"That's about it."
Shirai Mio's hands left the keyboard as she stretched lazily. She'd been pulled back after school by Mashiro to write the script, and now it was already dark outside. She'd finally finished writing the outline for "White Album 2." After dinner, she'd still need to work on the paneling issues.
Fortunately, the knowledge that came with [Shiina Mashiro's Drawing Skills] also included knowledge about manga paneling. Though it was just fairly basic knowledge, it was enough for now. Otherwise, if she had to learn paneling from scratch, she really couldn't pick it up that quickly.
"You look at this slowly first. I'm going to prepare dinner."
Earlier, Shirai Mio had texted Sengoku Chihiro asking her to bring back some ingredients when she came home.
Knowing that Mashiro had eaten dinner at Shirai Mio's place last night, Sengoku Chihiro was quite looking forward to Shirai Mio's home cooking. When she heard about bringing ingredients, she readily agreed to handle it.
Calculating the time, Chihiro should be back soon.
Just as Shirai Mio was debating whether to go home and shower first or wait for Chihiro to return, the sound of a key in the door came from the entrance. Sengoku Chihiro walked in carrying ingredients.
Seeing Shirai Mio, Sengoku Chihiro said with a smile, "I'll leave dinner to you then. By the way, where's Mashiro?"
"In her room."
While speaking, Shirai Mio took the ingredients and walked into the kitchen. Though the seasonings and everything were complete, the cookware looked barely used.
Just from the fridge full of beer, you could tell that Sengoku Chihiro generally didn't cook at home.
Though she figured Chihiro probably knew how to cook—she was just too lazy to do it.
Sengoku Chihiro took a sip of beer and watched Shirai Mio bustling about in the kitchen, saying somewhat wistfully, "Damn, why does it feel like a high school girl has higher womanly charm than me, this mature and beautiful older sister?"
"Womanly charm and all that..." Shirai Mio didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
She'd never thought she'd have a day when someone praised her womanly charm.
As dish after dish of fragrant, delicious-looking food was brought to the table, Sengoku Chihiro said with some surprise, "These dishes—they're Chinese cuisine?"
"More or less. I learned the cooking methods from online." After Shirai Mio finished speaking, she walked into Mashiro's room to find that Mashiro had already started drawing character designs based on her descriptions.
"Mashiro, let's eat first."
"Oh."
Mashiro temporarily set aside her work, then followed the aroma to the dining table. But before she could sit down, Shirai Mio pulled her off to wash her hands.
Sengoku Chihiro watched with a smile as Shirai Mio lectured her cousin. She was finding this white-haired beautiful girl more and more pleasing to the eye. Not only was she pretty and responsible enough to look after people, but she could also cook. If she were a boy, Chihiro might even consider some cradle-robbing.
After finishing dinner, Mashiro dove headfirst back into her room. As her partner, Shirai Mio naturally needed to go provide guidance. Otherwise, relying on text alone would make it difficult for Mashiro to fully understand her vision.
Speaking of which, the system had been quiet all day today... cough cough, never mind.
Shirai Mio quickly refocused her attention on guiding Mashiro. Every time she wondered why the system wasn't appearing, the system would always jump out and give her a big surprise.
Under Shirai Mio's explanations, combined with Mashiro's exquisite drawing skills, they finally managed to roughly recreate the main characters from "White Album 2."
Next was the paneling issue.
Originally, Shirai Mio had planned to go home and slowly figure it out herself. After all, though she had the corresponding foundational knowledge, she lacked practical experience.
But Mashiro said that paneling and such could just be left to her. After she finished drawing, she'd give it to Shirai Mio for revisions.
To avoid disturbing Mashiro, and to prevent the system from suddenly causing trouble, Shirai Mio simply went back home, took a shower, and began brainstorming the plot for her doujinshi.
By the time she'd settled on the story, it was already midnight.
Just as Shirai Mio stood up to go to bed, she seemed to sense something. A faint blush appeared on her pale cheeks, and her expression looked somewhat awkwardly embarrassed.
Whatever. She'd just take another shower.
Just as she walked into the bathroom, the system's cheerful voice rang in her ears: "Host, I was thinking—didn't you just take a shower? Why are you taking another one?"
"Get lost!" Shirai Mio said in embarrassed anger.
It couldn't be helped. When brainstorming the doujinshi plot, she'd naturally think about the doujinshi she'd read before. She wasn't frigid—thinking about that stuff too much naturally caused certain subtle physical reactions.
"Why is the host so angry? I'm just showing concern for you."
Shirai Mio couldn't be bothered to argue with the system. She just quickly rinsed off, dried her hair, and went to bed. Having barely slept last night, she fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.
When Shirai Mio woke up again, it was already eight in the morning the next day.
Whether because she'd spent all last night thinking about doujinshi, or for some other reason, she'd had an indescribable dream. As a result, the first thing Shirai Mio did after getting up was shower and do laundry.
However, the system seemed to either still be asleep or chose not to come out and say anything weird this time.
When Shirai Mio arrived at Yuigahama Yui's door, it was exactly nine-thirty.
She'd just sent a message when the door opened. Yuigahama, still in her pajamas, looked at Shirai Mio standing at the entrance and said somewhat embarrassedly, "Come in and sit for a bit. I'll go change right now."
Before Shirai Mio could say anything, Yuigahama hurried back to her room. She'd actually woken up around eight, but feeling like she still had time, she'd taken a quick nap. Who knew she'd sleep straight through until just now? If her mom hadn't reminded her about her plans with Shirai Mio today, she might've slept even longer.
Just as Shirai Mio sat down, Yuigahama's dachshund came charging over and jumped into her arms. From its wildly wagging tail, you could tell it was very happy about Shirai Mio's arrival.
Just then, Mrs. Yuigahama's gentle voice rang out: "Looks like Sable really likes you."
...