Chapter 24
Time passed gently like the turning pages of an old manga.
Kokoro found himself steadily immersed in the process alongside Sayuri, both of them completely focused on refining her manga project. The warm glow of the clubroom lights, mixed with the ambient hum of electronic tablets and the soft breeze wafting in through the open window, created an atmosphere so comforting it was easy to forget the passage of time.
Sayuri sat beside him, shoulders relaxed but her eyes sharp, full of passion. She tapped on her stylus with a kind of fervent energy, occasionally glancing toward Kokoro’s sketches to sync her corrections with his linework. Every once in a while, she’d murmur something like, "Maybe the panel should break here" or "This scene feels a bit rushed" and Kokoro would nod, adjusting their shared vision into smoother frames.
Across the room, however, not everyone was still running on full steam.
"Uuuuugh... I’m dying..." groaned Momo, her voice stretching even more than her limbs. With a drawn-out yawn, she leaned back in her chair and nearly toppled over. "I can’t feel my spine anymore... I’ve been coloring non-stop. Someone better praise me."
She blinked sluggishly, her oversized cat-ear headphones slightly askew, then looked up at the old analog clock perched above the door. Its hands inched toward 5:00 PM, each tick echoing subtly through the mostly quiet room.
"Sayuriiiii, it’s almost five," she whined dramatically, rolling her shoulders with a satisfying crack. "I’m heading home first, okay? My bed is calling. Loudly."
Sayuri barely looked up from her tablet, eyes scanning Kokoro’s redrawn panel. "Mhm. Be careful on your way home, Momo. Get some proper rest."
"Roger that! Rest and snacks await!" Momo chirped before stuffing her tablet into her bag with cartoonish flair.
Hearing Momo’s declaration, the rest of the club glanced toward the clock almost in unison.
Ritsu, who had been hunched over his background sketches like a shadowy statue, let out a soft grunt and rubbed his eyes. "...Been staring at bricks and rooftops too long. Think I’m starting to hallucinate textures."