Chapter Text
The first time you met Jin Kagemori, you had been out to lunch with his brother.
Hikaru Hagure had been looking for a new manga assistant. At the time, he was looking to start a new series after finishing his previous work, Blue Sky Puzzle. He was a little known mangaka, and the fact that Blue Sky Puzzle had ever come off of hiatus and finished was nothing short of a miracle.
You'd never read it, at least not until you'd seen the job application posted by his editor Mayu Nakagami. But after doing so, you could tell why he was looking to continue on with a new series—the manga was upbeat, and had a lot of charm to it, with a cute and warm artstyle. Though, a lot of those thoughts were things you'd prepared for the interview—after all, you were looking for a job, not to gush about your favorite chapters with him.
The three of you were sat down at a coffee shop, Hagure and Nakagami flipping curiously through your portfolio. You take a nervous sip of your coffee, suddenly wishing you'd gotten something else since the caffeine wasn't helping your jitters at all.
"Don't worry, you don't have to be so nervous!" Hagure says, giving you a warm smile. He's a bit gaunt, and pale, so you can't help but wonder how well he's doing looking as sickly as he is. "You've got a real talent for art. Why, I'm surprised you're interested in only being an assistant."
"Ah, well," you say, playing with your hair nervously. "I'm still pretty new at this, Mr. Hagure, and I'm not much of a writer. I'd be much better off learning from and helping you than trying to write a manga myself."
"Yeah, story writing can sure be tough!" He says, sighing before giving you a warm style. "But I'm flattered you like my stories enough to want to apply. I was worried no one would be interested!"
You laughed nervously, gesturing to his editor. "Thank Miss Nakagami, she's definitely your biggest fan. But I'd be happy to be your second if you're interested."
Hagure and Nakagami share a look, both nodding. "I'm more than happy to agree if you are, Mr. Hagure," she says, smiling politely at you.
He nods, turning to another page in your portfolio. "I agree. I think you'd be a big help!"
"Well, that settles th—" Nakagami starts, before her cell phone rings. "Ah, sorry, this sfl ting. We can talk later!" She says, grabbing her things and running off to answer the call.
"She seems pretty busy," you say, taking another sip of your drink. "But she's way nicer than the last few editors I've talked to!"
"No kidding," Hagure says, sighing wistfully as he rubs the back of his head. "Be careful! Some of them will really get you down. Though, we'll try not to." The smile he gives you is genuine, and it makes you feel a lot better. You can practically feel the tension relax in your shoulders as he closes your portfolio and hands it back to you.
"I accept both monetary compensation and praise. It's good for the morale!" You say, feeling more chipper.
"It really is, isn't it? Oooh, I'm really hoping people will like what I'm—we'll—be working on next!" He pauses for a moment, giving you an even look, before suddenly he's the nervous one here. "Say, I was wondering. . . What was it that you liked about my work before?"
"Um, to be honest, I hadn't read any of your work until recently. I've been trying to job hunt, and, well, so much for free time, yeah?" You say, sighing. "But I read through Blue Sky Puzzle when I applied for this position. It. . . It made me feel a little better about things, you know? Like if, despite everything, she can find happiness? That maybe life isn't so scary, and. . . Maybe it can all work out. Maybe I could figure out what I wanted, too, and find that." It feels absolutely embarassing to say that to him, face to face, and you can feel your face heating up as you do so.
But not nearly as much as he has. And when he starts crying, you're not entirely sure what to do. So you wait it out, feeling a bit awkward and hoping you hadn't suddenly tanked this interview right at the end.
Eventually he calms down a bit, wiping his eyes, and giving you an absolutely snot filled smile. "Oh, that makes me really happy, thank you! I'm so glad!" He says, sniffling again.
"I guess praise works on you too, huh, Mr. Hagure?" You ask sheepishly.
He nods, chuckling a little to himself. "Yeaaaah. . . We can be a manga studio built on praise, I think that'd be nice."
"I agree, I'd kill to work somewhere that actually gives out praise," you nod in agreeance with him.
He makes a bit of a face at that. "Don't worry, happy manga only! No need for killing!" He says, overexcitedly and laughing awkwardly. "So, uh, you—" he stops for a moment, leaning to look past you and at the entrance of the coffee shop. You turn around, curious to see what he's looking at.
There's two men in suits in peeking in through the doorway, one blonde and the other with black hair. They both look around for a moment, stopping when they catch sight of you and Hagure.
Hagure suddenly looks nervous, and that's starting to make you nervous. "Are you alright?" You ask, turning back to look at him.
"I'm fine!" He says in a tone that makes you worried he isn't. "My, er, friends are just here to check in on me."
"Uh huh," you say, glancing back at the two men as they order drinks up at the front. The blonde one looks nice enough, but the dark haired man with glasses looks so serious and disgruntled that, combined with Hagure's nervousness of him, has you concerned. You lean closer so they can't hear you and ask him, "are you alright, sir? Those guys aren't here to collect money from you or anything, are they? I mean, I hear being a mangaka can be pretty bad for the finances. . ."
"Oh, no, no, it's nothing like that! Don't worry! I think they were just worried since we've been here a while!" He waves your concerns off with a hand, giving you a smile, though he's still fairly nervous.
"Uh huh."
"I don't owe anyone any money, so you don't have to worry about me not being able to pay you."
"Then why are you so scared of that guy. . . ?" You ask, tiling your head back to get a look at the dark haired man. Now he's sipping on his coffee, eyeing you cooly. The blonde next to him catches your eye and gives a small wave.
"It's nothing to worry about! Um, miss Nakagami and I will get in touch with you tomorrow for setting up hiring and workflow stuff. Okay?" He asks, suddenly all sunshine in his smile. You're still a bit concerned, but whatever this is about it doesn't seem like he wants to talk about it. And if he's about to get mugged in here, well, you wouldn't be much help anyways.
You get out of your seat, grab your portfolio, and shake Hagure's hand. "Alright. Thank you, and I really look forward to working with you, sir!" You bow to him slightly, then grab the rest of your things and start heading towards the door. You pass by the two men, still standing by the counter as you leave, giving the blonde man a polite wave as you go by. To your surprise, his serious companion gives you one back as well.
You're very, very relieved to hear from Hagure the next day, though it's hard to tell how broken his legs are over text.