ssy, extrely ssy.
This was Itsuka Shido's first impression upon entering the house.
A massive amount of manga and magazines were scattered haphazardly down the hallway, giving the impression that the owner would simply toss one aside after finishing it and pick up the next one to continue reading. The originally sowhat spacious hallway had beco very narrow due to the piles of manga and magazines.
Shido only took a few steps forward before accidentally knocking over a stack of books. Countless manga tumbled to the ground with a clatter, like an avalanche.
"..."
"You look like you have sothing to say, boy?"
The girl, who had recovered from her petrification, stared at Shido and asked.
"N-No, nothing."
No matter what, the other party was a girl in the pri of her youth. Saying sothing embarrassing to her wouldn't be very nice, so Shido played dumb and glossed over it.
"What a ssy room."
Walking in front, Yutsuki bluntly voiced the thoughts in Shido's mind without any hesitation.
"ssy—?!"
The girl widened her eyes, pressed her hands on Shido's shoulders to straighten up, and loudly protested in dissatisfaction.
"That's not true! I just had to put them here because I didn't have any extra bookshelves to store them. Besides, when you're getting into the good part, you can't help but ignore trivial things around you and keep reading. Isn't that perfectly normal for an otaku?"
"Well—I can't say I don't understand what you an. However, that's not an excuse to just toss so many books around here like this."
Casually picking up a few manga from the floor, Yutsuki skimd through them briefly before putting them back. She answered sowhat coldly.
"There's a limit to everything. In your condition, this is clearly just a personal problem."
"What's with that? Biri-chan, you're pretty much exactly the sa as , right?"
"Unfortunately not. I tidy them up properly after I finish reading. For the manga and magazines I really can't find space for, I choose to either recycle them or give them away. What's that popular saying on the internet? —It's because of otakus like you that society holds prejudices against us."
Yutsuki shrugged. While drawing a clear line between herself and the girl, she didn't hold back in delivering a follow-up blow.
"Gah—!"
"Whoa, don't move around so much."
The girl behind him acted as if she had taken a heavy blow, clutching her heart and falling backward abruptly, making Shido almost lose his balance and fall like a bucking horse.
Spit! I'm not a horse!
"Ugh... boy... although a sharp tongue is also within my strike zone... but... coming from Biri-chan, it really feels cruel enough to kill with words..."
Lying on Shido's back, the girl looked like a burned-out, ashen husk as she lowered her head and wailed.
"Well, true. Although Yutsuki's room is also filled with all sorts of miscellaneous things, it's much cleaner and tidier than here."
"Pfft—boy... normally in this situation, you'd choose to comfort gently, right... are you actually a closet sadist?"
"Ahaha, do your best."
Looking at the girl who had suffered a secondary critical hit, Shido offered an awkward, bitter smile.
(But still, she's definitely not her usual self today, Yutsuki.)
Honestly, Shido also noticed that since eting this girl, while it wasn't exactly hostility, Yutsuki's attitude towards her always felt deliberately targeted.
Entering the girl's room, it was exactly as expected. The room's layout was practically an extension of the hallway, with mountains of manga books filling the entire space. A large bed that could originally sleep several people was also filled with books, leaving only enough space for one person. It looked like a custom-made coffin, which made one's scalp tingle slightly.
"Heave-ho!"
"Hah~ my soul is healed~"
Like placing the last piece into a puzzle, the girl, supported by Shido, slid perfectly into the gap on the bed. Her entire person revealed a soft, fluffy expression.
"Phew... finally done."
Breathing a slow sigh of relief, just as Shido was about to head back, he suddenly noticed that Yutsuki's gaze was fixed on a corner of the room.
"Yutsuki?"
"..."
Seeing Yutsuki remain silent, Shido curiously followed her gaze. There was a large drafting desk, filled with various art supplies, and right in the center lay a sheet of B4 paper.
The paper was divided into panels, and each panel already had characters, backgrounds, and speech bubbles for dialogue. Faint traces of pencil sketching could still be seen on it.
Although it was Shido's first ti seeing one, it appeared to be a manga manuscript still in the process of creation.
Is this girl a manga artist?
"Ah, right, right. I forgot to ntion, my profession is a manga artist. More or less~"
The girl lying on the bed lazily raised her hand and said.
