On the other side, Gu Xue had no idea what had happened. She didn't know Mihara Chisa had already found her a backup, and she certainly didn't know that this production assistant, who had just awkwardly tried to express her gratitude, didn't trust her at all.
After the other woman left, Gu Xue set her drawing work aside for a while and started on a backbreaking task: cleaning up the second keyframes according to the model sheets.
If drawing keyframes was a clash between brainpower and artistic skill, with its joys and the frustration of getting stuck and not knowing what to draw, then cleaning up second keyframes was nothing but frustration.
It was genuine drudge work. You had to clean up the outlines until they were finalized. What was fun about drawing eyes, clothes, hair, and so on?
Nothing at all.
But those details were still pretty important. Gu Xue had chosen to clean up her own second keyframes because she knew her own drawings best and understood exactly how she wanted the final result to look. If another key animator did the cleanup, they might not be able to do as good a job.
To be honest, Gu Xue didn't really trust anyone on the production team's animation staff. After all, this team had no experience. You only had to look at the episodes of Ore-sama that had already aired to see how badly most of the animation had fallen apart. In fact, Gu Xue not only cleaned up her own second keyframes, she also carefully chose the key poses when drawing the keyframes. When she had no other choice, she added more keyframes. She did all that to reduce the number of in-between frames, worried that something might go wrong when the in-between animators drew them and ruin her keyframes.
That meant each cut had quite a lot of keyframes, so cleaning them up took a long time. Fortunately, the character designs for Ore-sama weren't too complicated. Otherwise, Gu Xue would have quit on the spot just to show them.
On Earth, a lot of light-novel adaptations had terrible animation, and some of them were like that because of all the crazy designs. They'd throw around things like outer armor and exoskeletons like it was nothing. Come on, those were mecha! It was like drawing Gundam. Who'd want to do that? And with deadlines so tight and pay so low, who'd put in the effort to make them look good? Of course, you could use 3D, but making 3D look good took plenty of work too.
That was why character designs for TV anime really should be as simple as possible. Tattoos and armor were a pain to draw, like Gundam. If you didn't have the skill for it, don't include them.
After cleaning up second keyframes for a while, Gu Xue was working at a pretty good speed and efficiency, but she was starting to get annoyed. Her frustration kept building until, at last, she couldn't draw anymore. She took off her headphones, planning to use the bathroom, wash her face, and come back to work.
Nothing happened along the way. Gu Xue no longer made the mistake of absentmindedly walking into the men's restroom, though it had happened during her first few days...
But although nothing happened on the way there, as Gu Xue was about to leave her stall, she overheard something she shouldn't have.
She straightened her skirt and was about to open the door when she heard people talking outside. They mentioned a name she cared about a little, so she didn't rush out.
"Has the new production assistant, Mihara Chisa, come to see you?"
A slightly shrill voice came from somewhere near the sinks. Gu Xue didn't even have to think to guess the speaker was a girl from the Coloring Department. The department didn't require much technical skill, but it did call for a lot of attention to detail, so most of its staff were women.
"She did. What a piece of work," another person replied, sounding annoyed. The anger in her voice came through so strongly that Gu Xue could almost feel it seeping through the wooden door.
"Ugh... Yeah, she's so annoying. She just got here, so what's with the attitude? She said we'd better be mentally prepared and start coloring as soon as the in-between animation was done, so we wouldn't hold up the schedule. The animation's barely even started. What's the point of saying that now? And why's she giving everyone the cold shoulder? What do we have to do with the schedule? Have we ever held it up? Who do you think makes us work overtime every time? It's the animation department! Why doesn't she go nag them instead of coming over here to show off? She's just a production assistant, isn't she?"
The other girl sneered, "She used to be a production manager at a big company, you know."
"So what if she was a production manager? Who'd come to our company unless they couldn't make it elsewhere? What kind of achievement is it to bully other women? If she's got guts, she can go tell those key animators not to hold up the schedule."
"Ha! Maybe she doesn't dare."
"From the way you're talking, do you know something?"
"You know Yamada, right? He's the production assistant for episode 11 of the company's other project, You Are My Hero. He told me Mihara Chisa was the production assistant for the last episode of that 'famous' anime, Falling Feathers."
"Huh... Isn't that awful? Why did the company hire her?"
"How should I know? But according to Yamada, she really did come to our company because she couldn't make it elsewhere. She caused such a huge mess. Who'd trust her with important work now? Only our president would be stupid enough to hire someone like that. Honestly, instead of bringing her in, they could've just given us a raise. As for why she doesn't dare go nag those key animators, listen to this—it's hilarious. The last episode of Falling Feathers completely fell apart, right? It was because she pushed the animators too hard and gave them too much work. In the end, everyone just walked away. To meet the deadline and get those animators to change their minds, I heard she swallowed her pride and got down on her knees. Hahaha!"
