Akiko: Hello, Kitagawa-kun.
Yusuke: Ah, it's you! Have you given any thought to my request?
Akiko: I have. And I accept your request to become your model.
Yusuke: You will? Oh, thank you for your consideration!
Akiko: When do you think will be the proper time and day to do it?
Yusuke: Why don't you come over after school today?
Akiko: I'll be there.
Yusuke can barely contain his excitement. The texts appeared on his phone that morning. His muse has actually agreed to his request, it made his heart swell with happiness and pride. He had been so desperately in need for Akiko to model for him that he almost considered forcing her to do it if their last encounter had gone astray, but after re-reading her acceptance message more than once, he concluded that he isn't dreaming. The young artist barely concentrates throughout the day. If this continues, it'll disrupt his grades and Madarame will most likely scold him. As long as he doesn't lose focus, Yusuke will be fine.
And so, Madarame is out for the rest of the day. Yusuke is free to work himself into an anxious frenzy to transform Akiko into a goddess of pure beauty. When he succeeds, not only will his Sensei finally accept his choice of model, but the entire world will officially acknowledge and awe this painting. Now that he thought it over, what will she say if he informs his muse about the type of portrait he has to work on? Will Akiko actually strip off her clothes if she's going to pose nude?
He suddenly felt a heavy lump in his throat. A mental image of Akiko standing naked before him in his room... Yusuke's posture falters, just for a moment. True, he has worked with multiple peers to paint a nude person, male or female. However, just imagining Akiko exposed in the raw made a queer twitch in his slightly arising cock stiffen.
"Get ahold of yourself!" Yusuke criticized to himself when nobody is at present. He curses his body and tries to think normal thoughts. An artist cannot seek the temptation of sexual attraction towards his muse. An artist has to remain professional. A girl posing herself naked is for art's sake only.
And yet, he tries to quash his wayward thoughts on how to break the news to Akiko. There's no easy way to orchestrate a conversation that will resolve the issue. She'd be embarrassed, which is the most obvious reaction a girl would do if Yusuke just straight and told her. Or, at worst, unleash her anger on him if she got the wrong idea.
The instant he heard the doorbell ring, Yusuke's heart skips a beat. He scrambles to the front door and throws it open... only to be meet with the familiar faces of those meddling friends of hers, still flanking his muse as if they're her bodyguards. Despite the warmth and joy which Yusuke displayed upon greeting Akiko and guiding her to his room, Ann and Ryuji sensed the unwelcoming vibe coming from the artist as he continuously aims disapproving glares at them.
"I thought it would just be you coming, Amamiya-san," the artist forced himself to say with an eerie calmness as he stole another suspicious glare at the two unwanted visitors, both who sat on two chairs off to the side.
"I'm sorry," Akiko smiled apologetically from where she stood, behind a stool in the center of the room. "They're just worried for me."
"Kitagawa-kun, please try to understand her feelings." Ann chimed in, defending her and Ryuji's reason for their presence. "Wouldn't you get nervous too, being in a room with a stranger you barely know?"
"I guess..." Yusuke was a little shocked by what the blonde female was trying to indicate. Wasn't he already fully acquainted with Akiko by now? He would never make an attempt to hurt his muse. He is a gentleman, after all.
"We're here to keep an eye on you, so don't try anything perverted, okay?" Ryuji then made his position here very clear to him, sending a deadly scowl at him.
As predicted, Yusuke took offense to that warning. He does know what pervert means, and he isn't that kind of person to do such inappropriate things to a young lady. "Stop making such odd assumptions. I have absolutely no interest in her as someone of the opposite sex." Then why did he feel an almost erection bulge in his pants when daydreaming of her nude?
"Huh? Really?" Akiko dumbfounded. She seemingly deflated, those baffling words escaping from her lips that even caught Yusuke's attention. Was that a sigh of relief or disappointment?
"Is there a problem?"
"No, there's no problem here."
"Now, if you could just sit here..." Yusuke smiled politely, gesturing to the stool his muse is standing nearby.
Akiko sits down and briefly considers a pose for a moment, before settling into a comfortable position that makes it look as though she's sitting on either a hillock or a chair overlooking the view of either an ocean or the city landscape. A perfect choice, letting the girl pick her own pose might help Yusuke capture the essence of her beauty.
