manga artist Kirito

Page 154

At a roadside stall, under a tree with fallen leaves, the two sat on a bench. Kiritani placed the things he had just bought into Asuna's hands. "Fried food isn't very good, but there's nothing else around here. It's still a bit of a distance from the hotel that Sushi arranged for us... Well, let's just grab something to tide us over. Leave the rest to me. We'll have a big meal when we get to the hotel."

Seeing Asuna's slightly troubled expression, Kiritani reached out and ruffled her hair. "Even if you don't carefully maintain your figure, it will still be just as good. Anyway, the point isn't that I'm carrying you, so eat without worry."

"Ugh! What a terrible boyfriend, tempting his girlfriend to eat this junk food."

Asuna tilted her head slightly, indicating her dissatisfaction, but the slight upturn of her lips betrayed her true feelings.

With her exceptional domestic skills, Asuna naturally excels at creating excellent meals. Don't tell me she doesn't need to maintain her figure... that's a lie!

"I'll just have to eat it since it was bought by my boyfriend."

"Eek! Is this some kind of tsundere?"

Seemingly somewhat surprised, Kiritani glanced sideways at his girlfriend beside him, whom he knew all too well. "How come I never noticed before that Asuna had such a tsundere side?"

"Screw you, mind your own business!"

Asuna tore open the packaging seal, preparing to take out the fried food, but before she could even put her hand inside, Kiritani stopped her.

"It's so greasy, you should put on your finger cots first, otherwise it will be a problem if you get oil on your clothes later."

Taking Asuna's hand, Kiritani picked up the finger cot that was next to him and put it on Asuna.

With a slight blush on her pretty face, Asuna looked at the boy in front of her. Sure enough... it's best when the two of them are together.

"Oh right, is it really okay for us to go in our school uniforms? There's a small party tomorrow..."

"It doesn't matter. Most of the attendees will be JUMP staff, so it's fine even if we wear school uniforms. Besides, buying clothes now is too much trouble."

"Hey, open your mouth."

"Fried chicken cutlets, to be precise, I quite like them, but this one is clearly not spicy..."

Looking at the food being served to him, Kiritani-kun made a couple of noises, then opened his mouth and exclaimed, "Ah..."

Then, Asuna smiled, removed the food, stuck her finger in, and gently stirred it, much to Kiritani's astonishment...

P.S.: Obviously, I'm experiencing writer's block, and my subscriptions are plummeting like rain...

By the way, do you guys like dirty jokes from the student council?

342

【NO.338 Reversal】

Perhaps, that was just a way to cover up her tsundere nature after it was exposed...?

But what exactly is this kind of shameful play?

Does this mean that Hina has finally awakened some incredible hobby?

Please don't do that! It's so embarrassing!

Normally, only a shameless and unscrupulous person like me would do something like this, so why would Asuna suddenly do this? I just can't figure it out!

After the humiliating play ended, Asuna acted as if nothing had happened, calmly eating what could be called lunch, while Kirito-kun stood by, holding his head and questioning his existence.

If we understand it in an abnormal way, then... Asuna just put herself in the male protagonist's position, and I was the female protagonist... and then, considering Kirito's character... it seems like, suddenly it makes sense?

After all, it's perfectly normal for me, Kirito, to do such things. For example, I would hit a big-breasted upperclassman's chest through a pillow, or spray Musashino milk on my best friend's face... Even the most shameful things wouldn't be strange to me.

Of course, if you become a victim... you'd be ashamed!

But what's with that inexplicable feeling of exhilaration? Am I not normal either?

—Please recall the statement that every sadist is a hidden masochist.

With a slightly piercing gaze, Asuna looked at Kirito and licked her lips, "I've noticed that Kazuto is especially cute today."

Kirito hesitated for a moment, tilting his head slightly, looking a little shy. "Eh? Ah, is...is that so?"

Asuna gave a meaningful smile, a smile that carried a certain special emotion.

Honestly, Kiriko is incredibly cute when she's shy!

Asuna generously put her arm around Kirito's shoulder, leaning close to him, and then brought the food that Toki hadn't finished eating to his mouth, saying, "Here."

"Huh? Again?" Kirito looked surprised; he didn't want to continue that embarrassing play from before.

"No."

"Let's go get a room!"

"……what?"

