novelraw Chapter 7: The Izakaya
Chapter 7: The Izakaya
The taboo was quickly shattered, however, when Suzuki Kiyoto personally led them all to an izakaya near TV Tokyo.
As the Section Chief—
Suzuki Kiyoto chose to treat everyone out of his own pocket.
......
Izakaya, private room.
"Tonight's on me. Let's welcome Nohara Hiroshi-kun to our Suzuki director's section! Moving forward, we'll work together as one — and pull off an earth-shattering comeback for the whole world to see!"
"I propose a toast — to victory! Kanpai!"
Suzuki Kiyoto sat cross-legged at the head of the table, surveying his subordinates kneeling at the low tables on either side. He raised a large glass brimming with beer.
"Kanpai!" Everyone was flushed with excitement, lifting their glasses in response.
Then came the glug-glug-glug of eager beer drinking.Hiroshi sat on the left side.
Positioned just below Hashishita Ichiro.
For a newcomer, that was already a remarkably honored seat.
Across from them, Minamura Hoshi, Haseji Hashiru, and Kitagawa Yao sat in order along Suzuki Kiyoto's right side. Their tables, however, were subtly positioned half a table-length behind those of Hashishita Ichiro and Hiroshi on the left.
Workplace hierarchy — it was the same even in Japan.
But Hiroshi didn't pay it much mind.
Sure, Japan valued seniority, rank, and protocol.
But this was still the modern era, where the capable rose and the mediocre fell. As long as you had the skills, then even without the seniority or the tenure, you could prove yourself through talent and results.
After all, certain positions existed precisely for young people to claim on merit.
Of course.
In Suzuki's section, there was surprisingly little of that rigid seniority-based pecking order.
Perhaps because the team was still relatively new — aside from Suzuki Kiyoto himself, they were almost all young. Even Hashishita Ichiro had only just turned thirty and had an honest, good-natured temperament. He hadn't reached that greasy, office-politics phase of his career yet.
So even though Hiroshi had only been part of this small team for a single day, he already felt perfectly at ease — like a fish in water.
Topics they hadn't gotten to discuss during the workday came pouring out at the izakaya.
Including the future designs and story directions.
Hiroshi's explanations were clear and compelling.
They drew Suzuki Kiyoto and the other four ever deeper into the world Hiroshi was describing, until they were utterly absorbed — body and soul!
By the time it was nearly ten o'clock — when the izakaya's kitchen staff were getting ready to close up—
They were still hanging on Hiroshi's every word.
"Excuse me, guests — our chef is about to go off duty. Would you like to order anything else?" Just then, someone knocked on the private room's door. The waitress stepped in and knelt on the tatami to inquire.
The interruption jolted Suzuki Kiyoto and the other four out of their trance.
"Whoa! That nearly gave me a heart attack!" Minamura Hoshi slapped a hand over his chest. After confirming the person who'd opened the door was in fact the waitress — a normal human being — he exhaled slowly. "It's a human. Thank goodness!"
"Yeah, a human!" Haseji Hashiru and Kitagawa Yao were likewise clutching their chests beside him.
Their faces had gone a shade paler.
Clearly, the waitress's sudden appearance at the door had genuinely startled them.
"...Is everything all right, guests?" The young waitress looked bewildered, staring at the five people in the room who had all nearly jumped out of their skin.
"It's fine. We don't need anything else." Suzuki Kiyoto's own face had turned slightly red. He waved the waitress away.
He, too, had been spooked.
But now, looking at Hiroshi, he spoke with genuine delight. "Hiroshi-kun, I had no idea — you've only drawn three stories, but you already have complete outlines for seven more. That's truly extraordinary!"
Thinking back on all thirteen stories Hiroshi had described — especially the combination of urban legend elements with a modern, visceral horror atmosphere—
And that almost uncanny sense of realism, as if you were living it—
It left Suzuki Kiyoto stunned beyond measure.
And thrilled beyond words!
"That's right, Mr. Suzuki. Yamishibai is a manga concept I first started developing back in middle school. I have a wealth of ideas." Hiroshi grinned and tapped his temple. "I can't speak for everything else, but when it comes to Yamishibai? I promise you, Mr. Suzuki — there are absolutely no creative bottlenecks. I've got ideas for days!"
And honestly, how could he not? He was standing on the shoulders of the future.
"Sugoi!" Minamura Hoshi, Haseji Hashiru, and Kitagawa Yao exclaimed in unison, marveling yet again.
Even Hashishita Ichiro, seated above Hiroshi, was nodding with deep emotion.
He was a Grade 4 Director.
And the Executive Director of Suzuki's section.
So Hashishita Ichiro could assess better than most exactly how good the stories Hiroshi had laid out were — and "good" was putting it mildly. They had exceptionally clear narrative threads and fully fleshed-out story arcs.
If they followed Hiroshi's vision and produced them with care—
They would absolutely be great stories!
Just think about it — children on a swing set, students and apartment buildings, office workers in hospitals, family rules and domestic minutiae, relatives and home environments, workplaces, even the most mundane office copier. All the utterly ordinary things that any Japanese person would find deeply familiar — and from them, ghost stories bloomed.
Even without a single explicit ghost or demon, the imagery was so chilling upon reflection—
It sent a genuine shiver down their spines.
Think about it a moment longer and the back of your neck starts to tingle.
As if some great terror lurked just out of sight!
'If we follow Hiroshi-kun's approach, this horror anime called Yamishibai really does seem to have enormous potential.' Hashishita Ichiro turned the thought over in his mind.
And the more he calculated, the more awestruck his gaze became when it fell on Hiroshi.
With over a decade of experience in the industry—
This story called Yamishibai—
It seemed like...
Not only was the subject matter fresh and original, diverging completely from previous horror anime and manga that drew from ancient myths or legends—
It felt as though Hiroshi had created an entirely new genre!
'Urban legend horror?'
Hashishita Ichiro pondered this quietly.
In this era of Japan, while urban legends and similar elements did exist, the vast majority lingered at the level of stories passed along by word of mouth.
No one had ever systematically compiled them or established a cohesive urban legend narrative style.
Even Hiroshi himself hadn't fully considered this point.
After all, the urban legend genre hadn't truly flourished in the Japan of his previous life until the 2000s.
In this world's 1990s Japan—
Where would you find a codified system of urban legends?
......
For Hiroshi, though, earning Suzuki Kiyoto's endorsement was already an excellent outcome.
Stumbling out of the izakaya, pleasantly buzzed—
Night had already fallen.
The sky was pitch black.
But as Hiroshi looked up at the countless neon signs adorning the towering buildings all around him — glittering like stars in the heavens — his mood soared.
"Now then..." Hiroshi said his goodbyes to everyone, and despite the sting to his wallet, hailed a taxi home.
Sitting in the back seat, a smile spread across his face.
"What a wonderful beginning!"