When the sky was only beginning to brighten at dawn, Kamiyā Yuu opened his eyes. Looking around the familiar layout of the bedroom, he was suddenly struck by a long-forgotten sense of unfamiliarity. The time discrepancy caused by traveling back and forth between two worlds often gave rise to similar illusions.
Kamiyā Sora was nestled in his arms, her sleeping face sweet and peaceful. Her silver-white hair lay scattered across the bed, possessing an unreal, dreamlike beauty. Her sleeping posture could hardly be called elegant; her white silk pajamas were slightly disheveled, revealing her smooth, flawless shoulder.
Kamiyā Yuu shook his head with a smile. Gently brushing the silver strands from her face, he quietly got out of bed and walked onto the bedroom balcony to take in the surrounding scenery.
The luxury apartment stood adjacent to a park, and from his balcony, he could overlook the entire area. It was a typical Japanese-style garden: dense groves of trees formed cool shade, while a gentle stream flowed beneath a wooden bridge. On a rainy day, it would probably become an even more breathtaking sight. In such an environment, even the air seemed filled with a refreshing fragrance.
A major reason Kamiyā Yuu had chosen this apartment was precisely because of that park. It felt detached from the bustling metropolis of Tokyo; living here, one would never hear unnecessary noise.
"'Fate/Zero'... The anime's production is nearly complete, so it's about time I started writing the novel."
Leaning against the railing and gazing at the park, he muttered to himself. The memories he had organized regarding the Type-Moon series in the other world were still vivid in his mind.
After a while, Kamiyā Yuu returned to the bedroom and changed into the black business suit he normally wore to work. Reflected in the mirror, he looked every bit the accomplished professional.
His appearance was not particularly outstanding, but his features were well-proportioned and naturally likable. The most striking thing about him was probably his eyes—expressive and filled with mature confidence.
"I'll leave the suit jacket off for now. If it gets splattered with oil while I'm making breakfast, I'll have to send it out for cleaning again. Too troublesome."
Having learned that lesson several times already, Kamiyā Yuu simply carried the jacket downstairs. After washing up, he began his morning routine. He took the laundry out of the washing machine and hung it to dry before heading into the kitchen.
Rolling up his sleeves carefully, he opened the refrigerator and started taking out ingredients for breakfast. Each item was inspected one by one, occasionally lifted for a quick sniff to ensure freshness.
"The dumplings wrapped during the weekend, eggs, leftover hamburger steak from last night, ham, and tomatoes can be made into sandwiches. A breakfast combining Chinese and Western styles isn't bad. Nutritious too."
"Now then, what should I make for today's bento..."
Having finalized the breakfast menu, he began considering lunch.
Japanese kitchens were usually extremely well-equipped, and Kamiyā Yuu himself knew how to cook. As long as he had the ingredients, he could easily prepare virtually any dish he knew by name. His culinary skills surpassed those of master chefs at the Imperial Hotel by quite a margin.
By the time he finished preparing breakfast and the bento, it was already past seven in the morning. While warming milk, he went to wake Kamiyā Sora.
After dawdling around until after eight o'clock, Kamiyā Yuu finally drove Kamiyā Sora to Yosuganosora Animation Studio.
...
"Kamiyā-kun, this is the character design draft after the third round of revisions. Please have a look."
Uehara Etsuki held the original character artwork for Madokami with both hands and presented it to Kamiyā Yuu. Then she sat gracefully and calmly in the chair before his desk, waiting for his response.
Time seemed unable to leave any trace upon her. Her black hair, which once fell to her waist, had been arranged into an elegant hairstyle secured by a single black hairpin. Her refined and dignified face never revealed excessive emotion. Even Kamiyā Yuu found it difficult to imagine a third expression beyond her faint smile and serious demeanor.
Simply sitting quietly gave her an air of elegance and solemnity. When her black eyes looked at someone, they conveyed an indescribable sense of detachment, as though her attention was not truly focused on that person at all.
