Well here is another one-shot. I'll say right off the bat that this is another Chiyo/Tomo pairing. I had so much fun with the Valentine's Day story that I wanted to do another one. And don't worry, this won't have a cheap ending like the whole thing was a dream and Chiyo was actually making out with her dog – you know, that old joke :) Anyways, I hope you all enjoy it so please; read, review, and enjoy.

Work of Art

Sitting in art class, Chiyo watched with paper and pencil in hand as Tomo prepared her pose. The class was working on drawing the human figure and Chiyo had been the lucky partner choice for Wildcat Tomo. She didn't particularly mind being Tomo's partner, but it did make her wonder how Tomo would destroy her own figure when she would be holding the pencil. "Have you decided yet Tomo? I'm supposed to be drawing you right now."

"Yeah, I think I got it figured out!" Tomo exclaimed as she pushed her butt up against the back of her chair, leaned forward and gripped the edge of the chair with her hands. Tomo had unbuttoned part of her shirt for what she called a "sexy look," but with the expression on Tomo's face, Chiyo had to bit her cheeks just to keep from laughing.

Pencil at the ready, Chiyo commenced drawing. She worked first on capturing the expression on Tomo's face, moving the pencil carefully over the paper. Each line that followed quickly transformed Tomo into something else. Her body became disproportionate to her face, one arm seemed fatter and longer than the other, and Tomo's open shirt somehow became a set of jaws. Chiyo finished her sketch, and immediately wanted to throw it away.

"So, how do I look," Tomo asked as she moved towards Chiyo, "Were you able to capture my alluring beauty, my child-like innocence and my womanly charm?"

Chiyo felt her face heat up when Tomo pulled the sketch book from her hands to look. She had tried her best to draw Tomo, but art was the class where Chiyo's brains failed her. The one aspect of art that allowed Chiyo to enjoy the class was that the teacher graded work on effort.

A snort of laughter from Tomo indicated to Chiyo that she should prepare for the worst. The snort quickly turned into an uncontrollable fit of laughter from the Wildcat who received angry glares from everyone (including the teacher who had yet to discover a way of keeping Tomo under control) while Chiyo tried to act like the whole thing had nothing to do with her.

Finally calming down, if one would call it that, Tomo took a deep breath and said, "Chiyo, you just can't draw. I guess those genius powers only get you so far."

Embarrassed, Chiyo muttered, "I-I'm not very good at drawing."

"You can say that again," Tomo said, but catching a glimpse of Chiyo's drooping head, Tomo realized that maybe she went a bit far. "Alright, let me show you how it's really done. After all," Tomo said as she attempted a heroic stance, "if there's one thing the Amazing Tomo does best, it's drawing!"

"Really," Chiyo asked as she attempted to remember any mentioning of Tomo's drawing skills from Yomi.

"So, what kind of pose should I do?"

Placing the tip of the eraser to her mouth, Tomo closed her eyes in deep thought for a minute. She seemed to be seriously debating the exact pose which Chiyo would be in. It made Chiyo wonder just what kind of drawer Tomo was. She'd never really seen anything that Tomo had drawn before and now pondered the idea of the Wildcat being an artist.

"I got it!" Chiyo stared in confusion as Tomo pointed her pencil at Chiyo and directed the genius, "Turn around and bend your knees . . . Okay, now place your hands on your knees and look back at me."

Holding the position as best she could, Chiyo asked, "What do want this pose for?"

Chuckling to herself, Tomo exclaimed, "Because it's the best possible way to capture your butt on paper!"

Chiyo's face burned red as she quickly stood up, every thought of Tomo being an artist vanishing. She briskly walked over to a corner of the room where she grabbed a three legged stool and returned to her partner's side. Ignoring Tomo's apology, Chiyo climbed onto the stool exasperated and said, "Geez Tomo, you always do these kinds of things."

Releasing a soft chuckle, Tomo apologized again and continued, "Now, time to get serious. Cross your legs will ya?"

Surprised by Tomo's sudden voice change, Chiyo crossed her legs and swung them back and forth. She glanced down at the floor, realizing just how high this stool was and suddenly wondered why she had chosen the thing. But Chiyo almost jumped when Tomo began adjusting her position on the chair. Without saying a word, Tomo moved Chiyo's hands to either side of the stool where she gripped the edge just to keep from falling off.

"Can I remove your pigtails," Tomo asked. When Chiyo nodded, Tomo removed the pigtails from her partner's hair and continued to adjust the strands even after they had fallen to the sides of the genius' face. But something else had caught Chiyo's attention as her face burned with crimson. Tomo had forgotten to button her shirt back up, and Chiyo now had a bird's eye view of Tomo's chest. She knew she shouldn't be staring, but her eyes just wouldn't move. And what am I so embarrassed about anyway? We're both girls.

