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“I really don’t wanna do this shit ‘gain!” Ryuhei Sasagawa complained loudly, his voice easily carrying through most of the cafeteria. “They tried ruinin’ my last fuckin’ summer with this extra classes shit, but not ‘gain!”
The third year’s first parent-teachers conferences had been held earlier that week, and some of the students were now getting their notices that unless they were to perform well at the upcoming exams of the semester, they would spend a couple of weeks of Summer break attending supplementary classes.
Unsurprisingly, Ryuhei, as well as Mitsuru Numai and Hiroshi Kuronaga, had received such notices.
“How come ya escaped, Zuki?!” Hiroshi demanded to know, pouting childishly.
“I guess I have to be naturally brilliant, like Kazuo-kun,” Sho teased, earning himself a glare from Mitsuru, who disliked when they referred to Kazuo Kiriyama in such a casual manner, even when the other boy was absent. “Or maybe it’s my natural beauty that saved me, sweetie. God knows you have none of that,” he added after some thought, giving Hiroshi’s head a small pet. The smaller boy wiggled away, making exaggerated gagging noises at the touch.
“There might still be hope for you darlings too, though,” Sho continued, lighting his cigarette. “You only have to go if you fail your exams, riiight? So what if you all do well?”
The group were silent for a moment, before simultaneously all breaking out into hysterical laughter.
“Good one, man,” Mitsuru commented once they all composed themselves somewhat.
“Think we’ll just end up ditichin’ most of it anyway, like last year –“ Ryuhei, began, but was interrupted by Hiroshi, who huffed.
“My ma was soo pissed though,” he mumbled. “And she’s already pissed I got this warning now too! She’s gonna fuckin’ force me to go!”
“F’got you’re such a mama’s boy,” Ryuhei chuckled. “Guess ya can be a nerd on your own. Don’t count us in, right, Mitsuru?”
Mitsuru did not look too sure either way. Of course, he had no desire to completely waste his summer sitting inside the same school he already tried to avoid as much as possible. Besides, once this year were finished and they went on to (maybe, if they bothered) become High School students, he was more interested in how they could keep the gang growing stronger and more infamous in the region, rather than working on his grades in any way. Still… He hated the idea of having to re-take a year of Junior High, more than the idea of a couple of boring weeks of Summer.
“I dunno. We’ll see,” he finally grumbled in response. “We’ll deal with it when it happens or whatever.”
A few tables away, a slightly bigger group of friends were trying to enjoy a peaceful lunch break; not the easiest task with the yelling erupting through the room every now and then from the Kiriyama Family’s table.
“He’s always just so… loud,” Satomi Noda commented dryly, picking on her salad with a fork. She was very clearly referring to Ryuhei, who was the loudest member by a landslide. “I’ve never even talked to him, but I could tell you every single thing that’s ticked him off so far this year. Somehow, I’ve heard all about it!”
“Jeez, Sato. You sure get hangry. Here, you need to eat this a little quicker, before you snap and kill us all!” Yuka Nakagawa teased her, laughing as she grabbed Satomi’s fork out of her hands and started pushing pieces of the salad near the girl’s lips, in an attempt to help feed her.
Izumi Kanai and the other girls of the neutral girls who were all seated around the table, laughed too at this display. However, Izumi’s thoughts were quickly wandering.
She could not help but glance in the Kiriyama Family’s direction again; and not necessarily because of the noise.
Satomi had a point, that Ryuhei was always riled up about something anyway, but it was not him Izumi was now looking at. Her eyes had settled on Mitsuru, as they usually did in the end. Was she crazy, or did he look deep in thought about something? She hoped whatever “shit” she had heard Ryuhei yelling about before, did not involve a fight or something. Mitsuru often showed up to school with cuts and bruises from his different altercations with various other gangs from nearby areas. Despite the frequency of this, Izumi never could seem to get used to the sight. It always left her feeling like someone was squeezing tightly around her heart.
I really hope that isn’t it, this time…
She could ask, but that would be so strange of her. They were not friends, just because they were nice to each other. Izumi knew it was ultimately none of her business anyway, no matter how curious she was. Mitsuru would be so weirded out if she just…
“- Hello? Earth to Izumi! Guys, I think we’ve lost her!” Yuka cried out dramatically, waving a hand in front of Izumi’s face.
