Full-time comic artist

……

"I didn't get selected." Hideaki Sorachi went back to his hometown and told his father the result. "I lost to Mr. Toriakino."

"Tori Akino?" The old father was furious. "This great manga artist is competing with you?! What's his contact information? I'm going to give him a good scolding."

"I was just kidding. It wasn't Tori Akino-sensei, it was a newcomer like me. Her manga is really interesting, I admit defeat wholeheartedly." Sorachi Hideaki laughed heartily, scratching the back of his head.

"What a scoundrel," the old father said, his anger subsiding. "Then can you still continue the serialization?"

"Maybe yes, maybe no. But the editor told me to try my best."

"Then let's give it our all. If we fail, we'll come back and become architects."

"I don't want to."

……

On December 25th, Christmas Day, it started snowing.

With nothing to do, Higashino Hibiki swept the snow in front of the door, and soon the snowflakes covered it again.

He reveled in the futile pleasure.

Just then, the neighbor's child happened to pass by.

"What's making you so happy?" he asked.

Ken Miyano jumped up and down happily, "Mr. Higashino, Akino-sensei is going to start serialization again!"

"Well... congratulations."

Higashino Hibiki watched him leave, bewildered, and wondered, "I'm going to start serialization? How come I didn't know?"

Not long after he put down the broom, Yoshida arrived.

"Tori Akino-sensei, thank you for your help this time."

“It’s okay,” Hibiki Higashino said. “I was also hoping to participate in Jump’s serialization meeting.”

After getting into the car, he looked at the snow-covered road and asked Yoshida, "Yoshida-kun, how long have you had your driver's license?"

Yoshida sat in the driver's seat, too nervous to turn around. "It's been more than two months."

"Oh, just over two months... only just over two months!"

"I don't own a car. Thanks to Mr. Tori Akino, I was able to practice driving Shueisha's minivan."

"Let me down!" Higashino Hibiki's face darkened. "Or let me drive!"

On a snowy day, a newlywed couple is driving—is a desperate curling game about to unfold?

He values ​​his life very much!

"Ugh!" Yoshida complained, "I rarely get to hold the steering wheel."

"I said, stop up ahead!"

"Ok."

After a slippage, Higashino Hibiki finally got control of the car.

……

We arrived at the Shueisha basement parking lot without any problems.

Higashino Hibiki got out of the driver's seat, and someone who knew him greeted him.

"Tori Akino-sensei, it's been a long time."

"Oh, it's Arai-sensei? Did you attend the serialization meeting again?"

"There's nothing we can do, the comic has been canceled again."

"I was quite optimistic about that work, it's such a pity."

He chatted with Arai for a couple of minutes, then went upstairs with Yoshida.

"Is that Tori Akino Mirai-sensei?" Arai's companion asked, looking at Hibiki Higashino's retreating figure.

“Yes.” Arai nodded, and he sighed, “I used to compete with him. I never imagined that time would fly by and he would become one of Jump’s top manga artists.”

The companion was taken aback. "If Bird Akino is driving, then who is that young man who got out of the passenger seat? Who is he?"

“I don’t know either.” Arai shook his head.

……

Hibiki Higashino arrived at the Jump editorial department on the second floor. Yoshida opened the door for him, and Sasaki stood up to greet him when he saw him.

"Tori Akino-sensei is here." Onishi glanced sideways. "If that's the case, the serialization meeting is about to begin."

Chapter 325 The Troubles of Happiness

The serialization meeting for Jump is about to begin around Christmas time.

Hibiki Higashino recalled that in 93, he also waited anxiously for news of Sasaki on this very day.

Back then, he was a newcomer to the industry and felt somewhat anxious while waiting. Now, he is a participant in the serialization meetings.

Time really flies.

"I'm sorry to bother you on this special day, Mr. Toriaki," Sasaki said to Hibiki Higashino.

“It’s okay. My wife and I don’t hate each other, but we don’t really care about holidays,” Higashino Hibiki chuckled. “After all, we’re together all the time, haha.”

He checked the time; it was 3 PM. He asked Sasaki, "Shall we begin?"

“Yes.” Sasaki nodded, gesturing to Yoshihisa.

Bottle stepped forward, clapped his hands, and announced, "The serialization meeting is beginning."

Deputy Editor-in-Chief Masahiko Ibaraki, group leaders Kosuke Yahagi and Takayuki Asada, and others all wore serious expressions as they followed Sasaki and Hibiki Higashino into the conference room.

……

"Isn't it about time?" Hideaki Sorachi looked up.

