Chapter 30
Extra chapter since I would change my schedule starting tomorrow, Practical Research is starting so I'll have hard time writing, don't worry though I already have a lot of chapters in the draft. (๑•﹏•)
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After the talking with Kuroka, Xander made her leave since she is already over using her guest pass. Xander then realized that it is already night, he cleaned the house a bit using magic and then started thinking of how to mend Kuroka's relationship with Koneko, its hard to make Koneko trust her sister when she saw her rampaging when she saw just a child, the scar that it made in her heart was so strong that even now, she still won't use her Nekoshou powers. Quite disappointing because if she just opened her powers then she could have been stronger than normal High class devils. He closed his thoughts as he started to fall asleep.
The next morning Xander woke up as he started to prepare to meet Machida, he hasn't been on school but that was fine since Sona was handling it, they can even absent for 10 days how could a mere 2 days matter. Xander already called Sona yesterday to inform her that he has appointment today, Sona accepted his words as she just used authority to make it work somehow. He wore a black slocks and a long sleeve which he folded up to his elbow.
Xander got out of the house and called a taxi to drive to the appointed place. 'Should I buy a car? Always using taxi is a hassle and owning a car could be beneficial to a long term' Xander thought while sitting at the backseat of the taxi where music played. "Where are we going, young man?" The driver asked wondering where this young man would go. "Old man, bring me to this place" Xander said as he handed the information to the driver who just nodded when he saw it. "This is rather fancy, are you going in a date, young man?" The driver started the conversation which Xander didn't refuse.
"..Yes, you could say that" Xander thought for a second before smiling as he said the words. "Hoo, is she beautiful? You need to be careful nowadays, some girls would only get close to you if they need money, you know?" The driver asked while giving warning to Xander. "Yes, she is beautiful and single middle age woman" Xander said making the driver surprise, he never thought that this young man's taste would go that way. "Bwahahaha, you got some good taste young man, I used to be like that when I was a kid" the driver said while laughing at what he heard. They kept talking with each other until the car finally arrived at the place. "Thank you, old man" Xander said while handing the fee. "Os! That was quite fun" the old driver said as he started driving away.
Xander entered the restaurant and started looking for Machida, he saw a woman waving at him far away, so he went towards it. "Machida-san, good morning" Xander said while taking a seat infront of her. "Good morning Xander, you are quite handsome today huh" Machida said with a smile on her face. "Of course, I will take care of myself, we are meeting after all" Xander said while giving Machida a teasing smile which she only shrugged off. Teasing a old woman with experience was really a hard to thing to do.
Xander then took the manuscript from his bag, and handed it to Machida. "Here, Machida-san, with this the whole book is already finish" Machida accepted the manuscript while thinking about something. "Are you sure you're going to end it with just 3 volumes?" Machida said while waving the manuscript, she was thinking that if Xander continue writing this then he can even make it to a whole anime series. "Nope, I'm satisfied with this, I'll just make an movie with it if I am bored" Xander said while ordering his food. "Pfft! You can make anime?!" Machida was surprised that she can't help but asked.
Xander cleaned his face with a handkerchief "That was rude, Machida-san, and yes, I learned it from a genius friend of mine" Xander said while thinking about the alien Misaki, as she call herself. "You really are an enigma...what else can't you do?" Machida said while apologizing for the mess she made. Machida then started reading the manuscript hoping that there would be some errors she can correct or else her work as Xander's editor would be for nothing.
Machida finished reading after 30 minutes which Xander used to eat the things he ordered. "Fuuh, that was quite a journey, but are you sure you're not gonna make a clear ending?" Machida said as she complained about the ending. She loved the book and was disappointed that she didn't find anything to correct. The only problem she has with it is the ending which was vague as they only asked for their name and it ended. Xander thought that Machida would have understood the reason for the ending but it seems like he overestimated the knowledge of the people in this world about light novels.
"Sigh, I'm sure you will not be the only one who would ask about that but I believe in what I wrote and will never change it" Xander said while shaking his head. Machida was surprised by his stubborn side but just accepted it, he is the author she is just a editor, its not up to her to decide how would he make the story, and the story was already very good for her so he got no more complain about it. "Right, here are the illustrations for the volume 2, you can already publish it right? Just take the last illustrator and used Mashiro's drawing" Xander said while handing the USB that holds the illustrations he got from Mashiro. "Okay, I'll take a look at it" Machida said as she took a laptop from her bag and plugged the USB in it.
She was surprised by what she saw, as she couldn't help but sigh. "This is really a work of a world class painter" she gotta admit this illustrations were sick, they could compliment the real happening in the book, the beautiful Meteor scene was drawn perfectly, it was even colored with detail. "Right? She can be quite scary when it comes to this thing. Its as if you can see the picture in real life, you can immerse yourself in he drawing that it looks like your experiencing it yourself. I wonder how the fans would react to this" Xander said while smiling as Machida only nodded.
