Volume 1 - CH 1.4

Art Class with Shimizu-san – 4

“Three minutes left. There’s still time left, but anyone who thinks he’s late should hurry up a little.”

Sensei told me how much time I had left. After that conversation, I was making good progress with my sketches because Shimizu-san stayed put as she had declared. Finally, the only part I had not yet drawn was her face.

“Shimizu-san, can I look at your face now? “

I asked her just to be sure. I had already drawn a rough sketch of her face, so even if I don’t see her face directly, the quality will be good enough if I use the remaining time to draw her detailed face.

“O-okay, come on!”

It seems that Shimizu-san has made up her mind. Though I still don’t know why she needs to be so determined.

“I’ll start drawing then.”

I looked at Shimizu-san’s face. Her face is tense and her eyes are sharp enough to kill anyone who looks at her.

“Please relax a little more, Shimizu-san.”

If I don’t do this, I’ll end up drawing Shimizu-san who stares at me with a terrible fierceness.

“What’s that! Are you saying I’m nervous? “

“I think so…”

I don’t know why your expression is so tense if you’re not nervous.

“Wait a moment.”

“Okay.”

Shimizu-san slowly closed her eyes for a few seconds, then her eyes widened.

“How’s that? “

“Not much has changed…”

“…are you serious? “

“I’m not going to lie here.”

“Grrr…”

Shimizu-san has a frustrated look on her face.

“Fufu.”

“What’s so funny? I’m trying to be serious right now.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, but Shimizu-san seemed to have interpreted her seriousness as being laughed at. I should clear up the misunderstanding quickly.

“I mean, when I first met you, I didn’t expect Shimizu-san to have so many different facial expressions. I’m glad I started talking to Shimizu-san.”

“Ugh, you.”

Shimizu-san’s face turned reddish. I actually didn’t mean to say such an embarrassing thing.

“…do you always talk like this to everyone? “

Shimizu-san stares at me. I wonder what kind of person does she think I am?

“For me to say that, I think Shimizu-san is the first person.”

“…then it’s fine. Come on. There’s not much time left, so draw me quickly.”

The tension in Shimizu-san’s face was gone. I hurried to move my pencil before her expression changed.

* * *

“It’s been ten minutes. Who wants more time? “

I look around the art room, but I don’t see anyone raising their hands.

“Well, it looks like everyone got it done in time. Then we’ll take a short break. You can take a break until I say to start again.”

With that voice, the art room becomes noisy. Perhaps because many of the students are paired up with other students they know, they start talking with people near them more than usual.

“Shimizu-san, good work.”

“Yes.”

“Thanks for modeling for me.”

There were a few incidents during the session, but thanks to Shimizu-san’s cooperation, in the end, I was able to complete the sketch without any problems.

“…uhh”

“Are you okay? “

Shimizu-san looks a little tired. It seems that acting as a model for sketching is harder than I thought it would be.

“This is nothing. Show me your drawing.”

“Okay. Here you go.”

I handed my sketchbook to Shimizu-san. Shimizu-san took the sketchbook and looked at the page I had just drawn.

(Not an image from the chapter.)

“What do you think? “

I like to draw, though not as much as the art club members, and I drew as much as I could in ten minutes, but I wondered what Shimizu-san thought of my work.

“….I think it’s okay. Even from my point of view, it’s easy to recognize this was me.”

I am relieved to hear her words. I would have had to apologize to Shimizu-san for her hard work if she had said that it did not look like her.

“Thank god. I’m glad you said that.”

“But can I ask you one question? “

“Is there anything bothering you?”

“Why do you shade my cheeks? “

I was afraid of what she might ask, but I could answer that.

“When I was drawing Shimizu-san’s face, it was red all the time, so I just lightly shaded it.”

“Ah?!”

Shimizu-san touched her cheeks with both hands. Apparently, she didn’t realize it herself.

“…Hondō, don’t tell anyone about this.”

“Yes? Well, okay.”

It seems that Shimizu-san did not want anyone to know. I’ll only keep this in my memory. Although I wasn’t planning to tell anyone in the first place.

“Break is over. Next, you’re going to reverse the model and the guy who’s drawing, and you’re going to do another ten-minute drawing. Get ready.”

Hearing Sensei’s voice, the students in the art room begin to get ready.

“It’s my turn to be the model. Do you have any poses you want me to do?”

“Any position is fine.”

Since there were no specific instructions, I sat facing Shimizu-san with my hands on my knees.

“Are you ready? Let’s start. “

I looked straight into Shimizu-san’s eyes as Sensei announced the start of the session. Shimizu-san noticed my gaze and hid her face with her sketchbook.

“Shimizu-san? “

“Don’t stare at me with such serious eyes…”

“You’re still not used to my gaze? “

In the end, Shimizu-san started sketching my face only after less than half of the time remained.