Evening Walk [OPEN]

Ando walked out the dorm for a breathe of fresh air. He was having a bit of trouble concentrating on his homework. It wasn't that late yet so he figured a nice walk would help. He blinked a few times as he strolled onto the school grounds. There were a few students still walking around however they seem to be getting ready to leave. The school seemed quite peaceful during the evening. Ando let out a slight smile as he strolled along to one of the nearby benches and took a seat.

"This looks like a good place for a break." Ando said quietly as he looked up at the sky. The sky was fairly clear with a few clouds making it a nice scenery. He took out his phone and set a little timer to remind himself when he had to get back to his room.

Now that his classes were finished for the day and his homework was quickly and accurately finished, Hikaru decided to spend some time outside to stretch his legs and converse with the other students. Stepping outside the school building, Hikaru checked the path, noting that they were pretty empty, and began running as fast as he could. He was looking to push himself, wondering how fast he could run. Eventually, his blazing sprint slowed to a jog as he noticed it was getting late.

As he slowed to a walk, Hikaru noticed a student with dark hair and green eyes quietly sitting on the bench. He seemed pretty lonely, so Hikaru decided to sit next to him and talk.
"Ahh... Today's a pretty beautiful day, isn't it? It feels pretty relieving after a day of school. In fact..."
Hikaru opened his messenger bag, found his notebook, and began scribbling the scene before him, although his unartistic hands didn't make a very good picture. He then tried an odd little activity he enjoyed doing; he would let his hand create a random scribble on the page, and Hikaru tried to outline any image that could be seen in the scribble.
"I'd better stop... If he sees this, he'd probably think I'm pretty odd.

Yea, it's a beautiful day, this view is quite amazing." Ando quietly responded as he continued to look up at the sky. His eyes then quickly widened as he slowly turned his head towards the brown haired boy who had begun to take a seat beside him. He had just noticed that he responded to someone he didn't know. Ando quickly looked back up hoping that the boy wouldn't find him strange. After becoming quiet for a bit, Ando noticed the boy was drawing the scene in front of him. He looked down and watched the boy scribble away at the notebook. At first Ando found it a bit strange that the boy suddenly created a random scribble on the page, but soon he noticed an image as the boy started to outline certain parts of it.

"Um, that's pretty cool way to draw something." Ando would say with a slightly nervous smile. The boy seemed friendly enough for Ando to be able to speak to him without sounding too nervous.

Hikaru was certainly surprised by what the student had said. Most people who saw him scribbling away at a paper thought he was pretty odd, but if that was what he was thinking, at least he wasn't outright saying it was odd.
"Oh, you like it? Heh, most people don't exactly think the same way you do. I swear, the way they look at me, they must think that I'm an oddball. Not that that' s a problem; I enjoy being considered unique. Erm, my name's Hikaru Ryouichi. May I ask for your name as well?"
Hikaru flipped past some pages of doodles, research notes, and reminders to a clean page. He gave the notebook and pencil to the student.
"You want to try it? All you have to do is just let your hand decide what to draw. Don't even need to think; just draw loops, lines, anything. Then, try looking for shapes that fit together to form a familiar image."
Hikaru suddenly realized what he was doing; he was just giving another student his notebook and expecting him to do the same crazy thing he had done.
"Who knows? Maybe he'll try it... or just say no. Gah! What were you thinking?"

"Oh um, my name is Ando. Nice to meet you." Ando replied to the brown haired boy named Hikaru. "I used to draw a lot, so it's kind of interesting seeing new ways to do it." Ando watched Hikaru flip through his notebook onto a clean page before handing it to Ando. Ando smiled at the gesture and slowly put the pencil in his hand. He followed Hikaru's instructions and drew random loops and squiggles.

"S-so, like this? Ando said nervously while trying his best to emulate Hikaru. This new way of drawing was pretty hard for Ando, however he was having a blast doing it just like when he used to draw a lot. After finishing scribbling over the page, Ando started to find shapes. He gave a slight chuckle as he began to start seeing the number of different images he could create with a jumble of scribbles.

Hikaru sighed with relief as he saw Ando scribble away on the paper. He seemed nervous about trying it, almost as if he was expecting Hikaru to hit him if he did it wrong. He simply put on his carefree, sincere smile and leaned over to look at the drawing Ando made.
"Yep, exactly. Not like there's any wrong way to do it; you just gotta let your hand do all the work and let your mind have a rest. This isn't exactly a drawing technique; I like to think of it as a 'creativity booster.'"
Hikaru pulled a second pencil out of his pocket and began outlining a shape he saw.
"What I see here is a tree with wings. See, you have the trunk there... Here are the wings... All the leaves... Ooh! There's a tire swing, too!"
Hikaru had to stop his hand; he should have at least let Ando try to find something first before he went off trying for himself.
"Oh, um, sorry. It's just that I like to use this notebook as my creativity outlet. There's a couple of other drawings in here, including a sketch of my sister I tried making. I also have a list of research topics that I like to look up, along with some, um... poetry I tried writing."