She was not the type of woman who awakened instinctive desire in men. Rather, she resembled a cup of simple tea that required careful appreciation. Spending time with her brought an initial bitterness, followed by a lingering sweetness.
Kamiyā Yuu stared at her face absentmindedly for a moment before withdrawing his gaze prior to her noticing. He accepted the submitted character draft.
In just a single day, the design had undergone a dramatic transformation.
Based on the previous version, it had been refined in far greater detail. Kaname Madoka's tied-up hair now flowed down in long, dreamlike strands. Her overall image and temperament had changed from that of an ordinary girl into a holy goddess beyond profanation.
The pink-and-white dress had also evolved from its formerly dignified elegance into something filled with fantasy elements, possessing an indescribable level of exquisite detail.
It was breathtakingly beautiful.
Under normal circumstances, artwork of this complexity would never be used in animation production. Simply drawing the character model would require enough effort to complete an entire episode's worth of key animation.
Yet this was exactly the design Kamiyā Yuu had envisioned.
Kaname Madoka's transformation into Madokami occupied only a relatively short portion of the anime. The more visually stunning that scene became, the deeper the impression it would leave on viewers at the conclusion.
"Teacher, you finished Madoka's character design in only one day?"
Unable to conceal his surprise, Kamiyā Yuu asked.
Honestly, he didn't believe he possessed that level of skill himself. Even given a week, he wasn't sure he could produce a character design of this caliber.
This wasn't mere imitation. It was a creative process built upon a deep understanding of the character while further developing her toward a specific artistic direction. Such work inevitably represented a transcendence of previous designs.
Uehara Etsuki nodded with a faint smile.
"Kamiyā-kun seems very concerned about this design. Since it may be related to the ending of 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica,' I couldn't exactly afford to be lazy. The revisions were all based on the second draft anyway. Changing the design approach wasn't particularly troublesome."
"Even so, the quality far exceeded my expectations. You've been a huge help. Kuroneko's magic-circle background artwork is also nearly finished, so production can be moved forward quite a bit."
He paused before adding:
"By the way, could I trouble you to personally draw the key animation cuts featuring this Madoka design? I feel that a character model at this level isn't something ordinary key animators can handle."
As he looked at the Madokami design sheet, he spoke half-jokingly.
"Thank you for the compliment. Since Kamiyā-kun places such trust in me, naturally I won't refuse."
Kamiyā Yuu awkwardly rubbed his face.
"Sorry. I've ended up giving you even more unnecessary work."
Covering her lips with her sleeve, Uehara Etsuki's beautiful eyes curved with amusement.
"My previous words didn't carry any hidden meaning. Besides, Kamiyā-kun cares more about this anime than anyone. Seeing how hard you're working, I always feel somewhat guilty if I don't work hard as well, as though I'd be letting Kamiyā-kun down."
"Haha~ Then give me a strawberry milk-flavored lollipop first. I still remember that's your special reward."
Kamiyā Yuu spoke somewhat embarrassedly, his tone tinged with nostalgia.
At the mention of lollipops, Uehara Etsuki briefly fell into a daze. Then the smile in her eyes deepened.
"Very well. Then this shall be Kamiyā-kun's reward."
There really was one!
Kamiyā Yuu stretched out his hand in surprise and received the familiar strawberry milk-flavored lollipop.
"Do you actually carry these around with you? I thought you kept them in your office. I've hardly ever seen you eat them, after all."
Holding the lollipop and examining it, he couldn't help asking with a strange expression.
Come to think of it, where had Uehara Etsuki just pulled the candy from?
"Because many people like them, and carrying them around isn't inconvenient."
Uehara Etsuki smiled slightly.
—Before worrying about whether it's inconvenient, shouldn't you first consider whether carrying lollipops around all the time is useful?
Kamiyā Yuu silently complained to himself.
It really had been a long time since he'd received one of Uehara Etsuki's lollipop rewards.
As for exactly when that stopped, even he couldn't remember.
Probably around the time he had officially begun producing anime.