He's already sitting on his stool located behind the canvas ready to be painted, placed on a wooden easel for the support it needs. The young artist sits with his back stiff and his legs slightly apart. He picked up a pencil and held it at an arm's length, closing one eye as he checked the angle his muse is in and smiled pleasantly. "Well then, let's get started."
And then, Yusuke goes into his full art mode when sketching her form on the canvas, creating an outline. Serious concentration is shown on his features the more he scribbles. This is exactly what he wants. What he needs. A perfected sketch of his muse, capturing all of her beauty right where he wants her to be.
"Hey, uh..." Ann tried to speak all of a sudden, but the artist doesn't acknowledge her. His right hand is preoccupied in delicately sketching the lines and shapes of Akiko's body across the canvas. "Kitagawa-kun?" She tried again to talk to him, but the agitated glare on Yusuke's lectured her to be silent.
"You hear her?" Now it was the delinquent's turn in his attempt to break concentration.
Yusuke completely ignored him. If only his muse hadn't brought her friends along, then things would be going smoothly. He mentally flipped a switch inside him to turn off any sounds or voices for the time being. An artist must not get distracted in the midst of his work. At least Akiko wasn't trying to be a chatterbox. She never moved an inch, nor blinked and breathed the entire time.
He especially blocked off the noises of an alleged cat meowing somewhere close by and the door opening before it slid shut. Or was it his imagination again? Nevertheless, Yusuke loses track of the time whilst he sketches, and he doesn't know how long it takes until the non-satisfaction of this sketch gets him frustrated.
Artists like him have suffered many a slump before, except there's just something different about this entirely. Obviously, he spent an entire hour of drawing Akiko, trying to capture all the details on canvas. He'd gotten very good at capturing every single detail of her, down to the last black curl of hair. However, there was something amiss.
Yusuke can't get the exact features of Akiko's face right, and even when he stares at it for a moment, it just dissolves into a puddle of nothingness in his brain. No passion on her face. And her clothes...? There are too many details that deserve special attention when he can't focus on it. Yusuke wishes to draw those details without the clothes, and Akiko is so lovely that she continuously resists capture without knowing it. Eventually, he sets down the pencil and releases an exhausted groan.
"Are you done?" There's a trace of hopeful eagerness in Ryuji's voice.
"It's no good..." Yusuke despairingly shakes his head.
"What!?"
Akiko, whose eyes were staring at seemingly nothing in particular this whole time, reacts a bit when he spoke. She sat up a little straighter, a timid nervousness in her eyes clearly shone. "I'm sorry... it's me, isn't it? I'm a problem."
"No, not at all." Yusuke can't have his muse blame herself for his failure. Nobody should fault themselves for this. "It's just..." he tried to reassure her doubts, but he averted his shy gaze to the floor in shame, not intent on blurting out his desired intentions to paint her naked, "...I'm having trouble staying focused today. I'm sorry, but we'll have to resume this another time."
"Oh, hell no!" Ryuji had stood up and snapped indignantly. "How many hours do you think you made us wait!?"
Yusuke stared at him, confused.
"I'm sorry..." Ann is now given the chance to speak whatever he has been ignoring this whole time. She somberly stood up and took her place beside Ryuji. "We had another reason for seeing you today... We needed to talk to you."
"It's about those rumors regarding your Sensei." And that idiot had the nerve to bring up what the artist despises the most.
Yusuke's pale complexion falls into a darkened frown. "This again..." He stands up and readied himself to berate them.
"That painting we saw at the exhibit... the one you steered Aki-chan away from when I brought it up..." Ann's eyes seemed to act like a hologram replaying an important memory in her mind. "You're the one who actually painted it, right?"
The icy claw gripping at Yusuke's heart is even more agonizing when he couldn't hide the pained wince over his face, averting his features aside to avoid the truth. "That's..." How did Ann figure it out? Was Akiko the first to connect the dots? Did she tell them? Hadn't he made doubly sure he was careful?
"I knew it."
"Your sensei's seriously messed up." Ryuji's words strikes him like a bolt of lightening. "He just thinks of his pupils 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 hiding the truth from us."
