Chapter 198: Aoi Natsuki’s insight into Sakurajima’s heart

……

Ayano sat nervously in the meeting room of the editorial department, opposite her editor-in-chief Sawano, a tall, thin, middle-aged man wearing a pair of anti-blue light glasses, looking at her latest manuscript page by page in his hands, firstly looking at the story in general terms, then the details and the subplot, and then pondering for a while, giving some suggestions that can help and improve, but the editor-in-chief actually has no power to change the manuscript, which means that the final decision to change or not is still up to the manga artist. However, the editor-in-chief does not actually have the power to modify the manuscript, which means that it is ultimately up to the cartoonist to decide whether to change it or not.

There are many top manga artists who don’t listen to the opinions of their editors, let’s say the author of “King of Thieves”, Eiichiro Onoda, when he initially designed the image of Luffy, the design of Luffy’s eyes was just a dot, which was opposed by many people in the editorial department, because all the basic characters in that period of time had big eyes, and the image was very beautiful, and after a lot of thinking, Onoda felt that a dot was more reflective of the main character’s determination, and so he ignored the editorial department’s suggestions. The editorial department’s suggestion was ignored, and in that year, it was also the most difficult year for jp, with the end of countless excellent works, and even the news that jp was about to hit rock bottom was published in the newspaper, and the picture chosen for that issue of the newspaper just happened to be the first issue of the “King of Thieves,” a boy wearing a straw hat with a big grin and a thumbs up towards the sky on the cover.

After reading the manuscript, Sawano took off his glasses, rubbed the bridge of his nose, and then put them on, “Did you come up with many of the ideas about this place while you were in the country?”

“Yes! Isn’t the plot interesting enough?” Ayano asked timidly in return as her posture lowered.

“No, the content is as funny as ever, and a lot of cold knowledge also caught my eye, the image of the humane cow portrayed in this is particularly three-dimensional, this kind of coldness in the sense of self-mystery of the non-biological organisms, reminds me of “Silver Soul” in the JUST WEAVE, very comical, at the same time the sub-scenes on the also have a great improvement, to do a funny comic, excellent sub-scenes are also very important. ” Sawano’s chief editor appreciated her work and handed the manuscript back, Takahashi Ayano felt like she was dreaming, forcibly suppressing the excitement within her heart, she accepted the manuscript with both hands.

“Thank you!” A deep bow toward the editor-in-charge.

“There’s no need to be so polite, it’s all from your hard work, oh yes, about your work IF the company side has contacted our editorial department, although we don’t know how the result will be, but we still tell you first.”

“IF? You mean that well-known animation production company!” Ayano slapped the table.

Zeno was startled, the pen held in his hand almost didn’t catch, his movements were a bit lousy, then he calmly looked at her, his movements signaling her to sit down first: “There is just an intention in this regard, but according to past experience, often the manga that they are interested in end up being able to successfully animate, your type of subject matter is just right for the current era, funny, beautiful girls, school, games. Although the upper limit can’t compare to some big ip of otherworldly conquest, but it also has its own little piece of world, if it is really animated, then the workload can be big, of course, if you intend to leave all the subsequent animation production work to someone else to do it can be done as well.”

“No need! Just leave it all to me!” Ayano said firmly.

Zeno contacted her for such a long time, and also understand her character, typical straight nature, decided things ten oxen can not pull back.

“Alright then, deploy your own time and I’ll let you know as soon as I hear anything.” Sawano retrieved his pen, his clean white shirt with four or five pens of varying colors sticking out of small ports on his chest.

There is no hierarchical relationship between the editor-in-chief and the manga artist, but more of a companion relationship, a good editor-in-chief can positively influence the enthusiasm of the manga artist’s creation, Ayano this kind of manga artist is undoubtedly the editor-in-chief’s favorite character, has the drive and the ideals, and wait until the animation bursts into flames, but also to play the name of the genius beauty girl manga artist, the subsequent series of activities to attend as well as the voice actor guest appearances, all of which have already been simulated countless times in the head of the editor-in-chief in Zeno’s mind. All of this has been simulated countless times in Sawano’s head, and now it’s just a matter of ideals coming to life.

