Collaboration! (Mako/Hana)

'Ugh. I hate group projects...' Hana thought to herself as she listened to the teacher ramble on. Mr. Kujira didn't exactly care what Hana thought, especially when she didn't voice it aloud. He was busy explaining how the group was going to have to come up with an art project together - specifically a manga project, as an example of a real art subject that could make the students money in the future. That part was easy - Hana was already a published manga artist - it was the one thing she was truly proud of. The hard part was tolerating someone intruding upon her babies she created. Mr. Kujira would probably assign random partners or something... sigh.

"And you'll have two weeks to make a short manga story to present to the class," he was saying. Hana was staring outside, only listening enough to get by. She could ask Mako about it later. Most of the girls paid complete attention to him in class. Several talked about how good looking he was; he was only in his twenties, after all. Hana didn't see it, and figured they were just distracted by one of the few male figures in the academy. Hana wasn't against men. She was just obsessed with a certain girl instead. Besides, it wasn't like she had many prospects for a boyfriend at a girl's academy anyway, even if she cared.

"Now, I want you all to calmly pick your partner-" Suddenly, everyone was clamoring for their partner. Hana wasn't one to be excitable or show her emotions, but when those words were uttered, she could only think one thing: Mako was the only one allowed to be her partner for something like this! Normally non-expressive, Hana's eyes shot open wide. Meanwhile, Mr. Kujira just sighed at the teenage girls. "Next time in class we'll go over what calmly means."

"..." Hana was sitting behind Mako, willing her to turn around. There were far too many people around for her to want to act all outgoing and jump up to claim her girl... er... had she just...? A small blush appeared on her face, though no one would know why but her. Anyway, her partner! She needed to claim her partner. She reached out and poked Mako with a pencil to claim her instead of saying anything, her expression as neutral as ever. 'Don't you dare get claimed before you turn around!'

TAG: Setsuna Tachibana | I hope this works x3

There was a fundamental problem being in art class when you were already a professional artist. Assignments tended to be easy enough but they could get kind of tedious when you could anticipate whatever was going to be put into place. This reality wasn't so bad as that made it sound of course. You could easily finish the assignments quickly enough to have time to work on your.. well, work. Art class today was one of those times where Mako Yamana really wished she could have some quiet time alone to do the assignment. So many girls in one room who got incredibly excited when they were allowed to pick their partner for the new assignment. She could understand why you'd get excited but still! It was so hard to focus on your work when everyone around you was spazzing out about getting to pick a partner.

Of course it was better when her mind processed the instructions that they would be working on a manga. Short, yes, but still a manga. Suddenly Mako was on top of this like it was nothing. Not like she did this for a living or anything, no sir! She gave a little laugh as she immediately started doodling a character idea to use for the manga. Kujira-sensei had no idea what he'd unleashed by assigning a manga as the new project for the class. This would be top-flight and nobody would be able to top it! Except maybe Hana. Her best friend was also a pro, or as much as high school girls could be pros.

A sudden fear fell over the bluenette as she worked on her character design. The fear that some other girl would snap up her beloved Hana because she was so professional! Hana was so quiet and professional that the other girl would only pick her because they wanted to do no work themselves! How dare they! Then again, Mako theorized, Hana was pretty quiet and a lot of people didn't get her at all. Often they'd mistake her for unfriendly or detached. Mako had seen the true Hana, the beauty beneath the surface of her quiet demeanor. Which meant that Mako was more likely to get snatched up by a classmate than Hana!

Only one thing to do when that was the case. Mako closed her eyes firmly so that she could not possibly make eye contact with the rest of the class. Hopefully the other girls would think that she was sleeping or something and move on to other potential partners. Only one girl could claim her for this assignment! Soon she felt a shift in the air around her, signaling that someone had indeed decided to approach her. In response Mako scrunched her eyes even more closed if that were possible. Go away! Only Hana-chan could be her partner for this! Then something touched her shoulder, and that was enough to make Mako flip out. She jerked in surprise, arms up defensively so suddenly that her hat fell off. Eyes wide she spun around to find it was just Hana with a pencil. Blushing, Mako reached down and recovered her hat. After putting it back on she bit her lip nervously before placing her sketch pad on Hana's table to show off her new design.

