Ore no Imōto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai:Volume 3 Chapter 4
Chapter 4
A week passed after she finished the manuscript for her cell phone novel and the morning of the annoying opening ceremony came.
Kirino had simply pushed herself too hard and her cold had gotten worse, so it seemed she was bedridden. I say “seemed” because she was so feverish that she stayed in her room even during meals, so I never had a chance to see her.
While I was eating breakfast, my mother came over to speak with me while looking a bit down.
“Kyousuke~. That girl still has a high fever, but she is insisting she goes to school.”
“She’s complaining about having practice and her job, isn’t she?”
“Yes, exactly. Sigh. She simply won’t listen, so I just asked your father to talk some sense into her.”
I knew it. That idiot brought this on herself.
Well, she isn’t going to get over this cold through pure willpower and she’ll have no choice but to stay home today once dad lectures her.
Tch. She’ll probably insist on going to school each and every day until she gets over this fever.
I could only shake my head.
“I’m worried, so I’m taking her to the hospital today. I’ve heard the flu has been going around lately.”
“Oh, I see.” I sipped at my miso soup. “Just warn her to make sure she doesn’t give it to me.”
“Hah. Why are you so heartless? You’re her brother.”
“Keh. Like I care about her.”
Are you stupid? Worrying for her isn’t going to make her get better any faster.
When I got back from school, my mom told me that Kirino did indeed have the flu. “Oh, I see,” was my honest reaction. I could not think of anything else to say.
After washing my hands and rinsing out my mouth more thoroughly than usual, I headed upstairs.
“…”
After a few moments of indecision, I knocked on my little sister’s door. She may have been asleep, so I knocked lightly.
I received no response. Deciding she must have been asleep, I scratched at my cheek and started to turn around, but then I heard a click and the door opened.
That door that usually slammed forcefully directly into my face had no energy today.
Kirino peered out at me in her pajamas through the cracked door.
“…What?”
…Oh, I haven’t thought of anything to say. Why did I even knock on her door? I don’t have any business with her. Um…uh…
“…Hey…do you want some yogurt?”
I held out the plastic bag hanging from one of my hands. I had bought the yogurt at a convenience store on the way home.
“…Sure.”
Kirino’s feverish head nodded and she took the convenience store bag. She seemed oddly docile, but that was likely because she did not have enough energy to verbally abuse me. Ironically, my sister was a lot cuter when she had the flu and didn’t talk much. It was worth giving up my yogurt for.
“Have you taken your medicine?”
“…No.”
“Take it.”
I then realized Kirino was holding her cell phone in her left hand.
“What are you doing with your phone?”
Don’t tell me she’s still working on that novel…
“Quit being stupid and get back in bed.”
“…”
Despite having been scolded by her brother, Kirino only hung her head down.
She seemed even more downhearted than you would expect of someone suffering from a fever.
Also, it looked a bit like she had been crying.
“What’s wrong?”
“…Nothing.”
Now, that’s a lie. I can’t have you thinking your brother is that stupid. I can tell how you’re feeling to certain extent just by looking at you. And now that I think about it, someone with as strong a sense of responsibility and awareness that she is a professional as you should be doing nothing but trying to get over this illness on her day home from school.
“It isn’t nothing, you idiot. If you’re worried about something, tell me. Tell me and then get to sleep. You need to recover so you can get back to practice and work.”
Kirino’s eyes opened wide in surprise at my bluntness.
“…What’s…with you? You’re being surprisingly kind.”
“Hah. I just want you to recover before you infect me.”
I had been trying to speak harshly to her, but Kirino only gave a small laugh.
“You’re an idiot,” she said. “Well, whatever. Come in. I doubt you can do anything about it, but I’ll tell you if you want to hear.”
“Fine, fine.”
I entered her room despite that meaning it would be my own fault if I caught her flu.
After inviting me in, Kirino sat on her bed and handed me her phone.
“Here.”
“Wh-what?”
I recoiled back at having it thrust out at me so suddenly. I then took it and looked at the screen. The main page for Cell Phone i-Club was displayed on the LCD screen. The site had a large announcement written on it.
