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“I want to see you.
Know your voice.
Recognize you when you first come ’round the corner.
Sense your scent when I come into a room you’ve just left.
Know the lift of your heel, the glide of your foot.
Become familiar with the way you purse your lips then let them part,
Just the slightest bit, when I lean in to your space and kiss you.
I want to know the joy of how you whisper “more”.
-Rumi
"Yes, yes..!"
"..Yes?"
"Like this, look!"
Fujino rearranged Kyomoto's head, 25° degrees to the right.
Her untamed strands outlined orange in the setting sunlight..
Wavy lightning flashes thundering over each other.
Speckled branches and a dark veil of shadow enveloped her milky complexion.
Out the window behind her, all Fujino could see if she carelessly wasted her time, was a still, portrayed landscape, glazed over by the glossy pane.
All she'd witness around those pavements could be reduced to a rough sketch, incomplete, impatient, lacking an impulsive brushstroke of gouache.
Left to dry for way too long..
A parched mess.
Yet, everything in Kyomoto would emanate movement, fluency.. daisy petals in the wind..
Striking her right in the face and getting tangled up in her hair.
She was the water current, fine-lined in the blackest ink, the final sound in a dissipating melody.
The crows that fly over the monochrome blue of the sky, to remind you it's not just a spill of color.
Sometimes it's worth it to glance.
"What a good muse you are. You'll hold that pose for the next 20 minutes, won't you?"
"The sun won't be here for that long—"
"But you will, right?"
"B-But the lighting.."
"Maybe I can do it in only 10.. Please."
So much desperation just to draw such mediocrity, Kyomoto would think, as she sat upright on top of the little table.
Kyomoto's bangs were sprouting in overlapping edges, some singular hairs clang to her forehead.
She could feel the heat drenching both sides of her face as the sun melted her back and nape.
The sticky strawberry goop on her chin could bring meddling attention to it.
Before Kyomoto was able to whine any longer, she noticed the pencil steady on Fujino's hand as she swivelled it around and held the paper against the table.
Which meant that she was now expected to be still and quiet..
A scenery for the viewer.
An inspiring ruddy blend.
'Should I look at her face.. Look away?.'
Her knee was mere centimeters apart from Fujino's elbow, as the girl hunched over in her pillow on the ground.
When Fujino would look up at her, she'd make this really wacky face:
Narrowed eyes, open mouth.
The tip of her tongue could be seen peeking out the corner of her mouth periodically.
While a coy smile would creep up Kyomoto's lips, not quick enough to show through as she pressed her mouth together and tensed her cheekbones.
When still, Kyomoto would aim her irises towards the window.
She'd wish to pick up a brush and paint the scenery as well, with all those colors merging within the contrast itself.
Something way more precious and deserving of being eternalized, in her opinion.
Well.. The sun would set the next day just the same.
Kyomoto returned to Fujino sketching a single wriggly line for her lips, darkening as she'd go over it again and again, messier and sharper.
...
"..How was school today?"
"Uhh.. The same as all the other days.. Oh! I found chalk on the lawn, like—Almost the entire piece!"
"Oh, do you wonder if someone went back to search for it after?"
"Well, finder's keeper's! I can tell you for sure they didn't find it—it's on the front pocket of my bag."
Kyomoto giggled.
"That's bloody awesome, now you can legally vandalize the school."
"..What do you mean legally vandalize?"
"I-I mean.. It's just chalk, right? What are they gonna do if you just draw around with it? I'm sure it'd make the school way less boring."
"Manga panels around the school walls.. That'd be.. Innovative.."
"Or maybe.. A pretty sunrise.."
"Ok, let's not get carried away. I only have like 3/4 of a piece of red chalk."
"Oh, right. Sorry world, for dreaming too loud."
Fujino stopped at her tracks.
"Also, I think you'd be better at that.. I'm sure the council would appreciate it if you like, actually asked."
..
"....I'm not stepping foot in that school so soon, but.. Who knows?"
The graphite started moving once again, this time towards her eyes.
Big languid oysters with dark, dark pearls inside.
Eyelashes straight ups and downs.
Spiky like sunbeams in children's drawings, drifting away from the center.
A pattern of little paper cuts bleeding clumped gunpowder.
"Yeah, who knows.."
Kyomoto picked at the ends of her hair closest to her chest, staring attentively at the dusty particles floating near the windowsill.
At this particular time of the day, and maybe in the early morning, the sun returns near the sea, and it's fondness converts even the most insignificant lint into glowing fireflies.
You do notice that, don't you?
Right at the window of the soul, in the auburn spotlight..
Everything else way duller.
Our hearts sink down to our stomach when we see those pearly bubbles, and it's submerged pulse burbles out a reason.
"Fujino, why are you drawing me?.."
Fujino..
She took that question in like one takes pennies off the bottom of a fountain.
I guess because, in a way, I don't want to wait for the dawn to do that for me.
Perhaps because you'll never look like this again, even if you come back tomorrow at the same time and pose the same way.
