CHAPTER 7 - October Occasions (3)

[THE ARTIST'S CURIOSITY]

The next day, Chiba was setting up targets on the training grounds early in the morning when Hayami arrived carrying something in her hand.

"What's that?" he pointed out.

She glanced down at the bento box and, then, looked back at him. "A bento as thanks for last night," she said before handing it to him.

A smile hovered on the edge of his lips as his gaze fell on the blue box in front of him. So this way why she asked him his favorite food last night and why she had told him to not bring a lunch today.

"Thank you," he said, taking it from her. He was sure that he was going to enjoy every bite later.

Then, with a stern expression, she yanked out her pistol from the holster on her waist before shifting its barrel. "Now let's get down to work," she declared upon raising the gun beside her head.

After setting down the bento, Chiba picked up the sniper rifle from the ground and said, "Roger that."

***

Ever since Sugaya had drawn Chiba's portrait for his birthday, he had become conflicted as to what the sniper's eyes looked like. Inclined to figure out the truth, he would sketch out his guesses, showing them to the subject for his affirmation to no avail.

This time, he would get it right. So when the sniper pair had come in through the door from their morning practice, he gave his 32nd drawing attempt one last look.

"Chiba, come check this out!" he called out from his seat as he peered over his purple-haired seatmate named Manami Okuda.

After approaching Sugaya's seat, Chiba picked up the paper from his hand. "Nice try, but that's not it," he said, putting it down on the desk.

The silver-haired artist frowned. "Come on, man," he whined. "I've already explored all the possibilities and yet I still didn't get it right? You must be messing with me."

Chiba broke into a chuckle. "Why would I do that?"

"You're still doing that, Sugaya?" Nakamura had walked towards them as a roguish grin split across her face. "That looks fun. Why don't I give you a hand?" she said.

Chiba was made to sit down on his seat before Nakamura started providing descriptions to Sugaya, who intently drew them on a small rectangular piece of paper. Upon finishing it, Nakamura placed his work in front of Chiba's face, exactly where his eyes would be.

The two stifled their laughter as they gawped at Chiba having a pair of 'fake' depicted eyes. "You look so cute, Chiba-kun," said Nakamura.

Chiba plucked the drawing from her clutch to take a look – sparkly eyes with long thick eyelashes.

'Just what the hell they are doing,' he thought.

"Okay, next!" Nakamura yelled, tossing the paper away.

While Nakamura was laying out her next set of adjectives, some of their spectating classmates were also enticed to join in on the charade. With this, they bombarded Sugaya with ridiculous ideas with only a decent few giving it a serious thought.

FUWA: What if his eyes look like Doraemon's?

KURAHASHI: Suga-chan, draw Karasuma-sensei's eyes!

KIMURA: Kurahashi-san, you know we're trying to draw Chiba's eyes...

HAZAMA: How about making it look scary, filled with loom and despair? I bet that's why he would try to hide them, right?

OKAJIMA: Oy Sugaya, draw two black dots. Yeah, like that.... BWAHAHAHA! Chiba now looks like Korosensei!

KANZAKI: Are you trying to guess Chiba-kun's eyes? May I suggest doing it like this?

KAYANO: Whoa! Now he looks like that character from Street Fighter!

Since everybody was having fun, Chiba has allowed them to indulge in their shenanigans even if they were only messing around. The original purpose of trying to guess his eyes correctly had already turned null.

Amidst the figures blocking his sight, his gaze still searched for her, who was watching from her seat while sharing laughs and side comments with the others. When her eyes had met his, soft smiles carved on both of their faces.

Standing behind Chiba was Karma. Having seen the two snipers looking at each other, the red head flashed on a smirk with a ploy in mind. "Hayami-san, can you come over here?" he asked.

Without a second thought, she made her way towards them as Karma began drawing something. Everyone's gazes went back-and-forth the two until Hayami was already in front of Chiba.

Karma aligned on Chiba's face a drawing of two heart-shaped eyes with the words 'I love Hayami' inside a thought balloon. This made the girls squeal and the boys, excluding Okajima, erupt into hoots of delight.

With her usual poker face on, Hayami cracked her knuckles. "Karma, let me punch you right now," she stated in a tight tone.

"Why did you suddenly become –" Chiba removed the paper from his face "– so noisy?" Upon seeing the cause of the uproar, he pressed his lips together.

He got up and pulled out his air handgun with a menacing aura. "Hayami, I'll hold that bastard for you," he said in a gruff manner before handing her the weapon. "You barrage him with bullets until that smile disappears from his face."

Even though the pellet ammo was harmless to humans, it does not mean that it could not cause a slight pain when it hit your skin. If you are showered with a hundred of those, it will surely hurt.

The rising bloodlust of the class' sniping specialists made the Karma Akabane took steps backward. Raising both hands in surrender, he said, "Hey, I was just kidding. No need to take it seriously. Don't worry; you have the support of the whole class for your romance."

That did not stop the two. In fact, his words have only worsened their mood.

When Chiba had broken into a dash, Karma made his escape in one swift move through the window.

***

Because Korosensei would be going to Egypt to visit the pyramids, the top snipers have been spending their after-school in an unused classroom to study and do their homework together without an octopus teacher observing them behind the scenes.

"By the way," Chiba rummaged in his bag and took out the bento box that Hayami had given this morning, "Here. Thank you for the food. It was delicious."

A faint blush appeared on her cheeks. "I'm glad."

Then they resumed their homework. Half an hour later, Hayami's pen stopped moving. She lifted her gaze at him, his bangs hanging over his face as he sat across her on the two desks they had put together.

Come to think of it, he never explained why he wore his bangs to cover his eyes. Did it not hinder his sight at all? How come he could still make those perfect shots in a long-distance despite that fringe of hair obstructing his field of vision?

"You seem distracted," Chiba said as his head turned up. "Is there something wrong?"

She put her pen down before overlapping her hands on top of her notebook. She, then, asked, "How come you cover your eyes?" She batted an eyelid. "Doesn't it get in your way?"

"Are you also curious about what my eyes look like?" he asked, head a bit slanted to one side.

It was not just Sugaya and some of his classmates; even Korosensei and Irina had made inquiries on his well-hidden eyes. There had been occasions when Korosensei would come up with ways of revealing them. And like his classmates' guesses, the yellow octopus' efforts had been all futile.

"That's not it. It doesn't matter what they are like. Chiba is Chiba. I'm only curious about the reason," she explained.

He stood up, chair dragging across the floor, and leaned forward within an arm's length to her. "See for yourself," he said.

She raised her arm no sooner than retracting it right away. "Are you sure?"

He nodded.

Her hand edged to his bangs slowly until it lifted them, bringing to light a pair of maroon orbs. The intensity of his stare blinded her, her head slightly jerking away, and caused a loud thump in her chest. She was then reminded of the time when Fujiwara had withdrawn away after seeing these same eyes.

"My eyes are too strong that it intimidates others," he said as he sat back down with his bangs back on his forehead. "That is why I cover them."

'This is it. She will probably be scared of me from now on. She won't be looking at me the same way.'

Having regained her composure, Hayami took her pen in her clutch. "I get why people would be uncomfortable. But –" she paused as she fixed her gaze on him with a subtle, gentle smile on her face "– I still think your eyes are pretty."