Living in Tokyo, all I want to do is laze around.

Having studied for a year, this was his first time visiting the school's club building, to the point that he didn't even know where Hanabi and the others' art studio was.

Beneath the white sign that read "Art Studio," Hanabi Hanamaru opened the door and peeked out like a little rabbit looking around. She quickly spotted Kaiu Uesugi approaching slowly and called out to him with a smile:

"Uesugi-kun."

Her sweet smile looked so clear on her lovely face, giving people a warm feeling.

"I hope I won't bother you. I can just stand at the door and wait."

As Uesugi Kai walked up to her, he glanced into the art studio and noticed that someone else was also looking at him.

"Won't,"

Hanabi Hanabi looked up at Kai Uesugi's face; he was a bit taller than her.

"Please come in, Uesugi-kun. We're almost done with today's task. You can sit next to me and wait a bit."

As he entered the art studio, Uesugi Kai, who was following behind the fireworks, noticed that many students, both male and female, were looking at him, some with curiosity and others with surprise.

Ignoring their gazes, Uesugi Kai followed Hanabi to a window seat where she could see the trees below and the rows of cherry blossoms along the stadium in the distance.

The studio looked somewhat cluttered. Besides the numerous canvases and stands, there were also some spilled paint on the floor, though it didn't look very old and must have been laid recently.

The walls are adorned with colorful paintings and landscape paintings.

However, given Kai Uesugi's drawing skills, which are so poor that he can't even pass the test of sketching a square, it's impossible to tell what kind of paintings these are; they just have a kind of transparent and clear feel to them.

In one corner of the studio, there was a row of wooden shelves, on which were piled many white papers of different sizes. On the very top were several potted succulents for decoration.

"Uesugi-kun, here's a stool."

"Ah."

Kai Uesugi took the stool Hanabi handed him and sat down behind her. Rie Ayaka leaned over and asked:

"Hey, Uesugi, your archery club ended so early?"

"The archery club will only have one briefing session today."

Kai Uesugi glanced at Hanabi Hanamaru's drawing in front of him and noticed that there were many water stains on the drawing, and there was also semi-transparent tape stuck around the edges of the white paper.

"I've heard there are a lot of rules over there, what do you think?" Ayaka Rie continued to ask.

"There are quite a lot."

Kai Uesugi replied casually that he was observing Hanabi's painting style and noticed that she was using a large brush to lightly splash paint onto the wet surface, leaving behind numerous ochre-colored droplets.

These color droplets quickly seeped into the painting, spreading slightly outwards with the water stains, creating an unreal sense of transparency.

"Hey! Are you even listening to me?!" Seeing Uesugi Kai's dismissive attitude, Ayaka Rie got a little angry again.

"Of course I've heard about it, but I'm observing how fireworks are painted. It's the first time I've seen it, and I'm quite curious."

"Hey,"

Hanabi Hanabi also heard the sound behind her and turned around to look at him.

"Would Uesugi-kun like to learn watercolor painting?"

"No, not exactly, it was just observation."

Fireworks quickly turned back, holding a paintbrush and dipping it in a little water.

In the middle of the painting, a few strokes of cobalt blue and a few strokes of magenta, along with the grass green below, create a jumble of colors that vaguely resemble the sky.

Rie Ayaka: "Hmph, it's not hard for others to get Hanabi to teach."

After saying that, she turned around and went back to working on her own project.

As the fireworks deepened the colors of the painting, Uesugi Kai realized that the blob in the middle was not the sky.

The combination of blue, purple, and light red colors looks somewhat messy, yet it's also quite orderly because there are some blank spaces in the middle.

A strange feeling.

That was all Uesugi Kai could say; he looked at it for a long time but still couldn't figure out what it was.

"Fireworks, what did you draw?"

"Cherry blossom tree."

Hanabi Hanabi responded in a soft, sweet voice, adding another patch of cobalt blue to the upper right corner of the painting with her paintbrush.

"This is the sky. We're painting the sky now because the color in the middle has dried. Painting it now is called 'color blending,' which prevents the color blocks from bleeding together and makes the outlines look clearer."

After listening to Hanabi's explanation, Uesugi Kai examined it again and found that the blue area overlapped with the surrounding magenta, but they did not interfere with each other. It was clear which side each color block belonged to.