"Gah! I thought it was a spider or something! But I'm glad you got me first, my dar..." she began to remark, caught herself in an admission of affection, and changed gears with, "Herelookatthisnewcharacterdesign!" It was a girl in wide-brimmed hat with a semi-Loli looking dress accentuated by a corset and diagonally striped tie. Just something that had come to Mako's mind as she made a point of ignoring the rest of the class' affection for Kujira-sensei.

Hana watched her crush jump when she poked her with her pencil. It was surprising, and a little bit funny. Hana was suddenly wearing two hats, one on top of another, when the girl's hat fell onto her as she flailed. The hat was soon recovered though, and Hana returned to a single hat ensemble, which... she honestly preferred. 'Mako, you're kind of adorable. I should poke you more often.'

Mako apparently thought that there was a spider or something. 'When do spiders feel like pencils?' At least they were mutually glad to have each other as partners. They both held their work in high regard, and it would probably be just as painful for Mako to watch someone ruin her beautiful ideas with subpar writing or drawings. Most of the students weren't half as good as them. It was a simple fact. Mako shoved a character design at Hana, who blinked for a moment then took the picture in, continuing her silence for now. The girl was pretty, and had a good taste in dresses.

"Perfect," Hana finally stated, her eyes shifting towards Mako again. 'You're so adorable the way you get excited over your drawings. Geeze I'm thinking about that a lot today.' Hana reached over and doodled something else - a girl that had the same hair as Mako, but wore a long jacket over the approximation of a school uniform. She had with her a small black cat that rode on her head. "I bet they'd go together."


By now, the other girls had finished their frenzy and were talking amongst themselves while the teacher attempted to restore order. Hana wasn't listening though. She was already enjoying herself more now that the one girl she could stand was sharing ideas with her.

Setsuna Tachibana

After the fact Mako felt ridiculous for her remark about thinking it had been a spider or something. Whenever she got surprised by something that was her default response no matter how little sense it made. What was more surprising and creepy than a spider landing on your shoulder anyway? With all those little eyes they probably saw everything and plotted your demise to be full of spiderwebs and horror. She shook her head to clear out the cobwebs of her arachnophobia, focusing instead on what Hana was doing. That was always a wonderful thing to pay attention to! Hana was so adorable wearing the navy hat too. Sometimes it looked kind of ridiculous on her, but with the shorter hair of her secret crush it was almost perfect. This was something to draw later then, Hana wearing the hat in a seifuku.

Mako nodded as the plan was made, then focused herself on what Hana was drawing on the sketch pad. Every time the girl put a pencil to paper it was magical. Simple lines took shape, flowed and grew into beauteous designs which would amaze the manga-buying public. Poetry came from the graphite which was expended to create the images. If there were anything more beautiful than Hana drawing peacefully like this, she didn't know what it would be. For a moment she wanted to reach out and take the other artist's hands in hers, look her in the eyes and tell her how amazing she was. No! Not in class! Besides, this was business. Making manga was something she couldn't just be frivolous about. Hana presented a potential character to costar with her new design, and Mako stared at her critically as she assessed the potential for a role in their project.

"So this other girl is some sort of classmate or childhood friend, I think. She's not a normal girl because she has such a strong affinity for that cat, and the coat is an old hand-me-down she can't bear to get rid of. As for this girl," Mako pointed to her own doodle, "She's a magical girl, but she's dark and tragic.. she was chosen to have great power, but there was a great sacrifice to be made for that power. Her family was lost in a house fire, leaving her to be looked after by a creepy guy.. or.. maybe a creepy mascot character. She fights threats to peoples' happiness with dark powers.. until her sister reappears! But.. for this we probably don't need to go that far into the plot right?"

