Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Shall We Meet Again ❯ Learn to Lose ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2

Shall We Meet Again

By CFB

 

Sensei Odom frowned. This was not the best she had ever seen by Shizuka, her most promising student. But, then again, Shizuka had been very strange lately. Falling in and out of day dreams. She would watch Shizuka carefully when she was away, cantering about her own mind. Sometimes, the expressions on her face brought Sensei Odom so much pain that she wished she could leave the room entirely. To put it simply, Shizuka wore her heart on her sleeve when deep in thought, and Odom had to wonder what she was thinking about when she made those horrible, contorted faces. Now, she knew why.

The charcoal drawing sitting in front of her on her desk was what she would expect from a beginner. No feeling, no heart. Shizuka obviously did not let herself go when she drew. Perhaps she was afraid to. Afraid of what might happen should she let others see what was in her very soul.

This thought worried Odom. If Shizuka could unleash her soul into her drawings, she would be great. A real artist. One that feels and lives in every line or curve made with their charcoal, paint, pencil, any utensil used to make art. If she could reach that potential, she would be among the best, competing to get to the top.

Odom cast a glance at Shizuka. She was concentrating over something on her desk. Her charcoal was in left hand and her kneaded eraser in the other, along with random sticks of charcoal sticking out, wedged between her fingers just in case she needed one of them. Odom stood and came over to her and looked over her shoulder.

“Shizuka.” She said softly.

She gasped and looked up, quickly lifting her charcoal off the sketch pad before it could smear.

“Yes, Sensei Odom?”

Odom hesitated before pulling a stool away from another table and sitting on it next to Shizuka.

“Listen. Don't think of me as your sensei right now. I am your friend. What are you feeling right now?”

Shizuka's mind whirled around in tight circles, dizzying her to no end and suddenly, the words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them. She told Odom of how she loved him, but couldn't have him. Of how she felt so weak but so strong at the same time. Her thoughts were muddled and confused and broken. Shattered into tiny pieces while she scrambled to put them back together.

Odom smiled and caused Shizuka even more confusion.

“What?”

“Shizuka…take all that emotion and thought. Shove it into your charcoal and go. Let your hand control the charcoal by itself. Let yourself go.”

Shizuka gulped and nodded.

“Okay…” She whispered feeling weak and frail again.

She just couldn't help it. She felt like wanting to be weak. Maybe it would bring him back. But she knew it wouldn't He never noticed her. All he knew was that she was Jounouchi's little sister, almost a nonentity, and that Jounouchi hated him with a severe passion.

She sighed and pressed the end of her charcoal to the page. Her hand flew across the page almost spastically yet having a certain grace of its own. The element of time passed into nonexistence and she found herself dismayed and angry when the bell rang signaling lunch. She closed her drawing pad and shoved it into her backpack savagely before cleaning everything else up that was on her desk. Yes, she was furious with time and how it so easily slipped from her mind then came back to her and knocked her once across the scull.

Oh, she had a headache. She was tired of pretending to be what she wasn't. Happy, social, carefree. She made a mental note to be herself at lunch.

What she hadn't expected was making everyone else around her worried sick.

“Shizuka, are you okay?” Anzu questioned, her brow furrowed in sorrowful shock.

Yugi cocked his head to the side and studied her for a minute. Like Jou, he could read Shizuka as well, and had to admit that he enjoyed her company much more than any other girl he knew. Not that he was attracted to her in that way or anything. It was more like a deep, nearly unnoticeable bond between the two of them. Like brother and sister.

After a while, he looked away and opened his backpack. He pulled out a white envelope.

“Hey, I got this in the mail yesterday. I wanted to wait until everyone was here to open it…”

Anzu left Shizuka's issue alone and sat down facing Yugi. Jou smiled excitedly.

“I got one too! I left mine at home, though.”

Yugi lifted his small shoulder and ripped the shorter side of the envelope off. He pulled out a neatly folded document and read through it. His eyes lit up with excitement and he beamed at the group.

“It's an invitation to a Duel Monsters tournament in Tokyo! It says all the best known duelists from all over the world have been invited and the winner gets a special prize!”

Shizuka's heart skipped a beat and she smiled to herself. Yugi caught it but decided to ask her afterwards about her motives. Instead, he looked at Jou. He was on the edge of his seat as well with the news and fidgeted nervously.

“All over the world? Does that mean that American girl will be back?”

“Most likely…but that's okay! The rest of the tournament should be okay! We could probably ditch Rebecca anyways.”

Anzu quirked an eyebrow at Yugi's statement. How such an innocent guy like himself could say such inconspicuously mean things was beyond her. She secretly wondered how he had maintained his innocence for sixteen years while most boys his age were rowdy and obnoxious.

Jou broke off in the middle of a sentence and stared at the sensei walking towards them holding a large piece of paper. Odom smiled at Shizuka and handed her the drawing she had turned in as homework that morning.

“Y-you graded it already?” Shizuka breathed.

