Vile

Anime Mirai, also known as the Young Animator Training Project.

It is a project commissioned by the government to the Association of Japanese Animations to support the animation industry.

Its purpose is to revitalize the animation industry.

As for why the animation industry needs revitalization, setting aside historical issues, it is mainly because the current industry has entered a stage of high commercialization. Projects are endless, and animation studios are basically busy with commercial productions, leaving them no time to train newcomers. The production staff is aging significantly, and many large projects are unwilling to use newcomers for the sake of animation quality. Furthermore, because of the production committee system, animation studios often only receive a pitifully small production fee for making an anime, so most studios simply don't have the money to train newcomers; everyone is broke.

To change this status quo, the government launched the Anime Mirai project, setting aside a certain amount of money each year to commission six animation studios to train a certain number of newcomers, injecting fresh blood into the animation production industry.

Because it is about training newcomers, the government provides a very generous schedule and a considerable amount of money—about three times that of a regular TV anime episode, almost equivalent to a theatrical film's budget—with the goal of letting the studios take their time and teach the newcomers more.

With a sufficient budget and a long schedule, the Anime Mirai project has produced many excellent works. To encourage these animation studios to put in more effort, the government added a judging segment starting from the second year, ranking the works submitted that year and awarding the top three: the Gold Award, the Silver Award, and the Bronze Award.

The top three can receive many benefits, and the one that tempts animation studios the most is probably the special support funding.

Everyone is broke, and everyone wants money.

This is Gu Xue's memory of the Anime Mirai project.

The Gold Award is hard to get.

But at this moment, that doesn't matter!

The moment Mihara Chisa lowered her head, Gu Xue panicked.

Fortunately, Miss Mihara didn't let her panic for long; it was just a forehead touch.

Although her forehead was very hot, it should just be shyness... yeah, right.

It's true that Miss Mihara is shy, but Gu Xue isn't stupid.

Mihara's intentions just now were obvious, weren't they?

Although the shadow of her past and her reason kept telling Gu Xue that it's normal for girls to be intimate—don't they even hold hands to go to the bathroom?—she had never had intimate contact with a girl before, so it must be an illusion.

But her intuition told Gu Xue that it was better to ask clearly. Even if girls are intimate, there should be a bottom line, right? Even if Mihara Chisa has a difficult personality, she wouldn't choose to kiss her just to express goodwill, would she?

Anyway, Gu Xue felt she wouldn't do that.

Although she only had one friend in this world.

But she had friends in the past. Even though they were of a different gender, she tried to put herself in their shoes and felt that Miss Mihara was indeed a bit abnormal.

Gu Xue felt the temperature coming from her forehead and considered it for a while. Perhaps it was the heat wave that had muddled her brain, but she organized her thoughts, intending to ask clearly. Whether this was true or false, she had to ask!

Although she kept shouting in her heart that she wanted a cute girl and wanted to hit on Miss Mihara, when it actually came to this, she hoped she had misunderstood, because she really didn't want to lead anyone on.

She felt close to Mihara Chisa, which was more influenced by the shadow of her past; she wanted to be in contact with beautiful girls, but when it came to love, she really wasn't sure how much she had.

Just as she opened her mouth to say something, Gu Xue thought of this scene.

She didn't know much about the bottom line of intimacy between girls.

But the shadow of her past still existed, and she could imagine it from a male perspective.

Suppose.

Suppose she were a man and very close to a male friend—the kind of close where they could swap clothes, the other person took good care of her, and occasionally showed off his chest muscles to act cool—and then, one day, she fell into one of the three great illusions of life, found a secluded corner, and seriously asked him if he was gay, saying, "I actually like boys"...

Emmm...

It would be fine if the other person was, but if they weren't.

Standing there in embarrassment, not knowing whether to leave or stay, just offering a sheepish laugh.

Thinking of this scene, it felt like life would be over.

Gu Xue felt that her situation with Mihara Chisa was similar; she always felt they were a bit too close, but perhaps she was just overthinking it. Besides, if she asked too directly, what if she hurt Miss Mihara's feelings?

Thinking of this, Gu Xue swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue and reorganized her thoughts, intending to use a more tactful way of asking.

However, before she could reorganize her thoughts, Miss Mihara spoke first.

"If I kiss your forehead, would you think I'm a pervert?" Mihara Chisa slowly raised her head. Although her face was very red, she was calm, looking into Gu Xue's eyes without flinching.

"Ah, ah?" It was Gu Xue who was stunned.

She... she actually said it?

"Actually, I still can't let go of the resentment in my heart. Although I told you at the time that I just wanted to stand in front of Narita Kei and say, 'You have problems too,' that wasn't enough. You were right; I just wanted to snipe at them, to prove to them that I didn't actually do anything wrong."

"But I don't trust Misawa Hiroshi, so I found you. I'm sorry to cause you trouble, but please, you must help me."

"I know your family background is very good, and I have nothing to give you. This is the only thing I could do."

Miss Mihara's voice was very soft, and her expression was very serious. Anyone who heard her words would think she was telling the truth.

"So, you were just trying to express your gratitude just now...?"

After hearing what Miss Mihara said, for some reason, Gu Xue let out a heavy sigh of relief.

"Yes."

"Who expresses gratitude like that? You scared me to death."

Gu Xue didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Although she was a little suspicious, thinking about it carefully, it seemed quite normal for Mihara Chisa to do this, given her difficult personality and her history...

"I'm sorry."

"There's no guarantee we'll win the Gold Prize, you know." Once Gu Xue realized Mihara Chisa didn't mean it in that way, she relaxed completely, shifted her position, and settled into a more comfortable posture lying on Mihara Chisa's soft lap. "Besides, begging me won't do much good. At most, I can only influence..."

"Please." Mihara Chisa looked down at Gu Xue's face, her own face flushed crimson, her eyes moist as if she were trying to convey something unspoken.

Gu Xue's face turned bright red in an instant. She waved her arms and stammered, "H-help me up! I have to strive for that Gold Prize!"

After struggling for a long while, her mind a complete blank, Gu Xue—who had nearly forgotten she even had legs—took quite some time to scramble back to her feet.

Don't let her reliability in critical moments fool you; in truth, she was unexpectedly innocent.

Gu Xue sat up and began to work on the original drafts again, but her heart wasn't in it.

Feeling her face still burning hot, Mihara Chisa lay on the conference table with half her face hidden in her arms, watching Gu Xue's flushed profile. She parted her vermilion lips slightly, then pressed them together.

It's better to be direct when pursuing a girl, even though I've never been in a relationship myself... but my intuition tells me this is the right way...

As for the novel, although I did it intentionally, the characters' personalities were destined to keep them from ever saying it outright.

Also, Gu Xue is actually the most troublesome person in the story; she is incredibly hard to pursue.

Sorry about that. You've had to endure at least tens of thousands of words of tangled romantic drama, and you're probably sick of it by now. Consider this chapter a turning point; what follows is time for Gu Xue to work herself to the bone.

(Actually, I've had to grit my teeth and imagine the confession scene Gu Xue is picturing myself, with a friend who sits next to me at the office as the subject. I also feel that if I actually said it out loud, my life would be over...)

Asking for recommendation votes...