The peaceful and comfortable New Year holiday flashed by in an instant. Akira said goodbye to the Mochizuki couple and boarded the Shinkansen back to Tokyo.
The scenery outside the window changed rapidly, and when the familiar Tokyo skyline gradually appeared in his line of sight, Akira felt a sense of familiarity he hadn't felt in a long time.
Perhaps compared to Nagano City, Tokyo felt more like his true home in this world.
He returned home without any trouble. Having been away for nearly ten days, a thin layer of dust had settled on the furniture and bed, but fortunately, it wasn't much, and only a light cleaning was needed.
However, Akira had no intention of doing a full cleaning for now. He just tidied up the bed in the bedroom and lay down directly, letting his body be gently enveloped by the soft mattress, and couldn't help but let out a comfortable groan.
Staring at the familiar ceiling, he let out a slow breath, his unsettled heart finally calming down.
"I'm back."
At this moment, his phone vibrated; it was an email from Rin.
『Rin』: "Has Akira arrived home?"
『Akira』: "I just arrived."
『Rin』: "Eh, what a coincidence? (Laughs) Then Akira, please rest for a while. I'll call you once I've finished making dinner."
『Akira』: "Received. (Salute)"
Rin had returned earlier than him. Looking at the email she sent, Akira couldn't help but smile.
Perhaps it was his subjective judgment, but he really felt that the bed in his own bedroom was more comfortable to lie on than the one in Nagano City.
An hour of rest passed almost in the blink of an eye.
Hmm. It was as if he hadn't slept at all. Of course, at least he had indeed replenished his energy.
After resting, he got up, tidied up a bit, went out, and familiarly made his way to Rin's front door, ringing the doorbell.
The door opened quickly, and the figure of Rin, wearing a ponytail and an apron, appeared before him.
The moment she saw him, Rin revealed a moving smile and said, "Akira, welcome back."
Looking at the beautiful girl he hadn't seen in a while, Akira returned the smile and nodded slightly, saying, "I'm back."
Rin's cooking was already in the final stages, and there was nothing that needed help.
Seeing this, Akira familiarly went to the living room sofa by himself, sat down, and turned on the TV to wait.
However, after turning on the TV, he didn't watch the screen; instead, he gazed at Rin's busy figure in the kitchen, lost in thought.
Come to think of it, this was the first time he had visited her home since they officially became a couple.
But it seemed there was no feeling of nervousness. Had he already gotten used to it?
"Akira, dinner is ready."
"Ah, coming."
The meal Rin prepared was quite sumptuous. After the two sat down facing each other, she asked curiously, "Akira, what were you thinking about just now?"
"It's nothing," Akira smiled. "I just suddenly felt that our current situation is like an 'old married couple'."
"O-old married couple or something—!" Rin blushed instantly. Thinking about it, it really did seem that way.
From the moment she went to welcome him, to the two of them sitting opposite each other eating, this series of connected scenes was exactly like how her parents interacted at home.
However, they had only just begun officially dating; was this kind of dynamic really okay? Would it be too dull?
"I don't think it matters," Akira smiled. "Some people pursue intense passion, while others like peaceful tranquility. It mainly depends on how both parties feel."
"At least for me, this is quite nice."
Passion and romance might be important seasonings in life, but dullness was the reality for the vast majority of the time, and he had long been accustomed to enjoying this kind of normalcy.
Conversely, if he had to maintain passion every day and be full of fighting spirit daily, he wouldn't be able to stand it.
Hearing this, Rin breathed a sigh of relief and smiled reassuringly, saying, "Me too."
"Anyway, let's make a toast first." Akira raised the cola in his hand and smiled. "To the new year."
Seeing this, Rin also smiled and raised the juice in her hand. The glasses clinked gently in the air, making a crisp sound. "Cheers!" ×2
On the morning of the second day after returning to Tokyo and having dinner with Rin, Akira was woken up by the doorbell. In his groggy state, he suddenly remembered that he seemed to have forgotten to set an alarm last night.