“An amazing newcomer to the cell phone novel world is having her debut work published in hard cover! It is being published by MediAscii Works! The whole novel is available ahead of time here on Cell Phone i-Club!”
Apparently, a hard cover novel from Cell Phone i-Club was being put online in full as a sales promotion.
Since the author was referred to as an “amazing newcomer” they must have had a lot of confidence in the novel.
The first thing that came to my mind was…
“Is this ‘amazing newcomer’ they’re talking about you!? Wow!”
“…”
Kirino gave no response. She took the phone from me, pressed some buttons while coughing a few times, and then handed it back to me. I looked at the screen and saw what must have been a page of the cell phone novel this “amazing newcomer” had written.
Its title was “Little Sister Sky”.
“Well, that couldn’t be any more obviously you!”
I could tell without even glancing through the text. This was clearly the cell phone novel Kirino had written.
The novel Kirino had so desperately worked to finish was awash in the limelight in a big way.
Below the title was a button labeled “review this work”. I clicked it and a large number of people’s impressions of the novel popped up.
“What a good story!” “I cried.” “Their pure love was the best part.” “As a girl, this really moved me.”
They went on and on. The book had not even been released yet and there were already over 100 reviews. And they were all favorable impressions. From what I could see, the novel had the strongest support from young girls.
…That’s amazing.
I didn’t actually say it out loud, but that was what I thought. But I was also a little dissatisfied that the readers had seen Toshi and Rino’s relationship as pure love like the author had.
After tagging along when she was gathering data and watching as she worked so hard to write the novel, I was actually moved by this positive reaction. I was amazed at how much talent she had.
…Sigh. She’s increased the gap yet again. How far behind are you trying to leave your brother, little sister? It’s so frustrating and pathetic that I might just get depressed.
As a smile that was a mixture of self-torture and joy appeared on my face, I realized something.
“Wait, then why do you look so upset?”
I didn’t make sense. The novel she had worked so hard to write was being well received, had a huge announcement, and was being published. Normally, that would be a time for joy.
“…else.”
“Ah? What?”
“They’ve made it so it’s written by someone else!” Kirino shouted as if she was about to cough up blood before she started coughing normally.
“H-hey, are you okay?”
She seemed to be suffering so much that I reached out to pat her on the back, but she brushed my hand aside.
She was still coughing pretty badly, so I wasn’t about to get angry with her.
“What do you mean they made it so it’s written by someone else?”
After coughing a bit more and catching her breath, she said, “I-I mean that I’m the one that wrote it, but the author is given as some penname I’ve never seen before in my life.”
I looked and, sure enough, it said “Author – Rino” below the title. The author’s name was the same as the protagonist of Little Sister Sky. Presumably they were trying to make it look like the story was something the author had actually experienced, as was common with cell phone novels.
“So they changed the penname without asking because they thought it would sell better with the author and the protagonist having the same name?”
“No! That’s not what happened…!” My little sister fell into another painful-looking fit of coughing. “I wouldn’t be so upset if that was all it was. Ever since I sent him the password to the site where I saved the manuscript, I haven’t heard anything from him. When I call the cell phone number written on the business card, I just get the voice mail, I don’t get any response to my emails, and this page appeared without warning.”
The site where she saved the manuscript? …Oh, I get it. You save a cell phone novel to your blog-like page on a cell phone site as you write it.
“Maybe there’s been some kind of misunderstanding. How about I call the editorial department for you?”
“I already called them! I told them I wrote the novel and that no one was contacting me and asked them what was going on, but they wouldn’t tell me anything! They listened to what I had to say, but they just treated it like a common complaint and wouldn’t transfer me over to my editor. Also, the password to the Cell Phone i-Club site I saved the manuscript to was changed, so I can’t log in!”
“So…”
This was not a turn of events I wanted to think about. But if what I thought was going on was indeed going on, then having my little sister speak the decisive words would have been too cruel.
That was why I stated my conclusion even if it was a bit premature to jump to that conclusion.
“He plagiarized you? That editor we met in Shinjuku before took the cell phone novel you wrote and is releasing it under someone else’s name?”
