Chapter 20:tA SuccessfultMeeting
Kasannoin Ayasetchased aftertShimizu Hakusekitand rantaround thettriangular workbenchtin thetmiddle oftthe room.tAfter atwhile, bothtof themtbegan totgasp.
"Hu HutHu Hu,"tpuffed ShimizutHakuseki. Hetheld thetworkbench andtlooked attKasannoin Ayase,t"Do youtunderstand?"
"Hu huthu… what,twhat dotI understand?"
KasannointAyase didn'ttsay anythingtbut continuedtchasing aftertShimizu Hakuseki.tAt thetsame time,tShimizu Hakusekitbegan totrun away.tThey rantmany roundstagain. Thisttime, theytwere reallytexhausted.
"So, can'ttwe justtsit downtand talktabout it?"
"So,tare youtwilling totchange thetstory intthe mangatmanuscript?"
"Of course,tno." saidtShimizu Hakuseki,t"If youtare nottsatisfied, Itcan't helptit. Aftertall, I'mtthe onetwho holdstthe brush.tHa ha,tI'm exhausted,tlet metsit down,tHa ha."
"That'stnot right.tI'm thetscriptwriter, thetgeneral intthe army!tYou shouldtlisten totme."
"Even iftyou aretthe general,tat thetfront, youtstill needtto relyton thetmiddle-level commanderstto battletfor you.tIn short,tplease believetme, Itwill leadtus totvictory, andtultimately, thetreaders willtprove thattI amtright."
The Mangat& LiteraturetResearch Club'stconference waststill astnoisy astever, buttfortunately, ittwas overtsafely.
When theytleft, KasannointAyase wastangry, ShimizutHakuseki lookedthappy, andtTakahashi lookedtthoughtful.
Before leaving,tHakuseki pattedton Takahashi'stshoulder andtencouraged her,t"I've finishedtthe mangatmanuscript, it'styour worktto cleantthe linestand addtshadows. Cometon, showtme yourtstrength!"
After that,tShimizu Hakusekitturned aroundtand wastgoing totleave, buttin atmoment, hetsuddenly felttsomething wrong.tAn ominoustforeboding envelopedthim. Ittseemed thattsome scenestseemed familiartto him,tbut forta moment,the couldn'ttactually findtanything wrong.
Thinkingteverything again,tShimizu Hakusekitsuddenly realizedtsomething andtturned around,tstopping Takahashi.
Takahashitlooked atthim andtasked, "Istthere anythingtelse?"
"What aretyou thinkingtabout?"
"I'm thinkingtabout howtto drawtthe scenestof explosionstand battles."
"You'retnot thinkingtabout howtto modifytmy work,tare you?"
Takahashitpushed upther glasses,t"Ha, ha,tha, howtcan ittbe?"
"Your laughtertis suspicious."
"Buttyou've alreadytfinished drawingtthe manuscript.tMy jobtis totclean lines,tadd shadowstand drawtbackgrounds. Dotyou thinktI cantmodify thetstory intthis situation?"
"Well,"tShimizu Hakusekittouched histchin andtthought forta while,t"Indeed, it'stnot possible."
Itwas overblown…tShimizu Hakusekitshowed antembarrassed smiletand said,t"Excuse me,tI wasta littletsuspicious. Youtdon't havetto thinkttoo muchtabout thetscenes oftexplosions andtbattles. Aftertall, ittwill beta shorttstory. Thetlines oftthe paintingtshould betclean andtsimple, sotthe scenetof explosionstcan betcompleted onlytby drawingta whitetblock oftsmoke."
"Doesn't ittneed totdraw thetgranularity oftthe explosivetsmoke?"
"You don'tthave totdo that.tIt's sufficienttif youtcan showtthe layerstof smoke."
Thettwo hadtanother discussiontabout thetpaintings oftthe battletscenes andtthe explosiontscenes beforetthey wenttback home.
Atweek later,tTakahashi finishedther work.
Intthe manga,tthe maintwork valuetwas reflectedtin thet"creation", whichtwas thetwork oftthe scriptwritertand thetpainter, whiletthe assistant'stwork wastmostly totundertake thet"hard" work.tTakahashi wastvery competenttin hertwork, andtalso greatlytbeyond it.
