Reliable Gu Xue

Half an hour later.

Gu Xue walked out of the lingerie shop clutching a bag, finally understanding how Mihara Chisa must have felt when she'd refused to let go of her own bag...

Ah, puberty really was such a pain.

Resisting the urge to run straight home and put the bag away, Gu Xue turned to Mihara Chisa and said, "Thanks for coming with me. Come on, I'll buy you a drink."

Mihara Chisa hesitated for a moment, then nodded and followed closely behind Gu Xue.

In the end, they found a drinks shop on the third floor of the shopping mall that still wasn't very busy. At the staff's greeting, they found a seat by the window.

After sitting down, Gu Xue saw how few people were around and relaxed a little. She set the bag she'd been holding against her chest beside her.

Mihara Chisa sat opposite her and sneaked a glance at Gu Xue's chest.

"Do you want me to fight you or something..." Gu Xue glared at her.

She'd been doing that ever since they entered the mall. Surely that was enough by now.

Gu Rou, that sister in name only, was like this, and so was Mihara Chisa. So what if puberty had made her... a little bigger? What was there to look at?

Mihara Chisa's gaze moved up to Gu Xue's face.

The more you tried to hide it, the more obvious it became.

"Forget it. I won't hold it against you."

Gu Xue leaned back in her chair and stretched, her increasingly shapely figure standing out even more.

That was what she said, but the truth was, she trusted Miss Mihara completely.

The two of them each ordered a cold drink. While they waited, they chatted idly.

Most of the time, Gu Xue was the one who brought up topics. Getting Miss Mihara to say something first was difficult—unless it was about work, like now...

"Have you heard of the Anime Mirai project? Its official name is the Young Animator Training Project."

"I've heard of it. Why? Are you asking me to join as a newcomer? I don't mind, but wouldn't that be a little inappropriate?"

Gu Xue was surprised. She'd heard of the training project, though not in this world. Earth had a similar initiative, but after only four rounds, the organization in charge changed, and so did the name. Anime Mirai became Anime no Tamago, which sounded terribly unlucky—as if it meant the future of animation was a load of eggs...

The project—or initiative—was pretty decent. Simply put, it gave money to animation studios so they could train newcomers by having them make animation.

There were plenty of specific rules, but its main purpose was to nurture a new generation of talent.

"No." Mihara Chisa shook her head. "Mr. Misawa Hiroshi wants you to serve as a mid-level key animator."

"..." Gu Xue looked displeased. "I refuse. I've barely been in the industry any time at all, haven't I?"

A mid-level animator—in less polite terms—was there to clean up after the newcomers.

Training newcomers was hard.

The project's rules explicitly stated that the cuts assigned to new key animators couldn't be directly altered. Instead, they were to be given suggestions verbally so they could make the revisions themselves.

But what if a newcomer just couldn't draw something, or they fell so far behind that they couldn't meet the deadline?

Then the mid-level animator had to shout, "I'll do it..."

It was easy to imagine how exhausting that would be.

"..." Mihara Chisa seemed to have guessed that Gu Xue would refuse. After a brief silence, she said quietly, "Actually, I wanted to invite you to join too."

"...Are you in charge of this project?" Gu Xue froze for a moment and began struggling wildly on the verge of changing her mind.

"Mm."

"...I'll think about it. I'll stop by the studio tomorrow." Seeing a staff member approaching with a tray, Gu Xue forced herself to cut the conversation short.

If she was going to change her mind, it could wait until tomorrow...

The drinks were served.

Mihara Chisa had ordered a matcha drink topped with milk foam, while Gu Xue had gone for a mango slushie.

After the staff member left, Gu Xue took a mouthful of slush. It tasted good, but somehow, something seemed to be missing.

She'd actually wanted to order the same milk-foam drink as Mihara Chisa... But at the last moment, she remembered what had happened the day before and instinctively chickened out. The word "milk" had become a little off-putting to her.

