"Sayo...?"
Kenta asked as he turned to the teal haired girl with shock written all over his face.
"Yes? May I-Kenta-chan...?"
Sayo replied with a surprised look on her face.
"Huh? Do you two know each other?"
Marina asked.
"Well, sort off, Sayo and I were friends when we were young."
Kenta explained.
"Yes, however, we weren't able to keep in touch, speaking of which, what happened to you? If you don't mind me asking, why aren't you at-"
Sayo bombarded with questions but Kenta quickly replied.
"Our move to Kyoto was cancelled, for what happened to me, it's pretty obvious, I lost my ability to walk."
Kenta said as he looked at Sayo.
"Alright, that's enough questions, Arata, take Kenta to the break room, let's get this work finished."
Marina said as she clasped her hands together and Arata obliged.
"Sayo, you have a childhood friend?"
Yukina asked.
"Yes, although I don't know what exactly happened to him...I doubt he will tell me anything though..."
Sayo stated.
"If that's the case, I don't mind telling you."
Marina stated.
"Huh? Really, Marina-san?"
Lisa asked.
"Sure, but only for Sayo-chan though."
Marina stated.
"Although I'm grateful, may I ask why you are willing to share that information with me...?"
Sayo asked.
"Kenta said it himself, right? You two are childhood friends, you should know what happened to him at least..."
Marina explained as she fixed up some papers.
"If that's the case, we'll wait for you in the studio."
Lisa suggested.
"If you don't mind, thank you, Imai-san."
Sayo said with a small smile.
After the rest of Roselia left to give Sayo and Marina some time alone, Marina sat down to tell Sayo what she knows.
"Kenta-chan...he's basically been through so much...his parents died in a car crash at the age of six...he saw his parents trying to protect him, and even saw his own legs get crushed under the rocks...I feel really bad but..."
Marina said as Sayo just looked at her.
"I promised him that I'll never pity him, no matter what, he wants to be strong, even if he's been beaten up so much...he always works hard in rehab so he can get back up again, and even started to paint after the incident as a coping mechanism..."
Marina said with a smile on her face as she remembers all the times Kenta and Arata spent together.
"Marina-san..."
Sayo said as all she could do was look at Marina.
"Marina-san...if it's alright with you...can I be friends with Kenta-chan once more...?"
Sayo asked with the usual determined look in her eyes.
"That's not for me to decide, Sayo-chan."
Marina said as she looked at her.
"You have to decide if you want to be his friend or not, after all, I think you're the one that knows him a little better than even me or Arata."
Marina explained.
"I see...thank you, Marina-san..."
Sayo replied.
"I haven't done anything yet, Sayo-chan, but I do hope you two will become great friends once more."
Marian said as she smiled at Sayo before going back to work.
Meanwhile, in the breakroom, Kenta was drawing something in his sketchbook while Arata was outside working.
"Hm...It's still not coming out how I want it to..."
Kenta muttered to himself as he looked at his sketch.
"Your strokes look heavy, Kenta-chan."
Marina said as she appeared behind Kenta in the break room.
"Aunt Marina, yes, my strokes are heavier than usual for some reason..."
He replied.
Looking at his drawing, it was a sketch of a flower, he doesn't know why, but to him...it was incomplete, ugly, and it was just...bad...
"I don't know why, but it just...sucks..."
Kenta said as he closed his notebook and rested it on his lap.
As Marina just sighed, she went to make herself some coffee.
"By the looks of it, Sayo-chan wants to be friends with you again, you two must have been really close to each other when you were still young."
Marina stated as she poured some milk in her cup.
"That's up to her, personally I do not mind, however, if she no longer wishes any relationship with me, then it can no longer be heleped I guess..."
Kenta replied.
"Maybe you can try being poetic, I mean, you usually are...for example, how was your day today?"
Marina asked.
"It was nothing short of fine, the painting I have completed emanates the beauty I wanted to portray in my blank canvas that represented my dreams. However, it saddens me that I have troubled you, my dear aunt, seeing as I have once more decided to run away to simply finish this piece..."
Kenta explained.
"See what I mean? Poetic."
Marina said with some jazz hands to accentuate Kenta's poetic nature.
"Don't flatter me like that, I'm only poetic when I want to. Other times, It is simply a matter of when..."
Kenta expounded as he took something from out of his bag.
It was a pair of prosthetic legs, he attached them onto his legs and got up.
"I'm going to walk outside for a bit, I'm want to look around for some inspiration for my next piece."
Kenta said as he folded his wheelchair and placed it next to the chairs before leaving.
With a noticable sigh on Marina's face, she just looked at her coffee and saw her own reflection and briefly smiled.
"He's just like us when we were younger, sis..."
Marina said as she just let out a small smile.
After a while, Kenta was just looking around for some references for his painting, although, he was just at a complete loss. Nothing entered his mind, nor did anything want to inspire him, he only looked around and saw nothing...absolute nothingness...
"Well..."
Kenta said as he just sighed.
"I should've asked Arata to pose for me, I need a model..."
Kenta muttered to himself while looking at his blank canvas.
He looked away once more, and saw Roselia leaving CiRCLE, he didn't know why, but the way they looked, how they looked like they held themselves with such dignity, he couldn't help but want to try and capture that.
Kenta quickly sketched them and was a little bit...happy, after all, finally meeting your long lost childhood friend, would get anyone feeling a little happier. After sketching, he laid his foundation down and started to slowly fill in some background while slowly painting in more of the canvas until it was filled with so much colors.
"To think...I would get inspiration from a childhood friend, what kind of cliché is this..."
Kenta complained as he stopped painting to let it dry.
He then heard his phone ring and checked it, it was none other than Arata.
"Arata-kun, what is it?"
Kenta asked while packing up his paint.
"Where are you? Mom asked me to pick you up in case you might get tired from walking."
Arata said through the phone.
"I'm just outside of CiRCLE, in the cafe, I'm coming back now."
Kenta said as he ended the call and finished packing up.
He stood up and got the rest of his things before going to meet up with Arata inside CiRCLE where they were waiting, but as he stood up, he heard something snap and just like that, he fell to the ground, noticing that his prosthetic leg snapped, probably from it being far too old already.
"Kenta-chan, are you alright?"
Sayo's voice called out as Kenta looked up and saw her hand reaching out to him.
"I'm alright, please don't worry, Sayo."
Kenta said as Sayo helped him stand up and put him in his seat.
"Marina-san...told me everything..."
Sayo stated.
"I see...I do miss running a little bit."
Kenta said as he gave a weak smile.
"But...I have to be strong, no matter what..."