Thank you and shout out to GamerJay, Gladsome Praetorian, and SwapAUAnon for Beta Reading this chapter.

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Chapter 13: Picture Perfect

It was a bright, weekend day at Beacon Academy. Seeing as there would be no classes today, Tsubaki opted to do one of her favorite hobbies whenever she was given free time back at home.

Painting.

Currently, she was sitting on a flat, circular chair near the landing strip that the students arrived at on the first day. She was wearing a white painters coat and a ruby colored painters hat as she made a portrait of Beacon itself, capturing the rising tower in the distance.

At the moment, she was coloring in the sky, which was a majestic shade of blue with fluffy white clouds circling at the height of the main tower of the academy. Capturing every detail possible was Tsubaki's current priority as she held her thumb up to measure scale properly. Just as she was about to add the clouds in...

"Sup Tsubaki!"

Maintaining her posture, she turned around and saw her teammates, Yang and Pyrrha, greeting her. Both of them were wearing their full combat attire.

"Oh, hello you two." Tsubaki replied politely, "May I ask what you guys are doing?"

"Oh, we were just going to get some practice in."

"Well, I don't see anything wrong with that." She said, "Go on then, I'll continue as I am."

She then returned to painting her portrait, when suddenly...

BAM!

She winced at the loud and familiar shotgun sound that came from far behind her. Reluctantly, she turned and saw that Yang and Pyrrha were sparring with each other. They were far enough that it wouldn't worry her about their battle coming close to her, but the noise that they were making in the process was rather irritating.

SHING!

Deciding that she needed to intervene, she got up from her seat and walked over to them; Pyrrha currently blocking Yang's punches with her shield.

"Excuse me! Would you two please stop for a moment!" Tsubaki yelled out, getting both of her teammates attention.

"Yes, what is it, Tsubaki?" Pyrrha asked.

"Why are you two practicing out here? I thought you were going to the combat class arena for practice."

"I'm sorry, Tsubaki. It's just that they combat arena is currently preoccupied." Pyrrha said apologetically.

"Yeah, last we saw, Ragna was using it to spar with one of the upper-classmen teams. I think it was Team CFVY? Maybe?" Yang said as she scratched her chin with her finger. "If you want, we could try finding somewhere else to spar."

In response, Tsubaki shook her head and said, "No no, your training and self-improvement are more important. I'll just try my best to put up with the added volume."

"Oh, uh, thank you Tsubaki." Pyrrha responded kindly, "And don't worry, we'll try our best not to distract you. That's a lovely portrait by the way."

Tsubaki thanked them for the compliment and walked back to her seat so she could continue. The sounds of gunfire and metal continuing from behind her.

Just ignore it, Tsubaki. Don't let anything distract you.

She continued her painting and was able to tune out the sounds of the sparring match behind her to a moderate degree, barring the one or two occasions when they would yell out.

Things were coming together well. She was almost finished painting the bright, cloud filled sky. She just needed to a couple more clouds...

"Um, Tsubaki?"

...And Weiss' voice cut her line of thought.

Trying her best to maintain a calm demeanor for her friend's sake, she turned to face her and forced the best smile she could, "Yes."

"I was planning on practicing my summonings around here. That won't interrupt anything, will it?" Weiss asked.

It won't interrupt me anymore than you are now, Tsubaki bit her tongue and refused to voice such thoughts out loud, instead saying, "Of course not. Find a good spot and feel free to practice at your leisure."

"Great, thank you."

"Don't mention it."

She watched as Weiss walked to another area within the immediate vicinity and created a glyph with her Semblance, pointing Myrtenaster to the glyph as she did so. She could hear the sound of gunfire and metal returning where she knew that Pyrrha and Yang were sparring. She was getting sick of the interruptions, but she didn't want to voice these concerns. She didn't want to risk saying anything rude now that her temper was flaring up.

Just ease up a little now, Tsubaki, She told herself mentally, You're almost done anyway. Just finish the sky, and take the portrait back to the room to dry. Simple.

She worked her best through the distractions, focusing every once of her attention on herself, her brush, and her canvas. She dabbed her brush into the white paint and continued her work on the clouds of Beacon's sky. She almost done now, with just one more cloud remaining...

CRASH!

