The atmosphere of the walk to Yusuke's home, Madarame's so-called atelier, was awkward.
Ren finally couldn't stand it and opened his mouth.
"Sorry."
"I'm sorry!"
Orihime apologized at the same time, her face red.
Chuckling, Ren just said, "You have no reason to apologize. You did nothing wrong."
"Neither did you!" Orihime declared while staring at him before blushing again.
"Let's agree to disagree." Ren smiled.
Orihime returned it with a gentle smile of her own.
It wasn't that she was embarrassed he said that. She knew what he meant. She could see the confusion in his golden eyes when he was talking. Like he was half present and half observing.
'I can't believe I wasn't that against it!' she thought, blushing harder.
'But Ann and Shiho...'
Suddenly, her face lit up with an epiphany before going the reddest it had ever been.
"No, Rise is crazy," she whispered.
"You got that right," Ren nodded as he hummed while they walked forward.
He didn't notice her face rapidly changing colors and expressions before she just covered her face and walked behind him.
---
Knocking on the door, Ren and Orihime waited patiently. The person who opened the door was not Yusuke, but rather an aged, tired-looking man. He glanced at the two before saying, "I don't do private meetings," and began to shut the door.
"Wait, Sensei!" Yusuke called out.
"Hm?" Madarame hummed as he turned to look at Yusuke.
Ren didn't miss the fact that Yusuke's posture abruptly changed before he answered the old man.
"Apologies. These two are the models I was telling you about."
Madarame looked at the so-called models and nodded.
"I see. Angelic beauty and coarse anger," he said before walking away.
Ren noticed that Yusuke was fidgeting uncomfortably.
"Hello, Yusuke! We'll be in your care today!" Orihime's voice chimed out, instantly shattering the tense atmosphere with her sunshiny disposition.
She had grasped Ren's hand without noticing when she saw his face drop while Yusuke interacted with Madarame.
She was worried.
---
After the two modeled for a bit, Yusuke put down his paintbrush and sat in thought as he glanced between the canvas and the models. Sighing, he shook his head.
"Thank you for this, you two. I know what was missing now," he said.
Ren looked at him briefly and asked.
"If the viewer finds hope in a canvas of suffering, does that make the suffering holy?"
Yusuke looked at him and blinked before saying, "If suffering can be endured and hope given to others, does it matter?"
Ren nodded and paused for a second, hesitating.
"Does the muse fade, or is the brush taken from the hand?"
Yusuke's face dropped into appalled horror.
Orihime couldn't follow what they were talking about, but she could sense that something important had just been said. So she paid close attention.
"...The hand does not complain about the one who guides it."
Ren went silent.
He was treating a wound like a door. He hated when others did this to him. Why would he do it to someone else?
"Sorry, Yusuke. I thought I was seeing ghosts when there were only shadows."
"Ghosts and shadows aren't so different."
"In painting, yes. But not in people."
"I see."
---
The rest of the session was a bit awkward. Orihime knew that Ren and Yusuke had talked about something important, and that things would change between them all now. But she was confused to see that neither Ren nor Yusuke were showing any emotion besides shared respect. Yusuke thanked them for their time and said he would contact everyone when the painting was finished.
---
They walked just out of earshot of the shack before Ren stopped.
"Fuck!" Ren growled in deep anger. "Fucking fuck!"
Orihime was stunned.
"Ren, what's wrong?!"
"That fucking bastard is going to take Yusuke's painting!" Ren growled, pulling out his phone.
"Ichiryusai Madarame!"
[Candidate found.]
Ren gritted his teeth harder.
"Abuse?"
[Candidate not found.]
Orihime suddenly hugged Ren tightly.
"It's okay, Ren. We'll do something about it. You aren't alone. We will fix this."
She didn't know what was bothering him. But she knew he needed support as she hugged his shaking body.