"Red, red, where is the red?" Uchimaki sifts through the container of paint tubes with increasing chagrin. In the end he slumps back and lets out a soft exhale. "Did we run out of red? Usami-san?"

Usami looks up from her latest painting of floating apples, smiling apologetically. "Oh, red huh? Yeah, I'm using the last of it right now. D-Do you need a lot? If it's just for details I can give you—"

Uchimaki sighs. He looks at the healthy blob of red paint on her palette. "No thanks. My latest waifu is going to have a Little Red Riding Hood sort of costume, you see, so I'd need more than you have there." He steps closer to her easel, leaning over her to examine her painting. "Apples again. You really like them, huh?"

"N-Not particularly, no..." she mutters as she shrinks away.

"Hm. You always paint apples, and they're always red." He smirks. "You know they come in other colours, right? There's yellow and green—"

"I'm not stupid! What the heck? I just like the red ones!" Usami inadvertently kicks her easel in annoyance, knocking her canvas to the ground.

Before she could even bend down, Uchimaki has picked it up. He doesn't say anything for a moment, and glances at her. She glares back. Then he strokes her painting, carefully as it's still wet, and she watches him, frozen in the warm sunset.

The composition gives a lively, carefree impression, and her strong lighting and shading give the apples depth and definition. Her brush strokes are soft and hesitant, even though she's painted this exact same thing a thousand times before. She actually is talented, he thinks, even if the subject of her art isn't very interesting.

"Is red your favourite colour?" he asks.

"No... Well, yes, I like it, but no..."

"Then why red apples? I'd say yellow and green are also—"

"Why do you care?!" Usami snatches her painting back and readjusts it on the easel. "They're not cute 2D girls, so who cares what colour they are? If it matters so much to you, why don't you go and start painting Little Yellow Riding Hood?"

Uchimaki puts up a hand, smiling weakly. "Now now, I was just asking a question. Because I was thinking, you know. We've been in this club together so long but I don't even know your favourite colour yet." And there's his smile again.

Any snappy retorts brewing on Usami's tongue disappeared, and now feel like a distant memory. As her heartbeat quickens and she flutters about pathetically trying to find something decent to say, the boy in front of her laughs.

"What, I'm just asking your favourite colour. Not your three sizes or anything."

And yet again he ruined the moment. "Sh-Shut up! Why do you always—argghhh!"

"There, there. You always forget, I'm not interested in those things. You can't really measure the breast size of a 2D girl, so those numbers mean nothing to me." Mild as ever, he doesn't seem to notice Usami's growing redness. "Seriously, even if you tell me a girl's breast size, I couldn't visualize it without a tape measure. Now on the other hand, if you gave me a picture—"

"AAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!" Usami bursts out of her seat and pushes him. It's harder than she intended, and his back hits the storage locker with a resounding clank.

They're silent a moment as they stare at each other. Usami, still heated, leans more toward beratement than apology, even though Uchimaki is rubbing his shoulder like it actually hurt a little. Hesitantly, he opens his mouth, but Usami takes a deep breath and speaks first.

"There are some things you just don't talk about with a girl, okay?! That kind of stuff is sensitive! Even if you're not interested yourself, I— I mean, we... I mean, it's..." She looks away, knowing her face is full crimson, and knowing that the idiot has no idea why.

He rubs his shoulder again. "Sorry. It's just, I really do mean it. You really don't have to worry if it's just me—"

"Idiot! Don't tell me how to feel!"

With the weight of her breathing the only sound in the room, and the vibrant heat of sunset wafting around them, the mood shifts, and Uchimaki's eyes widen slightly.

"So that's why," he murmurs.

"Why what?" Usami snaps.

He walks behind her to look out the window, nodding thoughtfully. "That's why your apples are always red."

Usami is clueless as to what he meant, but she joins him at the window anyway, cautiously. Their eyes meet.

"Uchimaki-kun?"

"Hm?"

"I... Sorry." Her cheeks are still flushed deep red. He smiles.

"I'm sorry too."

a/n: so I'm in love with this show and I'm obsessed with these characters save my soul. I was the one who requested this category hehe. it's one of the rare shows where I can't! stop! smiling! arggghhh everything about it is perfecttt

this story actually came out pretty easily, and I'm definitely still inspired to write about these guys!