"Why am I here?" Yui asks.
She gawks at the pale gossamer of the walls enclosing us. The children beside the table are eating the same snacks on the other side of the room. However, Himari stays with us and continues finishing her drawing on the sketch pad.
"Do you not like your Onigiri?" Roxanne queries and eyes at the rice ball.
Just as Roxy reaches out her hand, we feel someone glaring in her direction with bloodshot eyes. With the icy breeze coming from beside, nobody moves a muscle. Terror envelopes around my best friend while retracting her extending arm and sits like a stone-gazed statue of medusa. She has learned a valuable lesson of not snatching the food away from Yui.
"It is because you need to feel something other than becoming nervous about your acting," I give Yui an answer to her question. My reply seems to ironically also hit me.
Yui nods to herself and continues munching over the blubbery rice ball in her hands. I eat my share too and offer the remaining Onigiri to Himari, since this is her favourite snack.
The squishy but delectable snack leaves an everlasting impression on my tastebuds. The caretakers made these for the little ones, and lucky us she made some spare.
Roxanne has already finished her part as she rubs her belly in a circular motion. She even lets out a burp, unbefitting for a lady. As soon as we hear her belching, all of us laugh at the sound.
Himari, being the lovable child she is, stops what she is drawing and raises a question to Yui.
"How did you become friends with Roxanne and big sister Yuki?"
Yui looks at her and replies, "I stumbled upon her and stained her uniform."
She nervously points out the edge of my clothing and averts her gaze. Yui knows the event is still fresh inside our minds. But I pay no attention to the problem and laugh it off as a mere joke. That situation has led me to befriend this quiet person, after all.
"No worries, Yui. I know it was just an accident." I affirm.
"Roxanne is the president of the entire school, so it is easy to remember her face and her name," Yui adds.
Roxanne crosses her shoulders and nods to herself. Despite her jolly demeanour, Roxy does her job well during council time. She frequently roams around the school, wandering around the places. Roxy is also the one who handles the club. Not entirely, but partially. She also knows Chang-Ae, the president of the drama club.
"That reminds me of something," I add, and stand up from my seat.
I take my handkerchief with me and wave it in front of Yui, trying to mimic the grand entrance of a theatrical play. None of them gets the idea, except for Yui. She widens her eyes and snatches the towel away from my hands.
"Hey! No fair!" She squeals.
I laugh and take my fabric from her hand. "Did you know, Himari, your friend, Yui, knows how to act?"
A long pause enters the conversation. All of our eyes, including the kids and the caretaker surrounding us, gaze at Yui's figure, hoping to see a performance right here and now.
"I, -uh, do not know what you are talking about," Yui confesses and acts as if she is a stray cat on the streets.
I give a light tap on her shoulders and encourage her more to speak up. With an embarrassed smile, Yui shifts her gaze to the people surrounding her.
"I can, but please expect little from me," Yui confesses.
A vibrant cheer echoes inside the orphanage as we motivate Yui to act. Dozens of children swarm the table and wait for the main actress to perform. All our eyes show eagerness as we foresee what is about to come.
Yui knows she can not escape us, so she goes to the flow of the conversation and stands up. She clears her throat and takes a deep inhale before saying her lines.
"Grandmother," Yui cries, "O take me with you; I know you will go away when the match burns out; you will vanish like the warm stove, the roast goose, and the large glorious Christmas tree."
(Author's note. I took dialogue from the story because it represents Yui somewhat similarly. Please be reminded that the part does not belong to me but Hans Christian Andersen. And I want to add that this part is supposed to belong. I need to cut it short since that is one of the few dialogues of the fairy tale.)
It is the same as last time. The lines Yui has spoken come from the famous story The Little Match Girl.
Everyone gives her a round of applause for her one-of-a-kind performance. The kids watching from the back could not help but stand in ovation and awe. Some children imitate her short monologue as the match girl, wandering around the snow. To others who do not know the story rushes to the caretaker and requests to tell the volume before going to bed.
It is an event that leaves Yui in tears.
"Thank you for listening." She says while covering her mouth.
I do not want to be a bitter critic and tell her the mistakes she has made to have inkling corrections from her performance. She still lacks in the emotion department, but the audience loves it, so I find no issues right now.
"That is some performance, Yui."
"Good job, Yui."
Roxanne and I give our compliments to Yui as soon as she finishes acting in front of a small group. She bashfully looks down and hides her pinkish face. Yui is not the type of person who craves the attention of everyone from the group, so she averts her gaze from everyone else, everyone but Himari.
Himari peeks through Yui's nervous face. She stops sketching her artwork and examines Yui. The shy girl feels shocked to see her head popping out of nowhere. Even I would feel surprised if that happens to me.
The old caretaker grabs our attention and asks if we could help her with the dishes. She also mentions that her granddaughter is out for the evening, working at a part-time local store near the founding home.
We feverishly nod our heads and race through the sink, leaving Himari and Yui to get along with each other.
Yui nods as she sees us part ways to the other room. She looks at the child and strikes a conversation.
...…
(Yui's perspective)
"You were really good out there, Yui!" Himari says.
"I do not know what to say about that."
I flail my hands upward with my head resting on the table. Countless question marks flock around me, as if messing with my head. If there is one thing that I am proud of, I know that my performance is horrible.
Himari closes the distance and rests her head on my shoulders. She reaches out for her pad and flickers through the pages, revealing the set of drawings that the little girl has.
"Look at my drawings, Yui!" Himari suggests and opens the book.
I scan her drawings and notice the characters are mostly in stick man figures. I am not one to judge, and I find the sketches adorable, but she needs to learn how to draw correctly for the next few weeks or months.
But I do not want to give her advice or point out her mistakes. I am not an artist or an illustrator, so I do not need to fix what she has missed. All I can do is appreciate her work.
"I love your drawings." I pronounce with my eyes staring at each of the lovely drawings.
Himari rejects my compliments and shakes her head. "I know all of them are terrible. I cannot even compare myself with Nickson."
"The vice-president of our school?" I gasp to myself.
The little girl knows Nickson too? What is her relationship with that Korean guy?
I keep my thoughts inside my head, having no answers.
"I find it pretty," I second my claim.
Himari refuses my praise and slides her finger at the parts where she is lacking. The young girl explains the different techniques she needs to fix and details she could add. With the help of her three friends Roxanne, Nickson, and Yuki, she has been efficient in applying these tips to her drawings.
Her explanation becomes a novel of trials and errors. Himari talks about everything with precise descriptions about how she feels off about her sketches despite being a child. I have learned a lesson or two about drawings.
I should practise my scribbles once I go home.
"All I receive from the three of them are lectures I need to learn." Himari's face and eyes droop as she checks her drawings.
I hate to admit it, but I find a connection between the two of us.