A New Flame

June 21, 2019

Akari and Chieko were meeting with Shizuka at her apartment in the evening, all of them going over their schedules. Also with them was Kazu, who had been tagging along with Akari. “Now,” Shizuka said to her two assistants as the four of them unpacked a takeout meal they had all gotten. “Let’s set our schedules.”

“Like I said,” Chieko said to begin. “I, uh, I can do whatever hours you want.”

“Alright. I can have you work during the weekday. How about eight in the morning to five in the evening for you, Iwaya-san?”

“Absolutely,” Chieko replied with a bow. “That works perfectly for me, Hiratai-sensei.”

“And as for you,” Shizuka asked Akari. “I’ve been told you can only work after five in the evening on weekdays, and only one day on a weekend. What days do you prefer to be here?”

Akari then passed along a written-down schedule to her. “I can be here at least two nights a week, preferably Tuesday and Wednesday nights. For weekends, I can be here either day, but I prefer Saturdays from nine to five.”

“That works for me. If at any point you want to come in on an unscheduled day, just let me know.”

Kazu, feeling he was intruding on them, asked Shizuka, “Hiratai-sensei, is it really okay if I’m here with you guys?”

“As long as you don’t leak anything,” she shrugged in response. “I don’t really care. Besides, I heard from Kunugi-san that you’re looking for an artist for your novel, right?”

“Oh, uh, yeah, but you don’t have to do-“

“I actually sketched this before you came over,” Shizuka interrupted him, handing him a small sketch of his novel’s main character. “Kunugi-san told me the details and I worked off of that.”

“Of course you did…” Kazu then looked over the sketch and was stunned. “Hiratai-sensei, you didn’t have to do thi-“

“I insist.”

Kazu smiled. “Thank you, Hiratai-sensei.”

She then suggested to him, “You should really try submitting it to the Shimizu yearly contest. You may win big.”

“I’ve thought about it, but…”

“You have until September 1 to submit it. Even if you don’t succeed the first time, you can revise it and resubmit it next year.” She then encouraged him with a pat on the shoulder, telling him with a smile, “I think you’d do well, Hori-san.”

Kazu blushed slightly, as he was not used to getting so close to girls. “Wait, really?”

“Yeah,” Akari chimed in as well. “I think with some work, your ideas could really take off.”

…

June 22, 2019

Shizuka and Michi went out drinking by themselves tonight, with Michi coughing a bit before taking a sip of his second drink. He remarked to Shizuka, “Don’t worry, I’m fine.”

“Did you work today before heading in?”

“Of course,” he replied. “Before I came here, I spent twelve hours straight just drawing and inking. I’ve been up since six in the morning doing that shit.”

“Holy fuck.” Shizuka then finished her first drink. “Is Saturday really the only day you go out and do stuff that doesn't involve work?”

“When I’m not busy working on adaptations of Uncontrollable Battle or having meetings at Shimizu’s headquarters, yeah.” He then turned to the bartender and asked him, “Another round of the same for us, please.”

“You got it,” replied the bartender as he pulled out a bottle of sake and poured both of them another round.

“You don’t have to get my drinks,” Shizuka told him.

“You’ve known me for how long, Shizuka-san? I don’t mind.”

Shizuka sighed and admitted, “Okay, fair enough.” After sipping her second drink, she looked at her phone and remarked, “The night’s still young. It’s only eight in the evening.”

Michi confidently replied to her, “I don’t mind staying up. I can run on less than four hours of sleep a day.”

“How many days a week, though?”

“The only day I get a full eight hours is Saturday into Sunday. At least once a week I’ll only get like two hours in a night.”

Shizuka chuckled. “I could never do your schedule, nor could I do a weekly manga. I’m content staying monthly and padding things out with art commissions and doing light novel covers.”

“Even though my manga’s monthly, I keep to a similar schedule to weekly mangaka so I can dedicate as much time as I can to my artwork and story planning.”

“And that’s why Uncontrollable Battle is as massive as it is. Even so, I don’t think I could keep up with a schedule as tight as that.”

“Speaking of that shit,” Michi then remarked with some disdain in his voice after he downed half of his third drink. “I had a rough meeting with my editor last night, so I’m kinda pissed at him right now.”