"These past few days, I was rushing to et a deadline pulling all nighters, and ended up forgetting to eat. I wanted to go to the supermarket or convenience store, but found out Earth's gravity is really strong~"
Hearing Nia's explanation, Shido couldn't help but sweatdrop.
"Is it really that exaggerated... don't you have assistants?"
"Nope~ I basically do everything myself. Well, drawing alone ans less constraint, though sotis I feel like I'm going to die from exhaustion."
"How should I put this... that's amazing."
He had heard that being a manga artist was a very strenuous and highly competitive profession. The girl before him looked about the sa age as Shido; she must be a rookie manga artist just starting out.
To be able to so decisively throw herself into the manga industry and reach the level of debuting, Shido, who hadn't yet decided on his future career path, couldn't help but feel a certain level of respect.
"Hm? Well~ thanks for the complint~"
Although she didn't seem to quite understand what Shido was saying, the girl nodded anyway.
"...Silver Bullet."
Just then, Yutsuki, staring at the manuscript on the desk, suddenly spoke up.
"...Hm?"
"This is the manuscript for Silver Bullet."
"Eh?!"
A look of surprise appeared on Shido's face. Turning to look at the drafting desk, he finally noticed that the characters and art style on this manuscript were extrely similar to the Silver Bullet Nakatsugawa-san had shown him earlier; no, to be exact, they were exactly the sa.
"Oh? You actually recognized it. Could you be readers? That's truly an honor~"
"You are Honjou Souji... but..."
Shido looked at the girl on the bed with a look of disbelief. In his mory, Honjou Souji's manga began serialization when he was in elentary school, which was already several years ago. Calculating it, Honjou Souji should be approaching her thirties.
"Just to ntion, I'm not a second generation or a daughter or anything like that. Honjou Souji has always been just one person. Well~ doesn't it happen often in manga? The gap moe character whose appearance doesn't match their actual age. Ehehe~"
Saying that, the girl sat up from the bed, winking playfully to act cute.
"And Biri-chan, I'm not a doujinshi author doing derivative works either. You should be able to tell."
"...Phew, alright. I apologize for my rudeness."
Clearly having her thoughts seen through by the other party, Yutsuki remained silent for a mont before seemingly accepting the explanation, sighing, and apologizing.
"Also, Souji is my pen na. My real na is Honjou Nia. Nice to et you."
The girl—Nia—smiled gracefully and said to Shido and Yutsuki.
"Eh? Wait—I still haven't wrapped my head around this. Honjou Souji-sensei... is a woman?"
The ssy girl before him was that famous shonen manga author. Clearly not having accepted this reality yet, Shido clutched his head, feeling a headache coming on.
"It's not uncommon for female manga artists who draw shonen manga to use male pen nas. The author of Other Fake, Takajo-sensei, is also female."
Yutsuki shrugged and explained.
"As expected of Biri-chan. You know quite a bit about the industry."
"Eh? Takajo-sensei is female?!"
Shido was once again shocked by unexpected information.
"Honjou Souji-sensei... is it alright if I just call you Nia?"
Taking another look at the manuscript on the desk, Yutsuki looked at Nia, her tone slightly more polite.
"Mhm! No problem at all, Biri-chan."
Nia nodded in agreent.
"Then Nia, can I ask you a few questions?"
"OK, I'll answer any questions from a reader."
"Why did you go on hiatus?"
"That will be revealed after these ssages~"
"Why did you resu serialization?"
"Because—I'm back!"
"...Then, will the manga continue?"
"Until the mont my life burns out!"
"I see, and how are you feeling right now?"
"Starving!"
—Growl~
A crisp rumble obligingly sounded from Nia's stomach. Subsequently, for so reason, the entire room fell into a bizarre silence, with only the ticking of the clock on the wall remaining.
"So, I'm counting on you, Biri-chan~"
"Hah... I got it."
Staring into Nia's pale green eyes filled with a smile, after a long while, Yutsuki finally sighed helplessly, turned around, and pulled Shido out of the room.
"Where are we going, Yutsuki?"
Seeing that Yutsuki wasn't heading towards the exit, Shido couldn't help but ask in confusion.
"The kitchen. Next, we're preparing her al. Co help, Shido."
"Eh? Wait a minute! I don't mind helping, but what kind of consensus did you two just reach during that conversation?!"
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