The Person Who Knew The Rose

Today I was going to help out the art club.

I heard that the art club sometimes does portraits as part of their club activities, and today the girl who was going to be their model stayed home with a cold. This caught my ear and I told the art club I would help out and bring a beautiful woman with me.

The head of the art club, Miyazaki Shinji, gladly agreed and asked me to come to the art room after school.

At our base, the rose garden.

"Hello!"

Arina was already in the Rose Garden. I greeted her cheerfully, but she didn't give me a second glance and continued reading. Since she didn't even respond, I began to doubt my own existence. Don't tell me I'm already dead…?

"Oh, there are more flowers."

On the long table, there was a new small vase of flowers.

"Was it blizzard flower…?"

"It's preserved flowers."

"Oh, that's it. What kind of flower is that."

"Helichrysum."

"Heh~…"

It was the first time in my life I had ever heard such a word. I don't know much about flowers, so I didn't understand at all.

But the beauty of flowers you can enjoy without knowledge. It's an art that everyone can enjoy.

"Arina, we're going to the art room today."

"What will I be doing?"

"You just have to read. There's no easier job than this.

"All right. You're paying me."

"No, this is a free service—"

"Let's go."

With a paperback book in hand, Arina went towards the door of the Rose Garden. I don't even know if she's motivated or not anymore. I think she's more grown-up than when we first met, though.

As soon as they arrived at the art room, the club members became nervous.

Arina went into the art room, looking like a person who could destroy a dojo. Naturally, I chased after her. When the art club members saw me, their faces changed to a questioning look. That's right, I'm the bad guy.

To explain the situation, I immediately approached Miyazaki Shinji.

"Thaanks, Sui. You came. Um, is she the model or…?"

"Yes. She's a tsundere high school girl named Hiwa Arina. I think she'd make a great model. Gwah—!"

I screamed out as a sharp pain shot through my side. I turned my head to look behind me and saw Arina. She was holding a mechanical pencil in her right hand. The tip of the pencil was digging into my side. She is just like a yandere who just stabbed a two-timing bastard with a knife. No, I stabbed her, which made me a murderer. Yep, I'm gonna die.

"Shinji, this is Hiwa Arina."

I felt bad for Shinji, so I turned around and spoke to Arina in a whisper.

"Arina, just read your book. The art club is in need of a model right now, and I chose you in an emergency. It's not like you're going to be nude or anything—"

I was hit in the belly. The position of my gallbladder was displaced by about 10 cm.

"…Please just read. That's all I need you to do…"

"I see. Then no problem."

I turned back to Shinji, clutching my side and stomach.

"All right. You can start."

"Oh, thank you. Nice seeing you today, Arina-san."

Arina nodded without looking up.

The time to draw Arina began.

She sat down in a chair and began to read the paperback book with good posture and dexterously flipped the pages as she got into her reading. Instead of turning it up, she rolled it with her thumb. She seems to be doing her best.

I didn't have anything to do, so I just hung out and observed how they were drawing. Since I didn't have any taste in drawing, I was overwhelmed by the skills of the art club who were smoothly drawing on white paper. As my eyes followed the lines that gradually took shape without hesitation, I realized that each member of the club had his or her own style. I noticed the density of the lines, the strength of the shadows, and the smoothness of the curves. As an amateur, it's hard for me to express, but each member's personality is imbued into the picture, and there were many different kinds of Arinas.

Arina continued to be their model. I left the art room, thinking I would at least buy her a drink.

I arrived at the vending machine, but I stood there wondering what Arina liked to drink. Coffee? Green tea? Monster? Turmeric? Clam juice? Sesame oil? Cement? Mercury? Hmmm, it's hard to decide. I think she'll drink anything.

As I groaned, I heard a voice calling me.

"Sui, right? Hi!"

"It's Aki-senpai, isn't it? It's been a while. We go to the same school, but we don't see each other often."

I met Aki-senpai when I was a freshman on the health committee. Perhaps we were on the same wavelength or frequency, but Aki-senpai was frequently involved with me. She was an interesting person who never got bored and was also talkative.

"What's up? You're staring at the vending machine. You were thinking about how to get free drinks or something, weren't you?"

"It's a shame. I was just trying to figure out how to get the vending machine to spit out all the change and bills it swallowed."

"That sucks. Let me know if you have any ideas. I'll try every ATM in town."

"Shall we go to the dark side together—"

As usual, she's an interesting person. Aki-senpai often makes jokes and I never get what she's thinking. That's why our wavelengths match.

"So, what are you really doing? I've been looking at Sui since I found you, but you seemed pretty distressed. I wasn't sure if I should talk to you."

"It's not that big of a deal. I was going to buy someone a drink, but her tastes are mysterious to me now that I think about it… she's the kind of person who makes a lot of sense when she says something, so I'm being careful."

"Heh~. Is that girl Arina-chan?"

"Eh? Aki-senpai, are you a psychic?"

"Isn't it great~? I can crush all kinds of things without touching them~."

She poked me in the neck. Compared to the pain of being stabbed by a mechanical pencil a few minutes ago, it was so gentle. It felt like pudding. I suppressed my bliss.

"How does senpai know Arina?"

"I went to junior high with Arina-chan and we talked occasionally. I found Arina-chan right away because she stood out among the freshman in high school. Arina-chan is so cute."

"I see. So Arina talks to people too, huh?"

"What do you mean by that? Aren't you close with Arina-chan?"

Close, huh?

"Arina-chan didn't join a club, did she?"

"Was Arina in a club in junior high?"

"I was on the basketball team. It's indoor and outdoor, so we didn't meet through a club, but I met Arina-chan on the library committee."

"Oh, don't tell me, did Aki-senpai play soft tennis in junior high too?"

"I didn't want to quit after junior high, so I continued in high school. Our last tournament in the summer ended with mediocre results, but it was fun."

I see. I think I'm beginning to understand why Arina knows so much about soft tennis.

I would feel bad for Arina if I pried any further, so I decided to stop talking about her.

"Good luck on your exams, Aki-senpai. I'm looking forward to seeing you shine in soft tennis at university."

"You're such a good boy! Sui! It makes me cry!"

I bought a tomato juice for myself, and after much deliberation, I decided to get Arina a cup of coffee. [T/N: Aren't they in cans…?]

"Wait a sec. This is good."

Stopping my hand, Aki-senpai pushed the milk cocoa.

"This is the right answer."

Seemingly satisfied, Aki-senpai left. It was the same uniqueness. It was a shame that Arina could make the boys crazier about her if she had that same kind of element. She didn't seem to want that, though.

T/N: The raws don't make it clear on Aki-senpai's gender, so based on how Aki talks and acts, I'm assuming she's a girl. The raws only refer to Aki as "Ano hito", meaning person in English. It doesn't help that Aki is also a gender-neutral name. If Aki's gender is revealed to be male, which would frankly be surprising to me, I'll go back and change the pronouns.