Tokyo: Oreimo

Her straight calves were shapely and fair, and her two delicate little feet were raised and lowered alternately.

With one hand supporting his chin and the other holding a book page, he would turn the page and then let go, his fingertips lightly tracing the colorful comic strip panels, looking quite relaxed.

This unguarded demeanor can sometimes give Ryosuke a headache, making him want to remind her.

Have you forgotten that he is also a normal teenage boy?

"Cough cough."

Ryosuke coughed.

Ling Nai noticed the commotion behind her and turned around, her expression slightly displeased.

"What? Why didn't you knock before coming in? Making a sudden noise like that is scary."

"?"

Do you want to hear what you're saying?

Ryosuke twitched the corner of his mouth.

When did he have to knock before going back to his own room? Is there no law in this world?

"I'm more curious about what you're doing in my room than knocking."

"Do I even need to ask? Of course I'm waiting for you."

Takashiro Ryou glared at him.

"You're out so late again, where have you been gallivanting around?"

"....fool around?"

What's with this comment from a seemingly incompetent wife who's just waiting for her husband to come home?

"Did I tell you in advance where I'm going?"

Before leaving home, he asked his sister if she wanted to come along when he was selecting voice actors, but she declined, citing a deadline she was working on.

"There's no need to stay up so late, is there?"

Ling looked at Ryosuke with suspicion.

She's been to voice actor agencies before, and the casting process for FSN didn't take this long.

And this guy was definitely eating out with someone.

Knowing Ryosuke as she does, if he were eating alone, he would choose the most convenient fast food restaurant and would never wait until this late to get home.

"Well, it was lunchtime, so my manager invited me."

"With that idol?"

Takashiro Ryouno narrowed her eyes sharply.

"Did you put a camera on me?"

Ryosuke was taken aback.

You could probably guess this, right? I already mentioned it was the agent.

Takashiro Ryouno pouted.

I remember that recently popular DC idol group and voice actor agency belong to the same company, and their practice rooms are in the same building.

The manager, Ito, always seemed very enthusiastic when he saw Ryosuke.

Moreover, whether it's FSN, Clannad, or even Puella Magi Madoka Magica, whenever music is involved, this guy always goes to the leader of that DC idol group.

I remember her stage name was 'Shizuka Hoshimi'.

It is said that they started collaborating before the other party became famous, and they got to know each other through Liuli.

Moreover, the other person is quite famous at Chiba First High School. Despite registering for enrollment, they have never actually attended school.

Ryota Takashiro was deeply impressed by this, after all, she had seen him perform the theme song for "Moon Witch Transformation" at the CM Expo last summer.

She's an absolutely beautiful girl; during performances, I would often glance in her direction.

"Tsk."

After receiving confirmation from Ryosuke, the blonde girl felt inexplicably annoyed.

What? Is he the only person in the industry who can make music?

'He keeps contacting her, is he planning to make a move on that female idol?'

'But even if I were to intervene, it seems like it's none of my business...'

It's perfectly normal for Ryosuke to be in a relationship at his age, and as his younger sister, she has no reason to say anything.

But she just gets unhappy.

This unhappiness quickly showed on his face, and his sharp gaze swept over, leaving Ryosuke somewhat bewildered.

I didn't do anything to her, so why is she suddenly angry?

"By the way, shouldn't you be going back to your room to sleep by now?"

Ryosuke put down his backpack, turned around and sat down in the chair next to the desk, turning to look at his younger sister.

Takashiro Ryouno was in a bad mood and turned her head away when faced with this question.

"I want you to take care of it!"

She showed absolutely no intention of getting out of bed.

'What? He waited for this guy until so late, and he didn't even ask why?'

"Is that so? Then I need to change my clothes, I don't have time to deal with you."

Ryosuke interrupted the girl's thoughts with his voice, and at the same time began to pull off his clothes.

What are you doing!

The next instant, a blush spread across Ling Nai's face, and she sprang up from the bed and ran outside.

"Taking off your clothes in front of your sister? Are you a pervert? You have no shame!"

"Oh."

"This is my room, of course I can do whatever I want."

Ryosuke chuckled softly.

Having spent so much time with Ling Nai, I always know some little tricks that leave her helpless, like this, which will make her leave her room on her own.

He's still lingering in his room at this hour, just trying to get the manuscript done.

Seeing Ling Nai run away in a flash, Ryosuke quickly went to the door and prepared to lock it to prevent her from running back in.

But before he could make a move, Ling Nai turned back, poked her head out from the crack in the door, and made a face at him.

"That annoying guy."

As she spoke, the girl tossed a comic book magazine through the door, and then a loud bang was heard as the door slammed shut outside.

She went back to her room.

"Really..."

Ryosuke shook his head helplessly, bent down to pick up the manga magazine from the ground, and took a look at it.

The cover depicts a brown-haired high school student holding a pen in one hand, with Ryuk, the Grim Reaper, standing behind him.

"So this is the first issue? No wonder it's so late."

It had been almost a month since the Tezuka Award, and Hideo Nomura had informed him about the start of the serialization, but he had been too busy to remember.

Ryosuke chuckled.

"This guy, if he wanted to share his joy, wouldn't it have been better to just send a message beforehand?"

If that's the case, no matter what happens, he'll come back sooner.

Chapter 166 The Abandoned Pawn (No more drafts left, I'll make up for the two bonus chapters for monthly votes this week)

October 10th, Monday, Sunday.

On the first working day of the month, at the Kadokawa Manga editorial department.

Iori Setsuna was in an extremely bad mood; this was probably the worst day she had ever had since joining Kadokawa.

Since nine o'clock in the morning, an executive officer who came down from the group's senior management to inspect the work has been in the editor-in-chief's office for an hour and still hasn't come out.

Even though the editor-in-chief's office was well soundproofed, she could still faintly hear shouting and cursing coming from inside.

"fool!"

"How do you manage the editorial department?!"

A loud thud was heard as something was slammed onto the table, followed by the officer's roar, so loud that even the interns outside instinctively shrank back.

"It's one thing to let the editor of a bestselling comic book artist leave at will, but to even tear up the non-compete agreement?"

"He took Rumiko Takashiro away! Shueisha used this for publicity. Do you know how I was ridiculed and humiliated at the board meeting?"

The young editors sitting at their workstations in the outer room looked at each other, not daring to breathe.

But the slightly older editors exchanged glances, some even gloating.

Kadokawa Group is quite large, and the manga division is a core business of the group and is highly valued. The so-called executive officers are managers directly appointed by the board of directors.

In terms of position, it is equivalent to the level of a minister, that is, the direct superior of the editor-in-chief.

"It looks like old man Yamazaki is in for some trouble. I've never seen Shibata get this angry in all these years."

"At an age when he's almost retired, he just had to cause this kind of trouble..."

"Heh, to put it nicely, it's about protecting the 'younger generation'."

Iori Setsuna could faintly hear the discussions in the office, and many eyes were cast at her, but in the current situation, she could only grit her teeth and endure it.

"It's not a big deal, is it? It's just Rumiko Takashiro changing platforms. Kadokawa doesn't need another manga artist. Is it really worth getting so angry?"

"You've been slacking off, kid. Studying your competitors is a must for any editor."