An Unlikely Pair Visits the Church

For Hifumi Togo, it had been a routine day. Until those two, Ren Amamiya and Yusuke Kitagawa, had walked into the church that she regularly practiced her shogi in.

It wasn't uncommon for Ren to visit the church and practice with her, but she'd never seen him bring someone else there before. And she never would've guessed that if he did, it would be someone from her school. How do those two know each other, Hifumi had wondered. After all, she and Yusuke both went to the same school, and they didn't know each other. At least not personally. Sure, she knew of him. He had a reputation for being a passionate artist, and until Madarame's arrest, he had been the artist's top pupil. From what she had heard, he tended to keep to himself in the art room. And she only knew that much because when her mother found out that the pupil of a renowned artist attended her school, of course her mother's first instinct was to tell Hifumi to try to get him to paint her portrait to help bolster her reputation and name recognition.

Thankfully, that wasn't a situation that her mother had been able to insert herself into, seeing as the school took the security and privacy of its students so seriously. Instead, her mother had to pressure her to try to find out information about the young artist and find an opening to convince him to paint her. She had done the first part. She heard a number of rumors about him through the grapevine. Hifumi wasn't one to put much stock in hearsay, and most of what people had to say wasn't bad anyways. He was a truly dedicated artist, and apparently quite eccentric - not that she was one to judge, aware that much the same could be said about her when playing shogi. No, those rumors hadn't put her off. It was the rumor she had heard when she had finally almost caved to her mother's pressuring - Yusuke was looking for a girl to model nude for him. When she heard that, she couldn't help but blush. The first thoughts that ran through her mind were, No, no, no, no! That was one piece of information she decidedly wouldn't share with her mother, knowing that she would most likely all too enthusiastically run with the idea. The interviews she was subjected to were bad enough - and she was fully clothed for those... No, after hearing that rumor, Hifumi fully put her foot on the breaks. She came up with any number of reasons to give her mother for why she hadn't been able to arrange to have her portrait painted. Of course, those reasons became less and less effective as time went on. Hifumi knew she could only stall so long. It would only have been a matter of time before her mother did something drastic to try to get her portrait painted by him. That is until on that one fateful day in June, when Madarame revealed himself to be a fraud that plagiarized his pupils' works. And then, just like that, her mother dropped the topic altogether, much to Hifumi's relief.

Hifumi watched the unlikely pair slowly walk around the church, talking to each other. Perhaps a touch disappointing, it didn't seem like Ren had noticed her. Of course, she could always make the first move and approach the two boys... No, Hifumi shook her head, she wouldn't do that. Those two had came here, for whatever reason, to hang out together. And unless they approached her, she shouldn't intrude. She would just keep practicing her shogi. Or, at least that had been her intention.

For some reason, she couldn't seem to keep focused on the game as much as she wanted. Instead, her mind seemed drawn to the two boys. Realizing she wasn't going to be productive, she opted to take a break and people watch... specifically, on Ren and Yusuke. Only long enough to satiate her curiosity on what they were doing here. She watched them slowly make their way to the front of the room, walking right past her pew. They were just close enough that she could make out their conversation.

It had sounded like Ren was there to help Yusuke with his art. She heard Yusuke ask him to model. I should've known it was for something like that, Hifumi thought, looking back at her shogi board, figuring she had been distracted long enough.

She had fully intended on returning to her practice, until she heard Ren reply to the artist's request. "Do you want me to strip?" The moment the words left his mouth, Yusuke offered an impassioned affirmation. "Yes, that must be it! That is what I need!" And then he told Ren to strip.

"He really does ask his models to pose naked," Hifumi whispered breathlessly, her face flushed. Her eyes now glued to the boys. Was he really going to undress right there in public?

The answer ended up being a resounding "no." They had ultimately decided against Ren baring himself there in the church. But despite that, Hifumi couldn't get the idea out of her head. Being naked in a public place that you regularly frequented...