YNoMH? (BL)

5

Chapter 5: Yes, No, or Maybe Half? (5)

"Hey, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedules to have dinner together." s.h.i.tara smiled, apparently in a good mood. "I'm glad you both could make it."

"Not a problem."

"Thank you again for the invitation." Kei smiled modestly and held a champagne gla.s.s up to his lips.

Sitting at a round table at perfect 120° angles from one another were Kei, s.h.i.tara, and for some reason, Tsuzuki. So this was his work-related thing.

Kei understood that it was unavoidable to keep meeting Tsuzuki as "Kunieda Kei," but this surprise appearance made his anger from last week flare up all over again.

Dammit, I just want to punch you in the nose.

Tsuzuki stiffly pulled at his collar, adjusting the necktie, unaware of Kei's thoughts. He said, "I'm glad I asked for the name of the restaurant beforehand. I probably wouldn't have gotten in if I showed up in my regular clothes. What's with the fancy place, s.h.i.tarsan? Now that you're a big shot back at the headquarters, your tastes have changed?"

"It's nothing like that." s.h.i.tara smiled wryly, dressed in a normal suit like he had promised. "It's been a while since I've been back in Tokyo, so when I asked one of the secretaries to recommend a restaurant, I said that Kuniedkun would be joining me. They got a little excited about finding a restaurant."

As a result, here they were at a private and exclusive French restaurant.

"I told her that a table barbecue place would be fine, but she scolded me for trying to take the network's Prince to somewhere so unsophisticated."

"I would have been fine with anything..."

Delicate bubbles from the champagne popped inside of his mouth, but what Kei really wanted, even in the middle of winter, was a tall gla.s.s of beer.

s.h.i.tara asked, "Tsuzuki-kun, how are things going?"

"Not bad. Do you want to come over and see the progress? You're the producer after all."

"I want to see the final cut in its full glory. Anyway, I have a pretty good idea of the progress from the clips from the evening news team."

"Then I'm holding you to that, and I won't accept any claims after I submit the final package."

"No worries. I'm a big fan of yours after all. Plus, I have full creative reign over the project. No one can overturn my decisions."

Kei could tell that there was a serious trust in Tsuzuki's talents from s.h.i.tara's words and a friendly affection from Tsuzuki in his playful tone. They must have enjoyed their work on their last job together.

What was with this warm and fuzzy atmosphere? If they were going to be like this, they should have eaten together just the two of them; they didn't need Kei here.

With this cheap-talking old guy as the producer, you do know that there's the possibility that the network will wipe the slate clean by the fall and overhaul the show again to erase whatever flop comes his way? Then all of your hard work on your animation would go straight into the trash. ...Well, it's not like it concerns me anyway. He can work with whomever he wants, and it doesn't matter to me what happens to his work.

"Kuniedkun, would you like another drink?"

"Oh? Um, yes, please..." Kei realized that he had emptied his champagne gla.s.s, despite not caring for it very much.