I Have Already Seen Through Big Sister's Moves

Gu Xue's current state was, in fact, a bit strange.

Back on Earth, Gu Xue had the experience and the ability, but her drawing speed wasn't particularly fast; after all, the conceptualization phase took up quite a bit of time. However, perhaps due to her change in gender, Gu Xue's ideas now flowed like a fountain. As long as she could draw the incredibly clear movements she envisioned in her mind with a pencil, it was almost impossibly fast.

Gu Xue had become stronger, and she hadn't gone bald.

She didn't know why she had become this way, so she simply considered it compensation from this world. Since she couldn't figure it out, she accepted it with peace of mind; it wasn't a bad thing, anyway.

Time passed.

Soon, it was midnight.

Gu Xue remained in a state of total concentration, completely unaware of her surroundings, including the fact that Mihara Chisa was standing right next to her, holding a computer tower.

It wasn't until she looked up, intending to sharpen the tip of her mechanical pencil, that she caught a glimpse of the poker-faced Mihara Chisa standing beside her out of the corner of her eye.

"You could have at least called out to me." Gu Xue glanced at the tower at her feet, finding it somewhat amusing that she hadn't even noticed when she arrived.

"Stand up." Mihara Chisa didn't waste a single word.

Gu Xue stood up and hesitated, "Should I help you?"

"Move." Mihara Chisa lifted the tower with a bit of effort and plugged in various cables. She glanced at Gu Xue, who was standing to the side, and after a moment of hesitation, said, "I still need to bring the monitor over later. There's a convenience store downstairs, and there's a vending machine in the lounge by the stairwell."

Am I that much of an eyesore...

Gu Xue scratched her cheek. She thought that, but she also knew the other girl didn't mean it that way.

She had finally confirmed that the other girl was indeed a very gentle person, even if her personality was a bit twisted.

After thinking for a while, Gu Xue quietly slipped away, ran to the lounge by the stairwell, checked the drinks in the vending machine, specifically bought two cans of coffee, and then ran back.

Mihara Chisa had already brought the monitor over and was hunched over, connecting the various cables.

Gu Xue snuck up close, picked up a cold coffee can, and quietly pressed it against Mihara Chisa's cheek.

"Eek..." Mihara Chisa let out a very cute sound, jolted violently, her shoulders shivered, and she suddenly stood bolt upright.

"What are you doing?" Mihara Chisa glared at Gu Xue, looking somewhat annoyed, finally dropping her poker face.

She's acting shy! She's acting shy! She's finally acting shy!

Gu Xue's eyes lit up. If she were to visualize her current mood, it would be "Affection +1, Affection +1" popping up over her head...

"Here, thank you." Gu Xue didn't take the other girl's questioning to heart. A very healing smile appeared on her face as she handed the coffee can to her.

"...Please don't do that next time."

Mihara Chisa was silent for a moment, seemingly struggling, but she eventually took the coffee. She lectured Gu Xue, then changed the subject and asked, "How much? I'll pay you back."

"Don't worry about the money." Gu Xue placed her own coffee on the table, pulled out a chair, and sat back down. "If you could, please go easy on me and don't push me so hard. This is creative work, not manual labor..."

"Impossible." Before Gu Xue could finish, Mihara Chisa refused without hesitation, looked at the coffee in her hand, and placed it back on Gu Xue's desk.

"Is your heart only capable of equivalent exchange?" Gu Xue couldn't help but chuckle. She picked up the coffee from the table and shoved it back into her hand. "I was just joking. Do whatever you're used to. Consider this can of coffee my thanks for helping me bring the computer over."

Mihara Chisa: "..."

Seeing that she still seemed to be struggling with it, Gu Xue smiled, moved her chair, and turned away, leaving her be.

People with such twisted personalities are the most troublesome. It would be better to chat when there's more time later. Right now, work was more important. If she didn't finish on time, let alone Mihara Chisa not letting her off, Gu Xue wouldn't be able to forgive herself.

By the time Gu Xue put her headphones back on, Mihara Chisa had already left, taking the can of coffee with her.

Gu Xue resumed drawing and finally finished the key animation for one cut shortly after 1:00 AM.

