"Ten thousand yen a day. Thirty days in a month. That's 300,000 yen! How many kilos of corn does my family have to sell to make that much?"
Shouta Amasaki counted on his fingers, getting more excited with every number.
Hearing that he was also a farm kid, Kai's gaze softened. But he still spoke up to shatter the fantasy.
"I'm not going to need an assistant every single day of the month."
Amasaki looked at Kai in confusion.
Majima stepped in to explain. "There are seven days in a week, and an assistant is only needed three or four of them to help the manga artist finish the manuscript."
Then he also looked at Kai.
"For now, it's four days," Kai said. "I'm still a beginner, so I'll be relying on both of you."
Amasaki wasn't greedy. "160,000 yen is still a lot. I can pick up part-time work on the off days."
Kai was satisfied with that attitude. "While you're working as an assistant here, I'll cover your lunch, dinner, and commuting costs. If you need anything, just let me know in advance."
"Same goes for you, Majima."
Majima had been working as an assistant for over two years and knew every aspect of the job. Under his guidance, Kanzaki Studio would run far more smoothly.
Paying him 10,000 yen a day was no loss at all.
Majima nodded. He wasn't particularly surprised. He just thought Kanzaki seemed like a decent person.
"Hooray!" Amasaki cheered. "I want McDonald's today!"
"Sure," Kai replied. "There's one nearby. Just call for delivery."
Internally, though, he was baffled.
Why was Amasaki exactly like his sister Rika?
Was it a universal truth that kids from the countryside, the moment they hit the big city, wanted fried chicken and burgers more than anything?
"I'll handle it." Yuta stood up, walked to the landline, and called McDonald's.
On May 13th, 1997, Kanzaki Studio was officially established.
Kai briefed his three assistants and began drawing the first manuscript of Death Note.
Half of this chapter was already done. Twenty pages remained.
For manga serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump, the first chapter usually ran thirty to forty pages to make a strong opening impression. After that, it dropped to around twenty pages per week.
The workload was enormous.
Drawing manga was exhausting work. Even Majima, who was used to the grind, had sore eyes and an aching neck after half a day of backgrounds.
And this kind of work demanded constant perseverance. A month. A year. A decade or more. As long as the manga hadn't ended, the artist had to keep drawing.
He glanced over at Kai, who was working with his brows knitted tight.
No matter how creative a task started out, under the weight of a massive workload, it inevitably became monotonous, repetitive, mechanical movement.
Yuta was the same, his expression strained.
Only Amasaki was drawing with a smile on his face. He seemed genuinely happy.
Majima was curious. After combing his mohawk, he walked behind Amasaki and quietly watched him draw.
'Very meticulous,' he thought.
Far more careful than himself. Amasaki used a ruler to outline each apartment building stroke by stroke. The lines were dense but perfectly ordered. It was clearly tedious work. So why was he enjoying it so much?
"Amasaki." During a break, Majima asked the question that had been bothering him. "Why are you having so much fun?"
Amasaki smiled and explained. "Back in Sapporo, I could only draw by myself. I had no partners or a company. Now, being with everyone like this, it's just so interesting. It feels like we're playing house, but in a serious way."
"Hehe. It's great."
People always had special feelings about their firsts. The first car they bought, the first phone they used, their first crush as a teenager.
For Amasaki, he was experiencing something rare and precious in Kanzaki Studio, a joy that made him tireless and never wanting to leave.
Even though he'd only just arrived, he already felt like he fully belonged.
Majima nodded. He remembered his own early days in the industry, back when he was working as an assistant under Nobuhiro Watsuki.
"Cherish it. That feeling doesn't last forever."
...
At ten o'clock, having finished the day's progress, Majima and Amasaki got up to leave. They were heading the same direction for a stretch, so they walked together, chatting along the way.
"Death Note is going to be a long-running series, right?" Amasaki stretched his arms wide. "What a satisfying day. Got happiness and a paycheck."
Majima looked at him in surprise. "You don't know?"
"Know what?"
"About Kanzaki-sensei." Majima replied. "You've seen the storyboards for Death Note. You know what kind of story it is. A lot of people are boycotting it, saying it corrupts children."
"How is that possible?!" Amasaki was stunned. "It's clearly just a really interesting manga!"
Majima patted his shoulder. "Shueisha approved the serialization, so they'll help the sensei weather the pressure. Don't worry too much."
"Mm..." Amasaki nodded, looking a little dazed.
"Hey!" A flashlight beam swept over them.
A patrolling police officer on a bicycle fixed his light on Majima and eyed him with suspicion.
"What are you doing? Mugging someone? Step away from that gentleman!"
...
The next day, when Kai was lounging on the sofa watching TV, his two assistants appeared looking absolutely drained.
He shifted his body, looked at Majima and Amasaki, and asked with concern. "What happened? Was yesterday's work that tiring?"
Majima's expression was indescribable. He wore a completely deadpan face. "I got mistaken for a criminal again because of my hair..."
Amasaki spoke up quickly. "Sensei, I heard you're dealing with a lot of backlash. Is... is there a lot of pressure?"
"It's fine." Kai nodded, understanding immediately. He gave Amasaki a reassuring look. "Shueisha will handle it."
The current Death Note situation was still a minor issue.
It would only become truly dire if a young girl jumped off a building and left behind a suicide note saying "I don't want to live anymore" alongside a volume of Death Note. That was when Kai would actually panic.
"As for Majima, you brought this one entirely on yourself."
Majima hung his head. "You're right."
On the TV, Ichiro Fujima was in the middle of another interview. He held up his novel and grinned at the camera.
"The serialized version of Death Note is coming out on the 26th, right? Well, I Am a Murderer comes out around the same time. Everyone should read both and decide for themselves. Is Death Note more entertaining, or is my novel better? Haha."
After saying that, he picked his nose and wiped it on the cover of his book.
Kai watched the scene with a flat expression that slowly curdled into disgust.
This guy was like something stuck to the bottom of his shoe. He just wouldn't go away.
He understood Fujima's game. This kept the gradually cooling controversy alive, manipulated his fanbase, and monetized the attention all at once.
Three birds with one stone. A clever play.
Too bad the person getting dragged through the mud was Kai.
In the same studio where Fujima was being interviewed, a writer from the Asahi Shimbun sat watching. His eyes flickered with interest. This was a major story that needed to be captured.
But simply writing about the feud between Fujima and Kanzaki would be too narrow. It needed a bigger frame.
Something like: the fall of the 24-year king, Weekly Shonen Jump.
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[TL Note: The Asahi Shimbun is one of Japan's five major national newspapers, comparable in influence to The New York Times.]