Chapter 46 - 45

After what felt like ages, Haruki finally had a work-free weekend. No meetings, no deadlines—just two whole days to himself. He was actually a little excited about the idea of taking a proper break. Maybe go shopping? Check out a few places around town? Catch the scenery? But when he looked out the window and saw snowflakes tumbling down in thick, heavy waves, all his vacation ideas started to dissolve. What was there to do in weather like this, anyway? He did go out once—caught a movie by himself at the local cinema—but even that left him feeling a bit hollow. After that, he just stayed in and dozed off on the couch, drifting between naps and idling around the house. By the time Monday came around, his weekend had passed in a blink. No real rest. No productivity either. This is how things used to be, he thought. Back before I became a manga artist. But strangely, after that brief return to idleness, he actually found himself looking forward to getting back to work. It was like something inside him had shifted. Was that weird? Maybe. But he didn't think too much of it. On Monday, when Kotone and Sora stopped by his place again, Haruki had already spent the afternoon zoning out during an English class. Somewhere between grammar drills and pronunciation practice, the tenth chapter of Rurouni Kenshin had taken shape in his mind. By the time they arrived, the new storyboard was already on the table. Neither of them said much when they walked in. The moment they saw the new draft, they immediately sat down, eager to dive in. --- *In the countryside, Kenshin and Tomoe were living quietly together, posing as a married couple.* *Autumn faded into winter.* The page turned. Snow blanketed the earth, falling in soft silence. Kenshin walked ahead, steady and sure-footed. Behind him, Tomoe followed, her steps a little more hesitant. Eventually, she stumbled and fell into the snow. But when she looked up, Kenshin's hand was already reaching out to her. His eyes were calm. His expression gentle. Tomoe stared up at him, stunned. Here was the man who had killed her fiancé... But here, now, he was also the one who always treated her with quiet kindness. The man who, over time, had begun to occupy a complicated space in her heart. "I will..."Kenshin spoke. "I will protect you." At that moment, both Kotone and Sora unconsciously leaned forward, eyes wide, breath caught in their throats. It was just a storyboard—pencil sketches, rough frames, hastily written dialogue. But somehow, Haruki had captured the full emotion of the scene. "This hits hard..." Sora thought, her heart squeezing. Kenshin's words weren't just lines on a page. They felt real. And then came Tomoe's monologue. In her own words, she confessed that she had originally approached Kenshin with the intention of killing him. To avenge her fiancé. But spending time with him had slowly changed everything. She had fallen in love with him. And Kenshin—haunted, hardened, yet quietly kind—had begun to change too. The way he used to live only for the blade... was now being softened by her presence. Together in that small house in the middle of winter, with the fire crackling in the hearth and their bodies pressed close for warmth... there was no malice, no ulterior motive. Just a soft, unspoken sorrow between two people who had lost too much, and found each other in the quiet that followed. --- Early that morning, Tomoe quietly left the little house in the countryside where she had spent so many quiet days with Kenshin. With that, Chapter 10 of Rurouni Kenshin came to an end. After reading the draft, both Sora and Kotone sat in silence for a while. There was something about the way the story kept pivoting at just the right moment, leaving readers desperate for more. "Where is she going now?" "What will Kenshin do?" Those questions hung in the air unspoken, but heavy. Even more than the twists, it was the depth of emotion between Kenshin and Tomoe that left an impression. The way their story had evolved... it was no longer just a tragic encounter. It had become something deeply human, raw, and bittersweet. Sora finally looked up from the draft and turned toward Haruki. "Hey... Haruki." He glanced over, pencil still in hand. "Hmm? What is it?" "Don't you think the story between Kenshin and Tomoe is a little... intense?" That caught him off guard. Even though Haruki himself had felt a bit awkward while sketching some of the more emotionally vulnerable scenes, he hadn't expected the editor herself to comment on it. Sure, he'd never drawn this kind of emotional depth before. And this story—one pulled straight from the system—didn't lend itself to changes. But if Sora pushed back on it, citing editorial concerns... he wouldn't have much choice. But before he could say anything, Sora frowned and waved off the idea. "I don't mean it like that. We're not that uptight at Kurokawa Publishing," she said, rolling her eyes. "I just wanted to ask—how did you even come up with something like this?" She leaned in. "I mean... correct me if I'm wrong, but you've never really been in love, right?" Kotone, who had been quietly watching the conversation, glanced over with interest as well. The two women were clearly baffled. How did someone like Haruki—someone who barely had a romantic bone in his body—manage to craft such a delicate, gut-wrenching love story? Haruki coughed, his ears reddening just a little. "W-Well... I guess you could just call it talent." "Talent?" Sora repeated, raising a brow. She didn't seem convinced. And honestly, she wasn't alone. Haruki, with his usual blunt honesty and slightly clumsy mannerisms, didn't exactly scream "romantic genius." Yet this work had something real. Something painful and beautiful. The inner monologues, the moments of quiet connection, the way Kenshin's stoicism began to crack under the weight of emotion—it was so well done that even Sora, who had long since become jaded about love, felt something stir. "If the protagonist is supposed to reflect the author, you are from different universes," she muttered, half-joking. "If you had even half of Kenshin's presence, maybe you wouldn't still be single." Haruki frowned, unconvinced that the conversation needed to involve his dating life. "We're here to finish a manga," he said flatly. "Not to dissect my romantic prospects." Then, with a pointed look: "And let's not forget who here is actually getting pressure from their parents to settle down." Before Sora could fire back, Haruki made a tactical retreat to the drawing table. Kotone chuckled quietly and followed him, leaving Sora alone to pout a little. She had meant to tease him—not get roasted in return. She stomped lightly on the floor in frustration, but let it go for now. She'd get him back eventually. --- A few days later... It was mid-January, and the cold winds howled through the streets. Snow blanketed the ground up to people's ankles. On the second Friday of the month, despite the bitter cold, comic fans braved the weather to flock to local bookstores and newsstands. Sales of the latest issue of Sora magazine were nothing short of explosive. Even kenji, a mid-sized bookstore owner in the eastern part of the city, was caught off guard. Normally, copies of Sora might sell out by evening—if they sold out at all. But this time, they were gone by noon. "Call the distributor!" one store manager barked. "Tell them we need more copies, now!" Store owners all across the city made similar calls. But many were met with the same response: "Sorry, we're sold out. We might restock by this afternoon or tomorrow. In the meantime, maybe you can suggest other popular titles—like Hibiki or Karyū...?" Kenji kept his smile polite as another customer asked about Sora. He gave the usual apologetic explanation, but inside, he was frustrated. He knew full well that most people wouldn't come back tomorrow. Once they left, they were gone. "Oh man... this is the third place I've checked, and it's still out of stock..." a student muttered in disappointment. As the student turned to leave, Kenji stopped him. "Hey—wait a sec. Do you know if Sora is running some kind of campaign right now? It feels like the interest has really exploded the last few weeks." "Campaign?" the student blinked. "Not that I've heard of." He shifted his backpack and shrugged. "Honestly, I just started buying it to read that new series—Rurouni Kenshin. I'm not really sure about the rest." With that, he left. Kenji stood behind the counter, staring after him. Just one series, he thought. One story, and the whole magazine's flying off the shelves? Whatever Rurouni Kenshin was... it was something special. Shout out to Klein Pendragon, Unknown, Jack Sheldrake for joining my patreon! your support means everything to me. (TL:- if you want even more content, check out p-atreon.com/Alioth23 for 50+ advanced chapters)