"Perfect," Tomo said at last, pulling away from Chiyo who had to suddenly look away from Tomo to hide her embarrassment. She didn't know what had come over her and now felt ashamed for doing such a thing to one her friends. "Now just lean forward a bit . . . and perfect. Now don't move. I'm gonna show you my real skills!"

Pushing thoughts of Tomo's body to the back of her mind, Chiyo used all her energy to hold completely still as Tomo began drawing. Chiyo watched as Tomo's hand moved over the paper with such speed that she expected Tomo to finish within the next minute. But the girl kept drawing and Chiyo watched in awe, wondering if this was the same Tomo who had just got done mocking her for her own drawing ability. What would Tomo's drawing look like? Chiyo couldn't help but wonder and suddenly she felt horrible for not trying harder at her drawing.

"Chiyo!" Tomo's voice almost made her leap off the stool. Chiyo looked at Tomo who got up and adjusted the position of her hands. "You're not supposed to move when the pro is at work!"

Chiyo didn't even realize that she had moved, but felt embarrassed when she noticed the outburst had made at least half the class jump. Glancing back at her partner though, Tomo had either missed the class' reaction, or she didn't care. She was focused on the paper in front of her, hand moving mercilessly over its surface. Every so often, Tomo stopped, erased, wiped away the shavings, and continued her meticulous drawing.

What intrigued Chiyo even more was the look on Tomo's face when she would glance up. Though that glance only ever lasted a split second, Chiyo felt as though Tomo could see right through her. In fact, Chiyo was quite certain that Tomo had never concentrated so hard in her life. It caused the smaller girl's heart to race, just a little, enough to singe her cheeks red.

"Done," Tomo finally exclaimed, holding her work far above her head, as if she needed the light just to see it.

Releasing a breath that she'd been holding for some time, Chiyo hobbled over to Tomo, wondering just what kind of image would be on the paper. As she approached, she noticed a large smirk spreading across Tomo's face. Glancing down at the paper, Chiyo gasped at the image before her. In the amount of time the Wildcat had, Tomo had somehow managed to draw Chiyo sitting on a bench in the park. The park itself was faded and blurry, but the image of Chiyo shown vibrantly through the pencil marks. Her hair fluttered in the wind along with her skirt, and her face beamed with a smile that Chiyo swore she didn't have on during the drawing.

"T-Tomo, how did you draw this," Chiyo asked, bewildered at how Tomo managed such a piece.

"Hee-Hee," Tomo chuckled with an arm thrown over her back, "I just wanted to make you look cute . . . the way I think you should look." Chiyo was dumbfounded by Tomo's words, and the Wildcat must have picked up on what she said because she quickly added, ""B-But I'm much cuter than you'll ever be Chiyo!" Tomo attempted to laugh off the awkward silence, but her amusement was forced, and quickly died off.

For the remainder of the class, Tomo was silent. She didn't say one word to anyone, something that mystified Chiyo. However, Chiyo had her own problems. While she usually paid close attention to Yamiguchi-sensei's lectures on art and on assignments, Chiyo found her mind drifting back to the drawing; remembering Tomo's intense eyes and her overall unusual behavior. What had made the Wildcat act so differently? Chiyo's mind spun with different theories of the causes for Tomo's behavior, but nothing seemed to add up. Then, she recalled her own behavior. Why did she stare at Tomo's breasts? And what had caused her heart to beat so rapidly? But most of all, why does the quiet Tomo look so beautiful?

With the bell suddenly ringing, Chiyo sat and watched as students quickly and noisily left the classroom. The day had ended, and many had clubs or sports to get to. Tomo had been one of the first ones out, clutching her drawing and not so much as glancing at Chiyo. However, glancing at her friend's empty desk, Chiyo spied a magazine resting comfortably on its surface. Walking over to the desk, Chiyo picked up the magazine and stared at the title, The World of Art. Flipping through the deserted magazine, Chiyo found articles with such titles as, "Making Every Stroke Count," "The Monthly Mural," and, "Famous Sculptors and Their Sculptures." Then Chiyo flipped to a page where the corner had been folded. When she examined the title of the article on that page, it read, "Love: The Most Important Final Touch." She quickly skimmed through the words on the page, her heart beating slightly faster.

"Hey Chiyo!"

Whirling around and closing the magazine, Chiyo stood to find Yomi standing in the doorway. "Y-Yes Yomi?"

"Whatcha doing in here?"

