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“So this is the essence of Japan,” Eve said, looking at the dozens of bonsai, surely organized in a way she would not be able to identify herself if Arisa were not there. “I am truly learning from the master of all masters.”
Arisa flushed, standing back a little. She hadn’t been able to clean up her collection in a while, so it was embarrassing to have it in such disarray before a guest, as sudden as the proposal was. “It ain’t that big a deal…”
She hadn’t really expected to show all of them off in the first place. Sure, she had sent some pictures to Ran and her band mates tended to stare at them, but this was the first time she felt like presenting them properly, like a museum. Well, maybe that was only because Eve was a model herself; high standards or whatever.
As the Finnish girl stared at each plant with sparkling eyes, Arisa thought that she was being a little too harsh. This was Eve after all; Arisa could’ve dressed in the dusty old armor in the back of the Ryuseido and she’d love it, calling her cute or super bushido.
“Arisa-san!”
“Y-Yes!”
“Is it true you gave them names?” Eve asked, eyes shimmering brightly, as if her star stickers had been put on her pupils.
She nodded and walked up to the rows of plants. Arisa pointed at the largest bonsai. “This one here… he’s the one I’ve had the longest. Takeru.”
Eve bowed her head. “P-Please to make your acquaintance, Takeru-san! You look very lovely.”
“Heh, I do a lot of work with him-” She caught herself in the nick of time. “I-I mean, you don’t have to talk to Takeru! It’s not like he can respond or anything.” Barely two minutes passed and she was already getting flustered.
“Oh! But wouldn’t that be rude?” Eve pumped her fist. “It’s important to make conversation, is it not? You have to have such lovely bonsai because you do so yourself!”
Arisa almost choked on air. “W-Where’d you hear that from!?”
“Kasumi-san!”
“That girl…” She was gonna need a serious talk with her and what was common sense. Not that it would matter much since Eve was so purely naive. “W-Well, I’ll show you some basics with Toru. Then we can try some more stuff with a new one I got recently.”
“Yes! I’ll give it my all!”
“Ah, that’s your first mistake,” Arisa picked up the bonsai on the second row, one belonging to the shorter percentile. “Get to trigger-happy with these little guys and you might cut them down to nothing.”
“I see… patience is a good virtue. So I’ll put my everything into waiting!” said Eve, putting up her fists.
“Yeah, yeah, however you wanna see it.” She placed the maple onto the empty table. “Oh, wait. It might be a good idea to tie your hair back.”
Eve nodded, undoing her braids. “Will they be in the way?”
“Yeah, kinda. Since you’re not used to this, it’s better safe than sorry. I don’t want you accidently pruning your fingers instead.” Arisa spoke from experience. The memory of her hands being littered with starry band-aids as she played the piano came rushing forward. Following this was a series of childhood memories that were just a little too embarrassing to even think about.
She forcefully snapped back into focus. What awaited her was the adorable sight of the model with her hair up. She expected her to look a little more like a samurai, and she sort of did. Unlike those old men in history textbooks though, Eve pulled the look off in a very appealing way. “As expected of a model…” she mumbled.
“Hm? Pardon?”
“Crap…” Arisa began wondering if she was found out for… whatever it was. “A-Ahaha! Let’s get started, shall we?” Eve gave an excited salute. Good, she didn’t hear her. “So, just pruning right? Pass me the shears please?”
“Yes Shisho!”
“Shisho…” Arisa desperately fought against the desire to grin. “B-Bonsai’s growth season is between March and September… so all you wanna do is cut branches that make it have a shape it shouldn’t have. Any dead wood you wanna cut off regardless.”
“Like…” she pointed towards a branch growing at the base. “This one? It makes it look a little strange.”
“Yep, just clip that one off,” she did just that, “and there you have it. Cutting is easy, but it’s pretty tough to tell what to cut and what not to. Like, ones that are hanging, things that cross over other branches, thicker branches at the top and a bunch of other ones. And don’t even get me started on para- um…” She cleared her throat and gave the confused Eve the shears. Crap, maybe she shouldn’t get too carried away. “Let’s uh, let you practice. I’ll point out what to cut instead.”
With an enthused nod, they went to work on Toru. Arisa nearly had a heart attack when she almost cut one of the main branches, thinking it was dead. Aside from that, Eve had a good sense of what to cut and what not to cut. Insanely good. She would’ve thought parallel branches would’ve given her more trouble to look out for. But with her samurai spirit or bushido or whatever, she cleaned up Toru with ease. He was basically brand new.
“This is really good. Like, good good,” she praised.
Eve clapped her hands. “I’m glad I lived up to your expectations!”
“More like you blew them out of the water…” she mumbled as she brought over a new bonsai. Rather than green leaves, the bonsai was pink. Sakura petals fell onto the table. “Soo, wanna try working with Takeshi?”
Her student was awestruck with its beauty. “Can I really? Have I proven myself worthy?”
“Yeah, just be careful and you should be fine.” With worded approval, Eve took to the task with glee.
As Eve’s concentration was trained on the sakura bonsai, Arisa found herself smiling. It was similar to when she talked to Ran about bonsai, but much stronger. The two of them got along well from their shared interest, but it was clear they were still working on their shared social awkwardness. Not like there was any problem with that. They were friends after all.
