I don't know who said this sentence -

It's like having a baby.

The process is hard and painful.

Hosokawa Koharu believes in this sentence as a manga editor very much.

Because she has seen many comic book authors reluctantly submit an original manuscript after a long time, and the difficult process is no less than having a child.

But in Tsukasa Higashino, Hosokawa Koharu has never seen a pig's liver face similar to the 'difficult birth' of other authors.

Yes.

Tsukasa Higashino doesn't look like he's having a baby at all... It's more like he reaches out and grabs it, and the formed work comes out, and he doesn't have to be busy with 'prenatal education ideas' like other authors, repeatedly asking the editor who is the role of a doctor.

Especially this time...

Tsukasa Higashino's production process this time was inevitably too fast, and he came up with the idea of the work in a week, and it felt like it was born all at once while the editor was not paying attention.

You must know that the ending of his last work "Unnatural Death" has not been completed.

"Higashino-sensei... Did you really draw a comic storyboard draft? ”

Hosokawa Koharu sat down and quickly suppressed the surprise in his heart.

No matter how quickly Higashino was born, she had to fulfill her duties as an editor.

And she has also been an editor of Higashino Tsukasa for two years, and the other party's sudden attack can no longer be as unprepared as before.

"Now that the drawing is out, I hope that editor Hosokawa will come to my house in the near future, and I want to discuss something about the new work with editor Hosokawa."

"Okay, I see... In fact, I have time today, I wonder if Higashino-sensei can spare time? ”

Hosokawa Koharu confirmed the itinerary and spoke.

"Then it's going to be a hassle for Hosokawa editors."

In a few words, the two of them finalized the discussion of the new work.

At this speed, the Oshima editors next to it are all envious...

When I was in charge of Tsukasa Higashino, I couldn't receive the manuscript for four or five days, and I couldn't see Tsukasa Higashino...

As a result, Hosokawa Koharu... Tsukasa Higashino actually took the initiative to call.

This made the editor of Oshima can't help but sigh and shake his head.

Increasingly, he felt that the reason was that he was a male editor.

Hosokawa Koharu didn't pay much attention to this colleague's opinion, and after she made an appointment with Tsukasa Higashino, she looked at her watch and continued to work with her head down.

In this way, it was not until about three o'clock in the afternoon that Hosokawa Koharu picked up the briefcase on the other side and walked out.

About half an hour later, Hosokawa Koharu came to the outside of Tsukasa Higashino's apartment and rang the doorbell.

After a few seconds, the door opened.

At the same time, Hosokawa Koharu's very familiar face was displayed in front of her.

"Chizao, good afternoon." Hosokawa Koharu said hello politely, glanced inside, and asked casually, "I'll come to Mr. Higashino to receive the manuscript..."

Before she could finish her sentence, she realized that something was wrong.

Chihaya Higashino in front of him didn't shout as usual, 'Ace Ace, Koharu who has an office romance with you is here' and called Tsukasa Higashino.

Instead, he blinked his big peach blossom eyes and looked at her very seriously for a while: "Are you here to find Ace?" ”

What's this again?

Hosokawa Koharu's face was full of question marks.

She has a question mark on her face, and Chihaya Higashino on the other side is a little incredible-

Another particularly beautiful girl!

As early as when she went to school at Hokugijuku, she was already keenly aware that her brother's interpersonal interactions were not normal.

One of the most important points is...

There are so many beautiful girls!

There are so many!

Not to mention Konoe Ryoka's girlfriend.

Fujiwara Aoi and Takahashi Yumi have their own good looks, one is demure and calm, and the other is lively.

There's already a lot of this trio... However, now there is another woman who is a civil servant type with a capable temperament.

This made Higashino Chihaya secretly sigh that his younger brother did have two brushes, and at the same time, so many women circled around...

It also made Higashino Chihaya worry about whether his younger brother would become the kind of boy who showed mercy everywhere.

If it was the former Higashino Chihaya, I would definitely not think that Higashino Tsukasa was that kind of person.

But now she can't understand Higashino.

is especially good at coaxing girls to be happy, and even her extremely smart sister is coaxed by Tsukasa Higashino... That's not to mention others.

So when she saw Hosokawa Koharu for the first time, she was a little vigilant.

But listen to the other person who can call him by his own name... Chihaya Higashino estimated that the other party should have a good relationship with him.

"Ace is in the living room. Come in. ”

Higashino Qianchen looked down and stretched out his hand to say.