“…I think so. …What else could it be?” Kirino muttered painfully while sitting on her bed.
Her face was red from her fever and I could see tears welling up in her eyes. Having this trouble occur while she was bedridden from the flu was like kicking her while she was down.
“So what are you going to do? Surely you aren’t just going to lie here crying.”
“I’m not going to do anything,” was my little sister’s unexpected response. “Make no mistake. I only told you about this because you asked. I have no intention of doing anything about this trouble. In fact, I wasn’t worried about this at all.”
“Why not?”
That had to have been a lie. She had worked so hard on it and it had all been snatched away from her.
I knew just how much she hated to lose, so I knew she had to hate it with all of her being.
“Why not?” repeated Kirino with a scornful laugh. “Isn’t that obvious? What I need to do right now is work my hardest to recover and get back to work and practice as soon as I can. Even if I was tricked, that only affects me. I don’t have time to deal with something like that. I have much more important things to do.”
Her arrogant tone made it sound like she was looking down on the entire world. To me, it sounded forced.
After another fit of coughing, she continued.
“It does piss me off that I was used and I want to kill that faggot. But isn’t all that just more proof of my talent? He only stole my novel because it was that valuable, right? Heh. If that one was stolen, I just need to write another one. I’ll make this one even more amazing.” Kirino folded her arms like usual and gave a small laugh. “Also, that cell phone novel was really nothing more than something to do for fun. I tried to keep it up alongside everything else, but I only ended up collapsing and causing trouble for everyone. I’ve learned my lesson. I’ll make sure that never happens again. In a way, this was perfect.”
If she hadn’t so clearly been crying, that might have sounded pretty cool.
“So just get out of here and leave me alone.”
You really do suck at lying.
My little sister was indeed amazing. She had plenty of talent, put in plenty of hard work, and had an almost creepy passion for something once she started it. As a result, I had thought that everything would always go the way she wanted. However, she was not without her weaknesses.
She had major problems dealing with trouble she had not expected. With difficulties that she saw coming, she was able to thoroughly prepare herself and come up with a plan. But when an attack came from a blind spot or she came across a problem she had not prepared for, she had no idea what to do.
I had experienced that weakness of my sister’s in the troubles with dad and Ayase.
She was only 14 years old and in middle school.
No matter how amazing or talented she seemed, I could not forget that fact.
I was her big brother, after all.
“Hoo…”
What do I do now?
After hearing what my little sister had to say and leaving her room, I bit my lower lip while thinking.
Except I wasn’t really thinking. While the voice of my heart may have been asking what to do, I had already decided deep down.
What I was doing was worrying. I could not accept why I was so settled on what to do.
After all, I hated my little sister. I really, really hated her.
I may be repeating myself, but I just want to make that very clear.
I had only ever accepted that life consultation way back when as a careless way to end that conversation with her as quickly as possible. My efforts to help her with the trouble with dad or the issues with Ayase were nothing but abnormalities. I had only done those things to put an end to the life consultations I had started. That was why, since she had said she wasn’t going to do anything and had not “consulted” in me, this had nothing to do with me. Seeing that damn conceited brat suffer a defeat like that should have been a refreshing scene to behold.
“Shit…What is going on?”
These vague feelings had not started just then. They were a major problem I had been carrying for a little bit at that point. My distant relationship with my sister had changed when I had learned her secret and she had come to me with those life consultations. The vague distance between us was continuing to change even then. I was losing the indifference I had for my little sister.
What was going on? I tried to peer into my own heart, but I only found a jumbled mess of swirling feelings there. That was no help.
I felt nauseous and annoyed and disgusted…
Agh! This really pisses me off. What am I supposed to do? I can’t get over this.
Tch. What is this? I wish I knew someone in a similar position, so I could ask them.
Why do I have to feel so bad for that brat of a little sister?
Don’t tell me I’m wrong about hating her. Don’t tell me I actually…
“Gyahhh!! Like hell I do!”
As my true feelings came out in a yell, I began doing what my sister would normally do on her own since she was too sick to do it herself.
