Naturally, the people who care about Kumamon are not only Konoe Ryoka, and Hosokawa Koharu received numerous interview invitations in just two days after the Kumamon promotion began.

And the goal of these people is of course very clear - all for Tsukasa Higashino.

Before, some people cared about whether Tsukasa Higashino, who won the double gold medal of the Youth Painting Award and designed Kumamon, and Mr. Higashino, who painted "Lonely Gourmet" and "Midnight Bell", were alone.

After all, Higashino-sensei of Urashima Publishing House has the same surname as Tsukasa Higashino.

In other words, it is also very possible that Tsukasa Higashino used the pseudonym 'Higashino' to be serialized by Urashima Publishing House.

Unlike Tsukasa Higashino, who won a double gold medal at the Youth Painting Awards, Urashima Publishing's 'Higashino-sensei' debuted at the pinnacle, and there are many young people across Japan who are fans of "Midnight Bell" and "Lonely Gourmet".

It wasn't until the current genius high school designer Tsukasa Higashino designed the image of Kumamon that his popularity competed with that of Urashima Press's 'Higashino-sensei'.

There is another very interesting phenomenon here.

That is, the fans of Tsukasa Higashino and the fans of Urashima Publishing House, which draws manga, are incompatible.

Both sides are not convinced, they just feel that the other party is rubbing the popularity of their favorite authors.

So in the discussion boards of "Midnight Bell" and "Lonely Foodie", someone will always post some pictures of Kumamon.

And in Kumamon's discussion board, someone will attach a particularly terrifying Sadako comic picture - which scares many girls who like pariahs can't sleep at night.

Fan representatives on both sides also have their own opinions.

On the other hand, he said that how could Mr. Higashino, who drew "Midnight Bell", design a character like Kumamon? It's not possible!

On the other hand, it is said that Tsukasa Higashino, the designer of Kumamon, is young and good-looking, how can he be like 'Higashino-sensei', who draws horror manga and food manga, and is an old man in his thirties with a dark mind? (Many media outlets advertise that Higashino-sensei's age is thirty or forty years old, so these fans also believe it.) )

The two sides are killing so much that it's dark, and when it's free on Saturday and Sunday, there will be fans who will fight on these two different discussion boards, and they will fight hard.

In addition to the chaotic evil on both sides, there are also some obedient and neutral fans, who like both Tsukasa Higashino's Kumamon, and Higashino-sensei's "Midnight Bell" and "Lonely Gourmet", they remain neutral, and occasionally persuade in the discussion section - 'You guys don't fight anymore, don't fight anymore, don't you like both sides?' ’

The more the topic ferments, the more hot it is.

This made Hosokawa Koharu, the editor in charge of the Higashino Division, suffer.

"It's..."

After finally dealing with a group of reporters crouching outside the Urashima Publishing House, Hosokawa Koharu exhaled tiredly.

The purpose of those journalists is also very simple.

It's just to squeeze up and ask about the relationship between Higashino Tsukasa and Higashino Sensei.

But Hosokawa Koharu has an obligation to keep the secrets of Higashino Division, so he can only smile and keep silent about these topics, and walk into Urashima Publishing House with 'no comment' along the way.

And that's not all, Hosokawa Koharu can even see the shadow of reporters near his house recently.

"I'm going to have a nervous breakdown if I continue like this."

Hosokawa Koharu poured himself a cup of coffee, looking very tired.

I used to envy the famous people to be interviewed by reporters.

But when he was really surrounded by reporters for an interview, Hosokawa Koharu was not very happy.

There was no way, those reporters were chattering, and the questions were very sharp, which made her feel very tired just to deal with it.

"Higashino-sensei... Can you come back soon?" sighed Hosokawa Koharu.

It would be nice if Tsukasa Higashino came back and gave an interview on his own will... can't torture her Hosokawa Koharu at all.

And there's...

Hosokawa Koharu shook his head, shook these messy thoughts out of his mind, and looked back at the data on his desk, and couldn't help but smile on his lips.

She's waiting for Higashino to come back now.

"Midnight Bell" and "The Lonely Gourmet"... It's really a big surprise for Tsukasa Higashino.

......

Kumamoto Prefecture operated in Osaka City for two days, and the Kumamon Prefecture came forward after the Kumamon disappeared for two days, making the image of Kumamon a cute thing reported in major magazines.

And along with them, there is also the Kumamon that has been hiding before.

The Kumamon bouncing on the TV screen has conquered countless people in an instant with its cute image.

But the Kumamoto Prefectural Government surprises everyone and that's not all.

