Okay, everyone!
Today, we have Ms. Honami Mochizuki and Ms. Emu Otori visiting us from Miyamasuzaka Girls Academy.

Hello!

Hellooo!

H-Hello...!

I'm hoping that we get to have lots of fun together today! So, Ms. Honami, Ms. Emu, if you don't mind introducing yourselves one at a time.

M-My name is Honami Mochizuki.
It's nice to meet all of you. I'm only here for a short amount of time, but I hope we can all be friends.

I'm Emu Otori!
I'm gonna do everything I can to have a really wonderhoy time with all of you today!

Thank you for those lovely introductions♪ Now, it's our turn to greet our guests! Ready?

Nice to meet you both!

Yes, excellent job!

Now, Ms. Honami, Ms. Emu, I'd like to start by having you get to know the children. And the best way to do that is to play with them!

After that, we'll be painting the wall outside!

O-Okay...!

So, everyone, let's try our best!
If things turn out well, people who pass by and see your art may even praise you!

Yeah! I can't wait to paint!

(This is it...!
I can't help but feel a little nervous...)

(However, I'm also aware that today is less about painting and more about having good interactions with all the children as a kindergarten teacher...)

(So, I should do my best to get along with them!)

Alright, everyone, what shall we play first?

I wanna play tag!

Yeah, tag sounds great!
I'll be it first☆

Let's see who's able to escape Ms. Emu!

No! Run!

Stop right there!

(Hehe. Emu's full of energy.
The children also seem to be enjoying themselves very much.)

Ms. Honami, I don't wanna play tag.
I wanna read this picture book.

Me too!
Ms. Honami, can you read it for us?!

Hehe. Of course.
Why don't we all form a circle so that we can all hear what happens?

Anyway, I'll get started.
A long, long time ago in a place far, far away...

Alright, everyone!
Did you all get a chance to play with Ms. Honami and Ms. Emu?

Our next activity will be something that you all love very much. Drawing! Or in today's case, painting the wall to make it look like a zoo! So, let's do our best and paint us some wonderful animals!

Yeah!

(It's finally time...!)

(I'll be fine...!
I just have to do what Ena taught me...!)

Hey, Ms. Emu!
Let's draw some bunnies!

I wanna draw a bear! Can you show me how, Ms. Emu?!

Of course! Let's get painting right away by going brushy-brush-brush☆

Wow, your bunny and bear are so cute!

(Emu's gotten off to a good start.
Which means I also need to...!)

What shall we paint first?
Do you have any ideas?

Hmm... A fox!

Yes, a fox!
Let's paint some together!

We're painting foxes, so...
We can start with a triangle for its face, triangles for its ears and... Done!

Yeah, it's a fox!
That's so cool♪

I wanna paint one too!!

(...!
They recognized what I painted...!)

(I'm so glad I asked Ena for her help...)

Huh...?

...

(That girl is over there all alone.
Is something wrong?)

Hi there.
Would you like to join us for some painting?

Painting's boring...
And everyone always laughs at what I draw...

(Oh...)

(I think I understand.
It's so easy to become scared of drawing after being laughed at just once...)

(Then, it's all the more reason for me to paint with her...)

(If she paints something that everybody likes, she may stop disliking art...!)

I see...
But I'd like to see what your drawing looks like, so why don't we try painting something together?

I'm okay with showing you, Ms. Honami...

Thank you.
Is there a particular animal that you'd like to paint?

A crocodile... Because they're cool.

(A crocodile...
Thank goodness. That's one I've practiced...)

Okay, let's paint some crocodiles!

(Crocodiles have long jaws and bodies...
I can start by drawing a rectangular body...)

All done!

Wait, already?

Yup! Look, Ms. Honami!

S-Sure.
Let's have a...

(Huh? Is this a crocodile...?
I'm seeing a triangle pointed upwards joined to another one pointed downwards...)

What? You call that a crocodile?!

You're so bad!

N-No, I'm not...!
And it is so a crocodile!

(Oh no...
What do I do...?!)

(If this continues, she won't want to draw ever again...)

Um... What you drew is very lovely, but you can draw a simpler-looking crocodile by...

Drawing rectangles for its jaws and body... Circles on top for its eyes and... There!

Whoa! That's so cool!

It's a crocodile!

No, it's not...!

What?

That's not a crocodile!

B-But...

Hey, you're not supposed to talk to a teacher like that!

After Ms. Honami drew a really good example too!

But... But...!

Okay, let's all just settle down...!
We're here to have fun and paint together!

(What do I do...?!
I just wanted her to have fun while painting... But I made her feel worse...!)

(Also, why did she say that what I drew isn't a crocodile...?)

Hm?
Why's everyone arguing?!

Emu...!

Is everything okay? Did something happen?

I'm sorry, Emu...
I... I made a mistake and...

Oh, looks like everyone's hard at work painting...

Huh? Ena...?

Hello, Honami.
I stopped by to see how you were doing.

And it seems that you ran into a bit of trouble...?

Oh?
Is she a friend of you two, Ms. Mochizuki...?

Y-Yes...

So...

I see...
And she said that what you drew isn't a crocodile...?

Yes...
I didn't know what to do after that...

Right...

(I thought that I needed to tell Honami first...)

*Sob*

But it looks like I came at the perfect time...

Huh?

Honami, can you show me the crocodile that girl drew?

Oh, um... It's right here!

This? Okay, now I understand...

Hi, can you tell me more about your drawing...?

I actually really like what you've painted!

What?

What are you talking about? It looks so bad...

See? They're all saying how bad it is!
Lying to me isn't gonna make me feel better!

I'm not lying.
I mean...

This is its mouth, right?
It's open wide like it's about to eat something.

...!

What?

You can tell?

Yes. You did a nice job of painting a cool crocodile.

(Well, if I'm gonna be honest...)

(Honami's drawing taught me that these sorts of art styles have their own unique qualities...)

A crocodile with its mouth wide open...?
Yeah, I guess so...

I know. It's a little scary, but your crocodile might look even cooler if it had some sharp, pointy teeth.

Yeah, you're right!
I'll try painting some!

Oh, and... The one I saw at the zoo was eating this big block of meat!

Hehe. It sounds like you really enjoyed seeing that. So, let's try adding that in too!

Okay!
Teeth and meat...!

Oh...!

Wow!
It really looks like a crocodile's mouth now!

But you can't really tell that it's a crocodile just by looking at it! That means it's still bad!

Really? I think it's cool!

Next, let's try giving it some more color!
Which ones would you like to use?

Purple!
It looked kinda purply when it came out of the water!

Sounds good! Then, let's paint it purple!

Wow... It's coming to life with each brushstroke...

Oh...

Yes, that's exactly right...

(Yeah...)

(Technical skills can help turn your ideas into art.)

(But what makes your art appealing to others is...)

There!
My crocodile looks even cooler now!

(That spark. The desire to express who you really are.)