Chapter Text
Tomorrow came faster than Koi would like and of course out of all days, school seemed to let out extremely faster than usual. However, he knew this was all in his head and it was the result of being anxious about his study session with the school’s delinquent. He was tempted to tell Haru or Aoi about Kakeru’s request but he couldn’t bring himself to snitch. Kakeru offered to help him study in his time of distress which his friends could not do at the moment. Even if Koi didn’t exactly believe that this hoodlum could teach him anything, it’s possible he has resources that will help in some way. Snitching on Kakeru would risk Koi’s last chance in finding a way to raise his grades.
Thus, Koi found himself at the library with no other options. His pink eyes scanned the vast room lined with bookshelves of supposedly the best books in the area. Nothing but the best for the students of Tsukino Private Academy. The library was the most popular spot in school as everyone would flock here once the last bell rang to get first grabs at the best material for upcoming tests, projects, scholarships, and so on. Koi had probably only been in it twice. Once he learned there was no manga section he saw little need to visit.
He noticed students were whispering to one another and even more chatter emerged when everyone noticed his arrival. As Koi moved further in, he saw how everyone swarmed the outside tables leaving many empty in the middle signifying to him that Kakeru was already present. Sure enough, his eyes were met with amber ones and Kakeru waved happily at Koi.
“Your late pupil!” Kakeru said in a teasingly stern voice when Koi sat across from him.
“You never set a time, you just told me to come here after school.” Koi retorted.
“Excuses, excuses!” Kakeru wiggled his finger at his crush. “Crack open those books and let’s get working on your latest assignments. We must not waste any more time.”
Koi rolled his eyes but there was a small smile on his face. He took his books out of his bag and opened up his math textbook first. Koi displayed their current lesson and the red marks all over his practice sheet to Kakeru.
Kakeru took the practice sheet and glanced over it, his eyes bouncing from the paper to the textbook. Koi rested his chin on his hand, expecting the small ruffian to admit he had no idea how to help and how this was all some silly excuse to hang out. He blinked when he watched Kakeru lift up his own book bag and pull out a sheet of paper. Koi’s head lifted from his chin a little as he observed Kakeru writing out the first problem then flipping the practice sheet over. In a matter of minutes, the problem was solved and Kakeru flipped the practice sheet over.
“Hm, that’s what I thought.” Kakeru murmured to himself before sliding his paper and the practice sheet over to Koi. “You miscalculated at this step here which resulted in the rest of your equations being wrong.”
Koi’s eyes were wide as he glanced back and forth at the two papers. Not only did Kakeru find the correct answer but he did so in half the time it took Koi to find the wrong answer.
“Hey, why do you look so shocked?” Kakeru questioned, his eyes narrowed.
“I-I’m not shocked! I’m...impressed!” Koi covered up.
Kakeru glared at Koi for a little longer before releasing his harsh gaze and letting out a sigh. He couldn’t blame his crush from thinking he was dumb, that stereotype came with the lifestyle he chose. Kakeru was well prepared for this type of reaction and went digging inside his bag.
Koi gulped and shrank back in his chair. ‘Oh no he caught my lie and is going to threaten me! He probably beat up a teacher for my test scores and is going to show the whole school if I don’t do what he asks! This is it, this is the end of me!’ He thought of his demise and held his breath until Kakeru pulled out a stack of papers.
Koi was shocked when the papers turned out to be recent test scores and project grades. He was even more shocked to see they had Kakeru’s name on it and As on all of them.
“I hope this is enough to prove that I know what I’m doing.” Kakeru scoffed. “But I won’t hold it against you if you believe I cheated to gain these grades or put my name on someone else’s work.”
Koi hated to admit it but those were the first few things that crossed his mind. Nevertheless, he found himself believing this was Kakeru’s true work. He proved his capabilities by correctly answering one of the practice problems and the writing did match. Koi had instant regret for how judgemental he had been this entire time.
“Kakeru, I’m sorry.” Koi apologized with a frown as he looked up at the blond.
“Don’t sweat it. I understand I don’t look the part of a genius.” Kakeru let out a sad laugh.
“There is no specific look for a genius, I was wrong to judge you by your appearance.” Koi proclaimed, his eyebrows furrowed. “Don’t take my jerkiness so lightly!”
Kakeru blinked, surprised how much Koi cared about wronging him. A smile graced his lips, he was truly blessed falling in love with such a kind-hearted cutie!
“Alright, yeah it was a jerky thing for you to judge me before giving me a chance. But I forgive you because I can’t stay mad at such an adorable face.” Kakeru said with a wink.
Koi’s frown stayed on his face but pink did color his cheeks. “Kakeru…”
“I also forgive you because at least you acknowledged your fault and apologized,” Kakeru added and felt relieved when Koi’s frown disappeared.
“That’s a reason I’ll accept.” Koi gave an affirmative nod. “But, I’m curious…”
“Why do I act and behave like a delinquent?” Kakeru interjected and Koi nodded again. “Because it’s fun.” Kakeru shrugged and leaned back on his chair, his arms resting on the back of his head.
