The Open Art Gallery (Kansuke / Tomomi)

Once more on the job, the boy found himself returning to his usual shift route around Little Tokyo. As he continued, he came across the same alley he had been in recently, where he found himself chased off by the spray painter. Still, seeing the empty alley, the boy felt himself curious, stepping into the alley and looking at the wall where the stranger had been painting. Sloppily painted over, it was clear an attempt, no matter how failed, to cover up the graffiti had occurred, but regardless Tomomi stood there for a time, tilting his head as he tried to figure out and understand why the stranger was painting, or even what. Would understanding make them less scary?

...

Thinking back on their behaviour, probably not, but, the anxious boy never knew.

Rarely did Kansuke return to the site of his work, fearing recognition, reprimand or retribution for his vandalism, but today was special. Exhausted after the night just past, eyes open and exhilaration scorching his blood, he dared to revisit the painting he'd done last before that fateful encounter.

Sloppy work, ultimately. His vision of the idol's stage turned horrific blended into a shapeless mass of greys and whites. Maybe, with confidence restored at the canvas reset, he could try again. Certainly, an image filled his mind and begged to spatter the walls...

Kansuke kicked at the floor, sneakers scuffing on the stone. He looked across, drawing his hood closer to his face when he spied a figure silhouetted by the light of the street beyond. An audience? How bizarre...

At the sound of the scraping of the shoes to the stone, Tomomi practically spun on his heel, waiting and watching as the shadowy hooded stranger approached. To Tomomi's surprise, as he approached closer... It was the same person as before. It was... Really difficult to stay, but, the boy swallowed his nerves, standing there and deciding to wait, and if they tried to, let the stranger approach. If they did, however, Tomomi would let out a light exhale from beneath his hygiene mask, before turning to look back to the painted wall, tilting his head. "You're um... The one that made this, right? So, um... Before it was covered, is it okay me asking what it was about? If there was a reason that is... Before they covered it up..." Voice falling quieter as he spoke, Tomomi tried to keep his eyes on the painting, occasionally glancing over to make sure the artist wouldn't just attack him for being there.

"Oh, s'you." Kansuke grumbled. "The trash picker."

He stabbed his hands into his pockets, drawing up to his full lanky height. He tried to scry the shapes behind the cover of blank paint. "It was supposed to be that damn idol hall. All glitzed up and shining bright, with their cockroach fans scuttling underfoot. Supposed to be, anyway..."

The frustration of his failure still bubbled in his gut, poison to any artist's drive, but the thing inside him stifled it with a snarl. He knew better, now, and would not shrink at the first hurdle again. "I know how to fix it, anyway. Why are you so interested?"

At the question, Tomomi paused for a moment. Why did he care? In a way, part of it was curiosity, but he couldn't say that was the whole reason.

"Um... I guess, that, since I tend to go along the streets and alleys, I often see where the stuff painted on walls gets erased, or painted over. It was the first time I'd seen it done in person, though, so, I kind of wanted to try get a better look at it, and maybe understand it, I guess? I guess you got unlucky though, since it was gone over night... Since, I don't know if you know, but, the walls and stuff are checked regularly to clean when needed. Don't know the intervals but..."

Coughing, the boy shrugged. "Oh. The name's Tomomi by the way. Save you knowing me as the jumpy litter boy..."

"Tomomi," Kansuke grunted confirmation, brushing a tangled mop of hair back to better see him. He pushed his hood back and scowled at the wall, "Figured they have to scrape 'em clean at some point. I'll paint a thing down the way, it'll last maybe two days. Three, if they're lazy. No bribin' the cleaners, either. Still, art don't gotta be permanent. Just gotta have an impact. Make an impression."

His grin twisted, wry. "All it left you with was disappointment, huh?"

The surprising amount of introspection that came from the strangers words were, well, surprising. They thought beyond just angry painting and shouting at public sector workers?..

That was not a thought he'd say out loud. Tomomi liked avoiding fights too much for that.

At the question, whether sarcastic or not, Tomomi couldn't understand. Disappointment?

"Disappointment? Um... I guess I was a bit disappointed that I never got to see it, but, I'll admit, my first focus was on, well, first, getting my job done, then running away when you seemed a bit... Um... Aggressive? Um, don't take that personally though... I just... Don't get paid enough for confrontations."

"Do you get paid enough?" Kansuke asked, cutting from the heart of his reverie and striking Tomomi with a sharp sting of uncouth curiosity. As he spoke, he reached out for the wall, testing the quality of the paint they'd used to cover up his abomination. It might serve as an appropriate canvas, if pressed, but tucked away in this alley, any painting he tried could never reach the audience he now longed for. Kansuke tried a different tact.

"Where else d'you reckon they gotta clean?"

