| *KNOCK KNOCK* |
| Banri | Kazunari, you there? |
| Kazunari | Yes yes~? |
| *DOOR OPENS* |
| |
| Banri | I’m barging in. |
| Kazunari | What’s up, Settsuar? |
| Banri | Well, I was thinking. Ever since I enrolled in Amabi, you’ve always been there to give me advice and all kinds of support, right? |
| With all the help you’ve given me, I just want to return the favor. Lend an ear or two, y’know? |
| Kazunari | Huh? |
| (Was I actually showing it a little too much…? I thought it’d be fine if I acted like how I always would.) |
| Banri | I was suspectin’ that you weren’t being your usual self, so... If there’s anythin’ I can help with, I’ll be happy to do it. |
| Kazunari | Mhm. Thanks for worrying about me! |
| In that case… Could you listen to my last selfish request as your senpai? |
| |
 |
| Banri | Should I put this box over here? |
| Kazunari | That spot’s A-Okay! Sorry for making you help me out with all the sorting. |
| Banri | S’all good. If this is all I can help with right now, it’s no trouble at all. |
| Kazunari | Right. Thank you. Now, as for that thing… |
| Banri | That thing. Right… |
| |
| — — — — FLASHBACK — — — — |
| Banri | Senpai’s last selfish request huh? I’ve got no choice but to hear it then. |
| Kazunari | Big TY, Settsuar~! |
| So I’ve got two favors to ask of you. |
| The first one is helping me sort my things in my atelier at uni. |
| That stuff’s impossible if I did it all by my lonesome, you know! |
| Banri | Sorting stuff, huh? That’s easy enough. You can count on me. |
| What’s the other favor? |
| Kazunari | The other one is… |
| This. Can I entrust it to you for the time being? |
| Banri | Huh? … This is the sketchbook you use all the time, ain’t it? |
| Kazunari | That’s right. |
| Banri | … S’there any reason you want to leave this in my hands? |
| Kazunari | Well…. You see, I met a freelance designer in the social gathering I went to earlier today. |
| They mentioned how creating work that you want for the sake of your own satisfaction is vastly different from creating work for the sake of clients— |
| That doing designs for a living doesn’t give you the luxury of making things as freely as you have been in the past. |
| What the client thinks is right may not always be the same as what you think is right. Becoming a professional means having the patience and resolve for matters like those. |
| … That’s pretty much the advice they gave me. |
| Banri | Well… I suppose they’re not exactly wrong in that. Still, how did that lead to you choosing me as the one to keep your sketchbook? |
| Kazunari | To be honest, I thought that what the senior designer told me had already been obvious to me. |
| But after hearing his explanation, I feel less certain about what I assumed before… |
| After all, I’m planning to get into freelance immediately after graduation, rather than getting into a design company. |
| So it’s got me reconsidering how I should develop my self-awareness and my readiness for these things as I enter the world of working adults. |
| Banri | —’Cuz unlike working in a company, there’s no one to teach you when you go freelance. Is that the gist? |
| Kazunari | Pretty much. |
| Besides, my goal is to become a UMC— that’s a path that no one but myself can make for me; it’s a path that I want to set for myself. |
| I know for certain there are going to be difficulties in the middle of everything, but this is all for the sake of becoming UMC, and I don’t want to think I made a mistake in walking down this road. |
| That’s why, as a way to show my resolve, I’m banning myself from drawing for my own leisure until graduation day. |
| Plus my graduation project’s pretty much finished too! |
| Banri | …. |
| Alright. If that’s what you’ve decided, then I’ll hold your sketchbook for safekeeping as you asked. |
| Kazunari | Mhm! Thanks so much, Settsuar! |
| Banri | No prob. |
| (Frankly speaking, I’m not at all convinced with his reasoning… But I still owe a lot to Kazunari, after all. I should probably just respect his wishes. ) |
| — — — — FLASHBACK END — — — — |
