Chapter 4

“Lily! Can we please have a signature?”

“Of course, of course. Where should I sign?”

“Here, if you don’t mind.”

We sat in a family restaurant after the club. Nadia invited Carol and me out. She didn’t give me a reason, but I didn’t have anything else to do. Carol also didn’t mind. We headed to a nearby family restaurant, and while three girls from a different school freaked out after seeing Nadia, Carol worked on her homework.

“Thank you very much!” they said before going away. Nadia waved at them as they left, smiles on their faces.

“Does this happen often?” I asked. Nadia nodded.

“Yep yep. I’m always happy to see my fans. Their support is the reason I keep going.” Nadia glanced at Carol. “How about you, Carol? Do you get recognized often?”

Carol’s hands stopped. Without looking at us, she answered, “Not really.”

Unlike Nadia, who had her face on the front cover of shows, Carol had at most her name. Some people might recognize her voice, but she uses a different tone and way of speaking when she acts. Others needed to pay attention to recognize her.

Even if they recognize her, they run the risk of mistaking her for someone else. Carol did appear on interviews a couple of times, so it wasn’t like she hid her face, but not many people have seen those interviews. Nothing compared to the number of people who recognized Nadia.

“Anyway, why did you bring us here?” Carol asked, moving the conversation forward.

“It’s been a while, so I really wanted to talk to you,” Carol said.

She took a sip from the matcha latte that she ordered. It looked delicious and didn’t cost a lot. I didn’t order anything, not because of the price, but because I didn’t have anything I wanted. Carol, meanwhile, went for unsweetened tea.

“Is that really it?” Carol glanced at me.

“To be honest, I’m also curious about how you know me.”

Unlike Carol, I’m not a famous person. I didn’t remember doing anything social, either. I didn’t have my name and personality plastered over the internet. This meant she must have done quite extensive research to find out about me.

“So… you forgot about me?” she said, her expression downcast. I could tell that she faked it, though. All part of her act.

I tried paying attention to her face. I could only see Lily and no one else. I didn’t know the person behind that character before this, so I had no information about her outside her work.

“Hmm… Let me ask you this, then. Did you remember a girl and a fire?”

“A girl in a fire…!?” I gasped. That scene had repeated a couple of times in my dream. “No way…”

Carol remained silent. She seemed surprised as well.

“I’ve seen what you did, Harto. I liked your work.”

My… work? As a rescuer?

“I really like your art style, especially that camping scene. I’ve been looking for you ever since.”

“My… art style? Oh, that.”

Now that she mentioned it, I remembered drawing a manga. I made it all the way back in middle school. It featured a story about a group of friends going camping, and one scene had two girls sitting across from each other with a campfire in the middle, the starry night sky above them. A short manga I made for a competition.

“You saw that? I’m surprised.”

“Yep! I remember the art looking stunning!”

“The story…?”

She averted her gaze. I mean, I already knew. My biggest weakness, my deepest flaw. Ian said that my images looked beautiful, but he could find nothing meaningful in the story. Empty, like a dressed-up trash can. It hurt, but I could see where he was coming from. I wished I could debate him on that, but I agreed on most of his points.

“I- I mean, I’ve been looking for you ever since then. So, I want to talk about a proposal.”

“Proposal?” Carol tensed up.

“A business proposal,” Nadia said with a teasing smile. She must have noticed Carol’s reaction. “Or, are you scared I’m going to steal your man?”

“I- It’s not that! Harto isn’t my man!”

I glanced at Carol. Carol looked away, her cheeks red. I guess being misunderstood like that made her uncomfortable. I’m a regular person. I wouldn’t look good being next to someone as shining as her.

“I wanted to make my own manga, write my own stories, but I didn’t have the art skills to do so.”

“So you want me to draw for you?”

“For a fee, of course. Good work deserves to be appreciated. If we work together, you’ll benefit from my fame as well.”

I could see her arguments. People would buy something she made just out of curiosity, regardless of how much effort she put into it. If I have my name on that work, people would naturally be curious about me as well. But…

“I don’t know… I’ve kind of given up on that.”

