I spent the next two hours by drawing names of the Assassination Classroom's first chapter. I will try to make it a bit longer to aim it at Akamaru Jump. The long-term goal is to make it get serialized right when we move to Tokyo.
After waiting for about two hours, I hear a ring on my phone, and I knew that this would be Yoshida-san.
"Hello, Hiroyuki Hori here, what can I do for you?" I start the conversation politely.
"Hello Hori-sensei, this is Koji Yoshida from Shonen Jump. Are you free right now?"
"Yes, Yoshida-san, you can talk to me now. What do you think about that manga?" I ask curiously. I hear a deep sigh from the phone, and I know this will be a long talk.
"Honestly, Hiroyuki-sensei, I have a lot to talk to you. So, do you have some free time to have a meeting with me tomorrow?" I am surprised after hearing the response from Yoshida-san. That good, huh? If he asks to have an offline meeting this early, the topic of the conversation probably will be a persuasion to move out to Tokyo or a contract talk. But I think it will be too early to talk about a contract, so he will try to persuade me to go to Tokyo. Hmm, I will have to wait for tomorrow, I guess. But for now, I will play his game.
"Why an offline meeting though? Is there anything wrong with the manga, Yoshida-san? Do I need to go to Tokyo tomorrow?" I ask, trying to make my voice sound a little worried.
"No, Hiroyuki-sensei, there is no problem with the manga. It is just, I want to talk to you about the detail aspect of mangaka. And you don't have to worry. I will personally go to Miyagi to talk to you. Do you have some free time tomorrow?" Damn, he will go personally just to have a meeting with me? This is the same move that Shonen Jump personally makes with Eiji Niizuma. Is this how the protagonist is being treated?
"Hoo, okay I guess, we can meet tomorrow. You can visit my house in xxxxxxxxx at 10.00 a.m. if that is okay with you?"
"That's okay for me. I will give you a review about the manga tomorrow. See you soon eh, Hori-sensei?"
"Yeah, see you soon Yoshida-san. Thank you for your hard work." I close the phone. Damn, this is awesome. Soon, I will have my own manga published in the Shounen Jump.
After preparing for spicy karaage for dinner, I look at the clock and wait for Kiyoko. She will arrive in a few moments. Right after that thought appears, I can hear her melodic voice from the door,
"I am home, Yuki-nii!"
"Welcome home! I have prepared karaage for dinner. Go to the shower first okay!"
"Okay Yuki-nii, thank you."
Fifteen minutes later, I found myself enjoying my portion of spicy karaage with Kiyoko.
"Hey Yuki-nii, we have a bunch of interesting first years in the volleyball club. Do you want to hear about them?"
"Hmm.. Tell me about them." While I know everything about Karasuno's first year, it is quite rare for Kiyoko who is not a talkative person to start the conversation.
"Okay, where do I start? Oh, we have Tobio Kageyama, Kitagawa Daiichi's genius setter last year. He is Oikawa-san's junior so I bet you already know about it. But what you don't know is, he is already make a weird super quick combination with other first year named Shoyo Hinata. He is small and not a trained player, but he has a very high vertical jump. Not as high as you, you know, but it is better than any average player." Kiyoko talks excitedly.
"And then we have a tall player with nasty personality named Kei Tsukishima and a very timid boy called Tadashi Yamaguchi. They are best friend I guess. Tsukishima is a talented middle blocker, while Yamaguchi is a solid player with a good basic technique as his foundation. Overall, I am satisfied with the addition of the first year right now."
"Hmm, what about your ace and libero? Are they still in a conflict? It will affect the dynamic of the team you know?" Hearing that question, she gives me a deep sigh.
"Yeah, I know. They both are still on suspension. But I think watching the first year in action will bring their spirit back. Well, that is what I hope."
"So, how far do you think your team can go?"
"Honestly, I can see the team will lose in the prefecture tournament for Interhigh. While the newcomers are good, they are still inexperienced players. If they treat the high school game like when they played in middle school, they will be in a rude awakening. The second year, however, is a different matter. While their position is threatened by the newcomers, they cannot help but look forward to see how far the team can go this year.
My captain, Daichi, said that when our ace and libero come back from their problem, the team will have a chance to compete in the prefecture tournament. However, the team is starting to be a little arrogant. I think it is because they are only seeing the potential of Karasuno, and forget that the other team is also getting stronger. That arrogance will be our downfall in the prefecture tournament.
As for the spring tournament, I believe we can go to the national. We will have a lot of time to practice new combination, strengthening our teamwork, get a lot of experience, and curb our arrogance. But I think we will go further in the spring." She nods her head, satisfied with her own analysis.
"Well, do you want to have a practice match against a strong team?" She raises her eyebrows hearing my question.
"Of course I want. But what can you do?"
"It's easy. Just wait and look at how my charm work." I smile mysteriously while opening my phone and trying to make a call. She glanced at me with a curious face.
[on phone]
"Yo, Oikawa!
You remember my little sister, Kiyoko, right? She is the manager of Karasuno's volleyball team. Yeah, the same Karasuno as your cute genius junior you keep bragging about.
What do you mean I am scheming something? I am innocent you know!
Ahahaha.. By the way, don't you want to have a practice match against Karasuno? You can beat your junior's ass *cough* teach him a lesson to respect the elder, you know? Is that a good reason?
Nah, don't worry about him not playing. Just demand that Aoba Johsai will go if only Karasuno play your junior. Is that reasonable?
Yeah, yeah. You can thank me later okay. See you!"
[off the phone]
I closed my phone and looked at Kiyoko who glares at me. I put an innocent smile on my face and ask,
"What's wrong?"
"..........."
"You are really evil you know, Yuki-nii?"
"What, what do you mean I am evil? I am hurt Kiyo-chan!" I put on a fake hurt expression. It gained me a hard slap on my back with a small giggling from Kiyoko. I chuckled a bit.
"Thank you Yuki-nii." She smiles softly.
"You're welcome. Though, if you want to have another good practice match, wait for about one month. It will give your and the other teams some time to integrate their first year into the team. If after one month you still need a practice match, I can call my old coach Nekomata to bring Nekoma to a trash battle. What do you think?" She put her palm on her chin, thinking about what I talk.
"Well, that is a good idea. I need to discuss it with the team. However, I cannot see us declining your offer. So can you wait for a few days?"
"Yup, you can ask me anything, you know?"
"Yeah, I know. Thank you Yuki-nii. I will go back to my room and do my homework. Good night." She walks away to her room. After washing my dish, I followed her steps, go back to my room, and drew manga again. Tomorrow will be the day I begin my career.
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Author note:
You can also read five more chapters at my patreon account, pat_reon.com/zwolf1 (without '_' ). Thank you.