"Haha, you're a really cool guy with awesome imagination. I couldn't have seen that." Ando said with a big smile. He hadn't made many friends when he came to the Azores but everyone seemed pretty kind. Ando quickly began to trace a few things from the scribble such as a few clouds and a strangely shaped bird. As he got more and more into it, he began to feel that the picture looked quite interesting.

"No need to say sorry. This is a pretty fun way to draw things. Ando looked at Hikaru as he put down his pencil. "hey, can I see some of your drawings. You seem to be pretty good at it.

Hikaru liked that smile strewn across Ando's face. He felt great; almost nobody had such a positive reaction to his personality before, although very few even got to see this side of him.
"To think, I was just running along the path and happened to sit next to this kid... Man, life just has a way of working itself out."
He returned to reality to see that Ando was now finding his own shapes among the chaotic mess of lines and loops. He gave him another earnest smile.
"Now you're getting it. See, this is just the thing people need to get their creative juices a-flowin'! As for my drawings, well, they're not the best. I guess I could show you a few."
He flipped back a few pages to the sketch he'd made of Zela Academy from the ferry. He though it looked pretty blocky, but Ando might still like it. He also showed him the sketch of the sunset when Hikaru was lazily resting on the beach.
Hikaru flipped forward to the full-page sketch he'd done of his sister, Kumiko. He remembered how Kumiko had loved looking at the little drawings he made over the course of the day, and she volunteered to be the model for his next drawing. Kumiko's most distinct features were evident in the sketch; her striking black hair that swooped down to her neckline, her apparel, a v-neck shirt and jeans in the picture, that was often purple or red, depending on her "intuition", her blue, heartwarming eyes that can change expression in the blink of an eye, and her dexterous hands clad in purple nail polish and a ring or two. It took Hikaru about a week or two to change out all the rough pieces and color it in, but it still remained the centerpiece of his artistry.
'So, um, what do you think? Is it... alright?"
Hikaru was a bit nervous; he wasn't sure how skilled Ando was in drawing, but he hoped that he was at least impressed by his sketches.

"Hmmm, you're actually quite good at this." Ando said as he quickly look for all the tiny details in the drawings. Though the sketches were better than what most people can do, there was definitely room for improvement. Ando continued to look through Hikaru's sketches until he saw the full-page sketch of Hikaru's sister. To his surprise the portrait was really good. The coloring was done nicely and he put emphasis onto what Ando could tell was his sister's main features.

"Wow, this is a really nice portrait of your sister. You should show people your artistic skills." Ando said as his eyes sparkled as he continued to observe every little detail in the picture. "Hmm, maybe I should draw more and show you next time we meet." Ando looked up quickly as he handed back the notebook filled with sketches.

Hikaru was practically beaming with glee. Not only did he meet another unique character, but he actually showed someone his creative side... and he was very impressed. He collected his notebook, pushed it into his messenger bag, and turned back to Ando.
Yeah, I'd love to see your drawing style. Man... To think I was just testing my speed on the path and happened to sit by you, of all people. It just seems like life has a way of resolving itself, don't you agree? ...Hmm? Is that...?"
Hikaru had tilted his head to view the person trotting his direction. He definitely recognized them; that striking black hair blown into a wave by the wind, wearing a red jacket around a purple long-sleeved shirt with jeans, those blue eyes fixated on Hikaru and filled with joy, and the small, purple-tipped fingers that swayed at her side while handling her purse. It could only be one person...
"Kumiko!"
"Hey, kiddo! I was wondering when you'd be heading home. ...Eh? Oh, were you two talking? Sorry for cutting in."
Kumiko stood in Hikaru's place, extending her hand.
"My name's Kumiko Ryouichi. Nice to meet ya! Thanks for keeping Hikaru entertained for a bit, but we have to be going. Come on, Hikaru."
As Kumiko began walking to the pier, Hikaru quickly scribbled his phone number down on a scrap of paper and dropped it into Ando's hands before running off to catch up to his sister.
"Sorry, Ando. Gotta get going. Keep working on your artwork! See ya tomorrow!"
(Do you want to wrap it up here? If you do, I plan on using it for my topic to get an Awakening. Thank you for RPing with me!)

"Um, Nice to meet you too." Ando replied to Hikaru's sister. Ando turned back to Hikaru. "Haha, I guess I'll see you again tomorrow." Ando smiled as he watched Hikaru run to his sister. He looked between the two as they looked quite different. He looked back up at the sky before taking out his phone and quickly entering Hikaru's phone number into his contacts list. He slowly got up and bought a drink from the nearby vending machine.

"I guess I'll go back to the dorm now." Ando said to himself as he strolled all the way back to the dorms before it got too dark.

[EXIT]