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Zoisite semi-apprehensively approached the study area at the back of the campus library, scanning for a head of blue hair. Jadeite had sworn up and down that Mizuno was the smartest girl on campus, and if there was anyone who could help him out with this history project then it would be her. Even though she’s a neuroscience pre-med student, with a double minor in business and mathematics.
He’d heard rumors about the school’s resident genius, and even saw her around campus once or twice. As far as he knows she keeps to herself—probably because she’s so smart no one but the professors can keep up with her—and she definitely doesn’t go to any parties or sports events. He wouldn’t be surprised if she practically lived in the library.
He definitely had no intentions of approaching her—she just doesn’t seem like the kind of girl he’d get along with, let alone like—but his friends are all STEM nerds and utterly useless at history research and he really needs to do well on this project or he’ll fail the class and Zoisite is definitely not taking it again—and Mizuno is his last hope. Jadeite somehow knows her from one of his biology classes and the man is apparently a God at making friends because he’s managed to convince the girl to help him, all for the price of a month’s worth of lunch.
‘This had better be worth it,’ he thinks to himself as he finally spots the girl in question tucked in the farthest corner of the library. If it weren’t for her hair color he would’ve missed her entirely. There’s a laptop open in front of her and a large stack of books to the side, almost entirely blocking her view from that way.
Zoisite approaches, pinning a friendly smile on his face “Hey, are you Mizuno Ami?” he asks when she glances up at him. “I’m Jadeite’s friend, Zoisite.”
Her eyes light up in recognition and she gives him a small smile, though it doesn’t linger for long. “Hello, yes, I am. Please, have a seat.” Zoisite dumps his bag in the chair beside him, taking the one across from her. As he does she shuffles around some of the papers before her. “Jadeite told me a bit about your project, so I dug up some books that I think might have helpful information. Do you know what specific topic you’re going to cover?”
“Well,” Zoisite pauses, struggling to remember what he’d been thinking the night before. He hadn’t expected Mizuno to jump right into things, but he probably should have. “I like the Renaissance period, so I was going to do something on female fashion and beauty standards of the era.”
Mizuno nods thoughtfully, her gaze trailing to the stack of books she’s gathered. She pulls out a few, setting them on the table between them. “These will probably get us off to a good start. Do you have an outline already for the paper? If not we should be able to find plenty of information for six pages, though if you want to be sure to get a good grade shooting for eight is probably safer. And have you given the presentation any thought yet?”
He shakes his head, still trying to parse the rest of her words so he only catches that last question. “Uh, I was gonna see what I could find for the paper before figuring that out.”
“That’s probably smart,” she agrees. “This isn’t due for two weeks so there’s still plenty of time, but not much.”
“Oh, and I don’t have an outline yet.”
“Then I’ll make a Google doc we can both add to.” She types quickly at her laptop and Zoisite scrambles to pull out his own. “It’ll probably take us a couple of hours to go through these books, but hopefully then we’ll have a decent start so we know what to look for next time.”
“Sounds great,” Zoisite replies, only a little overwhelmed. Mizuno flashes that small smile again as she grabs a book, briefly scanning the index before flipping to a page somewhere in the middle. Zoisite does the same if only so he can start to contribute something to this project. Which is supposed to be his in the first place. “Thanks,” he belatedly adds.
Mizuno seems just as surprised as him by the words and pauses. Then a light flush decorates the tops of her cheeks. “It’s no problem…I’m good at research and writing papers.”
“I’ll believe that,” he agrees with a chuckle. “But you didn’t have to help just because Jadeite asked, so thanks. I really appreciate this.” She smiles again, and Zoisite finds something about the way she shyly hides her expression immediately afterwards far too cute.
He shakes his head to get rid of the thought, turning to his book with determination. There’s research to be done, and what kind of guy would he be if he let Mizuno do all of it?
Halfway through the project Zoisite has to admit that Mizuno Ami is nothing like he’d heard, especially once she grows comfortable with someone. There’s nothing cold and distant about her, and he discovers she’s surprisingly talkative about topics she’s interested in—which is a lot of things. Zoisite thinks it’s absolutely adorable the way she catches herself rambling and blushes.
Which is another thing he’s come to realize after associating with Ami. He’s got a massive crush on her.
The more time he spends with her, the more he learns about the little quirks in her personality, the more he wants to spend time with her. As the looming deadline of his project—which is coming along beautifully, all thanks to her—approaches, Zoisite starts to dread losing his reason to see Ami around. After all, she’s a busy student who probably doesn’t have much time just to hang around, and he knows what little time she does have she spends with her girl friends—none of whom attend their university, which makes it all the more important. And who’s to say she wants to keep seeing him anyways?
Thoughts like this plague Zoisite, so much so that at their final meeting he’s barely able to concentrate as Ami goes over the project with him to make sure it’s as perfect as can be. “—ite? Zoisite?” she calls several times before he finally notices and jerks to attention. She’s watching him with amusement written across her face that makes Zoisite feel warm on the inside.
“Sorry, you were saying?” he says, trying for a smile that comes out more like a grimace.
Naturally she notices there’s something off with him. Mizuno Ami is nothing if not observant. “Is there something wrong? You’ve been distracted all afternoon.”
It’s the perfect opportunity. ‘Just tell her you want to keep seeing her,’ the voice that sounds suspiciously like Jadeite tells him. It’s the same thing his friend has said when he’d complained to him about it just last night. ‘Says the man whose girlfriend asked him out,’ Zoisite had sneered in return.
“Zoisite?” Ami prompts again after several moments go by without him speaking.
Zoisite panics. “Pleasegooutwithme!” he blurts out rapidly, startling the both of them. His eyes go wide with horror—that is not what he’d meant to ask her, he’s just made things worse oh god—while her eyes are wide with surprise. For a painful moment he hopes she didn’t understand a word of what he just vomited out, but he won’t be that lucky.
A flush starts to bloom high on her cheeks as she averts her gaze down to the table. ‘Oh no, I’ve ruined it,’ Zoisite thinks helplessly. ‘At least we won’t have to see each other again after this. I should transfer out though, just to be safe.’
“I’d like that,” she says, and Zoisite barely hears it through his internal monologue planning to move to Prague to join the beggars on the Charles Bridge. But hear it he did, and he can scarcely believe it.
“Really?” There’s a breathy, disbelieving tone to his voice that sounds horribly out of character for him but he can’t be arsed to care. She said she’d like it.
She nods. “I’ve…really enjoyed getting to know you, Zoisite.”
“Yes,” Zoisite agrees. “I mean, I’ve enjoyed it too. Getting to know you. Hanging out. Studying, technically. But I’d like to hang out—actually, I’d like to date. But if you just want to hang out that’s cool too, I mean, whatever you want—”
“Dating is fine.” Her gaze briefly flicks up to meet his, utterly sincere. “I’d like to date you too.”
Zoisite can’t help the smile that breaks out, far more genuine than ever before and utterly relieved. A weight lifts off his chest and his heart feels like it’s flying. “Great. Amazing. Want to go for dinner once we finish this?” he asks, unwilling to wait.
“Sure,” she smiles in return. “Are you going to be able to focus now?” she teases him.
“Maybe not,” he admits with a chuckle. But this time it won’t be his anxiety keeping him from paying attention.