But really, all I could do was consult those who I felt would be reliable.
“Thank you for being so open with us, Kyousuke-shi! I do not know how much I can actually do, but I will help in any way I can!” said Saori exaggeratedly as she sat across from me.
As usual, she was in full otaku fashion with her spiral glasses & flannel shirt tucked into her pants.
“I get the general situation. However, I find it hard to believe that rape novel ended up like that. But from how displeased you seem, it must be true,” said Kuroneko as she sipped iced coffee while sitting next to Saori.
We were in a McDonald’s near Matsudo Station. I had emailed the two of them to say I wanted to discuss something about Kirino and they had agreed to meet on the weekend because they had both happened to be headed to the preliminaries for a national Siscalypse tournament. The preliminaries had already been held in a nearby arcade called Tokyo Gulliver, and the bag sitting on Kuroneko’s lap had a badge indicating she had made it through the preliminaries. (It had the same design as an important item in the game and it had the words “True Little Sister” engraved into it with holographic film placed over them.)
That all-black gothic lolita girl was monstrously good at video games.
The arcade version of that game had come out during the fall, but I had yet to play it.
It was just too embarrassing to play a game like that in front of other people. I had actually been to a local arcade and one in Akagi, so it wasn’t that I simply hadn’t gone. How can people just go to an arcade and play games like that Something-or-Other Master where you raise an idol or that quiz game called Something-or-Other Academy? Do you overcome the embarrassment just by getting used to it? I don’t really get it myself.
By the way, the badge on Kuroneko’s bag had the player’s name carved into it, but what it said was Chiba District Representative – Matsudo Black Cat-sama.
Was that something like a ring name?
“Hmm, I see. So that is why she did not come to Winter Comiket.”
“Kyousuke-shi. Kuroneko-shi has actually been worried about Kiririn-shi ever since that. We had known she had caught a cold, but Kuroneko-shi had been wondering if she was okay with it lasting so long. And she looked so lonely.”
“Hah. I would prefer if you did not add in dramatizations like that. I have not been worried about her. It is just that I was planning to have her cosplay and sell my circle’s book if she had accepted my request. I need to get back at her for before. And yet she caught a cold and could not come. She lamented how unlucky she was while clearly sneering.”
“I see…”
So she wanted Kirino to take part in that winter event… She put together all sorts of plans and then Kirino couldn’t come. I can see why she would be feeling lonely.
“Sorry….and thanks.”
“I have no idea why you are apologizing or why you are thanking me.”
Kuroneko turned away in displeasure. For some reason, she always got like that when someone praised her or thanked her. I had thought she must have been embarrassed, but Kirino had told me it was something else.
“Oh, no, no. The way that black thing always does that is not her being a tsundere. She’s feeling ressentiment. Whenever a rebellious and disgusting otaku like her receives approval from someone on the winning side like me, they always get really pissed off. Really, the jealousy of a lower life form is just disgusting.”
I don’t really understand what she meant, but that was what she had said. In any case, she really spoke poorly of the girl.
“Getting by without seeing that sweets girl who thinks she is on the winning side during the whole new year’s period was most refreshing.”
I still think she is just shy, though. After all, I had been the one to compliment her and I was certainly not on the “winning side”.
Hearing what Kuroneko said, Saori came to the same conclusion as me.
“Hah hah hah. What are you saying, Kuroneko-shi? You did not find it refreshing at all. It hurts my heart to think about how sad someone without a boyfriend like you must have been during that time without seeing Kiririn-shi.”
“That certainly is arrogant of you. Heh. I can tell just by looking at you, that you are forever alone. If you want to prove me wrong, just tell me what you were doing on Christmas.”
“Oh, me? Let’s see, last Christmas I was painting my Gabthley and making my avatar for Xbox Live. Ha. I was so pleased at how the avatar looked exactly like me that I uploaded a picture to our social network group and bragged about it on Twitter.”
What a sad way to spend Christmas…
“Oh? But I think the person I was speaking to online during that was you, Kuroneko-shi.”