"Ahh Trouble Chihaya-san. ”

Listening to Higashino Chihaya's proficient use of honorifics, Hosokawa Koharu also subconsciously used honorifics.

"Call me a thousand years ago." Higashino Chihaya scratched her head - the other party called her 'Chihaya-sama', which made her feel very unaccustomed.

"Okay."

Although Hosokawa Koharu was full of strangeness, he still followed Higashino Chihaya into the room.

At this time, Tsukasa Higashino was waiting for her in the living room.

And as soon as he saw Tsukasa Higashino, Hosokawa Koharu couldn't help but smile.

This smile comes from the heart, as if they are meeting old friends, and it is natural to smile.

But Hosokawa Koharu's bright smiling face entered Higashino Chihaya's eyes, but it made her feel more and more wrong.

That's a lot of fun, isn't it?

She was preparing tea next to her as she peeked over here.

Higashino Chihaya's gaze naturally did not escape Hosokawa Koharu's detection - she has been working hard in society for two years, and she is no longer the same novice as before, and this kind of scrutinizing gaze can certainly be detected.

So she approached Tsukasa Higashino and didn't ask about the manga draft storyboard at the first time, but asked him directly.

"Higashino-sensei, is something wrong with Chihaya? It feels so different. ”

"It's a long story."

Higashino didn't expect Hosokawa Koharu to care about the draft storyboard at the first time, but to care about his family, so he subconsciously smiled and explained it to her.

This includes Chihaya Higashino's treatment process, and by now the other party has basically been able to adapt to the social situation.

"I see..."

Hosokawa Koharu nodded thoughtfully, then smiled at Chihaya Higashino.

Chihaya Higashino on the other side also smiled at her and nodded when he saw this.

It is a good thing that the other party can recover smoothly, and Hosokawa Koharu is sincerely happy for Tsukasa Higashino.

Later, she was going to reintroduce herself to Chihaya Higashino to avoid some possible misunderstandings.

As for now...

"So, Higashino-sensei, can you give me a little bit of a sneak peek at your newly drawn manga draft storyboard?"

Hosokawa asked.

Tsukasa Higashino's status at Urashima Publishing is unlike anything else in the past, and after she has seen his manga draft storyboards here, she has to take them to Urashima Publishing House to study with other editors and even editors-in-chief.

It's not an exaggeration.

If Tsukasa Higashino went to Urashima Publishing House for a walk, some newcomer editors who had just entered the industry and were not very experienced would stand up and bow to him, and respectfully call out 'Higashino-sensei'.

This is the case of 'authors influencing publishing houses'.

But there are too few authors who can come this far, and it is very rare to have one or two in more than ten years.

Not to mention that paper magazines are always on the decline.

Hosokawa Koharu made a request here, and Tsukasa Higashino over there naturally didn't hesitate, and simply took out the draft storyboard of "Hanzawa Naoki".

Seeing this familiar draft storyboard, Hosokawa Koharu was slightly stunned: "This is... After Mr. Higashino's "Midnight Bell" ended, the draft storyboard that I had shown me, right? ”

"Yes." Tsukasa Higashino smiled and nodded.

"I remember that at that time, the two of us chose "Winner is Justice" together..."Hosokawa Koharu took the draft storyboard and raised his eyebrows.

It's no wonder that Tsukasa Higashino was able to come up with works so quickly.

It turned out that I had taken my previous ideas and now I am drawing.

Koharu Hosokawa expressed understanding.

And as far as the draft storyboard of "Naoki Hanzawa" that she saw before... The plot is also very exciting.

The other party will take it out again... Hosokawa Koharu is not surprised.

She began to look closely.

After all, I haven't seen it for too long, and I was a newcomer at the beginning, maybe I didn't see the more exciting things about this "Naoki Hanzawa"? ’

Then Hosokawa Koharu found out.

The plot of this draft storyboard is the same as the last time I saw it... The plot is not much worse.

But...

"The narrative perspective has changed."

Hosokawa Koharu glanced up at Tsukasa Higashino, and his expression was a little surprised.

Yes.

"Well, it's a combination of the drawing methods of the previous comics." Tsukasa Higashino nodded.

In the past, he basically only used the perspective of the male protagonist to describe the story - this is a bad habit brought by Tsukasa Higashino from the manga "Midnight Bell".

Yes, it's just bad habits.

"Midnight Bell" is a horror movie, and the main object is of course the protagonist.

