A Wall Between Them

Gu Xue didn't know whether the other woman had a fever, but Mihara Chisa was clearly in a terrible state. Considering what she'd just tried to do, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a breakdown.

Gu Xue didn't know what she'd been through, but she could vaguely guess why she'd ended up like this.

It could only be that something had gone wrong during the drawing process. Maybe someone else had made a mistake, or maybe she'd made one herself—and one she couldn't fix. She'd always maintained a forceful presence at the company, had no one she was close to, and the two episode directors had already gone home. There was no one she could talk to. The production team she belonged to had only just been formed, and she didn't even have a superior.

The one person capable of helping her was Gu Xue, whose abilities she'd once questioned in front of everyone.

Pride, embarrassment, self-loathing at the thought of how others saw her.

On top of that, she was soaked from the rain, and after returning to the company, she hadn't changed into dry clothes. Then the air conditioning had blown over her...

And everything that had happened before...

A great dam could be brought down by an ant hole. One little thing after another piled up, and it was no joke.

Gu Xue didn't know if she'd guessed right, but she could understand why the forceful Miss Mihara had ended up like this. She understood one thing.

There was only a wall between strength and fragility.

And that wall was made of paper.

She'd gone through the same kind of thing back on Earth. On New Year's Eve, one minute she'd been watching the Spring Festival Gala and laughing awkwardly. The next, she'd smashed a 4K television that had been very expensive for her.

At the time, a comedy sketch was playing. It ended with a family happily gathered together.

But she was all alone in a foreign country, with no one to call and check on her. It wasn't New Year's in Japan, and she still had a pile of work waiting for her. Stress, resentment, anger.

She'd been seething with fury.

But afterward, she'd truly let it go.

Gu Xue thought Miss Mihara was the same. She'd only lost her head for a moment. Even if Gu Xue didn't help her, the Miss Mihara standing here would be bouncing back tomorrow. She'd talk things over with the episode director, find a solution, coordinate with the other departments, and get through this perfectly.

Yes, Gu Xue didn't doubt Miss Mihara's abilities for a second.

But the fact that she'd be bouncing back tomorrow didn't mean nothing had happened tonight. If this were allowed to pass without a word, then perhaps the next time Miss Mihara wore a cold expression, she really would just be wearing a cold expression.

That was why Gu Xue had been so angry when she saw Mihara Chisa looking like a drowned rat, trudging all the way here while not a single person had gone over to show concern or even ask if she was all right.

Maybe the other woman would say she was fine with a cold expression. But there was a world of difference between doing nothing and going over to ask if she was okay.

At the very least, at the very least, Gu Xue didn't want her to think everyone was just like that "big-shot director."

"What do you need me to do?" Gu Xue crouched on the ground, supporting the other woman by her somewhat feverish knees. As she confirmed that her condition really was terrible, she asked gently.

"Cuts 291 to 296." Mihara Chisa sniffled. Her voice was small and thick with congestion, but Gu Xue was standing very close.

"No problem. Come by tomorrow to check and pick up the key animation."

The workload was heavy, but Gu Xue didn't hesitate for a moment.

Then she paused briefly and continued, "For now, go home and get some rest. You have to change into dry clothes. Don't worry—you've been following my progress for almost a month, so you should know what I can do. It'll be fine. Now, please go home and get a good night's sleep. I'll call you a car."

The trains had stopped running ages ago. Judging by her condition, it would be dangerous to let her drive, and walking was out of the question. So Gu Xue planned to call a taxi for her. If she wasn't too resistant, Gu Xue would take her home and then come back to draw the six cuts she'd just mentioned.

But as soon as Gu Xue stood up to get her phone, Mihara Chisa grabbed her wrist. She gripped it so tightly that Gu Xue would've cried out on the spot if she hadn't had a decent pain threshold.

"I'm fine."

Mihara Chisa spoke softly. Holding on to her arm, she rose unsteadily to her feet and moved aside. With her other hand, she didn't forget to pull a huge wad of tissues from the box and wipe down the damp chair. Only when there wasn't a trace of water left did she step away.

Throughout all this, she never let go of Gu Xue's arm. She just loosened her grip, and kept her head down the whole time, letting her bangs hide her eyes as if she didn't want Gu Xue to see them.

