Nino’s Curiosity

"Alright."

Looking at the painting in her hand, Yotsuba hesitated for a moment before agreeing.

"Why did you take so long to agree? There must be something wrong with this painting!"

Seeing her reaction, Nino became even more puzzled.

"It's okay! You can see whatever you want!"

Yotsuba raised her voice, trying to diminish her own doubts as much as possible.

"Because you said that, don't blame me for being rough."

As she said that, Nino turned the painting around and examined it carefully.

Silence.

Stillness.

After a moment, Nino lifted her head, gazing at Yotsuba standing in front of her with deeply complex eyes, then handed the painting back to her: "Sorry, I shouldn't have looked at it."

"Wait, why are you apologizing to me! And what do you mean by that strange look in your eyes? It doesn't make sense!"

Yotsuba always felt like Nino was misunderstanding something, so she asked hurriedly.

"I just didn't expect, Yotsuba, that you would like this type of guy... No, it's definitely a guy." Nino's tone was very gentle.

"What do you mean by the type of guy I like? Nino, you must be misunderstanding!"

Yotsuba was 100% sure Nino must have misunderstood something bad.

Taking a deep breath, Nino told her sincerely, "Although the age difference between five and six years isn't that big, Yotsuba, you have to consider that you're only 16 years old now."

"Also, hitting on a boy that age is illegal."

"No, Nino, listen to my explanation. Don't think about too many things at once!" Yotsuba shook Nino's shoulders, "Listen carefully to what I'm saying!"

"Sure, you can say it, but I won't protect you because you're my sister."

Nino released her trembling hand from her shoulder and decided to listen to her explanation.

"I know Nino, you misunderstood me because of this painting... Wait, don't look at me like a criminal suspect."

Before Yotsuba finished speaking, she was overwhelmed by Nino's gaze.

"Stop making trouble, Yotsuba, please keep explaining, I'll listen carefully, but if there's something that can't be explained, don't blame me for really identifying you as..."

Nino hadn't finished speaking, but Yotsuba already understood what she meant.

"First, tell me, where is this painting from?" Nino asked.

"It was given to me by a senior in the art club. It's not what you're thinking."

As for the origin of this painting, Yotsuba had already thought of its reason.

"A senior from the art club? There's no reason for them to give you a painting of a little kid like that, right?"

Nino wasn't quite convinced by her explanation.

Yotsuba then said, "It's because I've been going to school to help the art club lately, so the senior in the art club gave me this painting."

"Didn't you go to help the basketball club? Why did you end up in the art club?"

Nino remembered clearly that Yotsuba's reason for going that day was to help the basketball club.

"Because the art club also needs help, so I went to help." Yotsuba replied hesitantly.

"Really? It's hard to believe without saying the truth."

Nino stared into her eyes and asked.

"Don't be like this, I'm just telling the truth. I actually wanted to learn how to paint, so I went to the art club to help."

Facing pressure from Nino, Yotsuba reluctantly said the truth.

She was really bad at lying, especially if the person she was lying to was her own sister.

Nino asked puzzled, "Why did you suddenly want to learn how to draw?"

Yotsuba's talents were all in sports, artistic skills like painting didn't suit her at all.

"Mhm..."

Yotsuba tilted her head to the side, embarrassed to say it like this.

"You actually wanted to give Kamikawa-san a painting you drew yourself."

Nino thought for a moment and found the correct answer.

She couldn't possibly want to learn how to paint without a reason, there had to be a strong motive.

And this motive was only to give a gift to Ren.

"Mhm..."

Nino guessed it right away, and Yotsuba didn't even know what to say.

"How's your progress in learning to paint? Have you sent him the painting? And what's the painting about?"

Seeing Yotsuba silent, Nino asked several questions in one breath.

"The senior in charge of teaching me said that with my talent, I would need more than ten years of learning to reach his level, so I've stopped learning to paint now."

"And this painting is a souvenir given to me by the senior, who said he's thankful to me for helping the art club."

"I gave him the painting, but my painting skills are really bad, but Ren-san still accepted it."

Looking up, Yotsuba answered her question and continued to hide the truth about the painting.

It was impossible for her to know the origin of this painting. She had promised Ren to keep it a secret.

"So, you really gave Kamikawa-san a poorly drawn painting?"

Nino's attention was fully focused on the last sentence, and she didn't hear that she was lying at all.

"Yes, it feels like a very bad gift." Yotsuba evaluated herself.

Nino said bitterly, "I feel the same way. Why would you want to give a gift that you're not good at?"

"Because I really couldn't think of any other gift to give him." Yotsuba said helplessly, "This is the only way."

"Forget it, since you've already given it, there's no point in discussing it now." Nino sighed, "If you want to give him another gift next time, you can ask me for help with references, at least I should be able to provide a better solution than sending a bad painting."

"Yes, I will."

Yotsuba nodded.

After ending the previous topic, Nino pointed to the painting in her hand and asked with concern, "By the way, who is the prototype of the little kid in this painting? Why does it look familiar to me?"

"I don't know, the senior said she just found a random picture on the internet as a reference."

Of course, she knew why Nino felt familiar, because the little kid used as a reference was Ren.

But because of the level of recovery, only 40% was similar, so she wasn't worried that Nino would recognize him at all.

In fact, that's why she felt relieved to show this painting to Nino.

"Maybe someday I stumbled upon this picture, and then I thought the picture looked familiar."

Nino thought of a plausible explanation.

"It should be."

Yotsuba agreed.