Chapter Two: Blue Math and a Deviant Meeting
Momo sighed happily as she stepped back from her piece to examine her lines and how they flowed together. Though, she wasn't as far along as she wanted to be due to that new boy and his silly fan club, but she wasn't going to dwell on it. However, now that she saw him...she had to admit he was quite gorgeous for a boy...those teal eyes like icebergs and those white locks like untouched snow. She shook her head of the thoughts and looked back at her work...she needed to rest her eyes so she could continue properly. Talking to her friends should help.
Hinamori opened the heavy door to see everyone talking and showing each other their small sketches. The sight made her smile, but she then noticed the glare the boy of snow threw her and she quickly frowned.
"Hina-chan! You done? Can we see this one, please!?" Rangiku begged as she tried to make her way past the smaller girl, but was blocked at every turn.
"No, I'm not done yet and no you can't see it. You know that I don't like showing others my work." Momo sighed before she closed the door and locked it. "I came out to rest my eyes and chat a bit."
"That's stupid. Why draw if you won't show others?" Toshiro snorted.
Momo dropped her head before rubbing her chin in thought. "It's for me. My work is for me. It's how I express myself and how I feel deep down." She lifted her gaze to him; her eyes sparkled with something one could only call an inner wisdom. "Don't you have something you do only for yourself? Do you have something so sacred in your life?"
Toshiro didn't answer, just tossed her his sketch book and told her to help him fix it. She glanced at the messy lines filled with uneasiness. It was supposed to be him (she's guessing) dribbling a ball (she's still guessing). Momo smiled to herself before she sat down beside him ad picked up a pencil.
"I guess I should have known you wouldn't know which pencils are for what and how to use them. Sorry for not telling you." She placed the book down before she showed him the pencil she picked up. "Did you notice the letter and number on the pencils?"
"Yeah."
"Do you know what they mean?"
"..."
"I'll teach you." Hinamori smiled before she picked up the book and turned to a clean page. "I'll help you make a chart so you can have a reference." (A/N: I'm not going to type out the pencils or anything so we can move on with the story; however, if you wish to know how you make a chart or information about art pencils and their uses, please message me) "And that's that! Not so hard, huh?" She smiled at everyone, who by this time everyone had gathered around her to watch.
Toshiro only nodded as he stared at her hand. He didn't really pay attention to her words or what she was doing, he could care less, but he did noticed how she did everything. He noticed how her hands were soft but how short her nails were. He noticed the callus on her middle finger and the dent that would forever be there due to her constant use of pencils.
"That was very helpful, Momo! I think I'll try that next time." Rukia smiled as she looked at the clock. "Hey! Time for snack! Who wants some! I brought cookies this time!"
Toshiro saw everyone grab a few cookies, all except Momo and himself. He was about to ask her why she wasn't going to have one when he noticed her making notes on the back of his drawing. "What are you doing?"
"I'm giving you pointers. I have to get back to work, but I don't want you to feel discouraged so I thought some tips might help." Momo she smiled before she stood up and went back to the back room, locking the door behind her.
Toshiro glanced at the neat print in front of him before he snorted and closed the book. "I think I'm done for the day." He grumbled before he laid down on the floor and closed his eyes.
"But we still have an hour and a half of class left! You can't call it quits yet!" Renji sighed as the younger just waved him off.
"And after Hina-chan came out to help you!" Rangiku scolded as she watched him flinch, a smirk crossed her lips knowing she hit a nerve. "You know the heavy burden she carries and yet she came out to give you a hand! Look, she even wrote down tips and skipped snack because she wasted too much time with you. Poor thing, I bet she was hungry, too."
"Alright! I get it! I get it." Toshiro snorted as he rolled over to his belly and stared at the book, he was really regretting not joining a different fine arts class. "Can't I take a small break?"
"No."
~~~ Math Class~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Toshiro couldn't be happier to be out of that stupid class, the only thing that could make it better was if he didn't have to share this class with Momo Hinamori, too. He noticed she sat in the back of the class and sighed a lot. Seems like she didn't like math so much.
