"Hey, I'm saying, can't you really just help solve this within the next two days?" Eriri asked, looking at Asakura with a look of helplessness.
"I will give it serious consideration..." Asakura replied, setting down his teacup with a heavily professional, "business-mode" smile.
"That kind of politician-speak sounds like you have no intention of considering it at all!"
Eriri's golden twin-tails swayed as she shook her body in frustration, tracing a golden streak through the air like a proud banner. The girl crossed her arms over her chest, her delicate brows arched slightly, and her cheeks puffed out involuntarily in a pout.
"Setting that aside, Eriri, do you know anyone who is really good at drawing?"
"......... I don't know anyone like that at all."
"What was with that suspiciously long pause just now?" Asakura raised an eyebrow, looking at her with suspicion.
"Why are you looking for someone good at drawing anyway?" Eriri retorted, avoiding the question.
"When you think of a secret organization, what's your first impression?" Asakura answered her question with another question.
"Um... Al-Qaeda?"
"That's a terrorist organization."
"People wearing black pointed robes going around burning 'normies'?"
"That's the FFF Inquisition."
"A group of fetish-gear-wearing weirdos who use tentacles, slime traps, and monsters with strange protrusions to make magical girls submit."
"That's a villain organization—and a pornographic game one at that... By the way, why do you even know about stuff like that?" Asakura's gaze became even more suspicious.
"...... It's just normal professional knowledge preservation..." Eriri said, looking away guiltily.
Seeing that Asakura seemed ready to press her further on the subject, she quickly cut him off. "S-so, what exactly do you want with someone who can draw?"
"It's for the uniforms, obviously. Secret organizations always have cool uniforms, right?" Asakura explained. "I have my own designs, but due to my lack of artistic skill, I can't perfectly convey what I want. I figured it would be better to find an artist to help flesh them out."
"I mean, you said it yourself—it's a secret organization. Is it really okay to expose the uniform design to an outsider?" Eriri asked, somewhat speechless.
"No problem, because I know the Memory Erasure Charm."
Asakura's lip curled into a "Dragon King" style smirk.
"That's total ingratitude! Now even if I did know someone with good skills, I wouldn't dare introduce them to you!" Eriri complained.
"I guess I'll have to find a chance to ask the kids in the Manga Club for help then..." Asakura muttered, rubbing his chin.
Eriri watched the contemplating Asakura, bit her lip hesitantly, and seemed to reach a decision.
"If you don't mind, you can show your design to me..." she told him.
"Hmm?" Asakura looked at her in surprise.
"Don't let my appearance fool you..." the girl said, puffing out her chest—which, while pale in comparison to others in the Magic Club, was still larger than Yukinoshita's or Miss Anon's. She announced proudly, "I am actually the ace of the Toyogasaki Art Club! An ACE!"
"Can this 'Ace' use the Ultra Guillotine?" Asakura stared at her suspiciously.
"What? Is that another weird, dead meme?"
"No, nothing."
Asakura shook his head and pulled a design draft out of his school bag, handing it to the girl who lacked the spirit of Tokusatsu. "Here, look."
"What is this? A crime scene of a monster being dismembered by a Giant of Light?" Eriri asked in shock, staring at the chaotic splashes of color on the paper.
"You totally understood the meme I just used, didn't you?" Asakura squinted at her.
"No such thing happened~"
Eriri suppressed a laugh. The stifled feeling she'd had from being constantly shut down by Asakura suddenly felt much lighter. However, seeing Asakura's smile become increasingly "kind..." she decided that letting things continue might go poorly for her. She decisively pulled a sketchbook and pencil from her bag and began sketching while referencing Asakura's "dismemberment map."
Though Asakura had doubts about her skill, the reality was that her drawing ability was actually quite excellent. Her foundation was solid; within a few minutes, the outline of a uniform began to take shape on the paper.
While it wasn't exactly "identical" to his reference draft, it was certainly a world apart in quality...
Furthermore, to Asakura's surprise, the girl apparently felt that drawing just the clothes wouldn't show the 3D effect well, so she had actually sketched the human form—or rather, the character wearing the uniform—along with it.
"That's about it, I guess?" Eriri said, putting down her pen. She looked at Asakura, who had been silent as if shocked by her talent, with a smug expression.
After staring at the drawing for a long time, Asakura suddenly spoke.
"Eriri, have you ever drawn manga before?"
"Eh?" The girl froze.
"I can't place it right now, but your art style gives me a very familiar feeling..."
Asakura rubbed his chin, trying hard to remember. At those words, a cold sweat broke out on Eriri.
"N-no such thing! I've never drawn manga in my life!"
Crap. She had been so caught up in the "Drawing is fun!" high that she forgot to modify her style. She usually painted oils in the Art Club, but jumping straight into sketching here had caused her to accidentally expose her true level.
"Fine, let's go with that."
After a tense moment for the girl, Asakura looked away from the sketchbook as if nothing had happened. Eriri finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Then I'll leave the further refinement of the uniforms to you..." Asakura said. "Consider this your reward for the commission, Kashiwagi-sensei."
"My drawings aren't that cheap..." Eriri muttered, though she didn't reject the deal, lowering her head to pack away her sketchbook and pen.
Then, she realized something and whipped her head back to look at Asakura.
He was casually pulling out a pile of strange candies. "I'll use these 'Instant Truancy Candies' to make up the difference then."
"Wait a second..."
"Still not enough? How greedy. But these aren't ordinary candies; they make the user vomit, have nosebleeds, or faint without actually causing any real bodily harm."
"That sounds terrifying?! No, wait, whatever with those things!" Eriri stared at Asakura. "What did you just call me?"
"Eriri?" Asakura looked at her blankly. "Don't like being called by your first name? Then I'll use your surname... Churchill, was it?"
"It's Spencer! And while that's my father's surname, it's technically a middle name—no, that's not the point!"
"Then is there some other problem, Kashiwagi Eri-sensei?"
"YOU REALLY DID RECOGNIZE ME! AHHHHHHHH!"