霞之丘詩羽 felt that perhaps the day she first met Kasuga no Tōru in the coffee shop was the beginning of her good fortune.
Although work on the second volume had only just begun, the girl was even more confident than she was when creating the first volume. The newest "Love Rhythm," would be even more popular and successful than the first volume!
"Well, Kasuga no Tōru, you know better than anyone why I'm thanking you, right? I appreciate that you're unwilling to take advantage of this, but if you keep refusing the gratitude of a beautiful girl and don't accept it at all, it will make me angry, you know." 霞之丘詩羽 showed a limited edition, soothing expression that no one at 風ノ崎 had ever seen before, and the coldness in her eyes faded a lot.
Kasuga no Tōru scratched his head, "Why isn't she following the script?"
Isn't the so-called "society person" all about hypocritical compliments and excuses?
There's no way someone would flip their face like this.
Kasuga no Tōru didn't feel embarrassed by being exposed, because the reason was simple.
"Senpai, I received payment, so all of this is what I should be doing. Have you ever seen a greedy boss who would thank their employees?"
"So, in Kasuga no Tōru's eyes, I'm actually a greedy capitalist?" 霞之丘詩羽 was in a better mood, and she had the energy to joke around.
Kasuga no Tōru gulped, because at the same time as 霞之丘詩羽's joking words, the girl also wrapped her arms around herself and pushed out her chest.
"This...should be pretty pure, right?"
Of course, Kasuga no Tōru wouldn't dare say that, otherwise, before lunch break was over, he would become the number one enemy of all the boys in 風ノ崎!
So he could only awkwardly shift his gaze and said with a laugh, "Senpai, you're thinking too much. You paid me such a high price, how could you be a greedy capitalist?"
"Kasuga no Tōru, you know," the girl proudly raised her chin, then continued, "If we're talking about capitalists, that title would be more suitable for 澤村 senpai."
Kasuga no Tōru was dumbfounded. He really wanted to ask: "Senpai, you actually have a good relationship with 澤村 senpai, right?"
After all, the girl who kept talking about payment, really did look like a capitalist.
"Speaking of 澤村 senpai, you've been getting along well with her lately, haven't you, Kasuga no Tōru?"
Kasuga no Tōru swore that for a moment he thought his long-awaited cheat code had finally arrived, even though it was years late.
He didn't believe that this kind of jealous development wasn't something the protagonist could enjoy.
But in just half a second, Kasuga no Tōru had very sensibly retracted his thoughts.
This is one of the most common problems in casual conversations between friends. There's nothing else to it. If he still needs to flip through a book like "Ten Thousand Thoughts of a Girl" when talking to girls, Kasuga no Tōru felt that he would eventually die of exhaustion.
Because, without saying anything else, just Kato Megumi's ambiguous words alone could make him collapse.
"Oh? It seems like Kasuga no Tōru is thinking about other girls, is it 澤村 senpai?" 霞之丘詩羽's eyes were full of gossip. After all, she was a normal girl in her youth, and she also wrote romance novels, so it's understandable that she would be interested in this kind of thing.
"No, no, Senpai, don't talk nonsense. Someone like 澤村 with a family background like hers is not something a normal person like me can even think about. Besides, Senpai and 澤村 senpai are both school beauties of 風ノ崎. You must know that if this sentence gets to other people's ears, I will be dead, right?" Kasuga no Tōru put on a scared expression, looking like a weak and bullied child.
They say that one's heart is reflected in their face. The boy's fear wasn't a pretense.
He was really afraid. If people misunderstood that he had a crush on 澤村 senpai, things would be really troublesome. Thinking about the many supporters of 英梨梨 and 澤村's terrifying family background, Kasuga no Tōru felt that the hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end.
And he felt that if such rumors really did come out, he would be the most unwilling person.
Because that would make a certain girl misunderstand.
Although Kasuga no Tōru repeatedly denied that he didn't have that kind of thought in his heart, the image of a girl slowly emerged.
Smiling brightly, gentle and sweet.
"I'm really not right lately," the boy shook his head, throwing the unreliable thoughts out of his head.
…
霞之丘詩羽 left the outline of the second volume with Kasuga no Tōru. She had the original on her computer, and as long as Kasuga no Tōru could keep this outline safe and not let anyone else get it, there would be no problem.
Of course, Kasuga no Tōru would keep this outline safe. This was his livelihood. If he wanted to get paid for the illustrations of the second volume of "Love Rhythm," the premise was that the novel would be successfully published.
Whoever dared to touch his livelihood, he would fight them!
Of course, 霞之丘詩羽 wasn't just casually throwing the outline to Kasuga no Tōru. Due to time constraints, they had to start working at the same time.
If they waited until the novel was finished before working on the illustrations, they would definitely not be able to meet the scheduled publication date. As mentioned before, because of the energy spent battling wits with the current editor, and the time wasted arguing with the previous illustrator, the girl didn't have much time left.
Later, because of 霞之丘詩羽's poor decision, she was forced to adjust and modify the outline, which took another week or so.
Now, it can be said that the biggest problem facing "Love Rhythm" is a lack of time.
So Kasuga no Tōru had no choice but to create the illustrations based on the outline, even though he didn't have the novel. Fortunately, he was well prepared. Not only did he get all the illustration requirements from 霞之丘詩羽, he even got his hands on the scenery and locations that would appear in the novel.
As long as he does a good job of scouting, and combines his understanding of the novel from the first volume, he can prepare the work to be eight or nine out of ten.
Although his illustrations will definitely need to be adjusted after the novel is finished, it's always easier to make fine-tuning adjustments with a finished product than to start from scratch with nothing.
It has to be said that technology is really good. With the help of equipment like a digital tablet, modifications are a breeze.
Work is like this. When you have a goal and enough motivation, it becomes very energetic.
For example, right now, after reading 霞之丘詩羽's outline, Kasuga no Tōru suddenly felt full of motivation.
Because people are all empathetic. After reading the first volume, the boy didn't have a good impression of the protagonist, Naoki.
Why should someone who has nothing but kindness be favored by Sayaka?
Love is always a two-way street. If only one person is working hard, that kind of feeling will never last.
But in the second volume, with his guidance, 霞之丘詩羽 finally realized that there was actually a male protagonist in "Love Rhythm."
Kasuga no Tōru had already put himself in the position of the male protagonist. He's never afraid of putting in the effort, he's only afraid of not being good enough.
Of course, even if he worked hard enough, the heroine is not Sayaka for him.
But rather, the true Mai, who is more like a certain girl.