Work Text:
Yusuke’s inspiration came in waves. Some of those waves would be larger or last longer than others, but waves nonetheless. He was in what Futaba called his ‘drought’ stage, what happens after all of the inspiration from his previous wave had receded, yet a new wave had yet to strike. This current drought was caused by visiting Madarame.
Yes, he knew it was a bad idea. After everything that had happened in the Metaverse, him coming to realize Madarame’s true self, how he thought of Yusuke, that was when Yusuke had perhaps the longest drought he had ever experienced. It was as if Yusuke was a vegetable. He would just lay there in bed for days on end until one of the thieves came knocking. He would only drag himself out of bed every few days to try and produce something only to fail and just go back to sleep. He ate and drank very little during this time, only consuming when he was with his fellow thieves. He only got through it with the thieves' help(and, admittedly, a long shower). But this drought was enough to rival that one. Yusuke had been in his bed for two days, barely moving except to text Ann or Futaba or Goro that he was fine, which he wasn’t. This all started because Haru suggested he should visit Madarame in prison.
He knew Haru only had his best interests in mind, it wasn’t like her to take any malicious actions against anyone except shadows. But that idea had not been one of her best. Far from it actually. It was probably one of her worst, taking the form of a flaming dumpster fire. Yusuke laughed. That was probably the best thing his mind had come up with ever since facing that degenerate of a man for the first time in months. He could understand where Haru was coming from. She would most definitely want to see her father if he was still breathing and not six feet under, but her and Yusuke were far from similar. Yusuke tried to sit up, but just ended up rolling off of his bed onto the wooden floors of the Kosei High School dorms. His spine ached from where it hit the floor. That would leave a bit of a bruise. He pushed himself up onto his hands and toes, brought his legs up under his body and sat on the floor.
He was still wearing his street clothes from when he went out with Ann to that crepe place she wanted to try. The crepes were good, but much too sugary for Yusuke’s taste. They were exceptionally beautiful though, with the brightness of the strawberries, the plain but pleasant golden brown background of the crepe, and the compliments of chocolate. He would have brought one home to paint it once he got inspiration again, but it would lose its luster after a few days, the strawberries pushing their juice out, the chocolate dripping and making a mess, the crepe getting soggy. It would have been quite the disaster. His clothes were wrinkled, but not messy enough to warrant a change, which might have been out of his capacity today anyways. He pushed himself up and stumbled to the bathroom on legs that had been asleep with him.
The bathroom was as normal. He had no roommates, so it had been unused for days. He grabbed his toothbrush from the cup next to the sink. The flavorless toothpaste was, unlike the package said, vaguely flavored with baking soda. It filled his mouth with a bitter, unpleasant taste. He stared at his reflection in the mirror. His eyes were baggy and red with tears. His cheeks were sunken and his face pale. He looked horrible. He looked away from himself, at his bathroom counter. There was a vase of flowers that Ann had given him forever ago. He had always done his best to protect their longevity, he wished he could keep them for a long time as a commemoration of their friendship, but that was out of reach with real flowers. But he would still rather have real flowers than fake. He couldn’t feel the velvety texture of their petals or the vibrancy of their color if they were fake. Ann had specified the type of flower to him a while ago, writing it down on a card so he would remember. He spat the toothpaste out and rinsed off his toothbrush, putting it back in his mouth to scrub away at his teeth yet again. He reached over with his free hand to try and locate the card. It was a plain white note card, slightly yellowed around the edges from how long it had been in his bathroom.
There were a few different types of flowers inside the vase. The card held a few names, with small pictures next to each so he could distinguish them. There were Azalea, a light shade of red and cone shaped, a few lilies, which were a pinkish orange and speckled on the inside of their petals, some alstroemeria, a orange red with white stripes and speckles along their petals, and finally a large part of the group was made of deep red roses, which were scattered under some of the other flowers and between them. Yusuke almost dropped his toothbrush right out of his mouth. Now that he was looking at it closely, it was stunning, like those lobsters he had purchased back at the beach.
He spat out the pasty water and jumped into the shower, almost forgetting to take off his clothes. His drought was almost over. He just needed to contact his muse.
—----------
Fox: Akira, might I ask if you are free today?
Joker:yeah, im free all day
Joker:wat do ya need
Fox: Inspiration has struck! I need you here at once. Preferably in your school uniform, but anything neutral colored will do. By neutral I mean gray, black or white please.
Joker:yeah sure dood just gimme a minute and I’ll be over
Yusuke smiled and tucked his phone away. He started pulling out paints of various colors, and a canvas to place on his easel in his art room(just a refurbished living room). He grabbed his vase from the bathroom and set it down. He would be needing it for this work. He sighed. The rest of the prep would have to wait until Akira got here.
Akira came over not too long after that. He was clad in a simple black short sleeve shirt and gray sweatpants. Yusuke led him to the art room where he had Akira sit against a wall and lean into it. He could finally start his masterpiece.
Yusuke had been sketching upon his canvas, trying to get the contours of his companions face just so, when he saw Akira seeming a tad restless.
“I don’t need you to sit there for a little bit, so you can move around if you wish. There is a second part of this painting that doesn’t require you, so whenever you need a break I can work on that part.” Yusuke smiled at Akira.
Akira sighed, stood up and stretched his arms towards the ceiling, his back cracking at least three times. He grinned at Yusuke, “Do ya mind if I make some tea? I’ll bring back a cup for you too.”
“Go right ahead. Whenever you need it, my house is your house.”
Akira chuckled at that. “No need to get so formal Yusuke! I’ll go ahead and make some then.”
Yusuke got to work sketching the flowers.
—--------
It took a few days to get everything just right, more of the work being required on the flowers than Akira’s face, as after the first day he had the portion Akira was needed for down fairly well. He had some trouble making the flowers look realistic, but he figured out the kinks and coils eventually. Luckily for Yusuke, there was an art exhibition in a few days. The people running it were both ecstatic and weary of having one of Madarame’s former pupils, but once Yusuke showed them the piece he wanted to enter they were more than willing to welcome him.
It was the day of the exhibition. Yusuke had invited all of the thieves to it, and they all said they would show up. Yusuke was glad he could count on them to support him.
People were gawking at the painting, asking him what inspired it and what he meant to portray in the piece.
“I think I was trying to show someone at peace with themself. No matter what mistakes this person makes they can always fall back upon themself to care and love for them. Nothing large or controversial. Just simple self love.” That, while a tad exaggerated, made the reporters smile and nod along. Yusuke was glad that people enjoyed his painting, but the people he wanted to look at it most weren’t there just yet. He sighed in disappointment. He was desperate for them to come.
“ Woah dude.” He heard a familiar voice say. He turned, and his friends, no, his family, were standing there staring at the painting.
“Oh my god Yusuke.” Ann exclaimed. “It’s amazing.”
“Thank you Ann. I’m glad you like it.” Yusuke said.
“It’s amazing Inari!” Futaba said, bounding over to him. “Aki looks great! C’mere Aki, take a good look at yourself.” She dragged Akira over to the painting and tilted his head so he could look at the painting.
Akira let a small smile grace his lips. “It looks wonderful Yusuke.”
“Thank you Akira.”