Tokyo: Oreimo

If he hadn't held back, people would have laughed at him if he had made a sound.

Takashiro Ryouno snorted lightly, completely ignoring his reproachful gaze, and turned to follow Nomura Hideo into the conference room.

Ryosuke covered his injured area and followed him inside.

.....

Haruba Arina leaned against the wall in the corridor. She had just come out of the meeting room and happened to witness this scene.

I never expected to see Rumiko Takashiro in the editorial department of Shueisha.

Didn't you always publish your works on Kadokawa? Why did you suddenly come to Shueisha?

Her long, golden hair was tucked under a baseball cap, and her slender figure and fair skin were captivating enough to draw attention even without looking at her face.

Haruba Yuzuri has to admit this.

The other person is indeed as beautiful as herself.

"Ms. Haruba?"

Kenta Kimura's voice came from behind her. The editor had also walked out of the meeting room and stood next to her.

"Is it a surprise that Rumiko Takashiro will come to Shueisha?"

Chun Changyoucai nodded.

"That's why I said that it would be difficult to achieve good results with your kind of work in this year's Tezuka Award, since that person has no rivals in the same field."

Kenta Kimura said.

"Who is that person next to her...?"

Haruba Arina asked a more pressing question: "I overheard the editors around me discussing the other person's identity, and now I want to confirm it."

"CLAMP is the one who co-created Cardcaptor Sakura with Rumiko Takashiro."

Kenta Kimura sighed with emotion.

Surprisingly, Hideo Nomura actually received submissions from these two teachers.

To bring such great news on his very first day after switching jobs, he's bound to have a good time at Shueisha from now on.

As Rumiko Takashiro's editor, he was already secure in his position as editor-in-chief and didn't need to worry about performance evaluations.

Having already produced two hit magical girl series, releasing another one while Madoka Magica is still going strong will surely allow them to reap the benefits for another year or two.

"Really? It seems like you're dating?"

Chun Changyoucai seemed lost in thought, her index finger pointing to the tip of her chin.

The intimate gesture that Ling Nai made to Ryosuke just now doesn't seem like something that would happen between people in a normal relationship.

"No, they're said to be a brother and sister."

Kenta Kimura is quite well-informed. After all, being in the same office as Hideo Nomura, he had already found out everything about this mysterious and beautiful manga artist.

Cardcaptor Sakura is a work co-created by a brother and sister, and there's nothing to hide from the editors; there have already been some rumors circulating.

There is never a shortage of incredibly resourceful fans on the internet.

"By the way, isn't Haruba-sensei leaving yet? Shouldn't we hurry back and revise the manuscript?"

Seeing that Haruba Arina showed no sign of leaving, Kimura Kenta spoke up to remind her.

If the other party is interested in participating in the Tsukasa Prize, it's still not too late to go back and rush to finish the manuscript.

"Don't worry, even Editor Kimura said my story wasn't good enough. Just blindly revising it won't make any progress."

Arina Haruba walked to the door of the meeting room where the Takashiro siblings were, and leaned against the corridor, as if she were standing guard.

Upon seeing the girl's actions, Kenta Kimura realized what was happening.

"Mr. Haruba, you're not planning to commission a piece from CLAMP, are you?"

"Isn't that obvious? If the story isn't good, improve it. I don't think I'm any worse at drawing than Rumiko Takashiro; I just lack a decent partner."

"If that person can cooperate with Rumiko Takashiro, why can't I?"

"They're siblings..."

"In this industry, collaborative creation isn't impossible, but it almost always ends up being plagued by unequal profit-sharing, anyway..."

Kenta Kimura was interrupted by the girl in front of him before he could finish speaking.

"Then I should date him, right?"

"what?"

“I told him I should just be his girlfriend; that kind of relationship should be closer than that of siblings.”

Arina Haruba showed a defiant expression on her face.

She gets angry when people compare her to Rumiko Takashiro.

"I will snatch CLAMP away from Rumiko Takashiro. If we're going to compete, then let's be fair."

