Students heard the sound of loud, thumping footsteps and immediately moved out of the way. No one wanted to be near Koiko-sensei since she looked like she was ready to destroy anyone that got in her way.
"When I find that girl I'm going to give her a piece of my mind," the teacher grumbled. "What can of stupid excuse will she give me this time?" Koiko-sensei altered her voice to mimic Chie's. "'Oh, my computer crashed.' 'Kiku-san thought it was cursed.' 'A kitty scratched up my disc'. 'I accidentally ate it. No, I don't think it will cause lead poisoning'. 'The store closed before I got inside'. 'I tripped and it got squished.'" The teacher sighed and shouted out in her regular voice, "What's your excuse going to be this time, Ryoyu-imoto!"
Several students fled from the hallway. Koiko-sensei stopped in front of the art room and slid the door open. She took a few steps inside and gazed around the room. Finally, she spotted Chie in a corner. She had an easel in front of her and appeared to be deep in thought. Her right hand held a small brush. She was obviously painting something.
Koiko-sensei walked over to her and was about to start raving with fury, but stopped when she saw what Chie was painting.
At first, it looked entirely red. All different shades of red ranging from burgundy to ruby. They intermingled together so that the entire canvas looked like it had been splashed with blood. Woven in between the different shades were swirls of blue. It was a sad, grayish blue color. The sort of grayish blue you sometimes see before clouds take over the sky and cause rain to fall. It was clearly an abstract painting that represented some sort of inner turmoil.
The painting made Koiko-sensei forget about her anger. Yes, the painting was the color of rage, but those blue lines were like rivers of tears that somehow coexisted with red's fury. Red, the color of anger, and blue, the color of calm and sadness. It was a strange combination.
"Ryoyu-imoto, what is this?" Koiko-sensei asked softly so she wouldn't startle Chie.
"Fury's sadness," Chie responded, taking up another brush and dabbing in some more gray to the bluish swirls.
"Is that what you call it?"
"I haven't decided."
"What's it supposed to represent?"
Chie put down her paintbrush and stared at it. "The redness is anger and hatred. It also represents the blood that has been spilled due to these emotions. The blue ribbons are tears."
"But they're barely noticeable!" Koiko-sensei exclaimed. Had she been standing even three feet away, she wouldn't have seen them.
"That's because they're somewhat invisible tears. You can cry all you want, but sometimes no one's there to brush them away. No one can tell you it's okay. Sometimes, you can't even cry tangible tears. Your tears are hidden away and only those that are really close to you can see them. Only they can brush them away."
Koiko-sensei didn't really know what to say. Chie had always been nothing more than an empty-headed, silly, clumsy girl that always had some outlandish excuse for not turning in her homework on time. To her such deep words coming out of her mouth was surprising.
"Ryoyu-imoto, why would you paint something like this?" she asked.
"Kiku-san says that girls should guard their emotions, but that's kind of impossible." Chie smiled sadly. "Some girls in our family used to take out their frustrations by hurting themselves or others. I don't want to hurt anyone and I don't want to be hurt. So all I can do is paint."
Koiko-sensei reached over and gently squeezed Chie's shoulder. "You've earned an 'A'."
Chie looked up with surprise. "Huh?"
"The assignment was to put your emotions in a tangible form and you've certainly done that. Well done!" Koiko-sensei smiled. "I'm glad you didn't choose the path of hurt."
Confused crossed Chie's eyes. The innocent eyes that still held lots of hope and didn't want to believe in pain. "It just seems stupid to hurt people," she said.
"I know it does, but it's the easiest way for some people to deal with pain."
'Easiest way to deal with pain'? Is that why Anko-chan stabbed herself? Is that why Kira-san thinks that Edo-san has been harming himself?
"Ryoyu-imoto, I hope to see you in class tomorrow," Koiko-sensei said. She wagged her finger sternly in front of Chie's face. "And don't ditch my class anymore, young lady, or I'll have a talk with your grandmother."
The thought of Koiko-sensei talking to Kikuko immediately sobered Chie. She snapped out of her sad mood and nodded quickly. "Yes, ma'am!"
"Good." Koiko-sensei turned around and headed toward the door. Before leaving, she stopped momentarily to give Chie one final message. "Ryoyu-imoto, you may be dumb and childish, but you have something that many people don't have."
Chie knitted her brow with confusion. "Huh?"
Koiko-sensei turned around and smiled at her student. "You have hope," she said. After that, she turned around and left.
Chie stared at the door. "Hope? I have hope?" Slowly, a smile lit up her face. She stood up and clenched her fist. "Yes, I do! And I'll get my sister and my friend back!"
Filled with determination, Chie ran out of the art room. She managed to somehow get her foot caught on the leg of an easel and immediately fell. Luckily, the easel didn't have anything on it besides a blank canvas.
"Ouch," Chie mumbled.
"Chie-san, would you like some help?"
Two different hands reached down to help her up. Chie looked up and smiled.
"Dai-kun, Hiwa-san!"
"What were you doing in there?" Daisuke asked once they'd pulled her up.
"Resolving some conflicts," Chie said. "And I've figured out what to do."
"What to do about what?" Satoshi asked.
Chie raised her fist towards the heavens and said, "I'm going to get them back!"
The boys stared at her with confusion. She was going to try to get them back?
"And nothing's going to stop me! I don't care what happens, I will get them back. So, see ya!"
Chie broke into a run and accidentally bumped into Riku, who had been walking down the hall.
"Sorry, Giku-chan," Chie said as she hastily apologized, "but I've got work to do!"
With that, Chie ran off. Riku stared at her receding shape.
"What's up with her?" she asked.
Daisuke smiled a little. "She's going to try to bring them back."
Riku's eyes widened. "She is! But I thought---"
"Her stupidity certainly is boundless," Satoshi said and pushed his glasses up. However, even he had to smile at Chie's energy. A dose of naïveté was good every now and then.
This chapter was a lot better the first time I wrote it. Now it just sounds like blah. Why did you leave me, Yasuko-chan! Why, why, why!