Looking at the sweet-looking girl in front of him, Zeno smiled, he had truly picked up a treasure.

……

“I’m sorry!”

Ayano apologized sincerely towards Hayakawa, who was so shocked that he kept waving his hands.

“不不不不，这都只是小事，肯定还是你的工作比较重要。”

“One size does not fit all, I promised you to help you make the game, and now I can’t do it, I still feel bad in my heart, how about this, I’ll send you an extra 30% for the assistant’s side of the paycheck!” said Ayano gently as she made a money gesture.

Seeing this, Hayakawa pressed her hand down and said again, “No need, I’m serious, if your manga can really be animated, then I can’t be too happy, it’s only been less than four months and more than ten issues can be animated, it’s just unthinkable.”

“Haha, yeah.” Ayano echoed with a compensatory smile, running a hand over the back of her head.

Since Ayano can no longer draw risqué drawings, the risqué drawing aspect of the work basically needs to be done by Hayakawa, the current positive reviews of this game maintained at 74%, which is considered a normal good work, there may still be some black scores in the middle of the bad reviews, in fact, the positive reviews should be even higher, the game modification is almost at the end of the end, and then further up is not an RPG mini-game can be said to be understandable.

“Or we could try some new game making, like I said before, how about a galgame?” Sakurajima casually suggested as he sat on the back couch, his left foot folded over his right.

“Eh! That’s a good suggestion, and you can’t always think about making RPG mini-games, Hayakawa you should have it in your heart to want to make something more flashy, right?” Ayano turned her head.

“A galgame also has a much wider audience than an RPG mini-game and can be put on sale to generate revenue, it’s just that the game production schedule will be slower, and it involves programming a whole bunch of things, so I don’t know if you’re willing to do it or not.”

“I’ll have to think about that, anyway, for the near future I’d like to try to do the easy ones first, and hone myself a bit more.” Hayakawa said in a serious tone.

“Suit yourself then, anyway, feel free to call us anytime you’re in trouble, we’ll all help you as much as we can.” Sakurajima apricot smiled dotingly at her, while Aoi Natsuki, who was standing far away by the glass door of the kitchen, had a growing suspicion on his face, he knew that Sakurajima’s personality was weird, but he was actually a warm hearted person at heart, but lately, hadn’t Sakurajima helped Hayakawa a little too much? Again the stage play casting her as the female lead, again helping her game to do publicity, and now taking the initiative to agree to program her new game, this …… what is she trying to do?

Aoi Natsuki walks over with several boxes of ice cream, one person share one, now it’s early fall, but the climate is still so hot, eat a box of ice cream to relieve the summer heat, Ayano rips open the bag of the wooden spoon, unzips the box of ice cream, scoops a spoonful and puts it in her mouth, a refreshing cool cantaloupe flavor overflows in all directions, she can’t help but sway her body, so happy!

“If it can be animated, then Ayano you’ll be really famous, I’ve often heard on the internet that first tier manga artists can earn up to fifty million dollars a year, and the top batch can go up to a hundred million.” Aoi Natsuki said as she sat on the armrest of the lone sofa.

“That much money? Amazing!” Hayakawa had never seen so much money in his lifetime.

“I suppose so, but I’m nowhere near that, it would be more practical to think about five million than fifty million, or maybe five million first.” Ayano wasn’t exaggerating actually, an annual income of five million yen was considered a moderately good income in Japan, and the average working person with a family over the age of thirty could basically have that annual income.

“The ideal can be a bit bigger la.” Aoi Natsuki’s mouth smiled lightly, suddenly thought of something and said, “Sakurajima and Hetty have voiced Hayakawa’s game, or maybe they’ll be able to voice your anime by then as well, and since it’s a beauty girl themed anime, really find two AKB members to act in it, and it might be a big topic of conversation.”

