Okumura found himself being dragged by his childhood friend, Seto, around Seidou Publishings to deliver paperwork to the different apartments. Both were new to the company and more so to the new world they had pulled all-nighters to be in. Seto was recognized as a potentially exceptional mangaka whereas Okumura found himself as an editor for mangakas such as Seto. The pay was decent but Okumura wondered if all the work was worth it. For someone as new as he was, was the sleepless nights and the ever growing tense and –dare he say it, insane – aura worth it?
He had the talent for it which was why he was scouted in the first place. Ever since he was a child, Okumura always had a knack for understanding the plot, revising his Seto's writings to make them better. When they had gotten into reading manga, he would always point out what changes should have been made in the panels, the type of screen tone that should have been used, the effects of lines or subtle drawings (he didn't know how to work with the flowers and sparkles in shoujo manga though. They always seemed needless to him). Thanks to Seto always having rough drafts on hand throughout high school, he always seemed to edit and make changes so the practice had definitely refined his skills.
Still, doing odd jobs wasn't what he had in mind when he was hired for the widely known company known as Seidou Publishings. The company publishes bestselling novels to a large variety of popular manga and was ranked within the top ten publishing companies in the country. The rules were strict but there was some leniency if you proved yourself, otherwise it would be quick to fire someone who slacked off.
Okumura and Seto finally reached the tenth floor of the company and was their final stop to deliver whatever paperwork they were given. Okumura glanced at his childhood friend and noticed that Seto was looking around as if he were a child surrounded by toys he had wanted and was given to for his birthday.
"You're excited," he noted monotonously. Seto turned to his friend and grinned, his eyes practically sparkling.
"Well, how can I not be when we're on the floor where a lot of famous mangaka work? It's said that all the mangaka of the Seidou Publishing's Go! Exceed work on this floor so I'm looking forward to seeing them. Maybe I can get some tips from them too!" Seto then hurried off, turning right after asking an office worker - a woman in her early twenties - where the mangaka were working.
Okumura followed slowly behind. It didn't escape his attention however when the woman seemed hesitant to answer. From what he heard, she was stuttering and her eyes darted everywhere around the hall except for him and Seto.
"Is something bad going on with the mangaka right now?" Seto questioned curiously. The office worker bit her lip and fiddled her thumbs, keeping quiet before sighing.
"Rather, it's just really busy for them right now so I don't know if you should see them right now… but I guess they need those paperwork, don't they?"
Seto nodded in response and the office worker led him and Okumura further down the hall and stood in front of a door. She paused and stared at it, her bottom lip slightly quivering.
Did a murder happen? Okumura thought to himself. There shouldn't be a reason why the woman would be nervous. Maybe one of the mangaka was a pervert and she wanted to avoid him? Little did Okumura and Seto knew, however, the true process of a pro mangaka.
Knock! Knock!
The office worker tapped her knuckles against the new-looking door. Why did it look relatively new compared to the other doors of the building. Okumura was sure that that room must have been there for a few years.
"Umm, sensei… you have some paperwork for you," she informed in a hoarse voice.
They had waited in front of the door but no answer came. The office worker slowly went into a panic and slammed the door open. "Sensei! Ah!" she yelled and ran in haste only to trip over something. A large thump was heard within the mysterious room.
To Okumura's and Seto's surprise, the room was dark, almost black. A shiver ran down Okumura's spine and a depressing aura emitted from the room. It rather stank as well of sweat and other unknown sources he did not want to know about.
"Miss, are you okay?" Seto called out. He heard her groan and she said she was okay. When Seto said, "Then pardon my intrusion," he paused, almost froze in place.
"What is it Seto?" Okumura asked, taking in the terrified look upon his friends face.
Without answering, Seto looked down as if his neck were creaking and had to be forced to bend forward. What they saw was a dried up hand that grabbed onto his ankle and a low and deep groan came from the room.
"…ter… need…" The voice croaked as if parched and begging.
"Gah!" Seto screamed, throwing the papers he had in hand up into the air and sprinted down the hall, quickly escaping the grip of the hand.
Okumura stared as his friend comically and hysterically ran away.
"I… water…" was what Okumura heard. Carefully walking around the hand and near the doorway, he tucked the paperwork under his left arm and with his right arm, reached into the dark room, pressing his palm against the wall.
When he felt the shape of a light switch under the tips of his fingers, he flicked it upwards and a bright fluorescent light turned on from the ceiling.
"It burns!" a voice cried in pain. Okumura heard a crash and saw a stack of books, paper, and pens fall from a desk.
"Ah, you shouldn't have turned that on!" the office lady cried in horror as she stood up quickly. She looked around frantically only to open her eyes in horror as something rushed past her and tackled Okumura to the floor, papers flying everywhere.
"What the hell are you doing? We were sleeping!" yelled a voice. An arm wrapped around Okumura's neck and began to strangle him. Okumura clawed at the arm but to no avail.
Smack! Okumura was finally released after what felt like a long time. He was sure he saw a light flash before his eyes. When he looked up, he saw a man with hair that stood up crouched over and was protecting the back of his head with his hands. Behind him was the office lady whose face was stern as she stared at the man and a stack of papers was in her hands, her arms in a position as if she had hit something (more than likely the man who attacked Okumura).
