----Kouki Arakawa Viewpoint

When I try to explain as clearly as possible the 'subculture culture' that was popular in Japan before my reincarnation while drinking an open-covered soda, Shingo asks me a question with a difficult look on his face.

'But you know, anime is only for kids, right?　You can't ask me to spread that out of the blue.

'Yeah, I know that. So I think the first step is to start by selling character drawings, or maybe a poster-like picture.

''Picture''...but if you don't know the image, no one can draw it. Don't tell me you're going to draw it?

That's right, I'll paint it. What I want to ask you to do is to auction the paintings on the internet. I want you to invest in me, because if it sells, we'll go into full swing.

Shingo is right, the first picture has to be drawn by me, otherwise the people around me won't be able to get the image across, so I have to do my best to make it happen.
The problem is what to draw on. If it's just paper, it's boring, and if you use a canvas, you'll have to water it down.　You'll have to do that, and we don't have special tools for that. An easily obtainable and rare material at Hakone base would be the front armor of the power suit.
There's some scrap metal lying around in the scrap yard, and if you paint on it and spray some coating solution on top of it, you can easily make a very durable poster.

'Huh!　I understand. Then I'll see how they react at the auction and then decide if I want to invest.

'That's fine. Well, let's just try and paint a picture for now and go pick up the front armor of the suit as a canvas!　And while I'm at it, I need to borrow some paint and armor processing tools.

'What..., you're going to draw on the suit's armour?　You won't be offended by that?

Don't worry, it's all scrap and it's better to start off with some flashy material to get people to notice. Hey, Con, let's go!

As I was preparing to leave the room, I heard the sound of the intercom while answering Shingo's question with a worried look on his face and holding Kon, who came trotting out of the room with a half-eaten piece of chocolate in his mouth. It's early enough for Alice and the others to get home, and Macho and my mom are on Noah Island.
There is no one else who would come to my room, but who the hell is that?　I opened the door, questioning inwardly and answering, and found a stern-faced, skinheaded man standing in the doorway.

''Ah, it's been a while. What's going on?

Mr. Skinhead, who hasn't seen my face in a while, answers my question with a wry smile.

I've got nothing to do with this, though. It's a good thing I'm on patrol, because she asks me to check on you occasionally. By the way, were you going out somewhere?

As we were getting ready to put on our jackets and go outside, a questioning skinhead saw us and asked us a question, but we wondered if we should be honest and say we were going to the scrap yard. It's more like, 'Why are we going to the scrap yard?' It's just a hassle to explain the reason when asked.......but I have a feeling it's going to be a hassle when I don't tell you and you find out later. While I was thinking about this, Shingo took the liberty of answering the skinhead's question.

''Huh!　I was just thinking of going to the scrap yard on the third level. I heard that Gongju is going to use the front armor of the suit to draw, so I'm going to collect it.

Haha, using an armor plate to draw a picture is very typical of you, Connolly. But what kind of painting are you going to draw?

'Oh, I'll explain that to you as we walk. It's pretty long if I explain it from the beginning, and it's faster if you actually see what I've drawn.

Well, then I'd like to join you.

I can't help it, it's a hassle, but I'll have to head to the scrap yard to explain to Mr. Skinhead. On a positive note, it's probably better to have someone who plays the role of a guardian to help you borrow the tools. I was somewhat disgusted that I had to reiterate the explanation I gave to Shingo as I re-carried Con and walked out of the room....




As I walked down the corridor, I opened my mouth with a frown as I frowned that I was teaching Mr. Skinhead not only about anime and manga, but also the concept of subculture culture, a concept that is not found in this world.

''Hey, is this the kind of thing you're talking about, Koki-kun?''

As he said this, he showed me his personal device, but I looked at the image on the desktop and was immensely disappointed. To my mind, it was a somewhat old........1980s style Lolibunny Girl character image on the desktop in the original world.
I didn't think it was just me who didn't know about it, but is this kind of thing surprisingly widespread?　I hurriedly asked Mr. Skinhead a question with such a question in mind.

'What's wrong with this?　Are there any social networking sites that specialize in this kind of thing?

No, that's.... Well, I drew that one.

Huh?

Wait, wait, wait!　You think the guy in front of you who's sure to eliminate some of the people in his way drew this?　That's definitely not true.　In fact, skinhead-san is probably a category of person who isn't interested in this kind of thing, isn't he? As Shingo and I looked on with dumbfounded faces, the old man began to speak, waving his hands in front of his face as if in a panic.

''Wait!　I don't know what you guys are confused about, but by no means do I have a taste for girls, or even little girls, for that matter!　No, well, it's not that I don't like it, but I don't mean that in a weird way either, I just like it in a 'pretty' way.

'I understand, please calm down!　'A little girl!' in the hallway. If you talk so loudly, you're just a trespasser.

'Oh, I'm sorry. I got a bit flustered out of character. Anyway, I'll explain it to you, Shingo-kun, will you stop looking at me like you're looking at a criminal like that?

Indeed, when I look at Shingo, he's looking at the old man with eyes that seem to be completely looking at a criminal. Moreover, his hands are operating the terminal.........isn't that screen the emergency notification screen that goes directly to the security department's line!　

Hey!　Shingo, let's just listen to the story for now. You can call the police first.

'Huh?　Sorry. It was some kind of reflexive thing, I thought it was bad.

