V4C1...

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Part 11

Take the elevator up to the top

floor and press the intercom on the door again.

"Ye~s, hold on!"

There was a sound of footsteps

from the back, along with a voice from the doorbell,

"I'm sorry to have kept

you waiting!"

A girl in her early twenties,

maybe younger, came out from inside, wearing a red camisole and a short skirt,

very light clothing for May, and looking rather sensual.

Her hair was a bleached gold

color, and she had a silver accessory on her finger, a type that I hadn't seen

around me at all for a while now.

As I stared in amazement at her

appearance,

"Hashiba-san, welco... are?"

Smiling, calling my name,

"Ah... Morishita-san also

come?"

She looked awkward and averted

her gaze.

"...Minori-sensei, it's

been a long time. I said that but I've been here for the past week."

A voice that sounded like it

was coming from the depths of hell was uttered at the door.

"Ha... hahaha, iya~a, um..."

Regardless of her flamboyant

appearance, the successful illustrator, Minori Ayaka, scratched her head and

bowed her head with a very apologetic look on her face.

Minori Ayaka. Her real

name is Saikawa Minori. She is a very popular illustrator with over

200,000 followers.

It seemed... she had been in

charge of original drawings for bishojo games and illustrations for light

novels, but three years ago, a character in a social game she was in charge of

became a big hit, and with the release of the anime, she quickly became a major

figure.

I was informed of this

information for the first time in the meeting room earlier. She did not exist

in my original world. No, she might have existed, but at least she was not in

my sight.

With 200,000 followers, it

would not be surprising if I knew at least one of her names or pictures. If

not, then she probably wasn't that famous to begin with.

But she was a very famous

person in this world.

Somewhere, the gears clicked in

a different direction, and that's how we ended up... I suppose that's what happens.

"No, um, I didn't mean it,

really."

We were ushered into a room,

Morishita-san and I moved into a phase where we just listened to her excuses.

None of us had touched the

macaroons I had brought as a souvenir, or the tea Ayaka had prepared. We just

faced each other on the neatly arranged reception set and exchanged a few words.

"You know, there are times

when you just can't get into the work. There are times when no matter how many

lines you draw, all you get is a picture that looks like nothing at all."

Minori Ayaka despite her

hard-to-get-to appearance, was a rather frank woman. According to the

documents, her illustration delivery was also popular due to her friendly

character, and she was widely known as an illustrator who could attract

customers at talk events.

Attraction Point has several

production lines in operation, and one of them has Minori Ayaka as the main

character designer. The use of one of the most popular illustrators of the day

brought the work to a high level of attention, but the price was soon paid.

She was very late.

Morishita Miki, who had been

with the company for three years, was completely overwhelmed and exhausted by

it. She was stuck and consulted her boss, Kawasegawa, who then passed the baton

to me... that’s the reason.

Yes. Today's mission was

to get in touch with Minori Ayaka and hopefully get her to work.

"And? Then you don't want

to do anything anymore and you don't want to talk to anyone. Do you understand?

Did you understand?"

Morishita-san responded to

Ayaka's rambling at once.

"I understand. I

understand that there are times when illustrators do that, and I understand it."

"Yes, I am glad."

"But!"

Morishita-san's tone became

stronger.

"Then, if that's the case,

why don't you contact me, even if it's just to say a few words. I couldn't get

through to the phone or the intercom for a week, so I couldn't take any action,

and my stomach was in knots!"

It was like a cry from the

heart.

"Y-Yes... no, I'm sorry."

As for Ayaka-sensei, she seemed

to want to put the situation to rest somehow.

"Uuh ~ ..."

Morishita-san was still staring

at Ayaka. I know exactly how you feel.

Well, no matter what I said, it

was her fault for using the answering machine and losing contact with us, and if

there is any excuse for this, it is to appeal to the uniqueness of the

profession.

But now that she had said it,

she had no choice but to say "I'm sorry". If she tried to use any

other defense, she would be forced to go through with it.

Morishita-san is, fuu, let out a

breath and said,

"I understand. Sensei says

she is sorry, and that's all for today. We'll talk again when you're feeling

better..."

Taking a helping hand, Ayaka

nodded her head in agreement.

"Yes yes, see you later,

I'll contact you properly next time."

"Please do that? Then, let's

talk about the matter of coverage..."

Morishita-san started checking

the calendar application on her phone for press announcements and online media

interviews.

