Hysteria reigned in the school as students rushed to their classes, and the usual chatter was all around. Aoi was walking down the hallway, with her eyes glued to the art piece she was carrying in her hands. It was a large canvas: a landscape sketch that she had worked on for few weeks, the delicate interplay of light and shadow—one of her favorites, providing her pride whenever she looked at it.
A dreamer walked, the beauty of her creation held tightly and with complete abandon, when rounded the corner and was struck with that feeling—a sudden wave of familiarity. She froze.
Ren.
He was slouched against the lockers, his book propped below his chin, and he momentarily turned his attention from it as footsteps were approaching from the distance. Aoi's breath hitched as she recognized him instantly—Ren, the guy at the train station. The same sharp features; the same black hair; the same cool demeanor. She felt both recognition jolt and nerves flutter.
Ren's eyes flickered up to hers. There was a small, almost imperceptible smile tugging at the corner of his lips as he saw her. He remembered her—the girl with the crayons, who dropped them at the train station. He had never expected to see her again, but here she was, standing before him with an enormous art piece in her small hands.
"Hey," Ren said. His voice was calm and steady, but a hint of curiosity sparkled in his eye. "It's you again. How's the art going?"
Aoi's heart nearly stopped. She hadn't expected him to remember her, and his recognition had completely thrown her. Her cheeks flushed slightly, and she felt a wave of discomfort wash over her. She had not exactly hoped for that personal meeting and as everyone knows, shyness is a killer when one tries to put words together.
"Um, it's going okay," Aoi answered soft, casting her eyes downward on the artwork in her grasp. "This is one of my latest works."
Ren nodded and the flicker of his eyes turned to the canvas she held. "It looks good. You have a real talent."
Aoi felt his words warm her in a small way, but she was too shy to look him in the eye. Her fingers tightened around the edge of the canvas, and she shifted nervously from foot to foot.
He observed her for a moment longer-his own mind making a comparison and eventually realizing there was something strange about her. She had the black hair to her waist, a fine, supple figure, and the delicate facial features. Then, it struck him. Perhaps she looked like someone.
Suddenly, he came to think of that spirited girl in the past - Emi. The way their eyes twinkled with curiosity offered an even closer similarity as to the structure of their faces.
But somehow, it didn't seem like that picture related to it earlier, and now it seemed so obvious; in terms of physical features, she looked so much like Aoi, but her act was exactly the opposite to her sibling. It made him think whether or not they were related. Sisters? Twins? The idea was silly, yet it lingered on his mind.
"I ought to leave now," she said quickly, thus trying to extricate herself from this unwanted conversation. "I still have quite a number of things I need to get done."
She turned away from him, but that stopped her.
"Wait, you're not in a hurry now?" he asked in a light tone but with a hint of curiosity. "With that piece of art in your hands, it seems like something important."
Aoi froze.
"Just not used to showing it around," Aoi murmured in a voice so small it related to his. "I don't really... talk to others much."
Ren tilted his head slightly and judged the pull on his face to be unreadable, but it bore a slight glimmer of understanding. "I understand. Sometimes, it could be hard to put yourself out there."
The silence was brief, and Aoi felt almost like mushrooms with the weight of his words crushing her. Something, anything she could say, even to counter her awkwardness, was probably down in her throat.
She stepped back quickly with her hand still gripping the canvas. "Thanks for the compliment. I should really go now."
She turned and walked away briskly down the hall before he could reply. She felt onerous embarrassment and confusion, with a strange longing that she couldn't quite pinpoint. It would be brief, but the encounter had felt pivotal.
Ren was watching Aoi go by without any change in his expression, but there was a flicker of intrigue in his gaze. He could not really pinpoint it, but something about her had touched him. The artwork, or their instant, brief interaction seemed to be mere trifles compared with the larger something that was awakening his curious mind to know more of her.
As Aoi turned the corner, Ren was surprised to find that he was looking after her for slightly longer than he'd expected. There was something about that girl that he couldn't put a finger on, but somehow he reckon that they would meet again.