Akira picked up the phone, somewhat confused. Who could it be at this hour? It was very early.
"Hello?" Akira said.
On the other end of the line, a nervous Mizuki spoke.
"E-excuse me. Are you available?" Mizuki asked.
"Mmm, it depends. Who am I speaking to and how did you get my number?" Akira asked.
"Ah, right, I forgot! My name is Ayanagi Mizuki, an editor at Shouhou magazine," Mizuki introduced herself.
"Oh, I see. How can I help you, Ayanagi-san?" Akira asked.
But inside he smiled. He had guessed it. No, he had been wrong — he had predicted one day, but not even 24 hours had passed.
"Y-yes, first of all. Are you Sato Akira-san?" Mizuki asked.
"If I weren't, I would have already hung up. Don't you think?" Akira said with a smile.
"C-correct! Ahem, well, I'm calling because I've read both mangas you sent me and I'm interested in them. Could we schedule a meeting to discuss them in detail, the three of us?" Mizuki asked.
She was a bit nervous, but that was normal. It was the first time she was acting as an editor. Who wouldn't be nervous in her place?
"I understand. When would you like to schedule it?" Akira asked.
"I'd like to do it today itself… if possible, of course," Mizuki said.
But inside she was pulling her hair out. Why was she so damn nervous?!
"Today?" I asked curiously.
In reality, he had already predicted this. Both mangas were too attractive to pass up.
"I-is there any problem?" Mizuki asked nervously.
Her head spun for a moment. Had he discovered that she had never worked as an editor before and wanted to replace her with someone more experienced? No, he didn't even know her! How could that be? Then… had he noticed her nervousness and thought she was unprofessional?
"No, not at all. What time works for you?" I asked curiously.
He actually asked because he didn't remember if Kari had anything planned that afternoon, but as he said the words he remembered. Today she had nothing to do except homework, but being as intelligent as she was, Kari always finished her homework in less than 30 minutes. For her, the assignments they gave were like a coloring book for an adult — easy.
"If it's okay with you, at 5:00 PM!" Mizuki said.
Mizuki wished she could bury herself alive in a hole. She had actually bitten her tongue!
"Excuse me, I think there was some interference and I didn't hear it correctly. Could you repeat the time?" I asked.
It was obvious she was quite nervous. She was probably doing this for the first time as an editor and had little experience. He recognized that kind of nervousness when he saw it. After all, he had once been like that too. In his previous life, when he started working at the company where he spent years, he was so nervous he trembled like a leaf, messed up everything, and even felt like crying. Now that he thought about it, it had been quite exaggerated, but the point was that he knew that kind of nervousness. He understood the feeling she must be experiencing and, honestly, he didn't care if she had experience or not. He wasn't going to reject her even if she didn't. After all, everyone deserves a chance. Besides, carrying Dragon Ball and Digimon to success didn't require too much effort. It would be easy for her, and when she saw the sales and popularity of both stories, she would gain a bit more confidence.
"P-please forgive me, I'm a bit nervous! How does 5:00 PM sound? I understand from what I read in your contact information that both of you are students, so I think 5:00 PM is a good time," Mizuki said.
"Sounds perfect," I nodded.
Right after getting out of school.
"Perfect. I understand there's a café near your address. I think its name was xxx. Does that place work for you?" Mizuki asked.
It was that themed café where the aliens disguised themselves as cosplayers.
"Sounds perfect," I nodded.
"By the way. Will any of your parents be coming? I can explain it to you, but since you are minors, you can't make decisions without your parents' consent," Mizuki said.
"Ahem, my parents died some time ago in an accident and… basically I'm an orphan. I don't have any family or anyone who took charge of me, so you could say I'm my own guardian," Akira said.
Realizing the huge mistake she had made, Mizuki almost wanted to sew her mouth shut.
"I-I'm so sorry, I didn't know. Please forgive me!" Mizuki exclaimed.
She wished she could hit her head and drop dead right there! How could she be so inconsiderate?!
"Don't worry, it's impossible that you could have known. Anyway, Kari's parents are busy so they won't be able to attend either, but don't worry. We'll let them know the content of the meeting when we have the chance," Akira said.
Yes, since Kari was a minor, to sign things like contracts and such, she needed her parents' consent. Meanwhile, although Akira was also a minor, he didn't need any consent because he was an orphan and lived without a legal guardian. The problem with Kari could have been a serious issue for others, but for a super genius like Kari it wasn't. Surely her parents would let her be a mangaka as long as she didn't choose it as her main profession or something like that.
"Sounds perfect. See you then!" Mizuki said.
"Of course. See you later," Akira nodded.
Then he hung up.
"Who was it?" Haruka asked.
She had been listening to the entire conversation attentively and was now curious to know who it was.
