I really signed the contract.
Back home, Rin lay on her bed, recalling everything that happened today, and still felt it was completely surreal.
She had once thought that she might not be suited for this line of work and had considered following her parents' arrangements to go back and continue her studies, but she never imagined that she would suddenly take such a crucial step.
Should she call home?
Thinking of this, she just took out her phone, but hesitated the next moment.
The fact that she was able to successfully obtain such superior contract terms this time was undoubtedly due to the existence and help of Akira, which was crucial.
It could even be said that she was just riding on his coattails.
If her parents asked for the details, should she honestly tell them about Akira?
However, thinking of this, she felt inexplicably guilty.
Forget it.
After all, it was just a contract signing for now; she would wait until the single was released and she had officially debuted before saying anything.
She comforted herself this way and temporarily gave up the idea of notifying her family.
However...
Mochizuki-kun.
She silently recited his name in her heart, the corners of her mouth curling up slightly without her realizing it.
Compared to the other boys she had met in the past, his existence was so unique; it was as if he didn't belong to this era.
He never treated others arrogantly because of his own talent and achievements; he didn't boast like other men, had no chauvinism, and respected and supported her ideas; he shared her hobbies, appreciated her singing, and was willing to humbly ask her for advice on music; he was handsome, gentle, considerate, humorous, and could even cook.
For a moment, she couldn't even think of any of his flaws.
That's right.
If she had to name a flaw, it was that he would occasionally rely on his talent to say things that made people grit their teeth in frustration, yet they were helpless against him.
Ever since she met him, the changes in her life seemed to be increasing.
More importantly—she seemed to have really fallen for him.
!!!
The moment she confirmed this thought, Rin was startled herself, looking around in a panic, afraid that someone might have overheard her inner thoughts.
Immediately after, her cheeks gradually turned crimson, and she shyly buried her head under the pillow, kicking the quilt incessantly with her legs.
However, the more she did this, the more images of Akira kept appearing in her mind, forcing her to face her true feelings—she had indeed fallen for Akira, and these feelings were beyond doubt.
...What should she do now?
Thinking of this, the girl who had fallen in love for the first time crawled out from under the pillow, looking at the ceiling in distress.
But, how did Mochizuki-kun see her?
"This should be about right."
Hearing that this arrangement was already close to the original song in his mind, Akira nodded with satisfaction.
However,
"Is there something on my face?"
Noticing Rin's gaze, he touched his face and asked with some confusion.
"It's nothing."
Rin shook her head with a calm expression, then said nonchalantly:
"If this part is finished, let's continue."
"Ah, okay."
Although he felt it was a bit strange, he still nodded and continued to focus on his work.
Therefore, he didn't notice that after he looked away, Rin quietly let out a sigh of relief.
The usage rights for the recording studio within Being were booked until next week, so they would have to wait until next week to start officially producing the single.
But he didn't intend to stay idle this week either.
He found Rin and prepared to finish the rough arrangement for Marigold beforehand, so that when they went to the recording studio, the production efficiency would be much higher.
It is worth mentioning that just two days ago, on July 25th, this month's manuscript fees were finally paid out, totaling 1.294 million yen after tax, taking him one step closer to financial freedom.
At the same time, Weekly Shonen Jump released its 34th issue as scheduled, and the 4th chapter of Fate/stay night was published accordingly.
This chapter recounted the interaction between Tohsaka Rin and Archer, as well as their exploration in Fuyuki City and the school the next day to track the traces of other Master and Servant pairs, where they encountered Lancer at school and a battle broke out.
However, this battle was suddenly interrupted by Emiya Shirou, and Lancer turned to pursue and kill him; by the time Tohsaka Rin arrived, Emiya Shirou had already been killed.
At this point, the plot synchronized with the ending of Chapter 2.
And at the end of this chapter, Tohsaka Rin finally used a treasured gem to save Emiya Shirou, and left the gem necklace on Emiya Shirou's body.
As a bridge chapter, Chapter 4 also indirectly explained some settings regarding mages, magic, and Servants, and also explained how Emiya Shirou was saved.
It is worth mentioning that this week, there was surprisingly another new series serialized, a manga titled zombie powder, by the author Kubo Taito.
Regarding this, Akira was slightly surprised.
"Is it actually a new series?"
In his past life, he knew almost nothing about this work, and there was very little relevant information in the country.
He had originally thought it was a short manga, but he didn't expect it to be a new series.
However, considering that Bleach would be serialized in 2001, the future of this zombie powder was probably not very bright.
Out of curiosity, he read the first chapter of zombie powder.
It was a standard episodic story, but it roughly explained the story's background—the story followed a hunter named Gamma Akutabi, who was searching for the Ring of the Dead in order to obtain the secret medicine 『zombie powder』 capable of resurrecting the dead.
Just from the first chapter, one couldn't tell much about the story, but the art style of zombie powder already faintly had the flavor of Bleach.
The appearance of many characters who appeared also always made him hallucinate their resemblance to Bleach.
However, it had to be said that the fight scenes were a bit poor, and the paneling logic was not very coherent.
For example, the scene where the protagonist suddenly pulls out a weapon, it was a bit confusing as to how the protagonist took the weapon out.
However, in any case, the authors of the three major popular manga known in the country were all here, except for Kishimoto Masashi who had not yet appeared.
You're the only one left, Kishimoto, hurry up and bring out naruto!
"Achoo!"
Kishimoto Masashi couldn't help but sneeze and muttered:
"I'm not catching a cold, am I?"
But soon, he refocused his attention on the latest issue of Shonen Jump in front of him, looking at the new series zombie powder on the cover, his eyes filled with envy, and he muttered to himself:
"Next week's serialization meeting... I must succeed!"
His naruto had now been submitted to the editor and would participate in next month's serialization meeting.
'This time it will definitely be fine!'
Although Yahagi Kousuke swore to him with such certainty, and he was very confident in this work, he couldn't help but feel worried now.
After all, in the short two months of the second half of this year, three new works had already been serialized.
Even considering that rurouni kenshin was about to end, the vacant serialization slots were very limited!
Thinking of this, he prayed in his heart again:
This time, I must succeed!