It was time for arts and crafts, your favorite part of the day. You laid belly down in a corner of the classroom quietly by yourself. You were going to do some finger painting, you had the paints and paper in front of you. "Hmm, what should I paint?" You reached your finger toward the pink paint and rubbed your finger in it before bringing it to your paper. You decided to try paint a flower.
You were so focused on your painting that you never noticed that someone was observing you from behind, "What's that supposed to be?"
"Ah!" You jumped at the sound of the voice and quickly turned around.
"Ota!" You cried out.
"Is there something on my face? Why do you look like you just saw a ghost?" He teased and you puffed out your cheeks, "You scared me." You said and looked away.
It wasn't the first time Ota had snuck up on you. He was always watching you from afar with keen interest. Sometimes he even spent the day following you around and playing with you instead of hanging out with the other kids. You didn't quite understand this fascination he had with you but you didn't really mind because he was fun to be with even with his teasing.
"So, what are you painting?." He asked, looking at the paper on the floor with interest. "A flower." You responded and he brought his eyes up to yours and blinked a few times before trying to suppress the urge to laugh. "Really?" He said, his face twitching. "Yes! What's so funny about that?" You huffed in annoyance and folded your arms.
"Well-"
"Hmph. I already know what you think. I'm not listening to whatever you say." You cut him off and turned away refusing to look at him.
"Hey." Ota brought his hand to your shoulder but you quickly shrugged it off without saying a word.
"C'mon, don't be like that. I'm sorry..." Ota sighed, his eyes dropped to the paint on the floor when an idea hit him, "If I paint you a picture, will that make you happy?" Ota asked desperately but you didn't say a word. Shrugging his shoulders with a sigh, Ota dropped to the floor and immediately started painting.
Feeling curious, you slightly turned your head to catch a glimpse of him and his painting. Your eyes widened in surprise seeing him focused so intently on it. It looked as if it all came naturally to him. He had raw talent. It was no wonder everyone praised his work but he always refused to paint for any one but you.
You continued to watch him when he glanced up and met your gaze. "Ah!" Your eyes widened and you hurriedly turned away. A grin spread across his face before he returned his attention to the painting.
"Here." A piece of paper was suddenly thrusted in front of you. Ota had finished his painting. On the paper was a beautiful butterfly resting on top of a pretty flower. Looking between your painting and his there was no doubt his was the superior one.
"Wow."
"Do you like it?"
"Y-Yeah."
"Am I forgiven?" He asked. You didn't say a word, instead you slowly nodded your head and he sighed in relief.
"It's really pretty. I'm amazed you could paint this with your fingers." You were in awe of his talent as you took the paper from his hands.
"I'm just glad you like it." He smiled. "Oh." Ota was suddenly right in front of you peering at your face. "Wah! What?" You flinched at the sudden closeness. He was smiling mischievously as he reached out towards your face, "There's something on your face." He rubbed his fingers across your cheek before pulling back with a wide grin. You placed a hand on your cheek and gasped when you realized Ota still had paint on his fingers which was now smeared over your face.
"You did that on purpose! I just forgave you too." You puffed out your cheeks and glared at him but he continued to grin, "Sorry, I couldn't help myself." He laughed. Ota thought seeing you with paint over your face was hilarious. "If that's how you want to play..." You reapplied some paint on your fingers and jumped at Ota knocking him to the ground.
"Hey!" Ota was shocked when you suddenly pounced him and were now on top of him. He wrestled with you as you tried to reach his face. "There's no way you'll touch me." He held your arms back but you weren't about to give up. You had attracted the attention of the other kindergarten kids and they were all intently watching.
Ota finally managed to push you off him and quickly stood up, "Wow, you are tougher than you look. Didn't I tell you that you wouldn't touch me." He smirked cheekily. You stood up next to him with a grin on your face, "I guess not." You said sarcastically. "You agree, so why are you looking at me like that?" Ota didn't like the way you were smiling, it was quite the devilish smile and it sent chills down his spine. "No reason." You giggled. "Huh... Hey, w-w-wait." Arts and crafts were over and you had started to walk off while Ota followed after you determined to know why you looked so proud with yourself. Of course you didn't say a word.
Ota was left wondering for the remainder of the day why people would stare and giggle any time they passed by. He was completely oblivious to the X you had painted across his forehead.