It wouldn't be a good idea to go to the Manga Club today, so I'd just find somewhere to draw.
Tsukishima looked around and spotted a bench beneath a security camera.
He smiled at the camera, sat down on the bench, pulled out his drawing board and clipped on a sheet of paper. Then he hummed a little tune and started drawing.
Without a model, he picked an anime character on his phone and began sketching from the reference.
Start with the outline. Don't press too hard. Relax...
The somewhat messy lines on the scrap paper slowly came together into an outline.
"Tsukishima, what are you doing?"
Tsukishima turned around. "Whoa, am I already dead? The Archangel has appeared!"
Ichinose was already immune to the nickname. She rolled her eyes and sat down beside Tsukishima. "If I were the Archangel, I'd hit you with Heavenly Fire Burning the City. Are you drawing?"
Tsukishima had no intention of saving face. "Isn't that obvious? I'm learning to draw manga. Want an autograph from a future famous manga artist? You can sell it when you're down on your luck and recoup some of your losses."
Ichinose rolled her eyes. "So, does this future famous manga artist have any work out yet?"
Tsukishima gave a quiet snort. "The future famous manga artist is still learning."
"Archangel, want to invest? All it takes is one cute full-body photo, and you can buy a stake in the future superstar manga artist."
Ichinose stood up and struck a casual pose. "Just say you want free model photos. Is this good?"
She put one hand on her hip, flashed a peace sign with the other, and stretched out one long leg, doing her best to show off her figure.
Tsukishima hurriedly put down his drawing board, opened his phone's camera, and started circling Ichinose to take photos, chatting as he snapped away.
"Archangel, how have things been lately?"
"Not bad. It's just that the people in Class C are being awful. They keep picking on Class B, while also saying they want to work with us to fight Class A and Class D."
"Class C probably says that to every class, right? They team up with Class A to mess with Class B, team up with you to mess with Class D, then team up with us to mess with you. Sheesh, when you put it that way, Class B really has it rough. But I guess it makes sense. You're all good kids, the type who get bullied."
Ichinose changed her pose. "That's a pretty harsh thing to say, Tsukishima."
Tsukishima kept taking pictures and answered offhandedly. "The kind-hearted get bullied, and the gentle horse gets ridden. That's just how it is."
"Class C is a bunch of thugs. Like they say, a tree without bark is doomed to die, but a person without shame can conquer the world."
"Class A can be considered society's elite."
"Class B is made up of decent, upstanding people."
"Class C would probably be a bunch of unemployed lowlifes in the real world, living off petty theft, loan-sharking, organized crime, and working as muscle for shady businesses."
"Can petty thugs get close to the elite? No. The gap between their social classes is too big, and one word from an elite could get them dumped in Tokyo Bay."
"Take Sakayanagi Arisu from Class A, for example. Would Ryuuen dare treat her the way he treats you? He'd touch her finger in the morning, be dumped in Tokyo Bay by noon, and have a funeral by evening."
"So the only people they can take advantage of are ordinary folks like those in Class B. You follow the law, observe social norms, and don't have powerful connections. You're a guaranteed profit if they manage to scam you, and no loss if they don't."
Ichinose opened her mouth, her tone complicated. "Then what about Class D?"
"Class D is made up of society's outcasts. We all have our flaws, but if we can overcome them, plenty of us could soar to great heights."
Ichinose fell quiet after that. Tsukishima didn't say anything more, and kept circling her, snapping away as she shifted from pose to pose.
After a while, Tsukishima stopped and nodded with satisfaction. "Thank you so much, Miss Archangel. I've been desperate for a model lately!"
Ichinose came over and took his phone. "You're pretty good at taking pictures, future famous manga artist."
Tsukishima casually took the phone back. "That's because my model is pretty. If you'd found me a three-hundred-kilo elephant, no matter how I took the pictures, they wouldn't have turned out well."
Ichinose smiled. "All right, I should get going. I just happened to run into you and wanted to say hi."
Tsukishima pulled out his phone and started tapping away. "Wait. I can't let the Archangel model for me for free."
As he spoke, he transferred 30,000 personal points to Ichinose.
Ichinose frowned. "Thirty thousand?! That's way too much. Besides, friends should help each other out. I can't accept—"
Tsukishima hurriedly stopped her. "Don't. If you don't take it, I won't dare ask you for help next time. Even brothers keep their accounts straight. I'll need you to cosplay all kinds of characters for me in the future."
Ichinose stopped. "Cosplay other characters?"
Tsukishima nodded. "Like a magical girl captured by tentacle monsters, a good student being threatened by delinquents, or a wife who has to endure humiliation so her husband can keep his job."
Ichinose stared at Tsukishima with a strange expression, then took a few steps back and hugged herself. "I don't think those sound like proper manga characters..."
Tsukishima feigned confusion. "Aren't those all perfectly normal characters?"
Ichinose rolled her eyes. "Maybe you should read more normal manga. I'll take the points. See you."
"See you."
He watched Ichinose's ponytail sway as she disappeared around the corner.
Tsukishima sat back down on his bench and continued drawing.
Buzz!
A message popped up on his phone.
[ Kushida ]: Help! I'm going to die!
[ Tsukishima ]: Should I buy you accident insurance? Can I put my name down as the beneficiary?
[ Kushida ]: Go die, go die, go die! It's the study session!
[ Tsukishima ]: What happened at the study session?
[ Kushida ]: That brainless gorilla, Sudo! Calling him a gorilla is an insult to gorillas! Why doesn't he just die?!
[ Tsukishima ]: An angry bird shaped like a basketball.
[ Kushida ]: And that bastard Yamauchi! Look at your textbook! Why are you looking at me?! He keeps staring at my chest and drooling. It's so gross! If he's sick, he should go get treated!
[ Tsukishima ]: There's nothing you can do about that. He'd still drool even if he got treated.
[ Kushida ]: And Hirata, with that fake smile plastered all over his face! Sit down and study properly! Why do you keep pacing around?! Who asked you to meddle? I want to peel off his face and see what's underneath!
[ Tsukishima ]: Please go easy on Hirata Superman.
[ Kushida ]: And Kanji Ike, that conceited idiot! He picked up a calculus book and is pretending to read it, but he's holding it upside down!
[ Tsukishima ]: It's spring. They're fighting for mating rights.
[ Kushida ]: The most disgusting one is Horikita! She's like an ice cube, like a robot, just reciting the answers and then asking if we understand. Understand my ass!
[ Kushida ]: Ha! They're fighting! The gorilla just slammed the table!
[ Tsukishima ]: Remember to record it!
Before you continue