Tara-chan's Love
Tara peeked around her blank canvass. There, his indigo eyes staring rather curiously, was the school's athletic king. His black hair was up in a rather messy tail, as he had headed to the art room right after track practice. She had read in a book somewhere that artists tend to fall in love with their models. She fleetingly wondered if it was true.
"Kuronue-san?" she asked.
"Please call me Kuro." he said with a big grin.
Feeling her face heat up Tara quickly turned back to the canvass. She rarely talked to members of the opposite sex and had never been alone with one, thanks to the overprotective vigil her father placed on her. She twisted a strand of brunette hair around her finger nervously.
She released her hair and turned her attention to the oil paints in front of her. "Kuro-san, could you please…not look over here so often?" she asked, her canine ears folding against her head.
"Oh, sorry!" said a smiling Kuronue. "Is it bothering you?"
"Yes, it is." Tara replied, trying to concentrate on the blank canvass.
"Well, it's the first time I've watched you draw." Kuronue leaned back in his chair, locking his hands behind his head and resting his head on them. "Your face really changes! Your expression gets all serious when you concentrate. I'm a little moved."
"You're being melodramatic." Tara said trying to fight the blush covering her face. Kuronue could say such embarrassing things with a straight face. There seemed to be a direct link between his mind and mouth. How she envied that ability!
She had to change the subject. "You're one to talk. What about when you're running?" she asked with sigh. "At the last regional meet the stands were filled with girls gawking at you."
Kuronue's look surprised. "There were? I didn't even notice them."
Tara shook her head in disbelief. "No wonder you don't have a girlfriend." she muttered under her breath.
Kuronue frowned, obviously having heard the remark. "Yeah, well. You don't have one either!"
"That's because I'm no good at putting thoughts into words." Tara said. There was no need to mention her father fell into the equation as well.
Tara looked at the charming lad before her. She and Kuronue had always had a strange, underlying bond. They had been in the same classes since middle school, and always sat desks apart if not next to each other. However, Kuronue had gone on to be a popular guy with good looks and personality. Not to mention the captain of the track team. She, on the other hand, did not have much talent for anything for drawing and did not really stand out. She had always thought she was just another face in the crowd around Kuronue.
She had been so surprised when Kuronue suddenly walked up to her and asked for a self portrait. It was as if the world had been upside down. She was so happy to be found among the floating faces that she agreed immediately.
Tara floated back to reality as Kuronue was saying something. "I'm sorry. What did you say Kuro-san?"
Kuro looked at her confused before repeating himself. "I said I really love—(Tara's heart stopped)—your drawings." he said ginning.
"My…my drawings! Y-you do?" Tara said in a panic. That had startled her. She almost thought he was going to say—no, that could not be possibly.
"Yeah," Kuronue continued, oblivious to Tara's distress. "You drew Naomi before, didn't you? He was in our class. I don't much about drawing, but it was like the drawing was more like him than he is. It was like you captured her essence. That's when I thought, man, I'd like her to draw me too."
Tara jumped up and dashed towards the door. "Bathroom break!" she cried over her shoulder. Once around the corner she leaned against the cool lockers. Her face was hot, and her chest hurt.
Kuronue was paying more attention to her! She was so happy, yet there was an aching in her chest. What in the world was wrong with her?
A few minutes later she returned to the art room. She tried to start painting, but she could his eyes on her again. With a sigh, she turned to give Kuronue an irritated look. "I said, don't look this way. It's hard to draw!"
"Hey, Tara-chan?" Kuronue asked still staring. "Why did you start drawing?"
"Did you even hear me?" Tara asked with another sigh, relinquishing the irritation she felt. "I have an extremely overprotective father, and I really didn't get to spend a lot of time with other kids. To take my mind off of being lonely I started to draw scenery, and anything I could see. You don't notice the time going by when you're preoccupied, you know?"
Tara looked over at Kuronue and gasped. Kuronue looked like he was going to cry! "What's wrong Kuro-san?"
"I can't help it!" Kuronue said, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. "That's so sad! I'm so moved!" Kuronue stood and grasped Tara shoulders, startling her. "I'll model the best I can!"
