Paperwork, part 1

Sure enough, the next day a letter came in the mail with details about a meeting at the main Kusachisha office. They already have the manuscript digitally, but I’ll need to bring a bunch of official documents for identification and other legal stuff. Satsuki can’t come with me because she has to go meet up with classmates for a group project, so I’ll have to go there alone. It was difficult to get any sleep that night, knowing that the following day would be like a dream come true.

I didn’t own a suit, so I used my school uniform as the most formal alternative in my wardrobe and set out for the meeting. The office was half an hour away by train and I got more and more nervous by the minute. Eventually when I got off the train and exited the station I immediately spotted the building diagonally across the street. As I stand there in front of the crosswalk I can’t help but get a sense of deja vu.

When the light on the other side of the road turns green I remain standing there, frozen in place as others pass me by. My breathing becomes shallow and my heart starts racing. The other side of the street stretches into the distance, reaching as far as the horizon. Sweat runs down my forehead and my vision starts to blur. The space inbetween the white lines turns from grey asphalt to an all consuming black river. I clutch my bag to my chest, but when I look down I’m holding a manila envelope with the name Thomas Lane written on it. The ivory shapes start moving on their own, growing bloodthirsty eyes pointing straight at me. The green light in the distance beckons me to come closer. Will I be able to reach the safety of that distant shore in time or will I fall short and plunge into the depths to be devoured?

The light turns red again and cars drive past, only a short distance in front of me. From red to green to red again, the light repeats itself as if trying to provoke a reaction out of me. Inanimate object as it may be, it’s right about one thing. Nothing will happen if I keep standing here, paralyzed by my own fear. As long as I don’t cross this street my dream won’t come true. I gather all my courage and when the light turns green again I look both ways to make sure nothing is coming and I take a step onto the street.

Nothing happens.

Step after step, eventually I reach the other side, safe and sound. With adrenaline pumping through my veins I go through the front door of the imposing office building. A receptionist asks if I have an appointment and when I tell her my name she asks me to take a seat in the lounge while she calls over the person I’m here to meet. The lounge is empty and I take a deep breath and let out an even deeper sigh when I sit down on the couch.

I’ve sat in a similar lounge many times, waiting for an appointment that would always result in rejection and disappointment. Twenty three times I sat there waiting for an hour or longer, but it never got any easier. Every time I hoped the outcome would change. They always gave me advice on how to improve, but when I fixed one issue and showed them the revised version, they’d point out three new ones. I wonder what they thought of me. Did they get annoyed with me for bothering them with worthless manuscripts or did they pity me for never being able to improve?

For fifteen years I told myself I’d hit it out of the park one day. While I was still in school I became interested in writing and I started building a world in my head. A classic fantasy world with elves and dwarves and the like, all at odds with each other for one reason or another. When I graduated ten years later, I finally finished my first manuscript. After that first draft was rejected I kept trying to fix it, telling myself that once I did everyone would love it. Five years of trying later that came to an abrupt end when a truck struck me right before I could make the twenty fourth attempt. Despite that I’m now waiting for someone to meet me to discuss publishing a book that I technically wrote.

After a short while I start to hear the sound of heels rapidly approaching from behind one of the doors leading into the office. The sound gradually grows louder until the door swings open to reveal who I assume is the editor I’m supposed to meet right now. A simple white shirt with a company badge sticking out of its front pocket. A pair of tights extending from a stiletto skirt and ending in black heels, emphasizing her modest yet alluring figure. Most eye-catching of all was the pair of big bouncing…

Twintails...? For some reason this otherwise professional looking office worker had her hair in a youthful pair of twintails. The aesthetic dissonance is making my head spin. When I stand up to greet her I also notice that she’s slightly taller than me.

“Hello, welcome to the Kusachisha office,” she says with a hospitable smile, “you must be Tadano-kun.”

“Ah, yes, that’s me.”

“My name is Ayami Osagawa, nice to meet you.”

She bows and her ponytails narrowly miss as they whip towards me with surprising force. This also gives me a full view of the top two buttons of her shirt, which have noticeably been undone. Sensing my face turning red I quickly return the gesture. I’ve been here for less than ten minutes, but I already feel overwhelmed.

“Let’s take this to one of our meeting rooms. There we can have some privacy as we discuss your victory.”

We already have plenty of privacy since the lounge is empty, but I guess a meeting room would make it feel more official. She leads me through the door she just came from and after taking the elevator up a few floors we eventually arrive at the room in question. The room is a bit bigger than expected, as if it were meant for board meetings instead of a one on one meeting like this. After marvelling at the view outside the window, I notice that one of the chairs has a cupcake in front of it with a lit candle on top. Miss Osagawa sits on the opposite end of the table and motions for me to sit in front of the cupcake. With a little hesitation I take a seat.

“First of all, congratulations for winning the contest! I wanted to get a big cake with your name on it, but my boss told me not to, so I got the next best thing.”

“Thanks…”

“I must say that I’m impressed with how many votes you got. You managed to get almost half of all the votes despite being a late entry. I haven’t had a chance to read it, but based on the public reception it has to be amazing. You must’ve put in a lot of work, especially considering you almost reached the page limit.”

“Yeah, I spent all night on it…”

“Wow, those allnighters must’ve taken a lot out of you, huh? Well it must’ve been worth it in the end since you won, hahaha.”

She must think I spent weeks or even months working on it. I think it would be for the best if I didn’t correct that understandable misunderstanding.

“Okay, enough small talk, let’s get down to business. No doubt you’ve been waiting for me to get to the point and tell you all about how we’re gonna publish that novel of yours. As you know, we'll have our wonderful Tetsuko-sensei provide your text with gorgeous artwork. We’ll have to go through it to do a check for grammatical and spelling mistakes, just to be sure. One of our designers will make a cover in cooperation with Tetsuko-sensei to make it stand out from the competition. Finally you’ll have to write an afterword and don’t worry, I’ll do a spell check for that as well. Besides that it’s a bunch of legal stuff and printing and distribution, so I won’t bore you with that.”

Suddenly it all became real. I was actually going to get published. My manuscript would be turned into a physical book and sold in stores around the country. I’ll go from an amateur to an actual professional. Maybe I’ll even become rich or famous or both.

“Are you still there, Tadano-kun?

“Huh? Ah, yeah, sorry. Please continue.”

I should probably pay attention to what she’s saying instead of daydreaming.

“There’s one thing that comes before everything else though,” she says as she opens a briefcase next to her and pulls out a big stack of papers that she slides towards me, “and that is signing some contracts. Usually a parent or legal guardian has to sign a contract for you, but in this case we’ve made special arrangements so that won’t be necessary. You can take your time and read it, but I took the liberty of writing a summary on a separate page.”

The page is entirely empty except for 3 lines:

Step 1: You sign this contract.

Step 2: We publish your book.

Step 3: ￥￥￥

I don’t know whether that’s a joke or she’s actually being serious, but I wouldn’t understand much more if I actually read the entire thing. Miss Osagawa stands up and walks all the way around the table, stopping right next to me. Slowly leaning forward, she hands me a pen and pats my shoulder.

“All you have to do is sign the dotted line. After that I’ll handle the rest and you’ll see your book on the shelves in no time. It’s that simple.”

She confirmed everything I was thinking at that moment. It was an easy choice to make. I just have to make sure to sign it as Shotaro Tadano and not Thomas Lane. It took only a few strokes of the pen and the stamp from that seal thing Satsuki made me take with me, but now it’s official. My fate now rests in the hands of Kusachisha Publishing.