12.1 - Second Meeting (characters: developing!)

At this point, I didn't even remember what I was thinking about before Rika-san entered my life. My mind was completely focused on two topics: Rika-san herself and our manga together. Even though we had decided to meet up face to face again, we still kept in contact through chat—we had exchanged phone numbers instead of just limiting ourselves to our social media profiles.

Her interest and willingness to bring this work to life motivated me a million times more, as well as made me relieved to see that she was such a reliable and responsible person. During my student years, it was sometimes a nightmare to get assigned group work… Uh, no thanks. It definitely felt better to develop something as mature adults.

Speaking of, she was actually one year older than me at 27, and was studying graphic design. After high school, she had started to work in various part time jobs, thinking that her dream of being an artist and designer was unreachable with her condition. But once she had found the strength inside her, she had applied to get a degree in design and never looked back. I'm sure that some people would claim that she was too old to pursue a degree at this point, too, but I knew better than anyone how life wasn't so linear… Example from a reliable source: person who has been single all his life at 26!

…but maybe, that'd change now?

Aaaahh, I'll blush like a shoujo girl just thinking about it…!!

No, no. Let's not get too ahead of ourselves now, shall we? I was already blessed enough to meet Rika-san and become her friend and contest partner. It'd be too greedy to wish for more… But I couldn't help it, goddamnit!! Which was probably why I chose our next meeting outfit extra carefully. It's not like this was a date, so I felt more… free? In exploring my own style. Since she was quite stylish (and open minded!) herself, I was sure that she wouldn't mind. Maybe I'd even get to impress her a little, while I was at it~?

As I waited for her arrival, I fixed up my shirt. It was a shirt of a sweet pastel pink color with a repeating daisy pattern, and I was wearing white shorts with a cute white hat to match it. It wasn't the most unique combination, but I was satisfied with its cuteness. I couldn't help but hum a sweet love song during my wait at the cafe.

My happy humming got interrupted with her gently grabbing my shoulder from behind. "Booo~" I happily turned to her and smiled. "Good evening, Rika-san!" She tilted her neck to the side. "Whaaat, ya weren't surprised?"

"Oh, no no! I was expecting you after all!" I wasn't one to get jumpscared easily. She sat down and pouted playfully. "Darn it." I laughed and then asked how she's doing. She said that she was doing well, just a bit tired because of her projects from uni. She reassured me that she had plenty of energy to spare for our project, though. Pleased, I nodded and let her know that I was the same. "I don't even see this as work! It was so fun coming up with new ideas the whole week!" And thinking about you. But of course, I kept that bit to myself. It's not like I had a genuine crush on her anyway. It just… felt so good to picture us talking together. That was all.

Yeah.

And so, we began our second 'project: one-shot!' meeting. We figured that we should probably come up with a title soon, but it wasn't the first priority. First we needed to agree on the designs, so Rika-san could get drawing as soon as possible. It was quite difficult, because all her design choices were amazing! But with a careful discussion, we managed to reach our final picks.

For the princess, we chose her hair to be a gentle pink hue, in a beautiful, long and braided hairstyle. Her outfits perfectly showed her status: royalty, but one who was shunned away. The high quality tailoring was apparent, but it wasn't anything flashy. As for her eyes, they were droopy and tired looking—and a beautiful shade of purple.

For the wandering hero, he had a tall, muscular build. The scars on his face made it apparent that he had seen many battles in his lifetime. Because of that, he looked a bit older than he actually was. His hair was on the shorter side, with an ashy brown color. As for his eyes, they were this sort of subdued teal color. He wore armor and carried a great sword, accompanied by his trusty, beautiful black horse. Pretty cool looking, I'd say!

Now that their designs were decided on, choosing their names was the first step for my side of things—so I could start writing the script. I had made a list of potential names during the week, so I handed it over for her to see. "Oooh, lemme see, lemme see~"

She carefully examined the names list. I didn't exactly want to interrupt her thinking, but I quickly let her know that she could choose any name from the list without worrying about me, as these were all approved by me anyway. She nodded, and announced, "Well then, how about Marilyn for the princess' name? The English spelling is so elegant, but the katakana is so sweet sounding since it'd be 'Maririn'. Almost sounds like a cute nickname of its own!" I earnestly agreed with her. I had the exact same train of thought! She flashed her signature grin and commented that all minds thought alike.

Hehe… Flowers were blooming inside me.

"What about the name of the Prince?" She brought our attention back to the piece of paper. "Hmm… Now that Marilyn-chan's name is settled, it should match with her well." After a few moments of thinking, she said "Alright, I think that Emrys will do."

Ah, that was my favorite name of the bunch, too!

"It's got such a nice sound to it, doesn't it? Fits our hero perfectly! I think it was a name of… Uh, if the internet isn't lying to me, Welsh origin?" She wrote down the name on her tablet and laughed. "Well, we can't know if they're lyin', but it's surely a cool sounding name and that's good enough for the world of manga publishers!" Considering I had seen some wild names in some series I had read before, yeah, this wouldn't be an issue at all.

Now that we had the designs and names down, it was time to focus on the script. As I read my notes, a waitress timidly approached. "Umm… I didn't want to bother since you looked busy, but… If you could order something…" Me and Rika-san exchanged looks and burst into laughter. Crap, we had been so immersed in our character-making process that we straight up forgot we had come to a cafe!! Thankfully, since my contest partner was very laid-back, she handled the orders smoothly and even managed to charm the waitress—I could tell by the blush on her face as she left our side. Well, that was Rika-san for you. I couldn't blame the waitress, at all…

Once our orders arrived, it was time for work once again. Well, maybe calling it work was a bit inaccurate, as we laughed and joked around a lot. It was such a peculiar feeling. It was true that I desperately wanted to impress her, but at the same time, for once I had no issues being myself. I talked and behaved just as my truest self at that moment. I greatly enjoyed my time, and I could see that she did, too. It's true that whenever our eyes met, my heart would flutter, but I really never felt this comfortable with someone before. It felt like… coming home, after a long tiring day. What a good feeling it was.

During this meeting, we had settled many things about the characters, but still there was much more to determine. "So, same time next week?"

"Yes, Rika-san, I'd appreciate it."

Just as I was going on my way towards the bus stop, she suddenly called my name. I turned back with wide eyes, curious about what she had to say. "Your shirt," she waved at me, "I love it! Suits you lots!" The brightest of smiles bloomed on my face.

I made a thumbs up sign, and with my other hand, I gestured towards her direction. "Thank you, Rika-san! You too, your fashion is always on point!" She made a playful curtsy and we both went in our own directions, laughing. Well, I guess we could consider that my plan of impressing her was a success~?

Man, I couldn't believe my feelings. It was all so… intense, yet gentle. I didn't know how things would go between us from now on, but I guess saying that we were getting along just fine wouldn't be an exaggeration. And that alone, was enough for me.