Blues on the Canvas

2.7

May 19th of 2016

Yusuke woke up in a daze, glancing around the sudden opulence of the environment compared to the shabby shack he was previously in. After scanning around he saw 4 figures standing near him, but wearing peculiar outfits, as so he said. 

"What...who are you all? Where am I-" he stuttered, frowning at the lady in red in front of him, though with proper scanning, he deduced it was Ann. 

"We're inside Madarame's heart right now..." Panther started, averting her eyes, glancing at Skull to carry the conversation on. 

"This is what the bastard feels inside of him, he's nothing but a money grubber."

"You may not want to believe this, but this is another reality viewed through Madarame's eyes."

Yusuke stood in between the group wide-eyed, yet narrowed his eyebrows the more he thought about it. Was 'sensei' just a facade he knew? Was the man he lived under a fake? Was the love and support he received just a trick? He dropped to his knees, clutching his head with clenched and sweaty hands. For so long he lived under his roof, it was hard to actually accept his distortion face to face. He immediately felt sick to his stomach, though normally this would occur due to malnutrition, it was his first time feeling sick due to overwhelming emotions. It was hard to accept someone's true side especially when you've been on the receiving end of their facade. 

"There's no time to dawdle, we need to keep going, the security levels are super high!" Mona yelped, guiding the team forward to safety, leaving Yusuke no choice but to think while he escaped with the rest.

They made their way down the corridors and into the gallery hall full of paintings of his pupils. Yusuke, upon remembering a certain someone he had met before in the portraits, stopped in his tracks. 

"This...I know her....why is she here-?" he questioned, widening his eyes more as he looked around to see so many familiar faces.

"These paintings are how Madarame sees his students, like objects." Skull replied, fuming with frustration about the endless amounts of portraits he had seen, everyone knew deep down that was how many people who had their dreams taken from them. "You know...we kinda saw yours too."

Yusuke nodded and silently let the thieves continue leading them to safety. They continued down the museum floors, upon reaching the exit, they were blocked off by shadows, and greeted by the palace ruler himself.

"What do we have here eh? Thieves and my dearest pupil...welcome all to my museum of the greatest of arts, from the great Madarame himself!" the shadow exclaimed, laughing maniacally at the group. His golden attire pissed everyone off, the Madarame in the real world had to be a facade.

"Sensei...is that you...?" Yusuke asked, his words trailing off the more he understood about the situation, yet still his gratitude kept telling him everything was just a big lie that will end soon.

"This is my museum Yusuke, built on the fame that I achieved...of course through my dearest pupil's dreams and ideas. What easier way to paint different styles, if not just stealing them from children who cannot fight back? Of course you Yusuke, you truly did give me one of the biggest inspirations of all time...or should I say, giving me your work?"  

"Tell me, what is the meaning of this?! What was the deal with the copies of the 'Sayuri'?! Just who are you really? ANSWER ME!" Yusuke furiously yelled, though weak from the amount of emotions he felt, he just let loose all his anger accumulated from all those years.

"See Yusuke, why don't I phrase my answer like this? Art connoisseurs will listen to my every word, they won't know if the painting is fake or not right? Well it truly is easy money Yusuke, and of course, I don't live in that shabby shack, I have another house under the name of my mistress. Now, what are your thoughts on my grand scheme?"

The blue-haired boy stood there in bewilderment, he just couldn't believe he had let himself be taken advantage of by such a wretched man, how he just let his eyes be clouded by false gratitude. 

"I have no more words I want to say to you Yusuke, I just have one tip for you, if you want to succeed, I suggest you don't rebel against me."

And with a smirk, he waved at his guards to send the thieves away. Yusuke, upon noticing the sudden advancements, started to laugh slowly.

"How foolish I've been...to let myself be clouded by such a wretched man....it doesn't matter who you are to me anymore, mark my words, this is my revenge for all those dreams you took away!"

Then the boy dropped to his knees again, a headache echoed through his mind, unbearable and full of pain, yet soothing all of his worries and shining a guiding light towards him. 

Morgana gasped, a new member was about to join.