After dinner, Kyousuke followed Eriri to her bedroom, where the two sat side by side on the sofa.
"So, what's the real reason you came all the way here?"
Eriri leaned back against the couch and turned her head slightly to look at Kyousuke, her sapphire-blue eyes shimmering.
Despite her words, her calm, indifferent tone made it sound like she didn't really care.
But Kyousuke could tell—she was actually really curious, maybe even a little excited. And that made it all the more tempting for him to mess with her.
"Our manga... was rejected by the magazine," Kyousuke said, feigning despair.
"What!?"
Eriri, who had been lounging casually, shot up from the sofa, her tiny fists clenched at her sides, her face full of disbelief.
She'd guessed from the moment she heard Kyousuke was coming over that it had to be about the manga, and had been excitedly waiting all day for good news.
"There's no way... The story, the panel layout, the art—everything was perfect! Are the editors blind?! That's just... that's just..."
Her fair cheeks flushed bright red as she struggled to find the words to express her frustration.
She ended up spinning in place like a wind-up toy, fuming.
"They're totally blind," Kyousuke helpfully whispered.
"Exactly! Totally blind! Which publishing house is it? I'll have my dad send them a formal complaint!"
Now she looked like a fluffed-up angry kitten, those clear blue eyes blazing.
Unforgivable! They'd poured so much time and energy into the project, and someone had just dismissed it outright.
She was absolutely livid.
Kyousuke, seeing how seriously furious she was, realized maybe the joke had gone a bit too far.
He quickly backpedaled.
"Actually… we got approved for serialization. It's going to be in Weekly Shonen High. First issue comes out next week."
"Huh!?" Eriri froze mid-spin and whipped around to face him, completely stunned.
"Idiot! Idiot! You moron! Who makes a joke about something like that?!"
"Do you have any idea how much this means to me!?"
She bent down and began swinging her head wildly, her twin tails whipping Kyousuke in the face like soft, golden weapons of mass destruction.
"Okay, okay! I'm sorry! I was wrong!"
"Apologies not accepted!" she snapped, still swinging.
Even though she was starting to feel dizzy, she had no intention of stopping.
Thanks to all the extra exercise lately, she felt like her tolerance had improved.
"Alright, alright, stop before you actually faint." Kyousuke narrowed his eyes and gently reached out to steady her head.
Sure enough, the moment she stopped, a wave of dizziness hit.
She plopped down onto the couch, holding her head.
"You absolute idiot... I'm never helping you draw again!" She propped her head up with one hand and glared at him.
But her eyes had already softened, brimming with quiet joy. All that bluster vanished in an instant.
'We did it. It's finally getting serialized. I knew it—his story, combined with my art, was bound to succeed. Now his financial problems will finally get better, right?'
Even through the lightheadedness, Eriri remembered exactly why Kyousuke had started this manga journey in the first place.
"It's all my fault. As an apology, I'll make sure to sell every last one of your books at the doujin event the day after tomorrow!"
Kyousuke pressed his palms together, bowing his head.
If he screwed up, he'd own up to it—fast and sincerely.
That principle had saved him from more than a few parental beatings in his previous life.
"Who said I needed your help!? You think you're some big deal or something?"
At that, Eriri suddenly didn't seem dizzy at all.
A grin tugged at her lips, and she quickly turned away to hide it.
"Please, let me support the legendary Eriri-sensei on her path to becoming the ultimate doujin artist!" With his emotional radar maxed out, Kyousuke caught that smile easily.
But he knew better than to point it out. Now was the time to lean in, not let up.
"Ugh, shut up! My dad's handling the sales, okay? You're just a newbie use this as a chance to learn what a real event is like." Her tone was still sharp, but the faux anger had already vanished from her voice.
'Yes, yes, I'm just a newbie.'
Kyousuke chuckled inwardly at her tsundere act, both amused and touched.
"Oh, right. This is your cut of the serialization payment." He pulled a thick envelope from his pocket.
"What are you doing!?" Eriri recoiled as if he'd just pulled out a cursed object, leaning away from the envelope like it might bite her.
"Didn't we agree from the start? We split everything 50/50," Kyousuke said, puzzled.
"Hah, you think I care about some pocket change like that?" She raised an arm and tilted her chin proudly, gesturing around the room.
"Even if this manga sells a million copies, the royalties wouldn't be enough to buy this bedroom!"
…And yeah, Kyousuke could believe that.
Eriri's house was basically a tourist attraction.
It was far beyond a typical home, its value could only be described as priceless.
"But still, a deal's a deal. Even if you don't need the money, I have to give you your share."
"But you said you were strapped for cash, didn't you?" The words slipped out before she could stop them, and then she quickly turned away.
"I said I don't want it! If you don't put that thing away, I won't draw for you anymore!"
'Ah, so that's what this is about,' Kyousuke realized, finally connecting the dots.
"Well then, thank you on behalf of my stomach. But my financial crisis is officially over. At this point, I don't need the manga money anymore. So, please—take it."
He gently pushed the envelope toward her again, doing his best not to poke her pride too hard.
"What, did you find a treasure chest full of gold bars under a cherry tree or something?"
She crossed her arms and eyed him suspiciously.
"Ever consider I just asked my family for help?" he teased.
"You? Ask for help? Please. You were trying to earn money with your garbage art skills. There's no way you'd give up that easily."
She tilted her chin again, casting a sidelong glance at him, her expression saying loud and clear: You're not fooling me.
"Haha, alright, you got me. Actually, I found a part-time job as a kendo club instructor at school," Kyousuke admitted with a chuckle.
To ease Eriri's mind and make her feel okay about accepting the manuscript payment, Kyousuke explained everything in detail about the two kendo clubs he was coaching, and how he'd even qualified for the position in the first place.
"Wait, your kendo skills are that good?" Eriri stared at him in disbelief.
Was he serious?
He was already ridiculously good-looking, got amazing grades, and now he was telling her he was strong enough to teach kendo?
"At the moment, I guess there's no real way to prove it," Kyousuke said, scratching his cheek.
"But I'll be competing in the national middle school kendo tournament at the end of July. I'll bring back the championship trophy and show it to you."
"Who cares about some trophy!" Eriri huffed and looked away.
But the truth was, she'd believed him the moment he said it.
She was kind of like a child that way, easily convinced by people she trusted.
That question earlier was just her being shocked.
"Anyway, just take the money. If you don't, I won't feel comfortable asking you to help draw the manga again."
This is so weird, one of them was threatening not to draw in order to avoid getting paid, and the other was threatening not to draw unless she did get paid.
"You're so annoying." Eriri snatched the envelope with a small hand.
What looked like a standard-sized envelope in Kyousuke's hand now looked oversized in hers.
"There's… this much!?" She gasped the moment her fingers closed around it.
As a seasoned otaku, she had a pretty good understanding of how the manga industry worked.
Newcomers usually only earned about 12,000 yen per page before taxes. And though she hadn't counted it yet, it was obvious this envelope held way more than that.
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