Anime Crossover: Becoming Mangaka in Anime World

"Eh, I actually have a gift?" Mihari looked at the gift box in front of her, looking completely surprised.

"You haven't earned it yet, but you've worked me to the bone ... just a little joke, hope you won't be mad?"

Mihari rolled her eyes. "If I were that easy to anger, I would've quit long ago!"

"I've been taken care of by you all this time, so it's only natural for me to give you a Christmas gift, right?"

Mihari smiled: "It's hard to get a decent compliment out of you!"

"Thank you, this is my gift for you." Mihari reached into her desk and handed over a wrapped gift box.

"I was going to give it to you at the year-end party tomorrow, but I didn't expect you to give me your gift first."

"Well, I might be too busy tomorrow and forget, so it'd be a waste to have prepared this gift!" As Akifumi spoke, he was a bit surprised to see the gift from Mihari.

He hadn't expected her to prepare something for him.

After all, he had teased her quite a bit.

Seeing Akifumi's surprised expression, Mihari shrugged and said, "After all, I wouldn't be where I am now without Akifumi-sensei."

"Even though your teasing can be really irritating sometimes, I can't repay your kindness with just this cheap gift."

"Compared to your current salary, this gift seems a bit cheap, I hope you won't mind."

Akifumi smiled, "How could I hate a gift from you?"

"Then I'll accept it without hesitation. By the way, is Chief Matome at the company?"

"Chief Matome is with the editor-in-chief and others at the year-end party venue."

"Then could you please pass this gift to Chief Matome for me?"

"Sure."

"Then I'll rely on you for next year too."

"Actually, it's me who'll be relying on you, the more experienced one." As Mihari said this, she suddenly realized.

"Wait, it's only December 23rd. Isn't it a little early to say that?"

"Well, I can just say it again when we greet each other for New Year's, right?"

Mihari couldn't help but chuckle.

Afterward, Akifumi went to Fujimi's place and delivered the gift for Machida Sonoko.

As expected, he received a return gift.

"Well, there are only three gifts left to deliver." No rush on these four gifts.

Tomorrow or the day after, he'll find time to give them out.

"Right, and there are the gifts for the fans."

Thinking of this, Akifumi felt a bit troubled, but then his eyes lit up with an idea.

"I hope they'll like these."

———————————————————————

Back home.

"Welcome back, it must be really cold outside?" Mahiru stepped forward and took off Akifumi's coat.

"You know my body type. Even if I went out in a short-sleeve shirt, I'd be fine in this temperature."

Especially after training with Yor-san for a while, his physical strength had improved dramatically.

For instance, when having a intimate moment with Mahiru, after about an hour, the girl could hardly keep up, but he didn't feel anything at all.

He'd even tried walking outside in just a short-sleeve shirt when no one was around.

The cold weather had no effect on him.

Of course, if he actually went out in such weather in short sleeves, he'd probably be mistaken for a panda.

While he didn't mind being looked at by others, he didn't particularly enjoy being the center of attention.

Shaking off these thoughts, Akifumi smiled at the girl in front of him and teased, "I feel like Mahiru is starting to act more like the lady of the house."

The girl blushed lightly and softly said, "Mugiho-kun, stop teasing me."

Akifumi shook his head with a smile.

He wasn't mocking her, he just genuinely thought so.

Back in the living room with Mahiru, he saw that Mashiro and Eriri were both curled up in the blankets, looking at their digital tablets with focused and serious expressions.

However, Akifumi's arrival did disturb them a bit.

Mashiro looked up and nodded at him, "Mugi."

After greeting him, she went back to focusing on her tablet.

Eriri lazily put down what she was holding and said, "Yo, you're back."

Akifumi nodded in response and then curiously asked, "I heard your dad's back, doesn't that mean you'll be really busy these days?"

"Nope." Eriri waved her hand with a slightly gloomy expression, "After Christmas, he'll be heading back there again."

"Are you not going with him?"

"I'm a serialized manga artist now. I can't leave, no way!"

Now that "Shokugeki no Soma" was getting really popular, she was getting a lot of positive feedback from readers every time she did surveys.

Sure, there were some complaints about some of the content being too suggestive for a teen magazine, but for someone who had been in the industry for years, those minor doubts didn't bother her.

However, thinking about serialized manga reminded Akifumi of something.

"By the way, isn't it tough to keep up with a weekly release schedule?"

"Shouldn't you get some assistants?"

Eriri didn't try to act tough and seriously thought about it, before replying "It's indeed a bit exhausting. After all, I'm not like you, some freak who finishes everything in one go without needing edits."

"Not to mention, I have to balance it with my studies..."

"Every time I think about how you manage to be number one in your grade while serializing two mangas, I just want to open your head and see what's going on inside!"

"That's a terrifying statement!" Akifumi chuckled at her exaggeration.

"So, do you want to find assistants?"

"Yeah, my backlogs from the holidays are almost used up, so to maintain the regular schedule, I'll probably have to get some help." Eriri sighed.

"Otosuna-san will help with that."

"I was planning to talk to her after the year-end party anyway."

Akifumi nodded "Well, while you're busy outside, I'll prepare the gifts for the fans."

"Gifts for the fans?"

"Just sending them a colored illustration feels a bit too simple. I'll write a short story for them and throw in some sweets."

Eriri raised an eyebrow, surprised "When did you grow a conscience?"

Usually, whenever he was sending out something cruel, his expression was one of pure delight.

"What do you mean, conscience?" Akifumi replied somewhat gruffly "It's all for the story, I'm just a fan-loving person."

Eriri couldn't deny that.

After all, even just drawing manga wasn't enough— he also wrote songs and edited videos for them, making him one of a kind in the industry.

"Still, you're such an overachiever!" Most of the industry just sends a colored illustration as a New Year's greeting, but you're out here doing a whole short story!

She could already imagine other manga artists' complaints.

But, why was she one of the victims of the overachiever trend?

"Wanting to make the fans happy, what's wrong with that?" Akifumi headed to his room.

He opened a document and began editing the text, then started considering the storyboarding.

Not too much—just four panels for each story.

The ongoing "Your Lie in April" wouldn't be part of this.

Only "Madoka Magica," "Anohana," and "WorldEnd."

After all, while WorldEnd is still in its early stages, much like Your lie in April, the former is much closer to completion, with only two more volumes left.

The story is almost fully told.

On the other hand, Your Lie in April is still a fresh story, a tender new sprout, and any side stories at this stage could reveal too much too soon.