"Kuramochi-sensei! Please don't use violence! Remember what happened last time when you used your wrestling moves on Sawamura-sensei?" she reprimanded.
"It doesn't give him a right to turn on the lights when I'm sleeping though Haruno-san! I have a deadline in the next six hour and I still have to get four pages inked and screen toned!" The man named Kuramochi tried to defend himself but he was given a glare in return from the office lady – Haruno was her name it seemed.
Okumura gathered the papers he and Seto had dropped – where was his friend anyway – and stood up to find Kuramochi and Haruno having a staring contest. But then, Haruno blinked and looked down to see a hand holding her ankle. It was the one from earlier.
"Water…" Okumura saw that the voice came from a man with messy, brown hair whose cheeks were sunken and as if he could dry up and die any moment.
"Sawamura-sensei!" Haruno cried out in horror. "Fujiwara-senpai! Call the ambulance!"
"Got it!" a female voice answered from somewhere in the office. "Go check on the others!"
Haruno nodded and ran into the room once more after helping Sawamura to the side, only to panic at the sight of three more bodies, almost listless, among the desks and floor.
Okumura peered in to see one man with black hair slumped against the wall and was muttering to himself with drool coming from the corner of his mouth.
A man with pink hair was sitting quite straight in his chair but his head was hung low as if in disappointment before shaking his head. His long bangs that covered his eyes began to swing violently as time passed and Haruno couldn't calm him down. "I can't do this. It's impossible. The last six pages may have the outline but I don't have time to beta it all. All my assistants are on break and I have a deadline in the next two hours and I still have the screen tones that have to be applied. I don't think I have enough either. How much yen would it be to buy more?" Haruno was calling out his name –Kominato-sensei, was it?
"Shouldn't he worry more on the beta?" Seto asked, peering from the doorway next to Okumura who was, surprisingly, not surprised by Seto's appearance whereas Kuramochi who was sighing next to them jumped when Seto finally spoked.
"Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Kuramochi demanded as he clenched his fist. "Who are you two anyway?"
When Seto turned to see who was asking, his eyes brightened and bowed. "I am Seto Takuma! A new mangaka that started last month! You're the Kuramochi-sensei who is writing Delinquent Days, right? The story of a delinquent's life is amazing."
"Kyahaha! I'm pretty popular, aren't I? I am Kuramochi Youichi, writer and artist of Delingquent Days as well as some other works. And what about you?" Kuramochi asks as he looks at Okumura expectantly.
"I am Okumura Koshuu and I work as an editor. I also started a month ago," Okumura replied and bowed in a polite –although in a disinterested – manner. His eyes were watching Haruno as she was shaking a man with glasses and brown hair who he was sure was dead. His desk was covered in unorganized piles of paper and drawing utensils. His cheek was also smeared in ink. Okumura had an urge to take a picture.
"Wake up Miyuki-sensei!"
A week passed since the incident with the famous mangakas on the tenth floor. Most of the mangaka were sent to the hospital – save Kuramochi, who miraculously stayed alive and probably because he was finishing a filler chapter – and have been reported with low blood-sugar, dehydration, stress, and many other psychological health issues that seemed to be brushed off.
From what Okumura heard, it was entirely normal for those situations to happen to any kind of authors be it for novels on mangas. The company always keeps an eye on health so it was, apparently, okay with the way the mangakas work. If it was not for those rushed moments, deadlines would not be met and ratings would drop like flies.
Okumura was then called in to see the CEO of Seidou Publishing's, Kataoka-san. After a brief exchange with the yakuza-looking man in sunglasses, he was given mail to be delivered to Kuramochi and the other mangaka on the tenth floor. The young editor found himself sighing once he was alone in the elevator. Honestly, he didn't want to get mixed up in the mess he had experienced the week before. No, it wasn't a mess, it was chaos.
Ding!
The elevator bell went off and the metal doors of the elevator slid open at the sixth floor. A young boy appeared behind the doors wearing a beanie and black, squared glasses. A bag was slung over his shoulders and he grinned while stepping into the elevator to stand next to Okumura.
"Where are you headed too?" Seto asked curiously. Okumura let out another sigh before answering.
"To the tenth floor. Kataoka-san is having me deliver these letters to them," Okumura explained tiredly. He had stayed up late the night before with the other editors in learning new ways to edit and getting tips on how to deal with his authors. He rubbed his temples at the thought and didn't know if he could stand the boisterous Kuramochi. Hopefully the others weren't as intrusive on his life as Kuramochi had been the week before. It was weird how he was asked if he had a girlfriend. The man was more than likely tired as Okumura remembered the black circles under Kuramochi's eyes and how they drooped every now and then as he spoke.
The electric sign blinked at the number ten, reaching Okumura's destination. Both Okumura and Seto stepped out of the elevator and turned right, the direction they remembered where the mangaka's room was.
Okumura briefly wondered why Seto was tagging along before seeing the office lady from last week walking towards them.
