It was a Tuesday when everything went wrong.Which was annoying, because Tuesdays were usually safe.Tuesdays were supposed to be the ramen-for-lunch, lazy-pose, post-Monday emotional hangover day.
But today?
Haruka didn't pose.
She didn't stretch. Didn't toss her robe dramatically onto the antique mannequin named Charles. Didn't threaten to strike anyone with Brenda.
She just sat on the edge of the stage, fully clothed, eyes distant, as if someone had erased her outline and forgotten to redraw her soul.
Yuuto blinked at her. "Umm… do you want… tea? Maybe… with extra sugar? Or vodka?"
Haruka didn't respond.
Kaito stepped forward, cautious. "Hey. You okay?"
Haruka looked at him like she didn't recognize the question.
"Don't feel like being naked today," she muttered. "Or anything, really."
And that was when the studio collectively realized:
Haruka the Muse had burned out.
It started subtly, in hindsight.
Last week, she'd skipped the usual backflip into pose number 7, "Regal Melancholy with Sword."
She'd turned down Kenji's invitation to "nude charades."
She hadn't even argued with Rei when she called her "a chaotic siren disguised as a woman."
But no one thought much of it. Haruka had moods. The world bent around them.
But now, sitting there like someone had yanked the electricity from her spine, it felt like something had cracked.
Yuuto whispered, "What do we do when our star model won't model?"
Kenji added, "Should I… become the muse again?"
Everyone screamed no at the same time.
Kaito took a deep breath.
"Alright," he said. "No drawing today."
Rei squinted. "You're canceling class?"
"Yes."
"You hate canceling class."
"Yes."
"You once held a session during a blackout using only candlelight and a flashlight taped to your head."
"I also had food poisoning that day," Kaito muttered.
Haruka looked up. "You don't have to cancel class for me."
But her voice was soft, like the edges had dulled.
"I'm not canceling for you," Kaito said. "I'm canceling for everyone. Because this school isn't just about drawing naked people. It's about honesty. And right now, pretending everything's fine isn't honest."
Haruka blinked.
Then, just barely, she smiled.
That evening, the group gathered in a circle on the studio floor.
No easels. No models. No swords.Just tea, snacks, and Rei holding an emergency therapy cat that Kenji somehow procured from a vending machine.
Kaito sat beside Haruka, close enough to let her lean if she wanted, far enough not to assume she would.
"Talk to me," he said quietly.
Haruka stared at her cup of tea.
"I don't know what I am anymore."
"What do you mean?"
She sighed. "At first, this was fun. Sexy. Bold. Like ripping the paint off my soul. I felt seen. Alive. I was… the muse. The chaos. The goddess on the platform."
She looked up, eyes tired.
"But now… I feel like I'm just the girl who takes her clothes off."
Yuuto gasped. "You're so much more than that!"
Rei added, "That sounded very anime, but I second it."
Kenji nodded solemnly. "You're not just a muse. You're the reason I started drawing again. And also the reason I understand the emotional arc of my own nipples."
Everyone turned to him.
He sipped his tea. "It's been a long journey."
Haruka chuckled softly. Then frowned again.
"I guess I'm just… lost. Who am I when I'm not the focus?"
Kaito reached into his bag and pulled out his sketchpad.
He opened it to a page—a drawing of Haruka. Not nude. Not posing.Just sitting. Reading. Hair down. One sock half off.
"You're still you," he said. "Even when you're not posing. Especially then."
She stared at it.
No sparkle. No drama. Just… her.
Tired. Beautiful. Real.
The next day, Haruka didn't pose again.
Instead, Rei did.
Fully clothed. Arms crossed. Face scowling.
"I'm doing this so you can sketch someone you're not emotionally attracted to," she declared.
Yuuto mumbled, "Bold of you to assume that."
Kaito turned red.
Kenji drew her like one of his judgmental French girls.
But something had shifted. The class felt… lighter.
Haruka sketched quietly in the corner.Not performing. Not watching. Just… being.
And for the first time in days, she looked peaceful.
That night, Kaito found her on the roof, legs dangling off the edge like she was arguing with gravity.
"You're not going to jump, are you?" he asked.
She smirked. "Only into bad decisions."
"Like posing naked for your ex-fashion teacher?"
Haruka turned to him.
"No. That was one of the good ones."
They sat in silence for a while, the Tokyo skyline humming beneath them.
"You don't have to be the muse all the time," Kaito said. "You can just… be."
She leaned her head on his shoulder.
"Will you still look at me?" she asked.
"I never stopped."
[End of Chapter 24]