Chapter Text
Zanka Nijiku always strove for excellence. He got A's in every class, studying nearly every night towards that means.
All of his classes were Honors or Advanced Placement. His current GPA was about a 4.2 last he had checked, and he checked frequently. Some days he'd wake up from a particularly gnarly nightmare and check his grades to reassure himself that his carefully designed transcript hadn't been ruined over the course of a Tuesday night.
Being a junior, his transcript was starting to shape up into something serious, something more and more important day by day.
When his AP Language teacher, Mr. Caines, asked if he wanted to help tutor some of his on-level peers, all he saw was a golden opportunity to get more service hours — a necessity for the several honor societies he involved himself in. Moreover, it worked well with his schedule, since his Wednesdays and Saturdays were always relatively free.
"I appreciate it, and I'm sure they will too." Mr. Caines expressed. "Your class is gearing up to graduate here pretty soon, this tutoring could really help some of them be set up well."
Zanka nodded, putting his classwork in his bag. He didn't need to be told how impending graduation was, it was something he thought about very often.
"You don't have to help this evening, since it's the first Wednesday you've known about it, but if you could—"
"Don't sweat it, I don't have anything else this evening, sir. You said it's in the library?"
Mr. Caines hummed in confirmation. Zanka zipped up his bag and equipped it, saying goodbye before leaving to his last class of the day. He grinned once he turned away from Mr. Caines, feeling an intoxicating taste of hubris at being picked for this.
Class came and went relatively fast, and he finished the homework with his spare time at the end of the lesson. He made his way to the school library and spotted a gathering of a few kids, all mostly disinterested. He knew a couple of them, recognizing Rudo Surebrec, who could be seen trying to spin several pencils simultaneously, and Riyo Reaper, who was sitting on her phone pursing her lips over some game; the third face was unfamiliar to him, looking at Riyo's phone as well. Assuming this gaggle to be whom he was requested to help, he made his way over. Suddenly, the excitement at him being selected for this miraculously drained from his mind, presented with the disinterest of his peers.
Riyo looked up from her phone and saw Zanka, waving him over.
"Hey! Did Mr. Caines send you off here to get help too?" She quipped, her tone teasing. Zanka had had an art appreciation class with her last year, and so they had a friendship produced by proximity.
"No— I'm here to give help, not receive it," Zanka replied, scoffing a little bit at the thought of needing help, though it wasn't quite condescending. He tossed down his bag and pulled over a chair to the circular table the others had gathered at.
The afternoon continued on with him offering his notes to look over and quizzing the 3 over sections, explaining the key takeaways. Only about a third of the way through did he remember to ask the name of the third person there — they were so quiet that the normal pleasantry evaded his memory.
It was mostly because of how frequently they were zoned out. They were like a ghost, absently watching him explain notes but seeming to retain none of it. He had no way of knowing for certain, because they wouldn't do more than nod along or doodle in their otherwise blank notebook, biting at their lips and cheeks.
Seriously, who shows up to spend an hour and a half of their time scribbling at a sheet of paper? Zanka couldn't help but be annoyed at (and a bit disappointed in) their behavior, though he was certain his face wouldn't show it. It didn't matter that much to him by the end of it, because he would get his hours, and that's what he came for.
It's an understatement to say he was surprised the next day, when he saw them in the library on their lunch with an energy drink, vigorously producing notes and flashcards.
You're sitting on your bus, catching glimpses of the sunrise through the trees while listening to music. Admittedly, this is an infrequent place to find you, but recently your parents have taken an increased concern with your grades. Included in this is an increased concern for maintaining daily habits, so instead of getting to sleep in and drive to school you have to take the bus for the next week or two, until they're satisfied with your academic improvement.
Personally, you don't see how this helps build discipline regarding your grades, but it's not really up to you.
Mr. Caines, your english teacher, has offered to let you join a peer-led tutoring session on Wednesdays and Saturdays, so in hopes it'll help your parents loosen up their grip again, you agreed to partake.
Today you get to go to the first session. You already talked about it with Riyo, your friend in environmental science, and found out that she'll be there, so it can't absolutely suck.
