"Eh?"
Hearing me confused, Sakurai looked at me. She then looked at the illustrations I was staring at and asked:
"What?" she asked
"Ah nothing... so you can draw huh..." I said, while desperately trying to calm my head down.
'Eh? She's drawing illustrations for the visual novel my dad's company is making? But why....'
"Yes. I am drawing illustrations for a visual novel as a part-time job of sorts... also could you please not tell anyone about this? These illustrations needs to be kept as a secret to others, so please don't tell anyone about this."
"Umm sure... Actually, I'm also working for that company so I already know that the game is still under development..."
"Heh... so you can also draw? Inoue-san?" She was surprised that I was also working for the same company. But, she misunderstood and thought that I was also drawing illustrations them.
"Well no... I'm in the programming side of things..."
"I see." She said. For some reason Sakurai looked disappointed when she said this... I wonder why?
'Well, I'm not really working on that game... I'm only working on my own game but I can't really tell her that yet...'
I sighed and finally calmed myself down to the point where I can think rationally again. I then looked at the laptop on the table. It looks like Sakurai forgot to turn it off before she left for school because it was still plugged in, powered and on. I then looked at the sketch on the table again and compared the two to each other. And I found a similarity between the two.
"Umm... Sakurai-san..."
"Yes?"
"Why does their facial expression look... like that?"
Looking at the digital illustration with color, the background looks amazing. It looks very detailed, but it still matches the anime art style that is used for most visual novels. The characters themselves look amazing. Their bodies are very detailed and the hair looks perfect. The shading and coloring in the illustration also looks amazing. It's looks like it was done by a professional. The character sketches also look good. It looks like it was done by a professional manga artist.. but the facial expressions looks weird for both the digital and physical drawings.
"Ah... I've been wondering about that for a while now too... I kept trying to submit my illustrations but they would always say 'Can you redo the character expressions please? They look unnatural and it doesn't really fit in'" she said in a sad tone.
Well, I don't really blame them. The character expressions just doesn't really fit in. It just looks bland and...emotionless? I don't know anything about drawing, but I think that I can probably identify the problem with my otaku knowledge. And the problem is probably because Sakurai can't draw their faces properly to express emotion. The drawing looks emotionless so maybe using a reference can help her...
"Did you try using any kind of reference?" I asked
"Hm? What kind?"
"Anime?"
"I don't have a TV."
"Manga?"
"I don't know where to find them. I can't afford them too."
"Other illustrations done by other artists?"
"I don't know how to find those too."
"Eh... how about using yourself as reference?"
"What?"
"You know, how about you look at a mirror while smiling and use that as a reference..."
She then tried to force herself to smile at me, but instead of being cute... what I saw was terrifying instead. She looked like a murder who is about to kill me. Although she's smiling, the aura she gives off is cold and terrifying. It almost feels like I could sense some killing intent coming from her.
I then told her to stop because it was scary, which she did. After brainstorming for a few more minutes. I finally came up with something decent.
"Hmm... Oh! How about you think of the times you were genuinely happy and use them as reference?"
"Example?"
"Your childhood memories, I guess..."
As soon as I said this, the temperature in the room dropped. I had just realized that I may have stepped on a landmine. It seems like her childhood wasn't that great, so I quickly tried changing the topic.
"S-so anyways... you're drawing illustrations for extra money huh..."
Although it was a terrible transition, Sakurai realized what I was doing and decided to go with it. The atmosphere in the room became normal again as she spoke.
"Yes. I want to support my parents while I'm here in the city. So, I decided to make money with my hobby. Drawing."
"Heh~, that's pretty admirable."
"Thank you."
We then continued to stand there for a few more seconds in silence until I finally said:
"Ok, how about you go to your bedroom and let me cook food for you?"
"Eh?! Why?"
Sakurai was confused by this sudden development so she accidentally raised her voice high.
"Because you're sick. isn't that obvious?"
"It was only because I didn't sleep much..."
"Can you really say that when you almost passed out a few hours ago?"
When I said this, she started to think of some counter argument. But in the end, she couldn't come up with anything and had to give up.
"But you've already helped me enough. You're just piling up the favors I need to pay back..." She said
"Ha ha. Maybe. But you'll probably be able to pay me back sooner than you think. "
"How?" she asked and I just replied with:
"Hmmm... I'll tell you after our exams, okay? So now, go to your bed and rest while I cook something nice for you."
"....Fine "
She then left the living room and went to her bedroom to rest.
"Now then, what should I make for her..."