"Hahaha..." Yusuke desperately tries to deny it through laughter, but it proved futile and his chortle was hollow. "I have no idea what you're talking about..."
"You couldn't go against him, could you?" Ann's lovely face had a very genuine look of concern and sympathy. "I'm sure we can help you out though..."
After her moment of silence, Akiko attempts to reason with him as well. Her voice is calm and carries no accusation, but it still makes the artist refuse to hear anymore. "Yusuke, we're not trying to slander you or your Sensei-"
"Stop it..." he commanded in a soft yet cold whisper. "It's just as you all say. We're... our Sensei's 'artwork.'" Yusuke grimaced, as if his words are physically hurting him. Something inside him wants to be honest with them. Alas, his undying loyalty to his mentor can never falter. Who are these people to speak such vile insults against the man whom he owed his life to? They pretend to act pitiful, but in the end, it's all just an act.
And Akiko... he was just hoping that she would at least understand him. Except his muse had taken sides with her friends. Yusuke is struck by a violent surge of betrayal.
"Don't misunderstand me though. I offered my ideas to him myself. As such, it can't be called plagiarism." He continues on with a firm conviction to protect his beloved father figure. "Sensei is simply suffering from artist's block right now."
"Dude, still..." Ryuji insisted.
Yusuke can't conceal the pained flinch on his face.
"Artist's block...?" The voice of his muse catches his attention as he and the others turn to look at Akiko in shock. Her former meek and shy self had completely vanished, replaced by a person filled with raw fury and disgust. Even her usual friendly voice had raised to a higher level. "Is that the excuse Madarame has been telling you in order to steal your work!? You poured your heart and soul into those paintings, not Madarame! He should've given you credit or praise for your work, but from what I've seen, he's taking all the glory for himself!"
"That's right!" Ryuji hisses in agreement. "If you're aware of this, then why are you sticking around!? All his other pupils ran away! Aren't you the only one left!?"
That was last provocation that Yusuke isn't willing endure. His eyes flash like storm clouds as he scowled at those incompetent idiots. "What's wrong with a pupil helping out his master!?" His baritone voice bellows back with an intense passion and rage. "There are no victims here! Stop pushing your self-centered righteousness on me!"
The two blondes take a step backward, shocked by just how powerful his temper is.
"And you're truly okay with this?" Akiko's voice cuts through the air like a knife.
Yusuke glares defiantly at his irritational muse. Since when did she develop some courage to snap at him? "I'm supporting Sensei as his pupil. Where's the wrong in that?" Once his rage simmers down, his anger still remains. Recalling Madarame's warning, he decides to take the initiative. "Don't ever come here again..." he said this to the two blondes. "If you do, I'll sue you for causing a disturbance."
"Hold it!" Ryuji is too stubborn to move an inch. "We're not done talking here!"
"Then you leave me no choice." Yusuke's eyes flash dangerously like a storm as he whips his phone out of his pocket. "I'm reporting you to the police." He could see the horrified reactions on their faces. Good, now they know he's not joking around. Hopefully, the authorities will do something about these two unwanted guests. "I asked Amamiya-san to be my model today, but I don't recall ever calling you two here!"
Suddenly Ryuji lunges for him by grasping the collar of his uniform. "What the eff, man!?" he cried. If he wants to start a brawl, go ahead. All the more reason to contact the police for assault.
"Ryuji! Stop it!" Ann had thrown herself forward, digging her nails into his arm as she squeezed his bicep tightly. "Calm down, okay?" She had summoned enough strength to pry the miscreant off him.
"Stop this, now!" Akiko snarled, and the artist was quick to realize her reflexes were fast enough to prevent him from dialing the number to contact the police. His hand trembled at how firm her grip tightens on his wrist. And her eyes... oh lord, the irises within them had dilated to what reminded him of an infuriated feline. Yusuke was proven correct when he observed her behavior at the exhibit the other day, definitely the likeness of a jaguar. "If you're going to call the cops on anybody, it should be me! But you leave my friends out of this!" The growl in her throat also reminded him of a jaguar. If she were a real one, he would've been dead already.