“…Th-that’s right…”
The topic Kuroneko herself had brought up had blown up in her face. She had been trying to mock Saori by asking her what she had done on Christmas, but the response had been “chatting with you”.
Matsudo Black Cat aka Kuroneko cleared her throat to smooth things over and said, “To get back on topic, you said this ridiculously titled Little Sister Sky cell phone novel may have been stolen, but can you give us more details?”
“You…will help too?”
“…You surprise me. Is your head okay? I am of course asking out of sheer curiosity. Why would I clean up after a pathetic human like her? I would prefer if you thought before you spoke.”
Kuroneko gave lovely little sigh.
“…I see.”
Kirino had not asked either Saori or Kuroneko to help with her difficulty, but they had still gathered and were willing to listen. The thought very nearly brought a tear to my eye.
“You two are such good people.”
“I do not want to hear that from you of all people. Do you just interpret what people say however you want, you masochistic dog?” spat out Kuroneko with extreme disagreeableness.
When I had first met her, I had thought she was an unsociable girl, but that may not have been true. Deep down, at least.
“Heh heh. Very true,” said Saori when she heard what I had said. She also put on her usual ω-shaped smile. “Come to think of it, this is the first time we have met with you without Kiririn-shi being here. There is something I had been meaning to ask you if I got a chance. With the offline meeting where we first met and Summer Comiket last year, why do you keep going above and beyond for your sister? At least on the surface, it seems to be nothing but a bother for you.”
Saori asked me the question Kuroneko had before.
But as before, it was a difficult question to answer. After all, I had been constantly asking myself that very same question and had yet to come up with a satisfactory answer.
While I was thinking, Saori leaned in toward me.
“Are my suspicions correct that you two are in a more ‘serious’ relationship?”
“What do mean by ‘more serious’!? No! Don’t get the wrong idea!”
And what was that about your “suspicions”!? Have you been looking at us in that way all this time!?
This is why I hate erogamers! They always see incest wherever they look!
“Mh,” said Saori while sticking out her lower lip when I denied it, but she then put on a horrifying expression. “Oh, is that not it? Then Kyousuke-shi, are you – shall we say – masochistically inclined?”
“That’s not it either!”
Why do otaku all seem to have the exact same thought patterns? I can’t stand it!
As I scratched at my head, I received unexpected support from Kuroneko.
“It is not that surprising. Being worried about one’s little sister and getting a bit overprotective is something that goes beyond liking or not liking someone.”
It was possible she was saying that because she had little sisters of her own.
“That is just what a little sister is. It can’t be helped. You do it even if you do not get anything in return for your efforts. It is like taking in a cat on a whim.”
After concluding her comment, she closed her eyes. She must have been imagining her own little sisters as she spoke. Her words came as smoothly as when she had been speaking about her doujin work at Summer Comiket and her words were also kind.
Her comment also put an expression on Saori’s face like you would expect of someone soaking in a hot spring.
“Hm…You must be a wonderful older sister, Kuroneko-shi.”
“…Not really. I tease them every day.”
Seeing the sadistic smile on Kuroneko’s face, I felt saved. The strange feeling in my chest was still there, but I now felt like there was nothing wrong with it being there.
It was okay for my brother/sister relationship with Kirino to advance at whatever pace I was comfortable with.
I felt convinced.
“Okay, let’s do this!”
I slammed my fist into my opposite palm.
Saori gave thumbs up with a smile and Kuroneko shrugged expressionlessly.
I had chosen Saori and Kuroneko to discuss this with because they both knew Kirino’s secret side and Kirino was important to both of them.
Due to Kirino’s position in the world, I had to be careful about who to discuss this kind of thing with. They worked from that standpoint and I figured they would know a thing or two about the writing business, so they were perfect. I was truly thankful.
By the way, there were actually two others who met the requirements I mentioned.
Those were my dad and Ayase. If I got the help of either of them, I doubt there would have been any more powerful helper and their efforts would have rivaled that of a thousand others. However, even if Kirino was extremely important to both of them and they would certainly have listened carefully and helped out had I consulted them, they both had major problems preventing me from doing so.