All I was asked to do was to

open the door and go inside. After that, it was better to leave it to

Morishita-san, who was involved in the whole project, rather than me, who

didn't know the circumstances.

I'm not going to do anything

extra. That's what I thought, but...

"……Sensei"

However, I had my doubts about

Ayaka.

Talk to them while looking at

the documents about the work process so far.

"The new character and

design were scheduled to be upgraded at the end of February. But now it's past

Golden Week. It's the first time you've ever taken this long."

Ayaka's face reacted with

surprise.

"U-Um, Hashiba-san...?"

Morishita-san gave me a puzzled

look, but I didn't care and continued with my talk.

"Things were going

relatively smoothly up to that point, but when it came to the creation of new

characters, the pen clearly stopped. I don't think this is simply a matter of

time... what do you think?"

Ayaka and I looked at each

other with serious expressions. As if the exchange that had just taken place

had been a lie, the place was covered with a tense atmosphere.

Maybe it was not the right

thing to say. Perhaps it would have been better to leave it at that and talk

about it later.

But I decided that it would be

dangerous to leave this issue here. After all, we had lost touch with her. She

seems to be acting normally now, but it might just be that this girl Ayaka is desperately

trying to act.

Then we need to listen

properly. If we are going to make any progress even a little.

"...Hmm"

Ayaka frowned as if she had

difficulty saying it, but then she took a breath as if she had made up her mind,

"I knew I can't fool you,

Hashiba-san "

She said with a little chuckle,

"I don't have anything to

draw...... anymore."

She murmured, as if letting out

a sigh.

Morishita-san looked surprised.

"Eh, um, that means... you're

going to stop drawing?"

"I'm starting to think

about that too."

"Look, you have goals, right,

like making it into an anime or a stage show, and we're thinking of eventually

making a movie version of this game."

"I think I've already done

all that."

There was nothing to be done.

"S-Sensei has a lot of

fans. Isn't it possible for you to keep drawing for those fans?"

It was a perfectly reasonable

persuasion, I thought.

But Ayaka is,

"Of course, I'm grateful

to my fans. But the desire to draw is another thing."

"No way..."

"There is no competition

or rather where to look to draw, I don’t understand."

Ayaka was

laughing. However, the smile looked lonely.

"I've tried everything

from sitting at my desk, holding a tablet pen, looking at the screen, looking

at the ceiling, closing and opening my eyes, switching to analog... but it

didn't work at all."

Morishita-san was unable to say

anything else. It must have never occurred to her that the situation was this

serious.

I was relatively calm. This

is because I had often heard about the loneliness of top creators in my former

world. If they had rivals or other people they were aware of, they could work

hard in friendly competition, but the moment they got to the top, they were

burnt out and couldn't make the next move.

But this calmness isn't based

on a response plan. It was only because things had happened in the expected

range.

(I'm hoping for some kind of a

breakthrough)

It would be a pity for

Morishita-san and Ayaka if things ended up like this, even though they had made

an appointment and were able to talk.

In times like this, there must

be something I can do to help.

For now, I looked around the

room.

The room was 3LDK, and there

was quite a bit of space to spare.

The walls and furnishings were

all white, and the floor and shelves were neat and tidy as if she was a

meticulous person.

There was a work space in the

back. Perhaps she works in analog as well, there was a desk with a tracing

table and a bunch of color pens, and a desk with a large LCD tablet.

I glance at the screen without

thinking about it.

"Are, this

picture"

I stood up and approached the

LCD tablet.

"Wai, it's still in the

process of drawing, and it's embarrassing, so I still don’t tell any..."

Ayaka stopped me, but I didn't

care and faced the screen head-on.

"This is……"

It was a single illustration

drawn with a landscape included.

A girl wearing a one-piece

dress and a cardigan is beaming at us in the middle of an expanse of Japanese

pampas grass. The backlit sun and the orange color that covers the whole

picture are beautiful, and the watercolor style of the painting fits the

illustration very well.

Before coming here from the

office, I had already checked out the typical illustrations that Ayaka had

drawn so far. But the illustration in front of me did not resemble any of them.

"Very good"

"Eh?"

Ayaka showed a surprised

expression at my words.

"It's a very nice drawing.

Your style seems to be different from what you usually do, but you seem to be

so used to it from the past that you seem to fit right in. The content and the

touch of the drawing match each other perfectly, and to be honest, I was completely

overwhelmed "

It wasn't flattery, it was

sincere words.

