Crossover Anime: I'm Kasumigaoka Utaha's Brother

Page 29

Regardless, the latter holds the title of teacher, and Aoyama Nanami felt that he should be given full respect.

"No need for that. I'm about the same age as you, and being too formal makes me a little embarrassed." Baili Xiao smiled slightly, her gaze falling on Qingshan Qihai's hand: "Is it really okay not to answer the phone? The person on the other end is probably furious, right?"

"Huh?" Only then did Nanami remember the phone call she had just made to Sengoku-sensei—the phone kept ringing with furious shouts of "Hello?! Hello hello hello! Nanami?! Aoyama Nanami! Did you hear that?"

"I'm sorry! Sengoku-sensei, I've found Mashiro! Please don't worry anymore!"

"Phew, that's good. How's Mashiro doing? What's she doing now?"

Upon hearing Sengoku-sensei's question, Nanami frowned slightly and glanced at Hyakuri Akira in a very subtle way.

She hesitated for a moment, unsure whether she should mention Baili Xiao's existence, but decided to tell the truth: "Yes! She's fine, and we're with Teacher Baili right now!"

"Baili... Oh, that person, how is it? Did he agree to teach Mashiro to draw? I'm telling you, whether he agrees or not, you must bring Mashiro back to me!"

"Don't worry, Sengoku-sensei, I'll bring Mashiro back to Sakura-sou!" Nanami assured her confidently, but before she could finish, Mashiro retorted in a cool voice, "I'm not going back! I want to stay with Hyakusato-sensei!"

"Huh?"*2! Not only Nanami, but even Chihiro Sengoku on the other end of the phone exclaimed in surprise upon hearing her words: "Absolutely impossible! Mashiro, you have to come back today!"

“No! Hyakuri-sensei…” Shiina Mashiro wanted to say something, but Hyakuri Akira raised her hand to interrupt her, turning her gaze to Aoyama Nanami: “Could you give me your phone? I’d like to talk to Sengoku-sensei.”

...

Seeing Baili Xiao walk away with his phone, Aoyama Nanami turned to Shiina Mashiro with worry and asked in a low voice, "Mashiro, did Baili-sensei do anything to you?"

(What will you do to me?)

Shiina Mashiro tilted her head and looked at Nanami: "Teacher and I had a drawing competition, and I lost."

"Lost?" Nanami stared wide-eyed in disbelief. She had seen Mashiro's paintings with her own eyes—scattered all over the room, some were sketches, some were comics. No matter which one appeared in front of her, she would exclaim, "So beautiful"—such a Mashiro actually lost?

"Yeah, a loss of 0 without any suspense..." Shiina Mashiro looked at Hyakuri Akira not far away, her orange eyes flashing with an unreadable light: "No matter what, I'm going to follow you, teacher!"

The gaze shifted to Baili Xiao.

"Hello, Sengoku-sensei." Even though he knew that the other party objected to Mashiro following him, Baili Xiao still appeared calm and unhurried.

"Hmph, hello." Chihiro Sengoku naturally wouldn't have a friendly attitude towards someone who was trying to abduct her younger sister.

Bai Lixiao didn't care and continued, "Teacher Sengoku, I hope you will agree to let Shiina Mashiro learn to draw with me. If my estimate is correct, there are probably very few artists in this world who can teach Mashiro."

“I know, my cousin’s artistic talent is one in a million.” Chihiro sighed. As the older sister, she naturally wanted Mashiro to fully develop her talent, but unfortunately… corresponding to her talent, Mashiro’s flaws were also extremely obvious: “Hyakuri-sensei, let me put it this way, the reason I don’t agree to Mashiro following you is entirely because…”

"Mashiro has absolutely no common sense, can't take care of herself, is a natural airhead, has a thought process that's completely different from ordinary people, and is extremely dependent on others." Baili Xiao interjected, taking over Chihiro Sengoku's words: "Am I right, Chihiro-sensei?"

