YNoMH? (BL)

Off Air 6.2

Off Air – Story 6.2

Story 6: Other Short Stories – Part 2

Translator Note: This part contains all of the ficlets written for Volume 2 of

Your Unknown World

Director A-ko-san's Work Experience Story (under a pseudonym)

You know how they often say TV stations are haunted? But I've never believed those rumors. I've worked in TV for nearly 10 years and haven't seen a thing. Maybe people were sleep deprived and imagined that they saw something? I think it's far scarier to have an editing station break down on you and you lose all your data, or you head out on an assignment and you realize that you accidentally forgot to bring the tape.

But, hmm, I suppose now that I think about it... There was that one thing...

It was completely out of the blue. Evening had come around and I went to the staff room for the show that I work on. We chatted and discussed the topics for the broadcast that night.

That was when that guy, you know, Minagawa Tatsuki, said something really weird.

All of a sudden he just blurted out, "Good evening, Sou-chan." And it was to Asou-san. I was like, "Huh?" and it was like time stopped for a split-second. It wasn't just me, but everyone had that reaction. Like, who was this Sou-chan he was referring to? I mean, from Minagawa-kun's standpoint, Asou-san is far above him in prestige and seniority, and I've never heard anyone address Asou-san like that before. He gives off this aura that makes it hard to get close to him, and he's not the type of person to be on the receiving end of people's jokes.

At first I thought that maybe Minagawa-kun was forced to do something as part of a punishment game, but he looked like he was enjoying himself far too much for it to be that. I asked Kunieda-san if he knew anything about it, thinking that maybe something had happened at the announcer department, but he just said, "I'm not too sure," looking a little troubled. Minagawa-kun just said, "It's a secret~"

No, I would say that Asou-san didn't look angry at all. He was normal as usual. Maybe Minagawa-kun wanted to get some kind of reaction out of him because he kept pestering him. Saying things like, "Sou-chan, what did you do over the weekend?" or "Sou-chan, I hear they're having an eel special at the cafeteria." He kept saying "Sou-chan" every time too. Like he was checking to see if he was there. Well, Asou-san pretty much ignored him, but when I walked by behind him, I realized that it wasn't quite the case.

I heard him mutter, "7," under his breath.

I swear to god it's true. It was a really low voice, but another staff member heard it too. It was an "8" when he heard it. I realized that he was counting the number of times Minagawa-kun had called him "Sou-chan." I was like, uh oh, he's probably really angry, so I warned Minagawa-kun about it. I told him to cut it out, but he was only more amused by it. He even joked, "Maybe he'll grant me any wish I want when I get to 100!" ...Uh, yes, he's an idiot. Maybe ridiculous would be a better way to describe him. It's like he has the mentality of a 5th grader. There was pretty much no stopping him at that point. Our producer said, "He'll stop when he gets bored with it," so I pretty much decided to leave it alone.

So things got busy from there, and then maybe one hour before the broadcast, I think it was? Someone heard a "10." Minagawa-kun laughed that he finally reached the double digits, but then he immediately went and said "Sou-chan" again, rambling about how his wardrobe was hideous today—how his suit, shirt, and necktie was pattern on pattern on pattern. That was when Asou-san started counting again.

This time it was a "9."

It was like, what, wasn't it at "10" just now? But it wasn't like I could say it to his face. I was flustered and my heart was racing, but Minagawa-kun kept on going, saying, "Sou-chan, want some tea?"