"Finished?"
Tsukishima's body jolted. With a crash, he knocked over his chair, whipped around, and clutched his chest, panting heavily. "Damn, you're still here? Why didn't you make a sound for so long? Did you go from a saint with tally marks all over her body to Sadako, stuck inside the TV?"
Kushida rolled her eyes. "So you do get scared."
She came over to Tsukishima and tentatively reached out to take the drawing from his hand.
The moment her gaze fell on the page, Kushida froze.
It was a chibi comic of Sige, drawn with simple lines but remarkably expressive.
Panel one:
A chibi boy sat in a chair, tears streaming down his face, looking like a total pushover.
But behind him stood a little figure who looked just like him, grinning wickedly, with two sharp little devil horns on his head.
And in front of the boy stood a well-behaved chibi nun with a blindfold, her hands clasped and her expression saintly.
But behind the nun, a long, thin devil's tail swished back and forth restlessly.
Panel two:
The chibi boy trembled and crouched in the corner, clutching his head, looking utterly pitiful.
Meanwhile, the little figure behind him laughed so hard he rolled around on the ground, tears flying from his eyes.
The blindfolded nun across from them had already dropped her act. Now she was a haughty little devil in revealing clothes, holding a small whip and looking down at him smugly.
Panel three:
The art style changed completely!
The chibi boy laughed with one hand on his hip, while his other hand firmly pressed against the little devil's forehead, keeping her from moving.
For an extra touch, the artist had drawn a little note beside the devil. Inside the box was a cartoon pig charging forward, with an arrow pointing straight at her.
Panel four:
The boy wore an extremely devious grin. The little figure behind him, representing his inner self, was laughing so hard that all that remained on his face was a huge mouth; his eyes had vanished entirely.
And the little devil, who had been so haughty just moments ago, was now sitting obediently in the shadow cast by the boy, trembling all over, with tears at the corners of her eyes.
Looking at the pig in the comic that represented her and the humiliating ending, Kushida's cheeks flushed. She gritted her teeth and said:
"That pig... are you insinuating that it's me? And another thing! I wasn't trembling! I was... making a strategic retreat!"
Tsukishima righted the chair and sat back down, spreading his hands with an innocent look. He casually stuffed the drawing into Kushida's arms.
"Art comes from life. Do you like it? You can have it. A memento of our first 'deep conversation.'"
Then he sighed with exaggerated regret.
"Ah, I'd planned to draw a doujin today, but you interrupted me. Next time, I'll make you the heroine of my doujin. How about this little-devil look? I've already got the title: 'My Roommate Is Actually a Sadistic Little Devil.'"
Kushida hugged the drawing to her chest with distaste and rolled her eyes even harder.
"Huh? I can lend you some women's clothes. Draw yourself instead. You can be both the hero and heroine, and you won't need a model to expose your perverted little secret!"
Tsukishima looked confused. "Is drawing doujin a secret?"
"Isn't it?" Kushida looked at him as if he were an idiot. "Shouldn't this kind of thing be done on the sly?"
Tsukishima raised one finger, perfectly self-assured. "Of course not. You draw doujin to share it. Why draw something if you're not going to share it? I'm going to make my debut as a doujin artist!"
"...You're seriously disgusting. How could anyone think this shouldn't be kept secret? If people find out, you'll be socially dead!"
"It's a perfectly respectable profession! Sure, the stuff I draw might be a little inappropriate, but there's a market for it. What does that tell you? People like it! Besides, not many people know about it yet. And think about it: the pressure at this school is intense. Don't the students need to blow off steam? We're all teenagers, right at that age when we're curious and have needs!"
"Is that so? Then I'll make sure to 'spread the word' for you. I'll let the whole class, the whole school, know about your grand ambition!"
"That'd be great! I bet people would pay to commission doujin about you. Heh heh, do your best for my points! I'll even give you a ten percent cut~"
"Huh? You creeps are already imagining all sorts of things about me in your heads! I contributed the character design and the idea, so why do I only get ten percent? At least split it fifty-fifty!"
"You have to ask me nicely just to get that ten percent. If I don't tell you about it, you won't get a single point! That's the price of information!"
"Drop dead!"
Kushida gathered her clothes and stormed out.
The door slammed shut.
The hallway was bright with sunshine, and the air was fresh.
The instant the door closed, every trace of anger, irritation, and ferocity vanished from Kushida Kikyo's face.
She took a deep breath, the corners of her mouth lifting into her signature, flawless sweet smile. Her eyes were clear and gentle, as if the girl who had been snarling and clawing at someone in the room had never existed.
"My, what lovely weather today."
She spoke softly and walked on with elegant steps, the Sige comic lying quietly at the very bottom of her pocket.
A few boys passing by saw her and immediately greeted her, blushing. "Kushida, fancy seeing you here~"
Kushida put on a delighted expression. "Oh~ what a coincidence! It's so late, and you're still not resting? Is there anything I can help with?"
The boys scratched their heads, blushing even more. They exchanged glances, then shook their heads frantically. "N-no, it's nothing. We just got together to look at... uh... comics..."
A hint of perfectly measured curiosity appeared on Kushida's face. "Oh? What kind of comics? I've been helping Tsukishima with his comic lately. Could I take a look?"
The boys panicked as if facing a formidable enemy, crowding around one of them. "Well... the ones we're reading probably aren't the same kind as the ones Tsukishima draws..."
"Yeah, yeah, they're not the same kind. They might mess up Kushida's train of thought..."
Kushida looked disappointed. "I see. Well, everyone should get some rest soon, okay? Midterms are coming up!"
She cursed inwardly: Tsukishima really had called it. Was there really that much demand for dirty comics at this school?
The boys looked like they'd been granted a reprieve and immediately dragged the one in the middle away. But perhaps because they'd pulled him so suddenly, the boy stumbled, his foot slipped, and his hand let go.
Clatter!
A book slid to Kushida's feet.
A gust of wind from who knew where flipped open its slightly yellowed pages.
"Ah!!!!"
One of the boys suddenly charged over, grabbed the book, and sprinted away like some kind of bizarre creature. He quickly disappeared at the end of the hallway, and the other boys vanished like the wind as well.
Kushida cried out, "Hey? Don't run in the hallway! It's dangerous!"
Why don't you all fall and die?! The pages are yellow and the book's all dog-eared. Just how many generations has this dirty comic been passed down through?! Damn it, that pervert Tsukishima might really make a fortune in points!
Before you continue