"You, how did you know 4.9?" Chihiro Sengoku looked completely bewildered. Her dazed expression, as if she had just woken up, was rather amusing.

"First of all, apart from me, everyone in the studio is a girl around her age, so Mashiro's daily life can be completely taken care of by them."

"Secondly, although I don't like to boast, I want Sengoku-sensei to know one thing clearly—only I can teach Shiina Mashiro and help her take her painting skills to the next level."

"Finally, Mashiro is now determined to follow me. Based on your understanding of her, Sengoku-sensei, can you change her mind once she's made up her mind?"

Bai Lixiao's smile grew wider and wider as he continued speaking in an extremely relaxed tone.

"Of course, if Mr. Sengoku is worried, he can come to the studio from time to time to check on Mashiro's condition. I'll reimburse your travel expenses. So... are you still going to continue to object?"

The sales event for Chapter 0081 has ended! (4/5 Please subscribe)

"Let me introduce you. This is a new member who just joined our studio. Shiina Mashiro is in charge of the drawing work."

During the lunch break, in a private room at a restaurant very close to the sales event venue, Bai Lixiao was introducing Shiina Mashiro to everyone... and of course, her friend Aoyama Nanami as well.

"This is Mashiro's friend, Aoyama Nanami. If it weren't for her, Mashiro probably wouldn't have been able to show up today, right?"

Bai Lixiao knew Shiina Mashiro's naturally ditzy nature, so sending her to the product launch alone was a completely unrealistic idea.

"Um, nice to meet you!" Aoyama Nanami was a little nervous—the people sitting around the table were all "teachers," or editors, club leaders, or other social figures. Any ordinary high school student would be nervous, right?

She stood up and bowed respectfully to everyone, not forgetting to tug at Shiina Mashiro's sleeve.

Shiina Mashiro looked at her with a puzzled expression, then seemed to understand something and followed her example, standing up and bowing: "Nice to meet you."

"We're all family here, so there's no need to be so formal." Baili Xiao smiled, looking at Eriri and Hashima Izumi: "Don't underestimate Mashiro just because she recently joined the club. Her drawing skills are already a step ahead of the two of you, so you need to work even harder, or she might leave you far behind."

"Really?" Eriri frowned, looking Shiina Mashiro up and down—she had doubts about the accuracy of Hyakuri Akira's words, because anyone would reflexively object to hearing someone they liked say "So-and-so is better than you," even if it were true...

There's no way around it; nobody wants to lose face in front of someone they like, right?

"Really?" Although the words spoken by Izumi Hashima differed from Eriri's by only one word, the meaning was completely different—she looked at Mashiro Shiina with surprise in her eyes, and couldn't help but exclaim in her heart, "Ah, she's stronger than me now just because of her talent? That's amazing!"

After such a long period of contact and interaction, it's impossible for Bodao Chuhai to dislike Baili Xiao. It's just that because of her personality, she unconditionally believed Baili Xiao's words.

Bai Lixiao's words not only surprised Eriri and Hashima Izumi, but also made everyone present look at Shiina Mashiro with an inscrutable light.

They were well aware of Eriri and Hashima Izumi's exceptional talent in painting, a result of Baili Xiao's personal instruction.

This girl named "Shiina Mashiro" is actually stronger than them? There really are always people better than you, and heavens above heavens...

"Shiina Mashiro?" Akane Akasaka repeated the name, feeling like she'd heard it somewhere before. "Shiina Mashiro... Great Britain, you're that genius painter born into an artistic family in the kingdom, possessing world-class artistic talent, Shiina Mashiro?!"

Akane Akasaka couldn't help but raise her voice. When she traveled the world before, she had heard the name of "genius painter Shiina Mashiro" in the Kingdom of Great Britain. At that time, she even fantasized about "whether to bring Shiina Mashiro into the world of anime and manga". Of course, she gave up in the end.

You're kidding! That's a national treasure of Great Britain. Trying to abduct Shiina Mashiro from a group of knights is wishful thinking!