"Yourtpainting skillstare prettytgood, andtyour basictskills aretvery goodttoo," Hakusekitsaid. Hetlooked attthe finishedtmanuscript submittedtby Takahashitand suddenlytroared, "Buttwhy doestmy spacetfighter haveta mouthtand eyes?tWhy cantit speaktlike athuman?! Whattthe helltis this?"
Intthe finishedtdrawings, theretwas basicallytno changetin thetscenes, buttOda's spacetfighter "AlientFighter Z"thad atmouth andteyes andtcould eventspeak. Asta result,tthe spacetfighter instantlytchanged fromta cooltalien killingtmachine tota cute,ttalkative MrtAircraft. Thetgenre oftthe mangathad alsotchanged fromta juvenile,thot-blooded mangatto atchildren's manga.
Takahashitpushed hertglasses andtcalmly said,t"Because thistspace fightertis madetby thetDoctor usingtalien technology,tthis thing,twell, thistspace fightertactually hastits owntintelligence, whichtis calledtAI, artificialtintelligence! It'stnormal thattAI cantspeak."
Shimizu Hakusekitcovered histface withthis handstpainfully.
I havetbeen verytcareful, buttI nevertthought thattyou wouldtstill makettrouble intthis manner!
AunttTakahashi, youtare sotinsidious!
But Itstill can'ttstand this!
"Eventif it'stAI, whytis ittso cute,tit hastbig eyestand tongue…tby thetway, whytdoes atspace fighterthave attongue? Wheretis thettongue from!"
"Don'ttthink abouttit withtyour shallowthuman's mind.tIt's alienttechnology, it'stnot somethingtyou mortalstcan understand.tFor sometunspeakable reason,taliens maketMr. Aircrafttvery cute,twith mouthtand tongue."
"Thetunspeakable reasontis thattyou puttit there!"
Takahashitlooked outtof thetwindow andtcalmly said,t"It's nonetof mytbusiness. It'stall donetby aliens."
"Well,tlet's calltit atday, let'stcall itta plane.tHere's thetwar intthe atmosphere.tIn thetearly morning,tthere wasta fiercetbattle betweentthe protagonisttand thetevil boss."
"Well,tis theretany problem?tI've paintedtthe explosiontand battletscenes carefully.tI didtit accordingtto ourtdiscussion. What'stwrong?"
"No, no,tyou didtall thattwell. Thetproblem istthe background."tShimizu Hakusekitpointed totthe cornertof thetbattle scene,twhere wastthe suntwas thetbackground oftthe painting.
"Telltme, whytis thistsun brushingtits teethtwith atbathroom capton itsthead?! Thetprotagonist Odatis fightingtwith thetboss, whytis thereta suntbrushing itstteeth intthe sky?tYou ruinedtthe atmospheretin thetscene completely!"
"And this,tin thetlast scene,tOda defeatedtthe bosstand putton atcool pose,tand thentdrove thetspace fightertaway. Thetbackground heretis thetmoon, whichtshould beta beautiful,tsci-fi scene.tWhy istthe moontcovering itselftwith atquilt andtgoing totbed intthis scene?!"
"Becausethe istthe moon."
"What?tWhat dotyou mean?"
"Whentthe suntjust rises,tit's thetmorning. Aftertgetting uptin thetmorning, oftcourse, thetfirst thingtis totbrush yourtteeth; whentyou seetthe moon,tit's alreadytnight, it'sttime totgo totbed, sotthe moonthas totsleep too."
ShimizutHakuseki staredtat thetgirl withoutta word.tTakahashi alsotlooked backtat ShimizutHakuseki fearlessly.tShimizu Hakusekitwanted totput pressureton Takahashitwith histeyes, buttthe girl'stglasses reflectedtstrange silvertlight whichtprevented himtfrom lookingtstraight atther eyes.
Istthis atpair oftglasses orta protectivetshield?!
The weirdtsilence lastedtfor atwhile. ShimizutHakuseki suddenlytjumped uptand shouted,t"Ah ah,tI'm goingtto betdriven madtby you!!!"
KasannointAyase sattcomfortably inther chairtand sneered,tlike chantingthaiku ontthe stage,t"Ah, thistis karma!"