Blinking, somewhat confused, Izumi snapped out of her thoughts.
“W-What? Sorry, I was…. Thinking about my cats?” she said, unsure if anyone would believe such a ridiculous excuse. She was almost insulted when no one questioned it.
Instead, Noriko gave her a patient smile.
“I was saying I would love to bake something for after the exams this semester, so we can hand it out to our classmates. Doesn’t that sound nice? And, maybe you could help out, too!”
Izumi gave her a slight smile, though her expression was doubtful. Haruka spoke up, saying exactly what Izumi herself had been thinking:
“Why, do you hate all of them?” she joked, smiling to Izumi to let her know she was not being serious. It was true, though. Izumi was not exactly known for being a great cook or baker; not like Noriko and Chisato. She had tried, really, but she had zero natural inclination towards it.
“Haruka, Izumi isn’t that bad –“ Noriko tried to defend her, but Izumi laughed and shook her head.
“No, I am. I will be there anyway, though. I suppose I could read from a receipt or something. And lick the bowl?”
“Hey, that’s my job!” Yuka laughed. They agreed that even though Noriko and Chisato would take the lead on the baking, the others could be there for moral support and whatnot. And eating the leftovers, of course.
Their talk drifted on to the topic of their achievement test and end-of terms exam that following week. Satomi always put together a study group for them so they could all be as prepared as possible. Izumi was not too worried about it (though, she knew she would feel nervous the day of the tests, no matter how confident she might feel in advance), as she felt she had a good understanding of that semester’s curriculum. She might need some of Satomi’s pointers with maths, though. But overall, she felt confident that her and her friends would all do quite well.
The next class, she was mostly lost in thought of exams and then, the celebratory cookies that would follow. She was only distracted when she heard Ryuhei and Hiroshi yell about something or another again, causing her to turn her head slightly to gaze at the back off the classroom. Again, the two louder member of the groups seemed very riled up, though it was impossible for her to make out what was going on. She did hear Hiroshi very dramatically exclaim that “We’re gonna fuckin’ dieee, I know it!”, which naturlally did nothing to ease her concerns from earlier. Mitsuru looked more unbothered, sitting in such a way that his back was leaning against the wall by the windows instead of facing the teacher, so Izumi could only see his profile. He did not seem as concerned as the others, but let them carry on, until Hayashida-sensei told the group they needed to calm down.
After Hayashida-sensei had addressed the group, Mitsuru moved his chair to face forwards again too, briefly catching Izumi looking at him as she did so. Embarrassed, she immediately turned her head and pretended to be very busy studying her pen.
What is going on with them…
When Hayashida-sensei soon after asked if anyone would like to help hand out some task sheets with questions for them to complete during the final part of the class, Izumi felt her hand shoot up without any hesitation.
“Sensei, I’d be happy to,” she volunteered, thinking this could be a good chance to get close enough to the Kiriyama Family to get a real grip of the issue they were dealing with. Besides, she was sitting near the front, so she might as well help Hayashida-sensei out.
Izumi moved around the classroom swiftly, slowing her pace only when she reached the group at the back. Ryuhei and Hiroshi were still talking, albeit more quietly now, and Sho watched them with some amusement.
Mitsuru however, sat a little straighter on his chair now, and reached a hand out to accept the papers from her when she arrived.
“Thanks,” he said with a small smile. Izumi smiled back, but tried to focus her hearing on Ryuhei and Hiroshi’s conversation.
“Not like we got a damn chance. Thank fuck we ain’t goin’ to High School anyway. This is the last summer they’ll ever fuck up for us, ever!” Ryuhei said bitterly. Hiroshi nodded enthusiastically along.
“It just sucks so much! I’m so damn jealous of ya, Zuki. Ya don’t gotta deal with this shit! How do ya do it? Do ya like, study?!”
Izumi was confused for a second. They were talking about… school? The way they talked about studying and ruined summers, it was finally beginning to click for her. They must have been told they have to attend those supplementary classes again this year. At least, if their exam results were not satisfactory.