But seeing the cream sitting not far in front of her made Gu Xue want some...

She kept glancing at the drink in front of Mihara Chisa.

Mihara Chisa seemed to notice her gaze. Her head sank lower and lower, and her left hand, resting on her knee, clenched and unclenched, clenched and unclenched, as if she were working herself up.

When Gu Xue saw that she wasn't going to do anything, she felt a little disappointed. Just as she was about to focus on her slushie—

Mihara Chisa finally worked up the courage. She scooped up some of the cream on top of her drink and held out the spoon, her voice barely audible. "Want some?"

"Huh? Is that okay?" Gu Xue suddenly seemed to light up, happiness radiating from her. Before Mihara Chisa could even answer, she was already bracing herself against the table and standing up.

Her mouth was already reaching for the spoon, too.

As far as Gu Xue was concerned, girls who were close friends didn't seem to mind sharing food like this, so she felt no awkwardness at all as she leaned in.

"Mm..." Gu Xue took the cream from the spoon, then sat back down. In her heart, she silently admitted that it was really good.

Mihara Chisa set the spoon aside, held her cup in both hands, and lowered her head to sip through the straw, nearly pressing her forehead against the tabletop.

Gu Xue licked the fresh cream lingering at the corner of her mouth. Seeing Mihara Chisa like that, she couldn't help laughing.

Even the tips of her ears had turned red.

It seemed she still wasn't used to interacting with friends.

Miss Mihara.

Gu Xue silently sighed to herself, then ignored the slushie in front of her and rested her cheek in her hand, staring blankly at Mihara Chisa's lowered head.

So cute.

Her personality was awkward, but her heart was incredibly gentle and sensitive.

She really wanted to woo her.

Gu Xue had adapted to a lot by now and understood her current identity better than anyone, but sexual orientation wasn't something she could change.

Just thinking about spending the rest of her life with a man made Gu Xue's scalp prickle. She wanted to jump off a building on the spot.

She still liked girls...

There was just one thing she wouldn't forget.

Love involved two people. It wasn't something she could make work just by wanting it herself.

So Gu Xue's thought of wooing Miss Mihara lasted only a few seconds before she pushed it aside.

She wasn't a naïve little girl.

She had family in this world; she wasn't alone, without parents or relatives. She knew very well what she'd have to face if she came out. The mere thought of her parents pressuring her to marry someday was already giving her a headache.

Getting married and having children, men marrying women—it was only natural in the eyes of many, many, many people, especially her own family.

If Gu Xue truly made up her mind to woo Mihara Chisa, she could. First, she'd have to figure out how to turn her, make her fall in love, and then start a relationship... leaving her to face a torrent of confusion and even blame as well.

Political correctness was one thing.

Other people's attitudes—especially her family's—were another.

Gu Xue could ignore everyone and even fall out with her family completely. She'd long since prepared herself mentally. To avoid spending the rest of her life with a man, she was willing to make all kinds of sacrifices.

But she couldn't force someone else into the same mess and make her sacrifice just as much.

Gu Xue wasn't very good at reading people. That was what she genuinely thought.

Thinking that she might end up alone in the future made Gu Xue feel gloomy, too.

Growing old all alone would be miserable. She wanted a pretty older girl, too...

But that selfish impulse was locked away by something called reason.

"Ah..." Gu Xue rested her cheek in her hand and looked at Mihara Chisa, then suddenly sighed.

The flush on Mihara Chisa's face had faded a little. She looked up and, without giving it much thought, assumed she knew what Gu Xue meant. She picked up the spoon, scooped up another spoonful of cream, and held it to Gu Xue's lips.

"..." But Gu Xue didn't open her mouth. She stared at Mihara Chisa and suddenly asked, "Miss Mihara, you're at the perfect age to get married, aren't you? Is there someone you like? Is your family pressuring you?"

At her words, Mihara Chisa's face suddenly went completely pale. Her hand jerked, and the spoonful of cream smacked right into Gu Xue's nose.