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Chapter 7

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."