Drawing key animation is exhausting.
One second.
A single fleeting moment on screen took Gu Xue over two hours to draw. Because it was a running scene with the protagonist, aside from the charge-up jump which used one-on-four timing, everything else was one-on-two (24 frames per second, each drawing held for two frames). In total, there were ten key drawings. Other than the pre-jump and post-landing parts that needed in-betweens, the rest could be cleaned up and colored directly once confirmed.
That was already incredibly fast.
She didn't know if it was because she'd changed bodies and her mind had become more delicate, but Gu Xue felt amazing. It wasn't even midnight yet, and she already felt like she'd reached her peak state.
Time slipped by, and Gu Xue kept drawing until a little past four in the morning before leaving the company to go home and sleep.
Two cuts, over ten seconds of footage—finishing all of it in a single day was impossible. Even though she felt her state improving the more she drew, her life mattered more.
After getting home, she didn't run into Gu Rou. She quietly went upstairs, and even after collapsing onto the bed, her thoughts were still stuck on those two cuts.
The next day, everything repeated.
Go to work. Keep grinding.
By eight that night, she'd finished all the key animation for one cut. Even Gu Xue herself was a little shocked. This was an action-heavy cut, and she'd cleaned the second keyframes herself. If she hadn't been completely clear-headed, she might've thought she'd gained some kind of system or cheat ability…
She even tried calling out to a "system" a few times.
No response.
Gu Xue laughed shyly, then stretched. Every movement and expression was oddly alluring. A key animator heading to the restroom happened to pass by and froze on the spot when he saw her.
"..."
Catching him in the corner of her eye, Gu Xue immediately lowered her head again, pretending to work seriously. After he left, she checked the finalized keyframes, added reference motion paths and similar indicators between the frames that needed in-betweens, then took out the timing sheet, set the timing for each drawing, clipped the keyframes together, and set them aside.
Next was the following cut.
The protagonist grabs the big toe in midair, the toe transforms into the holy sword, and then the protagonist dives straight toward the ground.
The A portion of this cut was actually pretty easy to draw. Because of the camera angle, she only needed to capture the keyframes of the right hand reaching for the big toe in midair. The B and C portions were also simple—the character stayed suspended, and all she had to draw was the sword forming. If she wanted to be lazy, she could even keep the protagonist's expression completely deadpan.
After all, it was just a trashy light-novel adaptation meant for edgy posing.
But Gu Xue didn't want to.
Today, she felt even better than yesterday.
After thinking it over for a while, Gu Xue decided to modify the composition and the existing storyboard. She added a top-down shot to show the protagonist grabbing the big toe. At the instant it was caught, she drew an explosive burst, with ribbon-like streams of energy surging upward. At the same time, the camera followed the energy downward to the protagonist's side, where the holy sword took form. The protagonist spun once, the camera rotating along with the sword's ribbon-like energy, then suddenly pulled far back into a long shot as the protagonist kicked off an invisible air wall behind him and smashed down toward the ground.
Anyone who's ever drawn key animation knows how insanely troublesome and difficult this kind of freewheeling shot design is.
But Gu Xue decided—
She'd just burn herself out once.
That day, she drew straight through until six in the morning.
Her condition just kept getting better. Gu Xue even wondered if she'd been possessed. If her phone hadn't rung, she probably would've kept drawing.
After leaving the company and taking the train home, Gu Xue suddenly felt a bit guilty.
The call had been from Gu Rou.
She opened the front door, changed her shoes, and walked into the living room.
Sure enough, Gu Rou was sitting on the sofa, dressed in office attire, looking imposing.
If Gu Xue was overflowing with a seductive, high-school-girl vibe, then Gu Rou was the kind of mature woman who radiated authority at first glance. The two sisters actually looked very similar—both extremely beautiful—but perhaps because of their different life experiences, their auras were completely different.
"Where did you go last night?"
Gu Rou didn't sound like a domineering woman at all. Her voice was too soft, and with the worry written all over her face, the authoritative image she'd just built collapsed instantly. She suddenly looked like an older, grown-up version of Gu Xue.
"…Work," Gu Xue replied. To hide her nervousness and guilt, she subtly turned her body sideways so Gu Rou wouldn't get a good look at her face.