“Tell me as much as you can.”

“He vetoed a whole chapter’s plot for me and said my planned hiatus should be pushed off.”

Surprised, she asked him, “You’re gonna go on hiatus? For how long?”

“The plan was three weeks, consisting of the last week of June and the first two weeks of July, but they only want me to take a week off in the last week of July instead. We got a bit heated about it, and not helping was my fucking editor telling me a storyboard I submitted wouldn’t do well for Uncontrollable Battle.”

“I’m surprised they just shot it down like that. Don’t you have a lot of pull in Shimizu?”

“They say I do, but truthfully, we’re all just slaves to our editors. Some are more tolerant, others are more strict. The executives love how I keep making more money for them, but they also are worried that I’ll put something into the manga that’s too controversial. I mean, you’ve seen the shit that goes down in it.”

“Oh, I know,” Shizuka nodded. “You definitely like to approach dark topics, but you do it so well.”

“Even doing it well won’t save you sometimes. You know, there’s something I’ve never told Iwakawa-san.”

“About his manga?”

“Yeah,” Michi confirmed. He then pulled out his phone and scrolled across his screen until he opened up several screenshots he had taken of text conversations he had with executives at Shimizu. “Look at these.”

Shizuka looked at the texts and gasped. “Holy shit… They almost shot it down?”

“We had two executives who were not happy that Iwakawa-san’s manga showed the Imperial Army committing war crimes in China. Both thought it would denigrate Japan and ‘insult our history,’ whatever the fuck that means.”

“But Iwakawa-san said he didn’t run into a lot of trouble when writing that subplot, though. I’m confused.”

“Because I stepped in,” Michi explained before finishing his third drink. “I overheard a meeting between executives about the subplot, and I began sending texts and emails supporting it. It got a bit heated, and don’t tell anyone I told you this, but I threatened to pull Uncontrollable Battle out of Weekly Riders if they didn’t allow Iwakawa-san to continue.”

Shocked by how far he was willing to go, Shizuka remarked, “Oh my God, you went that far for him?!”

“I did it because the truth needs to be out there. People keep denying what we did back then, and we can’t run away from it. We have to live with the fact we did that, and learn to never do it again.”

“You’re not wrong. I was just worried, that’s all. You put everything on the line for him.”

“Because we should support each other.” Michi then turned to the bartender and again asked him, “May I get another, please?”

“Your fourth drink already… Wow, that meeting yesterday must have done a number on you.”

“This isn’t too bad for me,” Michi admitted. “I’ve had nights where I’ve had like six or seven of these in a row. It’s a way for me to get away from it all, Shizuka.”

“I’ve drank like that before, but not as often. You know, I haven’t done that in a while…” Shizuka thought to himself as she looked at her drink, “I guess I could go for a few more drinks. I haven’t had a lot of drinks in one night in a while. One night of that wouldn’t hurt.”

“Are you gonna get more?”

“You bet I am.” Shizuka then downed her drink and told Michi, “But I’ll pay for the rest of mine. You don’t need to waste your money on me, man.”

“Suit yourself,” Michi replied with a chuckle.

“One for me, too,” Shizuka also said to the bartender as he was pouring Michi’s next drink, prompting him to pour her one as well. When he was done, she slipped him a ¥2000 note and told him, “Thanks for putting up with us.”

“You guys aren’t that bad,” the bartender joked. “I’ve had way worse customers come in that I've had to tolerate.”

“I’m glad we’re not your worst.”

Michi then took a sip of his drink, telling Shizuka, “I’ll tell you what, I’m definitely feeling better after the bullshit I had to deal with on Friday. Between a few drinks and hanging out with you, I think I’ll be alright.”

“Aww, thanks,” Shizuka replied with a slight blush before downing half of her drink. “That said, though… If you think I can’t go through drinks fast, you haven’t seen anything…” She then downed the last half, startling Michi. “See?”

“Holy shit.” Michi took a deep breath and reminded her, “This isn’t a competition, you know, and besides, you’re smaller than me.”

“Whatever, old man.”

“Old man? I’m only six years older than you. You can’t escape turning thirty.”