Machida was about to ask Xander what he is doing next when another voice suddenly appeared interjecting their conversation. "Hoh, so you're having a date Machida-san?" Machida twitched when she heard this voice, she turned around and saw a black haired young woman with a white hair bond. "How did you know where I was, Shi-chan?" Machida asked while looking away from the new arrived girl. "I was just curious to where my lovely editor went, but never did I expect that she was having a date with a average man" The girl said while crossing her arms under her chest.
"Hey, that's rude, and were not having a date, he is just handing his finished work to me" Machida said while complaining about the girl's rough mouth. "Work? He? That guy is an author?" The girl asked with a sneer on her mouth as if not believing that Xander is an writer. "That's enough, let me introduce you to him, Xander this is Kasumigaoka Utaha, the other author that I am handling right now" Machida said while gesturing to Utaha who just narrowed her eyes at Xander. "And Shi-chan, this is Xander Ranvil, the author who wrote the book you bought the other day" Utaha was alarmed by what she heard. The book she bought was only one, and that was 'Your Name' that is now on the top list, she slowly asked. "..Is he that author?" Machida nodded her head with a proud look on her face.
Kasumigaoka Utaha wanted to ask Machida for something today, but she was refused because Machida said that she has an appointment to go today, Utaha got curious since as far as she knows, she is the only one that Machida handled, she started following Machida until she arrived at a fancy restaurant where she saw Machida happily talking to someone younger than her age. She walked over and started insulting the guy thinking that he is tricking Machida for money, but she never expected that Machida was already handling someone else and it was also the Author of the book she currently like.
"You're Yogiri-sensei? You don't look like a old man" Utaha said while tilting her head. Xander thought a lot about his penname then just used Takatou Yogiri's name. "Of course he isn't, he is still young you know?" Machida said while shaking her head at her attitude. "Hello, I am Xander Ranvil and the author of the book 'Your Name'" Xander said while giving her a normal smile. Utaha digested the information she received as she remembered Machida's words. "Wait, she said you already finished the book? Can you let me see it?" Utaha asked while sitting beside Machida. "Of course no, I just met you now and you're already so demanding" Xander refused while shaking his head, Utaha twitched her eyebrows as she also know that she is being rude.
"..I'm sorry" Utaha said while lowering her head a bit which made Xander nod his head with satisfaction. "Sorry about her Xander, she has a loose mouth, but don't worry she is kind though" Machida also apologized for Utaha disturbing their conversation earlier. "Its fine, so Kasumigaoka-san what is your opinion about my book? If you gave me a honest review then I might let you read the volume 2 with its new illustrations" Xander said gaining Utaha's attention as she immediately started talking about the good points of the book and also its bad ones. After talking for 5 minutes she was finally out of breath as she panted. "Is it fine now?" Utaha asked Xander while he just smiled. "Yes, thank you for the review, here it is" Xander handed the manuscript to Utaha who is like a kid who got a new toy.
Utaha started to ignore the surroundings as she immersed herself in the book, making Machida sigh again, "Is she always like this? She is quite a unique girl, you probably get a lot of trouble from her" Xander asked while looking at Machida who just shrugged. "Sigh, kind of, her mouth is so bad that she doesn't have any friends at her school" Machida said gaining a understanding look from Xander. "Anyway, since I finished my book, I started a new work, does your publishing company handle manga?" Xander asked as he started opening his bag to look for the first chapter of the manga.
Machida was slacked jaw when she saw Xander's drawing, she felt that it was better than Shiina Mashiro's drawing. She took it from his hand and started reading it. "What the hell is this? Is this an anime?" Machida asked as she can literally feel the characters in the manga moving in her mind. Xander's drawing has reached the level where he can make the reader imagine the scene inside of their heads. "Cool right? I thought that just normal drawing was boring so I drew it while thinking that they would move and that's the result" Xander said simply making Machida feel stress. 'Just because you thought it was boring that you made a whole anime based manga!?' Machida couldn't help but thought as she kept changing pages.
After Machida looked through the whole Chapter 1, she started questioning the world if the laws still exist since there is a person here always breaking them. "And you made another great work again, are you planning to take over the whole ACG community?" Machida said as she is starting to get use to Xander's abnormalities. While Machida finished reading the Chapter 1, Utaha also finished reading hers. She immediately got closer to Xander and asked "Is there more? I want to read more!" Utaha said excitedly as she started gaining ideas just from reading his book.
"There is, but the illustrations isn't finished yet" Xander said while slowly pushing Utaha away from his face. "I don't care, just let me read the last one" Utaha said while still getting closer to Xander. Xander is investing with this girl, who knows maybe he would like her in the future. Xander gestured to Machida as she understood his intentions and gave Utaha the last volume. Utaha was excited as she literally hold Xander hands and thanked him. Xander got tired and just stood up as he saw Utaha reading again. "I'm gonna go, Machida-san, just wait for the illustrations of the volume 3" Xander was about to go when his hands was suddenly pulled. "Here's my number" Utaha handed Xander a paper as she returned to reading the manuscript again. Xander couldn't help but sigh at her.
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