"Oh," sighing, Chiyo calmed herself down as she continued, "Tomo forgot her magazine, and I was . . . just looking through it."

"Is that so? Be careful. With Tomo, you don't know what you'll find in there." Yomi sounded serious, but with the spreading smile on her face, Chiyo could tell that she wasn't really worried at all.

"It's a book about art," Chiyo said, and then, though hesitant she asked, "Does Tomo like to draw?"

Yomi shuddered at the very word. "Does she like to draw? That's all she did in middle school. During class, when I'd come over, and even at night. She got really good at making me look fat." Yomi clenched her fist and Chiyo began to regret asking the question as Yomi continued, "Putting names on her pictures like "Fatty Four-eyes" . . . I should've broke her wrist when I had the chance . . ."

Chiyo nervously chuckled at Yomi's words, hoping that she was doing the right thing. Tomo, what have you done to her? Chiyo thought to herself and when she had the chance, she said, "I think I'll just take this back to Tomo." And Chiyo made her exit before Yomi could stop her. "Maybe I should've comforted her?" But deciding that it could wait, Chiyo continued down the hall and out the doors to try and catch up with Tomo.

While running, she couldn't help but think of the article, Tomo's quietness, and what this could all mean. Did Tomo love her? Was she in love with Tomo? Or was she just imagining things? Her heart fluttered with speculations on what might come from the day's occurrences. However, Chiyo wasn't quite sure about her own feelings yet, but she hoped that finding Tomo would answer her questions. And so Chiyo forced her tiring legs to quicken the pace, with magazine in hand.

She arrived at Tomo's house, gasping for air. She rang the doorbell as she clutched her chest and wished she had been in better shape. When the door suddenly opened, Chiyo hadn't been prepared to face the shocked Tomo who was now standing right in front of her.

"Chiyo, what are you doing here?"

"I . . . You forgot . . . your magazine," Chiyo forced out, and wiping the sweat away from her brow, she noticed Tomo was quite taken aback with the whole situation. Finally catching her breath, Chiyo asked, "Mind if I come in?"

"S-Sure."

Tomo led Chiyo up a set of stairs and into her room. It appeared fairly normal, for the most part. A bed in one corner, and a desk placed next to a filing cabinet in another; Tomo also had an entertainment stand with television and Xbox. The only thing that really made the room stand out was the clutter. Clothes lay in piles on the floor, and different magazines and books were scattered across the carpet. Near the TV, video game boxes laid strewn about. Chiyo had certainly seen worse, but the room was far from clean.

"Wanna sit down," Tomo asked nervously, inviting Chiyo to the chair at her desk. For some reason, Tomo seemed quite nervous, having Chiyo in her room.

Chiyo again felt the questions entering her mind. Could she be in love with me? Is that really possible? Taking the seat, Chiyo stared at Tomo who seemed to have her mind elsewhere. "Uh Tomo," Chiyo asked, shifting nervously in her seat. "Do you . . . like . . ." and then noticing the magazine which she forgot she was holding, faltered and asked, "Do you like to draw?" And Chiyo scolded herself for the hesitation.

Sounding relieved, Tomo approached the filing cabinet next to Chiyo and said, "I love to draw! It's what I'm best at." Tomo gave Chiyo a smile and asked, "Wanna see?"

Nodding, Chiyo watched Tomo open a drawer and pull out a manila folder, which she placed on the desk. Setting the magazine down, Chiyo opened the folder and discovered drawings of houses, parks, animals, and even Yomi (which she tried to ignore). But the detail in each picture astounded Chiyo. In one image, Tomo had managed to capture a squirrel, crossing a set of power-lines. Just looking at the picture, she half expected the squirrel to finish scampering across. In another drawing, Tomo had managed to give life to some grass by making it blow in the wind. Each drawing she viewed exploded with vibrant, life-like, beauty.

"How'd you get so good?"

Tomo shrugged her shoulders, "I dunno. I just drew. I guess I draw what I wanna see, what I love." Realizing how strange her comments sounded, Tomo fell into an abrupt silence, her cheeks slightly reddening from embarrassment. Chiyo could tell that Tomo wished she wouldn't have said that, but it gave Chiyo an opening that she wasn't about to miss.

"Then, about the picture you drew of me. Was that . . ."

Suddenly interrupting, Tomo asked, "Are you hungry? I'll go get us some snacks!" And the Wildcat hurried out the door and the sound of her footsteps echoed up into the room.

Chiyo wondered if maybe she should've kept her mouth shut. However, her own feelings were bugging her. Had Tomo drawn her so well because she loved her? The idea made Chiyo's heart race and she couldn't help but think of how cute Tomo had looked with the blush on her face. If only I could put that on paper. Which, staring at the drawings on the desk, Chiyo wondered if Tomo had any more. Fully aware that she was about to rummage through someone else's property, Chiyo hoped that Tomo wouldn't be too angry.