“I know,” Shizuka sighed, knowing she was close to leaving her twenties. “Don’t remind me…”

…

Later that night, Shizuka arrived at Michi’s place. Both of them had drank a lot, and as they stumbled into his apartment, she quickly found a couch and collapsed onto it. “Holy shit… Man, I can’t out-drink you.”

“I, uh… I told you,” he replied as he sat down in a chair next to the couch. “Whew, I had twelve… How many did you have?”

“Nine I think…” Shizuka sat up and rubbed her eyes. “Fuck, I can’t even remember how many it was exactly. I’m fucking gone.”

“Me… Me too…” He then picked up a remote and turned the TV on, flipping to a channel showing an anime late at night. “Sometimes, I’ll throw on a late-night anime and just use it… Uh… Use it for background n- noise…”

“I don’t watch much TV honestly,” Shizuka replied. “Listen, old man, the future is the computer and stuff.”

Michi sighed and reminded her, “Again, I’m… Ugh, I’m only six years older than you, and you’re a year shy of thirty. Welcome to the club, pal.”

Annoyed by his retort, she turned away, but whispered to herself in a voice she thought was quiet enough, “You’re pretty handsome for thirty-five.”

“What was that?”

Realizing she had been caught, she tried to deny what she said. “N- Nothing!”

“No, I heard you say something.” Michi then stood up, waltzing over to her. “What did you say?”

“I said nothing.”

Seeing through her lie, Michi replied to her, “I heard you call me handsome… Heh…”

“Okay, fuck it,” Shizuka relented. “You’re… Yeah, you’re pretty handsome for an older guy.”

“If you’re trying to hit on me,” Michi pointed out. “I would be a lot more cautious… You, uh… You know what can happen… I’m way more senior than you, and you’ve been a fan of me for how many years?”

“God, I can’t even remember now.” Shizuka shouted up towards the ceiling as she raised a fist, “I’m so fucking drunk!”

“Me too, but… Look, I’m smart enough to know it’s a bad idea to fuck someone so much lower than me.” He then rubbed his forehead as he sat back down in his chair. “I don’t want to take advantage of you… So, uh… Stop, maybe?”

“If I wasn’t lower than you or a fan… Of… Of Uncontrollable Battle, would you want to?” Shizuka then stood up from the couch and took her shirt off, exposing her bra underneath. “Look at me, Michi.”

Michi could not help himself. He took a look at her assets and thought to himself, “Okay, I gotta admit, she’s pretty hot, but still…”

“Come on… I’ve seen the way you look at me sometimes…” She then leaned in and got close to him. “And I think you’re pretty good looking.”

“You’re not denying anything now, are you?”

“Denial didn’t work. You know… I’ve had a bit of a crush on you for a while, and now that I’m a mangaka like you, maybe I can act on it…”

Michi paused for a bit to weigh his options in his intoxicated state of mind. He knew that both of them were heavily drunk, and knowing Shizuka, she would not claim any sexual encounter that followed to be non-consensual given they both were in the same proverbial boat of intoxication. Also, he did find her very physically attractive, with a well-developed and fit body that he found incredibly enticing, especially with how much she was showing off to him already. However, he also remembered that she was still his junior at Shimizu, and had first come to know him as a fan of his work and not initially as his friend, causing a power imbalance.

“Are you gonna say something?” Shizuka then took off her bra, exposing her bare breasts in front of him. “How about now?”

“Holy shit, you’re bold.”

“I haven’t gotten any action in three… Three years… Give me a fucking break.”

It was now that Michi made his decision. “Oh, fuck it.” The two then began to share a very sudden and passionate kiss on the couch as he groped her body, taking it all in as the two of them lost themselves in each other. After they finally split from the kiss, Michi told her as he got up, “Let me draw the blinds.”

While he closed the blinds to the windows in his apartment, Shizuka slid off her pants and her underwear, making herself fully naked. “Hey, Michi, I never got to try this before, but, uh…”

“What’s up?”

“I got an idea…”

…

Twenty minutes later, Michi finished having sex with Shizuka, having bent her over on a kitchen counter for the last part of it. As he took a deep breath and Shizuka sat up, she hugged him and gave him a brief kiss. “Holy shit,” Michi remarked to her. “You’re dirtier than I thought.”

“I’ve had plenty of time to think,” she remarked before taking a wrong step and falling, causing Michi to catch her just in time. “Woah! Hey!”

