Welcoming Death - Hololive Fanfiction [ONGOING]

CHAPTER 5: BURNING PASSION

"Hhaaaa..." Ina yawned loud and long, muffling the sound with her gloved hand. As she did, the group paid attention. Trying to brush it off however, she fiddled with her pencil and tapped it on her notebook. Her eyes zeroed in on the lackluster doodles she made in the corners.

Gura was the first one to speak, "Are you okay, Ina?" She spoke, worriedly. Concern evident on her face. She leaned towards her, hoping to gain some insight.

As the rest also stared at her, Ina shared their looks, especially Calli. Her eyes stayed on Calli a little longer than the rest. Her voice, barely above a whisper, came out, "I'm good. Just a little tired. Thought it was a good idea to stay up all night to draw."

"You got a big project?" Kiara shuffled a little closer.

Waving them off, she returned her gaze to the paper, "I guess." Her hand flipped the pen around her thumb, pondering on her drawing back home. She starts mumbling to herself about various things like shading, colour, anatomy and flow. Saying various things like: "Maybe I could adopt a darker colour scheme. The arm on the left is too long. I want to achieve an S curve that looks natural." etc.

As the rest of the group let Ina get to work, Amelia hesitantly looked away from her, wanting to check if she's okay but returned to the conversation.

Repetitively, Gura tapped the table to a rhythm, "Calli? Do you sing? Maybe we can go karaoke-"

Suddenly, Kiara chirped up, "Actually, me and Calli plan on going to the arcade after school!"

Calli glanced at Kiara wildly, in surprise of Kiara's comment, "We are?" Kiara returned her stare with a friendly grin. No words needed. She looked down, "I guess so." her lips curled into a small smile as she thought about it.

With a knowing smile, Gura looked over at Kiara with a smile. She pulled out a thumbs up and mouthed, 'Have fun, lover bird.'

Groaning, Amelia placed her weight on her hand, resting her chin onto her palm. She speculatively stared at Calli, whilst stealing some glances towards Ina who would also lift her head once in a while. "Well, that's a bummer. Wish I could've gone."

Calli springs her head up, seeing Amelia's look in her eye. "You can join, Amelia," she leans forward, trying to be as earnest as she could be with her.

...

Reluctant and not really wanting to intrude on the two, Amelia waved off Calli's offer with a nonchalant once over, "No thanks. You two can have your own time." Her eyes stayed on the feathers behind Kiara's ears, relaxing when Kiara met her eyes. The reaper couldn't harm her even if she tried. She could trust Kiara's safety.

"Though, ya gotta join us next time," Gura spoke haphazardly as she glanced at Amelia, "Like with the whole group: Me, Watson, Ina and Kiara altogether. With you of course." She animatedly gestured among her words, riling herself up with excitement until remembering Calli's role. "... If you'd like?" she spoke quietly with her head down.

The reaper, unused to the amount of offers to hang out, was conflicted until her eyes landed on Ina, "I'd love to, Gura."

Again, the shark felt herself get excited but held it back a bit more than before. Her tail, however, wagged like a dog to its owner. "Alrighty then!"

The bell rang loud and clear. An uproar of students rushed to get to their classes, leaving behind the mess they made on their tables. The girls dispersed with the crowd separately. Amelia walked with Gura to their gym class, Kiara off to German class and Calli, solitary and quiet, as she slipped off to her Japanese class.

Ina, however, did not move at the sound of the bell. Her hands and eyes fixed on every line and stroke of her sketch: A reaper in black which had gold highlights on the edges of her sleeves, long flowing hair which seemed to fit nicely with her clean fedora. Stripes lined her clothing, accentuating her abnormally tall height. Her hair seemed to contrast strangely from her dark clothing: brown hair around the roots stretching and fading into a luscious blonde. A mask framed her face, leaving holes in the eyes to show her dark blue pupils. The mask was a key point of her character, skeletal, darkened and aged at the edges, especially around the mouse which was surprisingly darker than the rest.