Chapter Text
Isagi has always been praised for his intelligence since he was a kid. Hell, that’s what even got him into this boarding school for prodigies in the first place. But Isagi soon realized that he wasn’t like these other boys. These guys didn’t need to study as hard as he did, they didn’t need to pay attention as much as he did. In fact, they could pay a fraction of the attention that Isagi did and still get a better grade on him on quizzes and tests. It infuriated him.
Now, it’s his second year at this boarding school and the first semester has just come to a finish as the winter holiday starts up. Isagi, unfortunately didn’t do as well as he wanted to do this semester and wanted to improve for the next one. So, in a moment of desperation, he thought about texting his friends for help.
His mind went to texting Rin. He was the youngest of the group but was in their grade because he had been moved up. Unfortunately, Rin had gone to Spain with his brother Sae for a tournament.
The next option was Barou. Of course, Isagi’s pride would be a little bruised considering the type of person he was. So, he reached out. Again, his friend was busy, Barou had gone back home to watch his younger sisters for the weekend. Isagi grumbled.
Again and again, each of Isagi’s close friends were busy! He had gone through at least all the contacts in the mutual group chat they had… except one.
Kaiser.
Kaiser was the last person Isagi wanted to reach out to. Reaching out to Barou and having him belittle him for asking for help with school would’ve been okay but Kaiser? Never.
Kaiser was unbearable. He was a transfer student from Germany who had joined Isagi’s homeroom class during the second semester of their first year.
That day, Isagi walked into class with Bachira after getting breakfast from the vending machine. Bachira was still munching on his granola bar while Isagi had his in his hand. There he found Kaiser sitting at his desk. Class was about to start and their homeroom teacher would mark them tardy if they were not in the correct seat when class started.
Isagi walked over and tapped Kaiser on the shoulder to get his attention . “Excuse me? You see, this is my seat and the teacher is really strict about the attendance stuff so could you please move? Class is about to start.”
Kaiser abruptly stopped talking and turned his head slowly towards Isagi, a smug expression on his face already.
He stared at Isagi before looking past him at the clock. “Class doesn’t start for another 5 minutes. Chill, would you?”
Isagi’s brows furrowed, his corners of his lips slightly lowering. “Could you please still move?”
Kaiser then turned his face away from Isagi before responding. “You don’t own this seat. What are you, the king of the class?” To which the light brown haired boy that faded to magenta laughed at.
“Neither are you, clown.” Isagi retorted back.
In response, Kaiser turned his whole body towards Isagi, propping his chin on the palm of his hand. “Oh? And what’s your name?”
“Isagi Yoichi.”
Kaiser paused for a moment, thinking, before snorting. “With your rankings I don’t think you should be calling anyone a clown.”
That snide remark made Isagi’s face flush in a mix of embarrassment and anger. Of course he wasn’t at the top of his school's leaderboard but he tried his best nonetheless. And wasn’t it a known fact to not rub peoples rankings in their faces?!
He was about to say something more before Rin came up and tugged on Isagi’s collar, pulling him away.
“Looks like the king finally came to pick up his jester,” Kaiser remarked once again, deliberately loud enough for Isagi to hear.
Ever since that day, Isagi has made a vow to beat Kaiser. Isagi has had several competitions with Kaiser in his head. Who can answer the most questions correctly in class? Who finished their homework faster? Who got a better grade on a presentation, quiz, etc. Chigiri calls him obsessed but Isagi doesn’t see it, he’s just trying to prove his point in his mind.
And, to add salt to the wound, Kaiser was indeed smart. Well, of course, you had to be smart to get into this school but Kaiser is really smart.
Many of Isagi’s friends had become acquaintances or even friends with Kaiser to the point he was in their group chat, making Isagi be forced to hang out with him.
Now, Isagi was going to ask Kaiser to be at his disposal—to help him. He couldn’t help but feel his ego bruising.
He sighed, clicking on Kaiser’s contact and typing up a message.
Hi Kaiser, this is Isagi in case you don’t have my number saved to your phone. I was wondering if you could help me over the winter holiday with school and studying tips?
He stared at his phone, rereading the message over and over, trying to decide whether it was worth the pain of his ego to reach out to help. Well, it was either that or he fell lower in the ranks. So, he (reluctantly) sent the message.
Isagi sighed, placing his phone face down before laying down on his bed, his face buried in his pillow.
Isagi practically deflated on his bed like a sad pool toy. This was embarrassing on all sorts of levels and all he could hope for is that if Kaiser said no, he wouldn’t tell everyone else in the group about his embarrassing request.
A handful of moments later, Isagi’s phone pinged. He turned his head towards the phone on the nightstand, his cheek now resting against the pillow as he reached for his phone. It was from Kaiser.
Clicking on the notification and reading the message he gasped.
I know it’s you, Yoichi.
I’ll help you.
