Chapter 146: Announcement
At this time, Kaede had no idea what was happening back at home. After working until the afternoon, following notification from their editor, he and Eriri simultaneously posted vague tweets on their respective author accounts, tagging the official Jump account.
Kashiwagi Eri: [I am now evolving into Kashiwagi Eri Second Generation. I will no longer release new doujinshi at this year's and future annual fan conventions. I have a new goal.]
Kurenai Momiji: [Stop rushing me for the new volume of the light novel. If you want to rush anyone, rush my editor. You all know his Twitter handle, and the manuscript is in his hands. I currently have a new challenge underway.]
Originally, the two authors' fanbases didn't overlap much. It was only during the previous promotion for Utaha's book that the two of them posted similar tweets for the same purpose.
Taking advantage of that opportunity, many fans from both sides started following the other's Twitter account.
Now, many people keenly noticed the implied meaning in the tweets posted by these two individuals from different fields.
Kashiwagi Eri, a major artist in the doujin world, was stopping doujinshi production, changing her pen name to Second Generation, and announcing a new goal?
Since she tagged the official Jump account, it was obvious without thinking that she had submitted work to Jump and was going to be serialized.
As for Kurenai Momiji, known as the new generation typing machine, information revealed by the Fushikawa official account and his editor showed that he was an extremely fast and high-quality writer, often submitting the manuscript for the next volume less than a month after the current volume was released. This was a massive difference compared to previous light novel authors who wrote slowly and lost a lot of hair just to finish one volume.
This time, he not only redirected the pressure for the new volume back to his editor but also dropped another bombshell.
It was naturally impossible for a light novel author to tag Jump for the purpose of drawing a manga himself. The most likely scenario was that he was collaborating with a manga artist for a serialization.
Jump had only announced two new manga serializations, and their specific titles were currently unknown, but fans could already tell that the authors of one of them had a terrifying background.
Although Kaede's popularity was not yet comparable to those famous veteran light novel authors in the industry, it was steadily rising, his sales consistently put him in the top tier, and even an anime adaptation had been confirmed to air in October.
Fans were discussing that a script created by such an author—provided it wasn't reckless—combined with the explosive drawing skill of Kashiwagi Eri, might allow Jump to experience a long-awaited boost in popularity after the conclusions of Naruto and Bleach.
It should be noted that among Jump's former three main pillars, only One Piece was still being serialized, and it was struggling to carry the load alone. Although other types of manga were always present, there was a gap between generations, making it difficult for a new manga worthy of the "pillar" title to emerge.
Now, a new manga jointly created by a light novel author and a doujin artist was about to be serialized, naturally raising expectations about what kind of manga it would be.
After posting the tweets, Kaede looked at the sudden surge of online discussion and said to Eriri beside him with a smile, "It looks like Jump isn't the same Jump from when we were kids. They're very skilled at using methods like hiring shills to hype up topics."
Hearing this, Eriri asked in confusion, "Huh? Did Jump interfere with this too?"
"Of course," Kaede explained while scrolling through his phone. "Although our accounts have some followers, it's not enough to instantly generate this much discussion. I absolutely don't believe there wasn't official promotion involved. But it doesn't matter, as all of this is beneficial to us. The quality of the manga definitely won't disappoint when it comes out. However…"
"However, what?"
Putting his arm around Eriri's shoulder, Kaede said, "However, when the time comes, some bored people will probably compare our manga to Inuyasha. That kind of thing can't be helped."
"Hmm, maybe there really are as many bored people as you say, Kaede-kun."
Eriri couldn't help but laugh, but she wasn't worried at all. Just as Kaede said, the quality of their manga was absolutely guaranteed, so they didn't need to worry about unnecessary things. They just needed to draw the subsequent chapters well.
Checking the time, it was already past four o'clock, so Eriri asked, "Kaede-kun, you should go prepare dinner! We agreed that you would prepare dinner tonight too!"
"Hmm~~~"
However, Kaede didn't move. After a moment of thought, he said, "Eriri, why don't we go out to eat tonight?"
"...Kaede-kun, no cheating!"
Eriri grabbed Kaede's clothes in dissatisfaction and said, "We agreed that you would prepare dinner!"
"If I choose the place to eat, doesn't that count as me preparing it?" Kaede said brazenly. "A couple's set meal. Want to try it?"
Hearing Kaede say that, Eriri's heart immediately fluttered.
Her eyes darted around, and Eriri said softly, blushing, "Well... it's not impossible, but it has to be delicious."
"Don't worry, it's a place I saw online with great reviews, and the couple's set meal is a recent addition. Plus, the restaurant isn't far from our house; it's just one train stop away. What do you say? Want to go?"
"Alright then. I've been sitting at home all day, so it'll be good to go out and move around."
Seeing that Eriri agreed, Kaede smiled and patted her bottom. "Since we've agreed, hurry up and change your clothes. You can't go out dressed like that."
Shyly covering the spot he had attacked, Eriri looked at her outfit: hot pants that showed off her slender legs, a simple T-shirt, and her hair tied simply into a ponytail.
Although this outfit was comfortable at home and pleasing for Kaede to look at, it certainly wasn't suitable for going out, especially to a restaurant for a couple's set meal.
Eriri quickly got up and went back to her room to change.
While Eriri went to change, Kaede also changed his clothes, then found the restaurant's phone number and booked a table.
Ten minutes later, Eriri emerged in a cute dress, twirled in front of Kaede and asked, "How do I look?"
Kaede looked down at Eriri's black over-the-knee socks, gave a thumbs up, and said, "I could play with these legs for a lifetime."
"Who praises someone like that!"
However, the smile on her face directly showed her inner joy.
Holding hands, the two finally left the house.
Although the weather was still a bit warm, at this time of day, walking outside no longer made people feel irritable.
However, when the two arrived at the train station, Kaede's phone rang.
It was a call from Takasu Ryuji.
Picking up and answering, Kaede heard Takasu Ryuji's urgent voice from the other end of the line: "Asakura, help..."
Without thinking, Kaede hung up the phone directly, leaving Takasu Ryuji on the other end completely bewildered.
Eriri saw the caller ID and asked curiously, "Kaede-kun, was that Takasu-san's call? Why did you hang up?"
Shaking his head, Kaede smiled and said, "It's nothing, that guy's playing a prank. The train's here, let's get on."
Nonsense, he was rushing to have dinner with Eriri and didn't have time to deal with whatever bizarre incident Takasu Ryuji had encountered. Moreover, he didn't think that with Takasu Ryuji's fierce eyes, anyone would dare to bully him outside.