Sigh, still suffering from post-holiday syndrome. But it's not a big problem.
He got up wearing his pajamas, threw on a thick coat, and went to the door. Looking through the peephole, the visitors were indeed his three assistants: Daisuke, Hayato, and Shota.
In reality, today wasn't a workday. The three of them came over because they had arranged by phone last night to come to the studio together for a deep clean to prepare for the upcoming start of work.
However, upon opening the door, he was startled by the commotion the three of them made.
"Mochizuki-sensei, please take care of us again this year." "Please take care of us again this year—!" ×2
Daisuke took the lead in greeting him, while Hayato and Shota echoed in unison like underlings, bowing deeply. Anyone who didn't know better might have thought they were paying their respects to a gang boss.
Akira was taken aback at the sight, then couldn't help but laugh helplessly, saying, "What kind of stance is this?"
"It's just a standard New Year's greeting." Daisuke smiled. "Although you might not care about such things, we still need to observe proper etiquette."
"Well—" Hearing this, he could only smile helplessly and respond in kind, "Please take care of me again this new year."
"Anyway, come on in."
The three were already familiar with this place, so there was no need to worry too much. After bringing them inside, he went to change clothes and wash up. By the time he finished and came out, he saw that the assistants had already started cleaning.
Seeing this, he naturally rolled up his sleeves and joined in. The deep cleaning work wasn't heavy, mainly just clearing dust, so the group chatted while cleaning. It felt more like a small get-together under the guise of cleaning rather than an actual deep clean.
Additionally, halfway through, after receiving a phone call, Akira called Hayato and Shota to go downstairs to help him, and each of them carried a large box back up.
"What is this?" Carefully putting down the box, Hayato caught his breath and then asked curiously. The box was quite heavy.
To this, Akira said helplessly, "It's apples sent from my parents' home."
These were apples the Mochizuki couple had insisted on sending him; not just for him to eat, but also to give as gifts. He couldn't refuse them and just had to comply.
However, since the three assistants were here today, he smiled and said, "These are home-grown apples. If you don't mind, take some home later; otherwise, I won't be able to finish all of them."
"Then thank you, Mochizuki-sensei." The three assistants accepted with smiles.
At the same time, Akira received a completely different package. When he opened it and saw what was inside, Daisuke suddenly realized, "Ah, come to think of it, today is the release day for Shonen Jump issue 3·4!"
"Yes." The package Akira received was indeed the 3·4 issue of "Weekly Shonen Jump" sent by Shonen Jump, which was also the first magazine released by Shonen Jump in the new year—2000.
Looking at the manga magazine in his hand, he finally had a real sense of returning to work. Come to think of it, the previous magazine issue was released half a month ago.
Anyway, in issue 3·4, chapter 24 of "Fate/stay night" was finally published. In chapter 23, released in the previous issue, Saber was intercepted by Sasaki Kojirou on her way to rescue Shirou and fell into a fierce battle. At the end of the chapter, Sasaki Kojirou released his Noble Phantasm and launched an attack on Saber.
Chapter 24 picked up right from the end of the previous one. With flashy special effects, Sasaki Kojirou's attack, as if three swords were slashing simultaneously, successfully struck and repelled Saber, spraying a splash of blood. However, in the next panel, Sasaki Kojirou showed a look of surprise. "To think you dodged my secret sword." Because the killing blow, which he had expected to succeed, had been dodged by Saber, missing the vital point and leaving only a shallow wound on her lower abdomen.
On the other side, Saber's expression was equally grave. "That technique just now—did you reach the realm of a Noble Phantasm with mere swordsmanship—?" Although she barely avoided the fatal blow, Saber realized that this opponent was by no means easy to defeat. However, Shirou was still in danger, and dragging this out would only make things worse. So, in order to end the battle quickly, Saber decided to also release her Noble Phantasm.
