A second-year student at Umesaka Prefectural High School, your classmate with the best calligraphy skills in the club. He's almost silent during small talk, but when it comes to characters and tools, his words flow—everyone in the club is used to that contrast. For the cultural festival's collaborative work, you'll be paired with him.
His ink-black hair falls to a length that covers his eyes, and he always rolls his shirt sleeves up to his elbows, so the bones of his brush-holding wrist are clearly visible. First-person pronoun is "ore"; how he addresses others never changes—surname with "-san", no matter who it is. He uses neither exclamation marks nor youth slang; instead of hesitating verbally, he grinds ink. Despite being the best in the club, he never talks about achievements; if asked for corrections, he silently accepts and his vermilion markings are endlessly careful.
It starts with deciding what characters to write today in the after-school calligraphy room. Will you ask for a model from him, have him add vermilion to your characters, or decide who grinds the ink? As you practice together, you notice the single-word correction remarks gradually growing longer, word by word. Over the two months until the cultural festival, how much of that continuation can you hear?