How can I let go of the matter of saving my stepsister?

"It would be nice if Ms. Sugino were here."

Miss Sugino is the production manager Miki Sugino, the woman in the studio with a hot body but always with hair down to her eyebrows and wearing thick black-framed glasses, which makes people feel that she always looks ordinary.

If Sato Yuu and Mochizuki Nanae are tied for first place among those who want a sister-not-sister anime to be popular, then Sugino Miki must be second.

As for Sato Yu, she always dotes on him in every way, not only after he showed his talent in original painting, but also before that.

If she were there, Sato Yu thought he would definitely be able to ask for a drink.

"Miki?"

Due to the closeness of their relationship, Sato Yuu calls the production manager Miss Sugino, while Mochizuki Nanae affectionately calls her Miki.

But for some reason, even though she was talking about the name of a close friend, Mochizuki Nanae's face looked unhappy at this time.

Sato Yuu didn't notice this and continued talking.

"Yeah, if she was here, I would definitely have a drink. But where did she go? She wasn't even at the celebration party."

"I gave out ten cards of original art to a person before, and they haven't been taken back yet. She's always worried, so she drove over to get it. She'll probably be back soon."

"It's really hard work. You always work silently."

"Miki is such a serious person, I like her very much."

"Yeah, I like it too."

Nodding heavily, Sato You smiled and agreed with Mochizuki Nanae's words.

I don’t know why, but the moment the words fell, Mochizuki Nanae’s face seemed to turn even darker.

"You won't get any drinks tonight."

"?"

Sato Yu had no idea what had made Mochizuki Nanae so angry.

In fact, by the end of the celebration banquet, he could only barely smell a hint of alcohol, and when others wanted to try his drink, they were all blocked by Mochizuki Nanae with a murderous look.

"Eh~"

How did I offend Mochizuki Nanae? It’s really hard to guess what a woman is thinking.

After leaving the izakaya, Sato You couldn't help but sigh and walked towards the station near the company. When he was almost at the station, he realized that he had left his wallet in the company.

As misfortunes never come singly, with a wry smile, Sato You ran back.

"Drip, drip!"

It was very late at night. When Sato You climbed the steps and reached out to push the company door, he suddenly heard a car horn. It was very urgent, and it seemed that it was not warning pedestrians, but honking the horn to vent anger.

At this time, the only people still near the company were internal staff. Out of curiosity, Sato You walked around the wall and looked towards the parking space.

Under the bright lights, production manager Miki Sugino was sitting in the dispatch car, slamming the steering wheel hard, then falling even harder on it, her body shaking and twitching.

She was crying loudly.

Volume 24: Chapter Chapter . Breach of Trust

Develop the production schedule for the plan, assign work, control progress, supervise the situation of each department, distribute storyboards and collect them on the specified days, participate in almost all the processes of the animation from beginning to end, and be busy all the time and have almost no rest.

Director Nanae Mochizuki is supporting the "Sister, Not Sister" project from collapsing. Miki Sugino, a woman who silently bears enormous pressure and is responsible for every step of the animation production process, a woman who is more troublesome than likable, is also supporting the project and striving to pull it out of the edge of the abyss.

Moreover, Miki Sugino has always taken good care of him.

When he resigned, the only person who took the trouble to send him text messages and even after being blocked, still made dozens of calls and sent hundreds of messages was Miki Sugino.

It was impossible to ignore her pain, bang bang bang, bang, bang, Sato Yu knocked on the car window.

It is always difficult for people to make any positive response to external stimuli when they break down. She was still crying in the car, but crying more quietly. Sugino Miki did not look up.

She probably didn't want to show her vulnerable appearance in front of others. Even though anyone who saw her could clearly tell that she was crying, she didn't want others to see her ugly crying face.

"Miss Sugino, Miss Sugino!"

Sato Yu shouted twice, and Sugino Miki immediately raised her head.

Others can't do it, but Sato Yu seems to be able to.

See, she always dotes on Sato Yu.

"Please open the door."

After this request was made, Sugino Miki did as she was told a moment later and pushed the door open a crack. Sato Yuu took over and opened it completely, allowing him to see the situation inside the car clearly.

