Great Mangaka

On Saturday, the first week of classes in Saitama Prefecture, Ishida-sensei was still teaching.

"Does anyone not understand? I've explained this simple question several times already. If you still don't understand, ask your classmates after class!"

As he erased the question from the blackboard, hurried footsteps were heard, and then the security guard appeared, panting: "Ishida-sensei, a journalist is looking for you!"

Ishida-sensei was stunned. 'A journalist?'

His heart pounded. 'Could it be that a journalist from somewhere came to check on the school's remedial classes? Japan's policy stipulates that high schools cannot hold remedial classes on Saturdays, but to compete for enrollment rates, remedial classes are now everywhere. And why would a journalist specifically look for him?'

Recalling his usual life, Ishida-sensei began to worry if he had offended anyone.

"Study on your own for this class. I'll be back soon."

After saying this, Ishida-sensei and the security guard left the school. On the way, he asked: "Where did the reporters come from? Why are they looking for me?"

"The reporters didn't say anything, and I can't tell by what they're wearing." The security guard looked around and whispered: "But I recognized someone. He's an NHK reporter. His name is Kengo. They must be from NHK...".

"NHK?!"

Ishida-sensei's face turned pale with fright. 'This is terrible. Why would someone from NHK come to see him? This is not normal. No matter how many mistakes he makes, it's impossible for NHK to detect him:' "Did you missee him?"

"Not at all." The security guard assured him: "If others don't recognize him, why wouldn't I? My job is very quiet. I watch the news in the guardroom every day. NHK reporters know him...".

"But don't worry, I see they're not carrying cameras and they look relaxed. It shouldn't be anything bad." The security guard said excitedly: "Something good must be happening to Ishida-sensei. If he becomes famous, the school will have to promote him again..."

"How can something so good happen?"

Ishida-sensei arrived nervously at the school gate. Indeed, there were three young people waiting there.

After the security guard's introduction, one approached and extended his hand: "Hello, Ishida-sensei, I'm Kengo. This time we're here to learn about the situation of a student you taught last year."

Ishida-sensei breathed a sigh of relief and quickly shook his hand.

He was surprised again: "My student from last year?! Who is it?!" The figure of a child flashed through his mind. Speaking of last year's students, the first one was, of course, Takumi. That child is Ishida-sensei's pride this year. When other parents learned that he had been the director of the second-place winner in the high school entrance exam last year, they all enthusiastically handed their children over to him.

"Takumi ranked second in the Saitama Prefecture high school entrance exam last year." Kengo smiled and took out a photo from his pocket: "Look, is this the child?"

Ishida-sensei took the photo, which showed a boy with bright eyes and an attractive face.

"You got the wrong person; this isn't Takumi...". Ishida-sensei shook his head. In his memory, Takumi was still the shy, thin, and quiet boy. His appearance and temperament were very different from those in the photo.

"Did he get the wrong person?"

Kengo and his two companions looked at each other. Somewhat surprised: "It's impossible; his information points to this... Ishida-sensei, did Takumi go to Osaka's N.º 1 High School after graduating?"

"Yes, that's right." Ishida-sensei straightened his chest and said proudly: "The child was admitted to Osaka's N.º 1 High School as an exception. At Osaka's N.º 1 High School, he is greatly appreciated, and they even transferred his family registration there."

"That's right!"

Kengo clapped: "This is Takumi, Ishida-sensei, look closer; it must be your student Takumi!"

"Is that Takumi?" Ishida-sensei took the photo and observed it carefully. As he looked at it, another reporter said:

"This photo was taken a while ago. A 16 or 17-year-old boy can completely change his appearance in half a year, from junior high to high school... Ishida-sensei, don't rush to deny it; you should be able to see that it's the same person."

Ishida-sensei observed him. The boy in the photo was more handsome and confident, but by the contour of his face, he looked more and more like Takumi.

"This... it seems to be him,"

he asked in disbelief. They say girls change a lot as they grow up, and the changes Takumi has experienced in half a year are no less impressive. 'What on earth did he eat? He's completely different from how he was in junior high!'

"I said it was him." Kengo breathed a sigh of relief, smiled, and said: "Since it's confirmed, it's easy to deal with him. But you don't recognize him. It seems you don't know what Takumi did outside...".

"Outside?"

Ishida-sensei put down the photo, surprised. 'What did Takumi do in Osaka to invite NHK reporters to Saitama? Shouldn't it be something bad?'

"Okay, Ishida-sensei, can you tell us about Takumi's past?" Kengo had no intention of explaining further to Ishida-sensei. He asked them to investigate some of Takumi's school matters.

However, Takumi was ordinary at school, to put it mildly, and shy and indecisive, to put it bluntly. Ishida-sensei thought about what to say, and the security guard's words came to mind: "It's nothing bad," perhaps he should say it positively.

