-----
-----
"Big bro, sit here."
The silver-haired girl pointed firmly at a spot on the floor. Perhaps it was because she was safely tucked away in her "nest," but despite her petite stature, she was radiating an impressive amount of authority.
"Yes, yes, Ma'am," Blake said, dutifully taking a seat.
"I've already finished Sunflower-musume, Peashooter-musume, and Wall-nut-musume." Sagiri quickly knelt beside him, spinning her monitor around with sparkling eyes. Her voice was thick with anticipation. "Quick, tell me what you think!"
Seeing her "please praise me" expression, Blake wasn't about to rain on her parade. He studied the plant girls on the screen intently before offering his approval.
"Not bad at all. The art style is incredibly cute."
"To be able to draw such charming characters in such a short time... Sagiri, are you actually some kind of genius prodigy painter?"
"Keep this up and you might just become a world-famous artist one day."
As the trio of compliments hit her, Sagiri's face flushed a deep crimson at a visible speed. She clutched her sketchpad to her chest and looked away, her voice trembling with bashful energy.
"Stupid big bro... so flippant, just saying whatever sounds good... It's not like your praise makes me happy or anything."
Blake watched her in silence. If you aren't happy, then why are you trying so hard to hide that grin?
"Now that we've covered the pros, we should probably talk about the cons." Blake sat up a bit straighter.
"Eh?" Sagiri blinked, looking up at him. "What cons?"
Blake pointed toward the screen and shared his thoughts gently.
"Peashooter is fine as is, but Sunflower's chest should probably be a bit bigger. It feels like every plant girl you draw is flat-chested. It's starting to lack a bit of... variety."
"...Big bro, you really are a boob-man!"
Sagiri puffed out her cheeks, muttering under her breath, "Flat chests are a rare and precious resource, you know!"
"I'm not a 'boob-man.'"
"You say that, but deep down, you definitely love them, don't you?"
Blake kept his face expressionless, deciding to abandon the argument and change the subject.
"Regardless, some of them should be a bit larger. If everyone is flat, it leads to visual fatigue."
"I want to draw them bigger, but..." Sagiri stammered, her voice trailing off. "But I can't. I just can't get it right."
Blake looked at her curiously. "How so?"
Sagiri hugged her sketchpad tighter, her voice dropping to a whisper. "I can only draw things I've seen with my own eyes. If I try to draw purely from my imagination, it feels fake, doesn't it?"
So that's why your flat-chested characters are so cute—they're based on reality.
Blake twitched a corner of his mouth and offered a suggestion. "There are plenty of photos of girls on the internet you could use for reference."
"No! Absolutely not!" Sagiri shook her head so vigorously that her silver hair brushed against the tip of Blake's nose, leaving behind a faint, sweet scent. "Those girls all use filters and Photoshop; they aren't real at all. And I've heard a lot of them use... 'technology.' If I use fake breasts as a reference, the drawings definitely won't make people feel horny, right?"
Blake went stiff. Wait, why did you just say the quiet part out loud?
"Eh? E-eeeek!" Sagiri's face turned bright red as she realized what she'd let slip. She scrambled to cover her tracks. "I—I don't know who just said that! That wasn't me!"
"Actually, you don't need to aim for 'horny.' Plant Girls vs. Monsters is an all-ages game." Blake cleared his throat, steering the conversation away from the abyss. "...If you can't draw them, forget it. Flat plant girls are fine too."
"Big bro could help..." Sagiri lifted her sketchpad to hide her face, leaving only a pair of shy eyes peeking out. Her voice was melodic but tiny. "If I could just see the real thing, I could draw it. You could ask Miss Yanami to be my model. That glutton girl has a huge chest, doesn't she?"
Blake had no words.
Meanwhile, in the living room.
Anna Yanami's eyes wandered, eventually settling on the ice cream sitting on the table. Her gaze was shifty and unfocused.
"Mr. Blake hasn't come down yet... the ice cream is going to melt soon. It's such a waste not to eat it, right?"
"Should I help him out and finish it?"
"My mom always taught me never to let food go to waste..."
Muttering to herself, Anna guiltily reached out her right hand. Her fingertips soon brushed against the cold container.
"N-no, I really shouldn't..."
"If I actually do this, my life is truly pathetic!"
"But... but it's really melting! It's such a waste..."
She stared at the ice cream, locked in a long, internal struggle. Finally, she took a deep breath, tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, and opened her pink lips...
"Yanami?"
Blake's voice suddenly rang out from behind her.
"Gah—!?"
Anna jumped as if she'd been electrocuted, nearly fumbling the ice cream across the room.
"It wasn't me! I didn't do it! You saw wrong!"
A literal question mark seemed to hover over Blake's head as he looked at the ice cream in her hand. "What are you doing, Yanami?"
"Nothing at all!" Anna's face was burning. In a moment of sheer panic, she had a sudden stroke of "genius." "Your ice cream was melting! I was just about to put it in the freezer so it wouldn't ruin the table!"
"I see." Blake didn't doubt her. He walked over and reached out to take the ice cream. "No need for the freezer. I'll just eat it now."
"Um..."
"What is it?"
"N-nothing..."
Anna stole a glance at him. As she watched Blake take a bite of the ice cream, her temperature spiked again, the tips of her ears turning a vivid shade of crimson.
(Ahhh! Why couldn't you have come out sooner?!)
(If you were just ten seconds earlier, I wouldn't have... I wouldn't have been so embarrassed!)
"Yanami, could you go to Sagiri's room for a bit?" Blake said between bites. "She has a favor to ask you."
"Eh?" Anna blinked in confusion, finally cooling down slightly. "The little sister wants a favor from me?"
Although Sagiri had been coming downstairs the past few days, she rarely spoke, and even then, it was in a tiny voice. In Anna's mind, she was just a shy, introverted little girl. She was naturally curious as to why she was being summoned.
"It's nothing serious..." Blake wasn't quite sure how to explain it. "Anyway, don't feel forced. If you want to say no, just say no."
"Sounds mysterious." Anna stood up and headed upstairs. "I'll go see what she needs."
Blake stayed outside the door, not following her in.
Muffled voices soon drifted out from the room, though the words remained unintelligible.
After a long while, the door finally flew open. Anna Yanami dashed out, her face flushed bright red as she beat a hasty retreat.
"I'm going home now... Goodbye!"
"....."