We decided to use a certain shounen manga MC as our model for the mosaic art. With him as our model, we started discussing our sketch.
"First things first, what kind of picture should we make, Asanagi?"
"Obviously the picture where he could shine the most. Him with his chainsaws, surrounded by the blood and guts of his enemies!"
"Then we'll need a lot of black and red cans for this. Hmm, we can use the coke cans. They shouldn't be too hard to gather since we drank a lot of them."
We decided not to paint the can manually if possible, unless we failed to gather enough cans to use.
Though, everything depended on the size of the art itself. If we wanted to make a decently-sized one, we might need a hundred or so cans. That was why we should decide on what color we needed quickly so we could start gathering the cans right away.
"Now, we move on to something more specific. What kind of pose would be good? Should we rip it off from the official art?"
"Ripping it off, huh? That's a grey area we'll be traversing, but wouldn't it be fine since this is technically fanart? …Well, just in case, we should ask someone more knowledgeable about this… Like your mom."
"Well…'I'm busy, so don't bother me. Also, since it's only a school project, they wouldn't be petty enough to copyright claim you. So if you want to do it, then do it.' is what she said."
"That sounds like your mom, alright. Well, we should send them an email, just in case."
"Right."
We could technically make an original art instead, but neither of us was talented enough to come up with one. I asked her if she knew anyone in the class who could draw, but she said that there was none.
We could use free-to-use images of him, but since we were aiming for the grand prize, we were afraid that such images wouldn't be impactful enough to win us the prize.
"Let's look for a good image first, after that we could start doing the sketches."
"Your problems have reached my ears, so here I am, ready to help!"
""Huh?""
Suddenly a girl's voice rang out from outside the classroom.
The girl was hiding behind the classroom door, probably trying to conceal her identity, but her voice was a dead giveaway.
"…Amami-san."
"Yuu, what are you doing here?"
"Hehehe… As expected, my hunch was right. You two get along really well, hm– Ow!"
As Amami-san rushed over to us, Asanagi welcomed her with a head flick.
"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be with Nina, collecting the empty cans?"
"Uhm… That was the plan, but then I thought of the two of you… I wondered if I could help you a little since your workload is heavier than the rest of us. So, I asked Ninacchi and the others if I could help you guys instead and they agreed."
Well, she was right. We had been running around since early this morning preparing for the exhibit and attending the committee meetings.
"Thanks for your concern, Amami-san, but we don't really need that much help currently. We only need to turn a picture into a sketch for the mosaic."
"What he said. Well, we'll still accept the sentiment. But anyway, just leave everything to us and go back to your group already, Yuu."
"Muu… Maki-kun ~"
"…Trying to appeal with your gaze like that won't work on me, Amami-san."
In all honesty, I don't mind her helping out, but if I were to spoil her, Asanagi will hit me again, so I chose self-preservation.
"Fine fine, jeez, you both are so… Ah, wait, is the theme of the mosaic based on this manga?"
"Eh? Ah, yeah."
"Hmm… The manga seems strange, but the characters look cool."
Amami-san picked up the manga, then flipped through the pages without showing any hesitation.
It was a shounen manga, a battle-focused one at that. Seeing Amami-san reading this kind of manga, I can't say that it fits her image.
"…Do you mind if I draw the picture for you?"
"Huh?"
Said Amami-san after she had gone through all the pages.
"Amami-san, you know how to draw? Why didn't you tell me, Asanagi-san?"
"No, I didn't know…Yuu never told me anything about this…"
"I can. I used to draw a lot before I befriended Umi… After reading through this manga, I feel like I could draw it… Maki-kun, can I borrow a pen and paper?"
"Eh? Sure, go ahead…"
I gave her a pen and paper. After receiving them, Amami-san began to draw without even glancing at the manga.
"…Uhh… The boy wielding his chainsaw… His enemy is a girl… Blood splattering everywhere… And the boy is making a pose in the center of the sea of blood…"
She mumbled that as she moved her hands to draw.
"Y-Yuu…"
"Sorry, Umi, give me ten minutes."
"O-okay."
She was absorbed in her drawing as she made an unusually serious expression.
Come to think of it, she made a similar expression back when she was playing the game at my house.
"…Okay, it's done! What do you think? I added my own touch for the art, is it good?"
"T-this!"
Asanagi and I were both flabbergasted when we saw the picture she handed to us.
We couldn't even nitpick anything about it. Yeah, it was different from the original, but she captured the atmosphere, character, and the tiniest details almost perfectly. The quality was high, it seemed like something a pro would come up with.
Moreover, she did this on the fly with whatever was available.
"Amami-san, are you actually a pro?"
"Nah ~ if I was, there's no way that Umi wouldn't find out about it. I mean, I can't hide anything from her ~"
Amami-san smiled at me. Seriously though, she said it's been a while since she last drew, yet she could produce a high-quality drawing like this…
She's something else.
"Asanagi-san, we can use this!"
"…"
"Huh? Asanagi-san?"
"Eh? Ah… Mhm, right! We can use this alright! Thank you, Yuu! Also, shouldn't we color the picture first?"
Well, using this for our project will be a little more complicated, but since it's mosaic art we're talking about, it shouldn't be a problem.
"You guys will use this? Great! I'm glad I can be useful to both of you."
'Useful' was an understatement, she might as well be the carry of this project.
Her looks were angelic, and she was talented in all sorts of things to boot. And they said God doesn't give with two hands…
"…Then, we'll assign Amami-san to handle the sketch, so it will be the three of us working on this. Asanagi-san and I will calculate the number of cans we'll need, so Amami-san, you can concentrate on your drawing."
"Okay! Then, Umi, Maki-kun, I'll be in your care!"
I thought the sketch would be the biggest hurdle of the project, but it turned out to be smoother than I thought.
"I can't wait to go home and start working. Umi, you'll help me with the coloring, right?"
"I'll help you by nitpicking everything you draw, yes."
"You meanie! But, you know, this is my first festival in high school, so I'll make sure to give it my all!"
"Mhm, good for you. What about your studies?"
"Uhm… Hehe…"
"You little brat!"
"Ow! Maki-kun, help me! Umi is bullying me!"
"Don't you start clinging to him like that! Anyway, I'm beat, so I'll be going home. Good work, Maehara-kun."
"Thanks for your effort, Maki-kun, bye-bye ~"
Both of them left while joking with each other like usual.
Our cultural festival preparation was moving along smoothly thanks to Amami-san's unexpected interference.
Something was bugging me though, so I sent a text to Asanagi.
[Maehara: Asanagi.]
[Asanagi: What? Need something?]
[Maehara: Not really.]
[Maehara: It's just I noticed you seemed a little down.]
[Asanagi: Ah… well, I was just shocked.]
[Asanagi: Even I don't know everything about my best friend, that made me think about something.]
[Asanagi: Don't mind it, Maehara.]
[Asanagi: I'm fine.]
[Maehara: You sure?]
[Asanagi: Yeah.]
[Maehara: Are you really sure?]
[Asanagi: Yes, I'm sure, stop asking the same thing over and over!]
[Maehara: Well, if you say so…]
If that's what she says, what else could I do?
Still, why are you making such a bitter face?
I muttered to myself, thinking about Asanagi's expression when she left together with Amami-san.
Is she jealous of Amami-san? No way that's the case, right?