"I'm done for, I'm done for. I actually didn't notice the time. What should I do..."
Should I tell Mom and Dad that I'm cancelling my participation in this exhibition at the last minute? But...
I just announced my resurrection on my account. If I flake on this long-scheduled exhibition now, I'll definitely get flamed no matter how I think about it.
Eriri glanced at the drawing paper, seeing the progress of the manuscript where the princess was just being subjected to hypnosis magic, and felt even more vexed in her heart. Usually, at this time, she would be doing the final checks, and then she could send the original draft to her mother to find a printing factory. Because of the mess Aki Tomoya caused, she hadn't touched her pen for more than half the summer vacation. Even this manuscript was only started recently with Jhin's help.
The moment she thought of Aki Tomoya, Eriri clenched her small fist, wishing she could beat him up severely. He had messed up her life completely and even affected the progress of her manuscript. Fortunately, Jhin had driven away this annoying fly for her, so she wouldn't be harassed at Mihama Academy as well.
Her small hand subconsciously grabbed her silky long blonde hair, twirling it around her fingertips. Eriri was struggling with whether to ask Jhin for help again. Asking him about the subject matter last time was already shy-inducing enough. This time, asking him to directly participate in the drawing of the manuscript would inevitably involve discussing the content of the book with Jhin. This had completely exceeded the behavior between ordinary male and female classmates.
But among the people I know, only Jhin can help me...
Moreover, this doujin exhibition representing the resurrection of 'Kashiwagi Eri' is very important. If I screw it up, those fans who have always supported me will definitely be thoroughly disappointed.
Eriri bit her cherry-colored lip and made a difficult decision—she would ask Jhin to help her complete the manuscript for this doujin exhibition.
The phone in her hand felt like a large, heavy block of iron. Eriri opened Jhin's avatar in [momotalk]. In the chat box, she typed and deleted, deleted and typed, revising it back and forth many times. Finally, she typed two short words and chose to send.
Eriri: "You there?"
Jhin: "?, No."
Eriri: "There is a very important matter I want your help with."
Jhin: "In person or..."
Eriri: "Let's talk in person."
Jhin: "Alright."
"Knock, knock, knock. Eriri, I'm here."
"P-Please come in." Eriri was sitting at the desk, so nervous she couldn't speak smoothly.
Jhin got straight to the point and asked directly, "What is the important matter?"
Eriri's hands, resting on her thighs, tightly gripped the hem of her skirt. She opened her small mouth but didn't say a word, only feeling the temperature on her face climbing continuously, waves of heat surging.
It's okay, Eriri, this isn't a big deal. Everyone has difficulties sometimes. You just need to simply state your difficulty, and I believe Jhin will understand you. Do you not want to participate in this doujin exhibition anymore? Say it! Say it quickly!
"I... I want... to let you help me... complete the manuscript..."
Eriri stammered intermittently, taking several minutes to finish the sentence, a cloud of steam floating above her head.
"Ah, so it's this. How much time is left until the doujin exhibition?"
Jhin saw Eriri extend four fingers. He widened his eyes, looked again at Eriri's four white and tender fingers, and asked tentatively, "Four weeks?"
Eriri shook her head.
"Hiss~" Jhin sucked in a sharp breath of cold air, feeling a dull ache in his liver:
"Four days?"
Eriri nodded.
"This exhibition... can you not participate?"
"No!" Eriri's shyness turned into anger. She slammed her hands on the table and stood up. "This exhibition is the first battle concerning 'Kashiwagi Eri's' resurrection! No matter what, I must participate."
"Alright, alright. Then let me ask tentatively, where is your manuscript progress currently?"
Seeing Eriri sit back down like a deflated ball, Jhin roughly understood why she sought his help. He estimated the manuscript progress was less than ten percent.
Eriri also knew that finishing the manuscript and sending it to print within four days was an almost impossible task. In fact, just printing the finished product would take a day, which meant the time left for the two of them was only three days plus today's half day.
If she failed, resulting in being unable to attend the doujin exhibition with a new work, Eriri could not accept such a reality.
"I accept this challenge."
Jhin's voice injected a trace of vitality into the depressed Eriri. She lifted her small head, a surprised smile appearing on her face. "Really?"
"Of course it's real. However, for the next few days, we both have to ask Chizuru for leave. Otherwise, just relying on the time after school won't be enough at all. I'll go ask her for leave, you just focus on drawing."
"Mn!" Eriri felt the peace of mind and steadfastness of being silently supported from behind by Jhin. Regaining her spirit, she flipped her twin tails and said with full confidence, "I will definitely draw the manuscript within the time limit!"
Jhin: "Chizuru, Eriri and I are asking for four days of leave."
Tachibana Chizuru: "Eh? What are you and Sawamura-san going to do? She's the child of a diplomat, you won't cause any diplomatic issues, will you??"
Jhin: "Rest assured, we aren't going to do anything dangerous, just helping her draw some doujinshi."
Tachibana Chizuru: "...Saying that kind of thing to the principal makes my mood very complex."
Jhin: "Enough, it's not like you don't know Eriri draws doujinshi. I'll send some desserts over to you in a while."
Tachibana Chizuru: "Don't always use chocolate pies and strawberry cakes to bribe the principal!"
Jhin: "Understood, same as usual, right? Then I'll go get busy."
Tachibana Chizuru: "..."
Jhin clapped his hands. "OK, leave has been requested from Chizuru. Let's get to work."
To better rush the progress, Eriri had already taken off her contact lenses and put on the black-rimmed glasses Jhin had bought her as an apology. Sitting in front of the desk, she didn't even lift her head as she said to him:
"I've already drawn the opening part. Now I'm drawing the subsequent plot, which needs inking. You just take the pen and draw for me following the lines, there shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"No problem. But why don't you choose to draw on a digital tablet? Wouldn't that save more time?"
"I'm used to drawing on paper. Just handing the original draft to Mom works."
Jhin roughly glanced at the completed parts. "I see. Eriri, do you intend to draw in full color?"
"Of course."
"But the time for full-color coloring is also significant. How about just the first few pages being color pages this time, and the rest being black and white? That can save a lot of time."
"What you say makes sense." Eriri understood that at a time like this, she couldn't stubbornly continue drawing in full color. She decisively adopted Jhin's opinion. "Then let's do as you said."
____
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