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The third son of the Ootori family had been kept exceptionally busy by the Host Club's activities, but early in the morning near the last day of the festival, he made a quick check to make sure he wasn't needed, and quietly disappeared for a walk around campus.

His first stop was at the art club, as he'd mentally run the calculations, and thought that it was most likely he'd run into the largest number of the host club's regulars there. And truth be told, he'd had little time to spend with them lately, and might actually have missed them, if he were honest with himself. It was pleasant to step into the warmth of the art salon, the snowflakes melting off his coat in moments.

"Good morning," he said, surveying the room, which was elaborately decorated with all sorts of handmade decorations. Truly, they'd gone all-out.

Shiemi glanced up from where she was drawing a portrait of a girl from her English class, automatically calling out "Welcome~!" before doing a double-take. "Ah, Kyouya-senpai!" she beamed, waving, pencil in hand. "I'll be just a minute!"

She added the finishing touches to the drawing and presented it to her client, waiting until she was sure the girl was satisfied before excusing herself to walk over to Kyouya.

"Doing the rounds?" she asked with a smile, flexing and shaking out the muscles in her hands.

"Hello, Tsuki. Hello, Shiemi," Kyouya greeted the two of them. He spotted Shizuko busy with the art supplies -- he'd catch her afterwards, he decided.

"Yes, doing the rounds, more or less," he agreed, shrugging out of his coat in order to visit for a little while. "It's nice to have a little free time. It looks like you've been busy?" he asked the girls, noting that Shiemi had been rubbing her hand. "Have the portraits been going over well?"

"It seems so." Kyouya glanced around the art room, mildly surprised that there were only a few other students there. "What media have you all been working with?" he asked, moving to take a seat and settle in for a few minutes.

Shiemi nodded along with Tsuki's response. "Same for me -- graphite and charcoal, mostly," she held up black-smudged hands with a small smile. "They're the easiest for quick portraits; most people don't want to spend all day in one stall, after all. I have done a couple of watercolours, too, though." She gestured to a wire rack off to the side of the room where a couple of paintings were laid to dry before being collected later by their buyers.

Shiemi nodded. "That's right. We've had a couple of orders for finished pieces in acrylic from the sketches we've done this morning. A few couples," she added with a small, knowing smile. "Do you recall the tiger and the blackbird from the Masquerade Ball?"

She moved over to a small basin off to the side to wash the charcoal from her hands. "Class credits, as well," Shiemi replied, seeming glad of that compensation for her efforts. "The faculty head has been around already to inspect our work."

Kyouya's smile matched Shiemi's -- equally knowing. "I see." He made a mental note -- two months was actually a bit longer than he'd expected for the tiger and the blackbird. Perhaps there was more there than met the eye.

He got up to take a closer look at the sketch of Tsuki's robin, making an appreciative "mm" sound, and took the opportunity -- with a questioning raise of an eyebrow to be sure it was all right -- to look around at the other art pieces scattered around the room. "Nicely done."

He paused after a brief moment, then gestured at one of the sketches. "Is this one yours, Shizuko-san?" he asked the shyest of the group. It seemed like it was her style, though he hadn't seen her work in a while.

She smiled, honored that he thought so , it was one she wasn’t sure about and still wasn’t but she had picked blindly “ Thank you Kyouya .oh! Before I forget I put some art in the third music room, gifts from patrons to the club members: