Kai had indeed gone to Jinbocho.
There were so many bookstores packed into this neighborhood that it had formed its own unique culture. Walking along the streets, you could practically smell the ink in the air.
The people coming and going were mostly literary types: girls with long hair clutching novels, quiet and intellectual. Gentle, refined men in glasses.
Kai, caught in the middle of all that, stuck out like a husky in a wolf pack. His energy was unmistakably different.
Still, he carried the scent of ink on him too. As if he'd been soaking in it for so long that it had seeped into his pores.
To draw a character like Naomi Misora well, a role with limited screen time but enormous importance, he'd specifically invited someone to join him today to study City Hunter and Video Girl Ai.
To learn how to draw women.
To capture their infinitely compelling qualities.
"I'm counting on you, Tsukasa-san." Kai said to Rin, who was walking beside him in a white dress. "Hojo and Masakazu Katsura are both masters at drawing women, and they both use a realistic art style. That's exactly what I need."
Heishi hadn't been wrong to worry about Kai fraternizing with the competition. That much was certain.
"It's fine," Rin said, lifting the white wide-brimmed hat on her head with one hand, tilting her face back and squinting against the glare of the sun.
She smiled at Kai. "I was bored anyway, so your invitation came at the perfect time. If you don't enjoy Tokyo properly on the weekend, what are you going to do? Work?"
"Someone like that would be too boring. Ha."
She said it casually, but Kai's attention had been caught by her fair, white arms. As his gaze drifted, he noticed the clean line of Rin's armpit where her sleeve fell away. As if he'd accidentally glimpsed something he shouldn't have, Kai snapped his eyes away.
Before even opening a single manga by those two masters, he felt he already knew how to draw armpits.
"What's wrong? Too hot?" Rin tilted her head, concerned.
She took off her hat and fanned him with it twice.
The sweltering summer air had turned Kai's face completely red.
"It's nothing," he said quickly. "I just figured out some compositions in my head."
"That's great, then." Rin held her hat against her chest and walked alongside Kai down the bookstore-lined street, hatless now.
Five minutes later, they found a shop specializing in manga.
There was a poster at the entrance featuring the quirky heroine Madoka Ayukawa from Kimagure Orange Road. That manga had ended back in 1987. The shop owner was clearly the nostalgic type.
"Let's try this one," Kai said.
"Mm." Rin nodded.
They walked inside, and as the temperature dropped suddenly in the air-conditioned interior, Rin shivered happily. "So much better."
Kai was drawn to the rows of towering bookshelves, and then his eyes instinctively went to the most prominent display.
Detective Conan.
The manga's popularity was enormous. If Weekly Shonen Magazine had Kindaichi Case Files, then Weekly Shonen Sunday had Detective Conan.
Between them, those two magazines had locked down the entire mystery readership.
If it hadn't been for Ichiro Fujima's controversy driving traffic to Death Note, it would have taken considerably longer for the manga to break out.
Kai had heard that an animated movie for Detective Conan was in production, and he sighed, realizing the legendary film franchise was about to begin.
In that department, One Piece couldn't compete with Conan.
"That manga is a serious rival," Rin said, eyeing the Conan display with narrowed eyes.
"It's a mystery manga, but the tone is light and accessible. That gives it an edge over Kindaichi and Death Note."
Dark-toned manga always had a performance ceiling. Readers inevitably got fatigued with heavy material. People preferred to relax when reading manga, which was also the inherent advantage of traditional shonen.
"Yeah," Kai nodded, appreciating Rin's professional instinct.
They moved deeper into the store. Kai found City Hunter, and Rin walked toward him carrying Video Girl Ai.
"Honestly, it would be even more effective to study Katsura-sensei's new series, I"s," Rin whispered. "It's his peak work so far. You could call it the number one school romance manga of the nineties. But it hasn't been running long enough for collected volumes yet."
"I read it every week too," Kai answered softly.
"Good."
They settled into seats by the window. Kai pulled a notebook out of his bag and opened City Hunter.
It was a brand-new notebook.
Kai glanced at the cover, which had the words "Death Note" printed on it. He thought about it for a second, then decided not to write his name inside.
"Death Note already has merchandise?" Rin asked curiously.
"Yeah," Kai nodded. "It's not on the market yet, though. This is a sample the licensing partner gave me."
The quality was surprisingly good for merchandise.
It could genuinely function as a working notebook.
He took out a pencil, wrote Hojo's name at the top of the first page, and started reading.
Kai recorded the details of how female charm was constructed in the manga, point by point.
Every so often, he would sketch. Naomi Misora's face. Her neck. A few quick figure studies.
It was as if Naomi Misora had been disassembled by him and spread across the pages.
Comparing his sketches to Kaori Makimura from City Hunter, Kai felt his inspiration building and building.
But Naomi Misora's character was fundamentally different from Kaori. She carried melancholy and sorrow, so Kai could only borrow selectively.
"Look at this."
Rin was pulling her weight too. She picked out well-composed panels from Video Girl Ai and held them up for Kai to study.
These close-ups all captured different facets of a young woman's form. The way she looked when bowing her head. The way she looked when hugging her arms to her chest.
Each had its own details. Each had its own highlights.
...
Once Kai locked into study mode, he became completely absorbed. The outside world ceased to exist.
Rin rested her chin in her hand, watching him write and draw, and understood why Kanzaki had made it this far.
Time slipped away without either of them noticing. People passed by outside the window from time to time. A group of young girls spotted the two of them, eyes lighting up, and covered their mouths to giggle.
Rin looked over, and one of the girls made a little fist pump of encouragement.
"Hm?" Rin stared back, bewildered, not understanding what it meant.
The girl sighed softly and walked away. They looked so natural together that she'd assumed they were a couple.
Apparently not.
Rin went back to enjoying the view outside the window.
Usually on weekends, she stayed home, played with her cat, and quietly waited for the day to end.
Now, there was something different in front of her eyes, and it made her feel interested in the world again.
They stayed until the sky turned dusky gold.
Kai had filled more than twenty pages of notes.
They stood up, bought the collected volumes, and left the bookstore together.
______________________
Bonus chapter at 333 Power stones
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