“Glad I caught you, huh?”

“Yeah…” She then took a deep breath and remarked, “Be lucky I let you do it raw, by the way. Not even, uh… Not even my ex got to do that.”

Michi was shocked. “Wait, really? He never… Furihata-san never…”

“Nope. You’re the first.” Shizuka then smiled and remarked, “I gotta go to the bathroom real quick. I’ll be back.”

As she walked to the bathroom to clean up, Michi walked to his bedroom and asked, “Are you gonna stay here for the night, or?”

“Yeah,” she said through the bathroom door.

Michi then sighed and walked into his bedroom, climbing into his small bed, pulling up the covers, and remarking to himself, “Wow… I can’t believe it…”

Shizuka then walked in, now finished with what she had to do. “Are you still naked under there, or…?”

“Yeah.” Michi then apologized to her with, “My apologies. It’s a small bed.”

“Eh, who cares?” Shizuka then crawled in next to him. “We already… Fucked… Yeah, this is nothing, really.” The two then drifted away to sleep in each other’s arms, having done something they would have to deal with in the morning as they both sobered up.

…

June 23, 2019

Shizuka awoke first, looking around as she felt her head pounding with pain from a hangover. “Ugh, fuck… This one’s pretty bad.” She then looked down at Michi and remembered, albeit in short segments, what she had done with him the night before. “Oh my God… I actually did it…” She got up out of bed and found that her clothes had been moved into his bedroom, which she grabbed and began to put on.

As she was halfway through, Michi woke up and rolled over, also remarking with a hangover, “Agh, fuck, my head hurts.” As he locked eyes with Shizuka, she quickly covered herself up out on instinct with her hands as he yelled out, “Oh, you gotta be fucking kidding me!”

“Ah!” Shizuka then realized that covering herself up at this point was of little use and dropped her hands and arms. “Oh, screw it. You’ve already seen it all anyway.”

Michi got up from his bed and said in shock, “I actually had sex with you?!”

“Duh. Why else would I wake up totally naked next to you in your apartment?”

“Ugh,” he remarked in frustration. “I told myself I would never stoop this low…”

Confused, she asked him as she finished getting dressed, “Stoop this low? What the Hell are you talking about, Anzai-san?”

“I told myself I wouldn’t take advantage of fans or people lower than me in Shimizu,” he admitted. “I mean, shit… God damn it…”

Shizuka assured him, “Anzai-san, it’s fine. I don’t remember much of last night, but I know you don’t, either. You didn’t take advantage of me.”

Trying to make a point, Michi asked her, “Have you ever heard the term ‘power imbalance,’ Shizuka-san?”

“Ugh, yes, I know what that is. We’re both mangaka, tho-“

“But I’m still more experienced than you,” he interrupted her with. “I’ve been at Shimizu making Uncontrollable Battle since you were still in high school! Besides, you also first knew of me as a fan of my work, and it just feels so scummy to have sex with someone like that.”

“But I’m not just a fan anymore,” Shizuka pointed out. “I’ve been a mangaka at Shimizu for five whole years now, and it’ll be six years since I won the yearly contest this December! I’m a coworker, and I’m your friend. If you just… Ugh, if you think I have some high expectations of who you are or idolize you, you’re wrong. I’ve known the real you for a while, Anzai-san, and I like the real you.” After a brief period of silence, Shizuka could tell something was still up with him. “Anzai-san, there’s something else bothering you. What is it?” No reply. “Tell me.”

Michi took a deep breath and explained to her, “My older sister was taken advantage of at her workplace by her boss. They went out drinking one night, just like we did, and she had sex with him. He ended up extorting sex from her in exchange for him giving her raises she needed to pay her bills and other extra perks at her job. It destroyed her mentally, and even though they haven’t had any sort of relationship for years now, she’s still a ghost of her former self.” While he explained this, he thought back to what his sister had to go through at her job, and the manager who pressured her into sex.”

Shizuka was stunned. “Oh my God. That’s horrible.”

“I swore to myself that I would never treat a woman under me like that piece of shit treated my sister, and yet… Here I am.”

