"Are our ages about the same...?"
Although the 24-year-old Eiichiro Oda was indeed quite young, there was a full six-year gap between him and the current 18-year-old Akira.
By the standards of later generations, this would already be considered average.
However, come to think of it, compared to Hisashi and Asada Takanori, he and Oda could indeed be considered peers; at the very least, they looked like they were a generation younger than the former two.
Although, in reality, the age gap wasn't that large; it was mainly because those two looked rather old for their age.
Meanwhile, Hisashi and Asada Takanori, who were outside receiving the staff, suddenly sneezed in unison and then looked at each other in confusion.
"Could it be that we didn't add clothes in time when the temperature dropped recently and caught a cold?"
The two thought, feeling somewhat puzzled.
Anyway, back to the topic, he naturally accepted Eiichiro Oda's proposal with pleasure, nodding and smiling: "Then, please take care of me from now on, Oda-kun."
"Yeah, same here."
Eiichiro Oda smiled: "Please take care of me, Mochizuki-kun."
When Hisashi and Asada Takanori returned with the filming crew, they were astonished to find both sides calling each other "Oda-kun" and "Mochizuki-kun" with every other word.
Before they left, the two were still sitting awkwardly face-to-face, seemingly unable to find a topic to discuss.
How was it that after they had only left for a little while, the two had suddenly become as intimate as old friends who had known each other for a long time?
Hisashi and Asada Takanori exchanged a glance, feeling a bit confused.
They both knew that their respective Manga Artist was actually quite interested in the other, but they hadn't expected them to get along to this extent in such a short time.
But regardless, it was certainly a good thing for them that the two could get along so well.
— —
Thus, Hisashi smiled and said: "How are you two Senseis feeling now?"
"If there are no issues, we can start recording the author dialogue session after a little preparation."
"I have no problem." "Yes!"
Akira nodded, but upon hearing the vigorous reply from beside him, he immediately looked at Eiichiro Oda with some confusion.
For some reason, Eiichiro Oda's attitude seemed a bit nervous when facing Hisashi, just like a rookie soldier seeing his superior officer.
Thus, taking advantage of the moment when the two editors were greeting the other staff members, he sent a look toward Eiichiro Oda: What was that about just now?
In response, Eiichiro Oda quietly leaned over and whispered: "Mr. Sasaki is the editor who originally discovered Nobuhiro Watsuki-sensei and pushed for the serialization of Rurouni Kenshin; he was also the editor who was in charge of Watsuki-sensei before."
"?!"
Akira was truly shocked this time, and he re-examined the Hisashi in front of him with disbelief.
His previous understanding of the other party had actually come entirely from the manga bakuman.
In the timeline of the manga, Hisashi's position was already Editor-in-Chief.
However, the manga never introduced his work history, so he really didn't know much about Hisashi's previous work experience.
Moreover, in the process of getting along during this time, the other party had never mentioned these things to him.
So he hadn't expected that Hisashi's past work achievements were actually so significant, and it was possible there was even more.
But thinking about it carefully, it seemed reasonable.
After all, Hisashi was a man who had already become a group leader in the editorial department and would become the Editor-in-Chief in the future.
If he didn't have a few heavy-hitting achievements under his belt, it would be hard to climb to that position, right?
Anyway, the reason why Eiichiro Oda had that kind of attitude when facing Hisashi lay right there.
Before starting the serialization of One Piece, he had worked as an assistant under Nobuhiro Watsuki for a period of time, and Nobuhiro Watsuki could be considered half a teacher to him on this path of manga.
It was also during that time that he had witnessed many conversations between Nobuhiro Watsuki and Hisashi.
Because Hisashi had very high requirements for the quality of works and was very serious when discussing work issues, if he determined there was a problem, he would ruthlessly reject the manuscript.
And every time this happened, it meant they had to start grinding away at the manuscript again.
This situation only improved slightly after the plot of Rurouni Kenshin reached the middle stage.
Therefore, sometimes Nobuhiro Watsuki would be submissive in front of him, let alone Eiichiro Oda, who was his disciple.
It was at that time that the image Hisashi left in Eiichiro Oda's mind was that of a "super scary editor".
So when facing the other party, he couldn't help but feel a bit intimidated.
"I see."
After hearing the whole story, Akira was enlightened, but couldn't help but marvel at it.
So this is the image Hisashi has in your eyes?
But it's completely different on my end, you know?
If you have the courage, then...
Stop.
If I keep talking, the tone will get a bit weird.
Anyway, he didn't expect that at this author dialogue session, in addition to getting to know Oda, he would actually learn about Hisashi's past experiences and another side of him that he didn't know.
It can only be said to be a fruitful experience.
Meanwhile, the preparations for filming were almost done, and Asada Takanori reminded them to get ready to enter work mode.
After the two sat in the temporarily arranged seats facing each other at an angle, Asada Takanori stood outside the frame, holding the pre-prepared question script, and took on the job of a temporary moderator.
"As this is your first dialogue session, first, please introduce yourselves to the fans, Senseis."
"Hello everyone, I am the author of One Piece, Eiichiro Oda."
"I am the author of Fate/stay night, Mochizuki Akira, please take care of me."
"Okay. So, since you two Senseis are meeting for the first time today, could you tell us when you first learned about each other before this?"
"Let me go first."
Perhaps because they had gotten to know each other, Eiichiro Oda no longer had the awkwardness of a pure college student from just now, and instead began to actively answer the question.
He smiled: "Actually, truth be told, I have been following Mochizuki-kun since the one-shot manga Emiya Kiritsugu."
"Since Emiya Kiritsugu?"
Akira was a bit surprised to hear this, because according to common sense, Emiya Kiritsugu wouldn't be officially published in Shonen Jump until next week.
But he quickly realized that the other party had probably seen the manga content in advance as a judge for the Tezuka Award.
"Yeah. Because I am one of the judges for this year's Tezuka Award."
Eiichiro Oda smiled and explained the reason, then continued: "Just a while ago, Shonen Jump announced the list of winners for the second half of this year's Tezuka Award, and I think everyone should know about it, right?"
"Mochizuki-kun's Emiya Kiritsugu is a masterpiece that received the 『Selected』 for the Tezuka Award."
"When I submitted to the Tezuka Award back then, I only got the 『quasi-selection』 ranking."
"Honestly, I was startled after reading Emiya Kiritsugu. I thought, this newcomer is too bold, daring to draw such content?"
"Of course, the story itself is also really interesting..."
Watching the chatty Oda, who couldn't stop once he started talking to himself, Akira felt a bit amused, while the others felt a little helpless.
"...Ahem."
Seeing this, Asada Takanori had to forcibly interrupt his speech, and then looked at Akira: "So, from Mochizuki-sensei's side..."