[Rin/Shizune] Rin "teaches" Shizune how to paint.

Note to readers: I was suffering through some major writers block while writing this. I was pleased with the result, even though it is a tad short. I hope this is somewhat like what the requester has been imagining.

Also, I originally was going to use Misha rather than Hisao, but that proved to be too difficult.

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Rin "teaches" Shizune to paint.


"You've got to become one with the brush. Imagine yourself being the brush and just act like you're rubbing yourself up against the canvas.." Rin trails off, closing her eyes. She really is bad at communicating with people, especially Shizune. I glance over at her face, and it is an absolute look of terror. The two of them are sitting opposite of each other, their works facing in opposing directions as well. Me? Well, it was decided that I was to be the mediator for the two, as you could call me a friend of both of theirs. Shizune decided one day that she really wanted to pick up a hobby, something she may be able to do sometimes when she had nothing else to work on. She asked me if I could go 'talk to that weird girl with the short hair and no arms' to see if she would teach her a few things about painting. Of course, though, the result of her 'lessons' so far have been nothing shorter than tragic. Shizune has been desparately trying to take her advice and apply it to the best of her ability, but there's a major disconnect between the two of them. Probably because Rin barely makes any sense to anyone except for Emi and I.

[Hisao, what do you think of this? I'm trying so hard to do what Rin says and I think I've just made something an elementary student would have a good laugh at..] Shicchan signs at me, a disappointed expression rising onto her face.

She turns her canvas to the side slightly so I can get a better look at it. Well, she certainly wasn't very far off; it looks absolutely terrible, like a bunch of random lines and colors were just spit out by a tornado and just so happened to land on the canvas.

[Shizune, what is this even supposed to be?] I'm trying to hard not to laugh. Her face looks like it's about to catch on fire, and I can't quite tell whether it's from embrassment or anger about me asking that question. She's so cute when she's upset. She continues to pout and whine until I finally decide to just ask Rin if she has any other advice. If you can even call it advice at this point.

"Hey, uh, Rin? do you have any other tips that you could give to Shizune? She's getting quite upset over here." I figured I might as well ask. What good is it going to do for Shizune if her paintings look so awful? "Her painting looks... well, it looks very interesting to say the least."

"She needs to find the beauty of inspiration deep within her mind," Rin drones out, her voice as dry and plain as the Sahara Desert. "With no inspiration, she'll never succeed in creating anything beautiful or unique."

Huh. That actually... that actually made a lot of sense. I sign what Rin said over to Shizune, which prompted a surprised response.

[Did she really say that? That's the most sense she's made since we started these sessions.] Shizune curiously signs back to me, almost not beliving what I had just told her came out of Rin's mouth.

[She can be wise when she wants to. The trouble is...] I pause for a moment. Why isn't she like this all the time, and only at very rare and selective times? [...I think the trouble is that she just doesn't want to.] I figure that's a fair enough conclusion to draw; she just doesn't want to be wise. Maybe it has something to do with it getting in the way of her thoughts of clouds and various other things that are 'important' to her.

[She just doesn't want to? Hisao, you're an idiot.] Shizune furiously signs at me. What else am I supposed to say? Is she trying to get me to tell her that she's working with a girl that's borderline insane and makes no sense to the general population? I shoot her a look of anger, but she doesn't seem to catch it. She sticks her tongue out at me and continues to work on her 'masterpiece'.

A few minutes pass by with nothing being said. Shizune's piece still looks like someone took a bunch of condiments and sprayed them all over the canvas. She quickly turns to me and signs at me, asking if I could get Rin to come over and look at her piece. I was going to tell her that Rin believes that you're not supposed to let anyone see your piece before it's finished, otherwise you'll have bad luck. But, considering how terrible it is already, I don't think there will be any possible way for Shizune to get bad luck. Not to mention, if I don't ask, she'll probably smack me.

"Rin, Shizune wants you to come over and take a look at her piece."

At the sound of this, Rin lets out a heavy sigh and jumps up from her chair. "Doesn't she know she'll get bad luck from me looking at her unfinished work?"

"I don't think it matters at this point," I quickly shoot back, which surprisingly causes Rin to giggle a little.

Rin quickly walks around to the other side of the work area, where Shizune and I are sitting. She ceases movement immediately at the sight of Shizune's piece of 'art'.

"What the hell is that?" Ouch. That is really, really going to set off Shizune.

[What does she mean 'what the hell is that'? It's my painting that I've created while using her damn advice!] Shizune signs at me furiously. In one swift motion, Shizune stands up, grabs the canvas and drives her knee straight through the middle. She slams the remnants of her 'masterpiece' on the ground and storms out of the art room. I swear, if I wouldn't have known better, I would have almost bet a little bit of steam was coming out of her ears during her grand exit.

Rin and I both turn to each other, staring without any clue what to say. Rin breaks the silence with a simple statement.

"Why did she do that? I never said I didn't like it..."