Ink & Passion

Chapter 2: Before we get started

(July/11/2023 - Friday, Nighttime)

After promising Ikki to woo him with a manga idea, an exhausted Ran was currently working on her script.

Ran: (Hmm... What kind of story would someone like Ichinou-kun find appealing? He's a boy, so he might be into the Shonen genre. But I don't wanna make anything too otaku-ish or weak. And if I want our manga to run in Bump, things like sex, drugs, and heavy gore are out of the question.) 

Ran then thought back to her meeting with Ikki today.

Ran: (Any other guy would've said yes to me on the spot, but this Ichinou-kun...)

It was at that moment when she receives a call from her Mom.

Ran: What now?

She reluctantly grabs her phone and answers the call.

Ran: Yes?

Ran's Mom (Phone): Good evening Ran, how are you doing?

Ran: I'm doing good. How's your business trip going?

Ran's Mom (Phone): I'm doing well. Remember Akiko? My younger sister's oldest child?

Ran: Yeah?

Ran's Mom (Phone): She recently graduated from a prestigious medical university and is now working as a nurse in a well-known hospital.

Ran: Okay, cool?

Ran's Mom (Phone): Then there's her younger brother, Ban. He moved to America where's he's working full-time at a major trading company. My cousin's daughter Michiko is travelling around the world as a freelance chef at various restaurants, while your cousin Raita, whose 2 years younger than you wants to be a doctor. And according to his teachers, he has the potential to make it big...

Her mother continued to rant about how well their relatives were doing, pissing Ran off.

Ran: Argh...! 

Ran's Mom (Phone): Don't you dare scoff at me! All your cousins have bright futures set in stone! But what about you? My relatives and co-workers keep bragging about their kids and all I can do is cook up lies about you just to look good! They're even starting to talk behind my back!

Ran: I can't do this right now. Good night.

Ran's Mom (Phone): I'm not done here! If you hang up that phone, I swear-

Ran hangs up and goes back to work. Her mother tried to call her again, but Ran put her phone on mute.

Ran: (Ugh! Why can't that woman just leave me alone? Whatever our relatives do with their lives is none of my business. It's not like it affects me in any way. I'm gonna do what I set out to do. I can do anything I set my mind to... You told me that because you thought I could do it. Right, Dad?)

(Meanwhile)

Ikki was sitting in his desk thinking about what happened that day.

Ikki: (I always believed Hikari-san and I lived in completely different worlds, but to think my assumptions of her were so off-mark.)

He then notices he was subconsciously drawing a sketch of Ran in his notebook.

Ikki: Ugh. I wish I could just get rid of this damn habit.

He tears off the sketch and throws it in the trash. Then Shotaro enters the room.

Shotaro: Hey, coming in.