𝐌𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐌𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍. ʜᴀɴᴀꜱʜɪʀᴏ

0 1 : 作家の欲望

A Writer's Desire

—

A certain young girl looks down at the couple of papers that were clutched in her hands, reading them silently as she walks down the hallway. Once she reaches the last piece, she folds them unevenly and hurriedly, putting them in her long skirt's pockets while frantically looking around.

"I'll just have to do this like any other day," she whispers to herself as a smile makes its way to her lips. "Keep quiet, go to town, and try again."

As those words left her mouth, she sprints towards the back door, knowing that if she'll ever be seen by a servant in the manor, they'll never even try to stop her anyway. She slams the door close, letting out a sigh of relief.

Nene Yashiro skips out from the said manor; her aunt and the Baron will not be at home until nighttime because of certain issues regarding their work. Thinking about it, she decides that she should stay at her favourite place for a long time until six o'clock.

And so, the cream-haired girl giggles to herself as she runs freely towards the direction of the town. Passing by so many familiar people, the girl could only say nothing but a cheerful, "Good morning!"

It only took her a couple of minutes to reach the lovely bookshop owned by a close friend of hers. She twists the doorknob open and walks inside, letting out a lively, "Hey, Mister Tsuchigomori, morning!"

The said man looks up to her from the front desk, a rather irritated look on his face, "Why are you so loud in the morning every time you come here, kid?"

"Geez, you're so stingy first thing in the morning too," Nene purses her lips before chuckling. She walks towards him and leans on the desk, a smile on her face, "I made new drafts."

"Ugh," the two-toned-haired groans as he rolls his eyes, sighing heavily. "Do we have to? Again?"

"Yeah, again!" Nene flashes him a toothy grin, nodding eagerly. "You may not expect for me to improve in just three months, but you should look into this. You might like it."

Tsuchigomori drags himself up from his seat as he puts a hand on his nape, looking at the other clerk, "Satou, can you please stay here for awhile? I'll be at the back by then."

"Yes, sure," the young boy smiles as he nods.

The both of them headed to the back part of the shop. The older man sits on a chair and motions for her to give the rest of the papers, to which she answers by pulling them from her pockets. He sighed as he unfolded the crumbled papers, "Can you please refrain from folding them and crumpling them in your pockets?"

"Sorry," she replies with a sheepish smile, scratching her cheek lightly. Then, she puts her palms on the desk, leaning a bit, an excited look on her face, "So, how's this new plot? Pretty good, right? I did my best. That's just the first chapter."

Tsuchigomori doesn't say anything for awhile as he continues to read the rest of the papers. He keeps his lips to a thin line as he arranges them back and puts them aside, "Indeed, I praise you for creating a great length for the first chapter."

"Right, right?!" Nene pumps her fists in the air as she looks back at him with a determined expression. She fiddles with her fingers, meekly waiting for his answer. "So, do you think we can publish it anytime soon...?"

"Wait, you didn't even let me finish," he deadpans at her. "I did say that it was a great length for a chapter, but I didn't say anything about the plot yet."

"O-Oh?" Nene chuckles nervously as her heart beats a bit faster. "T-Then, what do you think about it? Pretty romantical?"

The lanky curator stares at her for awhile before sighing heavily again, making her confidence drop to her knees. This always happens whenever she sends him a scribbled draft that she made the night before while brainstorming for new ideas. It usually happens, but why does she seem like she can never get used to it?

"Nene, I'll be honest with you here, okay? So listen carefully to me," he starts as he shifts in his seat, "I'm not saying that you're not fit to be a good author, but these won't just work, okay? I—"

"But you can't say that if you haven't published it yet," she gulps down before she counters, trying to revive her confidence. Her eyes were filed with desperation as she looks at him, "Mister, I beg you. Please. What if other people actually find it good and interesting? I really want to—"

"Listen, kid. Yako and you are completely different people," he says with a pointed voice as he massages his temples for a bit. "I know that her book has been an inspiration for you for so many years, but the way you write and explain things here aren't just accurate."

"I-Is that so?" Nene asks in a small voice as she looks down slowly, her confidence, withering away until nothing was left in her. She gulps down again and furrows her eyebrows for a moment. But then, she looks up again and forces a smile, trying to lighten up the mood from the tension, "I see! Then I'll just have to go back and think better. Be ready because I'll be back again, Mister!"

Tsuchigomori sighs again as he stands up and hands the papers back to her, "Whatever. But I'm just going to tell you this: Yako's book is based on her true feelings. Nene, judging by the way you write, it feels like you're stiff and you're... too frank. Be more unpredictable and well, flexible, I guess? In short, you gotta fall in love."

The cream-haired takes the papers back from him gently and nods for a bit, "I guess," she chuckles at him. "I really lack and there's still more way to go."

"Yeah," he nods as he makes his way out from the room and to the front desk again where Satou was. "It's not that I'm telling you to give up. You just gotta observe more to be better."

"Okay," she smiles and nods. "I'll do my best."