Tara's heart pumped faster. Kuronue was so close, closer than any male had ever been to her. "You don't have to. I mean, if you could just sit there…" she said, her eyes moving towards the chair.
Kuronue misunderstood her actions. "I can take it off if you want!" Before Tara could even ask what he was talking about, Kuronue was removing his shirt.
"Wait! You don't have to do that!" Tara said desperately. However, once it was off, she could choke no more words from her throat. She was not even sure why she started protesting in the first place.
Her blue eyes soaked in the smooth, hairless chest. No statue she had ever seen compared to the site. "Sports has sculpted you well Kuro-san." Tara said mesmerized. "I've never seen a raw body with such defined muscles."
Tail wagging, she slowly began running her hands over the raw material. She was surprised at how warm the flesh felt, even though it looked like marble. "Your pecs and abs are so well shaped." she said, still caught in an artist's trance. "So that's how the serratus anterior and the abdominal oblique connects to the shoulders!"
In one blow Tara realized what she was doing. Blood flooded her face and she retracts her hands as if he burned. "I'm sorry, geeze, I'm so sorry." she stuttered. "I didn't mean to grope you like that!"
When she gathered the courage to look at his face, it was flushed a bright red. Kuronue grabbed his shirt and quickly buttoned it. "I have to go home early today! See you tomorrow!" With that he was gone.
Tara stared down at her hands. Did she seem like a big pervert now? She had not meant to touch his bare skin. Kuronue had turns so red, but why? She would ask him tomorrow.
Her ears folded against her skull as she walked towards the sports field. Club activities had chased her from her sanctuary, so she decided to go find Kuronue. He had been acting normal all afternoon, and it just did not add up. At least this gave her the opportunity to watch him run. He was such a graceful creature, but of course, most bats were.
"Tara-san, you better say out of Kuronue's way." someone whispered in her ear. Tara jumped and turned to see the track manager staring at her. "He's modeling for your drawings right? I'm sorry to ask this, but could you tell him to stop?
"The next meet is right around the corner, so it's an important time right now. Lately he's not been making good time. Athletes can be surprisingly delicate, even if they don't look it. If there are other things on their mind they tend to lose their focus." she said, stilling Tara with her stare.
"No problem." Tara said submissively. The manager smiled and jogged over to Kuronue. Tara's heart twisted when she saw the labored expression on his face. She ran back to the security of the art room, thankful that club activities were over.
Upon reaching the art room, she grabbed her sketch book from her bag. She flipped through it, revealing sketch after sketch of Kuronue with varies poses and expressions. Tara sat down in front of her blank canvass, pain spreading through her chest.
She had gotten carried away and been so inconsiderate. She should have known it was a bad idea to have him model. She was getting in the way of his training and was ruining his concentration. She was so preoccupied with her own feelings. She had been too restless over such trivial words.
Tara felt the tears roll down her face and onto the pages. "I'm in love with Kuro-san." she said to the air. It felt better to say it aloud. "I love him."
Reaching for a tube of paint and a brush, Tara began to create. The truth was, she did not need Kuronue to model at all. She did not even need a sketch. She could paint him even without all of that. She had been watching him the whole time. She had loved him the whole time!
Tara sat there, painting and crying for hours. When her tears resolved to light sniffles, she placed her brush aside and stretched. As she stretched her arms behind her head, they touched something solid. Startled, she looked up only to lock gazes with indigo eyes. Kuronue had been watching her.
"How long have you…?"
"That's me, isn't it?"
Tara looked at the painting, the colors still wet. "Sorry, I just went ahead and drew you. Of course, it's not finished or anything."
Kuronue gently took her hand and pulled her close. He stared at the painting and then back at her. He leaned down and brushed their lips together. "Sorry I wasn't able to say it for so long, Tara-chan." he whispered in her ear.
"How did you know that I…?" Tara asked dazed and confused. It was like a dream.
Kuronue pointed at the unfinished portrait. "Didn't you say it before? You can convey your feelings without even saying a word."
The End.
Hope you enjoyed it, especially you Tara-chan! Sorry for absence!
Based on The Pale and Wavering Sketch by Waka Sagami.