Opening the same drawer on the filing cabinet, Chiyo's irresistible curiosity discovered paints, paper, pencils, and all sorts of equipment. Digging through some of it though, she discovered a large black folder. Pulling it out, and setting the other pictures aside, Chiyo simply stared at it. Was this really a good idea? Invading Tomo's privacy? Unfortunately for Chiyo, her child-like curiosity was getting the best of her, with all sorts of images popping into her mind of what could possibly be in there.

Opening the folder, Chiyo discovered a collection of drawings, all of her. Gasping with surprise, she pulled them out and began leafing through them. Some drawings had her in the school uniform, while others had her in dresses, coats, and even swimwear. Tomo had drawn her in all sorts of poses, though none were over the top, like what Tomo wanted her to do at school. Chiyo found herself mesmerized by the detail Tomo had put into the drawing; whether it was the buttons on her uniform or the frills on the dress, everything had been taken into account.

Then, Chiyo came to the last picture in the pile. It was one of the few that Tomo had bothered to color, but every shade had been placed in with painstaking accuracy. Chiyo felt her cheeks burn deep red as she stared at the drawing of her and Tomo kissing. Her heart skipped a beat and started to race. "Tomo," was all she could say when she suddenly heard a voice from behind.

"What are you doing?"

Whirling around in surprise, Chiyo found Tomo setting some chips on the bed and heading over to her. She tried to quickly gather up all the drawings of her before Tomo got there, but with only a matter of seconds to do so, she only managed to shuffle them around. Tomo's eyes fell on the drawings she had been looking at and her face went blank. For a second, she seemed to be at a loss of what to do. Hurriedly snatching the drawings away from Chiyo, the panicked Tomo started shoving them into the folder as she attempted to explain them.

Stuttering, she babbled, "These are nothing Chiyo! They're just . . . they're just a hobby. No . . . I mean I couldn't control myself . . . I mean, I don't do anything weird with them!" Closing the folder, Tomo shoved it back into the cabinet and slammed it shut. "I mean, they don't mean anything."

"Tomo," Chiyo said gently, holding the one colored picture that Tomo had neglected to grab, "Are-Are you in love with me?"

Tomo stared at Chiyo in shock, then allowing her eyes to fall the picture that she had forgotten to grab, the only picture with her in it. Collapsing to the floor, Tomo's stare fell to the ground, unable to look her friend in the eye. Whimpering, she explained to a silenced Chiyo, "I've loved you for a long time. I don't even know when it started. But I didn't want to tell you. You're only a kid. You shouldn't have to worry about these things yet. It just seemed wrong to ask you out. I was gonna wait until you were older. I never meant for you to find out like this." Wincing to get rid of the few tears that had leaked out, Tomo released a long, deep breath and said, "You probably think I'm some kind of loli freak now, don't you?"

Chiyo couldn't believe what she had just heard. The warmth spreading through her chest was more than enough to confirm suspicion of her own feelings. And Chiyo thought of how sweet and how caring Tomo was for worrying about her in such a way. But Chiyo, coming to terms with her own feelings, didn't want to wait. Getting up off the chair, she knelt down beside Tomo and softly, she said, "Arigatoo Tomo, but I don't want to wait." Tomo looked up at Chiyo and stared into her eyes. It was the first time that Chiyo had also gotten such a good look at the Wildcat's eyes. They were soft, and wondering, hoping eyes.

Something welled up in Chiyo's chest and without thinking, planted her lips onto Tomo's, hoping they looked just like the picture. As the two kissed, Tomo wrapped her arms around Chiyo, pulling the girl closer to her. And Chiyo, overcome by the warmth of her first, allowed her mind to go blank and let Tomo finish the kiss.

When they did finally part, Chiyo gazed into Tomo's eyes and said, "Aishiteru," to which Tomo blushed; though Chiyo wondered just how red her own cheeks had to be.

A few, undisturbed seconds of silence passed between them. Not an awkward silence, but more of a peaceful silence as they enjoyed each other's company. But Tomo, finally returning to her own self, eventually poised the question, "So that means we're lovers right?" Chiyo, not sure where this was going, nodded and Tomo continued, "So, does that mean I get to draw you in the nude?"

A hard slap belted Tomo across the face as Chiyo stood to leave. "Tomo, you always know how to ruin a good moment." But turning around to the still shocked Tomo, Chiyo released a devilish grin and added, "Maybe when I'm older."

THE END