Suddenly there was a loud ringing in her head and everything was blurry as she felt herself hit the floor. She clutched the side of her head as she heard the muffled cries of Yang and Weiss getting closer to her.

When her senses came to, she saw Pyrrha right next to her, getting up and also clutching her head. Tsubaki looked around and what she saw made her heart sink.

The portrait she was working on was completely destroyed. The canvas had been torn apart with paint and various colors scattered everywhere.

"Tsubaki, I'm so sorry!" Pyrrha said as Tsubaki turned to her. The gladiator girl bowing her head in shame. "It was my fault! Yang and I were sparring and then I accidentally got too close and cut off a bit of Yang's hair. She got mad and then-"

"No no, it's my fault. I was the one who got pissed off and punched her into you without thinking." Yang said as she did the same as her partner.

Tsubaki did her best to head their apologies, but internally, she was seething. She had worked long and hard on her perfect canvas. Everything was going so well and it all ended up ruined!

Rather than voice her frustrations, she instead wordlessly picked herself off the floor and started walking away, not heeding the concerned calls of her teammates as she did so.

As angry as she was, she didn't want to lash out at her team. She was supposed to be their leader, and she needed to maintain control of herself and set a proper example. That meant she couldn't let her anger take hold and make her say or do anything she would regret.

She picked up the speed as she made her way to her team's room and let herself in before loudly slamming the door shut and landing face first on her bed.

She just laid there and stewed in her anger, refusing to let it be seen or let it out. Suddenly, she heard a knock on the room door.

"Uh, Tsubaki?", Pyrrha's voice could be heard through the wooden door. "Is it okay if we come in?"

Tsubaki, in response, turned her head to the side so that her voice wouldn't be muffled and said, "Sure, it's your room."

She returned to having her face planted on the bed, preventing her from seeing her teammates walk in. But she did hear steps that stopped rather close to her bed, signifying that they were all next to her.

"Tsubaki, I just want to say that I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ruin your painting." She heard Yang say.

"It's my fault as well. Please forgive me." Pyrrha said as well.

Tsubaki lifted her head from the bed and saw her three teammates looking at her with concern and guilt in their eyes. Weiss had also brought the ruined painting materials and canvas back with them. She sighed and said, "Look, it really isn't as big of a deal as you're making it out to be, so please, just drop it. I forgive you, so let's just leave it there."

Pyrrha, despite the crestfallen look, did seem to drop the issue and started to move to her bed, but Yang dawned a determined face and grabbed Pyrrha's shoulder while Weiss moved beside the blonde; an equally determined look on her face as well.

"Tsubaki," Weiss began, "Until recently, we may have been out of contact for several years, but back when we used to play, you had a habit of suppressing yourself whenever you were upset about anything. Clearly, that hasn't changed at all."

Yang spoke after Weiss finished, "It really doesn't take knowing you to see that you're still pissed off. Holding it in ain't healthy, so just let it out. We can handle it."

Tsubaki kept her tongue bit down. She could understand what Weiss and Yang were saying, but as much as she wanted to scream out her anger, she just couldn't bring herself to say it. Instead she looked down and refused to face them.

She then felt a weight lay itself on her bed next to her. She looked up and saw Weiss sitting to her side.

"Tsubaki, it's okay," Weiss said in a gentle tone, "You don't have to hide you you really feel from us. We're a team, right?"

Tsubaki just sat there in quiet contemplation and stared at her childhood friend.

"It doesn't have to be now if you don't want. You can let it out any time you desire." Weiss said as she moved to get up, but Tsubaki was quick to place her hand on Weiss' shoulder and stop her.

"No, you're right, it's just..." Tsubaki began before she stopped herself.

"It's just...what?" Yang asked.

After some urging, Tsubaki sat up on her bed and took a deep breath before speaking again, saying, "I'm supposed to set an example for you guys. I'm the leader, so I should have a better sense of control over how I feel, but...well, I clearly don't."

"So, that's it?" Yang asked as she took a seat next to Tsubaki on her opposite side, "You just feel you have to be a Miss Perfect and you get angry when you can't keep it up?"

Tsubaki looked down and nodded in shame. She then felt Weiss pull her in and envelop her in a hug.

