March XX 2015 - Iro Road High Art Building Class A1

Sumire understood that all those days of skipping wouldn't go un-punished. But for somebody who loves art, a punishment involving painting another picture isn't a punishment for her. She could choose the theme too. When she heard that last part, the punishment seemed half-hearted.

Her gaze fell on the easel in front of her. For the past few minutes, she was having a hard time painting the cherry blossoms. After the failure of the first branch, Sumire tested it out several times on scrap pieces of paper.

It still doesn't look right to her. Is it too flat? No, the tree is far away. If it were flat, it would be very obvious. So what is it? Maybe it doesn't look like a cherry blossom. Her thoughts broke off when somebody entered the room. Sumire glanced over.

"Yuhi."

"So this is where you were. Its almost lunchtime."

"I just have to finish this up."

"So hey," Yuhi said. He was dangerously close to her again. "A couple of us will have lunch outside since the weather is good, do you want to join?"

Sumire looked at him, puzzled. She knew that he usually disliked such gatherings. He would spend them in his studio or the abandoned building rooftop. She quickly learned his schedule and pattern very well.

"I have work to finish." Sumire pointed to the half-completed painting in front of her.

"Huh? What is this, an extra assignment?" Yuhi asked.

A dark gaze appeared on her face when she recalled the conversation she had with Nakara-sensei this morning. Sumire explained everything to Yuhi. "He wanted to set me some other work, but I'm still an art student."

"Hmmmm.." Yuhi trailed off. "This part is wrong."

"Ah, where?"

Yuhi pulled up the spare stool and sat down beside her. "Over here." He took her brush from her hands and pointed to the top of the painting. "Cherry blossoms are not difficult once you get the hand of it. Careful and light brush strokes. You don't even need to use the whole brush, just flick it like this," Yuhi flicked the brush tip, which still had paint on it on the canvas.

Small bead-like shapes appeared on the tree; it looked like random circles at first. But the more Yuhi added, it quickly changed. Her eyes brightened when she saw her cherry blossoms transformed.

"That's amazing, Yuhi."

His lips curve to a smile. "One thing you have to remember is there is a technique to drawing anything. But you have to find what suits you best."

"Techniques, huh?" Sumire mumbled. "I learned how to paint all by myself, and everything I know is based on bits and pieces I have seen. But I guess it isn't good enough."

"Don't beat yourself up about it; these things take time. Honestly, you have achieved a lot for somebody who learned randomly."

"I know." Sumire agreed. "But aren't we judged on technical skills for a lot of our pieces? Even our simple sketches not too long ago."

Yuhi paused and then nodded. "That isn't an issue. If you want I could teach you, and also I have many books at home, you can read them."

Her gaze softened at his words. "Then I will accept your offer." She trailed off when she got a proper look at him. There were traces of paint on his face, hair, and fingertips. "Were you painting something?"

"I ended up demonstrating outside."

A live demonstration?

"You see many people from other schools visit during the day. Just now, a group of other students from another school saw me, and it ended up this way."

Now that she thought about it, how come Yuhi doesn't get harassed on school grounds? It was a real mystery to her. Then again, it's a good thing. If Yuhi got harassed in school grounds, she would not get any peace either. The two of them seldom separate from one another. The live piece Yuhi did, she is interested. Her gaze fell on her painting and then back at Yuhi.

"I guess we could eat with others for a change."

Yuhi bent down and briefly kissed her forehead. "Cool, let's go then."

....

When they arrived outside, it seemed like all of Yuhi's friends were in the middle of some kind of competition. The girl from the other day Asami was there too with a bunch of girls from other classes. Sumire felt very uncomfortable when she saw how large the crowd was. Yuhi had yet to announce their arrival, but she already saw people looking over at them.

She felt her breathing become unsteady; her vision seemed to blur. People's voices seemed to mix and blend. She could not make sense of anything. After the accident, Sumire did not go out for a long time, and when she did go out for the first time, it was awful. It was the middle of the night; she woke up after finally falling asleep.

It was late and yet there were so many people, all of them were looking at her. At first, Sumire thought she imagined things, but the more time that passed by, the more she realized they were all looking at her. She recalled that time very well; she woke up very confused. The first thing I did then was to call Ru, only to realize he wasn't answering the phone.

It was strange, and that's why she decided to go look for him. Barely dressed, she left her house and headed to his house. After walking for fifteen minutes, Sumire noticed people were looking at her.

Poor unfortunate girl.

That's the one, right? The one who got into an accident.

I heard she was the one who asked him for a lift.

So she indirectly killed him, oh dear.

She indirectly killed him. That's right; it was because of her that Ru died. Ru was dead? Sumire remembered it then. Ru is dead - so even if she went to his house, nobody would be there to greet her. He would not be there to hug her and hold her tightly. She couldn't forget the looks on people's faces and the group of people who threw things at her.

She quickly hid behind Yuhi.

Yuhi squeezed her hands. "Too much?"

Sumire nodded. "Sorry."

Like the kind and perfect gentleman, Yuhi didn't call her annoying or say it was a bother, instead, he took her hand in his and walked away. He brought her to an area behind one of the buildings. Sumire slumped her head on his chest, and he gently caressed her hair.

"I thought you would be ready, sorry."

Sumire shook her head. Her breathing still felt unsteady, but it was slowly returning to normal. "Its okay, Yuhi." She is the weird one. It was not too long ago where she sang in front of such huge crowds. But now? Now she shrinks away whenever she sees a small group of people.

Would forty be considered a small group, though? If she compared it to the large audience, she used to sing for, then yes, it was small. But for the current Ibuki Sumire, these numbers are huge.