Even if it doesn't help, at least I'll have a little fun with Riyo laughing about it later.
You get to school, go through the day, and afterwards go into the library for tutoring. You could've sworn you had had a coffee this morning, even though it sure doesn't feel like it.
"I heard Mr. Caines say he'd try to get Zanka to lead it if he could, I wonder if he did it?" Riyo remarks, partly to you and partly to herself. She's mentioned Zanka in a few stories from last year, and she describes him as funnily prissy, and really focused on his grades. She's shown you some photos when you asked to see, and you have to admit that he's a bit of a good-looking guy.
You peer over her shoulder, watching her play Geometry Dash on her phone, and you catch yourself daydreaming of going to a hangout with your friends outside of school, getting up to no good and going to Waffle House afterwards.
Riyo beats the level, and when she looks up, you do too, seeing Zanka walk in. He's a little taller than you had thought, and the first thing that strikes you is his eyes that are almost a navy blue. It's a color that you can't recall seeing on anyone else before, and it wasn't quite captured in the photos Riyo sent you.
You snap out of your daze with the thud of his bag against the table leg as he walks off to grab a chair.
The tutoring session goes alright, but it's hard for you to stay focused. Zanka keeps going in on explanations, since Rudo keeps getting lost, and when it's something you already understand fine, you'll doodle a bit in your notebook.
You only snap out of it when Riyo notices and kicks your foot, bringing you back to the real world. It doesn't even last, because when Zanka talks for too long he consistently tilts his head to the side, which makes his navy eyes extra intimidating. From there, your gaze flees to his other facial features, seeing his mouth speak about the topics and the way his nose scrunches a little bit each time Rudo asks for another explanation.
His notes are logically organized, neat, and thorough; several qualities that your own typically lack whenever you actually take them. How does anyone have the class time to do this, or even the time at home — it's damn near a whole textbook!
You're so caught up in this thought that you jump a little at the alarm that goes off on his phone. It's already 6 o' clock: time to pack up.
"Phew!" Riyo stands up and stretches her arms, shaking out her writing hand. Her notes have fluffed up a bit since the start of the session, unlike yours, which have only gained several little doodles, and maybe one complete and coherent sentence.
You also stand up, stretching a bit before packing up your stuff alongside Zanka. Glancing at the whiteboard you all had brought over, you see all the different things he went over. Most of the stuff that confused you was the literary devices, so before putting your notebook up you scribble a little reminder — marking the content you wanted to look at a little more, if you ever feel a stroke of academic inspiration.
"Riyo, can you spot me a ride home, maybe?" You ask, giving her your best pleading smile and clasping your hands together.
"Mhmm, don't worry 'bout it," She replies with a nod, attention busy as she packs up her own stuff. "You know, me and a few friends are meeting up later if you wanna hang?"
"Maybe next time…" You shake your head no, mostly because of the growing tired headache you have going on. You're not quite used to waking up early for the bus yet.
Sparing a glance, you see Zanka wave as he leaves, giving you all a smile. You barely remember anything he said, but you remember those notes so tidy it must be a crime, and the patience rivaling a kindergarten teacher's from dealing with Rudo. I could've sworn I saw an eye twitch or two.
Sparing yourself a little chuckle, you sling your bag over your shoulder. He seems like a good person, but you can't tell if it's that he really is, or if he's just an expert at pleasantries.
Surely if I tidy up my act and really prepare for Saturday, I can actually engage and get to know him a bit.
You follow Riyo to her car. She's talking about the stuff y'all did, but you just nod along. Your mind is elsewhere, and she picks up on it.
"Damn, you're spacey today — you sure you don't wanna hang out for a little?"
"I swear, it's just that I'm tired, don't worry 'bout it," You reassure her, though you're a bit touched by her concern.
She nods with a hum as you chuck your bag in the backseat and load into her car.
"Whatever you say, you daydreamer. We're hanging out on Saturday though, got it?"
You nod a little with a chuckle. Staring out the window, your curiosity towards Zanka is only curbed by your interest in going to bed and getting up nice and early tomorrow. How are you supposed to get a chance to chat about anything besides rhetoric if you're sitting there confused?