…………

If time didn't pass as quickly as I imagined... would I write about what happened in the hotel?

Of course not, the checks have been very strict lately, especially in the last two weeks. If there's even the slightest unusual activity, you might never see me again. If you can't post rants, don't worry, you can still post emoticons!

Kirito is currently on his way to attend an awards ceremony hosted by JUMP. He can roughly guess the significance of this event; it's simply a way for manga artists to gather and exchange ideas, but the number of big names who will actually attend is extremely small.

Therefore, Kirito didn't have high expectations or anything like that, since it was just a formality. If Amano Touko hadn't specified that it was mandatory to attend, Kirito wouldn't have bothered staying in Tokyo for a day... But it was precisely because of this that Kirito discovered that Asuna actually had a unique and wicked sense of humor.

The location of the awards ceremony was not far away; at least with a motorcycle, it was a quick trip.

Incidentally, Akane Kosaka seemed to have anticipated that Kirito planned to wear his school uniform to the awards ceremony, so she prepared his clothes well in advance and sent them to the hotel. Although they were just casual clothes, for someone who would wear his school uniform to an awards ceremony, these casual clothes could easily be considered formal attire.

Before long, Kirito and Asuna arrived at their destination, a well-known upscale hotel in Chiyoda Ward. The hotel was decorated in a magnificent and opulent style. Even for someone with a middle-class income, being able to come here once a month would be considered quite good. It could be described as luxurious in every way.

Of course, in Kirito and Asuna's opinion... it's just so-so.

The hotel has designated parking spaces for motor vehicles on the side, but in such a high-end hotel, it's really rare to see anyone driving a motorcycle there.

As soon as I parked the car, I saw Amano Touko walking out from the gate. She was dressed quite formally... but unfortunately, she was wearing black stockings.

"Hey, Fujiwara-sensei, Kamishirasawa-sensei, you're right on time."

Amano Touko raised an eyebrow slightly. "But speaking of which, Fujiwara-sensei looks really cool riding a motorcycle."

"That's just how I was born, there's nothing I can do about it."

With a helpless expression, Kirito took off his helmet and locked the car.

"It's nice to see you again, Editor-in-Chief Amano."

Smoothing her long hair, which was tangled under the helmet, Asuna greeted Amano Touko in front of her.

"Since it's collapsed, come inside with me. The rest of you should be here by now."

"it is good."

The hotel environment is naturally excellent. Stepping out of the elevator and into the area that JUMP had booked, I immediately heard people talking, but the volume was not too loud and it wasn't too noisy.

However, the three of them deliberately slowed down their pace, simply because Kirito was still tying his hair into a ponytail...

"Ugh, never mind, this is so annoying..."

Kiriko-chan decided to leave the headband in her pocket to avoid any trouble.

The three people who entered immediately caused quite a stir. As for the reason... well, most manga artists are actually otaku, especially in a magazine like JUMP that always caters to the mainstream shonen manga genre. Therefore, most of the people who came were male.

Amano Touko is almost a middle-aged woman, but her face and figure are still considered beautiful. As for Asuna, there's no need to say more. And then there's Kirito-chan with her long flowing hair... I mean, Kirito-kun.

But clearly, not many people present would have thought Kirito was a man upon first meeting him.

"(????) Hi! You three, would you like to sit here?"

As soon as they entered, a well-dressed young man at a nearby table waved to them. The so-called award ceremony didn't really have many rules, since it wasn't a formal award. Everyone could sit and talk as they pleased. There were already four or five men at the table where the young man was, and they all looked on with a hint of anticipation when he greeted Kiriko and the other two.

Even if it's not a dating show, those who come here obviously have common topics. Whether it's just chatting casually or looking at each other, it's a good thing... What's more, what if you accidentally hit it off?

Moreover, the two people walking behind are clearly only high school students!

—A beautiful girl manga artist!

However, it doesn't exist!

"Sorry, no need."

Pushing up his glasses, Kirito maintained a rather indifferent expression since entering, calmly declining the invitation.

"I have some things to take care of here. Fujiwara-sensei and Kamishirasawa-sensei, please feel free to order whatever you like."

With an apologetic expression, Amano Touko walked inside. As the deputy editor-in-chief of JUMP, she naturally had work to do.

P.S.: For the next two weeks, Bookke will ban comments and book reviews, but allow emoticons... What kind of operation is this?

