**

Akari paced around her room frantically, walking in a circle with a hand to her chin.

‘“Sadly.”? Sadly???’

Akari blushed.

‘What does he mean by “Sadly.”?!?’

She continued her critical thinking until she exhaled, stopping by her bed. She looked at her hand and grimaced.

Maintaining her expression, she walked over to a wooden desk which held some dusty drawing utensils. In the middle was a notebook named; Options.

She grabbed it, flipped through a few pages, then closed it.

Her face contorted as she was suddenly filled with grim determination. She held the notebook tightly and walked downstairs, evading Ella, as she walked out the door.

She simply threw the notebook in a garbage can, then walked back inside, and to her room. Again, she looked strangely determined.

She brought herself back to the wooden desk, as she clasped her hand around a draw. As she pulled it open, more drawing utensils were revealed.

She then repeated the same process with two other draws, revealing both blank paper and rough sketches.

Hundreds, upon hundreds of papers- each filled with a unique drawing.

However, she only spared the old sketches a momentary glance, as Akari quickly grabbed a blank paper, along with some basic pens and pencils.

She slammed them onto her desk, causing some dust to emit. She sat herself down, held a pencil, and stared at the white paper.

She thought for a second, then laid pencil to paper. After a few seconds, some rough circles were drawn, representing guides and outlines. They served their purpose well it seemed, as Akari allowed herself to let out a slight smile.

Then, she continued.

But there was a difference.

The new guides she drew were lazy, tinted with different tones of pressure and uneven shapes. Her hand started to shake, resulting in the pencil to as well. Each stroke went from well orchestrated to painfully poor.

Painful indeed…

Suddenly, the paper was not only filled with an onslaught of varying circles, but also salty tears.

Akari started to cry as she retracted her shaking wrist from the paper, throwing the pencil off to her side in anger.

She grabbed the paper with her other hand- which also shook, but not as badly -and crumpled it into a ball. She slammed shut the remaining draws and violently threw the paper into her own small trash can.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

She was able to bring back her tears slightly, and began to pull out her phone. Her hands were still shaking, making it difficult to not drop. It also made simply typing in her password surprisingly hard.

When she did, however, Koji’s contact popped up immediately. She looked for a second, then called him.

**

Koji was amidst walking back from Akari’s house, full of anger and resentment.

‘That scummy *****!’

He felt bad to call Akari’s sister such a thing, but he had a feeling she wouldn’t mind.

‘Speaking of…’

Koji pulled out his phone, and went to his contacts. Under them were familiar names such as Ren, Lucas, Tenz and Akari.

He clicked on Akari’s, ready to ask if she was alright.

He speculated that her sulking at the end was due to her sister. The very same one who she shared the house with right now.

[Hey, are you alright..?]

He was about to hit send, but then a sudden announcement blocked his view.

[Incoming Call: Akari]

[Accept] [Decline]

He was shocked to see Akari call him, but it fit his plans well enough. He could simply check up on her via phone call.

And so, he shrugged and picked up the call.

“Hey, Koji…”

Suddenly, Koji fell dim. His face paled a bit. He knew that Akari was probably uncomfortable with her sister… but she seemed… tired.

“…Can we talk a bit?”

“Of course… what about?” He said, slightly concerned.

“No, not on the phone. Can we go to the courts..?”

‘The courts..?’

Koji was about to reach the courts actually, serving as a kind of halfway point between his house and Akari’s.

“I mean, I can… but wouldn’t it be easier for you if I just came back..? I’m not too far…”

Akari responded with a stifled chuckle, in which she probably intended to hide. Her voice was then filled with a bit more glee, but was still full of wear.

“No… It’s fine. I’ll meet you in a bit… Thanks…”

“Yeah, no pro-“

Akari hung up.

Koji was left a bit shell shocked as to what just happened. This seemed to be a common occurrence nowadays.

He had gotten an answer to his original question, which was whether or not Akari was alright, but he wasn’t exactly happy with what he heard.

His face started to grow with pity, as he watched the courts come into vision.

The cold darkness enveloped the hoops, which were soon to be illuminated with bright light.

Whenever Koji decided to step in… at least.

**

Koji was sat on the bench, twiddling his thumbs. He had been waiting for a few minutes already, but he had decided using his phone would be too disrespectful.

After all, he was here to comfort Akari, and nothing else.

Not to play basketball, nor to entertain himself. It was purely for Akari…

‘God… Why am I doing this..?

Koji sighed. He knew why.

Then, a figure came into view. She gradually made her way into the bright light which was cast by the looming lamp posts.

She strutted slowly as she got closer and closer to Koji.

He couldn’t help but stare aimlessly. He had nothing to say- nothing to do.

He simply had to wait for Akari, as he had been.

Finally, she took a seat.

Now, both Koji and Akari were sitting on a cold bench- illuminated by light.

Neither had spoken a word, yet neither were uncomfortable.

It would be too disrespectful to be so in such a situation.

Suddenly, Akari spoke.

Koji gave his full attention, trying to prove himself…

…But his efforts weren’t needed.

“Do you want to know my dream..?”

‘Yes!’

“Only if you want to tell me.”

Koji hid his greed.

Akari sighed as she looked forward- hand on her chin as she looked forward, nostalgically.

“I want to be an Artist.”

**

End Chapter 18:

Art