May 27th of 2016

Yusuke sat at homeroom, drawing on his sketchbook with a smile, knowing that Madarame's heart had changed. The entire last week he had spent with the Phantoms, going into the palace to scout out possible infiltration routes and stealing things that he could sell in real life for cash. The day he got to drew the calling card made he feel somewhat ecstatic, the man got to pay for his sins and he was part of it. Then came the battle day, which was yesterday, he poured his heart and soul into beating every counterfeits the shadow produced, so much that even Morgana gave a round of applause while the palace collapsed.

It was the day he got to bring Hanae around the gallery, and instead of telling her that the artwork was all Madarame's, he could finally show her what he painted. Feeling a bit too excited, he returned to the shack and changed into new clothes. Before leaving, he glanced at the bedridden Madarame who hasn't left since last night. With a deep breath, he left the shack and smiled. Today was a day for him to relax, a day for him to hangout with Hanae with ease.

Hanae stood outside the gallery with her red headphones on. She wore a grey vest with a blue suit shirt under, with a black skirt that flowed to her thighs. She had long tennis socks with her usual black boots, the red string still tied around the shoelaces. Glancing at the few amounts of people going in, she knew she could see the paintings without a massive crowd, especially those drawn by her friend. 

Noticing Yusuke's approaching figure, she waved at him and took off her headphones. 

"I arrived a bit early to read the leaflet hehe, I was trying to guess which one of these were drawn by you...but uh its a bit hard..." she laughed, scratching her head. Yusuke smiled in response and led her into the gallery with confidence. 

"Oh this one, this has to be yours!" she pointed at a painting of many hues of blue on it, blooming flowers and withering petals, swirls and straight lines, a calm moon over a wild sea. She sighed and placed a hand on Yusuke's shoulder. "This is one of those...frustration artworks right?"

Yusuke solemnly nodded but smiled again.

"It is yes, but I feel much better now. I assure you, there won't be many sad artworks from now on."

"Art is a nice way of expression, I like the contrasts! But we don't need to stay here if you're uncomfortable, you lead the way okay?"

With a more cheerful nod, he guided her to his other paintings, observing her reaction for critique.

She admired his painting of a blossoming tree in the middle of a sea for 5 very long minutes, occasionally leaning in a bit close to the point he had to poke her to lean back in case the security kicked them out.

She smiled at his painting of the Moon, telling him that her favourite non-living thing in the world was the Moon, then laughing at her own statement because of its absurdity. Yusuke laughed alone and assured her that there was nothing wrong with having a favourite thing in the world, and led her to the next picture.

She frowned a little at his painting made up of frustrated brush strokes and red paint to create a fountain, but it was out of frustration against Madarame than at Yusuke.

After walking around the gallery a bit longer, the two decided to part ways.

"Thank you so much Yusuke! I loved your paintings really, let me watch you paint next time!"

"Of course Hanae, feel free to drop by anytime."

Laughing, she waved goodbye as she walked away, leaving Yusuke slightly blushing. He shook his face and slapped himself, unsure what just came over him.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

Hanae sat next to Hiro in his private car, glancing out the window to see the nightview. Hiro invited her to a private meal in a restaurant in Harajuku to get to know each other more, she accepted because she really did want to get closer to someone that was related to her and to work out what happened all those years ago.

"The view is so peaceful Hiro, I didn't know you were into restaurant searching." Hanae started, glancing out the window next to her to see the calm streets. "Did you want to discuss something?"

"Yes, about the past you see, my own memory is a bit blurry, but I hope you'll let me in on your investigation of the past."

Hanae turned to face him. His playful expression turned into a darkened frown, though darkness would usually be something to fear, Hanae found peace within it.

"Let's do our best then brother. For our mother."