Reminisce (Rin)

On a warm and humid day, a handful of walkers and joggers dotted the pathways in a small forest, near a small town. A middle aged couple moved slowly along the path, scanning the scenery for something.

"I don't know which one it is." Rin looked around at all of the trees lining the path.

"It doesn't really matter, didn't you just pick one at random when we were here? That's what I always thought."

"You were right." She stopped walking momentarily to examine one of them a little closer.

"I'll be happy with any of them. If we're both remembering the same thing, then it will be like the same tree anyways."

Rin continued staring at the tree in thought for a few seconds. A glimmer of a smile crept from the corner of her mouth.

"You're right again."

They sat beneath one nearby that looked old enough, and gazed up towards the sky. The pattern of the leaves letting small glimpses of sunlight through immediately reminded them how they each felt that day, doing the same thing. They had come here one or two other times, but only walked the paths instead of earnestly looking for their old spot. After a few moments, Rin spoke.

"It would be nice if some kids found the same tree and it helped them, too."

They let the nostalgic idea drift into the air with their own memories of the tree. Yamaku's students in particular had more on their minds sometimes - it wouldn't be unexpected for one or two of them to go somewhere quiet like this to lose themselves in thought.

"Do you remember the girls who ran the student council?"

"Hmm.. well pink hair immediately comes to mind. Misha was her name.." Hisao followed the thought a bit further. "Yeah, she was an interpreter for the president. I don't remember her name, though."

"Hakamichi Shizune."

"Huh. It's surprising that you remember. I should be able to, she was hassling me for awhile to join the council with them."

Rin gave a small smile. "She hassled a lot of people about different things. Like my mural."

"Maybe we should go see it."

"Was it good?"

"Most people seemed to like it, I think."

She bit her lip. "I'd rather not."

"Ready to get dinner then?"

"Sounds good."



----
The small town down the hill from their old high school had a restaurant that they often visited after leaving Yamaku. Whenever they were in the area to see Emi, they stopped in. They didn't always visit the school, but always went to the town, to their favourite restaurant. The owner knew them well, since they went there years ago when his father ran it.

After finding a spot, they both took a brief look around the room.

"Where did they put up your last one?"

"I don't know, I'm looking for it too."

Over a dozen paintings decorated the walls, all of them special commissions from the owners that she made for them. Several businesses paid her for unique works to put up instead of buying copies. She wasn't world-famous, but in their region of Japan, it was a point of pride for a business to have original Rin works. There were many people who would recognize them in offices or hotels as well as restaurants.

"I remember when you didn't want to make paintings for other people."

"You've mentioned that before. I remember too. I think I was still confused about what I was going to do back then. Lots of kids are. I was probably just disassociating working for money and enjoyment. I'm glad I figured it out."

"Yeah."

The owner noticed the couple and walked quickly over to them with menus, even though they knew it almost completely from memory.

"Hello, you two. I'm glad to see you so soon! It was just a couple weeks ago, wasn't it?"

Rin glanced away from her painting that she'd finally located and responded. "We came sightseeing. Tried to find some spots we remember from school."

"Ah. Pleasant memories?"

"Very, actually."

"That's great! Here, these are our new menus - just came in a couple days ago. A few new items!"

"Thanks, I'll try one of them out" Hisao replied.

"Was Takao here today?" Rin asked.

"Actually he was, and he ordered one of the new dishes. He's looking well. Have you seen him today?"

"No, we'll catch him on our way out."

The two ordered their food and the man headed off to the kitchen with the menus.

"The painting is over there" Rin said, slightly gesturing her head in its direction ahead of her.

"Oh?" Hisao looked partway over his shoulder and saw the painting. Two human-like figures were walking down a hill, witha two smaller ones at the top of the hill, looking at the sky. Several white dots were drifting away into the sky.

"Another one like that, huh? They've been pretty grounded lately. Less abstract, I guess? Are you trying to make them a little more accessible to people?"

"Not really." She kept silent for a few seconds, but continued when he looked back at her. "It depends how I'm feeling. If I'm thinking about lots of complicated things, that's how the picture comes out. I've felt very calm lately."

Hisao looked back at the piece again, and noticed a peculiar detail - the only noticeable element of the image that made it slightly odd, and Rin-like at all.

"How come the trees at the bottom have no leaves? It looks as though it takes place in the summer. Or spring, at least. Shouldn't they be green?"

"Dunno."

He had a hunch, but didn't pursue it. When he was younger he had tended to go into long conversations to get answers from people, but living so long with Rin had given him a knack for communicating the way she did, with fewer words, but more understanding. As long as you could understand her, anyways.



----
After a couple of text messages and a short drive, they arrived at a tiny park, with just a couple of trees and benches around a fountain.

"Dad, Mom." a young man called from where he was sitting.

"How's it going?" asked Hisao, giving him a hug.

"Pretty well, actually. Mom, I saw your new painting up when I was getting lunch."

"What did you think?"

"I like it a lot." Takao let a slightly uncomfortable smile appear on his face. "A bit bittersweet, though."

Rin slumped her head a bit and looked to the side. "You two are so sensitive. You've got the wrong idea."

Hisao looked off for a second, trying to recall precisely how it had looked. "If you say so. I'll have to see it again."

"Through that rough patch at school?" asked Rin, diverting the covnersation.

"Yeah. It went beter than I expected, too. Got an 85."

Her smile widened. "Told you. I didn't pay attention to a whole lot of my work in school, but it's the same with most things in life. It's hard at first, then you figure it out." Rin and Hisao shared a quick glance.

"Hey, I wasn't saying I didn't believe you." Takao replied, speaking out the side of his mouth and digging his hand into his thick black hair.

"Where's Hitomi tonight?" Hisao asked.

"Swimming. She's competing next week."

"Speaking of rough patches..." Rin cut in.

"Nope, still perfect. I don't think you need to worry, mom. We haven't even fought about anything yet. Almost a year in, too."

"It surprises everyone. Just make sure you believe me again."

"We'll see."

After talking for a few more moments, Takao stood up from where he was sitting on the edge of the fountain.

"I gotta go, guys. I have a paper to finish."

"No problem, we have to get going before it's too dark anyways." replied Hisao.

They said their goodbyes and left.



----
"Should we call Emi?"

"No, it's too late. For her, especially."

"At least shoot her an e-mail later, let her know your painting is up."

Rin smiled. "She'll just harrass me about not understanding it." She looked out her window. "Where are we going?"

Coming over the top of a steep hill, Hisao parked just by the gate to their old school.

"I'm going to take a look at your mural. Coming?"

She hesitated for a brief second. "Yeah, sure."

The two approached the wall where Rin had made a gigantic mural in their year at Yamaku. There were very few scratches or spots that were worn away.

"Have the students been touching it up?"

"I think so, actually." Rin leaned in to look closer at a few spots. The sun was nearly down, so she had to crouch in close. Hisao was standing behind her, so he couldn't see her tiny smile as she looked over the new paint. "I'm surprised they didn't whitewash it really, to let someone else make one in its place."

Hisao, standing behind her saw the slight movement in her ear as she examined it, and knew she was smiling. He was, too. He sat down against the wall and held an arm up to help guide Rin next to him.

They looked up at the darkening sky. The sun's glow on the clouds looked like fireworks.



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