He watched as she chewed her bottom lip in thought and stared at the worksheet in front of her. Her shapely eyebrows twitched in irritation as she struggled with the problems. Toshiro only snorted and turned his gaze away from her. The work was so easy and if she couldn't do it, then she was an idiot and everyone knew Toshiro Hitsugaya had no time for idiots.
~~~ After School~~~~~~~~~~~
Momo sighed as she opened the door to her small home, locking the door behind her and throwing her bag and shoes in the corner of the room. Today had been horrible for her and so tiring that she barely had the energy and will to make it to the couch and plop down on the old thing. Her math class had to be the worse though, the teacher held her back after class to tell her she was failing and that there was little chance of her passing this year. She was about ready to cry as she thought about it.
The teacher's words were cold and uncaring, telling her how bad she was and that maybe she should be moved to a 'special' class for the 'slower' students. All she heard was how stupid she was and the worst of it was she was sure Toshiro heard all that too, since he forgot the sketch book she bought him and came back to retrieve it.
Hinamori placed her small hand on her chest which now ached as tears rolled freely down her face. At times like this, she wished desperately for parents or some type of guardian that could help her, tell her she wasn't stupid and she was worth the little extra work; but she had no such thing - her father had left before she was born and her mother died in a car accident when she turned eleven. She was so lucky that Rukia's brother was kind enough to purchase this home for her and fund her so well.
A deep sigh escaped her lips as she looked around her home. It was simple and clean and quiet, one could say it was lonely, but she was at peace with the isolation and the silence. Momo rose from the couch and made her way to her bedroom, which was just as small and just as dull. Only a closet, a dresser, a small bed, a laptop and printer were located there. She gently sat on the bed and opened her laptop.
~~~~~~ Toshiro's Grandmother's House~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Granny! I'm home!" Toshiro shouted as he slung his bag on the bench next to the door and then kicked his shoes underneath it. "And before you ask, yes, art class was horrible."
A small, old lady walked into the room and sighed at the boy who just grumbled under his breath. "As long as you stay open to it, Toshiro." She walked over to the young child and hugged him, chuckling as he hugged her back. "I'm glad to see you are not too old to hug an old woman."
"I'm never too old to hug you, Granny." He smiled softly as she patted his hand.
"Now, I have been asking my friends about how to help you and guess what? They told me of a website that should do the trick." She chuckled as she heard him groan. "Now listen before you go judging it. I have it written down and placed it on your computer table so you could check it out. I want you to look into it and create an account and try looking for some help. Remember young one, the smartest man asks for aid when aid is needed and the fool only puts on a show."
Toshiro sighed as he watched his Granny grab her coat and head toward the door, telling him she was going out with her old friends for bingo and silently commanding him to look into that site while she was gone. He cursed this day as he went to his room and reluctantly typed in the site address for some site called Deviantart. The home page only made him snort as he saw different works of art just recently posted. Some were wonderful while others just made him laugh. At least he wasn't the only one who couldn't draw.
Was he really going to join this site just to pass an art class? He thought about it for a moment before coming to the conclusion that if he really didn't like it, he could always quit. He typed in his user name, 'Hyorinmaru' and decided to look around the site just to say he looked. Toshiro really had no intention of really using the site but he didn't want his Granny mad at him, either. All was going according to plan when he saw it. It was the same picture from school, by the same artist - Tobiume!
His eyes widened as he clicked on the image and then on the person's profile. Scanning the page briefly led him to discover a few key things: she was indeed a girl, though since she had not posted any pictures of herself he still had no idea who she was, she sold her work on this site and judging from her paid membership (his was free) that people actually bought her stuff, and last but not least, her profile showed him that they had many similar likes such as watching the sunset and eating watermelons. Over all, this 'Tobiume' seemed like a decent person and it made him all the more curious about finding out who she really was. But first...
~ Momo's House~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Momo was looking over her recent sells and comments on her works when she noticed she had gained a message in her inbox. She sighed as she thought it would be another request piece, but opened it none the less.