In the commuter car, Miki Sugino curled up in her seat, her fragile state clearly visible.

Slowly raising her head, she turned her tearful face towards Sato Yu. She was obviously shocked and her eyes were slightly out of focus.

Sato Yu was stunned.

No matter how much he liked black-framed glasses, he could not wear them when he was crying. It fell at Miki Sugino's feet.

Although her ugly eyebrows were covered by her hair, without the glasses, she finally revealed most of her face, which was refreshing and made people realize that her appearance was not as ordinary as they thought. Her fair face had a red nose and tear marks all over her cheeks, which wrinkled from time to time with her sobs. Unexpectedly...

so cute.

Sato Yu might be a weird person. Rather than watching girls' beautiful smiles, he prefers to watch them cry. He thinks that their looks when they are on the verge of collapse but trying to be strong are quite beautiful, and the shyness that they are too embarrassed to see in person but have to see makes them even more fascinating.

Ms. Sugino, who seemed to be ordinary-looking, is surprisingly cute.

"Did something happen?"

"me......"

Sato Yuu asked, still sobbing and tears streaming down her face. Sugino Miki wanted to say something, but she opened her lips and teeth but in the end she couldn't say anything because of the shortness of breath.

It hurts.

In the face of Sugino Miki's sorrowful look, Sato Yu walked forward to break the last bit of safe distance between them, held her in his arms, and gently patted her slender back.

“Woo… wooooo.”

Such tenderness could not help with the evil things that happened before, but it was exactly what Sugino Miki needed at the moment. She burst into tears again in Sato Yu's arms, and in an instant, her tears soaked his clothes.

To be able to cry like this, she must have suffered a great injustice. He just let her cry in his arms and vent all the resentment and grievances in her heart. Only when her crying became quieter did Sato Yu move away and look into her red eyes.

He asked softly.

"Is it about the original painting?"

At the celebration party, Nanae Mochizuki had mentioned going to Sugino Miki to get the original drawings. But at this time, she drove back to the company alone, slammed the steering wheel hard to express her dissatisfaction and burst into tears. The only thing she could think of that would make her collapse was that something went wrong with the original drawings.

"Ah."

Finally regaining some of her usual rationality, Sugino Miki hummed softly, tried hard to wipe away her tears to make herself look less embarrassed, and cried as she talked.

“The animation won’t play.”

"The original painting was not collected? If it was just a little bit short..."

"Ten cards!"

"?"

"Ten cards! Ten cards and I didn't collect any!"

Beating her thighs hard with both hands, Miki Sugino screamed explosively.

Immediately, she curled up in the seat with her head buried in her knees, and spoke in a muffled and intermittent voice, finally explaining the general situation.

"There were nearly thirty cards that had not been distributed before. The supervisor drew ten cards himself, and Sato, you led everyone to help digest ten cards. The remaining ten cards were given to individual original artists who happened to have free time.

Tono and Watanabe are both original artists I met in the previous project.

I thought they were trustworthy, and for double the price... I thought they were trustworthy."

"It's all my fault! Although Tono and Watanabe are not good at drawing, they can still draw original paintings. I know they are very short of money and will definitely accept the job at double the price, so I recommended them to the supervisor and asked the supervisor to use his own money to make up for it.

There shouldn't be any problem this way, I thought, and in the days that followed I kept calling them to ask about the progress.

Friday night, Friday night!

Every time I asked them, they said there was no problem and that they would be able to hand in the original drawings tonight. They were so confident that they seemed to have already completed many original drawings for cards, so I believed them.

But tonight I went to their house and knocked on the door, but no matter how hard I knocked, I couldn't get it open. I called them desperately and sent them text messages non-stop, and I kept sending and sending, until I finally got through to them.

They said the work would not be completed and the money would be returned.

I said it doesn’t matter if it’s not finished, as long as there are as many original paintings as possible!

After all, it's four days. Even if the work is not completed, it won't be too far off. As long as it's not too far off, there's always a chance to make up for it in one day.

But they said, Sato-kun, you know what they said?"