Even without a mirror, she could imagine it clearly—her dark circles had to be awful. She probably looked half-dead.
"Xiao Xue."
Noticing that her sister was deliberately avoiding eye contact, Gu Rou sighed. She stood up, pulled Gu Xue over to the sofa, and sat her down gently.
"If you really like drawing, can't you just draw at home? There's manga too, isn't there? Why do you have to go to an animation company? You're a girl—staying out all night isn't okay. Yesterday you came back after four in the morning, and today it was straight-up dawn. If I hadn't called you, would you have even come home?"
"..." Gu Xue scratched her cheek, feeling a little embarrassed.
If Gu Rou hadn't called, she really might not have come back. If she got too tired or lost her momentum, she would've just fallen asleep at her desk. She was used to it.
"Xiao Xue, come home and draw. It doesn't matter if you make money or not," Gu Rou said, rubbing her temples. "Didn't you watch an anime in the living room a while ago? That one where the female lead never leaves the house—what was it called? Something-something 'Ero-sensei'? I think living like that would be pretty good. Your sister can support you."
Gu Xue: "..."
The offer was tempting.
But weren't you worried I'd turn into a useless shut-in…?
And also—what the hell is "E-something-something"? That anime is basically identical to the one back on Earth in certain ways. Are you encouraging your sister to draw that kind of stuff…?
"How is that any different from being a dead fish?"
Gu Xue shot back. Without waiting for Gu Rou to respond—or maybe just to hide her guilt—she immediately stood up and ran upstairs, ignoring Gu Rou calling after her.
Watching the slender figure dash up the stairs, Gu Rou opened her mouth, but in the end didn't chase after her. Instead, she took out her phone, opened a search engine, and typed:
"What to do when your younger sister enters a rebellious phase"
Meanwhile, Gu Xue ran into her room and only let out a sigh of relief after closing the door.
Gu Rou's almost doting attitude was too much for her to handle.
"Sis…" Gu Xue murmured softly. Then she shook her head, stopped thinking about it, turned around, and threw herself onto the bed.
Afternoon.
Gu Xue rubbed her eyes and stumbled downstairs.
Seven hours of sleep felt like nothing. She brushed her teeth in a daze, showered in a daze, then walked out of the bathroom feeling oddly refreshed.
Gu Xue suddenly realized—
She seemed to have adapted.
After drying her hair and tying it into a ponytail, Gu Xue changed clothes, rested a bit, and went to work.
This time was slightly different from before.
She finally stopped wearing those obviously-too-hot sweatpants and canvas shoes, and instead put on a skirt and white sandals, openly showing off her round, long legs.
The company's central air conditioning wasn't set very low, so wearing long pants was actually pretty hot.
But she regretted it the moment she stepped outside.
She was stared at the entire way.
And when she got to the company, people were still staring.
I'm only wearing this once.
If I wear it again, I'm a dog.
With that resolution in mind, Gu Xue yanked out her chair and sat down with a scowl.
She should be able to finish the remaining keyframes today. Gu Rou had specifically messaged her, telling her to come home early. Gu Xue didn't want to deal with her nagging either—better to finish early and go back. Constantly burning herself out was really bad for her health.
She had a million thoughts in her head, but the moment she picked up her pencil, all of them vanished. She focused completely on her work.
Time passed.
At midnight, Gu Xue finally finished all the keyframes for one cut. At the same time, she confirmed something—
It wasn't that her condition was good.
She had simply become much better.
She stacked the keyframes neatly in numerical order, clipped them together with the completed timing sheet, picked up the other finished cut, and walked to the other side of the office. She placed the drawings directly on the episode director's desk and prepared to leave.
But just before leaving, she remembered something.
After hesitating for a moment, she also tossed over the other animator's drawings—the pile she'd originally been assigned to clean up.
After all, the two cuts she drew hadn't followed the storyboard at all, and she hadn't communicated with the director either. She'd worked with the mindset of "finish this job and go home to be supported by my sister." If the director thought it wasn't acceptable, then so be it.
You can find someone else to clean up that pile of garbage.
Even if there isn't enough time—
I'm not accompanying you.
That was probably the message Gu Xue wanted to send when she tossed that pile over as well.
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Read a lot of more chapters of this fic on my patr eon: patr eon.com/KyoHaruhi