Excitedly preparing to go out, Homura walked to the entrance shoe cabinet, looked up, and shouted to a certain shut-in little girl.
"Sagiri! I'm going out to buy something, do you want anything?"
No response... Homura didn't think it was strange, just used to it.
"Well then, I'm going out!" With hopeful anticipation, he walked out of the house.
===
As he walked down the road, with the road stretching out before him and the trees lining both sides, Homura became interested.
"Sakura trees? They've just come into bloom, there aren't many flowers yet."
Thinking of the anime from his past life, with its beautiful rain of sakura, Homura became even more excited.
"Come to think of it, should I use a work related to sakura as my first debut?" Homura was somewhat tempted, "When it comes to sakura, the first thing that comes to mind is definitely 5 Centimeters Per Second!"
In fact, there was another work that came to mind instantly, but Homura planned to use that as his trump card.
Starting off with 5 Centimeters Per Second also had some problems, in that it didn't seem like something that someone his age could create, and might cause some controversy.
After a little thought, Homura gave up on this plan and decided to release a school-themed work as his debut!
===
After walking along the road and turning for a while, he came to the entrance of a slope. Looking at the slope, Homura felt a slight tremor in his heart.
"Did I see it wrong? Isn't this the famous Nozokizaka Slope? What kind of world is this?"
While lost in thought, a gust of wind blew in, carrying unidentified flying objects that had fallen from the slope. Before Homura could react...
*Splat!*
It stuck to his face.
Homura: "..."
"What is this?" He took off the unidentified flying object from his face and examined it. It was a white beret.
A white beret?
A strong sense of deja vu hit him!
Homura's heart pounded as he recalled a phrase, "First there was the sage, then there was heaven, and I am Huimei, a fairy in a painting!" {TN: Chinese proverb that may suggest a feeling of being disconnected from reality or a desire to break free from constraints and limitations.}
"Ah, wait for me!" A pleasant voice came on the wind.
Looking up at the figure in a white dress, with sakura fluttering around her, this image was etched in Homura's mind.
He couldn't help but murmur.
"Really Megumi..."
Watching her cover her flowing hair with one hand and hold down her fluttering skirt with the other, standing there somewhat unsure of what to do, Homura chuckled and then walked over to the figure.
"Here, your hat." With a gentle smile, Homura handed the hat to the girl in front of him and said softly, "Don't lose it again next time!"
Taking her hat from Homura's hand, the girl's pleasant yet flat voice rang out.
"Thank you, Minamiya-kun."
"Eh? Minamiya-kun?" His smile froze on his face.
"This reaction... do you really not remember me?" There was no expression on the girl's face as she tilted her head and spoke in a flat tone, "I'm Kato Megumi from the same class, we've been in the same class for over a year. Although we haven't talked, at least I know my classmates' names."
"I know! Megumi, no, I mean, Kato, I know!" He replied while thinking to himself, 'Yes, I knew you in my past life!'
Homura felt ashamed of his incompetence in this lifetime.
How could he forget such a lovely girl like Kato Megumi?
"Hmm? Alright, I'll assume you know," she replied, her tone impossible to discern.
Nevertheless, Homura felt as if she didn't believe him. Feeling like he couldn't explain himself clearly, Homura gave up and decided to change the subject for the sake of their future interactions.
"By the way, Kato, what are you doing here?" He asked.
Megumi looked at him deeply, and Homura felt as if his thoughts of changing the subject had been exposed. He tried to act calm and collected.
"Oh, I'm just taking a walk nearby." Megumi didn't seem to care and responded in a calm tone.
"Do you want to walk together?" Homura blurted out. He regretted it immediately and felt too eager.
Megumi's expression didn't change, and Homura couldn't tell what she was thinking.
"No, I'm about to head home. If my hat hadn't blown off, I would have already been there by now."
"Oh, okay," Homura nodded, then continued, "I should probably go buy some things too."
He felt a little disappointed but also relieved. He didn't think he was good at chatting right now, and he didn't want to come off as an annoying person.
"See you tomorrow, Minamiya-kun."
Megumi's voice rang out, and Homura was momentarily confused. He quickly realized that tomorrow was the first day of school.
"Okay! See you tomorrow!" He said, watching the girl turn and leave.
If he hadn't met Kato Megumi, he might have forgotten about the first day of school.
Memories were absorbed when relevant events occurred as if data was being queried. Having just transmigrated and not yet fully adapted to his new identity, he needed to be more careful.
Once Megumi's figure disappeared from view, Homura set off again searching for a store selling manga tools.
===
Homura found an art supply store and walked in.
After looking around for a bit, he approached the saleswoman and asked, "Excuse me, miss, do you have tools for drawing manga?"
The saleswoman looked at Homura as he walked up, staring at his exquisite and refreshing face, feeling her heart skip a beat.
She quickly replied, "Tools for drawing manga? They're in the manga supplies section. Have you seen the farthest corridor? That's where you'll find them!"
Following the saleswoman's instructions, Homura arrived at the manga supplies section and looked at the wide range of products, feeling a bit overwhelmed.
While he had experience in drawing manga and knew how to draw, he was not familiar with the tools. During Level 2, he only learned to draw with any tools available, without using any professional tools.
Feeling the limitations of his System skills, Homura decided to convert his experience into skill as soon as possible.
'Let's take a look and feel the tools first!' He thought to himself and began the selection process.
Actually, there are complete sets of manga tools available for purchase, which eliminates the need to go through the trouble of selecting individual tools.
However, even with the same tools, different manufacturers may produce tools with subtle differences in feel for different people.
With the masterpieces manga of his past life in mind, Homura was determined to do his best, to let the people of this world experience the full charm of his work.
He decided to complete the selection process within half an hour and began testing various tools.
To others, it was clear that he was no beginner; his movements were both swift and elegant.
Homura's movements caught the attention of a person who hesitated for a moment before walking up behind him.
"Hey! Are you a mangaka?"
A crisp voice sounded in his ear, and Homura stopped his movements, slowly turning around.
Looking at the petite figure in front of him, with golden hair tied up in twin tails, clear blue eyes, and porcelain-like skin, she was clearly a young lady.
Homura could only marvel at how coincidental it was!