Disclaimer: I don't own Bakuman. And that sucks. You have no idea how much it does.
Kanagashi Luna, a self-proclaimed otaku, with mediocre skills in manga-making. She was okay, but not outstanding.
She would prefer to read manga, since the action of picking up a pen and really making pretty pictures on a manga sheet draft sounded tiring even thinking about it.
But she wanted other fellow otakus to experience the same exhilarated feeling of getting a new tankobon volume, or even a new issue of a shonen magazine. Especially Shonen Jump. She was utterly in awe of the mangakas' skills in captivating the audience, and she herself wanted to own that skill.
In short, she was envious.
The most magnificent feature of Luna's room, arguably, was her bookshelf. Standing at a mighty height of six feet, it had six compartments stock full of various objects. An alarm clock, a piggy bank, a small trophy and some few scraps of paper littered the first row, but for the rest of the five compartments, they were all filled with manga. The small tankobon volumes were arranged alphabetically and according to number. Most of them had the proud emblem of Shonen Jump and the memorable characters' faces, drawn from the hands of different manga artists in whimsical styles, printed on the spines of the books. She just loved manga to bits. The Weekly Shonen Jump magazines were stacked in a box just beside the bookshelf. Her aunt/caretaker had once commented on the cramped space of her room being colonized half by the amount of manga she had.
Manga does nothing wrong. It is a perfect and heartwarming source of entertainment. Kanagashi Luna was proud to say that she was in the midst of completing her own manga too. It wasn't good, but that was expected.
Right now, she was smiling from ear to ear as she took the first volume of Crow from her bookshelf. She just plain WORSHIPPED this manga from the bottom of her heart, and was shocked to hear that the author was only a year older than her. A year. Already a pro, from the looks of the art and exciting story. She'd admired him from a stretch of distance for a long time now, and now she may have a shot of getting to know him more personally.
It was all thanks to Kazuha.
The acclaimed manga artist of Crow actually wanted to hire a new assistant. Kazuha had thrust that piece of ad straight up to her nose, insisting that she had nothing to lose if she took a look at it.
She was on the verge of shrieking like a banshee (worse, like a FAN GIRL), when she faltered and hurried to boot up her computer. She needed to send an email to the editor ASAP, and be the first of perhaps many volunteers to offer for the post.
Luna was not a fan girl. If anything, her feelings toward Nizuma Eiji were nothing if platonic.
At least, that verdict remains to be overthrown…
Did she need a resume? It didn't elaborate much on expectations, only that the assistant must be good at drawing. Did the editor need solid proof?
…
Hattori Yujiro is an editor working at Shueisha. He's met countless of mangakas, but his current responsibility was considered the peak of his career's advance.
Niizuma Eiji, the manga-in-responsibility, was his golden egg.
Right now, he was on a roll of describing Crow's many positive attributes.
Although people could hardly blame him for being on high because of his responsibility, it still hurt their ears to listen.
The audience were the team captains and team subordinates, part of the big family that was Weekly Shonen Jump. Right now, they were stifling yawns and rolling their eyes, their jovial mood gradually vanishing. Yujiro did nothing wrong, only that he interrupted them on a particularly busy day. Telephones were ringing, the line was growing longer at the copy machine, and Yujiro just stood there and talked about Crow. Fifteen minutes had passed, and his chatter went on, showing no signs of stopping. His team captain was getting pissed.
"SHUT UP RIGHT NOW AND HELP US RECEIVE SOME PHONE CALLS ALREADY, YUJIRO!" That was what the captain longed to say, but he was a usually impeccably polite man who waited until a person was done speaking. He didn't want to soil his reputation. So he held it in.
A phone rang, and it sounded quite near to his desk. He didn't care whose desk it was on, he just picked it up. Anything to escape from Yujiro's rambling.
"Hello?" His tone sounded sharp, and he was sorry to say that what caused his black mood was you-know-who.
It was a girl. She asked for Yujiro. The team captain breathed a sigh of relief, before passing the phone over to his talking subordinate.
That dammed his mouth up pretty nicely, the captain had to say.
…
After some bouts of clichés, albeit serious discussions for the post of Nizuma's new assistant…
Luna felt like she struck the million-dollar jackpot.
She got it.
Her dream to become a manga artist may be half-fulfilled now.
But she couldn't say anything about it now, because at this moment, Yujiro was leading her to the famed mangaka's apartment. She immersed in her dedicated activity of absorbing the appearance of each object they passed on their way, so that she won't forget the route.
They reached the grey door in a matter of minutes. She was bemused to discover that the words, "Eiji Nizuma Co. Ltd" was written in a childish scrawl. Things were getting more fascinating each second…
The editor pulled his phone out, and after punching in some numbers, he held it against the ear, radiating an air of impatience.
Luna reached a fist out to knock the door. She thought she heard a snicker coming from the older man, and she looked to him in curiosity.
He shook his head, phone still by his ear, at her effort.
"That won't work, Ms Kanagashi." He pointed out. "Nizuma can't hear you like that. You'll have to call him. Oh right, I'll text you his number later."