..Maybe it's as simple as glueing this to the glass and making it a cool projector for my wall.
"I dunno.. You're very pleasant. You're pleasant to draw. You don't have any of those sharp edges everybody else seems to have."
Kyomoto shifted in her seat.
She peeped down at her, lashes like sundew, mouth slightly open.
Fujino kept going.
"I don't know when's it going to be the next time you look at me like that.. But here—"
She put the pencil on the side, using both her pointers to poke at Kyomoto's scribbled globes.
"Here it's not going anywhere!"
She turned to Kyomoto with a proud, childish smile.
Kyomoto couldn't help bringing a hand to her mouth to muffle out her flustered laughter.
"I'm not going anywhere as well..!"
"Yeah, I know.. Still!.."
"Hehe, I don't think you realize yet how pretty what you said was.."
"..Was it?"
Kyomoto rested her elbows on her knees, holding her head up with her hands.
This time, staring straight at the drawing.
Fujino took the pencil back into her fingers and tapped the bottom on her chin, while Kyomoto's fingers worked on tucking some hairs behind her ear.
"As someone who really isn't that big of a deal, you certainly make me doubt it.."
...
..Can't you see the things you do?
What you do to me?
...What you are?
You dare to tiptoe on the river with those big, fluffy wings holding on, and you wonder why you haven't fallen in yet!
And when you land on the ground, you complain about the weight on your back dragging you down, hurting your shoulders.
It's no coincidence.
You can't see them?
"Well, I don't know what you're babbling about, but you're pretty much a big deal to me. A huge deal."
Kyomoto shoulders shrugged, as her face beamed with a distrusting little smile.
"Are you serious?.. Kyomoto.. You're one of the reasons some people still choose to believe in beautiful sundowns.. And warm bodies.. C'mon!"
There's this dream I'll have systematically..
Where I'll reach for your bangs, and open them like curtains with the back of my hand.
I fear that any blunt movement, in the slightest, might wither you away..
You.. Tall, yet frail mound of petals.
Still, my fingers can't help but tremble and jerk at anything and on their own!
You feel my fingertips brush against the spongy skin of your cheek, and you tell me:
'It's okay, I'm real tough today!'
I hate that I need to touch you, something about you..
I'm fragile just the same.
I can't even keep still.
The tears came as soon as expected, streaming their way down Kyomoto's lower lash line.
Heavy droplets like dew..
Damp patches spread like moss, bordering the sea of her denim shorts.
Even her tears were full of life and frenzied.
She cupped her own face with her hand, as if that would do anything.
Fujino put the pencil down.
Somehow, breaking down in vulnerability had managed to grace her even more.
Outside, the sun had divided in half and the sky changed colors, gradually fading from an indigo blue to a deeper, sultrier orange.
Inside, the room plunged into shadow.
And inside, the sky didn't seem to matter that much anymore.
Or the sun leaving..
The drawing even.
"Gosh.. Did I upset you?"
"No.. Sorry. The sun's almost out, you should hurry.."
Fujino didn't even take her eyes off of her.
"What's the story, Morning Glory ?"
...
What is the story, Morning Glory?
Is it the same one, the same old tale?
Are you going to figure the words out already?
Bother yet another soul?
"Honestly, Fujino.. I don't think I'm as important as you make me seem. I mean, I can't even go to school.."
Kyomoto tried to power up a giggle, but it was pointless.
"It doesn't even teach anything good, though! Like paying taxes and finances.. You're not missing out."
"It's not that! It might not be much but everyone else can handle it.. They have friends in there. They can go by without noticing all the loud people—they can be louder..!"
"Well.. There's that.. Though, I'm already your friend, right? You wouldn't be alone at least."
"I know, but I can't ask you to do that.."
"—It's really surprising that you think it would be a favor.. I really, really would like to do that."
Kyomoto took a deep breath.
"Look, there has to be a reason why people prefer to leave me alone, I'm not stupid.. I can't help but believe that I'll end up disappointing you, and your ideas of me.. I can't live up to them.."
Fujino hands travelled to her lap, as she took an uninspiring glance towards the window, well away from Kyomoto.
"Well, there it is. You might think that I'm assessing you when I'm really just treasuring."
...
"There's no reason why people would treasure someone like me."
"Oh no—there is. They do, like, constantly. You'd be surprised."
"..."
"You're way more valuable than you let yourself believe, and it isn't even because of the things you do, or how you look like..
You have such a complex and beautiful mind, the way you act is so raw.. It's as if I can touch a piece of your heart every moment you let it take shape through all your choices.
Never once someone has made me feel as human as you do.
And that's not even the most impressive thing you've done to me."
Kyomoto's shell shocked expression made it look as though Fujino just told her she was going to throw herself out the window that very second.
"..Too much? Was that too much? Did you at least get it?"
Kyomoto's hand, previously holding onto her own shoulder, had now made its way, palm faced, onto the table.
She propelled herself to stand up before falling back to her knees next to Fujino.
Then, with no uttered word, she dove headfirst into her chest.