I'm not a professional artist,

so I can't comment on the technical aspects of color design or drawing, but

there was definitely a power that drew me into the world of this picture.

Besides, I had seen this

picture, or a picture with a very similar atmosphere to this one, somewhere. I

couldn't remember where or what it was called.

Ayaka's expression changed from

surprise to joy,

"I~ am~ so happy! Really? Do

you really like this picture, Hashiba-san?"

"Yes, very much"

"Yatta! I tried to draw

this picture with the touch I had when I first started drawing seriously.

Because I was confused about many things, I wanted to go back to my roots."

I see. So that's why the tone

was different from the previous ones.

"It's the touch of an

artist I used to admire. I really, really loved it."

When Ayaka said that, her eyes

seemed to sparkle like a young child's for a moment.

An existence that she admired

so much.

"Can I have the data for

this illustration later?"

"Of course! When it's

finished, I'll send it to Hashiba-san first!"

Ayaka jumped happily,

"I think I'm a little more

motivated!"

Turning to Morishita-san, she

declared cheerfully.

"Eh, eeh, really, sensei!"

"Well, not right away, but

it made me want to try to be positive... I guess. Since we can't stop here,

let's make a plan for the next meeting."

"O-Okay! I-I-I'll bring

out my notebook, please wait a moment."

Morishita-san pulled out her

notebook from her bag and started flipping through the pages as if they were

about to tear.

I peeked at Ayaka's expression.

The expression of nostalgia for

the past, looking into the distance, was always imprinted on the eyes.

Part 12

"Tha~~~nk you very

much!"

On the train ride on the way

back, I saw Morishita-san bowing to me in a different way than on the way there.

"I don't think she's going

to draw right away, is that okay?"

"It's okay, sensei, who

always makes vague plans, has made great progress just by setting a proper

schedule."

It's a headache to think about

what kind of interaction they've had so far.

In a group project, delays with

no clear future are the most severe. Even if it is a long delay, it is easier

to take countermeasures if the deadline is known.

In that respect, it could

certainly be called progress.

"Sensei draws really great

pictures, but when she doesn't feel like it, nothing comes out..."

Morishita-san murmured with a

gloomy expression.

"Indeed, it's a wonderful

picture."

Her illustrations, which I saw

on the train on the way there and on site, as well as samples, were indeed

wonderful and gave off an aura of success.

This made me even more curious

as to why I hadn't heard of her in 2016, when I was originally there.

(Well, it was a matter of

timing, I guess)

There are plenty of artists who

have done exceptionally well but have remained unnoticed because of their

choice of genre or the attention their work has received.

"Thanks to you, we've decided

what to do next, and it's been a great gain."

"That's right, I guess

we'll solve it...... for now"

While answering, there was one

thing that was bothering me.

Whether it was Kawasegawa or

Morishita-san, I could see that they were counting on me as a bargaining chip

with Ayaka. If there wasn't some kind of relationship there, they wouldn't

treat me that way.

Also, her reaction when I rang

the intercom. It was clear that she recognized me as "someone she knew

well".

What were the circumstances

that led to this?

"I wonder if she's ever

worked with me before..."

Just as I was about to say

this, Morishita-san's phone rang.

"Ah, I'm sorry. There's a

call from the office... Hello? Ah, president!"

"President……?"

From the point of view of the

person on the other end of the phone, it seemed that this topic would have to

wait for now.

"Yes, yes, right, Hashiba-san

is... yes, we talked about our plans for now, then... We're on our way back now,

yes, thank you for your time."

As expected, the call went on

for a long time, and I lost the chance to ask her about my relationship with

Ayaka.

Part 13

As soon as we arrived at the

office, Morishita-san let out a big sigh.

"Um, Hashiba-san"

"The president may say

this and that, but please don't worry about it."

I wondered if it was related to

the phone call she had just received.

"Eh, you're not just going

to report it? Is there something serious happening?"

"No, but the president has

a tendency to expect too much from Hashiba-san."

I tilt my head, not knowing

what she was talking about.

"Well, it's okay. I don't

really care what they say..."

As soon as I opened the door to

the development room, a loud voice greeted me and Morishita-san.

"Hashiba-kun! I'm in a bit

of trouble. You have to convince her to draw, like you always do!"

Then suddenly he grabbed me by

the shoulders and rocked me back and forth.

