A few minutes later, inside a small art room inside the shack…
"I thought it would just be you two coming, aniki and Takamaki-san." said Yusuke calmly to both Minato and Ann while he scowled at both Akira and Ryuji (who scowled back at him) as they sat on two of the three stools leaning against the wall, with Morgana staying inside Akira's bag on another stool next to them.
"Yusuke, be nice to my friends. Don't make me say it again." said Minato in disapproval at Yusuke.
"My apologies, aniki. Sorry for being rude to you two again." said Yusuke apologetically to Minato then to both Akira and Ryuji.
"It's okay." said Akira.
"Yeah. Besides, I'm getting nervous about letting you do an artwork of me. Wouldn't you get nervous too, if it was just the two of us without your brother and our 2 friends around?" said Ann.
"We're here to keep an eye on you, so don't try anything perverted, 'kay?" said Ryuji warningly to Yusuke.
"Stop making such odd assumptions. I have absolutely no interest of Takamaki-san as someone of the opposite sex." scoffed Yusuke.
"He's not? What a weird brother you have, Minato. Plus are you sure you don't need to call either Minako or Naoto to come over?" said Pharos in disbelief at Minato about Yusuke and about why he didn't call Minako and Naoto to come over.
"That's how he is and I'm sure, Pharos." said Minato.
"Huh?" said Ann as she glance in surprise at Yusuke for saying that he'd no interest of her.
"Is there a problem?" asked Yusuke as he noticed the surprise look on Ann's face.
"…No, not really." replied Ann with a shake of her head before she sat down on the small couch behind her and do a pose of someone thinking deeply about something.
"Well then, let's get started, Takamaki-san." said Yusuke in a pleasant tone of voice to Ann as he sat down on a chair, held out the paintbrush in his hand to check and observed the angle of Ann before he began drawing her outline on the large canvas in front of him.
"…Hey." Ann called out to Yusuke, who didn't answer her as he continue drawing while staring back and forth at her and the canvas.
"Excuse me?" Akira called out to him and he didn't answer him too.
"Didn't you hear them?" asked Ryuji but he got ignored by Yusuke too.
"It's futile, you guys. There's no way that you guys can break his concentration in drawing Takamaki-san, which means that you guys have to wait for him to finish then you guys can ask him your questions." sighed Minato as he briefly glance at both Akira and Ryuji.
"…You may be right about him being too focused on drawing me, Arisato-senpai." said Ann in agreement with Minato as she briefly shake her head.
"Great." sighed Akira.
"This isn't what we planned!" whisper Morgana to them as he discreetly popped himself out of Akira's bag. "We were gonna catch him off guard and make him spill his beans, weren't we?"
"How were we supposed to know this was gonna happen…?" retorted Ryuji back to Morgana. "Guess we just gotta wait 'til he's done… What an effin' pain in the ass…"
"Perhaps I should try going outside this room…" suggested Morgana.
"Try not to get yourself caught, Morgana." warned Akira.
"Yeah, be careful." said Minato.
"Heh, who do you two think you're talking to, Akira, Minato?" said Morgana as he smirked at both Akira and Minato before he jumped out of Akira's bag and landed on the floor. "This is so boring. So I'm going to scout around a bit." added Morgana to them before he make his way out of the room and roamed and scouted around the interior of the house for a while until he stopped and noticed a door that had a peacock design painted on it and with a large hefty lock on the door.
"It's weird how flashy that door is… And, is that a lock? A door with a hefty lock, what could be in there?" muttered Morgana confusingly to himself as he kept on staring suspiciously at the locked painted door.
XXXX
After almost an hour, Yusuke stopped drawing, sighed quite heavily and slumped his upper body down in discontent.
"Are you done?" asked Ryuji hopefully to Yusuke as he stretch his slightly sore arms a little.
"Or are you tired and need a little break from drawing, Yusuke?" said Minato concernly to Yusuke.
"I'm fine, aniki. Just that it's no good…" replied Yusuke in a discontent tone of voice to them.
"…What?" said Ryuji as he stood up and glance in shock at Yusuke.
"What do you mean by it's not good, Kitagawa-kun?" asked Akira in shock at Yusuke as well but he didn't answer his question.
"I'm sorry… Am I the problem?" asked Ann as she move a little on the stool.
"No, not at all. It's just…" replied Yusuke apologetically to Ann before he trailed off into frustrated silence. "Just that it doesn't feel right. I'm having trouble staying focused today. I'm sorry for wasting your time and can we resumed this another time…" said Yusuke regrettably to Ann.
