Tokyo: The Manga Begins with the Funeral of Frilian

"Need not."

Shiori Shirakawa buttoned up her coat one button at a time, her movements slower than usual.

"I got in through the exam myself, and I'll leave on my own. I'll see it through to the end."

"And when you come back..."

"Buy a carton of eggs. And some milk. You already said that last night."

Shiori Shirakawa picked up her bag and went to the entryway to change her shoes.

"Is there anything else you want to buy? Tell me all at once."

"We're almost out of butter and miso too."

"Butter and miso. Anything else?"

"That's all."

Shiori Shirakawa straightened her back.

Then she turned around and looked at him.

"Don't you have anything else to say?"

Yuma Kamiya thought for a moment.

"Be careful on the road."

Shiori Shirakawa slightly twitched the corners of her mouth.

Then he turned around and pushed the door open.

The footsteps coming from the corridor gradually faded away.

Then I was interrupted by the sound of the elevator doors closing.

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Three hours later, the doorbell rang.

Kamiya Yuma pushed open the door.

He noticed that Shiori Shirakawa was carrying a supermarket shopping bag in her left hand.

He was holding a cardboard box in his right arm.

"Is it all done?"

"It's done."

Shiori Shirakawa placed the cardboard box on the shoe cabinet in the entryway and began taking things out one by one.

"The resignation certificate, the last month's payslip, and the National Pension transfer paperwork. After the HR manager signed them, he said to me, 'Thank you for your hard work,' and I said, 'Thank you for taking care of me.' And that was it. It was faster than I expected."

After folding the empty cardboard box, she stuffed it into the gap next to the shoe cabinet.

Then she carried the shopping bags into the kitchen.

"I stopped at a stationery store on the way and bought a few new pens. The finance manager needs red and blue pens, and the general affairs manager needs black pens. I also bought a new folder specifically for the studio's contracts and tax documents."

She took the last item out of the shopping bag.

A brand new electronic calculator.

"The old one was issued by the ward office, and I returned it when I left the job. I bought this one myself."

Kamiya Yuma watched as she placed the calculator on the low table.

And it was placed together with the folder.

They arranged them in a row.

"What should I do first on my first day at work?"

Shiori Shirakawa opened the folder.

Then I turned to the first page.

The first page was filled with a whole page of to-do items.

"First thing. Hoshino Rin's assistant's salary was previously paid directly through Shueisha's labor system. Now that she has her own studio, should we change it so that the studio pays her directly? This would make it easier to calculate taxes uniformly."

"Change it. Contact Shueisha's legal department."

"The second thing," Shiori Shirakawa underlined the second line in red pen, "is that because you've always bought your art supplies on a small, individual basis without any unified record? Dip pens, screentone paper, ink, manuscript paper—can these be deducted from your operating costs for tax purposes?"

"Yes. You can make a table and record it for every purchase in the future."

"The third thing," Shiori Shirakawa turned to the next page, "the groceries in the refrigerator can also be considered part of the studio's operating costs. Since you draw at home and eat at home, you need to keep the supermarket receipts if you want to report this for tax purposes."

"I threw away all the old receipts."

"Start staying from today."

She closed the folder, then stood up and walked towards the refrigerator.

A hand-drawn schedule was posted on the refrigerator door.

She took down the schedule.

Then, she took out a brand new A4 sheet of paper from the stationery bag she had just bought.

"The schedule needs an upgrade. You're not drawing comics alone anymore; you're the legal representative of the studio. The legal representative can't just be managed by your schedule; they also need to be managed by the budget, contracts, and procurement. And—"

Her red pen moved quickly across the paper.

"And then there's Hoshino Rin. That kid said last time that she hadn't eaten for three days to save money on printing paper. As the finance and general affairs manager, I think the studio should provide meals for the staff."

"You do it?"

"I'll do it. But not for free. The cost of the staff meals will be included in the studio's operating expenses and charged to you."

"Can."

Shiori Shirakawa posted the new schedule on the refrigerator door.

She folded the previous one and put it in the drawer.

"There's one last item. The royalty revenue distribution plan. You mentioned last time that it would be split according to the studio's profits. What's the specific percentage?"

Yuma Kamiya leaned against the kitchen door frame.

"You decide."

"I'll decide?"

"You're the finance manager. Of course, you should make these decisions."

Shiori Shirakawa stared at him for three seconds before opening the folder.

A line of text was written on the blank page.

"Legal Representative: Yuma Kamiya. Profit Sharing: 70%. Treasurer and General Affairs Manager: Shiori Shirakawa. Profit Sharing: 25%. Employee Reserve Fund: 5%"

She turned the folder over to show him.

Is this ratio reasonable?

"Reasonable."

"Aren't you going to haggle?"

"Your calculations are never wrong."

Shiori Shirakawa closed the folder, at which point the tips of her ears turned bright red and noticeable.

"I'll go cook."

She took out the leftover spinach and eggs from yesterday from the refrigerator.

The tap was turned on, and the spinach tumbled in the water.

Yuma Kamiya walked back to the drawing table in the master bedroom and sat down.

I heard the sound of the spatula hitting the bottom of the pot in the kitchen.

I could also hear Shiori Shirakawa muttering to herself.

"Twenty-five percent...isn't that too high...? No, the going rate for a finance manager is twenty to thirty percent...but he didn't even haggle...is this guy even seriously running the studio...?"

Yuma Kamiya picked up the dip pen.

Immediately afterwards, the pen tip touched the manuscript paper.

He didn't say anything.

But there was a slight curve at the corner of his mouth that he couldn't suppress no matter what he did.

.........

The new schedule was posted on the wall the next day.

Then the doorbell rang.

Shiori Shirakawa went to open the door.

She saw Hoshino Rin standing at the doorway. Hoshino Rin was carrying a hiking backpack.

The backpack was bigger than her entire body.

A roll of bedding was tucked into the side pocket of the backpack.

A sketchbook and a bag of halftone paper were tied to the top of the bag.

Hoshino Rin's mask was still the same as always, covering most of her face except for her eyes.

"Good morning, senior. I'll be staying here from today onwards."

Shiori Shirakawa grasped the doorknob.

She stood there stunned for a full three seconds.

"What did you say?"

"My master's studio has been established. As a formal assistant, I believe that living near the studio is a basic professional obligation. However, I don't have the money to rent an apartment nearby, so I decided to live directly in the studio."