Reverse Harem 2

Arata got himself prepped for the trip of a lifetime. At least, if one were as passionate about manga stuff as he was. Being able to do it with friends, even if they didn't share the same level of love as he did was also good.

Since this was a bit more important to him than usual. The boy dressed himself in his best clothes, which weren't much more fancy compared to his usual attire. However, Arata was confident people wouldn't view him as a dirty shut-in otaku with this outfit.

So once he was ready, it was time to meet with the others at the station. This was where they were going to begin their journey as Akiba's mom was the one leading the way. It was kind of her to give them this chance, since it was mostly a favor by a friend of hers who lived in the industry.

"I really can't thank you enough." Arata was the one who certainly made sure she knew his gratitude. Perhaps a bit too much as they rode the train to the company, one of the biggest brands in Japan when it came to manga and anime. "It's been a dream of mine to go to one of these places."

"Well, I'm glad you're appreciative of the offer." Her mom replied, glad to see some enthusiasm from her daughter's friends. "Who knows, maybe you might find your future career here."

"I wish, but I'm nowhere near talented enough to actually make this stuff." As much as the boy might wish to be able to create a popular series. That was unlikely to happen seeing as he couldn't draw, and his writing abilities were lacking. "Besides, I think I'll find a different career path away from my hobby." Plus, he didn't want to lose enjoyment in it by being a part of the creation process. This kind of work had a reputation for being difficult.

"That's a shame. You know, Akiba's been interested in trying to find work in the industry."

"Mom!" This prompted an embarrassed response from Akiba, as she didn't want people finding out about her future goals just yet. At this point, even she wasn't completely certain if that was what she wanted to do.

"At least it's nice you have an idea." Said Yogi. Him and Akaki were still in the same boat among the group still unsure of what they were going to be doing after graduating high school.

The ride didn't take too much time. All the chatter certainly helped to pass the time as they were getting off before they knew it. The lady led them inside to go get their passes as she went up to look for her friend.

"I swear, she's always cooped up in her room, but she promised to meet me here today." Akiba's mom scanned the room as she tried to find the woman she called her friend.

"How exactly do you know her?" Asked Arata. It was weird seeing as no one in Akiba's family worked here, so this connection was why they were here in the first place.

"Well, we used to go to high together." She responded. "I swear, she's just as hidden away now as she was back then. Ahh, there she is." There was the woman who was her contact. It wasn't everyday that Arata got the chance to meet a real manga artist, so he got excited in anticipation to meeting her. However that wasn't what role this lady was mainly known for in the company.

"I know you're busy running the place, but is it so hard to meet a friend on time?" Wait a second, running the place? This woman wasn't just some worker or artist who had a contract for the company. She owned the company.

"That's your friend!?" Arata was shocked as he eyed the boss. To their surprise, she didn't really look like a typical boss. At the very least, he expected more office attire, but this woman seemed to be in less formal wear. Not to mention the way she looked was hardly how someone who ran a company would look like. Of course, Misei's mom was the only person he could think of as a comparison, but even that difference was astronomical.

"Guilty as charged." The woman responded to his shock as if she expected that type of response. "Anyway, since I'm at work right now, you can only call me by my family name. You know, gotta keep up appearances." He doubted that was the real reason, given that she didn't care for her own appearance at all.

"All right, Enokida." Her mom obliged. "Now, two of us are going to do some catching up. So you kids get to be on your own, please don't cause trouble." With that, the groups separated.

"She really trusts us, doesn't she?" Said Arata as they walked down the halls. There were numerous people running about getting work done to meet multiple deadlines. Of course, they did their best to avoid getting in anyone's way. After all, he would hate to be the one to cause a delay to his favorite manga.

"Well, we shouldn't make her feel like it was misplaced." Said Misao. "So, without any actual tour guides. How are we going to go about learning about the place?"

"We should split up." Yogi suggested. "I doubt we can go everywhere we want to go as a group. So maybe we should check out individual places that interest us personally."

"A part of me wants to say that's a dumb idea." Arata replied to the idea. "But, I'm sure with our diverse feelings on the industry, that might be for the best."

"Great, because I want to check out their animation department." Of course that boy would rather see the more easy to digest form of entertainment. "Plus, it'd be cool to see if there are any voice actors."

"I'd like to see that too." Yuki wanted to join him, not because it happened to be her cousin, but also because she wanted to see how things were recorded.

"Then I suppose-" Arata had an idea of splitting away with… Well, technically he wasn't sure who he'd support in terms of Akaki's or Misao'd feelings. She liked that boy, but he was in love with someone else. So who would he go with? Akiba so that Misao would be happy, or go with Misao so that Akaki would be happy? This felt like one of those choices that he'd be given in a visual novel for romantic points. However, he was cut off by Akiba who took the reins.

"You know Arata, there was a place I wanted to show you." She decided to be the one to take the boy along as her partner. "It makes sense, doesn't it? I invited Arata and Akaki invited Misao." Yogi already started them off well enough by taking Yuki with him. So that was a good enough argument for the others to agree with.

He could live with that too, but did she have to be so physical when making her suggestion? The girl grabbed onto his arm, as if taking ownership of him away from the others. It was a little nerve racking for him to be so close to a pretty girl. Not only that, but with so many other girls who liked him. This made the boy feel guilty for having such feelings about someone like her.

"Sure, we'll meet at the lunch room in one hour." Misao was happy with this arrangement. This allowed her to be alone with Akaki even if they hadn't come up with anywhere they wanted to go to yet. "That sound good with everyone here?"

"I'm fine with it." Judging from Akaki's voice, he was a little disappointed about the arrangement. However, he accepted it as to not let out what his true feelings for the girl was. Plus, it wasn't like the boy was going to get everything he ever wanted. "Just going to have to message Yogi about it." Perhaps if that boy wasn't so hasty, he could've stuck around for a minute longer to hear out the plan.

"We'll see you later." Akiba gave a polite wave to them as they split up. "So, I'm sure you're interested to seeing the editing process?"

"Sure, I'd love to see the work they do on manga." Out of all the mediums, he would say that he preferred manga. Anime was cool to watch, but was a lot more time consuming given all the filler they threw in to round out an episode. Not to mention the occasional animation problems that plagued some popular long running series. And as lame as it might make him sound, light novels didn't have enough pretty drawings of girls.

"I like reading manga more too." She agreed with him. "It's astounding to see them draw so much on their schedules." Indeed, when it was something like a weekly series. The amount of constant work someone would have to do to keep up with deadlines was impressive to them. Just having to do homework already felt like it was time consuming on their lives. "I've always wondered how they do it."

"Me too." He replied. "I can see why you were so adamant about wanting me to join you." Arata laughed about making sense of the situation. "You probably couldn't talk about it so casually with anyone else." If anything, it was more likely they wouldn't understand what she was talking about and have to ask constant questions. At least with him, they were able to flow through their conversation.

"Yeah… That's why." It was an amazing excuse for her. However, that was all it was for Akiba. The real reason was hidden behind her smile, as she continued to eye the boy.