“Huh, why?”

“No matter what I tried, I could never write anything good.”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll be writing the story, remember?”

“Won’t I just ruin the entire project, then?”

“Of course not. I mean, there’s a reason why I picked you.” Nadia pointed at me.

I felt a tug on my right sleeve. Carol stared up at me. “I… also think your art is good. It’s worth a shot. Besides… didn’t you say you joined the club to look for references?”

I did say that when I first joined. At least, that was the reason I joined the middle school club. I met Carol there. After that, Carol became the reason I didn’t change clubs. I didn’t actually care about photography or art anymore. I had long abandoned it.

“I don’t know… I mean, I haven’t been practicing.”

“But you did work hard on it before, yes? You can do it again, if you want.” Nadia tried reassuring me.

“I…”

“How about you take a look first?” Nadia pulled out her tablet.

She fiddled with it, then showed me her screen. It showed some roughly scribbled panels with text over them. Both Carol and I took a look.

“Is this the story?”

“Yep! What do you think? Is it something you want to draw?”

At first, I thought I would just read a page or two. I didn’t think Nadia would be able to write anything interesting. I was wrong, so wrong. I continued flipping pages. She wrote a simple story, a tale about a girl looking for her long-lost hero. When she was little, someone saved her from a fire. She last saw him after the event and worked hard to follow clues. Some years passed, and after spending a whole lot of effort, she eventually found him once they both became adults.

… Why does this feel familiar?

It felt similar to the fire I experienced six years ago, but the thoughts soon faded away. The story managed to pull me in. I wanted to find out what happened next.

I had long forgotten the ugly drawings she made. Despite recognizing the characters only through their names written on their circles, I understood their feelings. The story flowed well, and I couldn’t look away. I wanted to find out what happened next, so I kept flipping until…

“... Aw…”

“No…”

Both Carol and I were bummed out when we reached the end of the manga.

“Is it that interesting?” Even Nadia was surprised by our reaction. This ended up being much better than I expected.

“... It’s awesome. But… because of that… I don’t think I deserve to draw this.”

“Huh? Why?”

“I haven’t been practicing, remember? The great art you saw was long gone. I could no longer draw like that.”

“But-”

“Sorry, Nadia. I appreciate your offer… but if I draw this and fail… I don’t think I can ever forgive myself.”

“Huh? Wait, I don’t get it?”

As someone who used to pursue that path, I appreciate and respect all artists. Whether storywriters or musicians, painters or dancers. People who shed sweat and tears for something artistic, for something they saw value in.

I saw with my own two eyes just how well-written Nadia’s story was. She had taken inspiration from her own work, studied from the stories she acted in to create a well-crafted journey that I just couldn’t possibly convey. If anything, I’m more likely to ruin her work than improve it. Like a beginner trying to arrange flowers in a well-crafted flower pot.

The result might be a regular flower pot to regular people, but those who could appreciate it wouldn’t see anything good in it.

“Besides, can’t you ask someone else?”

I’m sure many people would be willing to draw this for her. My style wasn’t unique. It followed the Japanese style of manga. I’m sure many other people could do that, and they could do it much better. I didn’t hold a candle to them. Many of these people would be more than willing to help Nadia out. Some might even be willing to do it for free. Others wouldn’t mind entering competitions just so Nadia could pick the best one. She had a lot of options.

“Is that how you really see your work?”

I returned the tablet to Nadia. “Yes.”

“Alright then, I can’t force you.” She put her tablet back into her bag. “I won’t publish this, then.”

“Why?” Carol asked. She must have shared the same opinion as I. It would be a waste not to give the story a chance, as it showed that much potential.

Nadia stood up. She set aside the bill for her drink.

“When I heard this story, I immediately wrote it down, but I never expected it to go anywhere. That changed when I saw your art, Harto. Two years ago, I decided that if you’re not the one drawing it, then it’ll forever stay as nothing more than a sketch.”

She gave us a warm smile. “So, you have ample time to decide.” And with that, Nadia left the family restaurant.