"Dad, why are there so many people there?"
In Sendai City, Hiroshi held his daughter's hand and walked down the street. The little girl was drawn to the scene on the other side.
"Oh, over there..." Hiroshi looked at the building surrounded by people. It was written with Sakura Books Bookstore Chain. He smiled and said: "It's Sakura Books Bookstore. Master Mirai-sensei's new manga is on sale."
Hiroshi is 30 years old this year. He usually reads manga. Sakura Books sells Mirai-sensei's, and Kanto sells Aika's. He still clearly distinguishes between the two. Sakura Books Bookstore has done a lot of advertising in Sendai lately. Mirai-sensei's new work, "One Piece", is on sale today.
However, Hiroshi is not interested in this manga. He likes manga with positive values. He doesn't want to buy the name "One Piece" as soon as he hears it.
"Dad, is Mirai-sensei the older brother who created 'Pokémon'?"
The little girl looked up and stared at Hiroshi with childlike eyes.
"Yes, that's the older brother."
Hiroshi touched his daughter's head. This little girl's favorite anime, who will go to elementary school next year, is "Pokémon". She watches it several times a week on TV. As for "The Cat and Mouse Couple", which she used to watch, she now ignores it.
"Dad, I want to read the new manga." Hearing that it was the older brother from "Pokémon", the little girl's eyes lit up. She took Hiroshi's hand and said: "Let's go buy one!"
"This...". Hiroshi frowned slightly. He didn't want his daughter to be led astray by bad ideas, but seeing her expectant look, he couldn't directly refuse: "Okay. Dad will take you to take a look first."
He lifted his daughter from the ground. He decided to go take a look first. If it's not good, you don't have to buy it. And since there were too many people on the other side, at least two hundred, Hiroshi became curious.
After the traffic light turned green, he crossed the street, and next to him, seven or eight young people ran.
"Hurry up, we don't have much free time, we have to buy it soon!"
"Haha! It's the first time we've bought Mirai-sensei's works on the same day!"
It was a group of young people, both boys and girls. The most striking thing was that they all wore blue school uniforms, and the school name was clearly visible on them: Saitama High School.
"Saitama?" Hiroshi asked, slightly surprised. Saitama is a county capital under Sendai City's jurisdiction, almost 70 kilometers from the city. Why would high school students appear there? And isn't today Friday?
He observed carefully and discovered that these students were carrying backpacks or bags with snacks. He understood in his heart.
"So they're here to have fun!"
Japan stipulates that schools must organize a field trip for students every semester. Middle and elementary schools are generally not very far, but high schools have higher standards. Especially high schools in inland counties, they must at least conduct educational visits in the upper city.
These high school students from Saitama County should follow their teachers to Sendai City to have fun and then rush out to buy manga in their free time.
"Master Mirai-sensei's manga have spread throughout the county."
Hiroshi found it amusing, but suddenly a light flashed in his mind. Saitama? Isn't that Master Mirai-sensei's hometown?
At the entrance of Sakura Books Bookstore, behind the crowd, Minami stopped panting. She looked at the long queue, turned around, and scolded Haruka: "Haruka, it's your fault. Don't you usually exercise? You run so slowly, but now there are so many people!"
"Yes, I'm sorry..."
Haruka shrank her head and took a step back, scared, bumping into the boy behind her.
"Hey, be careful." The boy held Haruka and joked: "Haruka, are you so afraid of Minami? You and she are both surnamed Liu, how come you have such different personalities?"
"Yes, you used to be Mirai-sensei's deskmate, how shy you are." Another girl said, and then frowned at the group in front: "There are too many people. I've only seen such a lively atmosphere online. What do we do? Can we get back to the hotel on time?"
"I'll send a message to the teacher." Minami took out her phone and sent a message. Shortly after, she received a reply. She smiled happily: "It's still early, we can go back and meet later, but you have to buy a 'Mirai Manga' manga for the teacher!"
The other young people instantly breathed a sigh of relief.
"You just mentioned Mirai-sensei..." At that moment, Hiroshi approached with his daughter in his arms. Hearing what the high school students were talking about, he asked curiously: "Do you know Mirai-sensei?"
"Yes, sir, he was from Saitama County!"
"He and I graduated from the same high school."
"Minami and Haruka are also Mirai-sensei's classmates!"
The young high school students listened to the topic and spoke proudly. Their voices were heard by others and soon attracted attention.
"Are you from Saitama High School?"
"Mirai-sensei is from Saitama. Are you his classmates?"
Some people in the queue approached and asked with interest: "Do you know Mirai-sensei? What kind of person is he?"
"Has Mirai-sensei always been so cool?"
"I heard that Mirai-sensei got second place in the Saitama High School entrance exam. Is that true?"
More and more people gathered and soon surrounded the high school students. They were a little stunned, and after some nervous reactions, most couldn't help but quickly look at Haruka and Minami for help. Haruka was so scared her face paled, but Minami took the initiative to stand up and began to speak.
"I'm Mirai-sensei's classmate from third grade of middle school. You can ask me...".
"This matter... No, Mirai-sensei was shy at school and didn't talk much. But at a party after graduating from middle school, that boy suddenly became very charming, which scared me a lot at the time!"
"The runner-up is real. You don't know him. He's simply a legend. He suddenly became an incredible person. The change is indescribable..."
"I didn't think he would become so handsome at the time. Seeing his current appearance on television, I regretted not having slept for a few days. I should have pursued him earlier... Hey, don't laugh. I'm serious. If time could go back, I would have shamelessly pursued him... It's a shame he doesn't like me."
Minami spoke fearlessly among the crowd, eliciting laughter from time to time.
Haruka stood aside and looked a little embarrassed. She even wanted to find a place to hide. She still remembered the scene where she showed off to Takumi in Weekly Shōnen. At that time, she didn't believe that Takumi was Mirai-sensei.
In fact, she didn't believe it during the New Year. It wasn't until the news was broadcast on NHK that she had no escape.
That day she was eating, and when she saw the news, her rice fell out of her mouth. Takumi was Mirai-sensei. This matter attracted the attention of countless classmates.
In addition, after the news spread, many people went to Haruka to ask her about Mirai-sensei's past. The introverted Haruka made many friends, something she couldn't even dream of in middle school. Even on several occasions, the middle school principal and vice principal went to see her. They knew that Haruka had a good relationship with Takumi and hoped she would invite him to visit her alma mater.
This incident put a lot of pressure on Haruka. She hadn't had contact with Takumi for a long time. The doubt was whether Takumi, now famous, would still associate with people like her.
Haruka was sad, and seeing that the people around her were crazy about Takumi, she felt a little embarrassed. She wasn't as good as Takumi. At first, both felt very lonely in class, but now Takumi occupied a place that Haruka could never reach. In fact, in Saitama, no classmate knew Takumi's greatness better than Haruka.
Her father worked at the Board of Education. The current county governor was severely reprimanded by the county governor. The county leaders, furious, stated that if Takumi's residence registration had not been moved out of Saitama, it would have generated over 200 million yen in annual taxes. In relatively poor Saitama County, this represented a large amount of tax revenue.
"Letting Mirai-sensei go is the greatest loss of talent in our county in the last 20 years."
Her father told her this once, and Haruka still vividly remembers it.
- - - - - - - - -
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