"Huh?! Is she that famous?" Machida Sonoko and Duanmu Yizi looked at Akane Akasaka with surprise. Being about the same age, they finally realized the difference between them and the latter—her extremely rich experience!

Shiina Mashiro nodded expressionlessly, without the slightest hint of pride.

("Well, Mashiro has such a strong talent for painting, but she has also sacrificed a lot of things in return." Baili Xiao interrupted everyone's surprise: "She can't take care of herself, has no common sense, and her thought process is a bit different from ordinary people. Simply put, she is... a natural airhead."

Upon hearing this, the way everyone looked at Shiina Mashiro changed once again.

"Now that Mashiro has joined the studio, we'll all be working together from now on. I'd like to find someone to take care of her and teach her some basic common sense." Baili Xiao thought for a moment, then turned to Bodao Chuhai: "Chuhai, you're meticulous, patient, and most importantly, you have a good temper. Can this task be entrusted to you?"

"Huh? Of course, of course!" Poshima Izumi was taken aback at first, then a blush crept onto her cheeks. Forcing herself to maintain a serious expression, she said "Yes," before immediately lowering her head and muttering softly, "Is...is this a compliment...?"

Eriri glanced at Hashima Izumi with exasperation, sighing inwardly (Tsk, you agreed after just a few compliments? You're too easy to fool!).

Indeed, Eriri's sea voyage is different from Hashima's. She has her bottom line. Even if Bai Lixiao praises her so much, she will still say something before agreeing...

"With Mashiro's addition, the completion time of the original artwork can be shortened considerably. I hope you can use the time saved to improve the quality of the original artwork, is that alright?" Baili Xiao asked, staring into Eriri's eyes.

"Of course, do you think we'd slack off with that extra time? I'll show you the original artwork I drew with all my might, and then we'll see who's stronger!" Eriri snorted, her eyes subtly glancing at Shiina Mashiro opposite her. In her mind, Mashiro was already considered a potential... no, an open rival.

"Alright, it seems everyone's morale is high. Well then..." Baili Xiao picked up his juice: "From this afternoon's sales event until the animated film is finished, let's do our best! Cheers!"

Mio: "Cheers!" *N

...

After a busy morning, the afternoon's sales event proceeded much more smoothly.

Kasumigaoka Utaha and the others no longer need to wait in front of the autograph table for readers to come and ask for autographs. Instead, they can move freely in the exhibition hall, take photos with fans, chat amiably, and discuss the plot.

Of course, wherever they are, it will definitely become a gathering place for people.

As the sun set, the sales event came to an end.

"Hyakuri-kun!" Akane Akasaka walked up to Hyakuri Akira and shoved the microphone into his hand.

"What's going on?" Baili Xiao asked, puzzled. He looked at Akane Akane with a question in his mind. He remembered that this scene wasn't in the plan, was it?

"The book launch is about to end. Whether it's the staff of Shinazugawa Bunko and Chishima Publishing, or the readers who came to attend the book launch, you are the most suitable person to give a summary!" Akane Akasaka gave a thumbs up, winked, and with a "I'm rooting for you" smile on her face, she took a step back and left the stage formed by everyone's attention to Hyakuri Akira.

Whether it was staff or readers, everyone stopped what they were doing, stopped walking, stopped talking, and their eyes turned from different places to focus on one person.

My scalp is tingling, really my scalp is tingling.

However, just as Akane Akasaka said, he was the only one present who was qualified to make a conclusion!

"Ahem! I am Baili Xiao." Baili Xiao coughed lightly, suppressing the rising temperature on his cheeks, and said with utmost seriousness, "Thank you all for your support of [5 Centimeters Per Second]. It is because of everyone's promotion of [5 Centimeters Per Second] through various channels that the three volumes of [5 Centimeters Per Second] have achieved such great success today!"

"Of course, we also have to thank Ms. Kasumi Shiko, Ms. Kashiwagi Eri, and Ms. Hashima Izumi for bringing such a wonderful story to everyone. It is thanks to the efforts of these three that everyone is able to hold the novel called '5 Centimeters Per Second' in their hands."