“Whoa! Indeed!” Ayano clenched her left hand into a fist and hammered it on the palm of her right hand as she jerked her head around to look at Sakurajima, “Sakurajima~”

“I’m indifferent, Hetty’s side is fine I guess, the idol industry is supposed to rely on a few events to get out of the ring, the more traffic the better.” Sakurajima wrapped her arms around Lina who suddenly jumped onto the couch and lay flat on her lap, gently stroking her hair, without even needing to look at Lina, she handed the ice cream box in her hand to Lina, while Lina immediately had her eyes glistening and took it with both hands, taking a big bite of the ice cream, two big bites went down, and her petite body winced, frowning for a long time, she let out a long breath, and continued to open her mouth to eat.

“Sakurajima are you not a fan of cantaloupe flavor?” Natsuki Aoi asked curiously.

Sakurajima rested the index finger of his right hand against his cheek as he looked over at Aoi, followed by a narrowed smile as he inclined his head, “No, I’m just afraid of getting fat from eating it.”

The words just fell, still eating ice-cream Hayakawa and Ayano steeply stopped, the eyes subconsciously looked to their own belly as well as thighs, Hayakawa is a petite model, two feet on the fleshy side, so has been trying to maintain the body shape, whenever she saw Sakurajima’s straight and slender legs make her envious.

Although Ayano’s body is big enough to compete with Sakurajima, but at this time, her head remembered her sister who always loves to crave high calorie food, that slightly bulging belly, hiss…… just the thought of it makes her feel very resistant, these weeks because of the manga, going out as a volunteer is becoming less and less frequent, this way on maybe she will really become like the previous Sister that same fat …… She has been vaguely able to imagine her sister in turn taunting her own blossoming body, do not ah!

“Leigh, Leena, why don’t I give you this box as well.” Ayano said with a leathery smile.

“Then I also ……” Hayakawa’s face didn’t look any better.

“Awwww!” Hearing this, Lina excitedly sat up straight away and raised her right hand, which was holding a wooden spoon, high in the air.

“Kids can’t eat that much.” Aoi Natsuki stepped forward in time to interrupt her fantasies.

In the afternoon, Lina was watching a TV show with her sisters, and Natsuki Aoi was puzzled as to when her house had become a gathering place for them on the weekends. Several times they came to visit without prior notice, and their behavior became more and more casual… Do they really think this is their home?

Aoi Natsuki squatted on the wooden veranda outside the balcony, holding dog food in his hand, grabbing a handful in the palm of his hand, Jijie saw it and immediately came forward, sticking out his tongue and continuously feeding the dog food into his mouth, if you have a dog, you have to pay attention to the fact that every month, in addition to the dog food, you have to supplement some meat and vegetables appropriately, this kind of mix of minced dog food Jijie likes to eat, every time he finishes eating it, he still keeps swinging his head to see where there are still remnants of the dog food, and sticks out his tongue to lick it clean again. The dog will be able to eat the food with his tongue.

“Why did you walk out? Isn’t it good to talk to everyone inside?” Sakurajima Apricot asked as she walked out from the balcony entrance at that moment, her right hand holding onto the glass window.

Aoi Natsuki turned her head, then put the dog food bag aside, stood up, and said helplessly, “You guys really think this is your home?”

“Or what?”

Natsuki Arai narrowed her eyes, “That wasn’t a declarative sentence on my part.”

“It’s good that we’re all together, sadomasochism is not popular these days, you have to adapt to the times.”

“I think it’s you guys who need to see the times before they are over, especially you, who have been playing around in your mind all day, so you don’t have to be calculating something again.”

“Arai you’re doing it again, clearly you’re so happy in your heart.” Sakurajima came forward, his right hand naturally close to his chest, Aoi Natsuki immediately retreated a step back.

“Talk is talk, but don’t do it anon.”

“Hmph, straight boy.” Sakurajima beamed.

Aoi Natsuki really couldn’t do anything about her, letting out a long sigh through the tip of her nose, and actually did have questions in mind to ask her.