However, if the narrative is only based on a single perspective, it is easy to lead to the lack of distinctive character characteristics of other supporting characters.

It's just that this bad habit was covered up by Tsukasa Higashino's excellent painting skills at that time, so Hosokawa Koharu didn't notice it.

But when he painted "Unnatural Death", Higashino had already noticed it himself.

Sometimes, through the description of some supporting characters, it can make the work more flesh and blood.

For example, Sanmao in "Unnatural Death", the father in the Happy Cake Factory, the Maori police officer who is afraid of trouble...

Proper side depictions are conducive to the progress of the story.

Not to mention a large-scale workplace drama like "Naoki Hanzawa", which requires a variety of villains.

To portray these villains as well... This naturally needs to be described from other angles.

And a long time ago, the first version of "Hanzawa Naoki" that Higashino Tsukasa showed to Hosokawa Koharu happened to lack these factors.

Tsukasa Higashino is also a human being, so naturally there will be shortcomings when he just draws a manga.

But he's improved now, and he's improved it drastically.

So there is this second edition of "Naoki Hanzawa".

Originally, Hosokawa Koharu felt that the plot of "Naoki Hanzawa" was a bit monotonous, after all, he has always looked at the problem from the perspective of the male protagonist and carried out the story.

But looking at the improved version in his hand, Hosokawa Koharu quickly became fascinated.

The fifty-page draft storyboard was read by her, word by word, frame by frame.

The comic begins with a brief introduction to the background.

Naoki Hanzawa stayed at the Osaka-Nishi Branch, which is known as one of the bank's four major branches, as the head of the financing department.

In the eyes of ordinary people, this position can be said to be at the level of social elites. (Equivalent to the president of a local company, at the ministerial level.) )

But at the Tokyo Central Development Bank, a giant bank, Naoki Hanzawa is just an ordinary clerk.

And that's where the story begins.

From Naoki Hanzawa noticing that something was wrong with the West Osaka Iron and Steel Plant, to the success of Higashida Man's successful loan of 500 million yen, to the confrontation between Naoki Hanzawa and his direct boss...

The process can be said to be progressive, and the atmosphere is very tense.

In particular, the last scene sketched by Tsukasa Higashino with superb painting skills -

Naoki Hanzawa confronts the head of the Asano branch.

The light hit the side of Naoki Hanzawa's face.

made his already dark and deep eyes appear even deeper.

He looked at the Asano branch president in front of him, and it was the people in front of him who forced him to this point.

"Banze, you have no way out. Unless the loan of 500 million yen is recovered. ”

"If I recover the loan, I want you to kowtow to me and admit my mistake."

"Then it depends on whether you have the ability to do it!"

"What a downfall! Hanzawa! ”

Listening to the other party's words, Naoki Hanzawa, who was already planning to leave, just paused, didn't even look at the boss behind him, and left firmly with his back.

Lower gram up!

Refuse to bow your head!

Defeat the strong with the weak!

The combination of these factors is this "Naoki Hanzawa".

Coupled with the new perspective of Tsukasa Higashino's new description of the story, Hosokawa Koharu inexplicably felt the blood heat of the male protagonist in the work, Naoki Hanzawa.

It's a strange feeling, as if she has become the Hanzawa Naoki in the work, and she will not bow her head in the face of many injustices.

This "Naoki Hanzawa" is really exciting... No...

It's goosebumps!

In Japan, the vast majority of people are office workers, and everyone works for their own company, and under Japan's lifetime employment system, they can only pinch their noses and swallow in their stomachs no matter how many injustices they encounter in the workplace.

Simple-minded.

Idle.

Work hard, but you have to be criticized and scolded.

This "Hanzawa Naoki" directly overthrows all of these, and directly announces 'next gram'! Naoki Hanzawa of the male protagonist slapped the boss's stinky face fiercely.

That's resonant enough!

The excitement of the plot even surpasses "Unnatural Death" in her opinion.

Hosokawa watched carefully for about five or six minutes before closing the draft storyboard with satisfaction.

"Editor Hosokawa, how do you feel?"

"It's a wonderful manga... It's going to be a big hit! Higashino-sensei. ”

Hosokawa Koharu let out a breath and praised bluntly.

As an editor, 'certainly', 'certainly', 'inevitably', these words are basically forbidden words.

After all, editors can only represent the views of one person, not everyone.

Whether it can be popular or not depends on the choice of the market.

But—

Just this once.

Hosokawa Koharu can be sure.

"Naoki Hanzawa" will definitely be popular!