Chapter 147 Sincerity

Inside the meeting room, Ryosuke Takashiro handed the original manuscript of the manga "Death Note" to Hideo Nomura.

"I'll have to trouble editor Nomura again this time."

"No trouble at all."

Hideo Nomura quickly shook his head.

What a joke! The fact that these two people are willing to submit their work to me is already incredibly lucky.

If they continue to submit their work to Kadokawa, the editors will probably be scrambling to sign them.

Even at Shueisha, there were more capable editors to choose from, but they chose him.

"Did you switch to a different subject this time?"

Hideo Nomura looked at the title of the work on the manuscript bag and asked while untying the string.

He thought the two would continue in the same style and create similar works again.

"We can't keep going on the same track forever. This time I want to try something different."

Ryosuke explained it this way.

"The two teachers have taken a rather big leap this time, choosing topics that seem completely different from their previous ones."

Nomura originally thought it should at least be a fantasy theme.

After all, this is Shueisha, and most of their popular manga are of this type. The market has a very high acceptance of this type of work. Even if the plot is a bit slow in the early stages, as long as the setting is outstanding, it can still be serialized.

"Speaking of which, Saito also said that they like to pursue change, otherwise Cardcaptor Sakura wouldn't have ended so quickly."

Nomura pulled the entire manuscript out of the file bag and placed it in front of him.

"Well then, excuse me, please allow me to read it first."

"Hmm, please have Editor Nomura review it."

Ryosuke sat quietly in his seat and waited, while Ling Nai was restless, pacing back and forth in the conference room, looking around.

But after a while, the girl felt a bit bored, sat back down in her chair, and took out her phone to send a text message to her friend.

The only sounds in the meeting room were breathing and the rapid flipping of papers.

Hideo Nomura's eyes were fixed on the original manuscript, glancing at each storyboard with a hint of reluctance.

Even though he was prepared, he still couldn't help but exclaim in surprise when he got to the middle of the passage.

"Amazing, absolutely amazing!"

"Is this the power of Rumiko Takashiro and CLAMP's collaborative work?"

Hideo Nomura was ecstatic.

Even the most incompetent editor, upon receiving a manuscript of this caliber, would be able to tell that this is a work destined to be a huge hit.

The Death Note: If you write your name in the notebook, you will die.

This premise alone is enough to grab the reader's attention, not to mention the exquisite artwork.

The story itself was so engaging that even though it only had three episodes, he was completely absorbed in it. He hadn't felt that same eagerness to know what happened next in a long time.

Hideo Nomura breathed a sigh of relief.

I initially thought that after changing the subject matter, it might take some time to adjust, but both the art style and the story are completely different from the previous work.

It was so unfamiliar to him that he would never have believed the work was created by the two of them if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes.

"Was the subject matter specifically chosen for coming to Shueisha, and was the art style adjusted accordingly?"

It's important to know that Shueisha's main publication is "Weekly Shonen Jump," which has a generally rough art style and, in order to cater to the shonen market, tends to be action-packed.

If they really intend to continue serializing the magical girl genre here, while it will definitely be successful, whether it will become a huge hit is uncertain.

But now.

There's absolutely no need to worry about the work I have in my hand.

It's to the point that even without the halo of the two people in front of them, any editor at Shueisha would make an immediate decision if a newcomer were given the job.

They would probably just throw this work onto the editor-in-chief's desk and demand it be included in the serialization conference, without needing any modifications or adjustments.

"How's it going, Editor Nomura?"

Ryosuke crossed his arms and rested them on the table, asking with a smile.

"It is my good fortune to be able to read the works of these two teachers. This work is very suitable for Shueisha."

"I mentioned before that I planned to submit it for the Tezuka Award, right? This work definitely has the potential to be selected."

Nomura confidently patted the manuscript in his hand.

"What? Just selected?"

Ling Nai was a little curious. As one of the comic book authors, she was very confident in her work.

Anyone with basic aesthetic sense can see the quality of Death Note, right?