ajisai | s. shinichiro

三

🗀 Rejection: 3

When Airi and Takashi visited their mother yesterday at the Hospital, a little baby girl layed and slept inside the incubator. Both Airi and Takashi were delighted to meet their new sibling, on the tag, their mother had named her Luna.

"How is everything at the house?" Their mother asks, Airi sitting on the chair near her mother's bed while Takashi took over the couch, taking a nap with a blanket that Airi tucked him in. "Are you too busy with school?"

Airi smiled and shook her head. "We'll both manage!" She said, consoling her mother with her words. "I'll be okay too, I can manage my time." She adds. "I don't have any problems looking after Takashi as well."

Their mother smiled upon hearing her words. "That's good to hear then." She said, reaching out to hold and caress the back of Airi's hand. "You're looking after Takashi so well, thank you so much, Airi."

A small smile crept her lips, lowering her head a little. "It's the least I can do." She says, turning her head to look at her mother. "When you get discharged from the Hospital, me and Takashi will be the ones to look after Luna next!"

The smile on her mother's face never faded, the older woman still smiling and caressing Airi's hand. "Are you...really sure about painting, Airi?" Her mother quietly asks. Airi hated this kind of talk. "Were talking about the rest of your life after university here. After you graduate, what are you going to do?"

"Don't worry about me" Airi says, withdrawing her hand from her mother's. "As long as I get to do the things I want, there's no reason for you to worry about me." She says, giving her mother a tight lipped smile. "I don't even know what'll happen to me tomorrow, the next day after that or next week. But one I thing I do know is that I'll always continue sketching and painting. When I finish and fill up all the pages of my sketchbook, squeeze out all the oil paint tubes I have or run out of canvases, I can purchase again and again." She said, nodding her head a little. "So mother, please, I know which path I'm walking on to. And I like where I'm going."

. . . . . . . . . . ♡

With a focused mind that's drifted out of the world around her, Airi lost her focus and only had her eyes trained on the unfinished painting right before her. Her right hand moving along the while holding onto the paintbrush, it moved as if it grew a mind of it's own and knew the missing pieces on the work she's creating.

It was already 2:50 in the afternoon and in a few minutes, the last bell of the day would ring, signalling end of classes. But for the last period, they were given a free time. Both Roa and Seiko were in the Softball Club, meaning they were out in the grass field of the school while she lounged inside the empty room of the Art Club.

Or that was what Airi thought so.

"I didn't know you'd be here" A male voice spoke to her from behind, causing Airi to shudder and whip her head around. It was Shinichiro sitting on the floor behind her, his eyes looking at the canvas.

"Were you painting the skies?" He asks.

Airi let out a small sight before turning her attention back to her work. "Yes I am" was all she said before resuming. "Don't you have anything else better to do, Sano kun?"

"Nah" Shinichiro responded, peering over her shoulder to look at the palette bursting with light colors of the paint in her left hand. "Hey, you paint really well. I think you perfectly captured what the skies look like outside!" He exclaims, turning his attention to look outside the window before turning back to look at her work. "Yep, you perfectly caught it right!"

Hearing his compliment made her chest leap with happiness. The fact that she received a compliment from her admirer (for the lack of terms Airi could use on him) before her mother was something. At home, Airi only sketched and sketched, but she knew that her mother would pop occasionally inside her room, meaning she would see her sketches. But never heard a compliment coming from her.

"Er...thanks" Airi spoke, giving Shinichiro a small smile. "Your compliment really means well to me." She said, giving him a tight lipped smile before adding the final touches of her painting.

"About yesterday" Shinichiro begins to say, scooting closer to sit besides Airi. "You said you and your brother were going to the Hospital. Why is that?" He asks

"It's because my mother was giving birth to my sister." She responded, her attention on her work.

"How many are you in the family then?" Shinichiro asks

"One mother, I don't like to about my father, me, my younger brother Takashi and my new baby sister Luna."

"Cool. You're three in siblings." He says, leaning back a little as he rests his palms on the ground. "Are you the eldest among the siblings too?" Airi nodded her head to this question.

"Me too." Shinichiro responded. "I'm the eldest and I have three younger siblings." He said, "What does your mom do?" He quickly shoots another question.

"She has two jobs, one day and one night." She responded, dropping her hands after finishing. "I can't believe I'm telling you about my family." She said, turning to look at the male besides her.

"I don't think there's anything wrong about knowing each other's family." He says, lightly shrugging his shoulders. "In one house, I live with my grandfather and three younger siblings - two boys and one girl. My mom's in the Hospital receiving treatment. But we come to visit her once a week."

Airi slowly nodded her head to this. "What about your father?"

"He died in a car crash" Shinichiro responded

Blinking her eyes, Airi immediately bowed her head to him a little. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"You're good." He tells her. Turning his head to look at her. "I like you" He blurts out to her.

Airi turns her head to look back at the black haired male sitting besides her. "Really?" she asks him.

"Yes, really!" Shinichiro exclaims, suddenly sitting up straight.

"I see" Airi says before flashing a sweet smile to him. "I'm quite happy to hear that...but no!"

Shinichiro's right eye twitched upon hearing her rejection to his advances again. "Wha-"

"I'm really sorry, Sano kun." Airi says, standing up from the ground before picking up her work, resting it on top of an easel. "You may have fluttered my heart for a moment but after calming down, I can't." She said to him. "I'm focusing on art and my studies. I barely have time to sleep too now more so when my baby sister will be coming home for the first time." As she turned around to look at Shinichiro, she was surprised that he was no longer besides her and the door to the Art Club room was left open.

"WAKA CHAN" She heard Shinichiro shouting either from the hallway or in one of the available rooms. "SHE SAID I MADE HER HEART FLUTTER FOR A MOMENT. THOUGH SHE REJECTED ME, I AM MAKING PROGRESS!"