"Why do people say you're a monster?"
"I think people are a little afraid to be read like a book, ya know? I'm just too good."
-
Exchange trips are scary. Being an exchange student in a giant school full of students that are much different than you...
"Ah, got it," he said with a smirk— or maybe that was just his face?— as he held out a hand out to you. "Welcome, Miss Exchange Student. Tendou Satori."
You smiled back even though you weren't sure if he was even giving you one in the first place. It was the first introduction you had received all day and you were grateful for it. You took his hand in yours to shake it back. "I was never expecting to get a handshake while in Japan."
He walked back to grab the stool that he had been sitting on earlier. "Eh, well, no reason not to make you feel at home, right? This school's probably been cold to you so far."
"How'd you know?" you asked as you watched him drag the chair over to a nearby easel. You had hardly even spoken yet today, but conversation with this guy was so easy you didn't feel uncomfortable at all as you continued.
"I know this school and the population of students in it," he answered with a shrug as he took off his jacket to toss it on a nearby lamp with no regard. He rolled up his sleeves as he reached over to a pile of aprons and flung one across the room to you.
You regarded the apron for just a second before lowering it and finding your teacher right in front of you. She bowed slightly and you did back. That felt much more like a proper greeting in this country, but as you glanced over and found Tendou humming to himself and dancing as he got set up, you guessed not much was "proper" about him.
"Hello, (l/n)-san," she said with that same warm smile. You smiled back. "I'm-"
Before she could continue, Tendou came rushing over quickly, a paint brush in his hand that he pointed directly at her as if he were accusing her of something. "Yamamoto Sensei! What is the prompt?"
The teacher towards him with her eyebrows raised as she reached up a hand and slowly lowered his paintbrush from her face as if it were a weapon. "There's no prompts this year. It's only you two so you guys can do whatever you would like."
"Anything?" you asked, your own excitement now peaked as you began to tie the apron around your waist.
"Oh, yeah. This'll be good," Tendou said as he spun on his heels and made his way over to his own canvas. He pointed his brush to you from across the room. "I can't wait to see what you're made of. Yamamoto Sensei was talking highly of your work before you got here."
You turned back to your teacher after he said that. "Really?" you asked excitedly.
She nodded before turning back towards her desk. "They sent it to me after they accepted you in the exchange program. It's excellent work so I see how you were chosen. The board has been trying to make art more popular again here."
"Seems to be going so well," Tendou said in a sing-song voice that was a bit muffled. You glanced over to find him already painting, a paint brush stuck in between his teeth as he went. "Such a big class this year."
"I have bigger classes," corrected your teacher. "You guys are just the only third years I have."
"Ah," Tendou nodded as he pointed a long finger at you, his brush set down and his other one removed from his mouth. "Well, as you are the only other third year capable of art it seems as if we are destined to either be great partners or great enemies. Which do you prefer?"
You laughed a little bit. He was dramatic and eccentric to the point that it caught you off-guard. Honestly, it was hard to tell what you even thought of him. His intentions were hard to read and it almost made you nervous wondering what he was actually thinking and what he was truly like.
In these circumstances, though, you couldn't bring yourself to even find the time to question his motives. He was a happy face among confusing crowds of stares. Back home you would be reading into it more, here you had no choice but to take it at face value.
"Partners would be great," you said as you sat down on a stool in front of your own easel and started to get yourself ready to paint.
His eyebrows quirked up as he regarded you, and you saw those droopy eyes light up even brighter for a moment. "You got it, partner," he said with a smile.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
i usually prefer to write as close to canon as possible meaning that i take inspiration directly from the manga/anime for the personalities of the characters and their interests, but i love the idea of tendou being into art so much. as an artist myself, i thought it would be a good starting point of this story :)