"Eh, um"

"Because if I leave it to

you, most things will be managed, and you're always the one I ask when I have

creator-related problems, right? I'm begging you!"

He wore shoulder-length long

hair and a shirt that was left open at the chest. He was wearing a jacket, but

its color was a painful red.

Anyway, the mood was light. His

voice is also strangely high. I guess you could call it rowdy fashion. I didn't

feel any sense of calmness or heaviness at all.

(...So this is the president?)

Morishita-san sighed in

resignation. I looked around and saw that the development team members were

also looking at us with indifferent eyes.

"Um, president, as I told

you on the phone earlier, thanks to Hashiba-san, we have our next appointment."

Morishita-san intervened and

followed up,

"But we're not going to

get new character designs yet, are we? Then we won't be able to leverage it

right away!"

It didn't seem to have much

effect.

"That's why you should get

it as soon as possible! That project wouldn't be possible without Minori Ayaka!"

After saying only what he had

to say, the president left the development room.

All that was left was a sigh

and a weak smile. From the looks of things, the project was not looking good.

After the president left, I

went to Kawasegawa's seat to give my report.

When I called out to her, she

stopped tapping on the keyboard and turned to face me.

"I'm sorry, even though

you saved me a lot of trouble, I made you feel uncomfortable."

Then she suddenly started with

an apology.

"It doesn't bother me. I'm

used to dealing with people like that."

When I think about it, there

were a lot of bosses like that when I was working on bishojo games. Some of

them were more unreasonable than others, and I can say they were still better

than others.

"But he seemed like a

decent guy until the app hit the jackpot. Apparently, the money changed the

person."

Kawasegawa sighed.

"In the old days, I would

have challenged the president right there. But I couldn't. Maybe it's my age."

Unexpected words were uttered

by her.

"That's not true, that

doesn't sound like you."

"You're the only one who's

ever said that to me."

Chuckling, she turned her

attention back to the PC.

"I heard about the report

from Morishita. Thank you."

It seemed that she had received

a status report e-mail and was already aware of the current situation and

future plans of Minori Ayaka.

"...That said, but it's

going to take some time, though."

"It's okay. Still, it's a

big step forward on this one."

Her expression seemed to show

some fatigue. Considering the situation in the development room when I arrived

at the office, she must have overworked herself quite a bit.

I left Kawasegawa's seat and

went back to my own seat. On the way, I thought about many things.

In addition to Ayaka's case, it

was obvious that it would be better to help her. But I didn't know what to do,

and moving in the dark would only make people suspicious.

(Anyway, nothing's gonna start until

I understand the situation)

I went back to my desk and

started up my PC, which looked as if it belonged to someone else.

The first thing I saw was a

calendar service that ran in a browser.

"If it's me surely, write

a lot of things here... There it is."

It was as expected. On the side

of the calendar, there was a list of to-do lists, where all the necessary tasks

were written in date order.

This is the kind of experience

that it's easy to come back to once you've been in the working world.

"It's mostly just meetings

with outside parties and some checking. Okay..."

At the moment, there didn't

seem to be anything that required any special skills.

For the time being, it looks

like I'll be okay as long as I do what's here for the time being.

"Then, let's see what the

actual work"

Titles I've never seen before

and mysterious files are placed in a pile.

The thought of having to check

these ones by one is enough to make me lose my energy before I even start.

"Hmm..."

There must be a lot of plans

and settings that must already be in my mind.

Before that, there were a lot

of prerequisites that needed to be known, such as the structure of the company

and its general system.

Somehow, I have to find a way

to reduce the process as much as possible.

But so far I hadn't been able

to come up with a reliable method.

"Um, Hashiba-san"

After finishing the paperwork,

Morishita-san came to my seat and bowed.

"Thank you very much for

today. I'd like to give something back to you, so if there's anything I can do,

please let me know..."

She was about to say something,

but I stopped her,

"Then, is it fine, right

now?"

"H-Ha"

After getting the consent of

the surprised Morishita-san, I immediately reserved a small conference room.

Part 14

"Actually, I had a bit of

a problem last weekend."

As soon as I entered the

conference room, I spoke to Morishita-san in a small voice.

"We were out with the

family for a bit and I got a little excited and hit my head on a tree."

"Eh ?! Are you all right?"

Morishita-san flustered,

looking worried.

…… As expected, the setting of

the accident was a bad idea. Well, let's move on.