"Similarly, I would also like to thank everyone who worked hard to make the three launch events a success. Thank you."

"Finally, I want everyone to remember that this final volume is not the real end. Please look forward to the upcoming animated films!"

Chapter 0082 The Changes Brought by Shiina Mashiro! (5/5 Please Subscribe)

"Are the artists in the studio all monsters? How can they draw so many original drawings every day? And the quality remains remarkably consistent, even improving these past two days?"

"Huh? Senior, can you tell that the teachers' original drawings have improved? You're really wiser than anyone else. To be honest, I couldn't tell at all."

"I heard that the studio has added a teacher named Shiina Mashiro, who was once a very famous genius painter in Great Britain."

"But even so, there are only four painting teachers in the studio, right? Kasumi Shiko, Kashiwagi Eri, Hashima Izumi, Shiina Mashiro...emmm, shouldn't we also add Hyakusato-sensei for more details?"

"No, no, no, Ms. Akasaka said that Hyakuri-sensei is only a technical advisor and will not be drawing original artwork himself."

"That would be terrifying! Even working non-stop, no human could achieve that, right?"

"At this pace, the original drawings should be completed in less than a month. Although there are a lot of in-between drawings left, with the speed of the four teachers and our help, we should be able to finish them, right?"

During this period, similar conversations to the one above can be heard every day in the rouge-en-rouge circle. After receiving the original paintings drawn by the teachers from the [Huaxia] studio, many artists belonging to the circle always color and retouch them with a look of utter despair, while constantly complaining about this and that to vent their inner pressure.

There was no other way; even with nearly a hundred artists in the club combined, they could barely handle the daily volume of original artwork. This made them very suspicious of how the studio's only four teachers managed to accomplish this "impossible task."

Could it be a legendary tentacle monster? Or does it possess some kind of special ability?

Of course, this was just their guess. In the entire club, only Ms. Kousaka was qualified to go to the Kasumigaoka family (because she was too busy, Iori Hashima had been in the club all this time and had not left for a moment).

As for what Akane Kousaka saw, to be honest... every time she left the Kasumigaoka family, she forced herself to forget what had just happened!

Kasumigaoka family.

Shiina Mashiro's face was cold—her expression was always like this—the blank tablet was in her hand, and the pressure-sensitive pen touched the screen the next second.

Akane Akane could only see the constantly moving little hand and the painting that gradually appeared on the blank page—it was like watching a video fast-forwarded eight times. Staring at the hand would only make her dizzy and nauseous. Only the characters and scenes on the screen were relatively normal.

Shiina Mashiro's drawings almost never require revisions. She can complete an original drawing in a very short time, and then move on to the next one, and the one after that... just like an incredibly precise machine, working silently and rapidly.

Besides her, Eriri, Izumi Hashima, and Sagiri Izumi also work in almost the same way. Each of them focuses on the drawing tablet in front of them, completely immersed in the world of drawing, and forgets about the outside world.

"This scene feels like something out of a horror movie~" Akane Kousaka put down her coffee, forcing a smile as she said to Xiao Baili beside her, "Are you just going to let them continue like this?"

"How could that be!" Baili Xiao rubbed his temples in pain. "Do you think I didn't try to persuade him?"

In fact, before Shiina Mashiro came to the Kasumigaoka family, Eriri and her two friends worked every day, but they chatted and laughed while working and never rushed—everything changed from the moment Shiina Mashiro arrived.

For Shiina Mashiro, the only thing that interests her is drawing; in fact, it could be said that her very existence is about drawing!

Every day, she would wake up and pester Baili Xiao to teach her drawing techniques and knowledge. In her eyes, the movie-level original drawings of "5 Centimeters Per Second" became "a tool to test what she had learned," which was basically homework!

Such a studious "student" naturally pleased Baili Xiao, but there was one thing he couldn't stand.

This student...loves learning so much!