“I don’t quite understand why you’ve been so nice to Hayakawa lately, it’s a little too nice, isn’t it?” Aoi’s eyes went straight to Sakurajima, and if she wavered her eyes for a moment, she would have decided she was lying herself.

“Of course it’s because of you, Aoi.” Sakurajima Apricot responded to him with the same look.

The two of them looked at each other, Aoi Natsuki did not see the slightest wavering in her eyes, on the contrary, his own heart was a little shaken, Sakurajima for a long time to say this kind of words, sometimes it really is like poison that affects one’s own thinking pattern, with her with common sense does not make sense, the other party will bring into her theory, so as to persuade you.

Natsuki Aoi averted her eyes and didn’t say anything.

Sakurajima Apricot’s gaze was still firm, and the smile on her face was even more intense, because she found Aoi’s reaction had always been so cute and fun, which made her unable to resist wanting to flirt with him a little more, but after a moment’s struggle of thought, the hand she had just wanted to raise was reintroduced behind her back, and Aoi was always at a distance of twenty centimeters, and she immediately said: ”There’s no other way, who made Hayakawa the number one, take care of Hayakawa, won’t you have time to care more about me, am I right? Aoi.”

Jealousy was audible in the words.

This time Sakurajima didn’t have physical contact with him and kept her distance, but the jealousy and despondency in her words were still obvious, she was a good camouflage person, when she showed her emotions it just meant she wanted the other person to realize her own emotions, which meant that right now Sakurajima especially wanted to get a word of praise from Aoi or some proactive behavior.

Sometimes mature, sometimes reckless, sometimes childish, Aoi Natsuki is now able to gradually get used to the rhythm of her character, and slowly able to think with her at a certain moment, like right now, his heart strongly believes that the other party is waiting for his own compliments, this is an illusion?

“Hmm?” Sakurajima brought his head closer once more, wanting Aoi to have the next answer.

Aoi Natsuki couldn’t stand her pressing like this, so she simply went with what she felt in her heart for once, turning her head sideways and clasping her cheeks with her right hand, thinking of what she was going to say next, she was a little embarrassed again, “Oh, oh …… this time… . well done, but I didn’t mean anything else, I just simply think you did the right thing.”

The latter quickly added, but Sakurajima apricot face could no longer contain the shocked look on her face, how she did not expect Aoi to suddenly praise her good work, her eyes widened and repeatedly tried to confirm something on Aoi’s face, but Aoi Natsuki dryly coughed twice, and every time he was about to meet Sakurajima head on, his face would veer off the other side, and after a few times, he found it annoying.

“Come on, just say what you have to say, why are you looking at me all the time.”

Sakurajima Apricot’s stare at him finally stopped, her eyes shifting downward, and after a moment of silence, a warm smile appeared on her face as she nodded lightly, her magnetic voice hushed, “You finally get it then, Aoi.”

Aoi Natsuki really seemed to guess her thoughts, and the feeling of being seen through her emotions surprised Sakurajima, from the bottom of her heart, with surprise.

Aoi Natsuki was still looking at her form, slightly mesmerized, as if it was holding his gaze like a suction stone, and it wasn’t just because of her looks, but it was something much more intrinsic within her body, something that Aoi disengaged himself from after nearly seven or eight seconds, his panicked eyes unsure of where they should be looking.

This was the first time he had a clear picture of what was going on in Sakurajima’s mind, and at this point he was extraordinarily complex, with a sense of wonder, a sense of distance created, and a hint of joy detected in a deeper place ……

It’s such an odd feeling.

……

Back to School.

The leisurely new semester unfolded smoothly, Aoi Natsuki’s position hadn’t changed, it was still at the end of the window seat, when he looked up Yusuke was still rambling on about his unlucky history of being rejected by girls all these days, Aoi Natsuki was used to it and was silently being an eavesdropper, opening his mouth to comfort him every now and then.