To be honest, key animation that portrays daily life acting is actually quite difficult. During the drawing process, scenes the audience hasn't seen before don't need to be as rigorous—for example, flying around in the air and fighting wildly. Since no one has ever actually fought while flying in the air, many viewers might not even notice if the body shapes are slightly distorted. However, daily life scenes are something the audience experiences almost every day; if there's even a slight abnormality, it becomes glaringly obvious, so it's quite hard to draw well.

Gu Xue could draw those "I have enough intensity, so forget about perspective and reasonable human anatomy" scenes, but it didn't fit the overall style of the work, so she had to give up on that. She could try it when drawing fight scenes, though.

She put away the key animation for the cut and filled in the time on the Dope Sheet. Gu Xue checked the time and hesitated for a moment, deciding not to take it to Mihara Chisa immediately.

Although Mihara Chisa had strongly requested that she give her the key animation as soon as one cut was finished, Gu Xue didn't know if she had gone back yet. Even if she hadn't, Gu Xue guessed that the director, Misawa Hiroshi, had likely left, so there was no need to be in such a rush.

She placed the finished key animation and the L/O into the Dope Sheet and set it aside, then continued to draw the next cut.

She had gotten a little—truly just a little—too absorbed. By the time Gu Xue looked up again, it was already past 4:00 AM.

Gu Xue cursed under her breath, quickly took out her phone, woke the screen, and checked it. Sure enough, her sister had sent a message, and the wording was extremely stern.

Although she didn't know how her sister knew she hadn't returned home at such a late hour, Gu Xue still honestly sent a text message to explain.

The initial panic of "Am I really her sister?" had already vanished. Now, Gu Xue didn't really resist interacting with Gu Rou, and for the first time, she felt what it was like to be cared for by family, even if it was a bit annoying at times...

As soon as Gu Xue's message was sent, Gu Rou replied immediately, the entire screen filled with the words "come home."

Their family situation was a bit complicated, which led to Gu Rou always being slightly overprotective of Gu Xue. Gu Xue had also had a headache while sorting through her memories. She looked at the half-finished movement on the table, hesitated for a moment, and considering the time, Gu Xue told a little lie.

"It's already past four, and it's quite dangerous to go back alone. I'm a bit scared, so I'll head back in the morning. Don't worry, it won't be this late next time."

Click send.

Then she put down her phone and continued her magnificent, liver-bursting grind.

Of course, Gu Xue wasn't actually scared. Although she had to walk a long distance after the trains stopped running, this was the city center, and public safety was quite good. If it were just ordinary thugs, Gu Xue could even pin them to the ground and rub their faces in the dirt...

Gu Xue just didn't want to be forced to stop halfway through her drawing. That would be quite damaging; she would have to find her state and feeling again when she continued tomorrow, which was far less efficient than finishing it in one night.

As for whether this would happen again next time, she would worry about that when the time came.

Anyway, as long as I shouted something righteous at my sister like, "What's the difference between not working and being a salted fish? I want to support myself," Gu Rou would usually back down.

I have already seen through my sister's tactics.

This was probably how Gu Xue felt right now.

But unfortunately, she didn't.

Time slowly ticked by.

After sending the text message, Gu Rou didn't reply, so Gu Xue assumed she had agreed and continued to immerse herself in drawing.

It took half an hour to finish the remaining key animation frames for the shot.

Gu Xue put away the drawings, stood up to stretch, and was just about to check the time to see if she could draw a little more when Gu Rou's call came in.

She answered the phone with trepidation.

Gu Rou wasn't particularly angry; she just said softly, "I'm downstairs at your company."

Five minutes later.

Gu Xue got into the car and, while buckling her seatbelt, grumbled, "I've only ever heard of people being dragged home from internet cafes by their parents, never anyone being dragged home from work by their parents."

Gu Rou was wearing pajamas, clearly having climbed out of bed and driven over to pick her up immediately; she didn't seem to mind the trouble as she ruffled Gu Xue's hair, "Aren't you afraid?"

If I told you I wanted to make an animation myself, would you buy the whole company?

Gu Xue retorted in her heart, but despite saying that, she was actually quite touched.

It's just that... Gu Xue rested her chin on her hand and looked out the window, suddenly feeling a lack of confidence in the upcoming animation tasks.