They announced on television that they would license the Kumamon image nationwide for free, and those who used the Kumamon image only had to submit an application to Kumamoto Prefecture, and as long as Kumamoto Prefecture approved it, they would be able to use it to produce products.

This kind of courage shocked many media outlets.

Because this is equivalent to the government spending money and providing it to businesses for free.

Yes, at a time when Kumamon was popular all over the island, the Kumamoto Prefectural Government made such a decision, which undoubtedly required great courage.

Higashino was also slightly surprised when he saw Kumamoto Prefecture's declaration, but he was soon able to understand.

Kumamoto Prefecture is mainly to let Japanese businesses spontaneously promote Kumamon, and when Kumamon is promoted, it is natural to introduce Kumamon Prefecture, the hometown of Kumamon.

The more famous Kumamon is, the more people will know about Kumamoto Prefecture, and the more people who know Kumamoto Prefecture, the more tourists will come to Kumamoto Prefecture for sightseeing, and this will be a powerful boost to Kumamoto Prefecture's tourism economy.

After all, Kumamoto Prefecture alone wants to promote the image of Kumamon as a mascot to the whole country... That's undoubtedly a lot of investment.

Therefore, it is better to send out this mascot character for Japanese merchants to use and let merchants promote it spontaneously.

Originally, the character of Kumamon was originally designed for the economy of Kumamoto Prefecture.

As for the sales expenses of Kumamon peripherals of Tsukasa Higashino?

That's even more of a worry.

As long as it is famous, then the surrounding will be sold.

Kumamoto Prefecture itself will produce a lot of Kumamon merchandise for sale throughout the country, and in the future, Kumamon will cooperate with Shinkansen and various Japanese airlines... When two percent of the cost goes to Tsukasa Higashino, it will be a huge amount of money.

So Higashino didn't worry about this at all.

Compared with this, Higashino Tsukasa is more concerned about when he will go back.

"It's been two weeks since I've been in Kumamoto Prefecture," Higashino muttered.

During this period, he did not accept any media interviews, presumably because Kumamoto Prefecture helped cover up a lot in order to give him a better creative environment.

Even the Twilight Kito gave the laptop to Tsukasa Higashino, and several mini-games were specially installed on it for Higashino Chihaya to play.

But by this time, it's almost time to go back.

Kumamon has been completely finalized, and the next thing is to design Kumamon's other moves.

But that kind of thing can be done at home in Tokyo, so there is no reason for Tsukasa Higashino to continue to stay in Kumamoto Prefecture.

Thinking of this, Tsukasa Higashino also called the Dusk Qiren.

"Higashino-sensei wants to leave? This...? Why so suddenly? ”

Dusk Qiren thought that he was busy with his work here in the past few days and snubbed Tsukasa Higashino over there, so he was upset, so he also said: "When I'm done with the recent things, I'll take Mr. Higashino to our famous places in Kumamoto Prefecture for sightseeing..."

"It's not because of that." Higashino Tsukasa smiled: "It's just that Kumamon's announcement is on the right track, and if I stay in Kumamoto Prefecture any longer, I will definitely cause trouble for you in the depths of the twilight." ”

He paused and added: "Of course, there are also personal reasons for me, it's been two weeks since I came out, and I still have schoolwork in high school, so I'm a little embarrassed to continue to procrastinate like this." ”

"That's right... I'm sorry, Higashino-sensei. That's when Dusk Kito reacted - Tsukasa Higashino was still a high school student.

It's not that he forgot that Tsukasa Higashino is a high school student, but Tsukasa Higashino's ability is so strong that he subconsciously ignores the identity of the other party's high school student.

Even the governor of Kumamoto Prefecture met with Tsukasa Higashino, chatted with him for a long time, and finally shook hands and took pictures.

"Since that's the case... Then I won't keep Higashino-sensei, but if Higashino-sensei comes to Kumamoto Prefecture next time, be sure to call me, and I'll definitely take Higashino-sensei around when the time comes. ”

Dusk Kito made a promise to chat with Higashino for a while, and finally said that he would go and let people prepare a plane ticket, and Higashino would be able to return to Tokyo tomorrow at the latest.

For this, Higashino Tsukasa is naturally grateful again and again.

And so it came to the next day.

Tsukasa Higashino got into the special car prepared by the Dusk Kito and headed towards the airport.

How did you come to Kumamoto Prefecture from Tokyo, and how did you leave Kumamoto Prefecture and return to Tokyo.

Naturally, there is no need to elaborate on this process.