“I was afraid to. Look, I saw your work today in class. Redo this drawing with the same amount of emotion as you did in class. Then, I will accept this. I won't count it against you. I just need more feeling. And can I have one of those rice balls? They look delicious.”

Shizuka smiled, relieved that Odom had broken the tension right after creating it. She handed her a rice ball.

“I made them myself.” She said proudly.

Odom nodded, looking at the rice.

“You have skills. Use them, please. My deepest apologies to bother you at lunch, but…I had to let you know before you left school.”

Shizuka nodded, and then reached for her backpack. She pulled out her sketch book and opened it up to the drawing she'd done in class and handed it to Odom. The delighted smile shocked her as it spread across Odom's lips.

“Now this is a fine piece of art. You've done it, Shizuka.”

The corners of Shizuka's mouth lifted a bit and Odom checked her watch quickly.

“Oh…I forgot that I have a meeting at the Art Museum downtown in an hour. I'll see you tomorrow, Shizuka.”

Shizuka bowed her head slightly in respect for Sensei Odom and Odom quickly ambled away, her high heels clicking against the ground with the rhythm of her relaxed, comfortable stroll.

Jou snatched the drawing out of Shizuka's hand and his mouth opened. But he was speechless. Shizuka narrowed her eyes at him and grabbed the two top corners of the page before ripping the paper straight through the middle.

“Why…? Why did you draw him?” Yugi questioned.

Shizuka lowered her eyes, the accusation in Yugi's tone evident. For some reason, his words stung her. Disappointment. Sometimes, it was worse than physical punishment.

“What was the assignment?” Anzu asked conversationally, missing the awkward moment between the three of them.

Shizuka sighed and gazed at Jou from the corner of her eyes. Bewilderment and anger coincided upon his features.

“Someone you care the most about…” He trailed.

His long, dirty blonde hair fell over his eyes, hiding from Shizuka. Pained that it was not his face upon the paper. He tore it again, just to see the look on Shizuka's face.

Anzu glowered and seized the drawing from Jou, contempt shining in her eyes. She returned the paper to Shizuka.

“Shizuka…can we talk after school?”

She didn't answer at first, knowing it was a rhetorical question and it didn't matter what she wanted at all. Finally, she nodded.

“I have to wait for Jou, anyways…”

“Good. Meet me over by the girl's gym, okay?”

She nodded again, resisting the forlorn sigh upon her lips.

Is this what he would go through if this were him? Probably not. Men weren't treated the same way. If they wanted something or somebody, they could have it.

Honda jogged over, his backpack sliding off his right shoulder.

“Sorry I'm late! VP held me up.”

He sat down next to Shizuka, a little too close for her comfort, and she scooted away noticeably. She didn't like to be ungrateful to him and she knew it would break his heart, but she just had to get him away. And being in a poor mood was the best time to do it so she could regret it all later, after it was said and done, she decided.

“Honda, please don't flirt with me. Your feelings are not returned.” She declared evenly, staring him straight in the eye.

“What? I wasn't…why would I…how did you…?” He stammered, his capillaries exploding and tinting his cheeks cherry red.

She began to doubt herself and looked across the campus at the nearest tree. Assurance seemed to evade her. Even her trees were going to abandon her; be disappointed in her and make sure she knew it.

She turned on Jou suddenly and shoved the four pieces of paper that had once been the face of her innermost dreams into his lap.

“Get over it.” She spat before standing up, ignoring the head rush she achieved by doing so, and grasped her satchel's strap. She stormed away, seething to herself.

Such was the artist's life. Sharp, quick tempers only to be soothed by losing themselves and becoming one dancing, floating figure on a stretch of canvas. Emotions running high and unpredictable mood changes were apparently essential and pride was a must. To have received anger and accusations for what she had produced triggered her defiant pride and her flaring temper.

Alone she sat. Uncanny silence reigned about her and the present turned colorless and drained away. In replacement came the past. Bright, colorful, filled with him. All that she needed was there in her own mind. Everything else just didn't seem to matter to her at all and she realized that she needed to stop living in memories. Instead, she would make her memories live.

The charcoal seemed warm to her touch, as if enchanted. The white, empty space before her glowed brilliantly, waiting to bear upon itself the every thought, emotion, and plan running through her.

She easily lost herself, tossing her worries aside and letting her hand control and contain everything. Not even the bell to signal the end of lunch could awaken her from the trance she had captured her mind in.

 

CFB: All right, don't say it. It wasn't as good as the first chapter nor was it as long. But that's okay. Oh, before anyone asks why Shizuka is art-centered and left handed, please think of the facts! If you had a disease that made you legally blind for most of your life and then suddenly you could see everything perfectly, wouldn't you want to draw and capture every beauty you see around you? And with the left hand thing, most artistic people are left handed because it is controlled by the right brain which is the more creative and abstract thinking side of the brain. There. Now none of you can ask. Hah. Well, until next time! Review, please!