, carrying the snacks and juice I always prepared in situations like this, their battle had already begun. I didn't want to spill the juice, so I didn't approach the table.
"… Gift? Could you mean this?"
As veins throbbed in Naruko's forehead, she took out a bundle of A4-sized papers. Kuroneko calmly crossed her arms and nodded. She spoke in an incredibly sarcastic tone.
"Yes, precisely. You should be thankful for all my work in collecting those online reviews of My Wing and bringing them to you. You're curious about how it was doing, aren't you? Ms. Ruko Sensei."
"Hmph, and that's why you cherry-picked all the trashy reviews and printed them out to show me!? How much of a crappy personality do you have!?"
"… How upsetting. This is the proof of our friendship, you know. It's a kind warning that you shouldn't get too full of yourself just because some overly generous readers praised the garbage you wrote."
"Why the hell do you care!? And what are you warning me about so smugly like that? Heh, you're just bitter, aren't you!? Nice one, you dumbass jealous wannabe!"
Continuing on by repeating "nice one!" over and over, Naruko began to mock Kuroneko with all her might.
"Kyahaha! Kyaaahahaha! Haaheehee"
Almost dancing about, Naruko began to clap. While she looked at Kuroneko's face…
"Hey, what are you feeling right now? Hey hey, seeing someone who started writing after you debut before you, what are you feeling right now? If you don't like it, why don't you just go and debut yourself? Doesn't it embarrass you as a creator to only be able to deal with your grudges by harassing me so childishly like this?"
"… Grrrrrrrrrr…"
Kuroneko was making a face I couldn't show to polite company. I really do wonder what she's feeling right now…
Kuroneko had gone through a lot to protect Naruko's cell phone novel too. She had to bear with harsh criticism of her own doujinshi, verbally sparred with Kuroi, aired out her unsightly jealousy, but even after all that could put everything aside with a "but that is that" and sincerely wished to help save Naruko's work. And then to be called a dumbass jealous wannabe by the very person you saved… it was just pretty terrible treatment all around.
But, if we told Naruko the truth about what had happened, it would be terribly embarrassing and would be nothing but committing suicide. Kuroneko and I were both determined to take this secret with us to our graves. Speaking of what I had gained from this entire experience, I guess I had achieved a strange semblance of camaraderie with Kuroneko.
"Hey hey Naruko, you're an author, aren't you? Do you really think you should be taking up such an arrogant tone towards the people who read your book? They all took precious time out of their schedules just to read it, you know. Well? The appropriate thing to do here would be to just keep quiet and listen to their advice, wouldn't it?"
"Are. You. An. Idioooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooot!?"
Never before had I received such heartfelt words from my sister. I really wanted to believe that this personality problem was her problem alone, and that authors in general didn't have this issue.
After hitting me hard with her intense "Are you an idiot!?" Naruko suddenly seemed to have realized something, and began to scrutinize the top page on the pile of papers Kuroneko had given her.
"… By the way, this site's URL here… I've seen it on your SNS Profile Page, I think…"
"That's my site."
"Wha…!?"
With no shortage of shock and anger, Naruko stiffened. The muscles on her face convulsed.
"Y-Y-You…"
"Is that your new impression of a chicken?"
"I'll kill you! I'll completely murder you! Y-You… Y-Y-Y-You…"
"N-Naruru-chi! Calm down! What are you going to do with that ashtray!?"
I had already began to run to try to stop Naruko, but Rias was one step ahead of me and bound Naruko's arms behind her back. Nevertheless, as she watched Naruko being restrained, Kuroneko began to throw oil on the fire.
"Hah, as expected from a cell phone novelist, your vocabulary is severely lacking."
"Kyaaaaaaaah!? Y-You just listen to me good! Alright!? Sooner or later, I'm definitely going to flood your damn site with flames!"
"Hmph, how boring. Kukuku… I look forward to that. I'll let you experience firsthand the power of someone who has been around since the golden age of text sites…"
"Y-Y-You stink of jakigan as usual, don't you!? This is why you go so far as to bury blog posts with gross comments! Also, you're wearing the same damn Gothic Lolita outfit today… what are you supposed to be, some Digital Cute Eroge character or something?!"
"Wha… what did you say? O-Once again, you've said something you shouldn't say… you round-faced model. Let me just take this opportunity to say that it's really gaudy for a junior high schooler to be running around with makeup on. Don't come too close to me, or that perfume reeking of bitch will get stuck to my clothes too."
"Shut up! Wear different clothes once in a while, dammit!"
For close to ten minutes after that, the two of them continued to throw cheap shots at each other. In any case, when I asked Rias, she told me that the impetus for this conflict came when they had a difference of opinion over what they should do first today.
Just hearing about what was happening tired me out, but for some reason Rias seemed happy. She was probably just glad that this group could finally get together again after such a long time. And her happiness was quite contagious. Even though I knew, I asked anyway.
"Hey, what are you smiling about?"
"Well, I was just thinking back on the first time we all met each other… over half a year has passed since then, right…? My my, time sure does fly."
"Yeah, I suppose."
Time certainly did fly. It flew, and during this short half a year I felt like I had changed quite a lot. For better or for worse. If I hadn't picked up that DVD case my sister had dropped… I probably wouldn't be Kuroneko and Rias as "my sister's friends," but rather also as my own friends… as very important people to me. I hadn't met with them very often, but this wasn't about how many times we've met.