/Hello, I noticed you on here and realized that we go to the same school. Who are you?/
Hyorinmaru
Momo blinked before rereading the message again before responding back to it. /I'm Tobiume! Nice to meet you, Hyorinmaru. I guess you saw my work in the hall, huh?/ She waited a minute before she refreshed her page to see a new message.
/I meant your real name and yes, I saw it today. Could you tell me why people buy your art?/ Hyorinmaru.
~~~~~ Toshiro's House~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He growled at himself as he backed out of asking his real question, but really, how was he to ask a complete stranger for help anyways? What's worse is that since he chickened out and was mad about it, he asked something rude and now it just looked like he was an ass. He was surprised when he got an answer back from her.
/Not really an art lover are you? That's fine, but you do know this is an art site, right? Anyway, I suppose they buy it because it makes them feel something or they just simply like it. It's kinda like when people buy and plant flowers knowing full well that they'll die when the first frost hits. Why don't you look around on this site, type in things you like in the search bar, and trying looking at some of the works you find? It might help you understand./ Tobiume.
...Okay, at least she wasn't a total bitch about it, however she didn't need to talk to him like he was some stupid child! He snorted as he closed his message box and just stared at the search bar. Should he listen to her? No, why should he? Just staring at some lines and fancy colors wasn't going to make him some softy art lover. He was going to call it a night and pray school wouldn't be so bad tomorrow.
~~~ Art class the Next Morning~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Oh good! You're here!" Rangiku smiled as she greeted her grumpy friend. "We can start on our project now!"
Toshiro snorted as he glanced around the room at everyone. Renji was a good friend of his, as well as Ichigo. They were both on his soccer team and both very good players, even though they tried to out do one another all the time. Rukia sat between them, telling them to remember the chart Momo made for them the day before. She was rich but never let it get to her head; in fact, she didn't act like she was wealthy at all. Last was Rangiku, his closest friend. They had known each other since they were young, she being hired to baby sit him while his Granny went out to buy groceries or play bingo. He hasn't been able to get rid of her since.
"Where's Hinamori?" Hitsugaya asked as he set his books down on the floor before sitting down beside them. He didn't know why he cared if she was here or not, maybe only because he felt like he could use her help again.
"She's in the back. She seemed to be kinda off today...like she was sad or something." Renji stated, Ichigo and Rukia both nodding their heads in agreement.
"Yeah...it's not like Momo-chan to be sad or so blue like that." Rangiku sighed as she placed her finger under her chin in thought before she waved her hand at them. "Enough worry though, we have a project to start!"
"Oh yeah! The teacher wants us to draw zoo animals and stuff! She said we could use whatever we want and that we got until the end of this week to finish it!" Ichigo said as he balanced his pencil on his fingers. "I'm going to do a lion. What are you gonna draw, Renji?"
"A polar bear! It should be easy since it's white and stuff." The red head snickered at his brilliant plan.
"I'm drawing a bunny!" Rukia yelled out excitedly, earning nothing more then sweat drops from her friends.
"Well, I'm drawing a fox. What are you going to do, Toshiro?" Rangiku asked the bored youth. "If I remember correctly, one of your favorite animals is a snow leopard, right?"
"Yeah. I guess I can try drawing that." Toshiro sighed as he just rubbed a lock of hair between his fingers. He really didn't feel like drawing anything, he was far too busy thinking of the girl hidden on the other side of the door. He had a feeling he knew why she was so down, but didn't really want to bring it up.
-o-
Momo sighed as she stared at the work in front of her. She was so close to being done since she was able to skip her literature class, she was that far ahead. The colors were so lively to her then, but now...they seemed to have been diluted due to the fear of the upcoming class and having to see that boy again. She dreaded the look of pity or disgust he might throw her way, though she was leaning more on disgust rather then pity from him.
She placed her paintbrushes down along side her palette and began to wash her hands from the oil paints that covered them. Many artists used a spirit to remove the thick, oily substance from their hands and equipment, but she preferred to use hot water and lots of soap, simple science teaching her why that worked so well. When finished with the task, she made her way to the door and inhaled deeply to settle her nerves while silently hoping this all goes well.