Understanding now why he regretted what he did, Shizuka nodded and patted him on the shoulder. “I get it. I understand why you’re cautious, Anzai-san, but… You’re not extorting me for anything. My manga’s doing well, and I know you’d be willing to advocate for me even if we never had sex. After all, you threatened to cancel your life’s work to stick up for one of our own with no prompting from Iwakawa-san at all. I know you would have my back if things ever got bad between me and Shimizu.”

Michi sighed. “You’re not wrong. I guess… I guess you got a point.”

“And the truth is… I do actually have feelings for you, Anzai-san. You’ve been there for me when I was feeling like shit, especially after me and Furihata-san broke up. I really appreciate what you do for me, and… I wouldn’t mind having a relationship with you, even if we have to keep it on the down-low.” She then got closer to him, taking his hands in her’s. “Tell me, Michi… How do you feel about me?”

Her use of his first name got to him, and he blushed slightly as he admitted, “Well, I did always think you were pretty cute, even when we first met after you won at Winter Comiket.”

Shizuka smiled. “See?”

“I guess we can start dating,” Michi said as he finally caved in. “But yeah, let’s keep it on the down-low for now, Shizuka.”

Shizuka, happy that she was now in a real relationship for the first time in five years, hugged Michi and told him, “Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!”

Michi chuckled as he returned the hug, remarking to her, “My schedule is packed, but I’ll do whatever I can to see you and talk to you.”

“I know, I know,” she assured him with a pat on the back of his neck to comfort him. “I understand. Weekly mangaka are busy.”

As they split from the hug, the two awkwardly looked at each other for a few seconds before they closed their eyes and shared their first sober kiss. As with their first actual kiss when they were drunk the night before, it quickly became rather passionate, with Michi getting on top of Shizuka and embracing her tightly as they continued to make out on his bed, enjoying each other’s company for a while but not progressing to actual sex this time. When they were done, Michi chuckled and admitted, “I haven’t kissed a girl in a long time. How did I do?”

“You’re really good at this for someone who hasn’t apparently. How did I do?”

“I could say the same about you.” The two then got up from the bed, with Michi asking her, “I can make you coffee.”

“Sure,” she replied as the two walked into the kitchen to begin eating breakfast together. As she sat down at the kitchen table, she looked over into the other room, which was his work station where he and his three assistants worked on manga and other art pieces, and asked him, “So you got three assistants now, huh?”

“Yep,” he replied as he poured the two of them coffee. “It’s very helpful. If I didn’t have any assistants, I’d be long dead from overwork by now.”

…

June 24, 2019

Shizuka, Akari, and Chieko were all working together properly for the first time in the evening. As the two new assistants were busy inking some pages and coloring in a cover page for a volume of Break The Ice, Akari whispered to Chieko, “Hey, Iwaya-san?”

Chieko turned from her work station and replied in a whisper as well, “Yeah?”

“Have you noticed that Hiratai-sensei’s really bubbly today? Like… She’s acting like the girls at my school do if they’re in love with a boy and he likes them back.”

“Huh… Yeah, I noticed that, too. I wonder what happened over the weekend.”

Shizuka then walked back into the work station, a bright and cheerful expression on her face. “Hello, girls!”

Both of them startled by her sudden appearance, Akari and Chieko both replied at the same time, “He- Hello, Hiratai-sensei!”

She then sat down at her work station and asked them, “So, how’s your guys' first full day of work?”

“Oh, uh,” Chieko replied as she showed off her progress. “I’m almost done. Just this last panel and I’ll be all set for the day.”

“And my day’s just beginning,” Akari replied.

“Looking good so far, ladies. By the way, do you girls wanna go to a hot spring this Wednesday? I got two free tickets. I don’t mind paying for myself.”

“I can do that,” Chieko replied.

“I should be able to,” Akari replied. “I’d just need to tell my parents first.”

“Excellent,” Shizuka replied with glee. “Meet up here around 6 PM, and we’ll all travel together, girls.” She then turned back to her work station and began to draw another page, humming a song to herself as she worked.

Akari thought to herself as she observed how Shizuka was acting, “Something good happened to her this weekend. Given how she’s acting, maybe she met a new guy? She told us she hasn’t been in a proper relationship in five years, not to mention she, uh… She hasn’t had sex in three years. It wouldn’t be bad for her to find a new boyfriend if it makes her happy, honestly.”