Chapter Text
Zanka never felt good enough. Unlike his siblings, who succeeded in life, he stayed behind, never talked about by his relatives, always trying to prove himself better than he already was. The more exams, the more time and effort he put into studying; with his hard work, he could score at least 90, which still guaranteed him a high place in the school’s student ranking – despite this fact, he pushed himself even more beyond his abilities, just to not make his family disappointed. It still wasn’t enough for him. He was a member of the Nijiku family, which meant Zanka couldn’t stay behind - he must’ve chased his parents and siblings, he must’ve not let them down.
On the other hand there was Jabber. An easy-going and laid back guy, who never really cared for grabbing a textbook and actually studying. What was surprising, his scores were almost perfect. With barely any effort, he easily outperformed Zanka at many academic areas and made himself go up in the school ranking and became one of the best students at the Ground High. This annoyed Zanka as hell – how could he, some random dude, be better at so many subjects than him?
“Whoa, dude, ya outdid me this time” Jabber said, looking at Zanka’s paper. “Only by 2 points tho.”
“Don’t think it’s the last, dreadhead.” Zanka huffed, seeing a big number in the score box – 97 points. He didn’t feel fully satisfied, it always could’ve been 100, but was still proud of scoring better than Jabber. “Guess I’m gonna get a higher score than you in the year end’s ranking.”
“Yeah yeah, but we still have the chemistry exam this week, ya remember? Say yer goodbyes to the first place, Zan-Zan” Jabber bantered teasingly, knowing dead well he’s gonna do better than Zanka.
“Pfft, of course. Ya know what? I actually studied for it already. Only a few more hours with notes and books and I won’t be farewelling anything” Zanka stated confidently, as the school bell rang, which signaled a break.
Both of them got up from their seats, grabbed their bags and walked out of the classroom. They were in the same grade, only having a few separate classes. Even though they seemed close to each other, in reality they weren’t, only spending time together at school. Jabber’s usually annoying the shit out of Zanka, constantly pushing his buttons to see how mad he would get. The boy tries to ignore Jabber most of the time he does this, but as soon as he starts bragging about being better than him at anything, something gets into him – was it annoyance? Anger? Or maybe jealousy?
Zanka was walking through the crowded and loud hallway, Jabber right behind him, yapping about how he’s gonna crush him with his perfect score in the upcoming test. It was normal for them to argue over their results and who’s gonna beat who at the finals by the end of the school year. When Zanka barely caught up to Jabber and maybe sometimes did better than him, the other guy suddenly went up even higher again and that’s how it’s been going since the beginning of the year. They both suprisingly loved that – the motivation to get better at everything possible Zanka got as he started falling behind again and again and Jabber, who’s been doing this for his own entertainment and the exciting idea of someone being better than him and being able to beat ‘em drove them to further competitons.
When Jabber saw Momoa and Fu in the hallway, he finally left Zanka alone. Then Zanka started panicking. He totally forgot about that exam, which also meant he didn’t study. What is worse, the test is in two days, so he probably won’t have enough time to learn everything, which leads to the worst – Jabber’s gonna do better than him again. No one had ever beat him in chemistry, no one even tried. It was just impossible. And Zanka declared he’s gonna score better than Jabber. What a foolish challenge.
He headed to the school cafeteria where he usually met with Riyo and Rudo, his classmates, who he actually considered more as close friends. He walked through the wide-opened glass door, looking out for the two of them. The cafeteria was a popular meeting spot where many students spent their free time between classes, which the trio found rather a good place for a chit chat during free periods. Zanka finally found the table where his friends were sitting and as soon as Riyo saw him she decided to be the one to start the conversation.
“Hey man, took ya bit long to get—“
As soon as Zanka sat next to them, he plopped his bag on the leather couch-like sitting and laid his head on the table.
“Dude, what happened?” Riyo asked, tilting her head a bit. She rarely saw her friend in a state like this, and when he was, she knew something was really bothering him.
“I’m gonna fail chemistry… second time this month” Zanka mumbled, his head still laying on the table. “It’s all because of that old hag. She can’t teach for shit” he kept complainig, almost sounding like he was crying.
“Don’t worry, the world doesn’t end with a few bad grades, y’know” Rudo stated as he took out a candy from his pocket with the intention of eating it, but ended up giving it to Zanka as a consolation.
“I can’t afford yet another bad grade” Zanka said, as he got his head up from the table “I also told Jabber that I’ll score higher than him on that one and I ain’t planning to lose.”
“Ugh, that guy again…” Riyo sighted, she wasn’t very fond of him. “Why are you two even competing for? A stupid number in some meaningless ranking? That doesn’t even matter in the future. Anyways, maybe the hag would let ya take the test again if you fail” she continued, trying to cheer Zanka up at least a bit.
“Ya don’t understand, it’s a fight or die competiton between me and Jabber” Zanka responded, which made Riyo chuckle a little.
“Exactly, Mr. Bad Attitude.”
Zanka felt a familiar presence next to him. He turned his head to the side only to see Jabber sitting right beside him, grining like a psychopath.
“What are ya doing here?” Zanka asked, almost yelling.
“C’mon man, why are you so scarred suddenly?” Jabber continued, looking Zanka right in the eyes. “Why did ya lie to me? Ya said you studied.”
“Fuck off, it’s not your business anyways” Zanka snorted trying to keep his calm, even though the man beside him looked very punchable right now. “And were ya eavesdropping on us just now?”
“Eh, maybe a lil bit, but y’know what, Zan-Zan? Let’s make a bet” Jabber started again. “I’ll tutor ya. Like, chemistry, maybe a bit of science or some other subjects, anythin’ ya want. But you have to score higher than me at the year end’s ranking, at least try. To prove my great knowledge, of course” his eyes sparkled like he was some kind of magical creature casting a spell.
“What are ya even talking about? You? Tutor ME? Don’t be funny” Zanka scoffed at him.
“Well, ya said you ‘can’t afford yet another bad grade’, did ya? If I were you, I’d agree for that deal” Jabber stated and he wasn’t wrong. Zanka could not get another bad score. It took him a short while to carefully think about it: “He’s my rival, right? What if he explains something wrong on purpose just for me to fail? But from the other side, is there any other plan that I have? He’s a genius, for god’s sake!” Zanka thought to himself, complaining if the bet was really as beneficial as Jabber assured.
“Okay, I agree” he replied after a while, Jabber grining even more than before.
“It’s settled then! I knew ya were smart, Zan-Zan” he cheered, taking out his hand to Zanka. “I won’t go easy on ya, so try yer best.”
“Sure, get ready for me to wipe the floor with ya” Zanka took Jabber’s hand and shook it lightly.
Riyo and Rudo were just watching the two guys this whole time, wondering how this will end. The school bell went off a moment later and everyone made their way to the exit, including the two classmates. Zanka and Jabber stayed for a minute longer.
“So, where do ya wanna meet?” Jabber asked. “We finish our classes pretty early, so I don’t have a problem meeting right after school.”
“Does the library suit ya?” Zanka suggested.
“Yeah, anything ya like, Zan-Zan.” Jabber agreed and proceeded to head to the exit, but Zanka stayed in place. “Ya comin’?”
Zanka got up from his seat and walked up to Jabber. “Don’t call me that nickname, it’s hella embarrasing” he scoffed.
Jabber chuckled and put his arm around Zanka’s shoulder “Nah, never.”