Rin held the paintbrush between her toes. She held it in the air, waiting for inspiration to strike like lighting from the heavens. Her dark green eyes were perfectly still. All external functions were powered down to give more power to internal ones. The art room was well lit. The windows were closed, so the art room retained its usual smell of paint. The afternoon light poured through, it seemed to bend around Rin. It got caught up in her hair and in her eyes. Then it happened. It was a visible change. There was a spark in her deep green eyes. She deftly dipped her brush into one of the cups of paint and she made a stroke. When she did, she did without any hesitation; every stroke was a pure and absolute thing. She knew exactly where that color went. There was a passion that burned in her eyes. This was Rin at her most Rin. She painted at an incredible speed. Trying to capture the image that was burning on the forefront of her mind, on the tip of her tongue. She finished and then she left.

She missed world history. She went up to the roof. Emi wasn't there yet so it must not be lunch time. Rin decided to lie down. The sky was very cloudy and thoughtful today. The clouds were white and fluffy and slow. They were all beautifully perfect. She noticed a patch of sky that looked the same color as her panties. She smiled because that was her favorite color. She was reminded of Emi who helped her into them this morning. She realized that Emi still wasn't here or at least she wasn't the last time she checked. Rin turned her head to see if she was there. She wasn't. Rin stared up at the clouds till her eyes grew heavy.

Rin opened her eyes. She let out a little yawn, her eyebrows rising a little when she does so. Emi was sitting on the bench. One for Rin and the other one already half devoured. Rin walked over slowly. She was still waking up from her little nap. Emi looked at her with quiet disbelief. "I would've woken you up. But. You looked so peaceful." Emi said. Rin shrugged. They sat together and ate lunch.

"Do you want to go to the art store?" Rin asked.

Emi looked up from wiping off the lasts of her meal with a napkin. She smiled. She knew Rin must really want to go if she was asking directly. "Sure." She said. Rin was looking up at the sky. Emi wasn't sure if Rin heard her say anything. Rin looked at Emi right in the eyes. She had the most serious look on her face.

"Do you think trees remember growing?" Rin asked.

"Well" Emi replied. "Have you ever asked them?"

Rin tilted her head a little bit to the side. Trying to figure out why she hasn't asked them.

"Well I don't think trees can talk." She replied.

Emi left it at that. Then the lunch bell rang and they both headed back to classes. They agreed to meet near the front gate after school.

Rin was late. She was only five minutes late. Emi didn't ask why she was late. The path down to downtown was long and winding. They took a leisurely pace. You could tell that Emi was itching to move a little faster. But Rin didn't notice and Rin was not a person you left behind. They walked down the road; the clouds that were over head during lunch were now thick and dark. They both looked at each other. Emi started to laugh because she didn't bring an umbrella and she knew Rin didn't. Rin smiled a small smile. She hoped it would rain. They kept walking down towards the art store. The sky above them was like a ticking time bomb.

They made it safely inside the art store. There was an old man behind the counter. He smiled as he saw Rin walked in. She was down here with Emi a lot. The old man was tapping his fingers on the counter. They looked like a guitarists fingers; nimble and dexterous. Able to charm out any tune from the strings or in this case; any image from a paintbrush. He didn't say anything to them. He didn't want to break Rin's concentration. Emi walked over and looked at the different types of notepads and sketchpads that lined the shelves. Rin was staring at the oil pastels. She was trying to find just what color she thought she needed, which was hard because she hasn't thought of what she wanted to do. It was getting hard to think about colors and stand, so she sat on the floor. Emi was keeping an eye on her and started to apologize to the store owner.

"I'm sorry si-"

The old man laughed and cut her off. "It is quite alright, color choice is very crucial." The old man replied.

Emi knew she was going to be in for the long haul when she agreed to accompany Rin to the art store. She didn't mind really. With track season being over she didn't have much to do except hang with Rin. Rin stood up and motioned Emi over. Emi also came to handle the supplies. The store had a strict No Shirt No Shoes No service policy.

"Ok Rin. Which ones do you want?" Emi said.

"I want that Iris blue one...no no. Left. Up. There. I need three of those." Rin said.

This process went on for a while until Rin had all the colors she needed. The old man smiled, he really should get around to labeling the colors. He could have easily picked out all the colors she was listing but he found the pair amusing. As he rung them up, he looked outside. His brow furrowed a little bit and he said. "I'll double bag this so it will stay dry." Both girls turned around to see the biblical rain storm unfolding outside. Rin smiled a little bit.

"I'm sorry I don't have an extra umbrella lying around." The old man said.

"That's ok!" said Emi.

They waved goodbye as they walked outside. The rain drenched them in seconds. After they were wet it wasn't that bad. The worst had already happened. Rin's hair was plastered to her face from the rain. Emi had to push it of her eyes more than once. Little river had begun forming in the gutters, rushing down the hill. Little sticks and leaves and dirt and all sorts of things rushed down hill. Lakes disguised as puddles were forming in indents on the sidewalks. The whole place had been turned into a wet watery world. Emi had to pull Rin away sometimes because she would get too distracted. When it rains all the lines get blurry, everything gets harder to define. Everything becomes connected. Everything is moving and blurry but still at the same time, stillness in constant movement.

They made it back to their dorms safely. They were completely soaked to the bone. Emi helped Rin change into some dry clothing and then they both went to bed. Rin slept in because it was Saturday and because she could. Rin liked sleeping because sleeping leads to dreaming. Around 11 Emi came to wake Rin up; claiming that she was sleeping the day away.

"Emi could you run around the track for me?" Rin asked.

"Sure..." Emi said.

"Good." Rin nodded.

She motioned to the easel and the assortment of oil pastels they got yesterday.

"I need those." Rin said simply.

"OK..." Emi said. At this point she wasn't going to question it.

They were at the track. Rin was sitting on the bleacher closest to the field. Her easel was set up in front of her and her pastels ready on the ground. Rin was ready to draw. Emi started running around the track, her blonde pig tails flying in the wind. And Rin was also to the races. She started to make markings on the canvas. Wide broad strokes. She discarded that color and quickly picked up another.

When she finished Emi, was doing warm down laps and the nubs of the pastels laid on the ground. Emi jogged over to see how whatever Rin was doing turned out. She looked at the canvas and her jaw almost dropped. It was Emi running. Sort of. There was an Emi shaped and colored figure but it was blurry and hard to define. Its colors were fading off behind it like gas vapor. It was more like a ripple of time was making its way around the track. Everything else was fine and in vivid color.

"Here it's for you" Rin said.

"Thank you so much Rin!" Emi exclaimed

"It looks great."

"I only drew you like rain."

Emi chuckled. They went back to the dorm and hung up the painting in Emi's room and later she bought Rin lunch as a thank you.