Great Mangaka

"Shiori, tell us, is it Mirai-sensei?"

"Is that rumor true?"

After morning reading at Osaka's N.º 1 High School, several girls gathered around Shiori and started making noise.

"No". Shiori's face turned cold: "I said no; why do you keep asking?!"

Two days after the start of the semester at Osaka's N.º 1 High School, Shiori ran into a big problem. Takumi was recognized the day he showed up at school, and then it spread from one person to ten, from ten to a hundred, and soon the clue pointed to the absent tenth grader.

The tenth-grade monitor had seen Takumi and got very excited when he told others about it.

"Absolutely true, the person in our class is Mirai-sensei, but he transferred to the first year this semester. I regret it. If I had known he was Mirai-sensei, I would have asked for an autograph!"

After the news, the school's manga fans focused on Class 1, and by pure chance, those who had seen the Osaka Carnival discovered Shiori. At that moment, Shiori blocked the reporter in front of Takumi. Although it didn't take long, it was recorded.

Then Shiori's problems began. More and more people asked her about Takumi. She kept a cold expression all day, hoping the fever would pass soon.

However, yesterday, the seating arrangement was shaken up again. The principal seated Takumi next to Shiori. It was normal. Shiori and Takumi were from the same town and both were excellent students. The school feared that Takumi might decide to come to class one day and there would be no seat when he arrived, so they reserved a privileged spot for him.

Shiori was happy to be able to sit at the same desk as Takumi, but what bothered her was that, once the seat was assigned, other people became more suspicious and surrounded her, asking questions all day. That annoyed her greatly.

"Okay, Shiori. Don't hide it from us. Someone saw you and Mirai-sensei appear at school before. Just tell us!"

"No comment."

Shiori couldn't help it. She stood up: "I want to go to the bathroom."

But just after saying this, the class bell suddenly rang. The girls complained and returned to their seats. Shiori breathed a sigh of relief and sat down again.

"Why haven't they come back yet?"

She missed her two roommates a little, and then she saw them run in from outside the classroom.

"Luckily I got it!" Han took her seat first. Li Yu sat behind her. As she ran past Shiori, she threw Weekly Shōnen into her arms and hastily said, "Don't let the teacher find out," and then left.

"Well done!" Shiori praised her and skillfully put away the magazine.

With the beginning of the new semester, she no longer had to buy Weekly Shōnen herself. A second-year high school girl had a bookstore at home. At the beginning of the school year, she handed out small notes in each dormitory, saying that she accepted reservations for some novels and manga, and the price was only 20 yen more expensive than at the bookstore.

She could buy Weekly Shōnen and Weekly Shōjo Manga without leaving. Shiori, of course, was happy to participate in the reservation for something so good.

This was a math class. The teacher was an older man with glasses and poor eyesight. Shiori took the opportunity to open Weekly Shōnen and leave it on the empty stool next to him.

However, upon opening it, a small note fell to the floor, and Shiori discreetly picked it up.

"For client No. 027: Did you buy Weekly Shōjo Manga yesterday? And Weekly Shōnen today. You must be a loyal fan of Mirai-sensei! I also sell Mirai-sensei stickers, photos, and pillows. If you're interested, you can talk to us in detail: phone 138682..."

Upon seeing this note, the first thing that crossed Shiori's mind was: 'She's worthy of a big city; even children have that business acumen.' But after thinking about it, she frowned sadly.

"How can that girl have photos of Takumi and dare to use them to do business...?".

Shiori would not allow it. She felt the need to argue with that girl about why the flowers were so red, but first, she had to take a look at this new manga.

"Bakuman." While Takumi was preparing the information for this manga, Shiori was still at his house. She knew it was a manga about a mangaka, but Shiori didn't know the specific story.

She opened the magazine secretly and began to read. Shiori had already compared Mirai-sensei with Takumi. She quickly delved into the book. When the male protagonist Moritaka appeared, he was in the third year of junior high school. He was in love with a female protagonist in his class, and he secretly drew her!

"Isn't this Takumi's story in the past?" Shiori suddenly thought. She didn't know what had happened to Takumi when he was in the third year of junior high school. She couldn't help but get nervous. 'Could it be that Takumi had someone he liked?'

She was sweating and kept reading.

Luckily, the female protagonist didn't seem to have many scenes later. Akito discovered Moritaka's secret as an artist, but he rejected it. Akito took him to his doorstep.

'What would happen?' Shiori felt relieved.

But the next plot was unexpected. Moritaka confessed to the female protagonist. After learning that the female protagonist wanted to be a voice actress, Moritaka attracted Akito and told him he wanted to be a mangaka, to dub his animation, and then to marry her.

