At 10 o'clock in the evening, after finishing his work, Homura stretched and asked, "How's the progress, Utaha-senpai, Eriri?"
"The main plot is all finished, but unfortunately, if it were an anime movie, the main plot alone would be enough!" Utaha said regretfully.
Yes, an anime movie on average is less than two hours, and the plot needs to be tight, almost every scene is crucial. But if you're making a game or drawing a manga, you need to fill in some big and small plot points. You can't end a visual novel in just two hours, right?
So, the follow-up work on the script is to add some subplots and some unimportant supporting characters.
As for the illustrator, they need to design the character's appearance and draw the story's setting and background according to the script. That's Eriri's job.
The rest of the work is all Homura's.
"What about you Eriri?" Homura asked, looking at Eriri, who had already stopped working.
"The character designs for the male and female leads are done, and the background for the Miyamizu Shrine is also done," Eriri said, handing the sketch to Homura. "Here, take a look."
"Great!" Homura exclaimed, looking at it, unable to help but be amazed. "You really are something, Eriri!"
Homura gave Eriri a thumbs up and grinned.
"Haha, enough with the praise! My art style It's not that great, you know!" Eriri laughed out loud at Homura's gesture.
Homura took out a few sketches and handed them to Eriri.
"These are some of the unremarkable supporting characters I drew based on your Miyamizu Mitsuha's art style. We can use them if we need to. What do you think?"
Then he turned his laptop towards Utaha. "These are some small plot points I wrote. Utaha-senpai, do you think you can use them?"
Finally, he looked at Megumi and asked, "What about you, Megumi? Is there anything you don't understand in the book?"
"No problem, Homura-kun. If I don't understand, I'll ask you," Megumi said, shaking her head.
"I see. You won't pretend to understand okay? Just ask me anytime." Homura said, then asked the other two, "How is it? Are the character designs good? Are the plot points useful?"
"...Of course," Eriri said, a little silent. "Minamiya, you could have done all the character designs by yourself. Why did you ask me?"
"Eriri, aren't you just overthinking things?" Homura was a little puzzled and continued, "I've already told you. I don't have that much energy. I'm already doing a lot of tasks, like drawing my manga and I have a bunch of stories in my head waiting to be told. It's really too much for me. Besides, most of the work in the later stages is mine to do. You guys can't handle programming and scripts, right? Megumi is also studying hard, so... don't think too much. We've known each other for years. Don't let this come between us."
As she listened to his heartfelt words, Eriri felt a little embarrassed and said, "Sorry! I was overthinking things!"
Homura rolled his eyes and said, "It's okay if you understand now..."
Meanwhile, Utaha, who rarely interjected, pretended not to hear their conversation and said to Homura, "Homura-kun, what you wrote is quite good. I will try to find a way to naturally integrate them into the lives of Tachibana Taki and Miyamizu Mitsuha after this."
"Really? Thank you, Utaha-senpai." Homura replied gratefully.
Then, Homura asked the most critical question, "It's getting late. What are you guys going to do today? Are you staying over or do you want me to escort you back home again?"
Homura looked directly at Utaha because only she might suggest going home. As long as she stayed, the other two could stay as well.
Utaha felt a little uneasy under Homura's gaze and turned her head slightly, saying, "I have already gotten permission from my parents to stay over."
"Yosh, follow me!" Homura took the lead and led the three of them upstairs, to the room directly above the activity room, separated by a misty curtain.
"Sharing a room or separate rooms?" Homura asked for their opinions.
"One room is enough. Is there not enough sleeping space in one room?" Eriri asked in confusion, and the most important thing was, what if someone ran away if they slept separately?!
"There's enough space, this room is all tatami mats, you can sleep anywhere," Homura explained, "It's just... I'm afraid that you two will fight, so I don't want you to share a room."
Utaha: "..."
Eriri: "..."
Megumi: "What a weird reason."
"Why would we fight while sleeping?! Are we kids?" Eriri complained.
Utaha also gave him a white eye and said, "Am I that kind of person in Homura-kun's eyes?"
Homura awkwardly said, "Haven't you fought before?"
This is really...
Seeing that the atmosphere was not quite right, Homura quickly tried to remedy the situation. "Alright, you guys aren't going to fight, just quarrel..."
"Homura-kun, were you doing that on purpose?" Megumi asked expressionlessly.
If there were gaps in the floor, Utaha and Eriri would have both crawled downstairs!
"Haha! Just a harmless little joke!" Homura exaggeratedly laughed.
"There's a bathroom and shower in the room. It's getting late, so hurry up wash and sleep! Goodnight!" With that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"That jerk did it on purpose!" Eriri gritted her teeth.
"So, Sawamura-san, we definitely can't have a quarrel, or we'll be exposed and Homura-kun's words will come true."
Utaha said something that most people would hear ordinary and think nothing of, but for Eriri? That would likely cause Eriri to start a quarrel and start a fight.
"You... Hmph!" She narrowly managed to hold back her anger. "Do you think I like quarreling with you?"
With that, she walked into the room first.
Utaha raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised, and followed her in.
Seeing the three of them enter the room, Homura, who was hiding in the corner, poked his head out and smiled slightly, knocking on the door of Sagiri's room.
"Nii-san, is there something you need?" Sagiri poked her little head out, looking slightly confused.
"It's nothing important. Three members of my club are staying at our house, next to your room, so I just came to tell you about it," Homura explained to Sagiri.
Sagiri wrinkled her nose slightly at his words, but still relaxed and nodded. "I understand, Nii-san."
"Hmm? Aren't you surprised?" Homura asked, a little puzzled by Sagiri's calm reaction.
"... Mom told me about your last night's fight," Sagiri said in a complicated tone. "Nii-san, if there's danger, why don't you tell me?"
Homura rubbed Sagiri's head and smiled softly.
"I didn't want you to worry...besides, it's not a big deal. How could a few gangsters pose a danger to your Nii-san?"
"Well... you're not allowed to keep things from me in the future! You big dummy!" Her face turning red from the head rubbing, Sagiri shouted loudly.
"Yes~ Yes~, I got it." Homura could only nod in agreement.
"Oh, by the way, Nii-san, why didn't you ask me to join your club?" Sagiri finally asked.
Hearing Sagiri's question, Homura smiled and stared at her.
"Oh? Are you finally admitting that you can draw? Eromanga-sensei?"