As I sunk into these serious contemplations, Naruko took a break from arguing with Kuroneko and cut into Rias and my conversation.
"What? What are you talking about?"
"Naruru-chi. Haha, well, if you want to decide what we should do first, why don't we do the same thing that we did the first time we met?"
"What do you mean?"
Kuroneko cut in and asked about Rias's proposal. But I had already caught onto what she meant.
"That, remember? Going in order and each of us getting a turn to speak."
"As expected from Naruto-chi, getting right to the point. At that time, we were allowed to ask the person introducing himself or herself a question… that kind of game."
That was a game? Naruko seemed to consent to this idea, and nodded.
"How nostalgic. Kukuku… the first time we met, you were huddled up like a scared little kitten, weren't you…?"
"Wha-…"
At Kuroneko's recollection, Naruko flushed a brilliant red.
"Y-You weren't any better, were you!?"
"Well well… hahaha, it is quite nostalgic. After that, you both really hit it off after talking about anime…"
"Don't be an idiot. Who the hell would 'hit it off' with this woman…"
"We definitely didn't 'hit it off'!"
They both collectively denied Rias's statement. Ah, yes, it was like that. They had a difference of opinion over Madoka and Blazblue, and got into a fight then too. And ever since then they had been like that. In a sense, they haven't changed at all. Just thinking about it made me smile.
… Hm, what was this? Could it be that I was enjoying a moment of reminiscence here? Ohh, that's pretty amazing if that's true. To think that I would be able to reminisce about something with my sister.
Rias forcibly pulled Kuroneko and Naruko apart as they had their glaring match. In order to steer the course of the argument in a different direction, she began to go on and on.
"In other words, this time, the one who gives the most interesting response to the topic can decide what we're going to do. And, the topic this time is 'something unexpected that happened to you recently.' Let's go in the same order as last time… Kuroneko-chi, go ahead!"
"As always, you're just arbitrarily deciding things…"
The first time we had met, Kuroneko had said something similar. But even so, she didn't seem as displeased as she let on. And she continued in the same way she had that time long ago.
"Well, fine… hmph 'something unexpected that happened to you recently,' was it? Well…"
Kuroneko pondered the issue for a bit, and finally spoke in an indifferent tone while watching Naruko.
"Your brother confessed his love to me."
Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough! I gasped for air. Kuroneko! What the hell?! W-W-W-What the hell are you saying…!? Certainly, I never said something like that!
Dammit! Through my violent coughs, I couldn't even put my explanation into words! As that was happening, Rias bent forward in curiosity and raised her voice.
"Hoh hoh hoh hoh hoh… and what exactly is the meaning of this? Please do fill us in on the details!"
"Sorry, but I cannot. That's our little secret. Right, Nii-san?"
"You're already making her call you Nii-san?! Naruto-chi, there's a limit to how much you can be into eroge!"
"Nooooooooooooooooo! Rias-san, what the hell!? You're just being cruel on purpose!"
"Naturally."
This woman! I'll get both of them back for this someday! My fist shook in frustrated annoyance. As if dealing the finishing blow, Naruko, the only one who wasn't in on the joke, sent me a scornful look.
"… Disgusting."
She looked incredibly displeased. She was probably not able to take the idea that I had gotten closer to Kuroneko. She might even be thinking that I was stealing one of her friends away from me. If that were the case, it would admittedly be a pretty cute situation. In any case, Naruko didn't seem to think too much of Kuroneko's response. Her chances of victory seemed to have slimmed.
Rias next announced that it was Naruko's turn, but having been put in a bad mood, Naruko turned away with an "I'm still thinking…" Having no other choice, Rias spoke cheerfully in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere a bit.
"Well, it's my turn then! Hmm, let's see… 'something unexpected that happened to you recently'… hm, I wonder what I should say…"
She didn't think of an answer even though she was the one who had proposed the topic? Well, it was pretty like her to do that, though. Finally, Rias clapped her hands once, and hit us with quite an amazing announcement.
"The incident where I went to an arranged marriage meeting while I wore this outfit and the person I was meeting fainted."
How sad! I was so filled up on how to snarkily respond to her statement that I didn't even know where to begin, but that's really not something "unexpected that happened to you," right? Instead, it was something "traumatic that happened to whomever you were visiting."
"Disqualification."
Our voices harmonized. It seemed that everyone outside of Rias had come to the same conclusion.
"Ah, but I was so sure that was a good answer… well, that's fine. Then, once again, it's Naruru-chi's turn! Have you thought of anything yet?"
"Hm, well… I don't think it's anything that impressive, but I guess I've thought of something… 'something unexpected that happened to you recently,' right? Well then…"
Naruko spoke in an unexpectedly hesitant way.
"I guess when I bought a game called 'Brute Brother' and thought it was a little sister game, but it turned out to be a homo game."
Yup, we have a winner. What an awful conversation… I'm never playing one of Rias's topic games ever again.
And well, pretty much continuing in that way, the long-awaited otaku meeting came to an end. It seemed that their relationship hadn't changed a single bit in the space of these few months. It made me a bit happy to see that.
I saw Kuroneko and Rias off with Naruko in the entranceway, and the minute I turned back into the house Naruko call me.
"Big Bro."
"Yeah…?"
"The next time I ask for life counseling will be the last."
.
.
.