At this realization, Izumi could not hold back a sigh of relief. She was just too happy their problem was not involving anything dangerous, and she forgot to consider how odd she must have looked right now, frozen in front of the boy’s desks with a stupid smile on her face.
Luckily, the only one who seemed to notice was Mitsuru.
“Erm. Kanai. Ya ‘kay?” he asked hesitantly, his brows furrowed slightly.
Blushing, Izumi uttered a quiet “I-I’m fine!” as she tossed a random number of papers down onto Mitsuru’s desk (forgetting he had already accepted four for himself and his friends), and spun around to complete her way around the classroom.
Oh, smooth, Izumi. So smooth!
When she got back to her seat, the class continued as normal. Izumi’s initial relief faded and turned into slight concern, as she remembered Mitsuru’ expression in the cafeteria earlier; how strangely worried he had looked about the whole thing. She had always figured he just did not care about school at all, but now she was not too sure. Or maybe he was really just bummed about a wasted summer, of course. Izumi wished there was something she could do to help out. She knew Satomi had been approached by Hayashida-sensei and asked to be a teacher’s assistant for those extra classes. However, Satomi had turned it down, after a very passionate (and long) speech by Yukie about the importance of this last Junior High summer break together.
That did mean a spot as assistant might still be open, Izumi thought. Oh, but she would have to ask Hayashida-sensei about it in secret, because Yukie would undoubtedly give her the exact same speech. In fact, they would all find it weird that Izumi would offer to be an assistant after Satomi turned it down so that they could all spend more time together. They had made so many fun plans, too. Izumi felt like she could not just ditch them like that.
Besides, this plan meant Mitsuru would still have to be stuck with summer school, and the whole point would be ruined.
She could offer to help him study for his exams beforehand. The only problem with this was that it involved having to approach him and speak to him without sounding like an idiot. Which Izumi was awful at, clearly. And she needed an opportunity too. Some time when he was by himself, because she could not handle the humiliation of his friends making fun of her.
When the day ended, Izumi was still debating how, or even if, she should try to offer him her help. However, the situation kind of solved herself when she spotted him alone by his locker, putting away a notebook. Izumi was alone too, as she had to get to Ikebana right after school, and had already parted with her friends.
It’s now or never. Izumi took a deep breath, very aware she might not get a chance like this again.
Taking nervous steps over to him, she was about to clear her throat quietly to make her presence known (See, why do I not just consider saying hey? It’s things like this that makes me so embarrassing!), when he spotted her from the corner of his eye.
“Hey,” he said, smiling. “What’s up?”
“Hello!” Izumi responded, caught off guard. No, this was not how it was supposed to go. She was going to say hello first, then he would say hey, and she would ask him how he was doing, and he would… Oh, it was too late now. Mitsuru waited patiently for her to continue talking, as Izumi tried to string together a sentence that made any sense. “I… I overheard, in the classroom… Are you… Do you have to take those supplementary classes this summer?”
Yes, that almost sounds good.
Mitsuru looked a little surprised, but nodded. “Yeah. It sucks. It’s happened like, every year too.”
Izumi nodded, trying to remember what her next sentence was going to be. Oh, yes.
“Yes, it can’t be great… So, uhm, I don’t know. I thought… If maybe you wanted to, maybe try to work a little to prepare for those exams coming up, then… I-I mean, I’m not as smart as Satomi, but I do kind of well anyway. And… I don’t know if I would be a good tutor or anything, I’ve never done it before, but if you wanted to, then, we could. We could try…”
She knew she was not exactly selling herself as a brilliant tutor who would save him, but this was the best she could do. Mitsuru’s eyes widened, and she thought his face looked a little pink, but she was not too sure.
“Are ya… Are ya serious?” he finally asked, clearing his throat. “You’d do that?”
Izumi felt her heart beat hard against her chest, as she nodded again. “Mhm. Yes, of course. If it… If it sounds like something you would want to do…”
“Hell yeah. F’sure. I gotta warn ya though, I ain’t opened a book this whole term. And I’ve not really studied much for other exams either, so I might be a total lost case here. Sorry If it’s ‘bout to be a waste of your time,” Mitsuru said with a sorry smile. He rubbed the back of his neck with a hand, still looking down at her in slight disbelief. “This is real damn nice of ya, Kanai. I’ll remember it, I swear. Especially if I pass.”
