Tokyo: The Manga Begins with the Funeral of Frilian

"Regarding the reprint of the publication, someone has been assigned to follow up on it."

Ryota Onodera slowly sat down at the low table in the room and casually placed the two bottles of sake from the plastic bag he had brought on the table.

"I've already called the printing plant. This time, the reprint is for 50,000 copies. As for the paper needed, it was allocated from the reprint quota of 'Battle Rhapsody'. When that old guy Takahashi heard the news, he almost crushed his coffee cup."

He reached for the chopsticks on the table, picked up a hamburger steak, and put it in his mouth.

"Kamiya."

"What's wrong?"

"The first print run of this work was 30,000 copies, and to our surprise, it sold out in just three days. Now, the phone is still ringing off the hook with calls for additional orders. Even the manager of Kinokuniya Shinjuku store sent a fax saying that some people have been lining up to buy it since 5 a.m."

He slowly swallowed the hamburger steak in his mouth.

"You've won this time."

Shiori Shirakawa walked out of the kitchen carrying a bowl of miso soup. Upon hearing this, she subconsciously paused.

"Are all the books sold out?"

"Not a single one is left."

Ryota Onodera first poured himself a glass of sake, and then poured one for Yuma Kamiya as well.

"Furthermore, on the secondhand market, your signed illustrations have been sold for 3,000 yen each. Some people have even bought five books at once just to collect different styles of the Azure Grass pattern."

Shiori Shirakawa placed the miso soup in her hand on the table and then sat down at the table.

She didn't say anything, but the upward curve of her lips was impossible to suppress.

Yuma Kamiya reached out and picked up the wine glass on the table.

"How is things going with Deputy Editor-in-Chief Takahashi?"

  

"He doesn't dare to say another word now."

Ryota Onodera and Yuma Kamiya lightly clinked their glasses together.

"At the serialization meeting this morning, he just sat in the corner the whole time without saying a word. Editor-in-Chief Tanaka even asked him, 'Deputy Editor-in-Chief Takahashi, do you have any opinions on the work 'Frilian'?'"

"How did he respond?"

"Of course, the answer is 'no'."

Ryota Onodera imitated those two words very well. His voice was very low, conveying a sense of frustration, a feeling of resentment mixed with the inability to accept reality.

Shiori Shirakawa couldn't help but laugh when she heard this.

"And then?"

"Naturally, we'll be discussing the color cover of chapter seven."

Ryota Onodera downed the sake in his cup in one gulp, then poured himself another.

"The cover for the opening color page of chapter seven has been finalized. All the promotional resources that were previously suspended have now been resumed. The posters for the stores will be in place next week. This morning, when Director Yoshikawa passed by the editorial department, he even stood right next to my workstation."

Ryota Onodera placed his wine glass on the table.

"I can count the number of times I've seen Yoshikawa Taro nod in approval during my twelve years at Jump on one hand."

Kamiya Yuma didn't say anything, but silently picked up his glass and took a small sip.

Shiori Shirakawa stood up and brought out another dish from the kitchen.

"Onodera-senpai, please eat more."

"Why is the food so plentiful today?"

"Because Shiori guessed that you would come today, senpai."

Kamiya Yuma spoke up.

Ryota Onodera glanced at Shiori Shirakawa, then turned to look at Yuma Kamiya.

"Did you two know all along that this book would sell out?"

Shiori Shirakawa nodded slightly.

"I have always believed in him."

Ryota Onodera looked at the two of them and put down his chopsticks.

"I'm stuffed."

"You're full so quickly?"

"The editorial department still has things to handle; the reprinted covers need to be recolored."

He stood up and went to the entrance to change his shoes.

Shiori Shirakawa went to see him off.

Ryota Onodera put on his shoes and turned around to look at her.

"Miss Shiori."

"Um."

"During the three days he spent drawing those thousand autographed drawings, did you hardly get any sleep either?"

Shiori Shirakawa paused for a moment when she heard the question.

"I slept well."

"The dark circles under your eyes are almost down to your chin."

Ryota Onodera pushed open the door.

"Take a good rest."

After the door closed, the living room fell silent.

Shiori Shirakawa returned to the low table and sat down.

There was still more than half a bottle of plum wine left on the table.

She poured herself another glass.

Kamiya Yuma watched as she picked up the plum wine and took a small sip.

"Shiori, you've already had three drinks."

"There are only three cups."

Shiori Shirakawa placed the cup on the table.

Her cheeks were already starting to flush.

"It's just three cups of plum wine, you won't get drunk."

As she spoke, she picked up her cup and took another sip.

Kamitani Yuma looked at her face, which turned red from the tips of her ears all the way down to her neck.

"Are you sure you won't get drunk? Your face is as red as a monkey's bottom."

"I'm sure."

Shiori Shirakawa placed the cup on the table, but because she didn't control her strength well, the bottom of the cup hit the table with a crisp sound.

She stood up.

"I'll go wash the dishes."

I had only taken two steps when my body swayed.

Kamiya Yuma quickly reached out his hand and then tightly grasped her wrist.

"Please sit down."

"I'm going to wash the dishes."

"I'll wash it tomorrow."

He pulled Shiori Shirakawa down to sit.

She lowered her head and placed her hands on her knees.

After a very, very long time, she suddenly opened her mouth and began to speak.

"Kamiya-kun."

"Um."

There's something I've always wanted to show you.

"What is it?"

Shiori Shirakawa slowly stood up and then walked into the bedroom.

When he came out, he was holding this envelope in his hand.

The envelope looked very old; its edges were worn and frayed.

She placed the envelope on the low table.

Do you still remember Rippon-go Gakuen?

Yuma Kamiya looked at the envelope.

"I remember, we went to junior high school there."

I wasn't talking about the fact that we went to the same junior high school.

Shiori Shirakawa sat down and opened the envelope.

Inside the envelope was a sheet of sketch paper.

The paper was yellowed, and the folds were very deep, as if it had been opened and closed repeatedly.

She laid the sketch paper flat on the table.

In that scene, there was a boy wearing the school uniform of Ritsuhon-go Gakuen.

There was a group of small black dots behind the boy.

This is the one that fell at her feet earlier.

"This drawing you made in junior high school was left by the playground."