I just want to quietly draw manga Chapter 296

Haruki woke late, the dim hotel room still heavy with the silence of jet lag. His body hadn’t caught up with Los Angeles time yet.

He pushed himself upright and dragged open the curtains. Sunlight flooded the room. Beyond the balcony stretched a flat sheet of ocean, deep blue and endless.

After a shower, he got dressed and checked his phone. Kotone had already sent a message saying she was waiting in the hotel parking lot.

He took the elevator down.

Kotone was leaning against a silver rental car near the entrance, sunglasses perched on her head, a light jacket over a plain white T-shirt. She straightened as he walked out.

“Morning,” she said, smiling. They hugged lightly.

“How was the flight?” she asked.

“Long,” Haruki said. “Still feel like my brain’s half-asleep.”

“Jet lag will do that.” She glanced at him. “Did you eat?”

He shook his head. “Woke up late. Figured I’d let my tour guide pick the place.”

She smirked. “Lucky for you, I’ve got one in mind.”

They drove with the windows down. LA slid past in blocks of sunlight and billboards.

“Feels strange,” Haruki said quietly. “Last time we talked in person, you were still in Japan.”

Kotone kept her eyes on the road. “Yeah. Everything changed kind of fast.”

“You didn’t tell me you were going abroad until you were already on the plane.”

“I didn’t really plan to,” she admitted. “It just… felt like the only way forward at the time. Grandma’s still not thrilled about me trying to be a manga artist, and everything I tried before just kept falling short. So I applied for the program, told her it would help with class. It got her approval. And once I was here, I finally started focusing on my own work.”

Haruki glanced over at her, the wind tugging at his hair. “And… it’s going well?”

She gave a small shrug, the corner of her mouth lifting. “You’ll see.”

Haruki raised a brow but let it go, a faint smile on his face. “Alright. Surprise me.”

Kotone smirked. “I will. But you just got to LA and you’re already thinking about manga? I thought you came here to relax.”

They stopped at a small café tucked between boutiques, eating breakfast out on the patio. Kotone kept her sunglasses on, still wary of being recognized—not that she was famous yet, but in a few local shops her signings had drawn small crowds.

It was quiet there, the ocean barely visible between rooftops. Kotone ordered black coffee; Haruki stuck to tea.

He watched her stir the cup absentmindedly.

“So… you like it here?”

She gave a small shrug. “It’s different. People keep more distance. That’s… easier sometimes.”

Haruki nodded. There wasn’t much else to say.

Later, they walked along the pier. Kotone kept a steady half-step ahead, as if guiding out of habit.

“You don’t have to rush,” Haruki said.

“I’m not,” she replied, though she slowed down anyway.

That evening, they stopped at a quiet diner with wide windows facing the water. Neither said much while eating. The silence didn’t feel heavy, just unfamiliar.

At one point, Kotone glanced at him. “...It’s strange seeing you here,” she said.

“I was thinking the same,” Haruki replied.

For the first time, her mouth curled slightly, like she was trying not to smile.

The next day, she suggested showing him around properly.

They drifted through the city—bookstores, an old theater, a record shop. Mostly quiet. Occasionally she’d point something out, and he’d just nod. Slowly, the pauses between words grew shorter.

By nightfall, she stopped the car near the coastline and let the engine idle. The air smelled faintly of salt.

“Tomorrow,” she said, “I’ll take you to see something else.”

“Something else?” Haruki asked.

“You’ll see.”

The next day, they headed to the comic shop Inside, she quietly led him to a display wall lined with books. One of the spines caught his eye immediately.

Violet Evergarden.

Her name was printed on the cover in clean black lettering.

Haruki picked it up, running his thumb along the edge of the pages. The art was beautiful, delicate, full of emotion. Nearby, a large poster for the anime adaptation was mounted on the wall.

“Your drawing’s improved a lot,” Haruki said. “Honestly… you might’ve passed me.”

Kotone let out a quiet laugh and shook her head. “Hardly.”

“Is it finished?”

“Yeah. About six months ago,” she said.

Haruki placed the book back carefully, still looking at the cover. “Feels strange seeing your work on a shelf.”

“Yeah,” Kotone said softly. “Strange, but… good.”

“It even got adapted into an anime,” she added. “Maya Studio handled it. They say it’s going to rival your 5cm/s.”

Haruki blinked. “Wow… that’s a big deal. I’m happy for you. Sounds like you’ve built quite the following here. So… you’re planning to stay in the U.S.?”

Kotone shook her head. “No. I’m still coming back to Japan. Once I finish my studies. I’m ahead on my coursework, so… probably this summer.”

They didn’t see much of each other for the next few days. Then Saturday came.

Haruki was getting ready for the anime convention. His panel was coming up, and he could already feel the nerves building. Kotone had also been invited to Anime Expo, and as luck would have it, the organizers had decided to put them on the same panel.

A car from the event arrived to pick him up. The venue wasn’t far from the hotel—about half an hour’s drive.

When he arrived backstage, he spotted Kotone nearby, quietly checking her notes. She looked calm, but her hands were clasped a bit too tightly.

Haruki walked over. “You look nervous.”

She glanced up. “You’re one to talk.”

He chuckled under his breath. “Come on... you’ve got this. You’ve done signings, public talks. This should feel like second nature by now.”

She gave a faint smile. “Easy for you to say.”

Before either of them could say more, a staff member appeared and gave them the signal. It was time to head to the podium.