"Oh hell no! How many hours do you think you made us wait!?" yell Ryuji indignantly to Yusuke before he, Akira, Minato and Ann stood up from their stools and glance at Yusuke (which confuses him).
"I'm sorry… We had another reason for seeing you today… We needed to talk to you." said Ann somberly to Yusuke.
"Talk to me? About what?" asked Yusuke.
"It's about those rumors regarding your sensei." replied Ryuji as he briefly scratch the top of his head.
"This again…" said Yusuke as he stood up and scowled at them.
"About that painting Ann-san and I saw back in the exhibition… The one who painted it is you instead of that sensei of yours, isn't it, Yusuke?" said Minato.
"That's…" said Yusuke as he winced and look away with a pained look on his face.
"I knew it. There's no way that someone like him would do a painting like that. It had to be you, Yusuke." said Minato with a nod of his head.
"So Minato was right, it was you who painted it." said Ann sadly to Yusuke.
"Your sensei's seriously messed up. He just thinks of his pupil as tools. That's why he doesn't give a damn whether he steals their work or physically beats them. I'll make this clear, there's no point in hidin' stuff from us." said Ryuji as he frowned at Yusuke.
"Hahahaha… I've no idea what you all are talking about… And you're wrong about that painting you saw back in the exhibition, aniki. It's not…" said Yusuke bitterly to them.
"It's not painted by me". Is that what you wanted to say to me or what he wanted you to say to me, Yusuke? If it is the former then I'm disappointed but if it's latter then we can help you." said Minato softly to Yusuke.
"Minato-kun has a point. You couldn't go against him, could you? I'm sure we can help you out though…" said Ann sympathetically to Yusuke.
"They have their points, Kitagawa-san. All you've to do is just ask. It's not that hard." said Akira reassuringly to Yusuke.
"Stop it…" said Yusuke dejectedly to Akira, Minato and Ann before he crossed his arms and look away from them. "It's just as you all say. We're… our sensei's "artwork". Yusuke admitted to them and they were surprised about it.
"He and the others are the "artworks" of that old geezer? How could he think of them as "artworks"?" said Pharos in anger at Madarame.
"Calm down, Pharos." said Minato calmly to Pharos (who listen and calm down).
"Don't misunderstand me though. I offered my ideas to him myself. As such, it can't be called plagiarism. Sensei is simply suffering from artist block right now." added Yusuke quickly to them with a grimace look on his face.
"Dude, still…!" said Ryuji.
"Oh really? He's suffering from artist block like you just said to us, Yusuke? For how long and when is he going to relieve himself from this artist block and draw his own art once again? Also, what if he still doesn't relieve himself from it, are you still going to offered your ideas to him?" said Minato to Yusuke (who sighed and grimace even more from his aniki words).
"Arisato-senpai's right! And why're you still stickin' around!? All his other pupils run away! Aren't you the only one left!?" snapped Ryuji.
"What's wrong with a pupil helping out his master!? There are no victims here! Stop pushing your self-centered righteousness on me!" snapped Yusuke as he narrowed his eyes at them.
"No, you're wrong, Kitagawa-san. We're just trying to help you and listen to your brother…" said Akira calmly to Yusuke.
"I'm supporting sensei as his pupil. Where's the wrong in that?" sighed Yusuke heavily to Akira, cutting off his words before he sat down on the stool and look down at the floor. "Don't ever come here again… If any of you do, I'll sue you all for causing a disturbance, including you, aniki." added Yusuke coldly to them.
"What? You wouldn't dare." said Akira as he narrowed his eyes at Yusuke.
"So that's your answer, huh, Yusuke?" said Minato in cold disappointment at Yusuke.
"What a stubborn idiot your brother is, Minato." said Pharos coldly at Yusuke.
"Hold it! We're not done talkin' here! And how could you say that to Arisato-senpai!" argued Ryuji as he glared at Yusuke as well.
"Then you leave me with no choice…" said Yusuke as he stood up and pull out his phone from his pocket. "I'm reporting you to the police. I asked Takamaki-san to be my model and my brother to watch me do my artwork of her in silence today, but I don't recall ever calling you two here!" added Yusuke coldly to both Akira and Ryuji.
"What the eff, man!?" growled Ryuji in anger and disbelief at Yusuke.
"Yusuke…" sighed Minato as he shake his head at Yusuke.
"Hold it, calm down now, both of you." said Akira firmly to both Ryuji and Yusuke as he raised and hold out his arms in front of them both and they reluctantly calm down. "Look, there's no need for you to call the police and make this scene even bigger, alright, Kitagawa-san?" added Akira calmly to Yusuke.