"And when I checked myself

out, there was no trauma or internal bleeding."

"T-That's good to hear,

really."

Morishita-san looks relieved.

This girl's expression changes so often it's funny.

"But here's the problem."

"Eh, what was that?"

Now she's making a face like she's

in trouble.

"I'm having temporary

memory loss, and it's interfering with my work."

"N-No way! That's very

serious, isn't it...!"

She looks like it's the end of

the world.

"Don't tell anyone, not

even Kawasegawa, of course."

"Y-Yes! I won't say

it!"

It seems that my credibility in

this world is quite high....

"I've been told that I'll

be back to normal after a while, but for now, I just want to get the memories I

need for work back. For that, I need Morishita-san's help."

"M-My help!"

"Ah, I'm going to ask you

a lot of questions, and I want you to tell me what you know about it. Mostly

about me, in the company."

Morishita-san nodded heavily,

"I understand! I'll do my

best to remember!"

She declared emphatically. Good

girl.

It was a rather rambling excuse,

but the premise was now in place.

"First of all, about my

position in the company ..."

I started by asking her how I

came to this company. Apparently, I did not join here as a new graduate,

but as a mid-career hire.

I changed jobs about three

years ago, and my position is Director. She told me about my previous job in

the same industry, but the details are unknown.

"It was a bishojo game

maker or something, I'm sorry, I don't remember that part."

Well, I think it's probably

along those lines.

"Let me know when you

remember. Then we'll continue."

The 3rd Entertainment Division

is the company's flagship department, and is responsible for the development of

social games. Of the four teams, I am the leader of Team B, which is called the

"Hashiba Team".

"Hashiba-san's team is

known for their excellent progress, and they're good at putting together works

that consistently produce solid profits on a reasonable schedule."

It's safe and makes a fair

amount of money.

I thought, ‘What a typical team

for me’.

"So, Kawasegawa is the

representative here?"

Kawasegawa is both the section

chief of the 3rd Entertainment Division and the leader of the first A-team.

Currently, she is working as a

producer for a large social game that is about to be released, while also

monitoring the development status of the four teams, A, B, C, and D.

"That's a lot of work"

That's my honest opinion,

"That's right. To be

honest, I'm a little worried ..."

Morishita-san also nodded

honestly.

Kawasegawa herself had joined

this company before I did.

I heard she was as capable as

ever and had risen steadily in her career.

"As you can see, there's

so much work to be done, and it's becoming obvious that she's tired."

Morishita-san, who was working

as her direct assistant, was worried about that.

"Then Ayaka-san's accident

happened. I didn't want to give Kawasegawa-san any more trouble than she

already had, so I even suggested that we ask Hashiba-san to help."

Considering Kawasegawa's past

personality, she must have wanted to avoid relying on me as much as possible.

But the fact that she accepted it means that she must have been cornered on the

very edge.

"Okay, thank you very

much. I may need to talk to you again, so I am counting on you."

"No, not at all! Now if

you'll excuse me."

Morishita-san returned to the

development room, banging her body here and there as she had this morning.

For the time being, I was able

to grasp the current situation. As for what to do from now on, it's up to me to

decide.

"I want to know about my

private life too..."

My own family photo on my desk,

feels like a stranger.

This one would be much more

difficult, because I couldn't ask anyone.

Part 15

By the time it was past six in

the evening, I was already on the train home.

The main reason was that my

team was still in the preparation stage of development. If the development was

at its climax, we would have been in an atmosphere where we would have had to

stay overnight.

Anyway, it was fortunate that I

had relatively free time. In my free time, I can afford to look up things I

don't understand.

(The Kirakira Time manga is now

a social game, huh... eh, last spring cour, did this anime hit so much?)

I couldn't help but let my

interest get the better of me, and I even looked at unrelated information.

In this regard, the environment

was much easier to work in than it had been ten years ago. Most things could be

done on my smartphone, and by searching Goggle and other services by year, I

could track what I was doing at least in bits and pieces.

It was easy to see who I had

interacted with in the recent past by looking at the RINE logs, and it was

sufficient to check the dropbox for work and personal files.

I am reminded that most of the

information about me has moved to the cloud in the past 10 years.

Speaking of RINE's log, I was

also struck by the fact that the topics of conversation with my close friends

had completely switched by physical condition and children.

In the past, all we talked

about was games, novels, and anime, and who we were dating, but now the log was

filled with recommendations for osteopathic clinics and what medicine we were

taking.