He’ll probably remember it if he doesn’t, too… And remember the idiot girl who let him down! Izumi could feel herself sweat with this pressure, but hoped he did not notice how nervous she felt.
“Then, let us make sure you do!” she said instead, surprising herself with the confidence in her tone. “How about we start tomorrow and meet at the library right after school? There are quite a few subjects to cover, so… We should get started as soon as possible.”
Mitsuru was still smiling as he nodded. “Yeah. Perfect.”
“Oh,” Izumi remembered just before she was about to walk away. “If you want to invite Sasagawa-kun and Kuronaga-kun to join, then… Feel free to. Alright?”
Mitsuru nodded again, though a little hesitantly this time. “Yeah, ‘kay… I will. Thanks, man.”
Izumi was still feeling like she had some kind of adrenaline rush the next day. Waiting for Mitsuru in the library, she could not believe she had actually dared to walk up to him with this suggestion. Even more crazy was the fact that he had agreed and seemed kind of excited about it.
Izumi figured they could start with something relatively light, like languages. She had their English books and curriculum in front of her, looking through the text book questions at the back of the chapters, as well at a couple of exams from earlier years which she had printed out for them to tackle.
Not too long after, Mitsuru arrived, rushing over to her table.
“Hey. Sorry. The guys wouldn’t fuck- wouldn’t let me leave,” he apologized, and made sure to watch his swearing. Izumi appreciated it, trying not to get too caught up in how cute he was.
“That’s alright,” she assured him as he sat down. “Did neither of them want to join us?”
Mitsuru looked at her for a moment, before shaking his head slowly.
“Nah. Sorry, I asked, but they said it was lame. Don’t think they really care ‘bout passin’ at all…” he said with a shrug.
This did not exactly surprise Izumi. And if she was being honest, she was kind of happy it would just be the two of them.
“Oh, well,” she smiled. “I’m glad you don’t think it’s too lame then.”
“Nah. It’s lamer to be stuck in school half of the summer, right?” Mitsuru said casually, as he looked down at the table. “What are we doin’ for the first lesson?”
“English!” Izumi told him excitedly, in English. He looked up with a frown.
“Shit. ‘Kay, guess it ain’t my worst subject or whatever, but I dunno if I can do the whole lesson in English, Kanai,” he replied, in Japanese.
Izumi laughed. “I just said one word! It’s fine. I think we will have to do a poem analysis, judging by these previous exams, so you don’t have to worry about the conversation-thing.”
“No, guess I got other things to worry ‘bout,” Mitsuru mumbled, though jokingly. “Man. I really am screwed.”
He began looking through his bag, before returning empty-handed. “I ain’t even got a pencil,” he said with a sheepish smile. “Ya got a spare?”
Izumi offered him her pink pen with a fuzzy top, smiling teasingly. Mitsuru let out a laugh.
“The Hell is this? A small animal?”
“It’s my lucky pen. I promise, if you use this, you’ll do great. I assume you won’t want to use it for the actual exams, but I’m sure it works if you use it for our preparations, too…” she joked. Shaking his head, Mitsuru grinned as he reached out to accept it. His fingers brushed against hers, and Izumi pulled her hand back as soon as he had a grip on the pen. Even a slight touch from him made her feel so warm, and as fuzzy as that silly pen.
“S-So,” she said, composing herself. She hoped she was not too obviously flustered, as she continued in English. “Let’s start, then!”
“Am I meant to remember all this shit? Sorry, stuff. But like, without a book?” Mitsuru asked, his tone exasperated. He had his hands in his hair, staring down at the History book in frustration. It was their third day of their after-school tutoring, and they were seated at the very back of the library, at a table hidden amongst the shelves. Izumi gave him a sympathetic look back, nodding slowly.
“Yes, but, we can break it down. Don’t try to think about all the small details right away. Like… For the war, think about the main causes, both underlying and the final trigger, and then the major effects it had. Once you really understand the bigger picture, it might be easier to understand those smaller battles and their purposes, too…” she explained patiently, not really sure if she was helping him or not.
