Rin - Valentine's Day [Non-H]

A gentle orange glow beats down against the room around me, its contents tidied up after a day of classes. Desktops lie clean with stools pushed into the space below. The only thing that could be considered out-of-place are myself and the girl beside me, two chairs and an easel displaced for our afternoon ritual.

“Hisao.” She calls out.

“Hm?”

"Green. Like a giraffe in bloom.”

She gestures at an empty paint dish with her foot, signaling a request. I’m not sure if giraffes are ever in flowering season, so I head over to the shelf and grab as many different cans of green paint as I can. General practice has become to take back four choices at a time, let her decide which one is most suitable, and then take the other three back.

I lay the four silver cans out on the floor in front of her. She looks over the options for a moment before pointing to the third one in the row; a lighter green, but not quite that of ‘lime’ green or ‘panic in the Vatican’ green. “That one.”

I pop the can open and tilt its edge into an empty mixing dish, filling it up about halfway before taking the four containers back to the shelf, paying no mind to where they may have previously sat.

The tip of her brush is dabbed in the small pool of ‘giraffe in bloom,’ whereupon it’s then touched to the surface of a large canvas. Its surface is already a mixture of red, pink, and dull grey.

She makes long, deliberate strokes at multiple points on the image, her mind the only thing able to tell when or where the next addition will occur. As it stands; the picture reminds me of a large eyeball with veins of swirling green centering on a pupil shaped like an upside-down heart.

“What’s today?” Rin asks, her attention remaining focused on the object before her.

“The fourteenth.” I answer.

At the mention of today’s date, I find my attention drifting to the window, my eyes tracing the groups of people as the make their way around the school grounds.

They pair up and go about their business; boys and girls holding hands, locking arms, sharing scarves, exchanging gifts, and whatever else may come to mind.

A strange sense of emptiness fills me at the mention of such a thing. Today’s a day when couples are supposed to be showing off their unending care and affection for one another.

“Hisao.” Rin calls out, tapping her paintbrush against an empty ceramic bowl.

“Hm?” I reply.

“Orange.”

And yet this is what our Valentine’s day comprises – sitting in the art room after classes and painting. Rather, she’s the one painting, and I’m fetching anything she may need to keep doing just that.

At least this time it’s the simple and average ‘orange,’ rather than one of the abstract ‘Rinny’ varieties like ‘a fruity massacre’ or ‘fermented sunlight.’

I can’t say I have much to complain about, anyway. It’s still pretty ambiguous about whether or not we’re a couple to begin with – we spend a lot of time together, yeah. In fact, I spend most of the day with her. Usually I wait for her and Emi in the morning and we meet between classes whenever possible. After school is over for the day, we’re either in here painting or back in the dorms talking about whatever comes to mind and listening to strange, outlandish music.

There’s no watching romantic movies, cooking food for each other, or anything else that ‘standard’ couples do. At the very least she’s introduced me to some bands I never imagined myself liking.

I pry the lid off of the paint can and pour a small puddle of it into a mixing dish previously occupied by ‘grand opening’ red. She gives a small “thank you” before going back to her painting, paying no mind to anything that isn’t the world in her head.

It’s enough that we can spend time together, isn’t it? We don’t have to be ‘boyfriend and girlfriend’ so long as there’s love, right? At least, that’s the mindset I’ve begun to find myself having more and more as of late. I can’t wrap my head around many of the things she does, but her small mannerisms have become familiar to me.

“Hisao.” Rin says aloud.

“Hm?”

This time she cuts me off, touching the cold, wet tip of her paintbrush against my cheek.

“Hey, what was that for?” I ask, already feeling the splotch beginning to dry.

“You frown too much. I was trying to put a smile on your face, but I missed.” She answers in that same deadpan voice, a lack of expression on her face.

“Am I not allowed to frown?”

“Not today.” Rin replies before going back to her painting, adding an orange outline around the upside-down-heart-shaped pupils.

I feel like objecting, but part of me knows she has a point. At this point I’ve come to understand that Rin isn’t at her ‘Rinniest’ when it comes to displays of affection. It’s just not something we do, really.

The most I can hope to receive are the small acts between us. Those little things that confirm that we both exist, and that our existences happen to intertwine.

Waking up to that fluffy head every time she insists on sneaking into the dorm. The refreshing bits of lucidity when we’re both alone under a starry sky. The ‘hugs’ she tries to pull me into each time I meet up with her for lunch…

“Yes, like that.” Rin says, glancing at me from over her shoulder with a pleased look.

“Like what?” I return, resting my chin in my hand.

Her face shifts back to a black stare, replying with “it went away” before picking up a dish of white paint and mixing it with ‘garbled’ blue.

Without another word, she picks up a different paint brush and swirls it around in the new, aqua-colored fluid before dragging it across the painting, bringing accent to outer edge of the eyeball.

“Hisao.”

“Hm?”

She thinks of asking something, but instead pauses and sets her paintbrush down into what looks like a coffee can filled with water.

After mulling over her thoughts for a bit, she concludes with “I’m done” before hopping up to her feet.

“Fair enough.” I respond, standing to help her clean up.

“Wait.” She says as she walks to the other side of the room to her backpack, manipulating the flap of the messenger bag before rummaging around inside.

I take a seat, unable to keep my heart from thumping in anticipation as she pulls something out, a…

“What’s that?” I ask.

She pinches an edge of the package between her teeth, stepping over and motioning for me to take it.

“Delicious.” Rin answers, a satisfied smile between her cheeks.

I turn the object over and around in my hands.

A red box, shaped like a heart with a silver border trapped in clear plastic wrap. It’s not large, but it’s sizable enough to be split between two people.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, huh?” I ask, unable to keep the pang of joy in my chest from spreading across my face.

She nods and sits down beside me, crossing her legs in the chair as I peel the plastic off of the paper box. Her eyes trace my hands as I lift the lid up, revealing an array of chocolates, all of different shapes and sizes.

Before I can think to do anything else; I pluck one of the pieces out and hold it out to Rin, a small bit shaped like a rectangle. A tiny bit of joy slips through my head as I slide it onto her tongue, watching in amusement as she bites down and starts to chew.

“Cherry.” She announces after swallowing.

Maybe I was just on a tangent. If I had to choose between moments like this and the ‘standard’ of sharing scarves or leaning into each other as we walked; there wouldn’t even be a thought in my mind before choosing the former.

We may not be ‘boyfriend and girlfriend,’ but those kinds of things are trivial as far as I’m concerned.

I grab another of the chocolates and slide it in between her lips, waiting for her to finish.

“Caramel.” She calls out.

Unable to stifle the chuckle that slips out from my mouth, I grab one of the chocolates and chomp down to find the sugary taste of…

“Oh, be careful. One of those might have toothpaste.” Rin comments.

…Hm.

Minty.