After the second year of high school class change, the new girls in the class is back to Aoi Natsuki full of malice, originally before the first year of high school because of their own always do not cause trouble not trouble character, the class of the individual high favorability of the girl’s attitude towards him improved, but the second year of high school once the change of classmates, the familiar sense of disgust and distance once again came to the surface, many girls will not even walk next to him this aisle, but go around the road to go, clean up! When you want to take the broom behind him in the cleaning cabinet, it is a group of girls around him three meters away from the place, has been vigilant muttering do not know what to say, until he left, only to get close to take the broom mop, this group of guys is really enough……

Yusuke also not spared, after learning that he actually actively admit to be Aoi Natsuki’s friend, many girls in the class also keep a distance from him, just into the sophomore class, Yusuke’s height of one meter nine into the classroom also attracted a lot of girls exclaimed voice, love to play basketball, sunny and handsome, height of one meter nine, this is simply the best boyfriend ideal type! But in the end, after adding a friend is Aoi Natsuki, those girls who took the initiative to hit on him within two days will draw a line with him, and now Yusuke is crying in front of him, it is exactly this thing.

“Oooooooh, what am I going to do na, best friend!” When he cried out his best friend under his breath, Aoi Natsuki could clearly feel the gradually dropping temperature of the girls around him.

Please don’t say it.

Aoi Natsuki patted him on the shoulder and sighed, “I told you a year ago that you need to keep your distance from me in order to get a girlfriend, why don’t you believe me?”

“Of course I don’t believe it! Besides, if you say you want to be my girlfriend, the first condition is to respect my friends.” Yusuke said with a straight face.

“Where are you picking now, to have a girlfriend in this condition, I’m afraid the other guy would have to be a tough guy.”

“Tough guy ……” Yusuke’s gaze froze for a second, his brain then conjured up a petite red-haired figure, followed by a great fear in his face, his hands covering his face and knocking his head on the tabletop, no! How could I remember that little devil!

“Yusuke ……” Aoi Natsuki didn’t know what he was thinking of, it looked like it should be something terrible, his eyes turned around, the extremely oppressive sense of sight made him a little breathless, if this continues, Yusuke your high school career is very bad na .

“Aoi, got a minute? Off to rehearse the script.” Sakurajima and Takahashi walked in through the back door of the classroom.

“What’s wrong with this guy?” Takahashi wondered.

“Well …… it’s a long story, I do have time, so let’s go.”

“But he seemed so sad about it.” Takahashi’s body leaned back slightly, she hated weak boys like that.

“Is it hard to believe that it’s because of a girl?” Sakurajima pursed her lips.

Just after her words, Yusuke’s body shuddered, only the remaining two didn’t notice.

“Stop, don’t irritate him, where’s Hayakawa?”

“Hayakawa’s student council has something to do, she’ll be here in a few minutes, let’s wait for her in the activity classroom now.”

“Uh-huh.” Natsuki Arai looked back at Yusuke and sighed, saying hello to him before heading to the activity classroom with the two girls.

……

Inside the movable classroom, the big square table in the center had been moved, the floor was cleaned up, and when the curtains were drawn, it really looked like a stage play.

Hayakawa arrived late, holding the information in his hands and apologizing to several people.

“Alright, alright, forget about what’s in your hand and focus on the scene.” Sakurajima Apricot stepped forward to take away the materials in her hand, and shoved the script in her hand to her, “Just like the one we discussed before, this is the revised script, take a look at it again.”

“Yes!” Hayakawa nodded thoughtfully.

The script is actually a school romance with some superpowers, and the whole drama itself is on the comedic side, but since there’s a setting where the male and female leads can hear each other’s hearts, it would be better to have half of the drama comedic, and the other half to go into deeper depths of the romance, and to express that fondness in full, just like in “Your Name”.

Sakurajima hmmmed and turned back to the recliner in the corner, “Ready?”

“Yes!” Hayakawa was so nervous that he shouted.

The pressure was on all of a sudden.

But, but, one will definitely cheer! Hayakawa slowly raised his head with determination in his eyes.

She wants to be the heroine!