Mitsuru looked up at her, sighing.
“Yeah, it makes sense. Sorry I’m slow with it. I never knew how to study or anythin’,” he said quietly.
“Don’t apologize!” Izumi insisted. “You’re doing really well. It’s not exactly the most exciting topic, I suppose, but… At least it’s something where I know what’s going on. So you might have a better chance of succeeding with this than with say, maths…” she laughed, thinking back to the previous day when she had attempted to learn him how to find X, but ended up having to text Satomi for help on how to even do it herself.
Mitsuru’s smirked.
“Nah, that was funny. Never seen ya get mad b’fore.”
“I wasn’t mad!” Izumi huffed. It was half true; she had been more embarrassed than mad, frustrated that she had wanted to help him, but needed just as much help. She would need to ask Satomi for some extra lessons. “I was… frustrated.”
“Yeah, whatever. Same thing,” Mitsuru teased, flipping through the pages. “Lunch break?”
“It’s 5 PM!” Izumi laughed, shaking her head. “No lunch. It’s almost dinner, if we can just get through one more chapter.”
Ignoring her, Mitsuru reached into his bag and put something on the table, sliding it closer to her. Izumi blinked, recognizing the packaging as the chocolate chip cookies from the cafeteria.
“Oh, I love these,” she blurted out. If she needed a treat, she usually went for those.
“I know,” Mitsuru responded casually. “I got us some for pre-dinner. Since it ain’t lunch, apparently."
Izumi was questioning what he meant by the I know, as she could not remember to have mentioned liking these, but she smiled gratefully.
“Alright… I will accept the pre-dinner,” she nodded. “Next time, I will get you something, as a thank you for this one!”
“No way,” Mitsuru quickly refused. “This is like, my thanks for ya even botherin’ to help me. It must be real borin’ for ya to spend all your afternoons like this.”
He did sound like he felt guilty about it. Izumi wondered if he had forgotten that she was the one who had offered to help.
“Not at all,” she said truthfully, beginning to nibble on the cookie. “Especially now when it gets me free cookies.”
Once they got through the next chapter, Izumi told Mitsuru to read on as she prepared some flash cards they could go through together after. She still was not sure what the best learning method for him was, and she felt certain he had no clue either, so she figured they would try a little of everything. She scribbled down dates, names, locations, battles, anything really necessary to know about the Second World War.
“How’s the reading going?” she asked him after finishing what must be the thirtieth card. Mitsuru glanced up at her.
“I don’t wanna whine ‘bout it, but it feels like my brain’s meltin’. It’s like nothin’s stickin’ right now,” he said, sighing.
“Well, we’ll try something different then,” Izumi said, showing him the cards. “More of like a memory game, so you don’t have to read all of the text just to get to the important bits. It might be better…”
“Yeah, maybe,” Mitsuru agreed, looking a bit more optimistic as he closed the book.
They went through the flashcards, going a few rounds as Mitsuru needed some time to remember them. But when he started getting the answers right, Izumi would light up, enthusiastically cheering.
“Yes! That’s right!” she exclaimed happily, before picking up a new one. “This is going so well. So the trick is to not stop even when it feels boring and repetitive, because that is when you’re sure to remember it.”
“It ain’t borin’ yet. I think I like this way of learnin’ more,” Mitsuru said with a smile back to her. Whenever she got all excited about his correct answers, she noticed Mitsuru’s smile brightening too.
“I will make more of these for the next chapters then,” Izumi said eagerly, petting her stack of cards. “Maybe for some of the other subjects, too. It might work with English and Japanese.”
“Maybe not with maths,” Mitsuru pointed out. With a teasing grin, he added. “Especially not with ya writin’ them. It’ll be like “Where’s X? B’hind W, probably”.”
Izumi let out an airy laugh, surprised, but not at all upset, that he felt so comfortable teasing her.
“Hey! Sometimes he is a good hider, alright? Don’t get too rude, because we have a long way to go, and I can leave at any moment!” she joked, throwing a cookie crumble at him.
Mitsuru grinned. “Ya wouldn’t,” he dared her playfully.
Izumi picked up another piece of the cookie, chewing it as she squinted to him, unable not to smile as she did.
