The Painting

The corridors of Inagaya Academy were bustling with students, out of their classrooms for lunch break. Some of them were chatting with their friends, while some were jumping around like kids, chasing each other at a park.

A black-haired girl, unassuming and plain, passed through them meekly as she held the painted canvas she was holding, tightly as possible. Some girls who valued their looks, eyed her with mock. The boring girl didn’t even have any brooch adorning her blazer like any rich girls in their Academy, and her skirt wasn’t shortened either.

But in the eyes of the faculty members, Suzuki Shirayuri was a model student. She volunteered for tasks that her peers avoided, she was smart, and she followed the rules. Though Shirayuri was a part of the school’s scholarship program, she doesn’t take advantage of it and always draw a clear line between her and things.

She only has one friend from art class, but it seems enough for her. The girl was aloof and always wore a blank face, so she quickly faded into the background—despite her great achievements.

“Mina-sensei, here’s the painting you requested for.” Shirayuri immediately said when she saw the art teacher who urged her to volunteer and paint.

The girl handed the canvas to the brown-haired lady, who wore round glasses with her usual neutral colored clothes. Her eyes nervously looked at Mina, to catch any dissatisfied reaction from her painting just in case. Although a lot of students who knew Shirayuri thought that she was a cold and expressionless person, that is not true. She just hides her emotions, seemingly afraid of something.

Fortunately, the art Teacher seemed to like her work as her eyes lit up. “This is brilliant, Shirayuri!” She praised.

A faint smile graced the student’s lips for a few seconds, before it was gone. Then a male Teacher also looked over because he heard the female Teacher’s gasp. Something inexplicable flashed in his eyes, but as if it didn’t, he turned to Shirayuri.

“You’re such a talented student, Miss Suzuki.” Then he reached to give the girl a pat on the head, but she instinctively dodged. The Teacher smiled brightly and then slowly lowered his hand, as if nothing happened. The girl felt awkward and sorry for putting him in a strange position, but she felt uncomfortable.

Miraculously, Teacher Mina didn’t notice the awkward exchange between them. She only expressed her happiness and praised Shirayuri more with her work.

“As a reward, you can use my art room anytime you want. But I still want to see your work, okay?” Mina smiled graciously and excitement filled Shirayuri’s eyes. Now, the girl got a confirmation which teacher she liked the best.

“Thank you, Mina-sensei,” she said in a soft tone. The male teacher was quiet during their exchange, his lips pressed into a smile he always wore.

Before their conversation could go further, the faculty door, slammed opened. A student and a teacher, both male, walked in. The delinquent looking student had a rather refreshed smile while the teacher seemed grumpy and mad. This student certainly was trouble, and the all the teachers that sighed at the sight of him, proved it.

“Got in trouble again, Mr. Sanada?” Takano, the male teacher who was smiling at Shirayuri a few seconds ago, sneered at the delinquent.

“No way, Sensei. I actually helped lessen the garbage this time,” he answered cheerfully like he was proud of what he did. If he didn’t have some random patches or bandaids around his body, Sanada Kiriya would’ve looked like just some outgoing and nice guy.

Although he looked extremely handsome with his straight hair, bright golden eyes, refined and thick brows and a smile that would take your breath away; Kiriya was a badboy type student who thrashed people that displeased him—at least according to rumors. But he certainly always join fights.

“What garbage are you talking about, Mr. Sanada?! I caught you beating up some students!” Sato-sensei, the number one teacher who was always displeased with Kiriya, yelled so loud that he got red.

“What? I thought they were trash.” He answered nonchalantly, making Sato-sensei want to faint out of fury.

Takano, and some teachers snickered in the background, because Sato-sensei’s face was too funny.

While Shirayuri, who became a bystander at this scene, glared at Kiriya, before she finally decides to leave. “Mina-sensei, I’ll take my leave. Thank you for giving me permission to use the art room,” Shirayuri whispered to not disturb the current reprimanding going on, but it was loud enough for Mina to hear.

“Yes, thank you also. Don’t forget to come to my class later.” Mina-sensei smiled gently, as if looking at her favorite student. Then Shirayuri finally left, leaving the guy who will later bring change into her world, deal with the trouble he created.

—•—

Arms crossed, head bobbing up and down as his eyes were peacefully closed. If it were a desk in front of him and not an easel, Sanada Kiriya would have slumped his head moments ago. He rates art class as a sleeping place—3 out of 10.

Despite slacking off in all of his classes, he still manages to take the first ranking. Because in spite of popular belief, Kiriya actually reads his lessons when he is not fighting, sleeping, or joking around with his friends. It’s probably why the teachers just let him do whatever he wants in their classes; they would not succeed waking him up anyway.

“When it comes to art, everyone has their own interpretation. Sometimes, we even make a completely different meaning, to satisfy ourselves or, our interpretation is what we want to see. Though of course, the artist who made the art, also has their own meaning for it,” Mina-sensei discussed. She paced slowly back and forth, in front of a covered easel, standing on a small platform.

“It’s fascinating, because at times, your ideas may change because of different factors like maturity or you found a whole new meaning that you liked more. It can change and give us more depth.” She explained further and smiled at the students who were clearly interested in the class. Then she walked to the platform where the easel was, and removed the covered painting on it.

At first, there were no sounds or reaction from the students. But after a few seconds, some started placing their hands on their chest, while their heart thumped rapidly and ached at the same time.

“...Woah.”

“T-That’s so cool...”

It was a painting with a budding flower, surrounded with darkness, ruins, and dead plants. A delicate hand—like a child’s—hovered above the beautifully colored flower. The painting was full of emotions, especially sadness and pain. The detail was impeccably intricate and suddenly, the students were interested.

Because of the sudden commotion made by the stunned students, Kiriya finally opened his eyes. He first looked around at his classmates who were asking each other about how they felt and making fun of it, and next to the painting that caused it.

He squinted and rubbed his eyes to get a better focus. He just woke up from a nap, so his eyes were still adjusting. It took him a few seconds to take a full look, before Kiriya felt like someone threw a bucket of cold water over his head. Somehow, the scene painted on the canvas, was oddly familiar. As if old and forgotten memories were threatening to come back....

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