RIKO POV
I spent the entire morning trying to look like a "respectable member of society," which is difficult when your wardrobe consists entirely of oversized hoodies and gym shorts. I eventually settled on a clean button-down shirt that Dad had bought for a funeral three years ago. It was a bit big, but it made me look less like a street-fighting middle schooler and more like a "professional genius."
Dad was even more nervous than I was. He had spent twenty minutes polishing his shoes and trying to tame his "trucker hair" with a gallon of gel.
"Riko, you're sure about this?" he asked for the tenth time as we stood in front of the massive Shueisha building in Tokyo. "I mean, I knew you were good at drawing, but... this is the place where legends are made ."
"Relax, Pop," I said, though my own stomach was doing backflips. "Just let me do the talking. If they ask about the dark themes, just nod and look like you're a deep, brooding intellectual."
"I drive a refrigerated truck, Riko."
"Then look like a deep, brooding trucker. Same thing."
The meeting room was sterile, quiet, and smelled like expensive paper and high-quality ink. Across from us sat a man named Mr. Hattori. He wore thick glasses and looked like he hadn't slept since the Quirk Registry was established. He was currently flipping through my redrawn pages of Attack on Titan.
The silence was agonizing. Dad was sitting so stiffly he looked like a statue. I just leaned back, trying to channel some of that "reincarnated-adult" energy to keep my hands from shaking.
"Mr. Akabane," Hattori said, looking at my Dad. "I'll be blunt. It is... frankly bizarre to see a story of this complexity coming from a middle schooler. The world-building, the racial allegories, the sheer grim reality of the 'Titans'... it's unsettlingly mature. Most kids your age are drawing heroes with capes, not the extinction of humanity."
I kept my face neutral, though my heart was hammering against my ribs. "I don't think kids are as simple as people want them to be, Mr. Hattori."
"Perhaps," he conceded, tapping the top page. "You've only submitted the first three chapters for the formal review, but the level of polish here is staggering. It's rare for someone so young to have a grasp on such tight pacing and cinematic paneling. If the rest of the series holds this quality, we aren't just looking at a newcomer....we're looking at a prodigy."
I resisted the urge to smirk. Prodigy? Sure, let's go with that. He didn't need to know that in a locked drawer back at home, the entire series was already fully storyboarded and half-inked. He was looking at the 'beginning,' but in my head, the Colossal Titans were already marching.
"We want to run these first chapters as a special feature in the next issue," Hattori continued, sliding a folder toward my father.
"Since you are a minor, your father will need to sign. We are offering a standard starting rate per page, plus royalties if we move to tankobon volumes."
If the readers react the way I think they will, we'll be moving toward a monthly serialization faster than you can draw a cover page."
I glanced at the numbers. My eyes nearly popped out of my head. In my last life, I was a broke dude living on energy drinks. This "starting rate" was more than my Dad made in a month of long-haul trucking.
Dad leaned in, squinting at the zeros. He looked at me, then at the pen, then back at me. "Riko... are you sure?"
"Sign it, Pop," I whispered. "We're moving out of that apartment. And I'm getting a high-end drawing tablet."
With a shaky hand, Dad signed the papers.
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We walked out of the building into the bright Tokyo sun. I felt like I was floating.
"I can't believe it," Dad muttered, staring at his copy of the contract. "My little girl already got a job. We have to celebrate. What do you want? Steak? Sushi?"
"Curry" I said without hesitation. "for we must never forget our beginning"
"What was that last part?"
"Nothing! Let's go, I'm hungry and need to buy more ink!"
As we headed for the train station, I looked up at the giant screens on the buildings. They were showing news about All Might and the lowering crime rates. thinking it's like the calm before the storm.
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Author crib
whassup...
saw reze movie.....damnnnn.... I think I glimpsed at greatness, even if for a moment.
worth it....da animation, da sound-design, and REZE especially Reze's a-ahem ahem... It's good, so watch it.
peace out...play imaginary outro.....