Full-time comic artist

Page 243

After that, she focused her attention on Akemi Akemi.

"Sister, you are so beautiful."

She should actually be called Auntie, Higashino thought.

Akemi Akemi was very happy, and she patted the girl's head, saying, "Hello, little girl."

“I’m an adult now,” the little girl said. She had black pigtails, was very cute, and even when she stared at people, it didn’t seem offensive.

"I am thirteen years old this year, and my name is Akane Nakajima."

“My name is Akemi Akemi,” Akemi Akemi greeted the little girl as an equal, realizing that the girl longed to become a mature adult.

Hibiki Higashino nodded and said, "I am Hibiki Higashino."

She then noticed Higashino Hibiki, blinked, and felt a sense of familiarity.

"I feel like I've seen this older brother somewhere before..."

Higashino Hibiki was puzzled by her gaze. Nakajima Akane walked up to Higashino Hibiki and took his palm to look at it.

"Ink stains on your hands, calluses on the side of your little finger, that's it, you must be Teacher Torino!"

Hibiki Higashino nodded. "How did you figure that out?"

"I knew it!" Akane Nakajima exclaimed excitedly.

She started running around the living room excitedly, her pigtails swaying behind her like flags.

It's only because it's a high-end apartment with good soundproofing that the downstairs neighbors would complain about her condition.

Akane Nakajima let out an excited shout, which finally attracted her elderly mother to appear. Mrs. Nakajima was carrying a plate with three cups of coffee and a cup of milk, and cookies were also placed on the plate.

"Quiet down!"

The little girl then sat back down comfortably.

……

"I absolutely love Akino-sensei's manga the most!"

Akane Nakajima used the word "most" six times in a row, looking at Hibiki Higashino with admiration.

Higashino Hibiki was already used to that kind of gaze. He subtly shifted his leg and said, "Thank you very much."

As if she thought Hibiki Higashino didn't believe her, she took out a whole bunch of merchandise, all of which were related to "Slam Dunk".

"Sakuragi Hanamichi is so cool!"

Akane Nakajima wasn't referring to Kaede Rukawa, which surprised Hibiki Higashino.

He picked up a souvenir; it was a cartoon character, Sakuragi Hanamichi, holding a basketball and laughing heartily.

"Yes, your liking is my motivation to move forward."

These words made the little girl blush.

Hibiki Higashino added, "Haha, I was just kidding, but that's really what I think."

Mrs. Nakajima roughly understood, "So you're that manga artist, Tori Akino Mirai. Akane often reads Weekly Shonen Jump and even asked me to vote for you."

Hibiki Higashino has been interviewed on television twice, and only his most loyal readers would recognize him.

Normally, when he walks down the street, nobody pays him any attention.

So this little girl really likes him, Higashino Hibiki has no doubt about that.

Therefore, he drew a simple sketch for Akane Nakajima, signed it, and left the instruction, "Study hard and make progress every day."

Mrs. Nakajima nodded in satisfaction, her gaze towards Higashino Hibiki becoming even more friendly.

……

The four of them chatted while eating cookies. Akane Nakajima was very excited and kept talking about things from "Slam Dunk".

"But why didn't the fighting stop later? I think the teacher drew the fighting scene particularly well."

Higashino glanced awkwardly at his wife, then gave Nakajima Akane a lecture. "Fighting is a sign of immaturity. Sakuragi Hanamichi has grown up and now has a passion for basketball, so he won't fight anymore."

Akane Nakajima nodded, seemingly understanding, but still gave a sweet smile. "Yes, I understand, teacher!"

The little girl had some baby fat, which made Higashino feel warm inside and wanted to have a daughter too.

“Xiaoqian is only so well-behaved in front of you,” Mrs. Nakajima complained, hugging her daughter.

Her name is Nakajima Rei. They hadn't seen the male head of the household for a long time, and Higashino and the other man didn't ask, afraid of touching on his painful past.

Hibiki Higashino replied, "We always reveal our true nature in front of those we are close to."

While eating cookies and chatting, the conversation soon turned to marriage.