"Marry."

Shiori's heart instantly felt relieved. Takumi and Moritaka in the manga have completely different personalities. He seems to have no interest in women, so it's impossible for him to

make such a passionate confession. And thinking about it, there's nothing to worry about. Shiori was with Takumi during the New Year. If he likes a female protagonist in his town, it's impossible for them not to see each other during the New Year.

"Bakuman's story is fictional...",

Shiori thought with relief, but she soon realized that the context of the female protagonist was very ambiguous, and her heart began to pound. The female protagonist wants to be a voice actress, and after she becomes one, she will marry Moritaka. 'Could this be a hint?'

"No, no, no, it's impossible!" Shiori shook her head. She couldn't let her imagination run wild. 'Takumi definitely didn't mean it. It was a coincidence, it was definitely a coincidence, but, but... what if it was true?'

'Even with a one in ten thousand chance, assuming Takumi really wanted to hint at something, shouldn't Shiori seize the opportunity to attack? Although she was prepared for a long fight, Shiori wasn't stupid enough not to take the opportunity in front of her. If she managed to win Takumi's heart earlier, then...'

"Is it true or not?"

Shiori's face reflected happiness and worry, and her heart was a mess.

"Shiori, Shiori!"

At that moment, a call was heard from the front. Shiori raised her head, and the white-haired math teacher was standing on the podium with his glasses on, staring at her.

"Discovered?" Shiori nervously hid Weekly Shōnen, thinking about how to explain it, but the math teacher's voice became gentle.

"Shiori, your complexion is a little off. Are you feeling unwell? If you're not feeling well, go to the infirmary."

This math teacher always likes excellent students. Although he noticed that Shiori's movements were a little strange, he didn't think of anything else. He just thought she might be indisposed.

"Well, thank you, sensei..."

Shiori was stunned and wiped the sweat from her face. She wanted to go out and reflect on it.

People in love are always very sensitive. If it were the usual Shiori, she would definitely not think so much. But now she is very worried. Although her reason tells her that Takumi will never give hints, her heart tells her that it is possible...

She sat on a stone bench on the school path, and when she felt worried, someone called her.

"Shiori!"

Shiori saw Hirano-sensei not far away with a bag full of things. She stood up and approached to greet him: "Hirano-sensei."

"Why aren't you in class?" Hirano-sensei looked at Shiori in surprise, nodded, and said: "Perfect. I've been looking for you these past two days. Takumi isn't coming to learn piano with me. I'm bored. How about you come and learn singing?"

Since he started teaching Takumi, Hirano-sensei has completely changed. He has become more and more impatient and always loses his temper when teaching other students. This situation has led to complaints from students in the music department. The school directors have tried to persuade him thousands of times, but Hirano-sensei feels helpless.

"If you teach Takumi, you'll understand how difficult I have it. I tell him everything once and he learns everything. He learns better in a few months than others in over 10 years. How can I put up with those students who repeat seven or eight times and still can't do anything?"

After Hirano-sensei explained it to the school directors, the school ceded his course to other music teachers and Hirano-sensei was free. Although Osaka's N.º 1 High School did not fire him as a music expert, he always caused thousands of complaints if he had nothing to do.

So Hirano-sensei thought of Shiori. This girl had a lot of talent for singing. Although she wasn't as good as Takumi, she was much better than other students. With some training time, she would have no problem becoming a singer.

However, Shiori was also very good at studying. The school did not accede to Hirano-sensei's request, but asked him to talk to Shiori about it. If Shiori was willing to learn to sing, the school would support her. After all, a star would make a greater impression than the highest score on the university entrance exam.

"Sing?" Shiori shook her head: "I haven't considered becoming a star, so forget it."

"Forget it?" Hirano-sensei smiled: "I asked Alice... She said you're a voice actress now, right?"

"Don't think voice actors just do dubbing; singing talent is also needed. If you learn from me, I'll definitely turn you into an excellent voice actress." Hirano-sensei promised, his eyes sparkling, and added: "Alice told me that Takumi has a special liking for voice actors."

"Did that blonde say that?" Shiori asked, her eyes lighting up: "Okay, I'll learn; I'll learn to sing with you!"

She felt that in this episode of Bakuman, even if Takumi didn't hint at it, he must have a different view of voice actors. At first, Shiori believed that voice actors did dubbing, but now, after listening to Hirano-sensei, it turns out that singing is also a voice actor's job.

Takumi is a mangaka and composer, and voice actors are voice actors who also know how to sing; it's a match made in heaven.

Shiori felt a sweetness in her heart.

- - - - - -

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