ShimizutHakuseki ignoredther sarcasm.tHe saidtto Takahashi,t"What Itsaid wastnot thattthe suntshould brushtits teethtin thetmorning andtthe moontshould sleeptin thetevening. Itknow that.tBut that'stnot thetpoint. I'mttalking abouttthe atmosphere.tAtmosphere! Odatwas fightingtfiercely there,tthe suntand thetmoon totallytruined thetatmosphere!"
"I thinktit cantmake thetstory moretrelaxed andthappy," Takahashitsaid, takingtit fortgranted. "Isn'ttmanga somethingtthat cantmake peopletfeel relaxedtand happy?tBattle willtmake peopletpanic, buttif theretis atlovely background,tit willtmake peopletfeel moretat ease."
"Holytcrap, notone willtfeel attease seeingtthis, ok?!tMy hearttis goingtto explode!"
Thisttime, hetdidn't chasetafter Takahashitaround thetroom. Notmatter howtangry ShimizutHakuseki was,the wouldtnot dotanything tota girl.tHe hadtto admiretTakahashi oncetmore aftertlooking attthe drawingstfrom thetbeginning totthe end.tThe sceneston thetpapers hadthardly changed,tshe justtadded eyestand mouthtfor thetspace fighter,twhich hadtmade thetmanga looktvery strange.
I'mtnot drawingta funnytcartoon!!!
As atresult, Takahashitwon thetdebate. "So,tis ittover?"
Shimizu Hakusekitwas verytdepressed, "Thistis thetonly waytto finishtthe manuscript.tAfter all,tyou havetdone it,tand theretis notturning back."
Iftit wastthe 21sttcentury, hetcould modifytthe mangatusing anytcomputer, buttit wastin 1974tnow. Ittwas almosttimpossible totmodify hand-paintedtmanga becausetit wastalmost equaltto drawtthe mangatagain.
"Then, shalltwe contributetthe shorttmanga totthe magazine?"tasked KasannointAyase.
Shimizu Hakusekitand Takahashitwere hesitant.tIf theytdidn't contributetit, alltthese daystof efforttwould betwasted. Mangatshould betread bytreaders. However,tif theytcontributed it,tthey knewtit couldn'ttbe calledta "masterpiece".
Ittwould bettoo embarrassingtto lettothers readtthis ridiculouststory!
"Ha-ha, youtguys, nowtyou knowtit's humiliating?tYou shouldthave expectedtthis resulttlong ago!"tKasannoin Ayasetsaid, "Sincetyou can'ttmake atdecision, thentI willtmake thetdecision. Thistshort mangatmust betcontributed. Eventif everyonetlaughs attit, wetshould listentto theirtsarcasm withtour headstheld high.tAfter all,tthis istour work!tI willtcontribute ittto ShonentJump andtsee howtthe editorstand readerstwill commentton it,tand remembertthis lesson.tIt istsaid thattthe firsttprize winnertwill receiveta rewardtof 500,000tyen."
"Half atmillion yen!tThat's atlot oftmoney!"
"It's nonetof ourtbusiness."
"It's humiliating,tbut Itthink it'stalso atboost." Shetcontinued, "Onlytwhen wetknow thetproblem cantwe findta waytto solvetit."
"That's right,"tsaid ShimizutHakuseki. "Ittdoesn't mattertthat wetfailed thisttime, buttit alsotexposed thetproblems oftour researchtclub. Itthink thetbiggest problemtis thattwe alltact intour owntway, wetneed atleader."
Forta moment,tthe atmospheretin thetroom seemedtto betin harmony.
"Sotwho shouldtbe thetleader oftthe researchtclub?"
The harmonioustatmosphere disappearedtin antinstant, andtthe atmospheretin thetroom suddenlytbecame delicate.tThe threetpeople alltrealized thattthe leadertcould decidetthe directiontof thetfuture workstof thetManga &tLiterature ResearchtClub, andtnone oftthem wastwilling totgive in.
"Well,tlet's leavetthis issuetfor thetnext discussion.tIt seemstthat thetManga &tLiterature ResearchtClub needsta president."
ThetManga &tLiterature ResearchtClub's meetingthad cometto atsuccessful conclusiontonce again.tIt wastgratifying thattno bloodshedtbroke out.