Before coming here, Kasuga no Tōru had carefully read the first volume of Love Beat, and had thought over and over again about the image of Sayuka in his mind.
As for the male protagonist named Naoto?
Sorry, throw him away.
Who buys illustrations to see men, especially those who are inexplicably popular, those kind-hearted male leads?
He also knew that if he wanted to get this stable job, the most important thing was how to design the image of Sayuka.
He hadn't quite understood why the author of Love Beat would describe such a black-haired, long-haired, big-breasted girl, who was both alluring and unexpectedly innocent.
But when Kasuga no Tōru saw Kagiyama Shizuka, he understood everything.
Well, she wrote herself as the heroine...
To get back to the point, now that he understood Kagiyama Shizuka's purpose in creating Sayuka, the image he had prepared could be put to good use.
He also guessed why Kagiyama Shizuka had fallen out with the previous illustrator.
He silently offered his condolences to the unseen previous illustrator, and then looked down on the guy's lack of foresight. Kasuga no Tōru quickly began to draw.
Since it was just a small test, not for a formal release, he only used a pencil.
"Sayuka's identity is just a normal high school student, so the clothing design can't be too revealing. Otherwise, she won't look like a student, but like someone involved in prostitution," Kasuga no Tōru explained his inner thoughts to the other two as he drew.
Anyway, they asked him what his inner Sayuka was like. It was okay to be a little chatty at this point, right?
Besides, if he didn't say something to ease the tension, maybe it would become like when he first came in. That would be awkward.
"Through my understanding of Love Beat, Sayuka is a girl full of beautiful dreams about love. Such girls are usually innocent and kind-hearted."
"Although she went through a lot of hardships with the male lead, their relationship has been steady and progressing overall. So, in the illustrations, we should show Sayuka's growth. From an innocent little girl at the beginning, to a brave girl chasing after love in the later stages. These details cannot be missed."
Wow, although Kasuga no Tōru was talking about Sayuka the whole time, every compliment landed on Kagiyama Shizuka's heart.
Live teaching, interpreting Emotional Intelligence.
Kagiyama Shizuka felt like her heart skipped a beat.
She had poured her heart and soul into this novel, even transforming herself into Sayuka, becoming the heroine of this book. This shows how much she cared.
But writers often have a common problem. They want to hide their feelings as much as possible, but they also yearn for others to understand what they describe in their books. This contradictory psychology, if applied to real life, we often call it "tsundere".
But in literature, it's different.
We call it "reading comprehension".
Now, Kagiyama Shizuka felt like she had met a kindred spirit.
She is a pure girl who has never been in love, never had a boyfriend, and even has no one she likes.
But that doesn't stop her from being an ordinary teenage girl. Occasionally, when she sees a shoujo manga, she also fantasizes about what it would be like if she met her prince charming one day.
The only difference is that Kagiyama Shizuka is better than most people. She has a writing style that most people can't match. Therefore, she wrote her understanding of love into this novel called Love Beat.
She felt that she made a wise choice today in suppressing her inner frustration and agreeing to come here with Machida Sonoko. If Kasuga no Tōru hadn't continued his drawing, she would have wanted to discuss compensation directly with him.
Suppressing her inner excitement, Kagiyama Shizuka forced herself to focus on the drawing paper in front of her.
As Kasuga no Tōru continued to sketch, the image of a young girl came alive on the paper.
The girl was wearing a common sailor uniform in Japan, her long hair flowing, her hands clasped to her chest, with a gentle smile.
The smile seemed to soak into others' hearts, making them involuntarily feel a sense of pity.
But unlike her pure expression, the girl's figure was exceptionally voluptuous. Her heavy chest told everyone that she understood people.
She also understood what she should pay for love.
"Senpai, what do you think of this image? At least in my heart, Sayuka should look like this." A pencil drawing didn't take long, and soon he pushed the finished Sayuka in front of Kagiyama Shizuka.
"Kasuga no-kun... completely beyond my expectations." Kagiyama Shizuka couldn't help but exclaim upon seeing the finished Sayuka.
She still underestimated the boy in front of her.
Machida Sonoko, who was extremely familiar with Kagiyama Shizuka, had already known her inner thoughts from the expression on her face.
It seems like the illustrator for the second volume of Love Beat has been found.
"Senpai, those ambiguous words are not what a girl who wants to pursue love should say," Kasuga no Tōru winked at Kagiyama Shizuka and put away his pencil.
"It seems he really knows..." Kagiyama Shizuka sighed in her heart.
A kindred spirit, what a beautiful term.
It feels even better to have someone understand what you write.
"Kasuga no-sensei, let's talk about the compensation," Machida Sonoko, a shrewd person, knew that the deal was done when she saw their expressions.
Hmm, those words sound strange, as if these two have been on a blind date all along.
But the excited Machida Sonoko didn't care about anything else. As long as Love Beat could continue, she was satisfied.
"No problem. I want to hear what Senpai's offer is first," Kasuga no Tōru didn't hold back at all.
Didn't he come here today for this?
Someone who forgets their name, who forgets their original purpose after seeing a beautiful woman, that kind of personality doesn't fit Kasuga no Tōru's style.
"Currently, the compensation for illustrators in the industry is basically 20,000 yen per colored illustration, and about 10,000 to 15,000 yen for black and white," Machida Sonoko gave a price.
Kasuga no Tōru nodded. This was also what he had found out. It seems that Machida Sonoko didn't exaggerate just because he was a high school student, which solidified his desire to continue working with them.
"Machida editor, I plan to pay Kasuga no-kun 30,000 yen per illustration," Kagiyama Shizuka, who was supposed to just watch from the sidelines, suddenly spoke.
With this one sentence, the compensation almost doubled.
She doesn't care about money, she wants friends!