Again with the question about personal finance. Now that he was able to engage in... Somewhat of a conversation though, Tomomi guessed that this stranger probably didn't mean poorly, but was just... Oblivious to the implications of such a question. So, the boy shrugged. "Enough to get by."

At the next question, Tomomi found himself raising an eyebrow. So, did this mean he did care about having his... Art?... Seen? Or for it to be long lasting? Still, it was generally public information that could be found out by just looking every now and again.

"They technically clean most places. Alleys get checked least regularly, since they're out of the way, and so not as much of a concern. They also have to worry less about people seeing stuff in alleys, so, it's less a place they um... Got to, clean, and more, where they don't have to... Which, I guess, is just places people don't go?"

Kansuke grunted, fidgeting in his pockets. His instinct to create strained against his decision to leave his supplies at home, causing him a severe restlessness that he tried to soothe with stiff conversation. Tomomi's relaxation encouraged a freer tone than their last cagey encounter; the admission of his vandalism perhaps aided things, too. Where Kansuke kept his head down and his eyes wild for any immediate threat, Tomomi knew this part of the city's life. Paid attention to it.

The thought stirred excitement in the awakened artist. Useful.

"Is it the same folks who clean trash? The ones who scrape the walls, that is?"

Shaking his head at the question, Tomomi prepared to answer, wondering just how little of the street life this person knew? How could someone not know stuff like this, but do vandalism stuff?

"Nope. Completely different. Only thing we really have in common is that we're publicly employed. Litter pickers are done for a mixture of safety reasons, and to maintain a clean image... Depends on the location. Safety is for locations like this, while clean image is the more open places like Vista Square, or the festivals. Whereas, those that clean walls are pretty much just to maintain public image, since if they left buildings with any thing that wasn't meant to be there, it'd look... Displeasing to their bosses. I... Wouldn't advise trying there though, since, they usually also have CCTV there... Since our jobs intersect, I've known a couple of people in the cleaning industry, and there are rumours that people caught disappear... Idunno, but... Scary stuff..."

By the time he finished his speal, the boy put his hands over his mouth, as if in a moment of 'oops', before adding. "Ah, sorry... I said all that, and I never even got your name."

"This city doesn't need CCTV." Kansuke whispered, recalling for a moment the horror of last night's revelation. His fists balled in his pockets. "Sometimes it's like they just know. Y'know?"

He'd heard stories of the disappearances. The melting pot of Seven Stars meant rumours of every stripe made it onto the grapevine, each with their own grain of truth or wild embellishment. So-and-so said that their best friend's cousin got picked off the streets, no but X said that Y did this... all of them, treading water above the murk that grasped at their ankles. Every so busy looking up to the shining beacon of utopia in their grasp that they couldn't see what happened just under their noses.

His nose wrinkled to consider such things, and he dismissed them out of hand. Tomomi had asked him a question, and in his carelessness he gave it without pause. "Kansuke. Kansuke Ito. What time do you get off?"

"Kansuke..." Tomomi mimicked, getting the name into his head. It sounded Japanese, was this guy also foreign? Still, he seemed a lot calmer now. Perhaps his aggression prior was a defence mechanism for coping? If so... That answered a lot of questions Tomomi had, and helped him know a bit better how to talk to this guy. His comment on the CCTV resounded with Tomomi, it was just something they did. He didn't really think it needed to be as... Excessive in some places as it was, and he wish he understood why it was there, but not in vulnerable areas.

At the question of when Tomomi finished working, he almost felt himself laugh a bit, before shaking his head quickly to stop himself from laughing, not quite feeling comfortable enough to laugh. "I don't really... Um... Have a specific time I get off from work... It's just kind of, when we finish the route of work we were assigned? I... Think the reason we were told for it was to make sure we didn't slack off during a set time, since any slacking off just meant we didn't finish easy enough..."


Giving a small, nervous shrug, he added. "Doesn't bother me too much though..."

Kansuke listened, though he broke eye contact to check out the wall again. He couldn't fix on one thing, one person, without finding some distraction to help him get through the words. He scraped his finger along the covering paint again, finding it to be exactly as it had been five minutes ago.

"So you're saying you'll get done faster if someone helps you finish?" He grunted, and then decided it would be the case anyway. "You got a second picker?"

The two questions were surprising to Tomomi, the latter especially. Did this mean that Kansuke was going to help him finish up? That was... Wow. Not many people did that, and Tomomi could only think of one other person who had actually offered to help. At the question, the boy nodded, before taking out and unfolding a second picker. Tilting his head though, the boy looked quizzically from behind his safety mask. "Um... So, before I ask if you know how to use it properly, or give you the spiel, are you sure you want to, you know, help? Because, um... I don't have money or the status to be able to pay you for the help, and I wouldn't want to waste your time..."