Effort...
Yes. Genuine effort.
Takeda-sensei thought in his days of the old publishing house Ryuuden-sha, where he lived with many manga prodigies. Geniuses who rested on their laurels, satisfied only with their ability to illustrate. Many of them simply took popular novels and turned them into manga to quickly become famous, without worrying about creating something of their own. They looked down on mangakas who bet on original content.
"I was wrong!" he exclaimed suddenly, recognizing something within him. He wasn't to hate Mirai-sensei.
He recalled the argument he had years ago with Mach-sensei, when they were both working in Ryuuden-sha. He was fired without consideration. Why? For Mach, despite his youthful appearance and superficial charm, was neither hardworking nor particularly committed. He felt entitled to everything. He drew well and had a good image. And for many publishers, that was enough.
But Takeda-sensei couldn't accept such people succeeding effortlessly. He did not want to lose to those who only trusted in his natural talent.
However, Mirai-sensei... He was not one of them.
There was something different about him. Something difficult to define, but undeniable. When everyone thought that taking on Detective Sherlock was crazy, he not only accepted it, but turned it into an opportunity. He did not back down. Mirai-sensei worked with dedication, even knowing that it would be compared to one of the most iconic series.
Takeda-sensei realized that he might disagree with geniuses, but he shouldn't look down on an author who really put in the effort.
After all, geniuses usually have fragile pride, and even so, he was willing to work hard.
If the roles had been reversed—if Mach had to face Detective Conan in a popularity duel—he would have given up or pretended to be busy. But Takumi Sato did not hide. Fought.
That... That was something admirable.
And, on second thought, that attitude was not new.
When so many young cartoonists were eagerly throwing themselves into big publishers, looking for easy contracts and guaranteed adaptations, Mirai-sensei had done the opposite. He refused comfort. He chose to enter the world of the original manga, in an industry where the stakes were high and the rewards uncertain.
What kind of dream, what conviction, led someone to take that path?
Perhaps what he was looking for was to change the system. To promote a new stage in the evolution of manga, based not on what is already famous, but on what can become so.
And thinking about that, Takeda-sensei's heart softened.
His perception of Takumi Sato changed. He stopped seeing him as a rival to start seeing him as someone to respect.
"I want to write you a letter!"
Yes. A letter of support. I wanted to tell him that I was on his side. That would closely follow the battle between Detective Conan and Detective Sherlock. Because a mangaka who makes an effort should not lose to someone who relies solely on his fame.
"Hey!"
Shiori nimbly jumped from the wall on the side of the campus, patted the magazine hidden under her jacket, and smiled satisfied: "Perfect, no scratches."
The school had been going on for several days since the beginning of the semester, but boarding students were not allowed to leave.
And of course, if you wanted to get the new issue of Weekly Shonen, you had to... Jumping the wall. Yesterday she had not been able to achieve it, which had her in a very bad mood. But today, the cover was simply stunning. I had a feeling that the content was going to be even better.
"Let's go find Takumi-kun to see him together at lunchtime..."
Just thinking of that villager—as she sometimes liked to call him jokingly—Shiori frowned slightly. I hadn't come looking for her all these days. How shameless.
Does that make a true friend? Bah!
But he let it go. In the end, she was the more relaxed of the two. And the truth is, watching Detective Conan with Takumi-kun was always fun. And next week, he would have to be the one to buy the issue!
"Hey, don't run over there!"
The cry rang out from afar. Shiori immediately spotted the security guard speeding up on a bicycle.
Oh, no...
He pulled down his hat quickly, covering part of his face, and ran straight for the main classroom building.
His speed exceeded that of the bicycle. Within seconds, it disappeared from the guard's field of vision. After entering the bathroom, he hid his hat deftly and then walked towards the living room as if nothing had happened.
"Good morning, Shiori."
"Good morning, flower of the class."
"Good morning!"
Several male voices greeted her enthusiastically, causing some girls to glance at her sideways with some annoyance. But Shiori was already used to it. It happened to him every year, and he had learned to take it easy.
"Shiori, where did you go this morning?"
"Don't disappear like this again! Yesterday you also left us worried when we didn't see you when we woke up."
Her two roommates surrounded her with an air of reproach, though sincere concern.
"Ah, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Had... an urgent matter...", he replied scratching his head with a nervous smile. He was about to make an excuse when suddenly, with a slight sharp blow, something slipped from under his clothes and fell to the ground.
''...''
The whole class looked away at the floor.
"Weekly Shonen!" one of the girls exclaimed, covering her mouth. "Shiori, you really read manga magazines!"
The boys turned around in surprise.
She...? The beautiful and elegant flower of the class... reading manga?
Shiori frowned slightly, bent down calmly to pick up the magazine from the ground, and sighed resignedly:
"Well, since you saw it... I'll tell you bluntly."
With a nonchalant smile, he declared:
"The truth is... What I like to read the most are mangas. And lately I've been following Detective Conan with a lot of interest!"
Her roommates exchanged glances between bitter and resigned. The other girls were speechless. A second later, the whole class erupted in excitement.
"Detective Conan! I follow him too!"
"Shiori, I had misunderstood you! All the girls who read Conan are good sisters!"
"Yes, yes! Let's read it together!"
Suddenly, the girls surrounded Shiori with renewed enthusiasm. The social barrier that some seemed to have against her vanished as if it had never existed. Meanwhile, the boys watched in silence, feeling a strange chill.
How was it possible for those girls to change their attitude so drastically?
Shiori, somewhat overwhelmed by the sudden uproar, chose to surrender. She placed the Weekly Shonen magazine on her table with a resigned smile and let everyone see it together.
"Wait, don't turn the page yet! This cover is too beautiful! How handsome! Could it be that Mirai-sensei introduced a new character?"
"Don't cover me! Let me see too! I want to check it out!"
Between shoving and laughing, Shiori opened the magazine and began to flip through it.
The story of this issue of Detective Conan was, without a doubt, one of the best. The girls screamed and covered their faces, their faces completely red. Especially in the scene where Kaito Kid descended from the sky with majesty... The screams were so loud that it seemed that the ceiling of the classroom was about to collapse.
"How handsome!"
"The duel between the little shota and the handsome one is unbearable, my nose is bleeding..."
Several girls were so excited that their noses were really bleeding, and they covered themselves with tissues so they could continue turning the pages. But the duel in the manga ended quickly, and Kaito Kid magically disappeared.
"Hey, how did it end?"
"I remember how it disappeared, so it was over without explanation!"
The girls showed a little dissatisfaction, but protested indignantly:
"Did Conan lose? That thief escaped like this, what an injustice!"
"Little shota Conan is sad, I want to continue watching his mourning."
Shiori was also a little disappointed. He turned to the last page and saw the announcement of the tankōbon volume.
'Oh my God! Is it a conspiracy of the author?'
'Did he declare war on Sherlock Holmes and is he intentionally mocking us?' — 'What a mockery!'
"My God, Mirai-sensei, I'm convinced! Please keep drawing the duel between Conan and Kid."
"I am also convinced. We'll buy the manga, right?"
"I want to buy it too!"
The girls spent the whole morning in shock about Detective Conan and couldn't get away from the magazine.
However, after the fourth class, Shiori took the magazine and went in search of Takumi-kun.
"Takumi-kun? I think there's someone with that name in our class, but he's been absent for a long time...," the tenth-grade instructor replied, worrying her even more.
'Why is he absent so long?'
'Is he sick?'
He texted her to ask, and the response was, "I'm working outside and agreed with the school that I'll only attend during exams."
'Working?'
'Suddenly, this compatriot seems a bit mysterious to me...'