"Tsubaki, take it from me, I'm not perfect, and I doubt anyone of us are." Weiss said. "You don't have to hide yourself from us just to set an example. If it means you're constantly straining yourself just so you don't accidentally hurt us, then I don't think it's worth the effort."

"She's right, Tsubaki," Pyrrha chimed in as she moved in front of the TSYP leader. "Believe me when I say, trying to be this example for others out of obligation or otherwise is very...taxing, to say the least."

"Besides, we're all kind of screwups in our own way," Yang said as she placed her hand on Tsubaki's shoulder. "Odds are, we're definitely gonna need to get yelled at or something else just for all of us to get a point."

Tsubaki felt a wetness rolling down her cheeks, which she wiped away with her arm before saying, "Thanks guys. I guess I just got a lot more...well angry than usual because this is the first time I've painted a portrait in a long time."

"Really?" Weiss asked, causing Tsubaki to turn to her, "So you took up painting over the years?"

"Yes, and between training with the Izayoi, studies, and all other tasks that I had to do as heiress to the Yayoi name, I had less and less time for my hobbies as I continued. They became something of a rarity being honest. Even when I went to study at Sanctum Primary, I was still rarely found the time. So, needless to say, you can imagine my frustration when all the hard work I did got ruined."

"Sorry." Pyrrha once again apologized, with Yang following suit.

"No, it's fine. I think I've gotten over it now." Tsubaki informed them. "Still..."

They all just sat there quietly for a moment before Yang got up from her spot and said, "I think I know how to make it up to you. Just wait right there for one second."

As she said this, she ran to the closet and started throwing things out, as if looking for something.

"Where is it? Come on, I know it's here." Tsubaki heard her say, before she loudly went, "AHA! Found it!"

She practically bounced back to the group and pulled out what appeared to be a polaroid camera. "I know that a normal group picture isn't gonna replace all that work and dedication entirely, but I figured, y'know, thought that counts?"

Tsubaki nodded as Yang motioned for all of them to get into different positions before taking a position herself. She then held the camera above them all and pressed the button, causing a bright flash as a photograph came out of the polaroid.

As Yang took it and held it up to the group, Tsubaki couldn't help but feel amazed as the photograph formed. It showed each of them close together, smiling in the same direction. Part of her had to stifle a chuckle when she saw that Yang had made a pair of bunny ears behind Weiss' head, something that she saw Weiss give Yang a bit of stink eye for.

"It's...It's not perfect, obviously, but it's amazing nonetheless." Tsubaki said Yang have her the picture and let her hold it. She then looked to the empty wall where she was planning to put the portrait she was working on and got an idea.

"And I think I know just where to put it."

She then got to work on setting things up. She gathered some tape and other materials, specifically her art supplies, and started setting them up to be put to the wall. Weiss, Pyrrha, and Yang all got in on it as well and helped her out, with Yang and Pyrrha putting the finishing touches on the wall itself while Tsubaki and Weiss finished the sign. They then took the completed sign and hung it on the wall, while Tsubaki took the photo and applied some tape to the back of it, allowing it to stick to the wall. The four of them stood back and admired the work.

Tsubaki looked up at the sign she and Weiss made and read it in her head.

"Wall of Memories".

It wasn't what she was expecting nor what she wanted there originally, but it was marvelous all the same.

So, I kinda had a hard time wondering what to do for team TSYP's Slice of Life chapter, but then I remembered that one of Tsubaki's hobbies is painting, so I decided to have one of those "Try to do something but everyone is distracting you" type episodes before looking a bit into her perfectionism. Not quite sure if I did well on that, so I'd appreciate any feedback in regards to what went wrong there and what could be made better.

Sorry in advance if it took too long for some people. Like I said, kinda have an inconsistent schedule that I'm working with, real life issues, and I also ended up starting another crossover fic, this one an Owl House/Devil May Cry fic titled "The Silver Raven", so if you want to give it a read and provide some feedback, that would be great.

Now, next chapter we'll be having a bunch of fight scenes. It's sparring class with Goodwitch, so that means a bunch of 1 vs 1 fights between the various students. Here's to hoping I do a good job with the fights.

Thanks for reading and have a great day. Let's hope 2021 doesn't turn into a massive fireball careening down a mountain side like 2020 was.