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“I don’t get it, Aoko-chan!” Sonoko wailed over her expresso mocha latte (with a shot of vanilla), “He’s good! His writing is phenomenal! People like it! So why doesn’t he want to write?!”
Aoko smiled as she added a small dash of milk to her tea, stirring it slightly to better blend the two. “Sonoko-sempai, I’m sure he’s not that bad!”
Aoko didn’t know for sure since they never traded names of their clients, but Sonoko was prone to over-exaggeration. Aoko learned this when she interned at Sonoko’s publishing company. Sonoko had been the one to introduce Aoko to editors and build a network. In a business that relied on connections, Sonoko had been a blessing.
Sonoko knew everyone. By association, Aoko now knew everyone too.
Even though Aoko had graduated to a full time position, she and Sonoko still met up for coffee and to complain about their respective clients –or client, since they each only had one. Unusual for the modern literary agent, but Sonoko and Aoko were special cases, for various reasons.
“It is!” Sonoko rushed in close, like she was telling a secret, “This last one! He wrote it to try and get rid of me! That’s what he said! ‘I wrote it so you would leave me alone! You’re not supposed to like it!’ Those were his exact words!”
Well, from what Sonoko had said over the years… that did sound like ‘Shin-teme!’ as Sonoko called him.
“At least he isn’t trying to write aliens into a mystery novel,” Aoko grumbled, taking a sip of her tea, “Stupid Bakaito.”
“But you don’t get it!” Sonoko whined, clinging to Aoko’s arm, “I would love a break from the mystery! All he wants to write is murder, murder, murder! Even his romance story is based on the fact his main character will be killed if his identity is found!”
And… yeah, Aoko could see how that would be tiring. Even though Kaito could be a handful at times, at least he kept the overall story positive. Yeah, it was a revenge story looking for the murderers of the protagonist’s father, but there were laughs here and there. It always made Aoko smile.
“Have you tried talking to him about it?” Aoko asked, patting Sonoko on the head as she calmed down.
“I have!” Sonoko sniffed, “He said it is funny!”
“Hah?”
“A child leading around the police force and being allowed at crime scenes!” Sonoko explained, “He says the idea is completely laughable! He actually laughed when he said it too!”
“Maybe he just… has a different sense of humor?” Aoko tried, “Bakaito seems to think having a certain character always ride in on a horse is hilarious, not over the top.”
“Really?” Sonoko looked up pitifully.
“He says the bastard deserves it,” Aoko quoted, smiling as she remembered the look on Kaito’s face. She was 75% sure the character Lancelot-kun was based on Hakuba-san who had a rivalry with Kaito back in high school. Kaito refused to confirm her suspicions.
“Ha!” Sonoko barked out a laugh, “That sounds like something Bakaito would say.”
Aoko reminded herself for the umpteenth time that Sonoko was not actually insulting Kaito. She just didn’t have another name for him besides what Aoko said during her rants.
“All complaining aside,” Sonoko took a sip of her coffee, “You’re planning to do some PR at the upcoming convention, right?”
“Definitely.” Aoko nodded, “Bakaito’s got his outfit all picked out, though he’s sad. He signed on for the Fantasy Panel this time, before he heard his favorite author was going to be on the Mystery one. He’s kind of bummed.”
“At least he wants to go,” Sonoko sighed, “I just finally got Shin-teme to sign up. ‘But Sonoko, I’m in the middle of a case!’ and ‘But Sonoko, the flight’s leaving at four in the morning!’” She imitated him and stuck out her tongue, “Honestly! If I left him, he’d be doing cases twenty-four/seven! And what did he expect?! He didn’t want to use the private jet! That was the only flight after the hearing that would get him there in time!”
“Yeah, Bakaito’s easy to get to conventions,” Aoko smiled, “I think he secretly likes it, the attention and stuff. Something from his father, I believe.”
“Speaking of fathers,” Sonoko sipped her drink angrily, looking like she wished it contained something stronger, “I mentioned that his father was on the same panel as him and you know what he did? He looked right at me and told me to cancel his spot. I just don’t get him!”
Aoko smiled and sighed. Tea in hand, she made herself comfortable for another round of complaining. As bad as Aoko had it sometimes, Sonoko had it worse, but that’s okay.
Next time, it was Aoko’s turn.