"Especially with that song, I almost crying in the teacher's office!"
Seika rolled her eyes and replied, "Well, shouldn't it be you who's in the wrong?"
"Is that office supposed to be for reading manga?"
Shizuka countered defiantly. "It's after school; for us teachers, it's basically like clocking out. Once we're off, we can do whatever we want, right?"
Seika shrugged.
"You're the teacher. You make the rules."
'Seriously, you're so into this student, but still trying to act all tough.'
Seika thought it was kind of funny and continued,
"That kid's manga... it wouldn't be called 'Anohana' would it?"
It seemed so like something he'd do—recommending his own work, fitting his usual style.
Shizuka frowned.
"Wait, how did you know?"
'As expected!'
Seika raised an eyebrow. "Well, that fits the pattern, doesn't it?"
"His personality's a bit rough around the edges," she added.
"Recommending that tear-jerking story... Was he hoping I'd cry?"
Although the content was genuinely good, she was completely unprepared for it.
"He recommended it to me too," Seika explained.
"So...?"
Seika looked away, shy even in front of her friend. Admitting this was a bit embarrassing.
"I may have cried a little."
"Hahahaha!" Shizuka laughed, popping open another beer and taking a satisfying swig.
"Ahh, this feels good!"
It was unclear whether the "good" feeling came from the beer or from seeing her friend share a similar experience.
To change the topic and avoid Shizuka digging deeper into this, Seika added,
"And about that song you mentioned, I think I know which one you're talking about."
"Oh?"
"Well, you must have heard it since you read Anohana.'"
Shizuka nodded.
"That must be a new song, right? Even on its own, it's a great piece! But it really hits home when you put it in this manga!"
"After all, he wrote both the manga and the song. It's only natural they'd be a perfect fit."
"He wrote the song too...?" Shizuka blinked in disbelief.
"That kid can write songs too?!"
"Seems like you didn't know," Seika replied, equally surprised.
Shizuka took a gulp of beer to cover her shock.
"How would I know? He never said anything about it."
"Well, he asked me to help him find a singer," Seika explained.
"He can even compose music. This kid's skills are on another level!"
Shizuka tapped her chin with a smile.
"No wonder he's my student."
Seika couldn't help but roll her eyes.
With that level of pride, it almost sounded like Shizuka taught him everything—drawing, composing, you name it!
"Drink up, drink up."
"I've already had enough," Shizuka said, pointing at the beer in front of Seika.
"You're still drinking and you have to go home to your sister."
"Yeah, yeah, I'll slow down," Seika agreed, setting her glass down.
................
The next day, Saturday.
"Akifumi-sensei, I didn't expect you'd surprise your fans like this."
On the other end of the line was Otosuna Mihari, the editor responsible for Akifumi's work.
"By the way, where did you find that song?" Mihari asked, curiosity in her voice.
"Well, it's an original composition by me, lyrics included," Akifumi answered casually.
"What, you planning to reimburse me for the cost?"
"You can compose and write lyrics too?!" Mihari was stunned.
"I learned it when I was younger. It wasn't that hard?" Akifumi said nonchalantly.
''It wasn't that hard'?!' Mihari couldn't even process it.
'Seriously, you're a manga artist, and now you're composing music on top of that?!'
"Forget it," she muttered. 'This guy's basically a monster.'
'Yeah, monster!' Mihari grumbled, quickly processing the new information.
"Well, about the reimbursement, that's not up to me; you'll have to talk to Minano-san."
"Well, it's just a small amount anyway. No big deal," Akifumi said with a shrug.
"A few hundred thousand yen for renting the recording studio and paying the singers. Nothing that would break the bank."
"By the way, congrats on 'Anohana' debut sales!" Mihari changed the topic with a deep breath.
"First day sales of Volume 1 were 4,148 copies, and Volume 2 was 8,658."
"That's it?" Akifumi asked, somewhat surprised.
Mihari rolled her eyes. "Akifumi-sensei, that's actually a normal sales figure."
"Yeah, normal..." Akifumi nodded.
"But is this considered good or bad?"
Some authors only release one work in their lifetime, but others release dozens of volumes.
Compared to that, Akifumi only had four short stories and a couple of volumes, so he felt like he was behind.
But still, compared to other top artists, his numbers weren't too shabby.
"Well, as long as it's not bad," he muttered, not thinking too hard about it.
"By the way, Akifumi-sensei, do you want to do a signing event in October?"