"Takumi, he's the smartest and most obedient student I've ever taught, and this child studies very diligently...",

Ishida-sensei praised him. After so many years as a teacher, it was the first time he praised a student without hesitation, and he dedicated all the praise he had learned over decades to Takumi, which even made him blush. The funny thing was that the journalists nodded frequently, as if they felt that those words were natural for Takumi.

And what was even stranger was that when Kengo asked about Takumi's specialty, Ishida-sensei racked his brains and managed to extract a "good drawing" from Takumi's scribbles in class. The journalists, even more excited, asked repeated questions, which made it very difficult for Ishida-sensei.

After tens of minutes of interviews, Ishida-sensei also took the journalists to the school's honor wall and took photos of Takumi on it. The three journalists seemed very satisfied.

It turns out Takumi was very outstanding in junior high. It's true that genius emerges from young people.

"Should we go to his hometown to interview him?"

"No, the station's requirements are not that strict this time. Just take these materials. Besides, he comes from a single-parent family, and his mother lives with him. There's not much to interview other people about."

"Ishida-sensei, thank you."

The reporters thanked Ishida-sensei and were about to leave.

Ishida-sensei listened to them for a long time, but he still didn't understand what they were doing. He couldn't help but ask anxiously: "You've been interviewing for so long; shouldn't you at least tell me why you want to interview Takumi? What did he do?"

"What?"

The reporters looked at each other and laughed: "The information here is too slow!"

"I don't think it's slow. You can see from the sensei's performance that even if someone in Saitama Prefecture knows the facts and photos of Mirai-sensei, they probably won't recognize that Mirai-sensei is Takumi."

"No..." 'Mirai-sensei?' Ishida-sensei's mind was a little confused. 'Why did he seem to have heard that name?' Oh, right... The last time he confiscated a manga magazine, the girl read that name as if it were a mangaka's pseudonym.

"Has Takumi become a mangaka?"

Ishida-sensei couldn't help but say it and shook his head; even he found it funny.

However, the three reporters' eyes widened.

"Ishida-sensei, you know Mirai-sensei, but you don't know that he's Takumi? It turns out it's not obvious...".

"How interesting, write it down quickly!"

A reporter quickly wrote it down in his notebook, and Ishida-sensei was stunned.

"You mean...?" He swallowed and slowly asked: "Has Takumi become a mangaka?"

"Yes, that's right." Kengo smiled: "Takumi is Mirai-sensei. I hid it from you, but if I told you, the interview wouldn't be very real."

"Okay, thank you, Ishida-sensei, for agreeing to the interview. We'll leave first."

After the reporters left, Ishida-sensei stood there, a little dazed, with Mirai-sensei's photo still in his hand. He looked at the photo, and then at the photo and the message on the honor wall. The more he looked at them, the more they seemed to be the same person.

"Ding-a-ling-ling...".

After the bell rang, Ishida-sensei didn't have time to attend to the students in the class, so he turned around and ran to the principal's office.

"Principal, principal! Takumi has become a mangaka!" Ishida-sensei ran into the principal's office excitedly without even knocking. His shouts made the old principal, who was getting dressed, tremble, and a wig fell to the floor.

"..."

The old principal looked at Ishida-sensei coldly.

Ishida-sensei backed away. 'Oh no! How could he stumble upon this scene? The principal must be angry.'

"Principal! What a happy event!" Ishida-sensei didn't want the principal to vent his anger, so he quickly said: "Just now a reporter came to investigate Takumi, who graduated last year. He has become a mangaka. It seems his pseudonym is Mirai-sensei!"

"What did he say?" The old principal's eyes widened: "Mangaka Mirai-sensei, sensei?!"

"Yes, that's right...". Ishida-sensei wiped the sweat from his face: "Principal, do you know him?"

"My grandson reads manga all day; of course I know him!" The old principal pointed to the computer next to him and said: "Quickly look up his information; let's see if he's lying!"

"Oh, okay..."

Ishida-sensei hastily took out the computer to search for Mirai-sensei's information. The old principal put on a wig and watched beside him.

"Principal, look, there are photos...".

They looked at the photos and, after confirming it was Takumi, they looked at the information below.

Mirai-sensei, an original mangaka, debuted half a year ago and published Detective Conan, Inuyasha, Five Centimeters Per Second... He is known as the first genius in a century, and it is said that his royalties for half a year exceeded 100,000,000 yen.

Ishida-sensei counted the zeros.

"One, two, three... A total of 100,000,000 yen!" He took a deep breath: "How high would this money pile up on the floor...? Principal, do you think we are...?"

The old principal's eyes widened, and his face flushed: "He's popular; our school is going to be famous!"

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