I’m sure you understand. Their help wouldn’t exactly come easily.
First of all, my dad still did not now Kirino’s cell phone novel was being published because she was sure he would be against it. And yet Kirino had pushed herself too hard and collapsed from the flu. It was hindering her track team practice and the model work she had gotten special permission for. It would make no sense to rely on our dad for this. If we did, we would need to be prepared for his opposition to her otaku interests to be ignited once more once it was all over.
As for Ayase, I had actually had a chance to speak to her a few days before. (She had called me about Kirino collapsing from the flu. Even though I had warned Kirino, I still got one hell of a lecture about it.)
What she had said afterwards was, “Everyone always praises Kirino for her attitude toward her work, so it really is no big deal if she takes a bit of time off because she is sick. However, I know Kirino. She is going to feel really bad about missing work due to her own mistake.”
Apparently, Ayase had spoken to their office and the magazines and volunteered to take on the model work early in the year that Kirino had been scheduled for. She said it would be best if she did it and that Kirino would not feel as bad than if anyone else had done it.
“So I will not be visiting her,” she had said.
“I understand. If you catch her flu, you can’t fill in for her. I’m not quite sure what to say, but tha-“
“No, do not thank me. I am only doing this because I want to.”
Ayase was helping Kirino in her time of need in her own unique way.
We were not the only ones getting overly involved in this.
I could leave that kind of thing to her and take care of what I could here.
And so, I treated Saori and Kuroneko to fries and refills to their drinks while I explained the details of how Kirino’s cell phone novel might have been plagiarized.
“I see…”
“Hm…”
Saori and Kuroneko both listened with patient expressions.
“Really, I just want to check if what I think is going on is really what is going on. This editor named Kumagai Ryuunosuke seems suspicious to me,” I concluded.
“Hmm. I understand where you are coming from,” said Saori in a grave voice as she gathered her thoughts. “But would a mere employee take such a great risk? Even if he was sure that Kiririn-shi’s novel would sell, he would lose his standing if this plagiarism came to light.”
“And even if this editor did this, I do not understand why he would steal the manuscript. Instead of stealing it, would it not be better to sell the author herself? I think it would sell even better if it said ‘the debut work of a beautiful middle school model’ on the cover. They could get her face out there with interviews for a cheap and effective means of advertisement.”
Those are excellent points.
“But it’s hard to imagine this editor had nothing to do with this,” I said.
“Kyousuke-shi, if you have his business card with you, could we see it?”
“Sure. This is it.”
On Saori’s suggestion, I pulled out the business card that editor had given Kirino.
The card read, “Kumagai Ryuunosuke – MediAscii Works Second Editorial Department Mobile Publication Division”
I placed it in the middle of the table and the two of them leaned forward to give it a serious inspection.
“Hmm. Does this Mobile Publication Division run Cell Phone i-Club?”
“I have actually seen a business card for this publisher before, and this looks real to me. I doubt it is a forgery. And even if it is a fake, detailed knowledge of the original would have been necessary to make it,” said Saori in agreement with what Kirino had said before.
Kuroneko then said, “Is there actually a Kumagai working for the editorial department?”
“Yes, I called and checked with the receptionist, and there is. It was treated as a prank call, though.”
“This is only what I have heard, but supposedly the editorial department receives complaints about plagiarized works all the time. Of course, most of them are incorrect assumptions or downright lies, but the department still hears complaint after complaint along those lines. They may think this is just another of those.”
That was the “Boy who Cried Wolf” effect. Finding the one true complaint amid the hundreds of lies would indeed be difficult.
Kuroneko picked up the business card and narrowed her eyes.
“This has a cell phone number and email address written in pen underneath the editorial department’s contact information.”
“Is that a problem? He said he was out a lot, so it would be easier to contact him via his personal phone and address.”
“How trusting are you? You need to have some suspicions about people. Did you never think he was having her call him because it would be a problem for him if she called the company? It’s just…Oh, I see. Given what Saori said, I am betting this card itself is real.”
“Meaning?”
“Are you thinking the person Kiririn-shi met in Shinjuku was a fake taking on the name and occupation of Kumagai-shi, Kuroneko-shi?”