He’s right, too… I wouldn’t.
Using the more creative techniques seemed to be working, because Mitsuru soon answered the majority of the questions correctly. Sometimes certain dates or smaller events got mixed up, but Izumi was honestly impressed with the progress. When it was time for their exams, she almost felt more nervous for him than she did for herself, but she tried not to get too distracted. She only got to talk to him briefly after their final one, before he had to rush to go somewhere with his friends, but he seemed to think they all went alright.
“Better than ever b’fore, that’s f’sure,” he told her with a grin.
Izumi hoped he was right.
About a week after the exams were completed, they were starting to receive their results. As expected, Izumi and her friends did quite well in the majority of the subjects. She even managed to somehow scrape a B in maths (Thank you, Satomi!), and now that their last test results were handed out in History class, Izumi and Yuka were excitingly whispering about how they would celebrate with pizza and movies that weekend. Suddenly, some chaos erupted at the back of the classroom.
“’Kay, fucker, that’s it! No way ya got a fuckin’ B in History! Ya don’t know shit ‘bout it! Ya don’t even know what happened last week?!” Ryuhei yelled out, completely dumbfounded as he stared down at Mitsuru’s paper.
Izumi and Yuka both turned around, as did most of the class. Mitsuru was staring down at his paper too, in obvious disbelief, as Ryuhei carried on.
“How’d ya do it? How’d ya cheat so hard?!”
“I didn’t cheat,” Mitsuru mumbled, still looking down with a stunned expression.
“At least don’t make it so obvious! Cheat so ya end up with a C, top. Somethin’ more beliveable –“
“- I said I didn’t fuckin’ cheat!” Mitsuru snapped, his tone growing more annoyed. “I just… studied, ‘kay?” he lowered his voice again, as if this was something to be embarrassed about.
“Studied? We don’t do that!” Hiroshi argued, frowning in confusion.
“Obviously ya didn’t, ya f’got this whole exam, ya dumb mother-“
“Alright, enough now!” Hayashida-sensei finally interrupted, shutting the group down. “Calm down, you guys. Let’s continue class, shall we?”
Izumi turned back around, biting her lips softly. She tried to read Hayashida-sensei’s expression, but it seemed neutral. She hoped he did not believe Ryuhei’s accusations about Mitsuru. He had really started to remember things they were reading, after all.
When class ended, Izumi started packing her things, still chatting with Yuka about the weekend. The Kiriyama Family always excited class quickly and were already halfway through the door, when Hayashida-sensei called out to Mitsuru.
“Numai-kun, can you please come here for a moment?”
Hiroshi and Ryuhei nudged each other, sending their friend teasing looks.
“Oh oh, said ya should have cheated less obviously!” Ryuhei commented, earning himself a glare from Mitsuru, before he left with the rest of the gang.
“Izumi, let’s go!” Noriko, who had joined her and Yuka, said cheerfully. “The weather’s so nice out, Chisato suggested we should get some ice cream and go to the park!”
Izumi nodded, forcing a smile.
“Sure! I just… I need to ask Hayashida-sensei something real quick,” she lied. “You guys can just wait for me outside, if you want. It will just be a second!”
Yuka and Noriko agreed, joining the other girls who were waiting by the door, before walking out ahead of Izumi.
Izumi glanced at Mitsuru and Hayashida-sensei, knowing it was probably really rude to just cut into their conversation, but also feeling like she had to say something in Mitsuru’s defence. He was innocent, after all.
“Hayashida-sensei, I’m really sorry to interrupt,” Izumi spoke up, causing both of them to look up at her in mild surprise. “I-I just… I have to tell you that Numai-kun definitely didn’t cheat. He actually worked really hard and… And he knew the answers to all those questions we got on the test, because we covered them! I mean, him and I did. We studied together. Like a study group. Uhm, a small one… Anyway, he really did put a lot of work into it and…”
Feeling herself beginning to ramble, Izumi let her voice die out. She noticed Hayashida-san watched her with an amused smile.
“I don’t think he cheated, Kanai-san,” he said gently. “I’m pretty good at spotting all kinds of different cheating methods. It’s like a sixth sense.”