Well, whatever... If you have anything to say, you can find me in the book group.

Group number: 677129696

that's all.

343

[NO.339 Seems to be a pro]

Looking around, I felt lost and confused.

Kirito felt increasingly awkward attending this so-called party. If Amano Touko hadn't left, he probably wouldn't have felt this way, since at least they could chat about anything. But Kirito didn't know a single person here... He couldn't exactly be showing off his relationship to these unknown manga artists, could he?

Where should we sit...?

Asuna didn't feel awkward at all, since Kirito was right next to her and there was no need for the others to care.

However, it's a bit difficult to find an empty table now. Perhaps it's because everyone is so punctual, so most tables are already occupied, meaning you have to share a table.

"...This is fine...whatever you like..."

Kirito frowned slightly, clearly unable to find a suitable place. In his opinion, the best seats would naturally have people he knew, and after that, it would be fine as it was. But as newcomers to JUMP, they obviously didn't know the manga artists present. They might have heard of their pen names, but who knew the real people...?

"Oh! Over there... Fujiwara-sensei, Kamishirasawa-sensei, want to come along?"

It could be a relatively familiar voice, which rang out when Kirito was struggling with his decision.

Near the window, Horikoshi Kohei, whom they had met yesterday, stood up and waved to them.

Although there was a slight friction during yesterday's exchange, neither Kirito nor Horikoshi Kohei seemed to care much. Otherwise, Horikoshi Kohei wouldn't have taken the initiative to invite Kirito to sit down.

"...If possible, that would be even better."

There were only four people at the table where Kohei Horikoshi was, and they all seemed to be easy to talk to, which was much better than those seats where people kept rambling on about meaningless topics.

After making room for two chairs, Kirito nodded to Horikoshi Kohei in thanks. If there were no surprises, Horikoshi Kohei must have noticed his embarrassment earlier, which was why he invited him to sit down.

"Oh! Two beautiful manga artists... uh, wait, this one looks a bit like... who was it again?"

Kirito had just sat down when a man wearing rimless glasses, with a bit of stubble, who looked to be around thirty years old, immediately spoke up. But then, as if remembering something, he froze.

"This is Fujiwara..."

“Kaguya Houraisan, you can just call me Houraisan.”

Kirito stopped Horikoshi Kohei from introducing them and instead used another pen name. After all, he was attending the awards ceremony as the creator of "Dark Souls," so even if it was a self-introduction, he should have used the pen name Houraisan Kaguya.

"This... um, the original author of the manga, you can just call her Kaguya."

Kirito pointed at Asuna and smiled slightly, but then felt something was off. Her original pen name was Kamishiratawa... but now it was Kaguya's... how strange.

But actually, it doesn't seem wrong, since both the Bamboo Forest Group and the Immortal Group are based on Fujiwara.

"Oh! Hello, Mr. Houraisan, Ms. Kaguya, I'm Yuki Shimoda-cho, the creator of 'Black Clover'. I think you two might remember me..."

The older man scratched his head, looking somewhat embarrassed. "But speaking of which, you two are really impressive, getting second place in the grand prize, and Dark Souls is a really fun game!"

"Thank you! But there are still some things that need to be corrected, Mr. Tamachi."

Although she felt it was okay not to explain, there was always a slightly awkward feeling, so Asuna pointed at Kirito and said, "Hōraizan-sensei is actually a boy~! You can't use the term 'beautiful girl manga artist' to describe him."

"Oh! So it's a boy. I knew it... Huh? A boy?"

Apart from Horikoshi Kohei, who already knew about this and was now smiling and waiting to see them make a fool of themselves, everyone else present looked shocked.

"...Ah, my voice is actually quite easy to tell if it's my gender, isn't it?"

Looking at their expressions, Kirito couldn't help but facepalm. "Don't be so subjective, please. Don't you guys know that these days you absolutely can't confirm someone's gender without seeing their genitals?"

"...Uh, well...I understand now."

With awkward smiles, Yuki Tamachi and the other two cartoonists, who had not yet been introduced, looked utterly embarrassed.

"However, I really didn't expect that cute boys actually exist..."

You're obviously making a fuss over nothing!

Since the Alice Crossdressing Group appeared at the Tokyo convention two years ago, cute boys have become increasingly common!