The golden afternoon light slanted deeper through the window, casting long shadows across the now quiet manga and anime clubroom. Dust motes floated lazily in the sunbeams, giving the room a dreamy, almost nostalgic feel. The whir of the drawing tablets and the occasional tapping of styluses against the screens had been the only sound for the last half hour, aside from the faint, muffled chatter of students in the hallway winding down their own club activities.
Kokoro was hunched slightly over a drawing tablet, completely absorbed. His eyes were laser-focused, brow gently furrowed, his hand steady as he refined the sketch lines and adjusted the speech bubbles for one of the panels. Despite having worked on it for quite some time, he still moved with careful, precise intent, as if each stroke was a silent promise to bring Sayuri's vision to life.
Aikawa Sayuri, seated next to him, glanced up at the wall clock. Her pink eyes widened a little in surprise.