"Akira's right, you two." said Ann in agreement with Akira.
"Fine, Takamaki-san. I won't report you or your friends… but only under one condition." said Yusuke as he put his phone back into his pocket.
"What kind of condition?" asked Ann.
"I want you to continue being my model, Takamaki-san. And aniki, I'll allow you to keep on watching me do my artworks as long as you stay silent and don't antagonize me any further." replied Yusuke as he turned to glance at both Ann and Minato.
"Fine, Yusuke." said Minato coldly to Yusuke.
"But didn't you just said that it wasn't working out today…" said Ann hesitantly to Yusuke.
"That's because I was unconsciously being modest for your sake, Takamaki-san…" Yusuke told Ann before a small smile appear on his face. "However, I have nothing to worry about anymore. If you're willing to bare everything to me…"
"Huh?" said Ann in confusion to Yusuke.
"Hold up. You can't be saying what I think you're going to say…" said Akira as he slowly widened his eyes in shock at Yusuke.
"I will put my heart and soul into creating the best nude painting ever!" declared Yusuke dramatically to Akira, Ryuji, Minato and Ann (which make them gaped and gawked in shock at him).
"WHAT!?" yell Ryuji.
"Nude!? Me!?" yell Ann.
"He wants to do a nude painting of her!? He can't be serious!" said Pharos in shock and disbelief at what Yusuke just said.
"Looks like he did and he really wanted to, Pharos." said Minato with a disapproving look on his face.
"I'm sorry but you can't just demand such a thing from her, Kitagawa-san! That's just wrong and very… perverted!" said Akira in shock and disbelief at Yusuke.
"Ah, to think I'd be able to create a nude painting with my most ideal model…!" said Yusuke excitedly and dreamily to himself as he completely ignored Ryuji and Ann's yelling, Minato's disapproving look and Akira's protest words before he turned to scowled at both Akira and Ryuji. "Of course, you two won't be allowed in, and I ask that you two forget about our discussion today, as well. If I don't submit a new piece to sensei soon, there will be some… inconveniences."
"Nude, meaning it'll be without any clothes, right!? Why are things suddenly escalating like that!?" said Ann in a panicky tone of voice to him.
"Because those are my terms." said Yusuke calmly to Ann.
"But that's blackmail!" said Akira.
"Yeah, isn't that bad, Kurusu!?" said Ryuji in agreement with Akira.
"It is bad, but if we don't accept his terms, he'll called the police and have them arrested and taken to the police station, you guys." said Akira reluctantly to Ryuji before he glance at Yusuke. "We'll… accept your terms, Kitagawa-san."
"Good, wise choice." said Yusuke as he nodded to Akira and put his phone back in his pocket again. "Sensei will be out during the afternoon while the art exhibit is on, so I can use this place freely… I should buy more art supplies…"
"Will you give me a second here!?" protested Ann.
"Of course, I'm willing to wait." said Yusuke as he gave her a small, pleasant smile. "I'll make time according to yours and aniki's plans. But, please come before the exhibit ends."
"No! That's not what I mean! Why are you not listening…!?" protested Ann even more to Yusuke.
"Sensei will be returning home soon. We're done for today, aniki, Takamaki-san. I'll be waiting for you two to contact me." said Yusuke calmly to both Minato and Ann.
"No no no! We're not done talking here!" said Ann as she raised and waved her hands in panic in front of her.
"It's no use talking to him when he's like this so save your breath, Takamaki-san." sighed Minato.
"Then what should we do now?" whisper Ryuji as he glance at the others while Yusuke turned around and walked toward his desk to rearranged his art supplies.
"We've no choice but to leave, Ryuji-kun." Akira whisper dejectedly back to him.
"Yeah… Dammit. He got us good this time." said Ryuji in exasperation to Akira.
"Don't give up so easily!" said Ann as she glared at both Akira and Ryuji.
"Come on, let's leave and talk more outside, everyone." sighed Akira quite heavily to Ann as they turned around, opened the door and saw Morgana standing and waiting for them outside the room.
"Huh? Is Lady Ann done in being his model, everyone?" asked Morgana naively to Akira, not knowing what happened to them in the room.
"…Hm, did I just heard a cat meow?" said Yusuke confusingly to himself.
"Not now, Morgana!" whisper Ryuji harshly at Morgana before he picked him up, quickly put him inside Akira's bag and zipped it close before they left the shack.