Editor Onishi valued him highly, always offering encouraging words during the "Golden Future Cup," but just before the serialization meeting, he changed his tune and said:

"The chances of 'Gintoki' being approved are very low, so don't get your hopes up too high."

"Ha!" Hideaki Sorachi remembered this phrase and opened his mouth wide.

"That guy Onishi must be having a split personality!"

He really couldn't understand what level his hodgepodge of creations actually reached.

"Ugh."

Hideaki Sorachi sighed.

“It’s good that it’s not serialized; I can create according to my own ideas now.” He patted his cheeks and picked up a pencil to sketch out the storyboard.

But what he drew was the storyboard for episode four of "Gintoki the Yorozuya".

Ultimately, he didn't want to miss this opportunity.

No matter what, the most important thing is that the story continues.

"Mr. Onishi, don't let me miss this opportunity!"

……

"The original title of 'D.Gray-man' is 'Zone,' a work by Katsura Hoshino, a winner of the 'Golden Future Cup.' It's a manga handled by my subordinate, Koji Yoshida." Yoshihisa Heiji paused, glancing at Hibiki Higashino, before continuing, "As everyone can see, 'D.Gray-man' is much more mature than 'Zone,' with a more complete background, and the plot is far more compelling than when it was submitted for consideration."

As soon as the bottle finished speaking, Takanori Asada nodded and said, "D.Gray-man is an interesting manga. The fact that the protagonist is an exorcist who fights demons is very interesting. Katsura Hoshino is a female manga artist, and the characters she draws are dressed very fashionably, which is also good."

Ibaraki Masahiko tapped his fingers on the table. "I also think D.Gray-man should be serialized."

The excellence of this comic is beyond doubt, and the editors present here have many years of experience and their appreciation skills are not a problem.

Sasaki looked at Hibiki Higashino and asked for his opinion.

Hibiki Higashino leaned back in his chair and thought for a while before asking Yoshihisa Akebono, "Is Hoshino-sensei a newcomer, and a girl at that? Can she handle the demanding workload of Weekly Shonen Jump? To be honest, when I was drawing 'Hikaru no Go' or 'Slam Dunk,' I felt like I was going to have a seizure. Drawing manga day and night is too exhausting."

The bottle said, "I have no idea about that."

He had never even met Hoshino Katsura, and Yoshida Koji hadn't conveyed this information at all.

“Go and call Yoshida in,” Sasaki told him.

"Please wait a moment."

After leaving the bottle, under the anxious and curious gazes of Onishi Kohei and Aida Soichi, he called Yoshida over to go to the conference room with him.

On the way, Yoshida learned about the meeting content that the bottle had handed over to him. Yoshida Koji did not expect that the person who questioned him was Tori Akino Mirai.

He thought of Hoshino Katsura, who was thin and looked like she could be easily crushed.

“That’s right, Hoshino-kun is indeed quite frail,” Yoshida Koji said after bowing as he entered the meeting room, then opened up, “but she loves drawing manga to the point of being completely absorbed in it. D.Gray-man wasn’t something she wanted to create; it was I who strongly urged her to draw it.”

"So, after finishing D.Gray-man, Hoshino would also make time to draw a manga called Contiute."

"She would carefully conceive the storyboard, pay attention to the characters' expressions and the composition of the picture, polish the work, and spend a long time completing the manga. These are all shortcomings, but at the same time, they are also Hoshino Katsura's love for manga."

“It’s normal to question her ability to meet the weekly schedule, but I hope to give her a chance.”

"If the opportunity to serialize is denied because of her health, I think it would be a huge blow to her and very unfair."

Koji Yoshida looked directly at Hibiki Higashino and spoke from the bottom of his heart.

"Why are you making me sound like a bad guy?" Higashino Hibiki was speechless. He looked around. "I was just suggesting a possibility."

"I'm sorry." Koji Yoshida bowed his head.

“Yoshida-kun,” Hibiki Higashino said with a smile, “you’ve really grown up to care so much about responsible manga artists.”

When Yoshida Koji first took charge of him, he was still a very unreliable newcomer. Now, these words made him realize that Yoshida genuinely cared for Hoshino Katsura.

"Thank you for your compliment, Mr. Toriakino." Yoshida Koji sniffed, feeling touched.

Sasaki listened attentively to the entire conversation and said, "In that case, let's include it."

Koji Yoshida couldn't help but clench his fist and cheer; he was about to leave.

Sasaki called him back, "There's one more thing, Yoshida."