Full-time comic artist

"Ah! Mingmei-neechan, please stop talking, I already regret it enough!"

Nanase Yui pushed Akemi Akimiya towards the right, saying, "Let's hurry up and get in line."

"Wrong, wrong, it's the left side, the autograph session will be on the left!" Akemi Akemi quickly said.

……

By 1:30 p.m., a long line had already formed for the autograph session.

I roughly counted them, but I couldn't count the number of people.

"5000? 6000? Oh, when will that be?"

Nanase Yui was desperate. "Tori Akino-sensei's autograph session ends at 5 o'clock. Is there enough time?"

If each person signs a contract every two seconds, they can eventually sign 5400 single-volume copies.

"Two seconds... Is two seconds okay...?" Nanase Yui's eyes darted around, the more she calculated, the more impossible it seemed.

"It's okay." Akemi Akemi patted her shoulder. "As long as you persevere, anything is possible."

Nanase Yui nodded seriously, "Yes!"

A short while later, the organizer arrived and announced that two more sales windows would be opened, and the first 1000 people would be able to buy a signed copy of Akino Miku's manga.

As soon as he finished speaking, many people went to the other two windows.

Akemi Akemi and Yui Nanase did nothing and immediately moved up more than 2000 places.

To keep readers entertained, the organizers played the first 20 pages of "The Earring" on a large screen in a loop.

From the very beginning, when Ayako threw a gift box into the sea and became acquainted with Ryo through a fight, to their journey together into Ryo's secret base.

Everyone looked up and watched intently.

The story doesn't involve basketball; it only depicts the innocent and carefree days of young boys and girls.

But no one was disappointed.

Although the art styles are different, it's clear that Ryoko is Ryota, and Ayako is probably Ayako.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the two met, Ryota beat up Ayako, showing none of the sycophantic behavior he displayed on the Shohoku basketball team.

This past story intrigued them.

The organizers, observing the commotion, nodded in satisfaction.

They dared to show the manga's content ahead of time because they trusted the manga artist, Toriaki Mirai.

It has indeed achieved its goal of attracting these people.

In the crowd, one person felt that the story looked familiar, as if she had seen it somewhere before.

Nanase Yui pounded her head, but she couldn't remember anything.

"What's wrong?" Akemi Akimiya asked with concern.

“It’s nothing,” Nanase Yui said, rubbing her temples with a troubled expression. “It just feels like this story is familiar, but when I think about it carefully, I can’t remember it.”

Akemi Akemi comforted her, "Then don't worry about it. If you look at it more, you might remember."

“Yes,” Nanase Yui nodded. “Thank you, Akemi-neechan, you’re so kind.”

"You have such a sweet tongue," Akemi Akimiya said with a bright smile.

I couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation.

Nanase will find it very interesting when she sees Hibiki.

"Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up and get to us!"

……

At 2 o'clock, the autograph session officially began.

Hibiki Higashino worked methodically.

Just like at previous signing meetings, his right hand kept moving as he wrote names, which was a painful ordeal at the time.

However, things are different now than before. After drawing comics for so long, Hibiki Higashino's right hand has developed into a very strong arm with considerable muscle endurance.

He signed his name for a long time, and his right arm only felt slightly sore.

"I'm really looking forward to the plot of 'Earring'."

Someone said to him.

"Thank you," Higashino Hibiki said, then realized the person looked familiar. He looked up and saw that it was Naoko Takeuchi, with Yoshihiro Togashi standing behind her with a sour expression.

“Teacher Takeuchi, you’ve come to support me again.”

Naoko Takeuchi said with a smile, "I really like all of Akino-kun's romance manga."

"I hope you're satisfied with 'Earrings'." Hibiki Higashino signed.

Standing behind Naoko Takeuchi, Togashi mouthed to Hibiki Higashino, "Faster, faster."

Higashino Hibiki found it both funny and sad; married life is really tough for men, even someone as carefree as Togashi.

Not wanting to inconvenience others, Naoko Takeuchi left quickly after getting the autograph.