Yusuke wasn't used to seeing his previous models stand up to him, nor has he ever cringed at someone whose face can strike fear into his heart, but Akiko wasn't exactly a normal person to begin with. What sort of girl is she? Never mind. Madarame's lecture to keep her on a tight leash comes back to him. All right, if he wishes to tame the animal in her, then he will do it with the one reason why he requested her to begin with. As he spoke, he put away his phone, "I won't report your friends... but only under one condition."
Akiko slowly releases her grip on his wrist. "What's that?"
"I want you to continue being my model, Amamiya-san."
"But you said that it wasn't working out today..."
"That's because I was unconsciously being modest for your sake..." Yusuke sighed, crossing his arms uncomfortably. Now is the time, he had to tell her what type of painting he wants to create. A content yet conceited smile spread across his lips. "However, I have nothing to worry about anymore. If you're willing to bare everything to me..." the artist clenches his fists in an overdramatic and proud manner, "I will put my heart and soul into creating the best nude painting ever!"
No sooner did he make that statement, he noticed three pairs of eyes growing twice their size and gawking at him with comical reactions.
"WHAAAT!?" Ryuji's loud voice ricochets in the room.
"NUDE!?" Ann gasped in horror.
Akiko said nothing. All of her courage she had previously displayed had been drained out of her. Her mind was lost in a stupor. The face, however, was a blushing mess, and it grew redder by the second. She stared at him incredulously, her feet firmly rooted to the floor.
That got her attention at last. Yusuke clasped his hands together and sighed dramatically in imaginary awe of what joy this painting will bring him. "Ah, to think I'd be able to create a nude painting with my most ideal model!" Then, he aims a nasty glare at the two blondes to make it perfectly clear that they're officially banned from the atelier. "Of course, you two won't be allowed in, and I ask that you forget about our discussion today, as well." He crossed his arms, muttered aloud to show how serious his threat is, "If I don't submit a new piece to Sensei soon, there will be some... inconveniences."
Snapping out of her stupor, Akiko's voice cracks in a panic. "Wait! You just said NUDE as in meaning... it'll be without any clothes, right!? Why do you want me to do something so crazy as that!?" Cheeks turning a very bright shade of red, her arms covering her chest even though she's still in her uniform.
"Because those are my terms." Yusuke's response is pleasantly uncaring to her outrage. He's this close to taming the animal in her. If she agrees, he won't report her friends to the police. And she will become the perfect, beautifying model he ever dreamed of.
"But..." Ann had nothing else to say in her protest, this time trying to convince his muse to not go through with it. "Aki-chan... it's your body, don't let him bully you into exposing yourself like this!"
"Wait, ain't that bad?" Ryuji questioned like an idiot. Although, there's a light blush caressing his face.
"Sensei is out during the afternoon while the art exhibit is on, so I can use this place freely during that time..." Yusuke pondered aloud as he goes over his plans for the preparations of his dream painting. "I should buy more art supplies."
"Will you give us a second here!?" Ann was completely overwhelmed with anger. "She hasn't given you an answer yet!"
Yusuke is fully aware of what his muse's answer was going to be, but he made good on his threat in order to keep her on a tight leash. "Of course, I'm willing to wait. I'll make time according to your plans, Amamiya-san. But, please come before the exhibit ends." Whilst he made the request, his attention is focused on Akiko. Though smiling, his eyes said what he wants her to know to send a shiver down her spine - 'Become my model or I'll call the police.'
"No! That's not what I mean! Why are you not listening!?" Ann protested even further.
"Sensei will be returning home soon. We're done for today. Amamiya-san, I'll be waiting for you to contact me." The only response he received from Akiko is a defeated nod. Excellent, she's under his control now.
"No, no, no! We are not done talking here!"
But Yusuke has heard enough, officially done talking to these imbeciles and getting the message through to Akiko. Ignoring Ann's protests and the group's whispering, he turns his back to them, indicating their visit is over. He bent down on his knees to begin stocking up on his art supplies, mumbling to himself over what sort of materials he will need. He heard the door slide open and an extremely loud meowing just fairly close behind him.
"A cat?" Yusuke lifted his head and made a turn to... find the unwanted blonde trespassers and his muse had already left.