"Ah! Okumura-kun, Seto-kun! Are you here to see those five again?" she asked cheerfully, not at all hesitant and nervous the first time they had asked her where the mangaka were.
"I have some letters to deliver," Okumura responded. He wondered this before but, why was he delivering the letters?
"Go on in, they shouldn't be too busy right now," Haruno answered before walking towards her desk to type on her laptop.
"Thanks Miss Haruno!" Seto waved to Haruno then walked in front of Okumura to open the door. "It's so much brighter!" Seto then commented as he looked at the room. When Okumura looked in, Seto was right. The blinds were opened and one of the windows was open, letting in a small breeze into the room.
"Oh, it's you two," a familiar voice called from the left side of the room. Kuramochi stood up from his desk and walked over to them. "Okumura and Seto, right?" he then asked, confirming their names.
Okumura nodded his head and Seto grinned.
"Haven't seen them before," the man with glasses and had looked dead the week before noted. "Newbies? I'm Miyuki, Miyuki Kazuya and I usually draw sci-fi manga. You should know my current work, Where The Mysteries Appear." The young editor noted how the man looked like Seto but with brown hair and seemed much more mischievous. Miyuki grinned at them and leaned back into his chair as Seto rushed to the mangaka to talk to him.
"I'm Seto Takuma, a new mangaka!"
"And I'm Okumura Koshuu, an editor."
"He's an ass when you interact with him but he puts his all in his manga. Don't be afraid to hit him though when you think it's needed," Kuramochi told Okumura who nodded in reply.
"The both of you aren't nice at all." Miyuki felt himself sweat at the deadpan and serious expression Okumura gave while Kuramochi was smirking as if he had won a bet.
"Like you're one to speak, Miyuki Kazuya!" yelled a voice from the doorway. Three figures walked into the room. Okumura recognized them all from last week's incident.
"That's senpai to you, Sawamura," Miyuki corrected with a sigh. "Anyway, introduce yourselves to our newbie mangaka and editor," he said and pointed to Okumura and Seto. They introduced themselves before the three in front of them, one with brown hair, the other with black hair, and shortest have pink hair.
"I'm Sawamura Eijun and I write historical genre manga! Right now I'm working on a one-shot during the rise of Nobunaga," the man with the messy brown hair explained. He grinned with confidence glowing in his eyes and added, "I may also be a bit new to the company but I'll definitely be the best seller in the manga department!"
"Still going on with the big talk I see. You're still a hundred years too early to get there Bakamura," Miyuki retorted with a grin plastered on his face.
Okumura noticed how Sawamura's face scrunched up and how he pushed up his sleeves, as if getting ready for a fight. The smaller man with the pink hair stood between Sawamura and Miyuki and looked back and for the between them frantically.
"Now isn't the time to fight," the pink haired man said, trying to calm down the tension Sawamura was creating as he glared at Miyuki who smiled back in return. "I am Kominato Haruichi and I write supernatural-themed manga. This here is Furuya Satoru and he mostly writes and draws sports manga," Haruichi said as he introduced the man with the black hair and nodded at Seto and Okumura in acknowledgement.
"Well, that's all of us, or at least for this room. There's another station on the floor above ours where other mangaka work. We'll introduce you guys later when they aren't dying," Kuramochi told them before rummaging through his desk to pull out a pen and then sat down. "So what are you guys doing here?" he asked.
Remember what he had come there for, Okumura passed out the letters he had to each of them.
"They're from Kataoka-san," Okumura said. Sawamura's eyes widened almost comically before ripping the envelope open. He opened the folded paper inside.
"Boss did?" Sawamura asked as his eyes moved to read one line after the next. The other mangaka also opened their envelopes and read their letter. Several minutes passed and it was as if an unsettling aura was kicked into the room.
Okumura saw Seto shivered and narrowed his eyes at what was to come. It never passed his attention either how the five experienced mangaka widened their eyes at almost the same time, but stayed quiet.
Miyuki looked up and stared at the other four mangaka he had been working around with, his golden eyes narrowed and the other four followed suite.
"Do you know what this means?" Miyuki then asks. There must have been some sort of silent agreement because there was only eye contact made between the five.
"What's Boss thinking?" Sawamura asks as his lips formed a straight line as he stared at the paper in his hands again.
"This is a bit difficult to accomplish," Haruichi said while lightly scratching his cheek and an unsure smile formed on his face.
"… Stamina roll," Furuya breathed out. Seto looked utterly vexed at how the statement, probably because he didn't understand how that related to manga drawing at all.
"I kind of figured it'd happen again but not this soon," Kuramochi added with a strained grin. "There's no way we're ready to do another collaboration."
"…"
"…"
Seto and Okumura looked at each other and felt the tense atmosphere disappear just as fast as it came. How bad could collaboration be?
A/N: This is like, half of the characters that are going to be introduced. Anyway, this was going to be a one-shot but I decided that'd be too much for me so it'll become a two-shot story.
The other charactesr are going to turn out to be editors and novel authors and stuff and it'll be great… maybe if I can pull the second half off. Oh, and I gave up on making names for made up manga.
Thank you so much for reading! Drop a review below and tell me how you think! Again, thanks for reading!
Animefan106 over and out.