I Won't Help You

By the time Mihara Chisa came out of the bathroom stall, ten minutes had passed.

During that time, Gu Xue had run out again and asked a coworker for a large, opaque bag.

When she returned to the bathroom, Mihara Chisa was just coming out.

Mihara Chisa had changed into a very mismatched outfit: washed-out jeans on the bottom and a zip-up tracksuit jacket on top, zipped up snugly. The sharp, capable air Gu Xue was so familiar with had vanished. You could tell someone she was the same age as Gu Xue now, and they'd believe you.

Though people had believed that before...

Still, she seemed uncomfortable. Even though she was facing Gu Xue, her arms kept instinctively trying to cover her chest. She'd barely lift them before seeming to remember something and lowering them again, only to raise them once more... over and over.

"Don't worry. This won't do much besides draw attention to it. Just act natural, and not many people will notice." Gu Xue caught her wrist and handed her the bag. "Go gather up your clothes. I'll take you home."

Mihara Chisa took the bag and opened her mouth. "Please go finish the key animation. I'm fine."

It seemed that after changing her clothes, a little of Miss Mihara's old confidence had returned.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Gu Xue hesitated too. While she'd been out, she'd tried booking a ride, but it was the middle of the night and raining heavily. As expected, no one accepted the request. The app kept telling her to wait, but no driver responded.

"I'm fine. I really am." Mihara Chisa's cheeks were still flushed, and her voice was hoarse.

Gu Xue hesitated for a moment. "Go gather your clothes first, then come out with me. It's still raining, so I'll try calling a car again in a bit. If we really can't get one, we'll have to wait until tomorrow. But if you start feeling unwell, tell me."

If all else failed, she'd have to call her older sister, Gu Rou.

Mihara Chisa said nothing. She turned and went back into the stall, leaving the door ajar as she gathered the clothes she'd changed out of.

A moment later, she came out, clutching the black bag with her clothes inside against her chest.

Gu Xue made sure she wasn't about to collapse and breathed a sigh of relief. She was about to leave the bathroom when she remembered something. Turning back, she took Mihara Chisa's free hand and led her outside.

Gu Xue had never experienced it herself, but surely walking into the bathroom in front of everyone, changing clothes, and coming back out without a bra would feel awful. And given Mihara Chisa's current state, she might instinctively cover her chest whenever someone looked her way. That would only make people wonder and put extra pressure on her. Gu Xue figured she could shield her a little.

As they left the bathroom and crossed the corridor back to Gu Xue's desk, people did indeed stare.

Most of them meant no harm, but that was enough to make Mihara Chisa tense up.

She instinctively tried to cover herself, but one hand held the bag and Gu Xue was holding the other, so in the end she had no choice but to stop.

Instead, she tightened her grip on Gu Xue's hand, squeezing her fingers hard. It was the only way she could ease her nerves a little.

Gu Xue grimaced in pain but said nothing. She even slowed her pace, using her body to shield Mihara Chisa.

They made their way back to the desk under everyone's gaze. Only then did Gu Xue let go of her hand and pull out a chair to sit down.

Mihara Chisa stood beside her, holding the bag against her chest with both hands.

"You're not going to stand there the whole time, are you?" Gu Xue asked, turning to her helplessly.

Mihara Chisa was certainly more delicate now, but somehow she seemed even more troublesome than before...

"There's a chair beside you." Seeing Mihara Chisa still standing there blankly, Gu Xue reminded her. She also reached up and pulled the hair tie from her ponytail.

Once Mihara Chisa had dragged over the chair and sat down with the bag in her arms, Gu Xue—her long hair falling over her shoulders—held out the hair tie. "If it's uncomfortable, tie your hair back. But I'd recommend waiting until it's completely dry."

Mihara Chisa: "..."

Gu Xue pressed the hair tie into her hand, then turned around and began looking through the storyboards and getting animation paper ready.

The best way to put Mihara Chisa's mind at ease was to tell her the animation was going to be fine. That was the one thing Gu Xue knew for certain.

