Work Text:
A voice calls out from the living room. "Ena, where are you going?"
"That's none of your business."
Her dad doesn't need to know she was going to art classes. She sighs. Class starts at 9:30. It's 9:06, but she'll make it.
- - -
Ena steps into the classroom. It's a spacious place, with stools and empty easels spread out to curve around a table in the center of the room. A few students are here already, some having already set up their things and others still doing so. The instructor, a tall and slender lady, stands at the table, setting up fruits—presumably for a still life painting.
Feeling bad about interrupting her, Ena hesitates before greeting her. "Good morning, miss."
The instructor looks towards Ena's direction. "Oh, good morning!" She smiles warmly. "Could I get your name?"
Ena nods. "It's Shinonome Ena."
"Lovely! Please take a seat," She gestures towards the stools, "you're free to sit wherever you'd like!"
Ena nods and moves to sit at an easel near the doorway.
As she starts setting up her canvas and materials, a voice rings out from the entrance. "...Good morning."
Noticing the familiarity of the voice, Ena turns her head to see a green-haired girl. Standing awkwardly beside the doorframe was none other than Kusanagi-san, Akito's classmate.
The instructor looks up just as she did when Ena entered, and smiles. "Ah, good morning! You are...?"
"I'm Kusanagi Nene.”
"Wonderful! Feel free to take any empty seat," she starts, but looks at Nene's bag. "You don't appear to have brought a canvas?"
Nene shakes her head, frowning. "I'm sorry, I left home in a rush this morning and forgot. Would it be okay for me to borrow one?"
The instructor waves her hand dismissively. "Why, of course! I know I said it would be best for everyone to bring their own supplies, but we have plenty to spare here as well! Don't worry, I'll get you one right away!"
Nene watches her scurry off to the other side of the room for a canvas, and sits down at an easel next to Ena.
She looks at Ena and her eyes widen, surprise colouring both their faces.
"Shinonome-san!? You signed up too?" Nene asks in surprise.
Ena sets down a tube of paint. "I was about to ask you that! I didn't know you were interested in painting."
The green-haired girl blushes, hands in her lap. "It's a new hobby of mine. I wanted to try something new, and now I'm interested in learning more."
"Really? I'm glad you're enjoying it," Ena smiles. "Personally, I'm here to review the foundations with acrylics. I've been too used to oil lately."
A moment of silence passes as the two of them finish setting up their workstations. The instructor returns with a canvas for Nene, and more students trickle into the classroom.
"Um, Kusanagi-san. You can call me Ena, if you'd like."
Nene looks up to face Ena, who's looking at her with a bit of an awkward smile. She opens her mouth to reply, then closes it, hesitating.
Ena notices her hesitation and speaks again. "You don't have to, of course! We'll be classmates for the next few weeks, so I just wanted to suggest it." She smiles warmly, not wanting to make the other girl uncomfortable.
"No, that's... that's okay." Nene looks back at her things, a faint tint on her cheeks. "You can call me Nene as well."
- - -
The first half of the class goes pretty well. The task is to paint a still life—an apple, a pear, and a banana.
How do I make this look right…?
Nene furrowed her brows. The shadows were looking a bit off. The white of the table is reflecting onto the fruits, but the effect is hard to nail down.
“Nene, do you need some help?”
She looked to her side, where the voice came from. It was Ena.
Nene grimaced and sighed. “...That would be nice. The shadows are giving me a hard time.”
Ena shifted her stool to sit closer. “Anywhere in particular?”
"Yeah," Nene points to under the apple, "The table should be reflecting onto the apple within the shadows, but the subtlety is throwing me off a bit. I can't get it to look realistic."
The brunette observes the fruits at the center of the room, and at Nene's painting. "They are a bit hard to portray. Here, can I demonstrate?"
"Of course."
She watched as the other picked up a brush, delicately tapping the canvas.
Her hand grips firmly near the tip of the brush, less than an… inch away. She holds it further from the tip when drawing bolder strokes.
Nene leaned in just a bit closer.
Ena’s really focused. Her hair is blocking her eyes just a bit. Does it not obstruct her vision? Oh, her eyes… they’re a really pretty shade of brown…
Nene's face reddened a bit as she fixed her posture. She shouldn’t be thinking about things like this. This is an oil painting class, so that’s what she’s going to focus on.
She still sneaks the occasional glance towards the brown-haired girl for the rest of the class.
- - -