Blues on the Canvas

2.10

May 20th of 2016

Yusuke woke up at around 2 am, he sat up and was about to rub his eyes, only to see Hanae next to him. His left hand was gently grabbing her wrists, startled he released his grasp slowly to not wake her up. He noticed the trench coat on him and stared back at the girl, he gently placed it on her as he got up to walk around the room. He noticed the tidied stacks of Ann's clothes and his paint supplies all placed neatly in a corner, his canvas untouched but wiped of all the dust it used to collect.

He sighed and sat on the floor with his elbows resting on his knees, head buried in his palms as he tried to piece out what happened. 

"If I pieced my recollection together...I must have fainted in her arms and she used my keys to get in..." he muttered, glancing at his belt that lost its key-ring. He stared at the sleeping pianist. "And she went to buy supplies in the nearby store...and tended to my fingers....but that doesn't quite explain why I was holding her wrist..."

He stayed lost in thought, only to be startled by the sudden awakening of the girl.

She rubbed her eyes and turned to face him, smiling weakly.

"Oh sorry Kitagawa-kun, I didn't mean to enter your house- but you fainted on me and I didn't know what to do-" she rambled with a laugh, crawling closer to Yusuke's seated figure, she placed her hands on his cheeks and looked him dead in the eyes. "What happened to you though? Your fingers...and your weariness...are you doing fine?"

Yusuke hesitated, placing his hands on her shoulders to reassure her.

"I may have scrapped my hands on my door a bit too hard, see I was eager to start painting, but it seems my excitement got the better of me...but regarding you, my apologies for keeping you so late in the night...how about you take the mattress? I can take the floor."

"You should take the mattress- it is yours after all...it's okay, I sleep on the dorm floors sometimes!" she laughed, gesturing him to go back to sleep. Though he tried to protest, Hanae pouted and pointed at the mattress. 

The boy frowned with concern, but the girl smiled and reassured him. 

It was as she said, she slept quietly on the floor on top of her coat, as Yusuke stayed awake, unable to sleep again. He carried her onto the other end of the mattress and he sat on the other end, resting his chin on his bruised knuckles as he watched over her. The unnatural happened to him today, and to return to normal and encounter this situation, this day was going wild for him. 

Yusuke sighed as he stared at the night sky outside, the moonlight caressing him gently on his cheeks. 

Now that he knew of Madarame's true nature, there was no drop of sympathy for the elder in his heart, as much as the waves swayed wildly to convince Yusuke that he was still somewhat good, he just no longer wanted to be deceived by another ray of false hope. He no longer wanted to be some livestock, waiting to be killed when unworthy.  He no longer wanted to have the wrong image of what beauty was.

Before he knew it, tears silently trickled down his face. He wiped them away, sniffing and felt nothing other than hurt. Fear even.

Hanae, due to having intense hearing skills from her musical studies, slowly awakened, glancing at him from her end of the mattress tiredly. She crawled closer to him and put her arms around his shoulders that were frantically shaking.

"Kitagawa-kun...no...may I call you Yusuke?" she gently asked, her face softening with a worried gaze.

"You may, Hanae...' he replied sheepishly, embarrassed that he had cried.

"Yusuke...I don't know what you're going through, and I know just simple words of support won't help but...I just want you to know, you're not alone okay? I'm always here, if you'd like, I can listen to your worries." she started, using a handkerchief she had on her to wipe away his tears. She delicately caressed his hair, trying to calm him down. She noticed the silver bangle still on him and took out a small red string and cut it in half with a nearby scissor, tying a bow on the bracelet just next to the kitsune emblem. "There, this is to remember that I'm always here! I'll tie it onto my shoes too-" She tied the other half on her shoelaces, the red standing out from the ebony Mr Martens boots. She smiled and guided his head to her shoulders, continuing to caress the back of his head. 

"Thank you Hanae...but don't red strings mean soulmates or hope? Or somewhere around that concept?"

The girl giggled and turned her head to face the moonlight.

"Well...maybe we're meant to be...just kidding~"

Yusuke blushed a little, settling his head on her shoulders more comfortably as he witnessed his first blooming flower inside of him called love.

Now that he found peace of mind with her, Madarame now was a withering flower, deserved to be trampled on.