Rin instinctively looked down at her watch. It was already 21:27. He should be getting off work soon.
Akira...
What a nice name.
She had not expected him to have watched Cardcaptor Sakura, nor to casually mention the very song she was currently practicing, which had led to this situation.
Thinking that he might come to hear her sing later, she felt inexplicably nervous.
Was she worried about performing poorly?
After all, this would be her first time performing the song in public.
She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. At the same time, her thoughts drifted back to their conversation that afternoon.
She could not clearly explain why she had suddenly asked him what songs he liked.
Perhaps it was simply curiosity.
Akira looked about her age, yet it seemed he was no longer in school.
Not only that, although his speech had no obvious accent, she could still detect from subtle details that he was not a Tokyo local.
In other words, he was likely someone who had either dropped out of high school or come to Tokyo to work immediately after graduating.
That situation was not uncommon. She had classmates who chose to start working right after high school.
But what puzzled her was that Akira was not only handsome but also extremely skilled at drawing, yet for some reason he was working at a manga bookstore.
If that was the case, why come to Tokyo?
With his abilities, he should have had no trouble finding a better and more suitable job.
And what about the drawing she saw today? Was he working on something?
Perhaps it was this curiosity that made her ask that question earlier, hoping to understand him a little better from another angle.
Maybe once they became more familiar, she could naturally ask him about these things.
With that thought, she set aside her wandering mind and continued singing.
Another song ended. She looked up and scanned the crowd. When she spotted a familiar figure, her eyes lit up.
He came.
At the same moment, he noticed her gaze, smiled, and waved from the back of the crowd. Even though he stood quietly at the very edge, he stood out clearly to her.
She gave a small nod in return, then gathered herself and spoke:
"Well then, the last song for tonight, 'Open Your Heart'..."
After work, Akira went to watch Rin's performance as promised. After chatting briefly with her, he took the train home.
He had to admit that she sang very well. Unfortunately, because of work, he could only listen to one or two songs each time.
Perhaps when he had more free time, he could come and listen to an entire set.
For now, though, getting down to business was more important.
Over the past few days, he had almost finished practicing Takeuchi Takashi's art style. He had also accumulated a substantial amount of written material for the Fate/stay night adaptation, so it was time to formally begin.
However, this time he did not plan to draw Fate/stay night directly. Instead, he decided to start with a short manga.
It was not unheard of for a newcomer to gain serialization in Shonen Jump with their first submission, but it was extremely rare.
The most famous example was Akimoto Osamu and his work Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen-mae Hashutsujo, also known as Kochikame.
Kochikame began serialization in 1976 and only concluded in 2016, running for a full 40 years and becoming the longest-running series in Shonen Jump history.
But returning to the main point, Akira's goal was to obtain serialization as quickly as possible, ideally succeeding on his first submission.
At the same time, he understood how difficult that would be. Even someone as talented as Toriyama Akira had been rejected many times early in his career, only achieving success after gaining experience through shorter works before the rise of Dr. Slump.
Although Akira was confident in the story and setting of Fate/stay night, in Takeuchi Takashi's art style, and in his own drawing ability, he still wanted a backup plan.
That backup was the Tezuka Award.
The Tezuka Award was a newcomer manga award established by Shueisha in 1971. Named after the "God of Manga," Osamu Tezuka, it was held twice a year, with Weekly Shonen Jump mangaka serving as judges.
The award had three tiers: Selected, Semi-Selected, and Honorable Mention, with prize money of one million, five hundred thousand, and two hundred thousand yen respectively.
Winning works could be published in Weekly Shonen Jump and would attract the attention of editors. With strong performance, there was even a chance to secure serialization directly.
Many well-known Jump mangaka had risen through the Tezuka Award, including Hojo Tsukasa, Araki Hirohiko, Togashi Yoshihiro, and Inoue Takehiko.
If he could not secure serialization immediately, the Tezuka Award would serve as his second path.
The award was held twice a year. The deadline for the first half had already passed on March 31, so he would participate in the second half.
The submission requirements were a manuscript size of 330 to 365 mm vertically and 230 to 260 mm horizontally, with a standard frame of 270 by 180 mm. The work had to be a complete original one-shot, black and white, up to 55 pages.
These requirements were mostly the same as he remembered. The main difference was that in his original world, the page limit had been 31 pages, whereas here it was more generous.
A typical weekly chapter contained around 20 pages, so 55 pages were enough to tell a complete and satisfying story.
Since he was only drawing a short manga, he had many possible choices. However, because his ultimate goal was to serialize Fate/stay night, he had already decided on the story.
He picked up his pen and wrote the title on a blank manuscript sheet.
"Emiya Kiritsugu."
Fate/stay night tells the story of the Fifth Holy Grail War experienced by Emiya Shirou, while Fate/Zero, often abbreviated as Fz, is a prequel novel written by Gen Urobuchi at the request of Nasu Kinoko, depicting the Fourth Holy Grail War.
Emiya Kiritsugu is the protagonist of Fate/Zero and the adoptive father of Emiya Shirou.
Fate/Zero was later adapted into an anime and became one of the most acclaimed and widely discussed works in the series.
However, one major issue with Fate/Zero was that its portrayal of Saber Artoria differed significantly from her depiction in Fate/stay night, and some plot elements did not align perfectly.
As a result, Nasu Kinoko later stated that Fate/Zero should be considered a parallel world rather than a strict prequel.
As for the debates between fans of both works, Akira had little interest in getting involved.
After all, the first Type-Moon work he encountered was not Fate/stay night or Fate/Zero, but The Garden of Sinners. His entry into the Fate series actually came through the mobile game Fate/Grand Order.
In that sense, he was at the very bottom of the fan hierarchy.
Returning to the main point.
Emiya Kiritsugu appeared only briefly in Fate/stay night, mainly through memories and mentions by other characters. It was in Fate/Zero that his character was fully explored.
As a child, Kiritsugu once dreamed of becoming a "Hero of Justice," but that dream was shattered early in life.
As an adult, he became someone who believed that the ends justify the means. Although he still longed for world peace, he could discard emotion and morality in pursuit of that goal, acting like a perfectly balanced scale.
When faced with the trolley problem, he would always choose to sacrifice the few to save the many without hesitation, yet he often felt anger and conflict because his actions contradicted his ideals.
Due to Gen Urobuchi's complex portrayal, Kiritsugu became a highly controversial character. Some sympathized with him, some mocked him, some saw him as an extreme idealist, and others viewed him as a tragic fool.
But none of that mattered right now.
What mattered was that his story was compelling, especially in 1999, when darker and unconventional narratives were not yet widespread.
The story Akira planned to draw focused on Kiritsugu's childhood, specifically the events corresponding to the "Distant Memories" episode.
Kiritsugu's father conducted forbidden experiments, turning his childhood friend Shirley into a Dead Apostle and leading to the destruction of their village.
To prevent further disaster, the young Kiritsugu chose to act. Following the logic of sacrificing the few to save the many, he confronted his father and killed him with his own hands.
This was undeniably a dark and unconventional development. If used for serialization, it might have been too risky for the era.
But as a one-shot, it was different.
In a time when such themes were still rare, this kind of story could stand out and leave a strong impression on the judges.
Moreover, as a character connected to Emiya Shirou, it could serve as an early introduction to the larger narrative.
The only regret was that the 55-page limit allowed only the story of Kiritsugu killing his father. There was no room to include other well-known scenes.
Still...
He took a deep breath, looked at the title on the manuscript, and thought with a hint of anticipation:
Let's see what kind of evaluation you receive in this world.
Emiya Kiritsugu.