Sparks of Hope.

It was a distressing experience, to show other people the art gallery inside the little cinema, Takurō worked in. He was not entirely sure how he could incorporate Akimi’s works into a story, but Rakuko was right! He had to do it again and show her parents, how important photography was for her. Maybe it was possible to incorporate it into the cultural festival.

Akimi’s parents would definitely visit. After all, YūKa was a big sponsor of the cultural festival, and they would surely agree to look at the works of their daughter’s boyfriend. His masterful plan got more and more concrete inside his head.

“It’s really nice to see you have so many nice clubmates, Takurō-kun.” It had been a while since Takurō last saw Hakoda. Toyoshima’s close friend sat on his usual bar stool and peered into the art gallery, while Takurō stood beside him, nervously observing the commotion.

“I hope they’re here to buy a drink or something at least, yah.” Toyoshima’s business sense kicked in again, as he leaned over the counter.

“But I’m really glad they are so interested in your girlfriend’s art, f’sure,” Hakoda said with a nod.

“They don’t know it was made by her …,” Takurō admitted. He couldn’t tell them, after Akimi had always tried to hide it from everyone. He at least had to ask her beforehand, but that was probably not an option as well. If he wanted to surprise her parents, it was better to not involve her in these endeavors.

“Takurō-senpai …,” Ikaritake called him from behind.

He turned around. “You’ve seen everything?”

“Yeah … what exactly was it, you wanted to show us with this, now?”

“I … thought, inspiration could be helpful, yeah. When we talked about fantasy and fairytales, I remembered this exhibition I always saw during work. Maybe we could … create something inspired by this, y’know?”

She narrowed her eyes. “And that your girlfriend created these artworks has nothing to do with this, f’sure?”

He flinched. “M-my … girlfriend? How did ya …?”

“That’s Ashiya-senpai on this huge self-portrait, isn’t it?”

“Self … Portrait …?”

“Yeah, the one with the antler.” Ikaritake turned around. “My stupid boyfriend liked it a little bit too much, now.”

Takurō saw Nagashiki sitting on the floor. Tears streamed down his cheeks, while Nakazuka inspected his head. “That’s guaranteed to be a bump, f’sure.”

Takurō looked at Ikaritake with big eyes. His cheeks flushed. Akimi hadn’t wanted anyone else to know about this, and now he had exposed her to his entire club.

He had tried to conceal her being the artist of these works, but how did he forget about this image that gave away everything? What was wrong with him, lately? His expression slipped slightly. “I … uh … that’s …”

She grinned at him. “I already wondered, what you liked so much about a volleyball jock like her. But I think this explains quite a lot, f’sure. These images even have a similar vibe to your writing … in a sense, y’know.”

He still looked at her embarrassedly, then lowered his gaze.

She gave him a casual bump to his shoulder. “C’mon, tell us! Why are we here, now?”

The other club members slowly gathered around them. Now, it was out. He couldn’t hide it anymore. Takurō sighed. “Aki-chan quit the volleyball club, and she quit doing her photography art as well. She even gave me her camera, yah. She has to learn to pass the entrance exams for Uni in Tōkyō.”

He shrugged. “It was a quick idea … I mean I thought we could create something to show her parents how important her arts are for her, y’know. I have to show them that being an artist isn’t something that can be turned off. But … this as well was not really thought to the end. You don’t even know her, yeah. And it’s hella egoistical to even ask you to do this with me …” He clenched his hands.

Ikaritake laughed out loud. So much, that Takurō looked at her surprised. “Sorry,” she said, while trying to catch herself again. “It’s just … really funny how even someone as organized as you can be confused from being head over heels in love.”

He blinked at her and the other club members around her. They chuckled at him as well. He had really become a scatterbrain with other things since he was with Akimi. Takurō lowered his head. “I’m sorry, I really try to get better again, f’sure.”

Ikaritake laughed again. “Please don’t …”

He furrowed his brows.

“For once, you’re not always pondering about the next big twist in your story, but about someone who’s very important to you. Or to put it differently: You live inside the real world, now.”

She curtseyed with the pleated skirt of her school uniform. “So, welcome, Prez. We’ll have a great time, f’sure.”

His eyes stared at her. He couldn’t explain the sudden lump in his throat. A hint of tears rose to his eyes. Did he really live inside his head so much? He gulped.

“But don’t expect us to do this with you, yah!” Nagashiki interjected from the back.

Ikaritake didn’t need another second to wrap her arm around him and pull him into a headlock. “What my lovely boyfriend wants to tell you is, that this is between you and Ashiya-senpai. Even though, we’d love to make it a group effort, it wouldn’t be right, now. You should do that on your own!”

“Maybe finally make a movie out of your screenplays, for once in your god damn life, yah!” Toyoshima edged in from the side. “Avoided it long enough now, didn’t ya?”

“B-but Noburo-san!” Hakoda started jittering. “Ya can’t say something like that, now!”

Takurō clenched his fists. It was not like he had never dreamed about this, but making a movie was a complicated and time-consuming endeavor. “And where should I even start, huh? It’s not like I have actors … or locations … or a camera.”

“Did Ashiya-san need those to tell a story?” Nakazuka raised a brow.

Takurō stared at him. “No, but … I mean she’s just creating photography art, and I …”

His gaze wandered to the artworks in the gallery. In the end, a movie was just the concatenation of several images. Maybe, he could … Takurō looked up at the others. “I think I’ll have to borrow a camera from my brother.”

“Or you just use still frames …” Nagashiki gave him a thumbs up from his headlock. Takurō looked at him. He slowly nodded. After a few protests from his side, Akimi had given him her photo cameras. He could use them to create images just like hers.

“This way or another: We’ve got your back!” Ikaritake smiled. “If there’s anything we can do, we’ll help you! I can even ask my friend from the art club if you need Illustrations like these.”

He raised his body again and looked at everyone. “I feel like this’ll be a debt I won’t ever be able to pay back.”

“Prez!” Nagashiki nodded with a wide smile, still caught in the headlock of his girlfriend. “You already did!”

There had been several reasons why Takurō was only writing screenplays and had never tried adapting them into a real movie. The most dominant one was probably, that he lacked the most important resources.

There were countless things to consider, but if he had to create just still frames, things would get a whole lot easier. Nonetheless, he had to think of a story, write the screenplay and adapt it in just eight weeks. This would be a tough task, but somehow Takurō knew, it was the thing he had to do.