Full-time comic artist

“He’s really going too far,” Hibiki Higashino said, trying to comfort Akemi Akemi.

Then I turned on the computer and showed her the reviews on the forum.

As if she had seen the praise, Akemi Akemi smiled again.

Higashino Hibiki checked the time; it was 11:00 AM on Monday. Akemi Akemi looked like a shut-in, completely absorbed in her computer, unlike her usual self who always cooked on time.

He could only sigh helplessly and stand up.

After rummaging through the refrigerator in the kitchen, Higashino found cabbage, chicken wings, and pork, and an idea immediately came to him.

……

Akemi Akemi's nostrils twitched; she smelled a very fragrant scent.

Looking up, I saw Higashino Hibiki setting the plates.

"You can cook?" She stared in astonishment.

"Not really," Hibiki Higashino replied.

He used to either dine with clients or order takeout, rarely cooking for himself.

I only learned about it by watching food blogger videos on my phone.

It was done against my will.

"You're really going too far." Akemi Akemi walked over, puffing out her cheeks.

The dishes in front of me are clearly a feast for the eyes and the palate.

The braised pork belly had a reddish-brown sheen, and the stir-fried cabbage hadn't released any moisture, looking as if it had just been picked from the field.

These two dishes definitely won't taste bad.

Only the chicken wings looked completely black.

"If you don't want to cook, just lie," she complained.

"You've finally come to your senses," Higashino Hibiki said with a smile, then pointed to the dishes, "The fact that you think this way is the greatest compliment to my cooking skills."

Akemi Akemi still didn't believe it.

It wasn't until she ate Higashino Hibiki's braised pork that she understood.

"So dry and greasy," she blurted out.

Hearing her say that, Higashino Hibiki also picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks.

Just as Akemi Akemi said, it also had a bitter taste, probably because the sugar was overcooked.

Akemi Akemi then tried the stir-fried cabbage.

"Hmm, how long did you cook it?" she couldn't help but ask.

“About ten seconds,” Higashino Hibiki replied, taking a bite.

"Crack!" It was crisp and clean.

It was indeed moist, like lettuce.

Akemi Akemi's hand trembled slightly as she reached for the cola chicken wing.

If dishes that look good can taste so bad, how bad must these dark, mushy chicken wings be?

But to encourage Hibiki Higashino, who was cooking for the first time, he mustered up his courage and stuffed a chicken wing into his mouth.

"Wow, this is delicious!"

It has the aroma of chicken wings and a sweet taste, which are perfectly blended together.

This was beyond her expectations.

"That's good," Higashino Hibiki said with a smile. "You can have the cola chicken wings, and I'll take care of the other two dishes."

Hibiki Higashino loves to eat meat, so even if the braised pork isn't cooked perfectly, he can still eat it.

The cabbage was still raw, which helped cut through the richness.

Higashino reached for the braised pork with his chopsticks, but then saw Akemi Akemi's chopsticks.

She picked up a piece of braised pork and put it in her mouth.

“I don’t mind either,” she said with a smile.

……

Friday has arrived, and the online reviews for "5 Centimeters Per Second" have been consistently positive.

The story leaves a cliffhanger and has an open ending, so there were no angry reviews.

Sasaki held Xiaozheng's report card, his expression unchanged, thinking to himself, "Just as I expected."

The result was as he had expected.

After Xiaozheng's results for "5 Centimeters Per Second" were announced, the short comic contest results were already set.

The first place is...

The Confession Room.

……

“5 Centimeters Per Second is very interesting; the plot and the artwork are both outstanding. But Jump is a shonen manga magazine,” Hirohiko Araki told his assistants. “So after reading 5 Centimeters Per Second, I knew the ending was already a foregone conclusion.”

They're all passionate young people, how could they possibly relate to "5 Centimeters Per Second"?

"On Jump, 5 Centimeters Per Second is a niche manga. Even though it is an excellent work, it cannot compete with Confessions."

In fact, "Confession Room" is not a work with a very large audience.

There's no "friendship, effort, victory," and no satisfying moments of defeating a powerful villain.

But it's much better than "5 Centimeters Per Second".

"If it's the magazine platform, things might be different."

……

"The '5 Centimeters Per Second' reader survey received 402 votes, placing it second in the short story contest," Sasaki informed Hibiki Higashino.

Some readers said things like "I don't understand it" and "It's very boring".

“We lost,” Hibiki Higashino said to Akemi Akemi, shrugging his shoulders.

“Yes,” Akemi Akemi nodded, then said dejectedly, “I’m sorry.”

“Ms. Akimiya should know this,” Hibiki Higashino said, “5 Centimeters Per Second has a small audience in Jump, so it’s perfectly normal that it didn’t do well.”

If he were to draw a short story based on "Death Note," it would definitely spark heated discussions, and the number of votes might even exceed 700.

This is a matter of subject matter selection.

So please don't take it to heart.

Akemi Akemi opened her mouth, then closed it again.

She understood this, but subconsciously thought it was her own problem.

Has she lost confidence because her comic submissions have been repeatedly rejected?

Hibiki Higashino regretted that he should have chosen a different work.

"5 Centimeters Per Second" was already a very strong work in the short comic contest.

But he didn't expect Hirohiko Araki to bring out "Confession Room".

As a result, they suffered a crushing defeat.

“I’m sorry,” Akemi Akemi said again, “I’ve made you worry.”

"Actually, second place is already very strong. 5 Centimeters Per Second is an excellent work."

She recovered.

In the evening, Akemi Akemi showed off her culinary skills, and Hibiki Higashino finally got to eat delicious braised pork.

……

In a school.

The young girl, Mafuyu, flipped through "The Garden of Words" again.

On Naoko Takeuchi's recommendation, she discovered this delightful work in Seinen Jump and fell in love with it immediately.

In the world of comics, it's rare to see a love story drawn with such exquisite detail.

A shonen manga artist who could draw works that were more interesting and realistic than those in shoujo magazines made Mafuyu remember the author of this manga—Tori Akino Mirai.

"Slam Dunk is quite interesting, but that's all it is."

In the classroom, she held the manga "The Garden of Words" and lay on her desk, extremely distressed, "When will Akino-sensei draw a work similar to 'The Garden of Words'?"

She really wants to see similar works.

"Damn it!"

Her bun was shaking and bouncing, and she was extremely annoyed.

"Tori Akino-sensei lost to Araki Hirohiko-sensei."

"Someone in the front row said loudly."

"I never expected this," someone said unhappily. "Actually, if Tori Akino-sensei drew Mitsui's past, it would definitely be very popular. I didn't expect him to draw a romance manga. Tch."

"Who would want to watch this!"

Chapter 202 This Love Can Only Be Remembered

"Tori Akino-sensei, romance manga!"

Startled, the girl Mafuyu immediately sat up, her bun bobbing as she opened her teardrop-shaped mouth and asked in shock, "Is it true?!"

“Chisui-kun…” The boy holding the Jump magazine blushed slightly at Mafuyu’s reaction, and his voice trembled. “Yes…yes, it was in the last issue of Jump. The name is ‘5 Centimeters Per Second’.”

"What a pity! Ah!" Mafuyu sighed, then slumped weakly into her chair. "I'll have to go find last year's Jump magazine after school."