Time flowed by, and July quickly turned into August.
Over the past two months, Rei's primary work on the Tonight manga had focused on character design and background settings.
Since the original work was a novel, and although it had been adapted into a live-action film, there was no manga adaptation to reference. This meant Rei had to create many elements from scratch.
Today,
Rei stepped out of the taxi. The security guards at the villa complex had already been informed by Miyu and, after verifying his identity, let him through.
Having visited Miyu's home many times before, Rei navigated the familiar route with ease, quickly arriving at the villa's entrance and ringing the doorbell.
"Oh, you're here."
The door swung open to reveal Miyu, dressed in a light green, ancient-style long dress with her hair styled in an elaborate updo secured with a wooden hairpin.
This was the first time Rei had seen her in this attire. He froze for a moment, but quickly recovered.
This is a character from that popular historical fantasy manga in Japan, he realized.
"I just got back from the manga convention and haven't had time to change yet," Miyu explained.
Miyu, seeing Rei's expression, couldn't help but feel a smug satisfaction. She deliberately twirled a few meters away from him.
"What do you think? Looks good, right? This cosplay outfit."
"It looks great," Rei replied. "Your summer vacation seems quite eventful!"
"I just submitted the manga manuscript yesterday, so I'm definitely going to have some fun today!" Miyu's eyes narrowed into crescent shapes.
"And it's not just me—my sister's coming too. Don't let her usual prim and proper act fool you; she's the biggest fanatic when it comes to anime conventions and stuff."
"Ahem."
Just then, a woman's cough sounded from behind Miyu.
Rei followed the sound and saw a handsome young man—no, a young woman—dressed in ancient-style battle armor, radiating a heroic and spirited aura.
Her character and Miyu's were the male and female protagonists from the same manga.
Judging by the quality of the fabric, this outfit must have cost a fortune. Even with Rei's consistently high rankings and the resulting 60,000-plus yen he earned from 5 Centimeters, he probably couldn't afford more than a few sets of cosplay outfits at this level.
"You're here," Misaki said, giving Rei a slight nod.
She didn't mind Rei seeing her in this state. Hundreds, even thousands, of people had seen her at the anime convention; one more wouldn't make a difference.
Rei took off his shoes and stepped inside.
His reason for coming was simple: Misaki had asked him to. The reason she gave was that next Thursday, a serialized slot would open up in Fantasy Realm Weekly, a second-tier magazine under the Hoshimori Publishing Group.
As far as they knew, at least seven manga were vying for this spot.
Of course, with Rei's new work added, there would be at least eight.
Rei wasted no time after entering. He immediately handed over the manga manuscript he'd brought:
Tonight, Even If This Love Disappears from the World
Misaki opened the document folder and glanced at the title on the first page.
"Such a long title?" Miyu said, leaning her head against Misaki's shoulder. "Rei, does this manga's title have some deep meaning, like 5 Centimeters Per Second?"
Rei chuckled. "The title pretty much reveals the entire plot and ending."
"Miyu, go back to your room. This is someone else's unpublished manga," Misaki said, frowning.
"Eh?" Miyu glanced at Rei.
"It's fine," Rei said.
After all, Miyu had helped him a lot. He wouldn't be so petty as to guard his work so jealously.
Seeing Rei's reassurance and her younger sister's smug expression, Misaki shook her head and opened the original manuscript of the manga Tonight.
The moment their eyes fell on the page, Misaki and Miyu were stunned by the intricate and exquisite artwork.
Manga could range from simple, like ONE's original One-Punch Man, which looked like a child's doodles, to more refined styles like Yusuke Murata's remake of One-Punch Man, where even a layman could appreciate the artistry.
Having had extra time these past two months, Rei had poured his heart into drawing Tonight, and it showed in every detail of the manuscript before them.
Misaki and Miyu felt their eyes instantly drawn to the images—the backgrounds, the characters, the play of light and shadow.
"Did you draw this?" Miyu asked, her expression blank with awe.
Miyu glanced at Rei again.
In truth, if given enough time, she might be able to draw her manga drafts to a similar quality. But maintaining such quality for a weekly serialization would be utterly impossible.
"If you draw like this, and your manga actually gets serialized, can you maintain this quality for weekly updates?" Miyu asked.
"I think so," Rei replied after a moment's thought.
"These five chapters of manga drafts actually took me less than four weeks to complete. If I hadn't wasted time preparing for final exams, I might have even—"
"Okay, okay, stop talking," Miyu interrupted, her expression a mix of envy, jealousy, and resentment as she glared at Rei.
Does this guy even realize what he's saying?
It's like drawing manga is effortless for him. So what does that make my struggles—the constant brainstorming, pulling out my hair, and late-night drawing sessions—just to submit my manga before the deadline?
Misaki's lips curved into an involuntary smile, but it quickly faded.
Her attention soon shifted to the manga Tonight.
The opening scene depicted an exceptionally beautiful girl waking up in bed.
The first thing she saw upon waking was a message written in black marker on a large whiteboard beside her bed:
I have anterograde amnesia due to a car accident. Read the diary on the laptop.
Misaki and Miyu's expressions grew serious as they carefully read through the notes scattered around the room.
Before bed, always write in your diary.
Keep the amnesia a secret from everyone except Mom, Dad, and Izumi.
Carry the notebook with you as much as possible.
The two sisters studied these manga panels intently.
Amnesia was a common trope in Rei's previous life's films and anime, but it was a novel concept in the Japanese manga world.
The protagonist, Hino Maori, suffered a car accident while trying to save someone. From that day forward, her memories remained frozen on that date. Every time she fell asleep, her memories of that day would be wiped clean, resetting her life's memories to the moment of the accident.
This condition was called Anterograde Amnesia.
Every morning, the girl had to confront this reality anew.
For years, the routine remained the same: wake up, remember her amnesia, and quickly review the diary entries written by her past self—a stranger—for her present self.
It was like reading someone else's life, piecing together fragments of her existence over the past few years from the unfamiliar diary entries.
The painful truth. Accept the truth.
And if she wanted to move forward, she had to pretend everything was normal and open her bedroom door.
Downstairs, her gentle parents, Hino Maori's parents, were also trying to act as if nothing was wrong as they prepared breakfast, terrified of upsetting their daughter.