“Fun? I don’t see how being ridiculed and judged by the entire school is fun.” Koi remarked, an eyebrow raised.
“I guess that part is a bummer but you get used to it. Not like I wanted to be friends with these preppy headed posers anyway.” Kakeru spat but regretted his words when he saw Koi’s eyes cast down to the floor. “Except for you! I’d love to be friends with you! I have worked so hard to do so!”
Koi looked back at Kakeru and gave him a small smile sending relief to the small blond.
“Being a normal student here is so stressful. Every day your teachers, classmates, and even the friends you make here remind you about your future. They make it out how every extracurricular, every test, and assignment, basically every move that you make here will affect your future and if it’s not considered the right way of doing something or isn’t a passing grade, then you’re screwed.” Kakeru explained.
Koi let out a sigh and pressed his cheek against his hand. “You got that right,” He groaned.
“That’s not the life I want to live as a teenager. I want to be free to make silly dumb decisions sometimes and not have someone telling me that if I make this decision it will ruin my chances at a good college. I want to stay up late but not reading a textbook from cover to back all the time, but playing video games until my eyes burn and I have to crash.” Kakeru sat back upright on his chair with a huge grin.
“I met the best kinds of people being different from the status quo. The teachers don’t mind as long as I keep my grades up, which I learned if you ace every test, essay, and projects you never have to do your homework!”
Koi huffed, wishing he had that kind of intellect. Kakeru noticed his crush's irritation and scratched the back of his head.
“Ah, sorry. Working hard on all assignments and getting decent grades is effective too!” Kakeru comforted.
“It’s not a very fun way…” Koi mumbled.
“Passing school isn't supposed to be fun. I basically have to homeschool myself and work on extra problems than usual.” Kakeru chuckled a bit as he picked up his pencil. “But the cool part of teaching yourself is that you find different ways to look at stuff.”
Koi blinked as he watched Kakeru complete another practice problem in a different method than what was provided by the book. Not even the teacher had used this method in class as a substitute route.
“Now try solving this problem here using the method I just did,” Kakeru instructed, pointing at one of the homework problems.
Koi gulped but he took his pen and started working on the problem. He wrote out the problem, then started working on it as Kakeru did with the practice problem. Koi’s brows were scrunched up and his tongue peeked out of his mouth a little as he grew closer and closer to an answer.
‘I got it, holy crap I think I got it!’ Koi thought to himself as he wrote out the final digit and passed the paper to Kakeru. The blond looked over the work only to glance back up at Koi and smile, signifying his answer was correct.
“I did it! I can math!” Koi shouted, standing up with arms in the air and earning an instant shushing from the people in the library.
He bowed in apology before sitting back down, but he was still beaming and could hardly sit still.
“Kakeru, that method of yours totally worked! I wasn’t confused or anything.” Koi acclaimed.
“I knew you would take to it well! I recommend doing that method on a separate piece of paper to find the answer and then doing the textbook or teacher’s method on the actual test. Sometimes the teachers can be pricks and take off points if it isn’t done the way they want it to be.”
Koi nodded, “Right! Thank you, Kakeru!”
Kakeru laughed a little, “Don’t thank me yet! You still have the rest of the homework to do and there are other subjects to look at.”
“Ugh, true.” Koi’s spurt of confident energy started to deplete at the thought of all the other work that had to be done.
“Come on now don’t lose that energy! You figured out math so the rest of this assignment will be easy.” Kakeru encouraged and placed a hand on top of Koi’s hand. “We’re going to get through this together!”
The brightness returned to Koi’s eyes as he looked into Kakeru’s eyes with newfound determination flowing through him. “Yeah, this’ll be no sweat!”
The two shared a moment gazing at each other and Kakeru not being in any hurry to remove his hand from Koi’s hand. Koi was surprised at how at ease he felt being with Kakeru and how he grew used to the eyes of students glued to them throughout the entire session. The silence between the two was broken when Kakeru let out a hum and finally moved his hand off his crush’s hand to pick up his pencil.
“Someone could really get lost in those pearly eyes of yours,” Kakeru commented nonchalantly.
“H-Huh?” Koi’s face flushed pink and he looked down at his notes, earning a whine from Kakeru.
“Aw, my ballerina looked away….” The blond pouted but he turned his attention back to Koi’s work. “But I guess I shouldn’t get so distracted. Let’s continue working.”
“Yeah,” Koi replied in a quiet voice. ‘Why must he be so forward?! What is up with complimenting me like that?!’
“Oi, you still with me Koi?” Kakeru tilted his head and Koi snapped back to the present.
“Sorry, did you say something?”
“I was wondering if you needed help on the next problem or can you handle it on your own?” Kakeru repeated.
“Oh, I can try it on my own,” Koi replied and picked up his pen, his eyes glued to his paper.
“They get harder as you continue on, there’s no shame in asking me for help okay?”
“Okay…”
Koi did his best to focus on the problem at hand and not the fact he started to feel warm inside the more he thought about Kakeru’s compliment.