Yoshihiro Togashi stepped forward, a sigh of relief in his voice. "A year's worth of waiting time—no! Ten years' worth of waiting time—was used up in one go today."

"You've really worked hard," Higashino Hibiki said with a smile.

After signing the book for Togashi, he handed it back.

Before leaving, Yoshihiro Togashi said, "What you said today makes a lot of sense, and I can relate to it."

Hibiki Higashino pondered, wondering which of the many things he had said today had struck a chord with Yoshihiro Togashi.

Perhaps it's because "drawing a comic for too long can be exhausting."

Without giving it much thought, he was soon greeted by the next person.

However, this reader did not hand "Earrings" to Higashino Hibiki for a long time.

Higashino waited a few seconds, then looked up impatiently, only to find a person staring in disbelief.

She was making trembling "Aba... Aba..." sounds, her whole body shaking.

"Higashino... Higashino-san... that's Tori Akino-sensei..."

She finished speaking haltingly, her entire being seeming to express disbelief.

"Miss Nanase, what's wrong?" he asked with a smile.

These words brought Nanase Yui back to her senses. She realized that even though Hibiki Higashino had transformed into Akino Mirai, he was still the same person she knew.

My pulse returned.

"Mr. Higashino, you're so mean!" Nanase Yui said angrily, hands on her hips. "You won't tell me your true identity."

Hibiki Higashino said, "I am first and foremost Hibiki Higashino, and only secondly Mirai Tori.

His sophistry almost made the little girl blush.

Higashino Hibiki then quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, Ms. Nanase."

“It’s okay,” Nanase Yui breathed a sigh of relief.

She exclaimed excitedly, "So, Mr. Toriakino is also my friend!"

Nanase turned her head and looked at Akemi Akemi, who was trying not to laugh.

Higashino Hibiki quickly signed her autograph and told the two of them to go play around on the side.

……

After buying "Earrings," Naoko Takeuchi went to the rest area, sat down, and began to read it quietly.

Yoshihiro Togashi sat in his chair and groaned comfortably.

He had been standing for a long time that day, and his back was about to give out.

The story of "Earrings" is not complicated.

The gift that Mr. Sasaki gave to Ayako's mother was a pair of ordinary earrings.

This doesn't seem like the kind of gift you'd give after a blind date.

Xiao Liang's eyes lit up when he saw the earrings. His idol, Michael Jordan, wore earrings, and he wanted to learn from Jordan.

Upon learning that wearing earrings required getting piercings, he took out a paperclip, straightened it, lit a candle, sterilized the paperclip with the flame, and then aimed it at his earlobe.

Ayako was very worried, and Xiaoliang told her to go see the sea.

The sea was still under the moonlight, possessing a tranquil beauty that was truly stunning.

Ayako understood why Ryo was so angry after she threw down the gift box.

He had been looking at the sea and really liked it, which is why he was so angry.

Xiao Liang recounted his story.

Three years ago, his older brother went out to sea to fish, and he wanted to go too. His brother stopped him, saying that he would take him when Xiao Liang was in sixth grade three years later, because he was too young now.

Xiao Liang said angrily, "Once you go, don't ever come back!"

He didn't like the sea; he was waiting for someone.

Chapter 244 No matter how hard we try, we can't continue the serialization.

Three years have passed, and Xiao Liang has entered the sixth grade of elementary school. He is still here watching the sea, waiting for his brother to come back. The outcome is self-evident.

Ayako was deeply shocked. Just then, the paperclip in Xiaoliang's hand pierced through his earlobe, and blood dripped down.

Xiao Liang said, "I want to take back what I said back then. I just wanted... for my brother to take me with him..."

"Brother... I'm already in sixth grade..."

Xiao Liang knelt on the ground, tears streaming down his face, a paperclip still stuck in his earlobe, his whole being filled with grief.

A full moon rose over the sea, and a light shone into the secret base. The person who came in was Xiao Liang's mother. She saw blood dripping from Xiao Liang's earlobe and fainted.

Some time later, the secret base in the cave beside the sea was filled in.