"Can I go too, Editor?" The moment Rika learned that her idol, Kazuki Takahashi, would be attending the Tezuka Award ceremony, her voice was practically dripping with longing.
Heishi feigned difficulty. "I can't make that decision."
Rika asked anxiously. "Then who can?!"
"Well..." Heishi said, barely holding back a laugh. "That would be Fujin."
"Hmm..." Rika caught on instantly. She puffed out her cheeks. "You're bullying me."
"Ha, sorry about that."
The one-shot version of Death Note had performed brilliantly, which put Heishi in high spirits. High enough that he'd started cracking jokes with a straight face.
Kai asked, "Can family members come along?"
"Of course," Heishi replied. Shueisha wasn't short on money. "But there should be a limit on the number."
"Understood." Kai nodded. He rubbed his sister's head and said to her, "I'll take you."
The Tezuka Award ceremony wasn't held at Shueisha. It was at a large hotel in the city center.
On the evening of May 1st, Shueisha would send a driver to pick Kai up and take him to the venue.
"That's pretty extravagant." Kai clicked his tongue. With so many people attending, he couldn't imagine how many cars they'd have to send out.
"Manga artists just need to focus on drawing manga," Heishi explained. "We don't want to waste their energy on everyday hassles."
After all, Jump was a weekly manga magazine. Being able to keep up with a weekly serialization was already superhuman. The only person who'd managed to serialize a manga for decades straight without missing a beat was probably Osamu Akimoto, the creator of KochiKame.
...
After the call ended, Rika flopped onto a table and started writing and drawing.
Kai was revising the storyboards for Death Note.
He decided to add a scene inspired by the Death Note anime where Light Yagami writes name after name in the notebook in a wild, almost ecstatic frenzy.
It had been a stunning sequence. Back when he first saw it, the raw expressiveness of the animation had genuinely shocked him.
It could only be described as an aesthetic of madness.
An hour later, the meal Yuta had prepared was ready.
Kai tasted it. Home cooking. A flavor he hadn't had in a long time.
"This is great."
He finished his rice in two or three bites and went back for another bowl.
"You're exaggerating." Yuta smiled and waved him off.
"No, I mean it." Kai chewed with both cheeks puffed out like a goldfish. "It's got a warmth to it."
"Let me try." Rika took a curious bite. "It's... okay, I guess."
It wasn't as good as their mom's. Just moderately delicious.
"Yeah," Yuta agreed. "The ingredients in Tokyo aren't that fresh. Nothing beats vegetables picked straight from the fields back home."
Rika nodded. Then she raised her hand and announced, "Forget Yuta's cooking. I want to try McDonald's!"
"I'll take you tomorrow," Kai said, pointing at her with the tip of his chopstick.
Dinner ended, and Rika and Yuta headed to the convenience store, saying they needed to buy a few things.
Kai didn't think much of it. He picked up Rika's suitcase, went upstairs to the second floor, and put her clothes into the room she'd chosen, which was right next to his own.
After that, he gave the room a quick look over. The previous owner had left it spotless, so there was nothing to clean. He went back downstairs and sat at the drafting table in the living room to work on his manga.
While he was drawing, Rika and Yuta came back with a pile of stuff.
They didn't disturb him. They pulled out envelopes and stamps and mailed the Akamaru Jump reader survey forms through the mailbox by the front door.
Rika patted her chest. Having contributed to her brother's manga career gave her a tremendous sense of accomplishment.
That night, the little girl who'd been running around all day wasn't picky about her bed at all. After a shower and a blanket pulled up to her chin, she happily drifted off to sleep.
...
Over the next two days, Kai took Yuta and Rika all over Tokyo for sightseeing.
It was his first time touring the city too, and he'd spent a fair amount of time putting together a plan for it.
They went to Ueno Zoo and waited in line for half the day, just to see the pandas for five minutes.
Kai also made good on his promise and took Rika to McDonald's. The little girl ate with pure joy on her face.
They hit Shibuya, Shinjuku, Roppongi...
Until the novelty of the big city finally started to wear off.
Then came the evening of May 1st. Yuta headed off to Kabukicho on his own, while the Fujin siblings rode in a Toyota Crown under the driver's smooth handling and arrived at the hotel right on time.
After stepping out of the car, Rika gasped. "Amazing."
Both sides of the street were lined with black Toyota Crowns, and the people coming and going were all dressed in suits and evening gowns. It looked like a gathering of the upper class.
The sight made the little country girl feel suddenly out of place.
She looked down to straighten her clothes, then glanced at the children's shoes on her feet, and started getting anxious.
Kai was wearing a very ordinary hoodie. He patted his sister on the back and pointed at himself.
"It's fine."
"Mm!" Rika nodded hard.
Kai took his sister's hand and headed toward the hotel entrance.
Having read enough web novels in his past life, he half expected to get stopped by security and stumble into some cliche scene where a nobody gets looked down on by the rich and powerful.
As it turned out, the person welcoming guests was Heishi himself.
"So this is that little girl." He looked at Rika with a kind expression. "Just as cute as I imagined. I hope you have a good time tonight."
"Thank you." Rika peeked out from behind Kai and gave a timid nod.
"Editor Heishi."
"Fujin."
Kai nodded in greeting.
"Head on in. Takahashi-sensei is already here. The middle-aged man with the curly hair, that's him."
The two of them said goodbye to Heishi and stepped into the hotel. The lobby was grand and glittering, filled with clusters of people deep in conversation.
There were socialites and well-dressed women, high-level executives talking loudly and laughing even louder.
Waiters in crisp uniforms moved through the crowd in practiced patterns, carrying trays of champagne.
Fortunately, a few people were also dressed casually, looking perfectly relaxed.
They had to be the manga artists.
"Is this whole banquet because of Brother's award?" Rika looked around, dazzled. "Isn't this a bit much?"
Kai was calm.
"Of course not. The ceremony is partly about encouraging innovation and supporting newcomers, sure. But the real purpose is to promote Shueisha's influence."
"The Tezuka Award might be the centerpiece, but the winner isn't what matters most."
Among all the Tezuka Award winners throughout history, only one or two out of every ten had gone on to become serialized manga artists.
He was both the center and an outsider.
The proof was right here. He'd been standing in this lobby for a while now, and not a single person had so much as glanced his way.
That was normal. He was still a nobody.
Where would any attention come from?
But in the future, he would become the core of the crowd.
That day wasn't far off.
It would come very soon.
_______________________
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