[10] Pets

"How do you feel, Yoshikawa-san?" Iwamoto Yu asked the chief editor, Yoshikawa Daishi.

It was already quite late, and he was feeling hungry...

He had already read this manga once, but even so, he still found it incredibly enjoyable.

It wasn't the kind of thing that you wouldn't want to read again.

"It's good," Yoshikawa Daishi nodded. "This is probably the most entertaining manga I've ever read."

"Compared to Hokuto no Ken?" Iwamoto Yu asked, referring to the highly popular manga "Hokuto no Ken" that was currently serialized in JUMP.

"Well..." The chief editor pondered for a moment and shook his head. "It's hard to compare... but if I had to vote, I'd choose JoJo."

"Why?" Iwamoto Yu asked, excited. After all, this was his mangaka, and this choice would benefit him as well.

"Because of personal preference and the number of manuscripts."

Yoshikawa Daishi looked at the stack of manuscripts in front of him and smiled. "First, it's a matter of personal preference. Although Hokuto no Ken has been consistently ranked first for several issues now, it will probably continue for a while longer. But I feel that JoJo is more to my liking, and with so many manuscripts available, you know what comes next, right? When to give this manga the cover or color page privileges..."

Iwamoto Yu nodded, acknowledging the truth of that.

With these manuscripts, they could easily plan when to feature the manga on the cover or provide color pages during editorial meetings.

Normally, most mangaka learned about their upcoming cover or color pages in advance and adjusted their story progress accordingly to coincide with a major or minor climax on that day.

But that wasn't necessary in this case.

With so many manuscripts at hand, planning was simplified.

Moreover, after reading the later chapters, Yoshikawa Daishi had a feeling that the popularity of this JoJo might remain moderate for the time being, but in the later parts—

After the introduction of Stand abilities in Part 3, he felt that it would undoubtedly become a massive hit! It might even rank high, possibly even first, in Shonen JUMP's rankings... there was more than just a possibility.

He even had the urge to consider abandoning the current serialization and start on Part 3 right away. However, he quickly suppressed that impulse. He knew it wasn't a rational decision. As an editor-in-chief, he couldn't afford to make such impulsive choices.

"By the way, where's Kurokawa-sensei?" Yoshikawa Daishi looked around the room.

"Well, he..." Iwamoto Yu glanced at the door and said, "It seems like his sister is coming back from schooll, so he's going to prepare dinner for today."

"Is that so..." The chief editor paused for a moment and then nodded...

It made sense, with so much backlog, he could focus on anything...

"Well... then let's head back for today," The chief editor stood up and said.

"Huh? Going back now?" Iwamoto Yu was taken aback. "We've only just started looking at the manga, and there's nothing else going on, right?"

Going back without seeing his drawing speed or asking what Kurokawa Kazuya planned to do next...?

"Oh, there's no need," Yoshikawa Daishi nodded. "His sister is coming back, and judging from his behavior during our phone call earlier, I don't think he wants us to disturb him."

"No, there's no need," Kazuya coincidentally pushed the door open. "Having occasional guests is fine, and besides..."

"Besides?" Iwamoto Yu was curious.

"I think my sister might have ambitions to become a mangaka too, even though she's young and hasn't learned manga yet. But who knows what might happen in the future. It's good to meet people occasionally and build connections."

"Haha, building connections, huh? Kurokawa-sensei doesn't hold back," Yoshikawa Daishi laughed. "Well, that sounds good. So, Iwamoto-kun, let's stay for dinner today and then leave. I'm actually getting hungry."

"Sure!"

"Well then, since your little sister hasn't come back yet, let me ask, what are your plans for this manga after the third part? Will it conclude, or will there be a fourth part?"

"There will be a fourth part..." Kazuya thought for a moment and said, "I've currently planned up to the seventh part."

"The seventh part? That's amazing..." Yoshikawa Daishi's eyes sparkled. "That could easily be serialized for over ten years."

"Yeah, maybe," Kazuya thought for a moment. As for the eighth part... he was still considering it. After all, he didn't have complete knowledge of the manga. Would he continue with his original creations, or would it conclude after the seventh part? He didn't know.

But he wasn't in a hurry.

Right now, he was still a beginner in a sense.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure didn't count. His next manga, which he was planning as an original work, would test his storyboarding and creative abilities.

"So, can you tell me a rough outline of the fourth part?"

Iwamoto Yu sighed slightly, feeling that he was quite useless as an editor. Well, perhaps he still had some use, like picking up the original manuscripts...

The mangaka he had worked with before had never encountered such a situation... it was really hard to say whether he should be happy or frustrated.

"I'm back—"

Just then, a voice came from the entrance.

"You're back, Kazumi," Kazuya smiled at Kazumi as she walked in and said, "Great, dinner has been ready for a while. If you don't eat now, it'll get cold."

"Yes, Onii-chan..." Kazumi looked at Kazuya and lowered her voice, saying, "Hey, Onii-chan, I found two pairs of shoes at the doorstep... Did someone come over?"

Although she said this, she had already guessed the situation based on the phone call from that day. It was probably that editor...

However, what surprised her was that those people hadn't left yet?

"Oh, it's because your brother's manga is so exciting that it caught their attention. They just finished reading and haven't eaten yet, so they decided to stay for dinner. How about it? If you don't like it, your brother can chase them away."

"No, no, it's fine," Kazumi quickly waved her hand. "It's just that... I found this on my way back..."

As she spoke, Kazumi opened her backpack and took out a soft and fluffy little kitten. "This... it looks like it was abandoned, so I brought it home..."

"Meow~"

"Is that so..." Kazuya thought for a moment. "Do you have any ideas about it?"

"Me?"

"Yeah." Kazuya nodded. "Do you want to take care of it yourself?"

"Can I?" Kazumi said with some excitement.

"Of course, it's up to you." Kazuya nodded. "If you want to take care of it, you can keep it. But first, we need to get it vaccinated."

"Okay! I understand!"

"Meow meow~"

---

If you're interested in reading more, feel free to visit my patreon which already contains 20 chapters: 

https://www.patreon.com/XElenea