The door suddenly opened with a series of squeaks. Loud, heavy music floated out into the formerly quiet hallway. Luna knew this song. She very nearly had a mind to start a sing-along, when…
A tall and skinny guy, all dressed in purple, stood in front of them, a mobile phone in his dirty hands. He had bushy red hair that was in dire need of a trim, with the bangs swept before his forehead messily. His owlish chocolate eyes widened a fraction when he noticed the unknown girl standing beside his editor. Those dark circles beneath his eyes somehow made the strange intensity of his gaze stand out, in an oddly mysterious way. He looked young, but his face lacked the robust quality of the average hot-blooded teenage male, instead taking on a pale shade.
"Good afternoon, Nizuma." Yujiro began briskly. Luna raised a tentative hand up, saying "Yo" in a somewhat shy voice. She knew it wouldn't make a very solid first impression.
"This is Kanagashi Luna, your new assistant on the weekends. We talked about this, haven't we? Well, you can ask Akiyama or Sato to show her around. See ya, guys." With a brief nod of acknowledgment to the two youths, Yujiro turned away and walked off. He still had a meeting scheduled at Shueisha.
The situation gurgled AWKWARD! in every corner. Mutual staring fests – both teens were intrigued with each other; Luna in the normal way, while Nizuma in a more special and unique way – started, and ended a few minutes after. Nizuma tipped his head to the side slightly, allowing himself one more glance at his new assistant, and nodded as if in deep thought. His eyes were closed, and Luna found herself missing the hypnotic, intense look that she rarely encountered in other teenage boys' company.
But he was a pro manga artist; he wasn't like the 'other' boys. She made up her mind to stop comparing him with other boys, when he was as different as day and night from them.
Nizuma, to her, also seemed to dislike launching into busy conversation with other people; he slunk back into his apartment soon enough.
She followed after his footsteps hurriedly, not wanting to miss a beat. The loud music reverberated in every corner of the apartment unit, and a warm shiver, from the music, started and traveled along her spine. This was how she felt around her favourite pop genres.
The apartment unit wasn't small by average standards; it could probably accommodate a family of five. The living room, with the largest amount of space, had no furniture except assistants' desks, table lamps and office chairs. Five desks were jammed together, from which only two were occupied. Eraser dusts, pencil marks and table-graffiti lined the desk surfaces. The centermost desk, facing the window, was occupied by her new boss. At best, the living room resembled a miniature office. It was sparse and the walls were not painted. Three other doors that led to other compartments in the apartment were situated side by side in the leftmost corner of the room. The kitchen, Luna saw from just now, was uncommonly clean and didn't have the oily scent of cooking; it probably wasn't even put to use.
But from what she saw, Niizuma Eiji sensei was rich enough to purchase this apartment.
One of the assistants, another young man close to her age, but nowhere near as memorable-looking as Nizuma sensei, glanced up from his work. He smiled at her then, and she waved at him in response. He stood up from his place, and approached her.
"Are you the new assistant?" He asked with an air of friendliness. Luna warmed up to him almost immediately.
She nodded, since the music didn't permit her to talk.
He smiled again, and guided her to one of the tables next to his. "I'm sorry about the loud music, but I'm pretty sure you'll get used to it. Nizuma sensei doesn't work as fast without it, you see." He explained. "That old man is Mr Sato, one of the ex-workers for Shonen Jump. Mr Hattori employed him to utilize his skills at shading, see. And my name," The young man puffed himself up pompously. "is Akiyama Tohru. Rookie starter in the manga-making world, and first assistant in his first job as Nizuma sensei's employee." Akiyama spoke of 'Nizuma sensei' with reverence and undying respect. That gained points for him.
And now that they were making introductions, Luna started with hers too. "Kanagashi Luna. First job, first time as an assistant as well. Nice to meet you."
Akiyama's eyes were alit with newfound interest. "Luna? Are you…?"
"Yes. I'm only half-Japanese. I get that a lot." She rubbed her head out of embarrassment. She looked to the other assistant, who, all this time, was ignoring her entirely.
A sudden 'BANG' made her jump.
"Bang! Caw-caw! Crow!" Okay, that BANG came from her boss. That was weird. Those sound effects grew louder as his hand movements grew more frantic and faster. Pieces of paper dotted the ground, and new ones joined them in almost an instant.
"Nizuma sensei makes sound effects as he draws manga. Another quirk of his." Akiyama remarked.
"And it annoys the hell outta me too." A nasal, throaty voice joined in their exchange.
"It's not that bad, actually," Akiyama said defensively, glaring at the old man's back.
"Oh yeah? Try shouting that into my ears and see if I won't slap you silly! Those sounds are better off being muted. That guy's an oddball, he is." Mr Sato shot back indignantly, not even looking up from his work. "And his taste in music sucks." He suddenly stood up and crept towards the papers, and placed the one he was finished on onto a random space. He stuck his tongue out at Nizuma's back. The sight was passed off as disturbing and immature to the other twosome's eyes.
Akiyama rolled his eyes. Luna merely forced out a laugh. It resembled a cough, though.
Their boss continued on, the unhidden insult in Mr Sato's words, either being ignored, or unheard of.
"So, I guess I'd better start working…?" Her mouth stretched upwards with anticipation.