"Hasegawa, you really are amazing."
Yuta sighed with genuine feeling.
He looked out at the Tokyo night view. The lights between the high-rises shone brilliantly, and the endless stream of traffic on the nearby highway stretched out like a ribbon of light, reaching all the way to the edge of the road.
This dreamlike, mesmerizing scene of intersecting lights was something you could never see in the countryside.
Anyone who could stay here through their own effort must have endured real hardship and suffering. More bitter tears than they'd ever admit to.
Hasegawa stopped walking and stared at Yuta. "Are you making fun of me? Because I gave up on manga."
"Gave up on you and Fujin."
"Of course not." Yuta looked him in the eyes, sincere. "Neither of us is a genius like Kai. We can't draw manga that millions of people fall in love with."
"Becoming a manga artist? That was just playing house."
Now, he understood that deeply.
After growing up, he realized that all the time he'd spent focusing on manga had been essentially useless. It didn't make money and it ate into time he could have spent studying.
Without any marketable skills, he'd chosen to go back home and farm rather than struggle in the city.
"I was just hiding inside my comfort zone."
"But you, Hasegawa?"
"You made a decisive call. You abandoned an unrealistic dream and chose to grow in a grounded, practical way."
"That kind of resolve takes real strength."
Hasegawa stood frozen on the spot.
"Keep going," Yuta patted him on the shoulder. "Prove that the version of you I've always admired wasn't wrong."
Hasegawa nodded blankly.
After that, they found a bar and drank for a long time.
During the night, Hasegawa broke down crying, pouring out everything about how brutal life as an animator really was. He worked overtime until the dead of night constantly, to the point where he slept at the studio.
Every day was an endless cycle of cuts and corrections, and he was so exhausted he couldn't even open a soda can.
Yuta rubbed his back and let him talk.
The friendship from high school came back to them, just like that.
...
It wasn't until one in the morning that Kai heard the front door open. Yuta, back from the reunion, had finally made it home.
Kai was sitting at his desk, drawing the half-finished manuscript pages for the assistants to work on tomorrow.
Ryuk's face was only half done. Without putting down his G-pen, Kai smiled and asked the figure who'd stumbled into the living room. "Back this late. Must have been a good time."
"Yeah... yeah!" Yuta nodded vaguely.
He stood unsteadily in front of Kai, his eyes glazed over with alcohol.
"Alright." Kai lowered his head and went back to the manuscript. "Go get some sleep. You've got to be up early for manga work tomorrow."
"Fujin!" Yuta suddenly shouted.
Kai blinked, startled. "Why are you suddenly calling me by my last name like that..."
"Fujin! I'm talking. You listen." Yuta swayed his head, his gaze unfocused, like he was looking past Kai toward some invisible person standing far behind him.
"Go ahead." Kai set down his G-pen. "I'm listening."
"You're incredible. Becoming a manga artist that countless people love. But I never envied you. I never felt depressed... or hopeless. Everyone falls short compared to you, so what? I'm not a genius. I never thought about measuring myself against you. I just need to be myself."
"Yeah. I'm just an ordinary person... urp!"
After that, he hiccuped, turned around, and walked away without another word.
The living room was left with nothing but the smell of alcohol.
'What a weirdo.' Kai looked at the empty studio, picked up his G-pen, and finished the rest of his work.
...
The next morning, a scream jolted Kai awake.
He rubbed his eyes and watched Yuta come thundering down from the second floor.
'I fell asleep at the desk without realizing it.'
Kai looked down at the manuscript paper in front of him. The page he'd started drawing on was soaked with drool. Now dry, it was raised, wrinkled, and completely unusable.
'Great. Have to toss it.'
"Kai!" Yuta grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. "I didn't say anything weird last night, did I?!"
"You didn't say anything," Kai said, gently pushing Yuta off and straightening his clothes.
Yuta let out a huge breath of relief.
"So I definitely didn't say anything embarrassing like 'I'm just an ordinary person' or 'I'm in despair because you're too much of a genius,' right? I didn't say anything like that?"
"Ah! AH!"
Yuta was in despair for real now.
"Why did I say all that?! I can't show my face anymore."
Kai ignored him and headed off to take a shower.
Half an hour later, he came back to the living room. Rika had woken up too and was sitting sideways on the sofa in a sleepy daze.
Her big eyes were filled with the fog of not being fully awake yet.
"What just happened? It was so loud."
Kai sat down beside her, glanced at the panicking Yuta, and leaned over to whisper in his sister's ear.
"Oh..." Rika's eyes gradually brightened. She looked at Yuta and gave him a thumbs up. "Yuta is amazing."
Yuta covered his face and fled to the kitchen.
"Do you ever feel that way, Rika?" After enjoying Yuta's suffering, Kai turned to her and asked. "You know, the thing where the older brother is a genius, so the younger sister feels overshadowed and loses confidence?"
"Nope." Rika swung her legs. "I don't have any dream of becoming a manga artist anyway. And outside of manga, you're honestly not good at anything else, Brother. Your cooking is awful, you're terrible at studying, you don't have a girlfriend, and you're usually a total slob."
The more she talked, the more fired up she got. She couldn't stop.
Kai couldn't take it anymore and tapped her on the forehead.
"Enough."
"Ow." Rika looked up at Kai with a wounded expression, silently accusing him of bullying.
"Deserved it," Kai said without an ounce of remorse.
Seeing that she couldn't guilt-trip him, Rika snapped back to normal. She yawned, stood up, and stretched.
"Ahh... I'm going to help Yuta with breakfast."
"Wait." Kai stopped her. "Rika, what's your dream?"
"Me?" Rika blinked. "I don't have one yet, I guess."
"Tell me when you figure it out."
"Okay!"
...
After the assistants arrived, Kai didn't mention what happened with Yuta.
After all, his breakfast today had come with one extra fried egg.
"The people from Kyoto Animation should be coming today, right?" Majima asked after finishing a manuscript page.
"Yeah, in about two hours." Kai checked the wall clock and answered.
Yesterday, he'd arranged to meet the Kyoto Animation representatives after two in the afternoon.
He was already feeling like it was a hassle. He should have just turned them down from the start.
It was going to break his rhythm.
"Will you agree to let Kyoto Animation produce Death Note, Sensei?" That was what Majima really wanted to know.
"Probably not," Kai replied.
"Why?"
"Because Kyoto doesn't have experience producing anime on their own yet. I can't hand my debut work to a studio like that. Besides, I don't think Kyoto's style fits Death Note. The result would be off."
Kai looked at his assistants.
"Don't say anything unnecessary when they're here."
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