JAPAN


"Maria, look, I'm sorry-!" Kiku tried to put up whatever bravery he had left in him. He had never seen her like this before. He tried to reach out to her, but she angrily shoved his hand away, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably.

"H-how could you!" she cried out, turning her full body towards her, tiny bits of tears moved through her direction, immediately away from her bright chocolate brown eyes.

"I-I-I never thought-!" he tried to explain, but was immediately taken aback when he saw her mixed emotion of anger and sadness. He was so sure he could feel her fighting back her tears.

"That's just it!" she shot back, "You never thought at all! You never even considered how I felt about it! Do you even realize the stir you made single-handedly!"

He almost felt like crying herself. "I-I thought I w-was better..."

She started wiping her own tears, and it was almost Kiku's undoing to see such innocence and simplicity within her.

You are better…!" she groaned, rubbing her temples. "So s-stop that…! You'll end up crying like me…" she took several blinks, regaining her composure.

Many years later…

"Do you still remember that time when we were kids?" Kiku chuckled softly, deeply embarrassed of his own actions in the past.

Maria was also equally embarrassed. She looks away, her cheeks growing pink. "Yes…" She nods silently.

She meets his gaze."You know, it's…never about how good the art is," she pats her head lightly which received him a soft gasp of surprise. She chuckled. She had expected that sort of reaction.

"It's the reason behind the art itself that's important," she continued, pulling her hand away.

He needed to make sure he knew what she was talking about. "...in other words...?" he tried to ask nicely, trying to grasp whatever she was saying.

"An inspiration, Kiku…" she smiles weakly, slowly crossing her arms.

"An...inspiration?" Kiku pondered on it for a moment, and in a few seconds, looked at her with an almost genuinely rare smile on his lips.

"W-what are you looking at me like that for…?" she stammered consciously, feeling insecure of his watchful eyes.

Kiku laughed and laid a small piece of paper on her hands. "Here, I thought you might like this one," he smiled. "This is my…inspiration." Then he took off immediately, leaving her to look at the paper he gave.

...a distinctively accurate picture of herself

She blushed. "Oh, Kiku…"

-FIN-