(...It makes me sad, so I stop

looking)

I changed my mind and decided

to look at an anime information site from my browser.

(Then what's next cour...

Guwa!)

I was just typing a word into

the search window when a large number of passengers boarded the train, making

it impossible to do so.

"Commuting... I think it's

time to do something about it"

It seemed that no matter what I

did after ten years, there was no sign of any improvement at all.

After returning to my home, I

continued my investigation.

In just a little over a year,

many things have happened. Video distribution services are growing by leaps and

bounds, virtual currency, which was still a hot topic, has become a social

issue, and so on.

In just this amount of time, I

became Urashima Taro, so I thought that if I brought someone from 2007 here, it

would probably be a terrible thing.

There are many people who have

changed everything from their position to everything else since then. Some

people's work has changed as they have developed, while others have suddenly

appeared and done amazing work.

But what is particularly

surprising is the change in the bishojo game business. This is because people

who used to be in a rather minor genre have come to the fore in an interesting

way in the past ten years.

"Uoh, The writer of Kikokugai is working on a scenario for an anime about a magical girl, e~eh, the

character designer is the creator of Hidamari Switch UOOOOOOH."

I reproduced it in Hikawa's

voice. But I'm sure he'll be more surprised than this.

In the past, Bishojo Games were

the main battlefield for experimental works, but this has shifted to free

games, smartphone applications, and downloadable sites such as Steam. In

addition, the creators are not only Japanese, but many of them are from

overseas.

In a word, the world has gotten

bigger. Tremendously so.

I was absorbed in my search and

kept looking into things.

"Dad"

I came to my senses and looked

in the direction of the voice.

In front of me, I saw Shinoaki

with pouting lips and Maki imitating her, making the same face.

"You said it was forbidden

to touch the phone during the meal, didn't you? That's no good, right?"

"No good ~"

"S-Sorry"

Unconsciously, I was so

absorbed in my searching. I turned off my phone and put it down where I

couldn't reach for it.

"Come on, Maki, hold it in

your hand and eat it."

"Ye~s"

When I look around, I see that

everything is filled with happy elements.

At first, my mind was filled

with a sense of uneasiness, but as I slowly got used to it, I began to think

that this life was good. After all, I had the people I loved by my side here,

and a stable job. There is no reason why it should be bad.

That's why I wanted to know

more about this world as soon as possible. I wanted to feel safe.

"Is your job hard?"

"Yeah, I've been doing

some research on a project."

"Hmm... I see."

I couldn't say that I was

looking into it because I had no memory of my own life, so I answered

Shinoaki's question with a muddled answer.

On the TV, there was news about

the Tokyo Olympics. The number of news reports seemed to be increasing as the

event approached.

"It's been two years now. The

staff at the Comima looks like they're having a hard time."

Shinoaki muttered.

"Right, has Shinoaki

signed up for the summer Comi? We need to arrange for a seller."

It was nothing, it was supposed

to be an everyday word.

For me, Shinoaki and the

drawings are connected in a way that is almost equal, and I don't think it's

possible for them to be apart.

It was supposed to be a very

natural question, like "What are we having for dinner next night?".

As long as Shinoaki exists in

this world, of course Akishima Shino also exists, and she has produced many

artworks for the world. I had always believed that such a reality existed.

―― That's why,

"Da-Kyouya, kun... what

are you talking about?"

Shinoaki said with a puzzled

expression,

"I quit drawing years ago,

you know."

I couldn't understand those

shocking words at all.

"Eh……"

Unintentionally, I got up from

my seat.

"Ha... Haa?"

I asked with a surprised

expression, and Shinoaki also looked at me with a surprised expression.

"W-Why...!"

Shinoaki remained silent. Her

expression became softer and softer, and then it became sad.

I blinked again and again. She

gently patted Maki's head, who was tilting her head next to her, and then.

"I don't have anything......

to draw anymore."

The words were so familiar, and

the words were so lonely, that she said to me.

On TV, the Olympics continues

to be a hot topic. A related topic was the special Comima event to be held in

May. Among the illustrations drawn by various artists, Shinoaki's picture,

which should have been there... I couldn't find even a single piece.

"You don't have anything...

to draw"

I slumped down in my seat

helplessly. I couldn't even respond to Shinoaki's worried gaze, just

questioning everything.

The world, which should have

been warm, seemed to cool rapidly.

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