"Could I draw your portrait?"
It had been a somewhat unexpected but simple request from Akari that Yui didn't feel the need to turn down, so the two girls had met up at Akari's house after school so she could help out the little redhead.
After gathering snacks and drinks the two girls retreated up to Akari's room to get down to business, and Akari appeared to be all smiles as she practically bounced in place while Yui watched the cheerful girl went about setting up.
Akari's sister was thankfully out of the house at the time, as the two girls discovered after doing a quick look around the building, so it was just the pair in the house, which only seemed to make Akari happier.
As the two didn't spend nearly as much time together these days since everyone had school and whatever crazy schemes Kyouko thought up, Yui felt that it was kind of nice to spend time with one of her childhood friends for a change. Akari might have suffered from a lack of presence at times, but she was so radiant despite being ignored that it was hard not to like the girl.
"Okay Yui, do you think that you could sit on the bed and try to look casual while I finish setting up?" Akari asked her older friend, which Yui could only shrug at as she climbed onto the bed as per the younger girl's request.
Yui watched as Akari moved aside the table the two girls had set up in the middle of the room against a wall before going over to the desk that she had in the corner and grabbing her sketchbook and pencils where she'd left them before moving back to the middle of the room and taking a seat across from Yui.
"Okay, I don't think that I need you to keep quiet while I work on this, so if you just try not to move too much we can probably just talk normally" Akari explained to Yui casually with another of her bright smiles, and the older girl nodded in silent understanding as she tried to make herself comfortable on Akari's bed.
Bending one of her legs to move it closer to the rest of her body, and using an arm to prop herself up slightly, Yui tried to go for a casual look after making sure her skirt wouldn't ride up or something (which would really only be slightly embarrassing around Akari, who was likely the most accident-prone of the four members of the amusement club), and waited for Akari to get started.
"So where did Kyouko and Chinatsu go today after school?" Akari tried to inquire innocently to her senior without her eyes moving away from the sketchbook as she began to draw an outline to work from.
"Kyouko was shouting something about taking Chinatsu to a certain bookstore in town that has agreed to sell her Mirakurun manga, and was planning to beg Chinatsu to dress up for her to help raise sales" Yui explained with a small sigh at the kind of ideas her close friend got into her mind. The fact that Akari giggled at the explanation meant that she obviously found Kyouko's antics amusing, even when she was sometimes the butt of jokes.
Things became quiet for a few minutes as Akari worked on her sketch, making Yui smile at just how much the younger girl was concentrating on the project in front of her. It was difficult for Yui not to find the girl's focus endearing, though she was sure that Kyouko would have complained about not having fun.
Akari continued to look up at Yui while she finished up her rough sketch first, and occasionally had to stop herself from blushing as she watched her very cool and composed friend simply sit there with her usual air of indifference.
It was hard to say whether or not it was still a secret among the members of the amusement club, but Akari had realized she had obviously gotten a crush on Yui once she and Kyouko entered high school together, though she thought that she did pretty well at not blushing around the dark-haired girl when she was together with the other members of their club.
The fact that Chinatsu had a puppy crush on Yui made Akari feel as though she had to avoid acting on her feelings without stepping on her friend's toes, but she kind of still fantasized sometimes about sharing hugs on cold days with the cool girl, or drinking tea together with her, or kissing her.
It took all of Akari's willpower not to start giggling like a schoolgirl at the thoughts intruding in her mind, but she was rather proud of herself for keeping up a cool façade on her face during her fantasizing, and refocused on her drawing for now, since it was both for one of her classes, and simply one of her own selfish desires.
"How is the drawing coming along?" Yui tried to ask the younger girl after a few more minutes of Akari working on her portrait, almost startling the red-haired girl into making a mistake.
Recovering quickly from the slight start, Akari looked up over her sketchbook at Yui and offered her a wide smile "It's looking good Yui, you make a great model for my work!" She offered a compliment to the older girl.
She couldn't be sure as she got back to work, but Akari thought for a moment that she saw Yui's cheeks turning a very familiar shade of red at the compliment, before she resumed her drawing.
Once she finished the rough outline Akari truly got down to work trying to portray all of the greatest traits of Yui in her picture as their art teacher always tried to tell them to do when it came to portrait in their art class.
The way that Yui looked at people with cool indifference that somehow didn't seem demeaning or judgemental, how she held herself to come across as aloof where other people might reveal their moods with body language, and just how beautiful she was with her slightly pale skin and clean complexion.
This time Akari definitely blushed as she quickly tried to hide her face behind her sketchbook once more, but was unaware that Yui had caught sight of the red tinting her cheeks and smiled to herself momentarily.
Akari was quite cute when she smiled or blushed, and Yui kind of wished that she could earn more reactions like that from her friend if given the chance, despite the fact they rarely had time alone together without Kyouko and Chinatsu around with them as well.
In fact, the normally cool girl got a rather devious idea in her head that she would expect from someone like Kyouko, which both made the dark-haired girl curse out the blonde, and thank her immensely for both being such a terrible influence, and taking off with Chinatsu for the day.
Nodding to herself momentarily Akari looked up from her sketchbook to Yui with a bright smile on her face as she explained to the older girl "okay Yui, I think that I should be able to finish the rest of the picture without you posing for me, so you can get up and stretch or whatever you need to do now."
Nodding in response before Akari returned her attention to her portrait, Yui allowed her mind to shift in a more devious direction as she crawled off of the bed and began to approach her unaware friend, who was obviously quite focused on her work at the moment.
Steeling her nerves and cursing out Kyouko for giving her such strange ideas after spending time together with the girl for so many years, Yui kneeled down in front of Akari, catching the girl's attention.
"Is something wrong Yui?" Akari asked innocently to the dark thoughts running through Yui's mind at the moment, and seemed to stiffen when Yui reached out a hand to gently cup Akari's chin and turn her to face the older girl.
Both girls eyes met as Yui paused momentarily to once more steel herself before she began leaning in, and Akari could feel her heartbeat quicken as the space between the two girls closed.
If either girl had to compare the kiss to anything it would be like fireworks exploded in both girls minds as their lips gently pressed together, and the sketchbook fell onto the floor forgotten as Akari lost her grip upon it as her mind became consumed by something else.
The kiss lasted for several seconds that stretched out into eternity for Akari and Yui, and it almost felt like it was over too quickly when Yui finally pulled away for air, earning a small whine from the younger girl as she looked up at Yui with red-tinted cheeks and panting slightly.
Smiling down at Akari as she tried to catch her breath, Yui allowed her eyes to move over to the sketchbook on the floor, and nodded in approval of the sketch that Akari had made of her so far, even though it wasn't completed yet.
"I don't think I would mind modelling for you more often Akari" Yui teased the younger girl with a small smile, earning an even brighter blush from the red-haired girl that almost matched the color of her hair.
Said portrait ended up getting a high mark from Akari's teacher and framed in Yui's room with a small signature in the corner that read Akari and Yui, with a heart in the middle.