Tokyo: The Manga Begins with the Funeral of Frilian

The system notification sound flashed through my mind.

Kamiya Yuuma didn't pay any attention and lowered his head again.

"The first chapter's final draft is almost finished. Next, I'll draw the opening color page."

"What color brochure?"

"We need it for the serialization meeting. The storyboard outline isn't enough; I need to show them the finished product."

Shiori Shirakawa sat down opposite him.

"Kamiya-kun, you've gone mad."

"He's not crazy."

"A normal person would die if they didn't sleep for more than 30 hours."

"I'm not dead yet."

Shiori Shirakawa took a deep breath.

"You need to rest at least a bit. Even two hours of sleep would be helpful."

"Finish drawing before you sleep."

"When will it be finished?"

"The color brochure will probably take another whole day."

"A whole day? That adds up to forty-eight hours!"

"Um."

Kamiya Yuma responded, but didn't stop what he was doing.

Shiori Shirakawa stared at him for a full ten seconds.

  

Then he stood up and walked towards the kitchen.

"I'll make you some coffee."

Kamiya Yuma said thank you and then lowered his head.

"The first chapter's original manuscript is finished."

He tapped the thick stack of manuscript paper on the table.

"Page 32. The next page is a color page."

Shiori Shirakawa watched as he pulled a flat plastic box out of his backpack.

turn on.

It contained cheap watercolor paints.

The most basic twelve-color palette used in elementary school art classes.

"You're going to use this?"

"Um."

Yuma Kamiya spread a sheet of watercolor paper on the table.

"Outline with a G-pen and color with watercolors. This technique has never been used in Jump before."

"Is it because it's difficult to draw?"

"Because it's too slow. Watercolors require layering, and you have to wait for them to dry before you can paint the next layer. Most cartoonists don't use this method for weekly serializations."

"Then why do you want to use it?"

Yuma Kamiya did not answer.

He picked up the G pen and made the first stroke on the paper.

The color illustration depicts Frilian standing amidst a sea of ​​blue moonflowers.

In her memory, the hero Simmel stood not far away, turning around to look at her.

Frilian reached out, her fingertips almost touching Simmel's back.

The two figures are separated by a vast sea of ​​flowers.

Shiori Shirakawa watched him draw.

The G-pen strokes fall down.

He was so stable that it was hard to believe he hadn't slept for over thirty hours.

It was already afternoon when the line drawing was finished.

Yuma Kamiya opened the watercolor box.

I squeezed cobalt blue and ultramarine into the palette.

Two shades of blue are mixed together.

It was diluted with water to a very light color.

"The Blue Moon Grass is blue."

He muttered something to himself.

Then I picked up a paintbrush.

When the first layer of color is applied.

Shiori Shirakawa held her breath.

The coolness of cobalt blue and the warmth of ultramarine blend together and spread across the paper.

Like the sky at dusk.

A color between melancholy and warmth, she had never seen before.

"What's this shade of blue called?"

Shiori Shirakawa couldn't help but ask.

"Frilian Blue"

As Kamiya Yuma spoke, he covered it with a second layer.

The colors are layered one after another.

Frillie's silver hair had a faint sheen in the blue.

Kamiya Yuma's hands remained steady throughout.

But fine beads of sweat began to appear on his forehead.

Shiori Shirakawa picked up a towel, hesitated for a moment, and then reached out to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

...

By evening, two-thirds of the color pages were completed.

Shiori Shirakawa prepared dinner and placed it beside him.

She heated it up again and again before finally speaking up to offer her advice.

"Kamiya-kun, the food is getting cold."

"Wait a moment."

Yuma Kamiya remained engrossed in his work.

"You've been waiting for three hours."

She remained unmoved.

"Three, two..."

"They're here! They're here!"

Kamiya Yuma quickly picked up the bowl.

He ate quickly, his eyes never leaving the colorful page.

"Only one last part is left."

After eating, simply put the bowl aside.

I picked up my paintbrush again.

The last part is Frilian's eyes.

Yuma Kamiya switched to the smallest pen and dipped it in a tiny bit of cobalt blue.

The pen tip landed on Frillie's pupils.

Gently, as if afraid of waking something.

All that's missing is Simmel's expression.

Yuma Kamiya switched to a finer pen.

The pen tip landed on Simmel's eye.

There was a faint smile in those eyes.

His lips were slightly upturned, but not fully open.

It was as if the words "I like you" were already on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed them back.

Yuma Kamiya mixed a new blue on the palette.

A gray with a hint of warmth.

He draped this blue over both Simmel and Frilian.

The sea of ​​flowers suddenly seemed very deep and far away.

Shiori Shirakawa stares at the screen.

Between Frilian's hand and Simmel, there were only a few centimeters of blue.

But that blue was too deep.

So deep that you know you can never walk through those few centimeters.

After finishing the last stroke, Yuma Kamiya put the paintbrush into the water glass.

The water in the glass had turned a murky blue.

He stared at the color page for a long time.

"Shiori".

"Um?"

He neatly placed the completed first chapter manuscript and color pages on the low table.

That's my answer.

Shiori Shirakawa looked at the colored page.

Frilian stood in the sea of ​​flowers, reaching out her hand, her fingertips pointing towards Simmel's retreating figure.

Simmel turned around, her expression so gentle it was almost unbearable to look directly at her.

The two figures are separated by a whole patch of blue Crescent Grass.

"This is also my weapon."

Shiori Shirakawa stood there, her eyes red-rimmed.

It took her a long time to speak.

"You will win."

"I know."

Yuma Kamiya walked to the window and drew back the curtains.

The morning sunlight streamed in. The ginkgo leaves shimmered golden in the morning light.

He hadn't slept for forty-eight hours.

But he wasn't sleepy at all.

Monday morning at 7:00 AM.

Shiori Shirakawa took a leave of absence for the first time ever.

"I'll go with you."

She put on her shoes in the entryway, her tone resolute.

"You can't get into the serialized meeting."

Yuma Kamiya carefully placed the manuscript into a file bag.

"I'll wait for you downstairs."

Shiori Shirakawa tied her shoelaces, straightened up, and looked at him.

"No matter what the outcome, you can't leave the editorial office alone."

Kamiya Yuma looked at her and did not refuse.

"Let's go."

He tucked the file bag under his arm and pushed open the door.

......

Shueisha Building.

There were only three people in the elevator.

Ryota Onodera pressed the button for the sixth floor, turned around, and his gaze fell on Shiori Shirakawa.

"Is this the person you're repaying?"

Kamiya Yuma sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"Senior, you're about to lose your job, and you're still gossiping."

"It's precisely because I'm about to lose my job that I have to ask a few more questions."

Ryota Onodera replied confidently.

Then he nodded to Shiori Shirakawa.

"This guy doesn't say anything in the editorial department except draw comics, and he won't say whether he has a girlfriend or not."

"Senior, you didn't even ask."

"Then I'll ask now."

Shiori Shirakawa suppressed a laugh and bowed slightly to Ryota Onodera.

"Thank you for taking care of this idiot, senior."

Ryota Onodera waved his hand.

"Kamiya-kun works very hard."

The elevator doors opened. Ryota Onodera pointed towards the end of the corridor.

"The meeting room is over there; it has sofas and magazines. The meeting will probably last an hour."

Shiori Shirakawa nodded and glanced at Yuma Kamiya.

"I'll be waiting for you over there."