"Ha! Really?"
"Of course it's true. And I heard she has a pretty bad personal life too. After making that mess, she went out of her way to seduce the company director, Narita Kei. Otherwise, how do you think she managed to stay at her old company for years after causing such a huge mess? It was a 'fair trade.'"
"Ugh, I never would've guessed. No wonder she still hasn't found a boyfriend. I heard about that too. She might look young, but she's already twenty-seven."
"Maybe she got into our company because of the president..."
"Exactly, exactly. I think that's possible... Hahaha..."
The two girls' voices grew fainter, but their laughter grew louder, grating on the ears.
Gu Xue narrowed her eyes and thought, I knew it.
Even though this wasn't Earth, some things were still the same. It seemed she really had overheard something she shouldn't have.
Taking a deep breath, Gu Xue suddenly flung open the stall door.
Bang.
The sudden noise cut off the two girls' laughter. They glanced at Gu Xue, and since they didn't know her, they tacitly stopped talking and quietly touched up their makeup in the mirror.
Gu Xue said nothing. She silently washed her hands. Just as the two girls began to relax, Gu Xue reached out over one of their shoulders. She seemed to be going for the tissues in the box behind her, but she kept moving closer.
"What are you doing?" The girl was frightened. As Gu Xue approached, she backed away until she was pressed against the wall with nowhere left to go. With a slap, Gu Xue had her pinned against the wall.
Bracing one hand against the wall, Gu Xue lowered her head and said softly, "I understand venting. I vent too. But isn't it a bit much to say nasty things about someone behind their back? And most of what you said was baseless speculation, wasn't it?"
"Who are you? How do you know it isn't true? Mind your own business." The girl probably thought Gu Xue looked young, and Gu Xue's face wasn't exactly intimidating. The idea that she could scare anyone seemed absurd. So after the initial fear of being pinned against the wall, the girl quickly steadied herself and shot back.
"It's true that it's none of my business. But did you look?" Gu Xue pointed at the stall beside them. "There could be someone in there. Aren't you worried it might be Miss Mihara? What are you going to do if she is? Come on, use your heads. If you're going to badmouth someone, at least pick somewhere more private."
"Also, miss, you're dressed pretty provocatively today. Are you trying to catch a man?" Gu Xue's eyes dropped, and the words suddenly slipped out.
"What are you talking about? Get away from me!" The girl pinned against the wall's expression darkened. She was clearly unhappy.
"See?" Gu Xue looked away, her expression blank. "You're angry, aren't you? You know how infuriating it is to hear something so baseless and ridiculous, don't you? So how were the things you said any different from what I just said? You should think about that! Miss! At least learn to show other people some respect!"
The girl fell silent.
"Oh, by the way, I'm Gu Xue." Seeing the other girl cowed by her presence, Gu Xue suddenly smiled. "I'm the key animator that Miss Mihara supposedly doesn't dare to nag. She's been working very hard to stay on my case—she checks on me every three hours. The other key animators aren't doing any better. Now do you understand why I said your guesses were all made up?"
After dropping that remark, Gu Xue pulled a tissue from the box with the hand she'd braced against the wall. She ignored the two girls, who had nothing to say for the moment, wiped her hands, and walked away.
They might have nothing to say for now, but Gu Xue could guess what they'd say later. It would be the same old story. Dogs couldn't change their spots, after all. But Gu Xue didn't care. No matter how vicious their words were, they couldn't really affect her. She wasn't planning on finding a boyfriend and getting married anyway.
No, wait. I'm a man...
Ah, whatever.
Gu Xue opened the door, her ponytail swaying lightly. The door closed behind her, hiding her from view. The two girls still in the restroom were silent for a moment, then, sure enough, started criticizing her.
"What was that? Who even was she?"
"Unbelievable! Who does she think she is, butting into other people's conversations?"
The two took turns tearing into Gu Xue. Like burn victims whose wounds had been exposed, they could only curse in a fit of rage to dull the pain a little.
Bang.
But before they could say much more, another stall door opened.
Mihara Chisa stepped out of the stall.
The two girls' shoulders jerked, and they immediately fell silent.
It was hard to describe how they felt.
Fortunately, Mihara Chisa said nothing. She quietly washed her hands, then stared at herself in the mirror for a very long time. The two girls grew so flustered that they were ready to apologize. But just as they were about to, Mihara Chisa took a deep breath and left.
From beginning to end, Mihara Chisa didn't look at either of the girls from the Coloring Department—not even once.
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