As Taki Tachibana awoke one spring morning he found himself yawning into his hand and looking down at the small woven bracelet he had on. An absent thought long lost in his mind echoed to him before he rubbed the back of his head and stood up, getting dressed and ready for school in a matter of minutes. He didn't have work today so he'd probably go out and sketch a bit once school was done. Observing himself in the mirror, his eyes wandered to the bandage on his cheek. He closed his eyes and remembered the incident yesterday. Probably was a good thing nobody saw him.
Soon Taki was out the door and walking to school with a placid expression on his ambivalent face. The hustle of Tokyo didn't bother Taki, he'd lived with it his whole life, but there was still a moment of hesitation when he felt an unfamiliar shoulder or a strange body move up against his own on a crowded subway. Wasn't a big deal. His eyes wandered to the subway platform as he got off and he saw a familiar figure standing by a pillar in the underground walkway.
"Yo. Ryuji," Taki said as he approached the punk looking kid.
"Huh? Oh. Hey Tachibana. What's up?" Ryuji asked as he pocketed his smartphone quickly.
"Just saying hi," Taki said as he got a clearer look at Ryuji. With his slouching posture, bleached hair and hard eyes it was easy to see Ryuji as a 'problem kid'. Taki never saw him that way though. The two went to junior high and their relationship, while never beyond names, was fine enough the two could hold conversation. Taki had never personally seen Ryuji do anything outright illegal or immoral and the only thing he'd actually seen evidence of was him attacking the gym teacher, Mister Kamoshida. That might've made Taki a bit wary of him but he had no personal stake in whatever their beef was so he left it well alone.
"Alright. Wanna walk to school?" Ryuji offered. Taki shrugged.
The two exited out into the street and began walking down toward the school's district. Taki's eyes wandered over to Ryuji who was making a series of increasingly perturbed faces at his smartphone.
"Dammnit," Ryuji whispered under his breath.
"Something bothering you?" Taki asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm trying to get dirt on Kamoshida," Ryuji said under his breath.
"You really hate that guy," Taki said offhandedly, "why is that?"
"Know why I walk with a limp?" Ryuji asked as he gave Taki a dark look. Taki blinked and looked away from Ryuji. The discussion had made a turn he didn't expect. His teeth grit in anger a bit however. It might've been foolish to trust the words of Ryuji alone but... if what he said was true. "Eh nevermind forget it," Ryuji cleared the air as he looked back at Taki and seemed to make some attempt at changing the conversation, "what's with the bandaid?"
"Huh?" Taki tapped his cheek "oh... some asshole at work. Don't worry about it."
As the two approached the school gates they were immediately stopped by a thin, feminine figure who stood there with the authority of a faculty member. The student council president and honor student, Makoto Nijima, was there with her arms crossed and a small frown on her otherwise delicate face.
"Sakamoto-san," Makoto said darkly, "Tachibana-san," she said more evenly.
"What does 'Miss Perfect Grade' want from me now?" Ryuji asked angrily and exchanged a glare with Makoto.
"I'd like to talk to each of you individually in the student council office at first break, okay?" Makoto asked as Ryuji simply huffed at her and walked in.
"Is there a problem Nijima-san?" Taki asked as he looked the girl over.
"Not right now. Just want to give you both a warning alright?" Makoto said to Taki in a stern but delicate voice. Taki simply rolled with it and walked inside. She was always quite the stern individual.
When break occurred and Taki went to the student council office he saw Ryuji leave the room with a usual sore expression and hunched posture. Whatever conversation Nijima-san and him had clearly did little more than piss him off. Taki sighed as Ryuji passed him. He simply moseyed his way in and sat down at the other side of Makoto's desk. Makoto herself was gripping the bridge of her nose with one hand, clearly on the other end of Ryuji's frustrated venting.
"Uhm... Nijima-san?" Taki asked as Makoto opened her eyes and stared up at him.
"Oh. Tachibana-kun. I'm sorry," she said blankly as she corrected her posture quickly.
"Do you walk to school with Sakamoto-san regularly?" she asked. Taki blinked and shook his head at her question.
"No... we sometimes hang out but our conversations don't go anywhere," Taki explained.
"I see. Well... I didn't tell Sakamoto-san this cause the students aren't suppose to know," Makoto nodded a bit and began to speak, "principal Kobayakawa told me today we're accepting a... problem student. A boy with a criminal record who's on parole."
"Whoa... what's the charge?" Taki asked, curiosity filling his mind.
"Assault. Apparently he was forcing himself onto a woman and attacked another man in the process. It's pretty serious as you can tell," Makoto explained, "so the principal asked me to... make sure none of the 'problem' students start interacting with him. I'm telling you this cause I don't think you're a bad person Tachibana-san. I don't want you telling anyone else about this either."
"W-wait I'm a PROBLEM student?" Taki asked as he pointed at himself, his eyes narrowed in anger.
"No no. You're fine Tachibana-san. You just... know Ryuji and so I kinda have to make certain. Okay?" Makoto said with a small twinge of regret in her voice. Taki leaned back in his chair. It was already clear to him that Ryuji might've had a chip on his shoulder but wasn't a bad person. Being demonized so heavily that even associating with him suddenly made him a potential delinquent? A part of Taki wanted to rant off as well but his better nature stopped himself.
"So is that it?" Taki asked.
"One other thing," Makoto said as she looked Taki dead in the eye. "That bandaid. Where did you get it?"
"Huh?" Taki leaned forward and hung his mouth open.