Mako really was a genius when it came to stories. Hana may or may not be the better artist overall, depending on tastes, but Mako was a true poet when it came to words; there were simply none like her in Hana's mind. 'Well, she's probably the better artist too. Her ideas are so much cuter than mine. I wish I could tell you that over a romantic dinner or something.' Images of the pair sitting at a restaurant side by side, holding hands and sharing an expensive meal went through her head. Hana couldn't really cook, so making something romantic was completely out of the question... though maybe delivery... their dorm was nice and private.

Hana had frozen in place momentarily while the thoughts wen through her head, but suddenly she snapped back into reality at that thought. 'No, stop it, Hana! We're concentrating!' "So the creepy guy..." Hana started sketching out a man who looked just creepy enough that he could still be a main character that wasn't overly creepy, but still creepy enough to get the point across. "is the girl's caretaker. Maybe he even chose her for the powers and she later finds out-" Hana caught herself this time.

"Er, It's got to be shorter." 'Maybe a story snippet would be a better idea than trying to fit a whole story arc into a class project.' "Let's make it like a teaser preview." Hana sort of wished she had a way to turn this project into something romantic. She'd dreamed of this before when they'd shown each other things, or doodled things for fun. Hana decided to distract herself from her winding thoughts on the matter of Mako, reaching out and casually poking Mako's forehead. She was just playing of course, but she might as well add something to it. "You get to be the writer."

Setsuna Tachibana

Not too often was business both challenging and pleasurable. Discovering that she had a fellow author/artist on campus was the best thing that had happened to Mako as a Fukui student. Becoming intimately close to that girl without really doing anything about it other than letting her imagination get carried away? Just an added bonus. Hana added a touch which was lacking in Mako's own work - more serious or action packed things sometimes. It was so important to check scenes out of her own area of expertise with Hana that she tried to get everything proof-read by the girl. Granted she really just like watching the serious work expressions Hana wore when doing so but who was keeping score of that?

They worked extremely well together really. Not only were they in the same line of work but they had the same kind of mindset for this stuff. Mako could just draw up a character idea and pitch a plot, upon which Hana could construct great details. She'd also reign in Mako's enthusiasm for creativity when it got to be too ambitious for a project's limitations. What excited her about this class project then was the idea that they could perhaps combine business and pleasure in another way. Their publisher wanted her to do a special story different from her usual work. Why not run with this? She wouldn't tell Hana yet but if this came together well she'd pitch it as her new piece. Giving Hana credit of course.

"Yes, that works really well! But she doesn't discover her caretaker's motives until he ends up turning on her.. by bringing her sister out! Who also has powers of darkness and wears a mask to cover up burns on her face from the fire!" she exclaimed, then blinked. What had Hana just said? Blushing, she repeated, "Right, it's gotta be shorter. Just a teaser... right. So some action is in order."

Suddenly she had a pencil poked into her forehead, which made her start flailing about. What was that for? Was she doing something wrong? Not that she was startled but still this wasn't exactly what she'd expected to have happen during their collaboration. Flirty glances, blushes and maybe even crazy ideas, sure. But this? This was odd. Then she blushed and shook her head as she realized that Hana had just suggested what role she take.

"Oooooh... okay. That sounds.. good," she nodded, "What if we take turns drawing the pages? Like it's a special collaboration doujinshi or something. That way we each get to draw it!"

The pencil had been to help bring adorable little Mako back to the present. Little was a funny term, considering Hana's size, but the word had certainly gone through Hana's head just then. 'Mako, you have the best ideas. That's why I want you to write this.' Hana might have said something similar in a different setting. Not here though.

Hana nodded her serious nod when Mako suggested they took turns. That made sense. It was an art project, after all. "I like it," she admitted. Normally, an inconsistent art style bugged her, but this was Mako they were talking about. Mako was a better artist, a better writer, and also a really pretty girl. 'Wait... what did that last part have to do with it? Stupid drifting thoughts.'

Class was over at about this time, and all the other students got up to rush out as quickly as possible, chattering about their ideas with one another. This was Hana's chance! "We should discuss this in our room." Hana could be more expressive with just Mako, plus having alone time with one's crush was always an exciting idea.