Isagi sat up quickly, practically swinging his body into a sitting position on his bed. He said yes, Isagi thought. Kaiser had said yes!
Isagi beamed at his phone for a moment, his fingers hovering over the keyboard as he deliberated about what he’d respond back with.
Really? Thx so much
Isagi sent the message without a second thought.
Kaiser stared at the message, his brows crinkled in the confusion.
“T-H-X..?” He read aloud, confused on what that meant.
Not wanting to look dumb, Kaiser searched it up on google.
“Oh, it means thanks.” He said, speaking to himself before tapping back onto the chat.
Wanting to use an internet abbreviation of his own, he responded with a Yw. Kaiser smirked, feeling proud of himself.
Yw
Where and when do you want to meet up?
Did you stay at the dorms for the holidays?
I don’t dorm. I share an apartment with my friend.
Oh
Sorry I didn’t know.
It’s fine.
Do you want to meet up at a cafe or would you like to show me your study corner you’re always ditching us for?
Isagi grumbled. Here he thought Kaiser was being nice, helping him out with school but he should’ve known better. Kaiser would never let the chance go to poke fun at Isagi.
Cafe. The one on xxx street. Is two days from now good?
Yeah. What time?
2pm?
Okay, see you then.
Cya
Kaiser sighed, placing his phone down on his table. He was greeted with Ness in front of him eating a bowl of ramen.
Ness swallowed. “Who were you texting?”
“Yoichi,” Kaiser responded.
Ness was about to take another forkful of his ramen when he froze, his mouth hovering over the noodles.
“Yoichi?” He repeated.
Kaiser nodded. He was facing Ness but it looked as though he was looking through him, not at him.
He put his fork back into the bowl before staring Kaiser.
“I thought you hated him?”
“I thought he hated me too, I guess not.” Kaiser hummed, a smirk tugging on his lips.
“What were you guys talking about?” Ness asked, his voice quiet as he shoveled a mouthful of noodles in his mouth.
“He asked me to help him study. He wants to meet up at the Cafe on xxx street.”
Ness choked on his noodles, looking up at Kaiser. “Cafe? But you hate Coffee—”
“It’s okay, I’ll probably not be eating anything when we go.”
Ness nodded reluctantly before continuing to eat his food.
Kaiser was initially surprised when Isagi had texted him—let alone asking him for help. Isagi was always working so hard. He’d always skip group hangouts in favor of studying for a test that wasn’t coming up for another couple months.
Secretly, Kaiser was disappointed. Despite all their interactions just being the both of them hurling insults at each other, he saw how nice Isagi could be to the others and wanted that kind of relationship with him too. Now, he was going to give him studying tips and meet up with him at Cafe and usually, good deeds are rewarded with more good deeds, right?
Isagi walked into the cafe and was pleased to be greeted by a rush of warm air hitting his face as he walked in. He stood there for a moment, basking in the warmth before taking another step forward. He looked around the Cafe for a moment, scouting the place for Kaiser. Looks like he’s not here yet, Isagi thought.
The Cafe wasn’t too busy. Maybe he had barely missed the lunch rush? He walked to the front and ordered and paid for two croissants with two hot cocos before stepping to the side and pulling out of his phone and earbuds, scrolling on his phone.
Kaiser soon after opened the doors to the Cafe. He was right on time but was surprised to see that Isagi was already there. Kaiser wouldn’t have recognized him was it not for that little sprout growing out of the top of his head.
Isagi looked as if his mom dressed him before he left. It was below 50° outside, sure, but he was dressed in a thick parka with a scarf wrapped around his neck so many times it looked suffocating.
Kaiser chuckled before walking over and clasping a hand over Isagi’s shoulder, earning a small squeak from the shorter boy. Kaiser chuckled again.
Isagi pulled his earbuds out and turned towards Kaiser. Isagi’s cheeks were flushed pink from the cold. But, accompanied with his furrowed brows, Kaiser thought the look on his face was out of embarrassment. He smirked, seemingly pleased with himself.
“You got here early,” Kaiser mentioned, sliding his hand away from Isagi’s shoulder.
Isagi then wiped imaginary lint off of his parka. “Yup,” He answered curtly.
Kaiser rolled his eyes. He was about to make another comment before a waitress called out Isagi’s name. Isagi walked over and grabbed the tray as Kaiser watched him with piqued interest.
Walking back over to Kaiser, he asked, “You ordered something?”
Isagi nodded, “Yeah.”
“You didn’t have too,”
Kaiser stared at the contents of the tray. Two croissants with a knife and two tiny commercial containers of butter. And two lidded hot cups that he presumed had coffee in them. Ness was right, Kaiser thought, I shouldn’t have said yes to meeting up at a cafe.
Isagi then walked past Kaiser, making his way towards a table by a large window before setting the tray down on the table. Taking the napkins from the tray, he unfolded them and put one in front of both chairs before sitting down and taking his share of the food.
