10.1 - The News (three of them!)

With the weather turning more summer-y every single day, my coworkers were getting in a rather playful mood. We had a drinking party, the entire company—and as much as I didn't like drinking all that much alone, it was always so much fun with some good company! Still, I didn't really drink all that much, I had no intention to get heavily drunk anyway.

Amidst the loud and hearty chatter, I felt my phone vibrate inside my pocket. I took one more sip from my beer and then checked the name displayed on the screen: it was Umi-san!

"Oooh, excuse me~" I stood up to go to a more quiet corner of the establishment so I could properly hear her. With a (perhaps) overly cheerful voice, I answered the call.

"Umi-saaan~ Hello!"

She softly chuckled at the other end of the line. "Woah, how lively. I didn't even give you the good news yet, Yuuma-kun~?"

"Oh, good news?" My interest piqued, I asked what it was. "You see," she began to explain. "I've been trying to mend my relationship with my brother, and we managed to hang out a few times so far!" I smiled big. "Woah, I'm so happy to hear that, Umi-san! I knew he still loved and cared for you." From the first time I'd seen her face to face, her cold demeanor had really melted away, getting replaced with a livelier and warmer Umi-san.

"Hey, that's not even the good news!"

"Eh?" What else could it be?

"Well, listen up. During one of our meetings, I showed him your stories—y'know, the one with mermaids, and the one with the knight lady that you had sent me the links of before. He really enjoyed them! He really thinks you have a talent for shoujo writing."

Huh.

Wait, had I drank a bit too much than I intended? No way what I heard just now was real. The Haneta Tondari had read my works AND liked them?! Not to mention, the crap he had read were my personal self-indulgent drabbles! I felt my face flush completely red. Seeing that I wasn't responding, she did a playful scold. "Yuuma-kun, are you listening to my words? This wasn't even all of the news."

I gulped, a bit nervous about what's to come—since I hadn't even digested the previous developments.

"I-I'm listening!!"

She laughed. "I was just kidding. I know you always listen to what I say carefully! Well, this one's a bit of unconfirmed news, but… My brother said that the publishers he works with are gearing up to hold a one-shot manga contest, and there's a high possibility that shoujo would be included as one of the categories! What'd you think about trying to participate?"

A contest… Would I be good enough? Forget that—wouldn't I need an artist for that?!

"U-Umm… That's good, very good! But Umi-san, I'm not much of an artist myself…"

"That's alright, if I remember correctly this is an event to encourage writer-artist collabs in manga. My brother suggested that you look for your artist right away, so you two can get to creating as soon as possible."

For some reason, I started to tremble. Was it the alcohol, the sudden news or the idea that I'd need to message strangers to collaborate with me?

Perhaps, all at once?

Either way, I leaned down towards the wall for support.

"Woah… That was… certainly some news." I tried to hide my trembling from my voice. It was sort of an irrational (and unexpected!) reaction, so I didn't want to worry her, but it was futile trying to hide from her. "You okay, Yuuma-kun? You sounded a bit nervous there."

I shook my head frantically, even though there was no way she could see me. "No, no—I'm fine. It's just… haha… I'm out drinking with coworkers. Feeling a bit jittery I guess. Anyway—" I thanked her for the news, and she said that she would forward any news on the contest. Lastly, she teased me, telling me not to get too lost drinking. I simply laughed in response.

Man… I hadn't even drank all that much. It definitely wasn't about that.

I guess it was just… I got too embarrassed that a famous mangaka had read my silly little personal stories…? Of course, I didn't blame Umi for showing them, they were posted publicly online either way. But the sudden attention and praise… Ahh, I don't know! I was just being foolish for sure. But deep down, I could already feel that I'd give my all to this contest. Since I had just recently accepted back my love for shoujo romance after a rocky period, perhaps that's why my heart couldn't handle it all smoothly just yet…

Sigh. Who knows. I'd think about it later.

I returned back to my coworkers' side, laughing as bright as ever, as if nothing had happened.

The following days, I tried looking around in online spaces for some artists I could contact for a possible collaboration. Honestly, it was way more difficult than I had anticipated… The big deal artists wouldn't have time for a contest, and even if they did, they'd work with a more professional scenarist. There were many artists with solid skills yet lower follower amounts (so, bigger chances of a response!), but I just couldn't really find any works that suited my vision. Regardless, I tried to take note of some potential artists to work with. It wouldn't do to be too picky with my amateur status!

I'd have to wait for the official announcement to drop to make a move, anyway. Which… was okay with me, if I had to be honest. It was a bit difficult to approach a stranger about a collaboration out of nowhere… Plus, it's not like winning would be guaranteed… So there'd be no payment or prize, it'd just be a passion project for both parties.

My heart wasn't making things easy for me, either. It would randomly start beating faster, even without an apparent reason. I wasn't that anxious about approaching strangers for a chat, so I couldn't help but wonder if my heart was desperately trying to warn me against something.

A week later, it all made sense.