"Yes, let's get married on the Moon Viewing Festival," Akemi Akemi said shyly.

"From now on, I'll call you Mrs. Higashino."

Speaking of this, Higashino Hibiki picked up Akemi Akemi's hand and rubbed it in his palm. "The Japanese Constitution stipulates that married couples must change their names to the same one. Otherwise, I really wouldn't want to change Akemi's name to Higashino."

He was used to calling her "Miss Akimiya" and didn't want to change it by writing a more affectionate nickname.

Akemi Akemi was actually a little concerned about this, after all, she had been called by that name for many years, and suddenly it was going to be changed. Hearing this, she was also a little moved.

Mrs. Nakajima said, "It's already very good that you have this idea, Mr. Tori Akino."

……

After staying at the Nakajima residence for more than an hour, the two stood up to say goodbye and returned to the Higashino-Akimiya residence.

"What a warm and welcoming family."

Higashino Hibiki breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's so nice to have such a neighbor," Akemi Akemi said happily.

The next day, the Nakajima family also sent a gift, nothing expensive, just a reciprocal gesture.

Monday arrived quickly, and Weekly Shonen Jump was released.

Inside the Shueisha building.

An editor-in-chief was looking at Jump.

Shueisha publishes many magazines.

Finance, travel, comics, novels, and so on.

This editor-in-chief is in charge of "Basketball Peripheral Magazine," which contains reports on basketball games and related news.

"As expected of Weekly Shonen Jump, a magazine with over 400 pages and selling 500 million copies every week, that's terrifying."

Within the same company, the annual sales of "Basketball Merchandise Magazine" cannot match the weekly sales of "Jump".

However, due to the serialization of "Slam Dunk", the sales of "basketball-related magazines" increased by 270% compared to before, which is already the peak in history.

"This method is..." He looked at the manga, at the page with Shohoku's C-level rating, and was momentarily stunned. "A direct way to evaluate the team's strength?"

Basketball magazines also have similar columns, but none are this ruthless.

"Won't the team complain?"

Touching his chin, the editor-in-chief's gaze became hesitant.

"However..." his eyes grew brighter, "perhaps it would be better to file a complaint!"

That's how you get things started!

He acted immediately, summoning his subordinates, and the next issue of the magazine immediately added a new column.

……

"Our team is only in League B?"

Takehiko Orimoto stared blankly at the "Basketball Merchandise Magazine": "But I'm A-level, which is not bad."

His team's comments only included evaluations of him.

This is also thanks to "Slam Dunk".

In the previous chapter of the manga, Kazuo Karasawa, the coach of Fukasawa Sports University, specially recruited Takenori Akagi. After Akagi made it into the national top eight, Kazuo recruited him to his team.

Accompanying him was Shota Sugiyama, the university's champion ace.

Shota Sugiyama, who made it into the national top eight in his final year of high school and won the national championship in college, is a perfect example of Takehiko Orimo's life.

Because Akino Mirai and Orimo Takehiko knew each other, and Orimo Takehiko often said that he was a reader of "Slam Dunk", many readers believed that Orimo Takehiko was the prototype of Sugiyama Shota.

As a result, Takehiko Orimori's fame has recently soared.

He is very strong, and his appearance is also quite outstanding. He is 190 centimeters tall and has a gentle temperament. He has been very popular recently.

"That's why the magazine put me on the third page."

After closing the magazine, Takehiko Orimo didn't say anything; he wanted to get the highest AA rating.

We need to work even harder!

……

Hibiki Higashino stood by the window and watched Akane Nakajima wave to him from downstairs.

"Tori Akino-sensei, I'm off to school!"

Carrying her backpack, she shouted, "I'm going to be late! I'm going to be late!" and disappeared like the wind from Higashino Hibiki's sight.

Higashino Hibiki hadn't even lowered his hand to greet him yet.

"This is going to be interesting," Higashino Hibiki said with a smile.

Not long after, the assistants arrived.

Kishimoto was also holding a basketball magazine.

“Teacher, this magazine is plagiarizing your ideas,” he said to Hibiki Higashino.