"Didn't I tell you? Kari and I each created a manga and yesterday we sent a one-shot along with some sketches and other things to Shouhou. It seems they liked them because an editor just called me and wants to meet with Kari and me this afternoon to talk about the mangas," Akira explained.
"What?! The most famous manga publisher in all of Japan contacted you for a manga?!" Haruka said, surprised.
The surprise was normal because for an editor at Shouhou to call you, the story had to be extremely promising and interesting. They didn't settle for just "it's okay." No, they only accepted "exceptional stories and masterpieces." So just being called for an interview with an editor was already extremely difficult — something many mangakas dream of.
"Mangas, but yes," Akira nodded.
"So they finally contacted you? I already told you the manga was fantastic!" Lala chimed in.
"Have you read it?" Haruka asked.
"We all read them. We spent the entire afternoon yesterday reading them," Momo said.
"What?! Just on the day I couldn't go something so interesting and important happens? What bad luck!" Haruka exclaimed.
Yesterday she had a dentist appointment, nothing unusual, just a routine check-up, so she couldn't go to Lala's house. Yes, it only took an hour and a half between going, waiting, being seen, and then returning home. But on the way back she got distracted doing various shopping and even having something at different cafés, and when she realized it, it was already late and she decided not to go to Akira's house until the next day. Who would have thought that the only afternoon she missed would be so entertaining.
"Don't worry, I'll give you a copy like I did for Lala and the others, so you can read them too," Akira said.
Now that Haruka had become his friend and had left her stupid and senseless habits behind, it was very pleasant to talk to her. The new Haruka was not only intelligent, but fun, loyal, a bit shy but also kind and honest. This was probably the real Haruka that that layer of evil had been covering for years, but which had finally managed to see the light.
"Really? Thank you!" Haruka said with a smile.
Upon hearing that the editor had called to schedule a meeting with them, the girls seemed to have woken up completely and remembered yesterday afternoon and began to talk about their favorite scenes. Some commented on the moment when Goku and Bulma met, others on the Digievolution of Koromon and the others in their beginner forms, others on the first battles, etc. The point is that the group had become quite lively.
Meanwhile, Akira decided to contact Kari and called her to tell her what had happened.
"You were right, Akira! Our mangas caught Shouhou's attention!" Kari said on the other end of the phone.
"I already told you our mangas were good and there was no need to send them to other publishers," I nodded.
If you're going to make your debut, it's better to do it big. Why go to small publishers when you can go to the best? That was basically the reason why I decided to send the mangas to only one publisher, because any publisher that knows what they're doing would immediately understand the value of both works without hesitation.
After chatting for a few minutes with the excited Kari, Akira hung up and finally began a normal day like any other…
…
After classes.
That day had been quite normal, although the fact that Akira had a harem of beautiful girls still seemed very present in the school and most of the students were still looking at Akira and whispering. Some were so envious that they simply wanted to kill Akira, dismember him, and throw him to the dogs, while others simply looked at him with resentment, wondering why it hadn't been them instead of Akira.
The female students, on the other hand, were also impressed, but for most of them the only thing they liked were the gossips. They didn't feel envy toward Akira or anything. Why would they? Although some girls who already had an eye on Akira were surprised.
On the other hand, Akira's group continued as always, talking about their things and having fun, ignoring other people's opinions. Lala and the others were proud to be Akira's women. They were very happy with him and loved him madly. There was nothing to be ashamed of. Mio, Momioka, and Yui didn't mind too much either. After all, all three already had feelings for Akira and would end up dating him sooner or later, so getting angry about it was silly. And Haruka… Haruka also felt envy. Since she had almost accepted her feelings for Akira, she had begun to feel constant jealousy toward the girls, but… what could she do? She had confessed her love (fake) to many girls, including Lala (the only one that was real), and had never felt ashamed about it for a moment, but… this was her first time with a boy and she was nervous. What should she do? Haruka didn't know, although many times she had considered the possibility of just staying by his side without ever confessing her feelings. Many times she thought that being by his side was already enough for her.
With that said, after classes, Akira and the others headed home quickly because in an hour Akira had to meet with Mizuki, the editor from Shouhou who had contacted them, and he had to change, among other things. During that hour he also took the opportunity to do his homework and get it out of the way.
An hour later, an elegant Akira and an elegant and cute Kari were heading toward the café where they had agreed to meet Mizuki.
"I'm a bit nervous," Kari said.
Akira smiled and stroked her head.
"Don't worry, I'm by your side," Akira said.
Kari looked at him with eyes full of longing and love. She wanted to throw herself at him and kiss him, but… they simply couldn't. They had important things to do.
"Yes…" Kari nodded with a sweet smile.