Translated: Sei, MTL-sensei-tachi
Edited: Sei, Grammarly no Danna

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Chapter 2 | Since When, and Until Then | Remake our Life!


Part 1

That day at Share House Kitayama, everyone was paying attention to a room on the second floor.

"How's it going?"

Nanako, who was downstairs, called out to me as I went to check on the situation.

"There's still a little more to go. You said you were working on the last part, so it's almost time..."

As I was about to report, I heard the sound of the door opening behind me. When I turned around, there was,

"Ha~~~ I've finished drawing everything...!"

Shinoaki was standing there, looking a little tired.

Immediately afterwards, she spreads her arms out and smiles with a sense of liberation at us.

"I did it~~!!"

While shouting with joy, she flopped down the stairs.

"Congratulations on completing your work~~~~ Shinoaki!!"

"Thank you~! Nanako, thank you for your hard work on the song too~."

They both hugged each other and appreciated the completion of the work.

It seems that Shinoaki switched to working at home in the last phase of the project, and she has been holed up in her room almost all the time for the past few days.

And today, that work was completed.

"Ha~~~~ I'm glad Aki-san was able to come back safely..."

Saikawa was also a little teary-eyed as she was happy that Shinoaki's work had been completed.

"You're overreacting, Minori-chan, I was just away for a while due to work a little."

"It's not just a little! I was already planning on jumping in and punching someone from that team if they did something weird to Aki-san!"

Well, I'm sure it would be difficult because Saikawa would normally win.

"Kuroda and his friends weren't like that at all~"

Shinoaki replies with a wry smile.

It didn't look like she was concerned about the other party, and it must have been a really honest response, I'm sure.

After Nanako and Saikawa's warm welcome was over, I called out to Shinoaki, too.

"Thank you for your hard work, Shinoaki."

"Kyoya-kun, good work too~. There's still some editing left to do, right?"

At times like this, it was very typical of Shinoaki to be the first to show concern for the other person.

Well, there was still work to be done. At least for the time being, I have a rough shape, but there is still a lot of work to be done to improve the accuracy of the work before the deadline.

But right now, I honestly wanted to congratulate Shinoaki.

"Anyway, Shinoaki, now that you're free from the work, is there anything you'd like to do or eat?"

"Right right, Kyoya said he'll treat you now! Anything!"

"Wai, that's what Nanako says!"

Well, at least for today, I thought something like that would be nice, then yakiniku, or maybe Shinoaki would prefer ramen.

"Hmm, what should I do ... What I want to do, huh?"

Shinoaki seriously thought about the reward.

Come to think of it, I may have never really asked her what she wants to do, like to do, or what she wants to eat. We are always together most of the time, and although I may ask her about foods she doesn't like, I don't know what she likes unless she tells me herself.

I know she likes the instant ramen she brought from Fukuoka, but I didn't have any other information.

What on earth does she like?

"Ah."

Shinoaki raised her voice as if she had realized something.

"Well then, Kyoya-kun."

"What, Shinoaki?"

Shinoaki gave a soft smile like she always did.

"I have a request that only Kyoya-kun can do...is that okay?"

"Only me?"

"Yes."

Shinoaki nodded firmly.

What do you mean by "request"? Is it to ask me to cook or something like that?

But then, I don't think it's such a big deal to say so. I think it would be better to just say, "I want you to make a ○○," in the usual Shinoaki manner, and be done with it.

(So, what is it?)

Maybe it was just my imagination, but I thought she seemed to be smiling a little bit at this point, as if she had something in her smile.

But I don't think it was malicious or scheming or anything like that, it was more like a child's prank or play.

Shinoaki paused for a moment before saying.

"I want you to take me on a date."

"Ah, yeah, a date...Da?! Ehhh?"

"Haaah??"

"Ueeeh??"

The flow was so natural that I almost ignored it for a moment.

A date ????

N-No, of course she has never said anything like that to me before, and even when we happened to go shopping or out together, there was never any assumption that we acted in such a way???

Aside from my brain, which had more question marks than usual, she was staring at me with a blank look on her face.

"You can't?"

Shinoaki tilts her head cutely.

"N-No, it's not that I can't, you know..."

Personally, I don't think there's "I can't" at all!

Gently, I looked back at the two people behind me.