At my words, Shingo came to his senses with a huff and dissuaded me from reporting it to the security department. Okay, so let's get back on track and listen to the old man's excuse... or explanation. I look him in the eye and urge him to continue.

I was originally in the Russian army," he says, "and my last military record was in the special forces under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but I was first in the air force. I was in the air force, and I was in the nose painting department, where pilots would draw their own personal markings on fighter planes and so on. That's how I learned to draw.

I see why you can draw, but why do you have a picture of a 'little girl' on your desktop?

Yeah?　Well, in the military, there is and always has been a high percentage of men, and the paintwork itself was often ordered from beautiful, s*xy women. But I prefer the pretty girls to the s*xy ones, so I still have a little girl as my personal mark.

I mean, isn't that just your hobby after all?　I'm not denying it, but don't you think it's still a good idea to call security?　I was lost in judgment as I looked at the man who spoke passionately about his hobby while looking like a complete gentleman, when Shingo spoke up as if he was dumbfounded.

'People's hobbies are different, so it's hard for me to say, but if you can draw, why don't you ask for help with Conju's work?

Hmm, if you put it that way, that's true, too. The pictures I have in mind and the ones drawn by males are somewhat different, so that's an indicator of which one is more popular with the people of this world.
And since he seems to like to draw and paint, and has an understanding of subculture culture, he might be a good friend to you. So I decided to repeat the words I said to Shingo in the room to add him to my group.






----Skinhead's point of view...


I operate my personal terminal at hand while watching Kouki and Shingo-kun fishing for scraps of their power suits at some distance. The email from the lady that arrived early this morning stated, 'It's about time my son did something, so please keep a close watch on him,' but I didn't think he would actually take action.
　Should I praise her for being able to foresee her son's actions, or should I admonish her for being able to easily foresee the actions of her son because he is always behaving like his father, Shuichi-san, who is always causing problems, or should I admonish her for being able to foresee his actions so easily.........it's hard to decide.

''But I never expected you to say 'Let's create a new culture together with me'.

　I'm going to be 35 this year, and maybe I'm baked out of my mind that the words of a boy who's barely lived half his life will make my heart burn. I don't have much talent........I don't have the military prowess of Shuichi-san and the Ghost Squad members, nor am I as smart as Ms. Schwarzenegger and the other researchers.
　But I'm more skilled militarily than most people, but even so, I should be able to count from the bottom of the list at Hakone base. I've been thinking that I'm going to be buried by the majority of people and then grow old and forgotten... or so I thought. However, Kouki showed me a dream.

Skinhead's talent for drawing is the talent I need the most right now!　Would you like to try something new with me?　If you fail, it won't change anything, but if you succeed, your name will go down in history. If you're a man, why don't you dream big?'

　It was very dazzling to see Gouki-kun showing an age-appropriate, unblemished smile as he said that. A big dream........when did I stop dreaming?　I had given up a lot of things when I joined the army, or maybe even before that. Will I be allowed to have one last big dream?
　As I was asking myself these questions inwardly, Kouki, who had found a good-sized armor plate, came up to me.

Skinhead!　I found some unpainted armor that looks just right. It's a nice size, so let's paint directly onto this one!　Take your thoughts and feelings to date and paint whatever picture you want, however you want.

　The armored plate that was handed to me with a smile by Kouki-kun was a prototype armor whose surface was painted white beforehand. It's true that there's no need to paint it white, but I don't know what to draw when I'm told I can draw whatever I want.
　I froze for a while, trying to ask him what kind of painting I should do. The one he was drawing on his armor plate was a pretty, black-haired girl dressed in a kimono, Japan's original national costume, with fox ears drawn on top of her head.

''What a ... pretty girl,''

'Thank you. 'You can draw whatever you want, skinhead?　There are only people here who like this sort of thing, so don't be shy and draw with your full hobby.

　It's your hobby... then I'll draw that thing I've been thinking about for a while!　I'm going to draw that ano picture I've been warming up to ever since I learned to use the full size of the armor plate to draw, while imitating Kunki-kun's painting touch!　I'm sure I can draw a better picture than any other I've drawn in the past.
　As I continued to draw on my armor plate, I suddenly felt the presence of someone and lifted my head.

I've been concentrating on it for a while now. I've finished drawing mine, but how about you, skinhead?

　Congratulations, you're going to be the first to ask me that question with a laugh, has it been that long already?　I checked the time on my personal terminal and to my surprise, three hours had passed since I started to draw.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry, it took me longer than I thought it would, but I'll finish it now.

This.........this.... I can only say that this is a great painting.

'Oh, I never imagined I'd be able to paint at such a high level.

　The two people who saw my painting praised it, but I felt somewhat embarrassed and covered it with my hand. Seeing me in such a state, Kunugi asked me a question with a bitter smile.

As I explained earlier, we're going to put the painting up for auction, but what do you want to title it?　Well, I can only imagine one appropriate title.

Well, how about "Moonlight Girl"?

　When I tell the two boys, who can be said to be new to each other, the title of my best work, they say, 'We think it's the best name ever. I looked at the painting again, feeling my face flush with age, but I still thought it was the best work I had ever done. I think it's the best work I've ever done, and I think it might sell for a high price.
　If....if this painting sells, I'll have a big dream for the last time in my life. Kunugi, Shingo and I will do something big that will leave our names in this world. I made up my mind as I stared at the girl smiling in the moonlight from the painting.