Lost in a Pursuit

Perfect?

The holiday was pretty unforgettable to me, considering that it was the first time I had ever went to a guy's house. Well, Akashi and I had a pretty fun time working on the project. I noticed that he was really good in writing(Who am I kidding? He IS Akashi!) and that kind of fueled our rivalry even more, since I enjoyed writing too. (I have never once considered being an author, though.)

Days passed, holidays went and second semester started. I was a little elated to see Miyano again after her month-long hiatus. But, what made me even more elated was the start of Art lessons. ...Well, I had to admit, Akashi's words really had a long-lasting impact on me... Since when did it start, anyway?

"Ichi~!" Miyano ran up towards me as I neared the school gate. I smiled back at her and cheerfully greeted a "Hello".

"How were you doing during the holidays? I heard you're in a project with Akashi-kun? How did the both of you go?" she asked with a mischievous smile. I could only guess she was going to tease me after that, but I fell for it anyway.

"I... uh... went to his house?" I replied with a little embarrassment.

She gasped dramatically, attracting the attention of nearby students. I quickly shushed her in fear of gaining more attention.

"It's not what you think!!" I protested, careful about the volume of my voice.

She chuckled and winked at me. "Well, good luck, Ichi. I'll support you--"

"Really, seriously, stop!"

***

Then weeks passed, Akashi and I managed to get our submission by the deadline. The first week was full of teachers preparing and warning us that end-of-year exams would be coming sooner than mid-year exams. Amid the students' groaning, I smiled to myself, thinking about the plans I'd already made to study efficiently. I glanced over at Akashi, before realising that I had matured a little bit more while being friends with him.

I must treasure this, I told myself.

Then as Art lessons proceeded a couple times per week, I got to know other students and understand the visual arts better. We used charcoal(the artists' one, not the BBQ one), oil pastels, etc. to sketch still life objects first, and I really enjoyed them, whether it was a theory or practical lesson. (Best thing of all, there were six art rooms for us to use and all were air-conditioned!)

After that, I realised, that the Art lessons required me to stay back quite a lot of times in order to have sufficient time to complete the assignments, throwing my study schedule off quite a bit. In spite of all these, I didn't really mind one bit --- after all... I really enjoy art...

One day, a week before the class tests(the end-of-years would come a little after that), Akashi came up to me in the art room and asked for a favour --- to coach one of his teammates so that he could pass most of his class tests and not miss the basketball finals match due to supplementary lessons.

I was a little reluctant, but agreed to it anyway, even though it could hold back my art assignments and study schedule. Nevertheless, I was scared of meeting another random person...

"What's his name?" I inquired.

"Aomine Daiki," Akashi replied.

"Wait, isn't that... isn't he notorious for failing almost every single subject?!"

"Exactly why I want you to help. The team needs him to secure victory."

"Okay, but... why not Midorima-kun? Why me?"

"It's because I think that your notes are much more organised and easier to read for someone like Aomine."

"I'll... take that as a compliment..."

Akashi looked around, inspecting the art room and some of the students' artworks. I decided to show him mine.

"So now, we're trying to draw that wooden wine crate with a bunch of real coconuts inside with charcoal... I wonder where did our teacher get those anyway?" I pointed to the still life objects after walking to my easel, which was supporting a piece of double-A3 size paper stuck to a plastic board, with my still incomplete artwork.

That reminded me, I hadn't actually seen Akashi's actual artistic skills. Maybe I could see it today? But it could be troublesome for him... Then again I really want to see him draw...

"Akashi, can you draw the still life for me?" The words slipped out of my mouth. I gasped. "Uh, it's okay if you don't want to!" My eyes quickly darted to the side, and then to the other side.

He looked at me. "I have time today, so grab me the materials?"

"O..Okay," I said, without realising I was actually smiling, for some reason. I swiftly seized a stick of willow and compressed charcoal each, and a piece of the same drawing paper I had attached to a plastic board behind, then handed him the materials. Before I started explaining to him the difference between willow and compressed charcoal, he took the stick with a irregular shape and rougher surface and spoke, "This one's willow," and then he took the other one with a regular cylinder shape and smoother surface, "This one's compressed, right?"

I said in awe, "You know?"

"My mother used them before. I still remember the names and everything, but the functions are still blurry," he looked wistfully at the sticks of charcoal.

"Willow charcoal is commonly used for sketching and shadow, and the compressed one is used for the others, like shading and cross-hatching. You can actually rub the strokes to smoothen them, too. But, really, there isn't any actual rule indicating anything. Just use according to your artistic senses."

By the time I finished speaking, Akashi had already started sketching the still life from his perspective. He just supported the back of the plastic board with his arm and concentrated on his task.

Well... it's nice to see him concentrate, I thought pleasantly.

Fifteen minutes later, he was done. That fast?! I hastily grabbed his artwork and inspected it.

The coconuts' texture, overall lighting were done quite nicely, but I thought that, given more time it would be better. Perhaps Akashi just didn't want to spend so much time on this. Then I looked at his wine crate. The shape and angle and everything seemed to be perfect, but there was one thing that bothered me.

"Akashi... I hope you don't mind me saying this, but the wine crate... You didn't really capture much of the texture?" I pointed to his wine crate. "You know, it's made out of wood, so it's okay to have some random stray marks on the surface, like the actual one. It doesn't have to be a perfect, smooth surface. In fact, if it's too perfect, it'll look unnatural." Then I thought of a brilliant pun.

"Well... Wooden this be a great analogy for something in life?" I smiled, with amusement, then with soothe. "I mean, we're all humans, Akashi. We can't be perfect. We make mistakes all the time. But it's okay, we just have to learn from them!"

---End of Chapter 13---

A/N: Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! ^_^ Next chapter will come out tomorrow, 15/11(Sunday).