“Yes.”
Kuroneko nodded.
“You mean that bastard wasn’t the actual editor?”
“I believe so.”
“But this is the actual business card of this Kumagai Ryuunosuke. And they met up at the publisher’s office building.”
“Don’t be stupid. Neither of those things proves he is an editor that works for that publisher. She was told to meet him in the publisher’s lobby, right? And you said the actual meeting took place in a nearby café. The lobby isn’t locked, so an outsider could easily meet someone there. Also, he could have handed over a business card he had gotten from the real editor to give credibility to his claim. It is a fairly popular means of fraud.”
“…Fraud?”
“Yes, there is a type of self-paid publishing fraud where someone approaches a hopeful author while pretending to be an editor. The fake editor suggests he publishes the hopeful author’s book, has them give a down payment, and then is never seen again. …A bit similar, don’t you think?”
“But Kirino never had any money taken.”
“True. In this case, it was the manuscript that was stolen, and it is being published by a proper publisher under someone else’s name. The trick is similar, but it is still a bit different. I think these differences are rather important,” said Saori prudently. “Perhaps this man pretending to be Kumagai-shi has some kind of connection with the publisher. Otherwise, he could not have gotten the novel published even with the manuscript and he would not have been able to acquire Kumagai-shi’s business card.”
Saori took out her cell phone and held it out so everyone could see the screen.
It was displaying the introductory page for Little Sister Sky.
“I cannot be sure, but it seems likely this Rino person is the one who stole Kiririn-shi’s manuscript. I do not know what position this person has, but he must have some influence at the publisher. First, Rino-shi must have noticed the popularity of Kiririn-shi’s cell phone novel on the upload site, so he used the real Kumagai-shi’s business card to take on the identity of an editor and approach Kiririn-shi. Once Rino-shi received the manuscript from Kiririn-shi, he took it to the editorial department as something he had written, and successfully had it published. Does that seem realistic?”
“Yes, except for the fact that this…criminal?...set his sights on that rape novel. How could he read that and come to the conclusion that it would sell? It is incomprehensible,” said Kuroneko as she tilted her head back and forth in confusion.
“That cell phone novel was first in the monthly rankings and had 350,000 views in just a month after being submitted. Maybe he decided Kirino would write a novel that would sell because of how the amateurs were receiving it.”
“That is what makes no sense to me. Any readers who enjoyed a shitty novel like that seem like the residents of the demon world to me.”
That’s going a bit too far.
Not only did Kuroneko have a sense of rivalry and jealousy toward Kirino, but she also seemed to have a negative impression of cell phone novels as a whole. She picked the cell phone up from the center of the table and stared coldly at the screen that was displaying Little Sister Sky’s prologue. (It was the scene where Tetsu was hit by the dump truck and turned to mincemeat. The text was as full of newlines as ever.)
“Hmph. Look at this. The shitty writing starts on the very first page. Someone getting hit by a dump truck isn’t going to make a ‘bakohn’ sound. Honestly, just glancing through this is bringing its author’s triumphant smile into my head and making me want to crush this cell phone more and more.”
“K-Kuroneko-shi!? That is my phone!” Saori shouted as the phone started creaking in Kuroneko’s grip.
Kuroneko clicked her tongue and put the phone back on the table.
“So there are really people who would publish writing this bad with no shame? Both the editor and the readers have no aesthetic sense whatsoever.”
…Why does she view the editor in such a hostile light?
Did something happen to her in the past?
“Now, now,” said Saori to pacify her. “At any rate, Rino-shi is someone who can tell what will sell and has guidance on the level of a real editor. He really did meet with Kiririn-shi, advised her, and actually convinced her. And now he has gotten the novel published. I may not be an expert, but it feels to me like Little Sister Sky will be a major hit.”
“Maybe. After her meeting with him, Kirino completely trusted him. She had been really excited, but she had not taken any of it for granted until she had actually met him.”
“Hah. To be honest, I want to tell her this serves her right. I had a feeling it was something like this. Do you have any idea how many dozens of hours she bragged to me about this last month?”