The only difference is that Tsukasa Higashino, a young author who won a double gold medal at the Tokyo Youth Painting Awards, has now become the Kumamon designer Tsukasa Higashino, who is known to countless people in Japan.

Tsukasa Higashino and Chihaya Higashino quickly returned home.

Looking at the almost unchanged furnishings in his home, Tsukasa Higashino sighed.

He specially called someone to come over and help clean up the ash every day, so there was no need for Higashino Division and Higashino Chihaya to deliberately clean it.

"Ace... Then I'll go to bed first. Higashino Chihaya was sleepy and yawned again and again.

In this regard, Higashino Tsukasa also nodded: "Then Sister Chihaya, you go to rest first, and I'll call you again when we eat." ”

No way, after taking a plane and a car, it's no wonder she gets tired.

Sending her into the room, Higashino sorted out the contents of the travel bag.

I took the horse jerky souvenir to the Urashima editorial office in my hand and delivered it now, as well as a lot of Kumamon's initial merchandise—simple keychains, wallet holsters, and other knick-knacks.

As the chief designer of Kumamon, Tsukasa Higashino has no problem asking for this thing.

He packed them up and put them in a shoulder bag before walking out the door.

......

Walking back to Tokyo from Kumamoto Prefecture, Higashino certainly felt like he was returning to the city from the countryside.

This is not to say that Kumamoto Prefecture is too poor, but that Tokyo is simply too prosperous, so it caused this sense of disparity in Higashino's heart.

In this regard, Higashino Tsukasa just smiled and shook his head.

To be honest, he prefers the sense of local feeling of Kumamoto Prefecture to Tokyo.

Isn't there such a saying? People who have been in the big city for a long time always want to go to the countryside to experience the farmhouse.

I got off the train at the station and walked straight to Urashima Press.

It's just that what Higashino didn't know was that the current Urashima Publishing House was basically surrounded by newspaper reporters and others.

His appearance naturally attracted the attention of many reporters.

Kunihiko Yoshioka is one of those journalists.

"Isn't that Tsukasa Higashino...?"

Kunihiko Yoshioka looked at the figure that appeared under the Urashima Publishing House building and couldn't help muttering to himself.

There's headlines now.

Tsukasa Higashino appeared at Urashima Publishing House and entered Urashima Publishing House... This can only say one thing -

"Tsukasa Higashino, who designed Kumamon, is Mr. Higashino, who painted "Midnight Bells" and "Lonely Gourmets."

These two people are one person!

Even if they haven't been recognized by Tsukasa Higashino, Tsukasa Higashino appears here at Urashima Press... It already says a lot.

He took several photos in a row, and left a few colleagues to continue squatting, and then drove away directly.

At the same time, several newspaper reporters also took action...

Of course, Tsukasa Higashino, who is the person concerned, is not aware of this.

To be precise, he has been staying in Kumamoto Prefecture after all.

Although I knew that the mascot Kumamon was very hot now, I didn't expect it to be so hot that it attracted many reporters to squat at the door of Urashima Publishing House.

He greeted Miss Uzaki, who was hosting, and gave her a pack of horse jerky and some Kumamon peripherals, and then went upstairs.

"Higashino-sensei?!"

Seeing Tsukasa Higashino who appeared in front of him, Hosokawa Koharu was stunned.

"Well, it's me, editor Hosokawa, and I just returned to Tokyo." Tsukasa Higashino smiled and handed several bags of horse jerky to Hosokawa Koharu, and gave her some Kumamon keychains, wallets and other things: "These things are souvenirs for the editors of the editorial department, please don't be polite, take them." ”

"Ahh Oh... Wrong. Hosokawa Koharu stupidly took the thing handed by Tsukasa Higashino, but quickly shook his head and asked, "Higashino-sensei, didn't you encounter anything strange when you came to the publishing house?" ”

"Huh? Strange things? "Tsukasa Higashino is a little interested.

Isn't it just a visit to the publishing house? What other strange things can happen?

"......" looked at Tsukasa Higashino's indifferent expression, and Hosokawa Koharu instinctively felt bad.

So she hurriedly explained: "Mr. Higashino, you may not know that you just returned to Tokyo, but recently, many newspaper reporters have been squatting in front of our publishing house... Many people think that Tsukasa Higashino, who designed Kumamon, has something to do with Higashino-sensei from our publishing house... You this appeared in the publishing house... Didn't you give them a chance to play? ”

Hosokawa Koharu was a little anxious, but Tsukasa Higashino just smiled: "That's fine, I'll shoot it." ”

yes, it doesn't matter if you're photographed.

He didn't do anything unseemly.