(That was the last time I went to that class...)

(Mom got so mad at me after she found out that I quit without really saying anything.)

...

(No, I'm not his student anymore.

Anyway, that reference book should be around here somewhere...)

Oh, here it is...

How long's it been? I remember going through this so many times in the past.

Huh...?

A postcard...?

(“Yukihira Art Studio - Special Spring Workshop”...)

“You're always welcome to join us, Shinonome.”

Oh...

Right. I was sent this after I quit.

But only this one notice.

The way I quit kinda made me want to never go back again...

(His spring workshop... It's already that time of year, huh?)

(I might be able to find a way to get better if I go back...)

(Despite everything I've said about him, Mr. Yukihira's a great teacher. I mean, many of his students got into Tokyo Art University...)

(Still...)

(Everyone else will have improved leaps and bounds by now. So much so that I'd stick out like a sore thumb...)

(After I quit, everyone started giving me these looks...)

...

(Ugh... Just thinking about it makes me sick...)

...

(I know I should go...

I stand to learn so much...)

But it'd make me seem so desperate...

*Sigh*

(I need to wrap up my rough draft soon... I've made the others wait long enough as it is...)

(But if I try doing that now...)

...

(No, this isn't it...

It's like I'm getting further and further away from the image in my head...)

I need a break...

<Hey, Enanan! You there?>

Oh...

<Yeah, what is it?>

<How's your sketch going?

Still stuck?>

<Yeah...

I can't figure out what to do.>

<...?>

<Did something happen, Enanan?>

<Huh? Wh-Why do you ask?>

<I mean, we've been through this before. You sound really unhappy, so I'm worried that something bad happened to you.>

<Well...>

<But...

If you're not up to it, you don't have to tell me.>

<Especially since you're doing the same for me.>

<At the same time, I'm sure you'll feel better if you talk about it, so just let me know when you feel you're ready!>

<Mizuki...>

(Mizuki's right...)

(I said that I'd wait and be there to listen. It wouldn't make sense for me to clam up and not reciprocate that.)

(Alright...)

<You really won't mind hearing this...?>

<Nope! Lay it on me...!>

<Wait, you think you're not good enough...?>

<Yeah. At least, that's what I've been feeling lately.>

<K and Yuki keep finding new ways to express what they're feeling, while I'm having trouble keeping up with them...>

<Enanan...>

<At this rate, I feel like I'm not going to be able to properly illustrate their music...>

<A part of me is even saying that I should relearn everything from scratch...>

<Hmm...

I think you're being way too hard on yourself.>

<All of us, including me, really like what you draw, Enanan.>

<...>

<Thanks...

But I don't want to drag N25 down in any way. I want to do everything I can to prevent that.>

<Which is how I ended up reminiscing about this art class I used to attend...>

<It's run by this really amazing teacher, so I can still probably learn a lot by going... But I'm not sure I ever liked being there.>

<On top of that, I'd only get shown up by everyone else there since I stopped going for two years...>

<...>

<And yet, I don't want things to continue like this...>

<I see...>

<Getting yourself to face the issue is never easy, isn't it?>

<Just thinking about it makes your head hurt and want to give up.>

<Haha. Yeah, that.

It saps all your energy and you end up having to take so many breaks just to keep going...>

<The story of my life.>

<...>

<Still, I can't believe you used to attend an actual art class...!>

<Huh? What's that supposed to mean?>

<Haha. Sorry, I have a hard time imagining you learning to draw while sitting in class, you know? How long were you there?>

<I started when I was in second grade and quit during my third year of junior high. I used to go every week too.>

<The teacher's a friend of my dad, and I was invited to join his class after being blown away by one of his pieces at this exhibit he held...>

<Really? So you learned to draw and paint from your dad's friend?>

<Yeah, but his class was always so tense since he sort of doesn't hold back when reviewing our work.>

<I started by learning how to sketch, then moved on to watercolor and oil painting. Oh, I learned to use clay a little too.>

<Clay? In a drawing class?>

<It's to get a better grasp of all three dimensions. Some students even went on to learn how to do sculptures and reliefs because of that.>

<Whoa, that sounds fun!

I wanna give that a try too.>

<What kind of stuff did you draw back then, Enanan? Anything similar to what you're drawing for N25?>

<What did I draw back then...?

A lot of different things. I can't really reduce it down to one genre or anything...>

<I also used to draw inspiration from some songs I heard even before I was aware of K or her music.>

<Whenever I sat down to really think about what a song's talking about, I always felt that I could produce something really good...>

<I totally get what you mean.

I usually do the same thing when I'm making music videos for N25.>

<Yeah, it's like N25's become a good creative output for us...>

<Oh, I also remember putting together a scrapbook of “all my favorite things”...>

<Hey, I've made one before too!

Cutting out stuff from my favorite magazines and movie flyers was so much fun!>

<What did you do for yours, Enanan?>

<Me? Um...

I had flyers from these art exhibits I really liked and tried drawing some buildings that looked interesting...>

<Magazines too.

Oh, I even tried drawing some of the cover art that caught my eye from Akito's CDs...>

<Cosmetics too. I still remember being really irked by how my teacher said, “Very typical of you, Shinonome.” It's not like I ever put on that much makeup...>

<I kinda get what he meant by that.

Anyway, what did you guys do after you made your scrapbooks?>

<Those were just ways of examining our personalities as opposed to a preamble for anything else. Wait, you've gotta hear what my teacher said about what I drew after that...>

<Hehe...>

<Hey, why are you laughing?>

<Sorry! It's just... You sound like you're having fun talking about all this.>

<I do...?>

<Yeah. You said that you weren't sure you ever liked going there, but you got to do all these things that you'd never get to do in school.>

<Okay, you're not wrong about that...>

(Oh...)

(I guess there were some fun moments along the way.)

<...>

<Earth to Enanan! You there? Why'd you clam up all of a sudden?>

<Oh, sorry. It's nothing.>

(What's going on...?

It's like I'm not bothered by what I experienced back then.)

...

(I haven't touched clay, my scrapbook or done any real sketches in so long... I don't want to feel that pain again, but...)

<Mizuki...>

<Yeah?>

<Thanks...>

<Don't mention it. That's what friends are for, right?>