…Why am I not surprised? I knew it was unlikely Kirino hadn’t bragged to Kuroneko…
Saori looked very interested in that comment.
“Ya ha ha. Come to think of it, the online battle between you two reached even our SNS group. Was the direct confrontation over IM?”
“ ‘Kya ha ha! With how you are, you’ll never be anything but a wannabe! You should try to learn from me! Oh, but I guess you can’t! You don’t have the talent!’ I had to put up with that for an entire night on Skype. I will never forget my grudge over that.”
“…Ah, sorry about that.”
I had no choice but to apologize when she stared at me with those red eyes filled with hatred.
Kuroneko must have been quite a good person to help Kirino even after experiencing that.
Anyway, that was how we deduced who the thief likely was.
But we could not come up with any concrete ideas regarding what to do about it.
“We have a good idea what the situation is now, but what are we actually supposed to do? I know it would be best to make them realize Kirino was the one that wrote that cell phone novel. But…”
“That will prove quite difficult.”
“Yes, we have no proof.”
“What about the original manuscript data?”
“The site she saved it to was taken over by this guy. The second she gave him the password, he changed it so she couldn’t get into it anymore…or something like that.”
That meant we had no evidence that Kirino had written the novel.
Refusing to give up, Kuroneko said, “Is the manuscript data still on her computer? Like a backup or…”
“Kuroneko-shi, even if Kiririn-shi has a backup, I doubt it will change much. The entire novel has already been released on the web. If we came forward saying she had the original manuscript data, they would simply say we copied it from the web.”
“…Hmm. That may have been done as insurance made to look like advertisement. …This guy thought this through surprisingly well.”
He was always a step ahead of us. If our assumptions were correct, he was quite crafty.
Silence fell over our table. The three of us each ate the fries that were cold by that point, sipped at our drinks, and gathered our thoughts in our own way.”
Saori was the first one to give an idea.
“It seems to me, the only thing we can do is explain the situation to the editorial department and convince them that Kiririn-shi was the author. As Kyousuke-shi mentioned before, calling by phone merely gets treated as a common complaint. To avoid that, we need to get in direct contact with someone working on the Little Sister Sky project.”
“…Hmph. Thanks for pointing out the obvious. So how are normal middle and high school students supposed to get in contact with someone from the editorial department?”
“…I do happen to have a connection.”
“R-really?” I replied in surprise.
Come to think of it, she did say she had seen that publisher’s business card before.
Natural curiosity grew within me, so I started to ask for details about this connection, but I stopped once I saw her expression.
Looking troubled, Saori was scratching at her cheek. It looked like she was having trouble saying something.
“…Yes. But it is not all that strong a connection. I cannot exactly say the novel was stolen and directly ask to have something done. I can only use some reason or another to get an appointment at the publisher. Unfortunately, that is all I can do. It seems Kumagai-shi belongs to the second editorial department’s mobile publication division, but it would be difficult to get an appointment with that specific division with my connection. I do not directly know anyone in the editorial department.”
“No, that’s enough. Thanks, Saori. You really are reliable.”
I was truly thankful. I may have been the one to ask her, but I felt bad about being that indebted to her. It seemed she did not really want to use this connection.
I bowed my head deeply, but she stuck both hands forward to stop me and said, “Ah ha ha ha. Stop that. You are making me blush.”
Saori rubbed the back of my head and suddenly switched over to a serious tone of voice.
“If it gets that kind of response, then it was worth playing the role of Saori Bajeena.”
“…Ahn?”
“Hah hah hah. Nothing, just talking to myself.”
I decided to let the comment go.
“Okay, I can get us into the publisher, but what do we do then?”
“I have an idea for that. Just leave it to me. …Heh heh heh. If it goes well, I can create a reason to go to the editorial department not just once, but two or three times.”
Hearing that, I felt a chill run down my spine. Kuroneko’s thin, eerie smile was similar to the one my little sister had when she handed me an eroge box.
Translator's Notes
| Back to Chapter 3 | Return to Main Page | Forward to Afterword |
