Author's Note: All right, here I am again with another new chapter of the Ojamajo Doremi Affections series! I'm not going to bore you with specifics this time, so let's just get into it!
"Shinei" – "Portrait"
I was walking by the art room when I heard a loud scream, followed by the sound of someone crying. Whoever it was sounded REALLY upset.
"Wonder what's going on?" I asked nobody in particular, instead choosing to walk into the art room, only to notice that Hana was crying beside a pile of colored pencils.
"Hana-chan? What's the matter?" I asked gently, being careful not to upset her further. She looked up at me, tears highlighting her usually rosy face.
All of a sudden, she jumped up and threw her arms around me, crying even harder.
"NICK!! THEY TORE IT UP!! That beautiful self-portrait Hana-chan was working on!! They destroyed it!!" Hana explained as she squeezed me tighter.
"You know Burt," I stated while returning Hana's embrace. "He always tries to make someone's lives miserable."
"It's not fair!!" Hana exclaimed. "Hana-chan worked on that portrait for FOUR MONTHS!!"
I remembered now: Hana's art class project was a self-portrait, and she'd put her heart and soul into that picture of herself, only to have it destroyed by some stupid bullies? NOW I was mad.
"Don't worry, Hana-chan," I comforted. "I'll get your drawing back one way or another. I promise."
Hana wiped a few tears from her eyes as I walked out of the art room to confront those idiotic bullies.
"HEY!!" I shouted, drawing the attention of Burt and his cronies. "You've got some explaining to do, and you'd better explain it quickly, before I decide to knock some sense into you."
Burt quickly feigned innocence. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Don't feed me that crap!! You destroyed Hana-chan's self-portrait, and you'd better tell me why before I MAKE you!!"
Burt immediately scowled at this. "I really don't want any competition when the art show comes."
"Okay, Burt, first of all, you can't draw for beans, so don't give me that excuse. Second of all, Hana-chan put FOUR WHOLE MONTHS into that portrait!! Do you have ANY IDEA how sad she is right now?! DO YOU?!"
Burt still didn't look too happy. "That's really none of my business, now, is it?"
This really ticked me off. "It is when you mess with my friends!!"
Burt simply raised his fists. "You wanna go right now, boy?"
Suddenly, a wicked idea popped up in my head. I held my hand out towards Burt, concentrating my magical energies.
"Hikari!! Blind them with your burning light!!"
With that call, Nenshou Hikari appeared in my outstretched hand, pointing straight at Burt and his cronies.
I actually relished the scared looks on their faces.
"Now, are you going to admit what you did, or is this going to get ugly?" I propositioned, not in the mood for games.
"All right, already, just take the stupid drawing and don't hurt us!!" Burt exclaimed, throwing the shreds of the drawing to the floor and dashing away, his goons in hot pursuit.
Taking a look at what remained of the drawing, I changed Nenshou Hikari back into my wand and pointed it towards the drawing.
"Asobu soba de sakiyaki sore!! Let's make this self-portrait as good as new!!"
Almost instantly, the pieces of the drawing reformed, making it look as if it had just been finished. "That should teach Burt a lesson."
With Hana's drawing in hand, I returned to the art room, where Hana was fiddling with a few markers. I held the drawing towards her.
"Special delivery," I stated. When Hana noticed what I was handing her, her eyes brightened considerably.
"You found it?! Oh, thanks so much, Nick!!" Hana exclaimed, drawing me into a bone-crushing hug. I simply returned the embrace.
"Glad to help out, Hana-chan."
Just then, Hana leaned forward and pressed her lips to mine for a few seconds.
"Hana-chan is going to rock this competition, right?" Hana asked once she'd pulled back.
"I'm sure you will, Hana-chan."
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
"Wow, it's beautiful, Hana-chan!!"
A few weeks later, Hana had finally finished her self-portrait, and we had all gathered to see it on display in the art gallery.
"It's amazing, Hana-chan!!" Doremi exclaimed.
"Arigatou!!" Hana responded.
"Say, I heard you had some trouble with Burt and his cronies," Momoko noted.
"Nick took care of the bullies and got Hana-chan's drawing back just in time!!" Hana explained.
"It just makes me sick that Burt keeps pulling these shenanigans, but what's worse is that we're the only ones who have every tried to stop him in the slightest..." I stated.
"Maybe they all know that we're good at dealin' with bullies," Aiko noted.
Hana walked up and gave me a quick peck on the cheek before heading off to view some of the other entries for this year's Art Splash.
I couldn't help but smile as another argument between Doremi and Kotake broke out over who's painting was better. I simply shrugged it off and went to join Hana in studying the entries.