However, just at this moment, both Saber and Sasaki Kojirou instantly sensed something and immediately looked toward Ryuudou Temple. At the same time, the scene shifted, and accompanied by narration, the time went back a few minutes to inside Ryuudou Temple, where a now-conscious Shirou struggled to break free, but it had no effect. "You think you can undo my spell? My existence is on a completely different dimension from yours. Furthermore, although all Masters are insignificant, you are the weakest of them all."
Caster laughed mockingly with ease, then smiled again. "But don't worry, if I kill you, I can't absorb your magical energy. The townspeople are all within my grasp; I will let you linger on, until I drain the last drop." "Wha—t?! Caster—! You're attacking innocent humans—!" From the enemy's own mouth, he finally learned that the recent unexplained mass fainting incidents in Fuyuki City were all her doing, and the number of victims had already reached hundreds! Shirou glared at her in shock, but Caster didn't care and finally got to the main point.
Caster had kidnapped him and brought him here to seize his Command Spells and control over Saber, in order to fight against Berserker. Upon hearing this, Shirou struggled even harder but was still unable to resist. However, just in the nick of time, countless arrows rained down from the sky onto Caster's position, immediately forcing her back. "—Hmph, I thought you were dead. Didn't expect you to be so tenacious." With careless, flippant words, the figure of Archer, holding a longbow, appeared on the top of the temple, making a brilliant entrance. Chapter end.
The main changes in this chapter compared to the original work and the UBW anime version were still in the battle between Saber and Assassin. Among them, to reflect the sense of urgency in Saber's heart while Shirou was in danger, he almost omitted Sasaki Kojirou's boastful introduction of his Noble Phantasm and greatly simplified the mutual flattery between the two. At the same time, he added an original scene where Saber decides to use her Noble Phantasm. Actually, in his past life, many people pointed out that Saber still didn't intend to use her Noble Phantasm in such a critical moment, suspecting her of slacking off. However, some speculated that Saber might have been in poor condition at that time and couldn't use her Noble Phantasm. But since there was no related evidence in the plot, and later the production team and Mushroom and others didn't explain it, it was just speculation. Precisely because of this, he specifically added this content; although the Noble Phantasm wasn't ultimately used, it at least ruled out the suspicion of slacking off.
Besides that, he also greatly simplified the subsequent conversation between Caster and Shirou, especially the explanations regarding magic settings, while ensuring the story's pacing. What? What about the lore fans? It's okay; at the end of this chapter's main content, he opened a separate page, creating something like a mini-theater to explain these settings individually. This is also one of the standard methods for serialized manga to explain complex settings. Of course, some authors just like to stuff all these settings into the main content to pad the page count. But indeed, some readers eat that up, so this approach is a matter of opinion. It is worth mentioning that after enough of these setting contents accumulate, they can be collected and published separately as a setting guidebook, which can be another way to milk the fans. In short, there are many benefits, so there's no need to worry about the effort going to waste.
Additionally, regarding manga matters, besides the resumption of "Weekly Shonen Jump," there were some other things worth mentioning for him. Just the day before yesterday, the second manga tankobon of Fsn was officially released. And if all goes as expected, the manga tankobon of "Weathering with You" will also be released in the near future. These pieces of news were, naturally, told to him by Hisashi. Unlike the situation for Manga Artists like them, the editorial department's vacation time was generally similar to most companies, and they had already officially ended their break several days ago and returned to a working state. However, according to Hisashi, Manga Artists who could rest for as long as he did were very rare.
At this moment, as if hearing his internal musings, his phone rang again; it was a call from Hisashi. The pleasantries he had exchanged with his assistants at the door earlier, and the ones he had already exchanged when he received the call from Mr. Sasaki informing him about the tankobon, meant there was no need for further formalities this time. And regarding this call, he had a rough guess—sure enough, Hisashi on the other end of the line went straight to the point: "Mochizuki-sensei, I am calling to explain the relevant matters regarding the Shonen Jump New Years Party." "The date for the New Years Party has been set for January 14th."