"You're staying with me?" Gu Xue asked quietly. "But your clothes..."

"I'm fine. I'm fine."

She repeated it twice.

No matter how bad Miss Mihara's condition got, she seemed just as stubborn as ever.

Gu Xue was silent for a moment, then said cautiously, "...Then let go of my hand first, so I can get a few things ready. I can't draw while you're holding on to me."

"..." Mihara Chisa still didn't let go. She clung to Gu Xue as if she were holding on to her last lifeline.

Gu Xue said nothing more and waited quietly.

After a long while, Mihara Chisa finally opened her fingers and slowly released Gu Xue's arm. Then, lowering her head, she noticed the damp spot where she'd been gripping it. She pulled another tissue from the box with her other hand and gently wiped it.

Gu Xue couldn't be bothered to stop her from doing something so pointless. The most urgent thing now was to find Mihara Chisa some dry clothes. Otherwise, forget going home or keeping her company—she might collapse right there.

Gu Xue was wearing a short skirt and a T-shirt, so of course she didn't have spare clothes. Some of the male key animators there might have had some, but Gu Xue was worried Mihara Chisa would feel uncomfortable, so she didn't even consider asking them.

There was only one place that might still have clean clothes.

"Wait here a moment." Gu Xue turned around, intending to check the Coloring Department.

Mihara Chisa seemed about to reach for her again.

But Gu Xue's next words made her lower her raised hand.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to run off. Not after the milk you gave me."

Maybe, even at a time like this, a fair exchange was still easier for Miss Mihara to accept than so-called kindness.

Thanks to the "blessing" of production schedules getting tighter the closer an anime got to completion, there were indeed still people in the Coloring Department working overtime. Quite a few were even planning to sleep in the company's sleeping bags. Since most of the people in the department were women, many of them had brought spare clothes. Their reasoning was simple: there was nowhere to shower, but at least they could change into clean clothes.

That helped Gu Xue out a lot.

Though she did run into a few snags while borrowing the clothes.

By the time Gu Xue hurried back to her workstation with a borrowed outfit in her arms, Mihara Chisa was still standing there in a daze. There was even a chair beside her, but she hadn't sat down.

"Come with me." Holding the clothes in one arm, Gu Xue grabbed Mihara Chisa's hand with the other and hurried her toward the restroom.

Once they reached the restroom, Gu Xue opened the door to a stall and pushed the clean clothes into Mihara Chisa's hands. "Go change."

"..." Mihara Chisa slowly held the clothes against her chest but didn't move.

"Hey... don't get the clothes wet too." Gu Xue took them back from her, tucked them under one arm, and nudged her into the stall before closing the door, leaving only a narrow gap.

"Let me know when you're ready, and I'll pass them in," Gu Xue called softly through the door.

There was no sound from inside the stall. Four or five minutes passed before she heard the faint rustle of clothes.

Gu Xue breathed a sigh of relief. If Mihara Chisa hadn't made a sound soon, she would've broken down the door. Who knew if she might've fainted in there? When she'd grabbed the clothes earlier, Gu Xue had brushed against Mihara Chisa's bare skin. Calling it scorching wouldn't have been an exaggeration.

The rustling in the stall stopped. Gu Xue opened the gap in the door a little wider and passed the clothes inside.

Once the other woman had taken them, Gu Xue thought of something else. Worried she might try to tough it out, she said urgently, "Oh, right... Don't put on your wet underwear. The clothes I borrowed are thick enough that you shouldn't show through. As for your lower half... wait a moment."

Gu Xue went into another stall herself and came out soon after, somewhat awkwardly holding out another piece of clothing to Mihara Chisa.

"They're safety shorts. They shouldn't count as underwear. If you're uncomfortable with them, forget it. You can change back as soon as we get back. Just please don't keep wearing wet clothes. You really will catch a cold."

There was a moment of silence from the stall Mihara Chisa was in, then the faint rustling started again.

Gu Xue gave a wry smile.

As expected, if she hadn't said anything, stubborn Miss Mihara might really have kept her wet underwear on under the clean clothes. That would've been awful.