Right into the embroidered sunflower in the center of her tank top.
Fujino could only, from that moment on, be aware of the blackness of her hair, a crude oil spill on the concrete of her skin.
Her hands unsure of where to go, suspended in the air on either side of Kyomoto's body.
Her moist tears absorbing into the clothing like a sponge.
Fujino could feel her lips rubbing against the fabric.
"I'm sorry."
"What for..?"
"I'm such a hassle.."
Sigh.
She wrapped Kyomoto in her arms, feeling her body react with a sharp shiver.
"It's gonna take a while till you believe me, isn't it?.."
Instead of replying, Kyomoto turned her head towards the window.
Outside, everything was dark already.
The moon, hiding somewhere behind the frame, glistened the white coat of the house buildings.
Inside, she could only make out the gloomy outline of what anything was supposed to be.
Indigo silhouettes all around the room, and Fujino..
She was also pasty, so the moonlight worked its way on her.
Just like the paper sheet.
"Well.. Looks like this is the finished result."
Fujino laid eyes on the drawing, reluctantly.
Kyomoto bolted up, suddenly awake from her thoughts.
They both took the sketch in, like nothing had ever stopped them before.
It was just a bunch of lines scrawled together, but it was in fact her..
Kyomoto could see it.
The mole right below the corner of her mouth..
Her fringe, barely a wriggly line covering the bridge of her nose.. Her half-smile..
Next to the pitiful attempt of what Kyomoto believed was hair, was Fujino's signature.
Her name, all fancied up.
It wasn't just her in the drawing, a loner with a blank background.
It was her and Fujino.
Fujino and Kyomoto, in the same canvas.
Kyomoto and Fujino, in the same room.
Sitting aimlessly on top of the same floorboards.
Staring dazedly at the same exact traces.
Kyomoto outstretched her hand towards the draft, feeling the indentation of the pencil on her fingertips.
"..I like it. It makes me feel sort of.. Beheld? I don't know."
"I'm glad."
Kyomoto almost shoved her face into Fujino's, completely overlooking her previous outburst.
Fresh tears still hanging on for dear life atop of her lashes.
"What are you gonna do with it?"
"Uhh.. I don't know.. Hanging it on the wall seems kinda weird, for some reason."
"Right.."
Kyomoto thought for a second, a lightbulb spawning on top of her head, lighting the whole room.
"Wait, I know! May I?"
Her finger touched the pencil, asking for permission.
Apprehensively, Fujino caved in.
Some tiny words were written on the paper's bottom, along with the date.
Have you seen something beautiful today?
"You put it on your bedside table so you can see it before falling asleep, how's that for useful?"
"That's.. Definitely something you'd ask."
Fujino cushioned her grinning face in her hands.
This girl just can't be real.
"Actually.. I think I might have missed something. Can you get me the chalk?"
Kyomoto did as she was asked, stumbling her way across the room to Fujino's bag and back.
The zipper revealed itself to be rustier than what she had expected.
With the chalk in-between Fujino's thumb and pointer, it hurried to scribble a puddle of rouge in the center of the drawing's face.
And a tiny smudge on the chin.
"Voilà!"
..Seriously?
Fujino continued, a spread grin on her face.
"Have you noticed this smear on your chin.?"
She licked her thumb promptly and ran it along Kyomoto's chin, wiping it all out.
Kyomoto didn't react, but she surely did look away.
Back at all the manga on her overloaded shelf.
It was as organized as it could be, but Kyomoto wondered how much longer she could go without having to relocate any of the books.
Along with the smudge, Fujino swiftly swabbed some salty water off of her cheek.
Fingertips soft against her sensitive skin.
Her skin..
"Fujino, would you rather stay?"
"..Huh?"
That question could awake so many answers within her.
"I mean, it's late.. I wouldn't want you to go home in the dark.."
"..Do you want me to stay?"
The plan backfired on her.
Damn it.
"I only want you to stay if you want to stay."
Heh, nice save, Kyomoto.
..
"Well, I only want to stay if you want me to stay.."
Something about Fujino's lips curling into a sly smile told her she was doing it on purpose.
"Bastard."
Fujino burst into laughter, resting her forehead against Kyomoto's.
Then, she used her finger to boop her nose.
"Soo?~"
"..I want you to stay.."
".. I want to stay. I'll stay."
Silence.
Kyomoto suddenly remembered.
"Is it ok with your parents?"
"I'll just message my sister.. It should be fine."
It was, in fact, fine.
Later on, Kyomoto fell asleep on top of the pillow, as she should.
Fujino found herself sweeping the floor with her own hair, as her spine formed a 90-degree angle, bending backwards from the side of the bed.
Some might say she was left with serious injuries.
Others say, rightfully, that Kyomoto kicked her off to that position in her sleep.
But it is a fact that both were alive and well, at least in the following morning.
The sun rise made its way through the window, making the beginning of a new morning known.
Outside, swallows flew through the skies towards a warmer place.
Inside, they brewed tea and burned some toast.