The details are constantly refined by the fireworks, showcasing the blue of the sky, the white of the horizon, the red wooden houses on the green plain below, and the distant, faintly visible mountain peaks.

"Whoo~"

Hanabi Hanamaru put down her paintbrush and instead picked out a smaller brush from the bucket, dipped it in water, and mixed the black and ochre on the canvas together.

"Next, we'll draw the trunk of the cherry blossom tree."

These words seemed to be addressed to Kai Uesugi, or perhaps they were meant to encourage herself, but in any case, she picked up her brush and quickly applied a thick brown beneath the messy colors.

The dominant brown color completely overshadows the previous colors and continuously highlights the characteristics of the thick tree trunk.

"Next, the branches."

Hanamaru Hanabi did not drag the color of the tree trunk directly, but instead, after applying the paint, interspersed brown in a disjointed manner among the messy colors.

These few strokes, large and small, seem to be the soul of the painting, perfectly piecing together the originally chaotic colors.

Thick, curved tree trunks, pink, swaying cherry blossoms, and blue sky peeking through the gaps, all complemented by a touch of harmonious white space.

At that very moment, a sense of three-dimensionality permeating the space emerged from the image.

A picture of cherry blossoms swaying in the wind along a green path under a blue sky instantly touched my heart, as gentle as a bird flying on the wind.

It makes one marvel at the existence of "beauty".

“Impressive,” Uesugi Kai praised.

"No...no..." Hanabi Hanamaru paused for a moment, "I still have a lot to learn. This painting, 'Cherry Blossom Landscape,' is a copy of Grandpa Shibasaki's painting, and it's not very good yet."

"Hmph,"

Rie Ayaka, who was drawing nearby, peeked out when she heard the sound, and gave Kai Uesugi a strange smile.

"So, Uesugi, do you want to learn? Hanabi has only drawn half of it, it's not finished yet. If you beg me, I might consider letting Hanabi teach you."

After speaking, Ayaka Rie raised her head with considerable confidence.

Chapter Twenty-One: Let's Go Home###

Kai Uesugi had no idea where Rie Ayaka got her confidence from, so he leaned over to read her masterpiece.

Hey! What are you doing?!

Unexpectedly, Ayaka Rie threw the drawing board aside, looking terrified, like a frightened chick.

Do not,

It should be the hen on Ayaka Rie's body, after all, her eyes are so straight and unsettling, and she's protecting a huge canvas.

Several students in the classroom also glanced at them curiously, wondering what had happened.

People are always curious, subconsciously.

Kai Uesugi understood. He coughed lightly and said:

"I just wanted to see what was so special about Ayaka's work."

Many students quickly looked away upon hearing this, as if it were a trivial matter.

Upon hearing this, Kyuju Rika, who was standing on the other side of Hanabi, said:

"Uesugi-kun, it won't be easy for you to see Ayaka's works, since we haven't seen them many times."

She doesn't seem so angry anymore; she'll leave the club tomorrow?

"What?!"

Rie Ayaka begins to reveal her tsundere nature.

"I was clearly trying to avoid hurting you and making you feel ashamed, but you don't even understand my good intentions. You're hopeless! Humph!"

I admire your confidence.

Rie Ayaka raised an eyebrow: "Hmm? Uesugi! What did you mean by that? Don't you believe me?"

She stared at Kai Uesugi, waiting for his answer.

"How could that be?"

"You are!"

"No."

"You have!"

"will not."

"Higher animals are full of lies!"

After saying that, Ayaka Rie turned around, picked up the brush on the drawing board, and exaggeratedly pulled at her painting.

Ok,

Kai Uesugi admitted that he hadn't believed her earlier, but that was a well-intentioned avoidance to avoid further entanglement, and there was absolutely no other element involved.

But I suppose a girl's drawing can't be too bad.

At 6:30, after saying goodbye to Rika Kyuu at the school gate, Kai Uesugi, Hanabi Hanamaru, and Rie Ayaka set off on their way home.

Young girls always exude the fragrance of youth, sweet and refreshing.

The same was true of the two beautiful girls in black sailor uniforms walking side by side, their black pleated skirts paired with their fair legs and little leather shoes.

Hmm...a perfect match.

After the two got off the train, it was the stretch of road that Uesugi Kai and Hanamaru Hanabi walked home alone.

"Fireworks, see you tomorrow!"