Chapter 22: Chapter 22
"For one, I want to tell you that the honorarium for your one-shot has already been transferred to your bank account." I nodded, thanking him silently. "And I want to ask about your progress for the incoming Tezuka Award next summer. I know it is still a long time, but there is nothing wrong about preparing from now."
"Don't worry Yoshida-san. I have an idea about what I want to draw. The concept is here, but I want to take it slow for now. If I am not wrong, the deadline for this award is two weeks after Tohoku University's entrance exam right?" Yoshida-san nodded while Kiyoko looked surprised. "Don't worry. It will be ready when we move to Tokyo."
"About that, can you tell me when you want to move to Tokyo?" I steal a glance at Kiyoko who did the same, and replied, "Well, the ideal date is two weeks before the exam, but this can be changed, of course." Kiyoko and I have been discussed it a long time ago and she agreed that we will move to Tokyo after she finished high school.
"That is good. I can help to search for a place for you to stay if you want." I waved my hand, refusing Yoshida-san's offer. "Thank you for the help, but we will be fine." Yoshida-san nodded and changed the topic.
"So, when do you want to start creating serialization series?" He asked curiously.
"Well, I want to submit my work at Akamaru before serialization. If the result is good, I will think about serialization. If not, well…. I have to make something different again." I shrugged while thinking about which story arc from Assassination Classroom should I create for the next Tezuka Award.
"Good thinking. Akamaru will be a good parameter to show if you are ready or not to get serialization. But even if the result is not good, you don't have to make something different. If the idea is good, we can revise it so the manga can be accepted by the reader." I nodded, aggreging with him.
For you who don't know, Akamaru Jump is the seasonal edition of Weekly Shōnen Jump which is published on Japanese holidays. The magazine features many amateur manga artists who get their one-shots published in the magazine. So, by submitting my work to this edition, I can say I am entering to the unofficial competition between all of the rookie mangaka in Japan.
We discussed for at least one hour before Yoshida-san ended the meeting.
"I am sorry Hiroyuki-sensei, but I have a meeting with the chief editor. I will inform you of the result of the survey and the competition right after we release it. Thank you." He bowed to me.
"Don't worry Yoshida-san. Take your time. Thank you for having us." Kiyoko and I bowed back at him and leave the building.
"So, where are we going now?" Kiyoko asked, excited about the café that I said she will like it. I just smile mysteriously and replied, "It is not far from here. Let's take a walk."
After walking for fifteen minutes, we arrived at a small café called Megumi's Den in the countryside of Tokyo. Kiyoko looked amazed at the simple yet elegant look of the café. It reminds me of Ken's Café in Tokyo from my first life.
The moment we entered the small building, we were greeted by the good smell of freshly baked matcha dessert from the back. But even the good smell cannot distract the astounded look from Kiyoko's eyes when she saw the inside of the café. It is a library café with a lot of books displayed on the bookshelf on the wall. The café is quite quiet, with a few people here who are reading while enjoying their coffee and dessert.
"Well, are my eyes deceiving me? Or is it really you, little Hiro?" A voice is coming from behind us, and when I looked around, I can see a warm smile coming from a woman who is slightly older than me. I returned her smile and hug her,
"It is good to see you, Megumi-san." She smiles and hugged me back. After a few moments, I release my hug and introduce Kiyoko to her.
"Megumi-san, this is my little sister, Kiyoko Shimizu. And Kiyo-chan, this is my sister from the orphanage I grew up, Megumi Hahn." Kiyoko's eyes widened in surprise.
"A foreigner?" She muttered in a low voice, but it wasn't low enough for Megumi and me to not hear it.
"Yes. And you must be his little Kiyoko-chan, right? He would not stop blabbering about you the moment he knew he has you as a little sister. I still don't know what is the reason he didn't introduce you to me before today." She let out a small giggle and grab my hand. I smile at her always cheerful personality and decided to add,
"Megumi-san here is the one who teaches me how to read. She would always read a story every time I went to bed. She is also the smartest person I have ever known, and she is so kind to teach me when I was just a kid." I smile, remembering the memories from the former Hiroyuki.
"Ah.. I remember the time you asked me to teach you how to speak German because you want to know about my origin. You were so eager to learn because you said you wanted to find my father. You were so cute back then.." We smile in nostalgia.
*Cough!* Kiyoko's coughed snapped our nostalgia.
"So, do you have anything to order?" Megumi-san asked, back to her professional persona. After looking at the menu, we decide to order something a little heavy for lunch.
"Two Neapolitan, one matcha coffee, and one strawberry milkshake for us, please."
"Coming. Please wait for 15 minutes, the food will be ready."
"Anoo…" Kiyoko looks like she wanted to ask something, but hesitated. But after looking at the encouraging smile from me, she decided to ask. "Can I have a look at the books?" Megumi-san raised her eyebrow slightly at me. But when I shrugged, she knows that I haven't told a lot of things to Kiyoko, so she smiles and replied,
"Of course, dear. All of the books here are your brother's after all." She giggled at Kiyoko's shocked expression.
"Well, it seems your brother is still hiding a lot from you. I will tell you something though. All of this café is basically coming from your brother's money. I am just maintaining it as a manager and the cook." She giggles more when she saw Kiyoko's glare at me, and leave me to explain everything to her.
"So, when will you tell me about this café?" I chuckled awkwardly while cursing Megumi-san inside my head.
"Will you believe me if I said I forget?" She glares more fiercely at my answer.
"Since when? And from what money?" She asked interrogatively. 'Seems like she forgot she wanted to look at the book' I thought inwardly.
"Well, it was from the end of my second year when I was at Nekoma. The money came from the sports scholarship that I saved since I joined the team and from the part-time job that I take, but the café added the library section because of the prize of being the national MVP last year." I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly.
My explanation didn't pacify her for a bit, and then she decided to leave me and look at the book section. When she comes back, I decided to ask her the question that bother me.
"So, why did you angry?" She gazes at my eyes intently but ended up with a long sigh.
"I don't know. I think it is probably because I don't like the feeling of being left out in the dark." I send her an apologetic smile as I replied,
"I am sorry about that. If it will make you better, I am clearly forgetting about this one, because I don't feel this is an investment. I only see this café as a way for me to help my sister to reach her dream to be a chef."
"Then, why a café? If she wants to be a chef, why didn't you help her join Totsuki Academy? People said it is the best cooking school, after all." This time, it is me who is surprised. 'So Totsuki is real here. It would be interesting if the character ended up here.' I mused.
"I was rejected by Totsuki at that time because I was just a commoner who didn't have a good background family. Or so that was what the examiner told me, in a brutal way." Megumi-san answered the question from behind while bringing our food.
"And you didn't tell me about it because?" I asked her strangely. She just shrugged and sit beside us before replying,
"At that time, I have a quite high ego, so I don't want to look weak in front of you. It was embarrassing enough for me to let Rena-san console me. But I think I could not handle you at that time."
"At least Rena-san was with you that time." I sighed tiredly.
"Who is Rena-san?" Kiyoko asked us curiously. Megumi-san and I look at each other before we give her our answer,
"Well, you can say she was our mother figure, Rena Nakano."
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Author note:
Megumi is an OC character I created as a bridge to Shokugeki no Soma and Quintuplets characters. What do you think about it?
You can also read:
- Transmigrated Into Anime World as Kiyoko Shimizu's Older Brother up to chapter 27
- Naruto: Ashigaru up to chapter 01, my new creation that I will start posting it at the beginning of October.
You can read all of it at my Patreon account, pat_reon.com/zwolf1 (Without '_') Thank you for your support! :)
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