"..." Sitting beside her, Mihara Chisa watched Gu Xue lower her head and start sketching, occasionally tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She pressed her lips together and hugged the bag of clothes a little tighter.

At some point, the heavy rain outside had stopped.

A cool breeze drifted in through the window, and it felt pleasant. Gu Xue was getting into her stride.

The key animators who had stayed at the company because of the rain or because they'd fallen behind began leaving one after another. Perhaps because Gu Xue had been angry earlier, or perhaps because they couldn't bear to see her working herself to the bone alone, each of them stopped to ask if she needed help or whether Mihara Chisa was all right.

Gu Xue turned down every offer of help.

At first, Mihara Chisa merely shook her head when people asked if she was okay. Gradually, she began thanking them. By the end, she seemed to have recovered from her dazed state. She shook her head, thanked them, and bowed slightly. Apart from still clutching the bag to her chest, she looked no different from usual.

Little by little, most of them left.

A few were simply too exhausted and had fallen asleep with their heads on their worktables.

The company had sleeping bags and a designated rest area for people working themselves to the bone, but hardly anyone used them. For people who were utterly exhausted, nothing was as comfortable as bending over and sleeping on a worktable.

The office, which had been filled with conversation just moments ago, suddenly fell quiet. The only sound echoing through the vast room was the faint scratch of Gu Xue's pen against the paper.

Mihara Chisa sat beside her the whole time, holding the bag and watching Gu Xue draw faster and faster. Aside from occasionally flipping through the animation sheets, Gu Xue barely paused. Mihara Chisa even slowed her breathing a little, as though afraid of disturbing her.

Gu Xue also seemed to have forgotten Mihara Chisa was there. She kept her head down and drew, hardly ever looking up.

All around them, it was quiet.

Suddenly.

"If you do this again, I won't help you," Gu Xue said without looking up.

Mihara Chisa's eyes lowered to the floor, and her body trembled slightly.

"I know you went through something before, and maybe you don't trust people like us very much. But please, at least don't use your old way of thinking to deal with what's happening now. I'm not that chief director, Narita Kei, and I'm not one of the animators from the final episode of Falling Feathers. I'm easy to win over. Even if you did nothing but ask me to help you, that would've been enough."

"Don't assume everyone's like Narita Kei, and please don't give up on people so easily. I admit I feel sorry for you, and pity is one of the reasons I'm helping you now. I'm not a saint. I can't treat everyone equally. But I'm proud of that, because compassion is exactly what proves I'm still human. Whether I'm a man or a woman, I'm still a person."

Mihara Chisa's slender fingers gripped the edge of the bag tightly.

The bag made a harsh noise, as though it were wailing, crying out.

"Even if I go out on a limb—even if you discover that everyone around you is just like Narita Kei, just like the people you've met before—please believe me. I'm different. I'm easy to win over."

"Even if you called me cute, I'd still help you, even though I really don't like that word. I'll keep that promise no matter what. I mean it."

After Gu Xue finished speaking, she abruptly raised her head. She was holding a sheet of animation paper, but instead of a frame from the storyboard, it showed two girls.

One was sitting on a chair, clutching a black bag to her chest and seemingly sobbing.

The other was slumped over a worktable, sneaking a drink of milk while glancing sideways at the first girl, looking rather at a loss.

The drawing was vivid and expressive.

Gu Xue herself peeked out from behind the paper and looked at Mihara Chisa, a slightly awkward, bashful smile on her face.

"Ugh..." The instant Mihara Chisa saw the drawing, her eyes turned red. She covered her mouth and turned her head away.

"Hey, don't cry..." Gu Xue's shoulders hunched as she sneakily slacked off, looking a little guilty.

So stupid.

But why had I never met anyone like this before?

Mihara Chisa covered her mouth and turned her head away, biting her lip hard to keep from making a sound.

Thanks to Lantern Grass Under the Moon for the 500-tip, and to Gu Tongren for the 100-tip. Thank you.

Also, since posting requires linking a phone number and unlinking my other account is a bit of a hassle, I can't reply to comments for now. But I read them all, and I appreciate everyone's support.

Lastly, please give me your recommendation tickets...