Having confided this, Sugino Miki stopped sobbing, slowly and leisurely raised her face full of despair, opened her tearful eyes and asked Sato Yuu empty-handed.

The answer had already been given, and knowing it clearly, Sato Yu only felt a sharp pain in his heart.

Develop planning and production schedules, assign work, control progress, supervise the situation of each department, distribute storyboards and collect them on designated days, and participate in almost all production processes of the animation from start to finish.

His cell phone is always on, and he runs around every day without stopping. He even doesn't bother to attend the celebration banquet, just to ensure that the animation can be released on schedule. He still drives to work when everyone is relaxing.

Under her urging, everyone suppressed their dissatisfaction and worked hard, squeezing their sleep time to struggle to draw the original draft. Finally, the unsatisfactory schedule was overcome by everyone's concerted efforts. The dawn of hope has appeared. The TV station's schedule adjustment can free up another week for everyone to catch their breath and allow the animation production to proceed smoothly.

It seems that everything is moving in the right direction, but, but!

"Ten cards!"

"They didn't draw a single original painting! The person I recommended ruined everything. Everyone tried so hard, and I tried so hard too. But in the end, because of me, everything was ruined..."

After crying out loud, tears streaming down her cheeks, Sugino Miki fell silent.

"It's all over, I messed up everything!"

Skirt~

Volume 25: Chapter Chapter . Minors are awesome

A disorganized production team, a muddy plan, and a straightforward girl who makes you feel sorry for her and want to help her realize her plan.

Bit by bit, silently, watching over everything and taking care of everything, he worked tirelessly and finally built the high-rise building, and finally created a shelter for the straightforward girl. However, due to his own negligence, it collapsed, and all the efforts of everyone were destroyed.

It's natural to collapse when hit by something like this.

Even if the culprits of all this were the two bastard painters who fooled Sugino Miki and betrayed her trust, with her personality, as a production manager who silently took on many responsibilities, Sugino Miki would only think it was her own fault.

Sato Yuu saw a little bit of himself in his previous life in Sugino Miki, who had also suffered such betrayal. He could almost empathize with her mood at the moment.

"I don't know what to do..."

"It's clearly the last moment. If I just take back those ten cards, I can breathe a sigh of relief. But I let all the efforts go to waste. The animation can't catch up with the V editor, can't be submitted to the TV station, can't be broadcast, breach of contract, compensation, disbandment...

It was all my fault.”

"It's not your fault, it's theirs..."

"It's my fault. I hired the wrong person. It's too late to say anything now. No one can take on these original paintings."

Her tears had completely dried up, and she seemed to have expended too much energy. She covered her face with her hands, and her voice was weak, as if she would die at any moment.

If the worst-case scenario really happens and she is blamed by everyone, or even if she is not blamed but comforted instead and thinks it is her own fault, will Sugino Miki, who has been bearing all the pressure, really decide to live?

Observing her current mental state, Sato Yu had a bad premonition lingering over her head.

“Perhaps there is still a chance to make amends.”

After a slight hesitation, Sato You said tentatively.

"The outsourcing company cannot be relied upon. The available connections have already been used up. The individual original artists cannot be contacted and cannot be trusted. No one in the production team is working on the original paintings for the fifth episode. They are all working on the fourth episode, so there is no question of calling on anyone.

As for the people who are free, Sato, you will be responsible for supervising those numerous outsourced cards. The only one left is Hiromi, and she draws slowly and poorly... Even if we want to call other people from the company to the company to work overnight, when we call we are told that they are all drunk!

There is no production capacity at all, and it is hopeless.”

Not someone who gives up easily, Sugino Miki actually still forced herself to stay calm after learning that the ten-card original painting could not be recovered. She tried hard to think of every possible method and called everyone she could ask for help.

But no matter how much she prayed, no one could respond to her.

Putting aside those unreliable external aids, the people who really work hard to do these things, the production team has accumulated a lot of fatigue and pressure from the heavy work in recent days. They indulged themselves crazily at the celebration party, one after another got drunk, even Mochizuki Nanae...

All the bad things seem to have gathered on this day, on this night, and someone is destined to be sleepless tonight.

"Ah."