Izumi smiled weakly. So she had meddled for no good reason. Feeling stupid, she gave a small bow of her head, and was about to excuse herself, when Mitsuru spoke,
“He was just sayin’ I don’t gotta do those summer classes and stuff. ‘Cause I passed all the tests.”
“You’re forgetting the part about how proud I am of your hard work! Now you see just what you are capable of. I always knew it!” Hayashida-sensei reminded him brightly.
Mitsuru glanced down at his shoes, blushing slightly. This kind of praise was rare to him, and obviously making him uncomfortable. Izumi could not hold back a proud smile as she looked at him.
“Very well. Whatever study technique you two used, it clearly worked. Great job, both of you. Now go enjoy this sunny weather!” Hayashida-sensei smiled, collecting his papers.
“Thanks, sensei,” Mitsuru muttered, nodding slightly to him. Izumi bowed again, smiling.
“Thank you very much!”
As they walked out into the hallway together, Mitsuru turned to her.
“And thanks to ya too, Kanai. Zuki said we can spend the summer workin’ on our tans now. I dunno if that’s the sorta shi- stuff me and Boss’d be into, but it beats school.”
Izumi laughed softly.
“Believe me, it does. You might just love it,” she said playfully.
“Maybe,” Mitsuru agreed with a grin. “Seriously though. I wouldn’t have done like, half as good if ya hadn’t helped me out…”
Flustered by how grateful he sounded, Izumi waved a hand in front of her face.
“Ah, you’re welcome! Really, it was no problem. It was kind of… Fun, right?” she blushed, as they turned the corner into the cafeteria.
“Yeah, I mean, dunno how fun studyin’ really can be, but… For some reason, it didn’t totally suck,” Mitsuru said thoughtfully, slowing down his steps as he looked at her.
Izumi avoided his eyes, feeling her heart beat faster.
“I-Is that so…” she whispered, not knowing where to look. “W-Well, if in the future you need someone to study with again, then… You know, m-maybe…”
“Aha!” Out of no where, Ryuhei jumped out in front of them, pointing accusingly at Mitsuru. “So this is your secret weapon?! A nerd!”
Izumi pointed a finger to her own face, confused.
Am I the nerd? I am not a nerd! Is he talking about me?
Mitsuru grunted. “Oh, fuck off. Yeah, she helped me out a lil. So what?” He ran a hand through his curls, his cheeks turning red. As if he just realized the last part of Ryuhei’s sentence, he added. “And oi, don’t be fuckin’ rude!”
“Ya couldn’t have at least gotten us in on this? What, did ya give her some sorta dirty special payment ya don’t want us to –“ before he could finish the sentence, Mitsuru nudged his chest hard, sending him a death glare.
“Shut the fuck up, asshole! I don’t wanna kick your ass on a Friday.”
Izumi was truly embarrassed by Ryuhei’s “special payment” comment, feeling like her face was on fire. However, another part of Ryuhei’s complaint puzzled her too. During their first session, had Mitsuru not said he had asked both Ryuhei and Hiroshi if they wanted to join in, like Izumi had offered them to? By the way Ryuhei was acting, this seemed like it was the first he had ever heard of Izumi’s tutoring.
Mitsuru must have recognized the confusion on Izumi’s face, and also recognized the reason for it, because he blushed deeper.
“Man, let’s just go. You’re freakin’ her out,” he said, needing any reason to lightly shove Ryuhei towards the door. He looked back at Izumi briefly. “Sorry ‘bout him, he can’t help it. It’s Hiro’s turn to use their shared braincell t’day. See ya Monday, ‘kay?” he said with an apologetic smile.
Izumi smiled back, nodding to him.
She was still feeling confused as she watched the two boys walk away. It was clear Mitsuru had lied, but it was not so clear why. Had he been embarrassed about the studying? Maybe his friends would have made fun of him. Yes, that for sure had to be it. Izumi hoped they would not give him too much of a hard time now that they did know about it. If they did, he might never take her up on the offer to study together next term as well. Which would be a shame, because… Well, it had been fun, with him.
“For some reason…” she thought, his words from earlier echoing through her mind, making her break into a soft smile. I think I know why, now.