"Hashiba-san...Hashiba-san, Hashiba-san, Hashiba-san, Hashiba-san."

A girl with glasses glared at me with bloodshot eyes and kept mumbling my name,

"Kyoya... So... that's how... So that's how it is..."

Sensing the situation, the two brown-haired girls who were going into battle mode were about to change the atmosphere of the place.

"Ehehe, I wonder where you would take me"

And there was one girl who was just smiling.

How to settle the matter, as expected, I could not figure out from my experience either.


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Part 2 (Kuroda Takayoshi POV)

Production was now entering its final stages. Once Shino's original drawings came in, the final part of the project was to be finished, filmed, and edited.

I didn't go to the scene, but watched the entire production progress at Morito's house. As the end drew near, the motivation of the staff began to change. Some people relax, while others get more fired up. Well, humans aren't always able to produce power consistently.

So, I look at the characteristics of each staff member and compile them as reference materials for the next time I do something.

However, there are some guys who consistently keep their motivation high.

Needless to say. A monster on our team.

"Ha~, that's amazing. Kuroda, take a look at this."

Morito saw the last work file sent by Shino and called out to me.

"What's up?"

"The original drawings are getting even more precise here. It should be tough to keep up, but she doesn't seem to be showing any signs of it."

When I looked at it, I saw that the original drawing for the final part had been uploaded at an even higher quality.

Originally, I had added a note saying that since the scene uses a lot of effects, there was no need to go that high in precision. However, that was a decision made based on Shino's physical strength and how busy she was with the work, and if I had my own desires, it was also a scene that I wanted to draw properly.

However, Shino had not only easily seen through such behind-the-scenes intentions, but also firmly raised the bar to an even higher level.

"You're right, it's amazing. I was hoping for more power in the drawing at the climax, and she did a great job."

"It's quite a compliment coming from Kuroda. Well, this will motivate the other guys. I'll contact them in a bit, right away."

"Yeah."

Morito seemed excited and called the staff at the production site.

"Hello? Oh, that's right, the original drawing has arrived. It's amazing! I'll send it to you now, so let's hear your reaction while I'm on the phone. No, it's seriously amazing!"

I left Morito who was having a phone call and went outside by myself.

At noon, when the sun is shining, the heat still seeps into my body. I don't like sunlight very much because I am usually at home unless I am working on location.

Walking in front of a warehouse near Morito's apartment. The area where the university is located is really in the middle of nowhere, and these warehouses and factories are everywhere. I watched as similar piles of cardboard boxes were piled up and transported by forklift.

If products are made in the same way, a large number of identical products will be produced, as a matter of course. Among them, however, some are beautiful and some are defective. Since this is true even in mass production like in a factory, no matter how much you try, nothing will ever be the same as what is produced by an extremely indeterminate group of human beings. It would be better to call it individuality, but the point is that it is sometimes just another way of saying weakness, so it is hard to deal with.

However, Shino's "individuality'' was extraordinary.

Even from the sidelines, there was an atmosphere of seriousness, but after working together on this project, I think I was able to see it all over again. It is not something that can be evaluated based on the output, such as genius or brilliance.

There must be something more horrifying inside.

"Is he holding on to something, too?"

Normally, I would never have thought something like this about creators. All they did was sloppily and unashamedly display the inescapable self-consciousness that had swelled up in their middle and high school years, without respect, gratitude, or fear. This was because I was aware that I was the one coughing up the most blood in any given field.

But. She was different.

It's not about level. The dimensions were different.

Shino Aki is a monster, clearly different from the others. Just the fact that I was able to work with her made the production of this project worthwhile. It was the moment I saw Shino's creation that I had a premonition that this was going to be something extraordinary, something I had never had before.

But that's why I'm scared of her. What's inside that monster?

It may possibly be that she is--.

"Hmm?"

I was lost in thought and didn't realize my phone was ringing. Ever since I switched to a smartphone or something like that, with the claim of being able to view pictures and listen to music, I sometimes didn't notice an incoming call.

"Hello?"

By the way, I didn't check who was calling me. I was worried about mistakes and sales pitches, so I tried not to answer calls from numbers other than the ones I registered.

A woman's voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Kuroda, huh. Can I talk to you for a second?"

For a moment, I didn't know who it was, but I quickly figured it out because of the way she spoke.

"--Kano-sensei."


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