With Eve, her honesty was infectious to a fault. It was weird, because she would get so nervous before talking to the girl. Yet, when she actually would have conversations with the Finnish girl, her prior doubts and worries washed away. Today was no different; Eve’s frankness bested her once again.
Not to say that her fellow keyboardist didn’t worry her occasionally. There was always something to freak out about, so it was just a matter of when it would happen. She didn’t actively try to avoid it anymore though, knowing the time spent would be worth all sorts of trouble anyways. The idea of admitting all that was still a little…
“Ow!”
Apparently, a drop of blood was all it took for Arisa to freak out.
“Woah, woah!” She pulled out her handkerchief and wrapped it around her finger haphazardly but securely. Arisa chose not to acknowledge how Eve was urging her away, saying that she was fine. “Stay right there, and don’t even think about untying it. I’ll be right back,” she said, running inside knowing the first aid kit will be there.
Arisa was very much accustomed to being surrounded by people who got hurt. Kasumi, Rimi (sometimes), Hagumi, Tae (more rare in comparison but her point stood), and so on. Still, she never reacted so intensely as she did just now.
She came back out, seeing that Eve still had the cloth wrapped around her finger. The bleeding was much smaller than Arisa expected. “O-Okay, got bandages.” She walked with large strides over to the model.
Taking off the cloth slowly revealed a fairly small wound, all things considered. Arisa held her finger with one hand, using the other to open and fumble through the contents of the box. A box of star-patterned band-aids seemed incredibly childish, but it was the best thing she could ask for given the less-than-too-dire situation.
“...There. I-It isn’t too tight, is it?” She asked the silent girl. It seemed like a weird thing to say, now that she thought about it. How tightly would you have to wrap a band-aid for it to hurt?
“I’m sorry...” whispered Eve.
“What for?”
Her eyes darted towards the bonsai. “I got some blood on Takeshi. I was too careless.” Arisa had to squint to even notice. Merely a drop of it.
“...You hurt yourself, and that’s the first thing you’re worried about? My plants?” she mumbled, a little touched by the gesture, but also frustrated for some reason.
“Eh?”
“Don’t worry about that.” She swallowed down the lump in her throat, almost choking as she looked at the angel before her. When compelled by such a being, one can not help but confess their inner thoughts. “...You’re more important right now. So, let me know if it hurts, alright?”
All was quiet; the rustling of the trees and the sounds of distant cars gone from the world. The only thing left was the heavy bass of her heartbeat echoing in her head, a tempo increasing exponentially with every second that passed. Her natural response to it was to hide it.
“I-It’s not like I’m super worried or anything! It’s a small cut so just f-forget it! I’m just acting as I s-should! I mean, I’m a member of the student council, b-but it’s not like I don’t care or I’m obligated or-”
What broke her daze was a tight hug, one that pressed their bodies together far more intimately than the tsundere would normally allow. It wasn’t like Arisa couldn’t push away or anything. She chose not to. She was smaller than Eve, about four inches. If Arisa was just a little taller, Eve wouldn’t have to lean in so much, but she seemed very comfortable resting her head over her shoulder, judging by the fact that they haven’t moved at all.
It wasn’t as if Arisa really liked it or anything; it was just courtesy, nothing more. Not being accustomed to hugging back though, she settled for awkward pats. “E-Eve? Are you okay?” asked Arisa.
“...Thank you.” She finally said. “I’m always being reminded of how I’m surrounded by many kind people.”
The smaller of the two nodded. Eve left her old friends and had to adapt to her new life so quickly, all at the beginning of her first year. In contrast, Arisa holed up in her own world during that time. They were both alone, though they handled it very differently. Maybe that’s why she was so weak with Eve now? Well, aside from just being very cute. But that reason was just the cherry on top.
“Yeah… I know what you mean,” was all she could say, rubbing her back awkwardly. Hugs really weren’t her thing.
“Ehehe,” a gentle and fond laugh. The vibrations that rippled in her body were oddly pleasant. “Arisa-san is also very kind.”
“Okay that, I-I don’t know about-” Her words stopped, senses honing in on the feather-light, borderline heavenly, sensation atop her head. Eve pulled away a little, allowing Arisa to process the kiss.
A fire broke out. “Eh?! Woah wha-!? You! Y-You? Huh?! I-I, uhm!?” Panic, that was the only emotion she could feel. “T-Thanks!?”
Eve’s flustered (but still very sweet) smile didn’t waver one bit, picking up the clippers. The world came back into focus. Sakura trees in the distance framed the scene so perfectly, Arisa could be convinced Eve was in the middle of a photo shoot. Something for a magazine with a wistful tagline like… well who knows? She wasn’t some super good poet or writer, or good with spoken words in general.
Cheesy as it was, she felt something was really blooming inside her. A birth of a new feeling, if she was feeling honest. And Arisa knew it would grow and flourish the more time she spent around the model.
“Should we continue?”
“Yes!” Arisa paused and coughed into her fist. “...Sure, whatever.” She still wasn’t feeling completely honest, but maybe that will change too.