When Izumi Kaneyoshi took the contract and looked at it, his face imdiately showed an expression of disbelief:
"It's actually a contract with Shueisha?! Kotomi, you really know how to surprise us."
In Japan, many boys grew up reading Weekly Shonen Jump, and Kaneyoshi was no exception, so he was quite familiar with Shueisha.
From writing light novels for Dengeki Bunko to drawing manga for Shueisha, Kotomi Izumi constantly brought surprises and amazent to those around her.
"When you said you were going to draw manga, I thought you'd be drawing romance manga. But it turns out you're doing shonen manga," Izumi Akina also had so impression of Shueisha. The ntion of the company naturally made people think of shonen manga.
"I can draw romance manga too, but for my first manga, I wanted to do a shonen manga."
To be precise, it was a dark shonen manga.
However, explaining what "dark shonen manga" ant to her family might be a bit difficult or, more accurately, a little embarrassing to explain.
So Kotomi simply told her family that she was drawing a shonen manga.
After returning to her room, Kotomi quickly resud working on the second chapter of Chainsaw Man.
In no ti, the first chapter would officially debut in Weekly Shonen Jump, beginning its weekly serialization.
Kotomi wanted to build up a stockpile of chapters before the official release, so even if she was juggling both a light novel and a manga serialization, she'd still have ti to slack off and play gas.
...
In Tokyo, Chiyoda Ward.
After seeing Kotomi off, Chizuru Asuka returned to the Shueisha editorial office.
As soon as she entered the office, her colleagues bombarded her with questions.
"Chizuru, you're back?"
"How did the contract with Izumi Ki-sensei go? Smoothly?"
"Chizuru, is Izumi Ki, the manga artist, the sa person as the Izumi Ki who writes Sword Art Online for Dengeki Bunko?"
"Chizuru, is Izumi Ki-sensei a man or a woman?"
"Are they handso? Pretty?"
She had just stepped inside and hadn't even had a chance to sit down when the questions ca flooding in.
Chizuru Asuka could only sigh helplessly and said, "Calm down, I'll explain one thing at a ti. First of all, yes, Izumi Ki-sensei is the sa person as the light novel author for Dengeki Bunko. When I asked about it this afternoon, she showed her author dashboard on Dengeki's official website. The serializing work is indeed Sword Art Online."
That statent was like dropping a stone into a calm pond, creating ripples everywhere.
So of the manga editors who were also light novel fans got really excited.
"I can't believe it's really Izumi Ki-sensei."
"She's amazing! Not only is she good at writing novels, but she can also draw manga this well."
"A multi-talented genius, terrifying."
"Aweso! Now I can get her autograph in the future!"
"When Sword Art Online releases its first volu, I'm definitely getting the first edition and asking Izumi Ki-sensei for a signed copy."
Seeing the excitent and enthusiasm in her colleagues' faces upon learning that Izumi Ki was the sa person, Chizuru Asuka couldn't help but feel curious herself.
—Is Izumi Ki's light novel really that good?
Maybe I should give it a try when I have ti, Chizuru thought to herself.
However, she planned to wait until the first volu of Sword Art Online was published before buying and reading it. Her many years of reading manga had given her a strong preference for physical books.
After letting her colleagues discuss for a while, Chizuru added, "Also, Izumi Ki-sensei is a girl. She's very pretty, the cute type."
"What!? A girl drew Chainsaw Man!?"
"I always thought Izumi Ki was a guy!"
"Do you have a picture? Let see!" Rena Tatsuya asked curiously.
"No, of course not. I wouldn't take a picture without Izumi Ki-sensei's permission," Chizuru firmly shook her head.
"Aw, too bad~ If I had known, I would've snatched Chainsaw Man away from you. Then I could've admired Izumi Ki-sensei's beauty while signing the contract," Rena Tatsuya joked.
Chizuru knew that Rena was joking, so she played along, saying, "Every manga artist wants a reliable editor. If Izumi Ki-sensei had seen that you were her editor instead of , she might have canceled the contract imdiately."
"Co on, Chizuru, I might seem laid-back most of the ti, but I'm still a pretty responsible editor!" Rena Tatsuya protested, pretending to be aggrieved.
"Are you sure it's just a little laid-back and not a lot?" Chizuru teased back.
Everyone in the office burst into laughter.
Rena Tatsuya was like the office's ray of sunshine, always bringing joy and laughter.
After organizing her files, Chizuru glanced at the clock on the wall. It was already 8 p.m., ti to get off work.
Stretching her arms, she shut down her computer and was just about to pack her things when she noticed that Rena Tatsuya had already packed up and was about to leave with her handbag.
Every night after work, Rena always seed to leave in a hurry, and Chizuru had never seen her stay for after-work als with her colleagues. Was she worried about missing her train ho?
"Rena, are you heading back to Chiba City tonight again?"
"Yup, why do you ask?"
"Isn't it a bit rushed, commuting from Chiba City to Tokyo every day? I know of an apartnt complex here in Chiyoda Ward that's recently had a lot of suitable places for rent. You could consider moving to Tokyo."
"I don't have any plans to move to Tokyo just yet. Mostly because the rent here is so expensive. I'd rather keep my rent low," Rena replied with a shrug, smiling wryly as if worrying about the high rent.
Even though Rena Tatsuya was the daughter of the wealthy Ryukawa family, she had been supporting herself for the past few years. It wasn't surprising that she would be mindful of her expenses.
Just as Chizuru was about to sympathize with her, Rena suddenly grinned and said with a pretend sigh, "The main reason I don't want to move is that I've been living in Hiiragi Apartnts in Chiba City for six years now, and I've gotten used to it. I don't really want to leave."
Upon hearing this, Chizuru imdiately felt like she had no more words to say. She might not have spent much ti in Chiba City, but she certainly knew that Hiiragi Apartnts was a luxury complex.
The rent there was ridiculously high, and leases had to be at least three years!
People who lived in Hiiragi Apartnts were typically wealthy folks with simple, modest lifestyles.
"As expected of the Ryukawa family's daughter—renting a place in such style."
"Hehe, well, besides my salary, my family gives a lot of pocket money every month. Since I had so much pocket money anyway, I just decided to rent an entire floor at Hiiragi Apartnts," Rena said, checking the ti on her phone. "It's getting late, so I'll head out now, Chizuru!"
"Take care."
After leaving Shueisha's building, Rena Tatsuya headed straight for the train station, boarding a train back to Chiba City.
The reason she always hurried ho after work was quite personal.
The reason was...
After arriving in Chiba City, Rena walked toward the night daycare center.
Though it was already dark, the lights of the night daycare were still shining brightly.
Many parents, exhausted from a day of work, ca to pick up their children from the daycare. But no matter how tired they looked, seeing their children brought smiles to their faces.
Rena Tatsuya didn't co to pick up a child. She ca to pick up—
After heading to the third floor and greeting the teacher with a smile, Rena slowly walked over to where Kasumi Naoka was sitting.
Naoka, who had been sitting on the floor playing blocks with a little girl, seed to hear familiar footsteps and sll a familiar perfu. Her face lit up with joy, and she turned anxiously, searching for Rena.
"Rena! Rena!" Naoka called out Rena's na, sounding a bit frantic, eager to be reunited with her.
Seeing Naoka's anxious expression, Rena smiled softly, gently stroked Naoka's cheek, and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear.
"Naoka, I've co to pick you up."
Yes, the reason Rena Tatsuya eagerly anticipated going ho every night...
...was to co here and pick up Kasumi Naoka and take her back ho.
—To pick up her lover and return to the ho they shared together.
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