Kaiser chuckled again, amused at how Isagi was practically setting the table. Kaiser then sat down, grabbing only the croissant. Isagi noticed this and stared at Kaiser, confused.
“Why aren’t you taking the drink?” Isagi asked.
“I don’t like coffee.” He responded curtly.
“I know,” Isagi admitted, to Kaisers surprise. “It’s hot chocolate.”
Kaiser cocked an eyebrow at Isagi before grabbing the cup of hot chocolate and lifting the lid off of it. It was indeed hot chocolate.
“How did you know?”
Isagi looked up from his croissant which he was buttering. “Know what?” He asked, placing the knife on the tray as he took a bite out of his croissant.
“How did you know I don’t like coffee?”
“I heard one of our friends talking about it once when we hung out,” Isagi said, absentmindedly.
Kaiser blew on the cup before taking a sip, keeping his eyes on Isagi as he did so. He noticed that Isagi seemed more focused on his food than on the reason they came here.
After Isagi ate the last bite of his croissant, Kaiser finally spoke up. “So, what did you need help with?”
Isagi winces, rubbing the back of his neck, embarrassed. “Well, it’s not just one subject…” he mumbled.
Kaiser's lips drooped a bit, “What?”
Isagi sighed, his hand dropping to his lap as he avoided Kaiser’s gaze. “Look, everyone here is a genius—like super-duper-ultra-smart.”
Kaiser stiffened a laugh. “You sound like Bachira,”
Isagi rolled his eyes, a faint smile painting his lips. “I study for hours and still end up behind people who don’t even try,” he said quietly.
“Like who?” Kaiser asked, leaning his cheek against his palm.
“Like Shidou, Rin—hell even Nagi,” he paused, looking up at Kaiser through his bangs. “and… you.”
Kaiser looked surprised, moving his cheek from his hand he sat up straight.
He swallowed. “You think I don’t study?”
Isagi finally looked up at him. “No way you study! You always have time to hangout—”
“I absolutely do study,” Kaiser cut him off. “Though, it is flattering that you think I’m that smart.”
“Well, you are that smart. I can barely juggle a social life and school! Like, what’s the point of skipping hangouts to study if I’m just gonna end up in the lowest rankings?” Isagi said, exasperated.
Kaiser hummed. “Well, you could study for as long as you want but if it’s not working, it’s pointless.”
“Excuse me?”
“What I’m saying is, the way you’re studying clearly isn’t working,” he took a sip of his hot coco. “Change it.”
“If it was as simple as that I wouldn’t have asked you for help—”
“Do you have your notebook with you?”
Isagi reluctantly nodded. Reaching under his chair, he grabbed his bag and pulled out his blue notebook. It was a bit tattered after use but was still neat. He slid it over to Kaiser.
Kaiser took the notebook, flipping through the pages. At first, he was impressed with how much Isagi was writing per unit. But, upon stopping to read what he was writing, he understood why his studying wasn’t effective.
“You’re working way too hard. Who needs five different highlighters?” Kaiser teased, holding the book up at pointing at its contents.
The tips of Isagi’s ears flushed pink and he unknowingly began to pout.
Kaiser rolled his eyes at his face. “Listen, you’re doing way too much. You rewrote the whole unit 3 times for memorization, did it even work?”
“Kind of,” Isagi admitted sheepishly.
“Kind of isn’t good enough, you’re wasting away your teenage years for studying with nothing to show for it.”
“Ouch,”
Kaiser’s eyes and tone softened, just a bit, “Ugh—fine. You’re not allowed to rewrite the whole unit anymore. It’s a waste of time.
“How many hours do you even sleep?”
Isagi shrugged, “Like 5?”
Kaiser stared, “That’s disgusting,” he mumbled, closing the notebook.
Isagi sighed, “So what should I do?”
Kaiser thought for a moment. Certainly, he could just tell Isagi what to do and he’d get it. However, this was probably one of the few times they’ve hung out, and he wanted to stretch it out for as long as possible.
“You’re going to come to my apartment.”
“What?”
“Your notes and study habits are the problem, the only way you’ll learn is if you see mine.” He said, boasting.
“You’re so cocky,” Isagi muttered.
Kaiser laughed, “You know how I am, yet you’re the one who asked me for help.”
Isagi rolled his eyes.
Kaiser stood up, placing the lid back onto the Hot Coco and wrapping the croissant in the napkin.
Isagi watched him before Kaiser turned to look down at him. “Well? Cmon let’s go. You don’t want to miss your chance of learning from the genius,” he mocked.
Isagi scoffed, stuffing the notebook into his bag and standing up, picking up his own cup and napkin riddled with croissant crumbs and throwing them in the trash.
Uncharacteristically, Kaiser waited for him and they exited the cafe together.