The lights shone in her big eyes, and Rika was looking up at Kai with pure admiration.
She was the first to start clapping, and the applause swelled through the room, rising and falling like a wave.
"You're so cool, Big Bro!"
After the ceremony ended, she held the Tezuka Cup with stars in her eyes.
Kai kept a straight face, but inside, he was over the moon. A cute, well-behaved little sister and the strongest newcomer award in the manga world. Two good things hitting at once. It was almost too much.
Tokyo in 1997 seemed a little brighter tonight.
After the event, Eiichiro Oda had planned to find Kai and invite him out for an after-party, but when he saw the little girl at his side, he gave up and left disappointed.
At least he'd met a kindred spirit at the ceremony, so the night wasn't a total loss.
"Kishimoto, why do you want to become a manga artist?"
"Because drawing manga is fun, and it can also earn a lot of money." Masashi Kishimoto grinned. "It's embarrassing to admit, but money has always been a big motivator for me."
"What about you, Oda?"
"Me?" Oda smiled, a little sheepish. "Disney is incredible. Their work captivated me when I was a kid. But Japan didn't seem to have anything that could stand toe to toe with Disney, and I couldn't accept that. I want to draw a manga that people all over the world can love. That's where it all started for me."
"Wow, that's amazing." Kishimoto nodded, not fully grasping it but genuinely impressed. "The way you describe it, you sound like a manga protagonist. Passionate, big dreams, the whole package."
"Stop being so blunt about it." Oda threw his head back and laughed. He was feeling more and more like he and Kishimoto were cut from the same cloth.
"Let's go to Kabukicho for a drink."
"Let's go!"
...
Kai found Heishi and said his goodbyes.
Kazuhiko Torishima was there as well, holding a glass of champagne and sipping it slowly.
"How did tonight feel?" Heishi asked.
"It's a great place," Kai said, looking around the room. "Really something. I'll definitely be back."
Torishima stayed silent, but the corners of his mouth curved upward.
"Of course." Heishi nodded firmly. He leaned down to Rika's eye level. "And what about you, little kid?"
Being addressed so suddenly, Rika flinched and answered in a small voice. "I had a lot of fun..."
"Also," she took a deep breath, "thank you for helping me meet Takahashi-sensei, Editor!"
Heishi laughed. "You're welcome."
After saying goodbye to Heishi, Kai gave a slight nod to Torishima. "Editor-in-Chief. I'll be heading out."
"Mm." Torishima raised his champagne glass. "Take care."
Holding his sister's hand, Kai walked toward the exit.
"Fujin."
Torishima called after him.
Kai stopped and turned back, confused.
"I have high expectations for your Death Note. Keep drawing it well."
"Yes." Kai bowed and quietly left.
...
Tokyo gets pretty humid in May. The apples had been sitting out for several days, and Kai was starting to worry they'd go bad.
Their hometown of Aomori was a famous apple-producing region. Yuta and Rika had been eating apples since they were little and weren't exactly thrilled by the plain old fruit.
Unless there was literally nothing else to eat, they'd only take a bite or two.
"That's easy to fix." Hearing her brother's concern, Rika patted her chest. "Why not just make apple jam?"
She grabbed the apples and ran to the kitchen, humming a tune as she started washing them.
Kai was curious but also a little worried she'd make a mess, so he stood beside her and watched.
It turned out Rika was remarkably competent. She peeled and cored the apples with practiced hands, added water to cook them down, then mixed in rock sugar and lemon juice, stirring the gradually thickening jam over low heat.
When the water had evaporated enough and the jam reached the right consistency, she turned off the heat at exactly the right moment.
Everything was smooth and orderly.
"My little sister is pretty impressive," Kai said.
"It's nothing." Rika tilted her chin up. "I can do way more than this."
"What about your studies, then? Are your grades any good?"
Rika's hand, which had been gearing up for another round of boasting, froze in midair.
She made a pained face. "Big bro, If you want to hit me, you don't need to build up to it."
Kai shook his head helplessly. "That bad, huh."
The transition from elementary to junior high in Japan was a big deal. Whether a student ended up in a public or private junior high school depended on their performance at this stage.
The teaching quality at public schools was significantly worse than private ones. For the sake of their children's futures, parents everywhere were fighting tooth and nail.
'It'll have to be a public school,' Kai thought. "But even so, a public junior high in Tokyo is naturally going to be a lot better than the ones back home.'
'Tokyo students get school trips to Paris or Antarctica. When I was in junior high, we were lucky to make it to Hokkaido.'
He was already forming a plan to bring Rika to Tokyo for junior high.
Rika tilted her head and stared at him. "What are you thinking about, Big bro?"
"Do you like Tokyo, Rika?"
"Of course I do! Tokyo is amazing. It has everything. You can go out to karaoke and watch movies. Back home, all there is to do is pull weeds and spread fertilizer... dance with the crickets and hang out with the toads..."
"Alright, alright." Kai cut her off. "I get the picture."
Talking about home made Rika deflate a little.
She shuffled over to the dining table, pulled out a chair, sat down, and rested her face in her hands. "The jam needs to be bottled once it cools. Keep it and eat it slowly, Big bro. And when you eat it, you have to think of me."
Tomorrow was Children's Day. Golden Week was almost over. She had to go home.
The glitter and excitement of Tokyo had nothing to do with her anymore.
And worst of all, she had to say goodbye to her brother.
Rika's heart was quietly weeping.
...
"What's wrong with her?"
Yuta came back from outside and, seeing the lifeless Rika slumped at the table, looked at Kai in confusion.
He was adapting to Tokyo more and more quickly, heading out early every morning and coming back late.
He was about Kai's age, so it wasn't really Kai's place to manage him.
But Yuta was a straight-arrow kind of guy. Nothing would go wrong.
He was probably out job hunting.
Thinking about that, Kai said to him, "Don't lock yourself into a full-time job just yet. Give it a couple more days."
Jump's serialization meeting was coming up soon, and he was going to need Yuta as a workforce.
"Okay." Yuta nodded without asking why.
"So what's up with Rika?" he asked again.
Kai sighed. "Her vacation is almost over."
_______________________
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