"... did a... did a teacher give it to you by chance?" Makoto asked nervously as she rubbed the back of her head.
"No! No! I... got it at work," Taki explained, not bothering to dwell on the meaning of Makoto's question. It wasn't much of his business. "Some perv outside the restaurant was talking about my... my senpai at work and I got angry and-" Taki's wrist was instantly grabbed by Makoto and his arm was dragged behind his head. Taki let out a weak yelp as Makoto simply stared the boy down.
"So you got into a fight, is that it?" she asked.
"I JUST PUNCHED HIM A LITTLE! THAT'S ALL!" Taki said, ignoring that by 'punched him' what he really meant was 'attempted to punch him and missed'.
"See this is what I'm talking about. It didn't happen on school so I'm not gonna report it or anything but you can't go doing that sort of thing whenever you want okay?" Makoto said.
"Alright! I get it!" Taki shouted as Makoto released his wrist from her vice-grip. "What's with you anyway? You're always doing what the principal and teachers want! Ever thought about what you wanna do with your own life!?"
Makoto's eyes widened at Taki's statement. She blinked. Then crossed her arms. Then looked away and frowned. Taki stared at her for a solid second before turning to the doorway and heading back out to class. "I'll keep in mind what you said," was all he gave her before he left. As he walked out he could hear the girl's lingering doubts be sighed out.
Once school was over Taki did what he normally did when work wasn't a priority. Find a rooftop and sketch. Long ago he had decided to become an architect, and being able to look out at the cityscape and simply draw what he could see was one of the few moments where the young boy could be away from his thoughts and his enemies. Enemies? Was that the right term? He didn't know. There were certainly people in his life that just seemed to complicate things. His coworkers berating him, his teachers bossing him around, his dad... people just seemed to be a pain to Taki. And interacting with them was becoming more and more of a chore. But when he was alone like this? When he could simply sit there and watch the world and put it into images... there was a peace to him. A calm serenity he could feel.
"Excuse me?" a voice came from his side. Taki looked up with an incredulous look to see the tall figure of a black haired boy his own age standing there. Dressed in a white school uniform and carrying what appeared to be a wrapped canvas and a paint brush under his arm.
"Uh... can I help you?" Taki asked the unusual boy.
"My apologies. I was simply looking for a place to channel my feelings and it would appear we had the same idea," he said smoothly as he extended out his right arm. "May I?" he asked.
Taki paused for a second and relized he was asking for his sketch book. Someone was... interested in his drawing? That had never happened before. It was so uncommon that Taki forgot to say no and simply handed the strange boy his notebook, pages and all.
"Hrm," the boy mused as he began to flip through it vigorously, "your sense of space is impeccable. And you clearly have an eye for geometry. Not to mention a love for nature given your great detail on these trees and parks. Have you considered expanding out from landscapes?"
"Uh. No?" Taki said as he reached back for his sketchbook but found to his annoyance the boy simply wouldn't hand it back, "I mean... I just want to be an architect is all."
"AH! The art of building! A noble endeavor," he smiled.
"Can I have my sketchbook back!?" Taki interrupted curtly, "and who are you!?"
"Oh. My apologies," the bizarre stranger responded as he handed the notebook back to Taki who whisked it from his hands. "I am Yusuke Kitagawa. An artist in training. Apprentice to the great Madarame."
"Madarame?" Taki asked. He thought he heard that name somewhere before.
"Indeed! He's well known in the art circle! And he'll be holding a special event just a few months from now! You should drop by and see it! The painting Sayuri will be on display and it is quite remarkable," the boy offered.
"Thanks but I'll pass. I don't sketch for art sake," Taki said.
"Hrm? Then why do you sketch?" Yusuke asked.
"... I guess cause I just like to pretend people don't exist for a while," Taki explained, "people get on my nerves. Or... at least some of them do. Some of them are alright," he nervously smiled as he closed his sketchbook.
"Like the woman in your sketchbook?" Yusuke asked.
"HUH!?" Taki shouted. Crap. He didn't remove his sketches of Okudera-senpai!?
"You draw her quite well. I could feel your youthful passion toward her in each pencil stroke!" Yusuke said.
"HEEEY," Taki said nervously as he stood up, "YOU WON'T SAY A WORD WILL YOU!?" he said angrily.
"I... don't really know this woman so, no?" Yusuke responded. Taki sighed and noticeably relaxed. Of course he wouldn't say a thing.
"Still though. Art for isolation sake? That's a bit odd," Yusuke commented, "though I suppose landscapes do make sense in that context."
"I just think there are too many people out there who give up easily," Taki admitted, catching Yusuke's attention. "I don't wanna be that kind of person. The kind who gives up. Or the kind who treats others like objects. There's too many adults in my life who're like that."
"I... see..." Yusuke said, mulling over an unspoken thought in his mind as he looked out at the city below him, "I wish I could give you some sage advice but... honestly I feel lost sometimes as well."
"Yeah," Taki agreed. He didn't know or understand this Yusuke person very well but it seemed like however small there was some kind of mutual artistic understanding there. Tomorrow was ending and it would bring an entirely new day with it. He'd go to work, put up with teachers, put up with the student council president again, put up with the guys at work... with Okudera-senpai... okay it wasn't all so bad. But still! Things would just keep going at this glacial pace and all the little annoyances and injustices in the world would keep piling up until he was simply a prisoner of his own life. But then what else could Taki do?
It wasn't like life would change.