Chapter Text
“You want me to what?” Leorio asked, still panting heavily and shaking his head, brows creased. He had been in the middle of practice when the old, goofy math teacher he had had for four years had come running down the stairs toward the gym floor. With panting breaths he had called Leorio over, leaning over to catch his breath once he reached the floor.
“Haha! You failing class, Leorio?” Called one of his teammates and the rest of the team laughed an mocked along with them. Leorio knew he was far from failing class, but played along with it and jogged up to the coach, who had straightened up to attempt to look him in the eye. This feat was impossible considering Leorio was about a head taller than him.
“What’s up, Mr. B?” Leorio had asked upon reaching the man. After a few more deep breaths and he asked the question that left Leorio confused:
“Can you join the math team?”
That was where Leorio was now, his teammates continuing practice without him while he stood before the short teacher, trying to make sense of what he was being asked.
“I swear, it’s only for tomorrow night, Paladinight. Promise.” Mr. B added on hastily, aware completely of Leorio’s desire to keep up his cool guy image. The offer had been given to him when he had first shown his smarts his freshman year, but he had insisted that his smart guy image had not worked very well for him in middle school. So Mr. B had dropped the question, despite constant hints that he still desired the tall boy to be on the team.
“Mr. B, you know how I feel about the math team.” Leorio responded, glancing back at his teammates to make sure they weren’t hearing any of this. They were still running drills on the court and he felt comfortable enough to continue the conversation.
“C’mon, Paladinight. You’re the smartest kid on campus and we just lost a member of the team. One night, then you can go back and we’ll find an actual replacement for the kid. Please?” Mr. B looked desperate. The math team at York New High had never made it very far in the competition, but the previous year they had won second place in state due to the addition of one particularly smart freshman Leorio had never met.
Mr. B was pleading for a chance at nationals.
“Alright, fine. One night. It’s not recorded, right?” Leorio asked, leaning in as he spoke to make sure his whisper could be hear above the sound of squeaking sneakers on the gym floor.
“Yes! I mean, it’s not recorded! Thank you!” Mr. B jumped for joy and Leorio glanced at his teammates nervously. They seemed to be glancing in his direction, but none of them made any comment or call toward the two and kept going.
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Now, I gotta get back to practice.” Leorio said, brushing off the happiness he felt at seeing his teacher’s enthusiasm. Quickly he jogged back onto the court and called for his teammates to gather around. It was time for the next drill.
----
Kurapika Kurta stood alone at the whiteboard, practicing the most complex math problem he had ever tried. It had taken most of his time after school, but he was pleased to finally finish it with a flourish of his marker. As he turned he noticed his empty audience. For a moment, he gaped. Where had the math team gone? They had been there only moments earlier, he could have sworn it.
“Kurta, you should go home.” Jumping, Kurapika turned to find the math coach, Mr. Bernard, standing in the doorway to the classroom. Kurapika shook his head and gestured to the whiteboard.
“How did I do?” He asked and Mr. Bernard looked it over. His brow creased as he read through it and soon he was approaching the board, looking at it closely. Kurapika waited impatiently, hoping silently he had been correct in solving the equation.
“Honestly, Kurta. I have no idea if you did it right.” Mr. Bernard finally said, turning back to the small sophomore with a look of awe.
“What? What do you mean?” Kurapika looked over his equation hastily, looking desperately for the spot that might have thrown his teacher off. Mr. Bernard grabbed Kurapika’s shoulders and turned the boy to look him in the eyes.
“I don’t know if you’re right because I have never seen math this complex. And I’m a mathematician!” Mr. Bernard said with exasperation, throwing his arms out for added emphasis as he turned back to the board.
“R-really?” Kurapika asked, unaware he had attempted something so complex. That likely meant he had gotten it wrong, he was only fifteen. Which meant he would have to take a trip up to the community college later to show the professors this. He needed to know what he did wrong.
“Kurta!” Kurapika snapped out of his trance and turned back to Mr. Bernard. “Go home, you need rest and the preliminaries are tomorrow.” The taller teacher was looking him directly in the eyes and Kurapika felt himself heat up out of embarrassment. He had never had anyone speak to him like that.
“Yeah. Thanks, Mr. Bernard. See you tomorrow.” Kurapika said, grabbing his jacket and his bag and heading out. Mr. Bernard smiled and shook his head before taking a picture of the white board and then erasing the equation.
----
The local math preliminary trials weren’t very well advertised and the only people to ever show up were parents. This was okay with Leorio, who showed up in style, as usual, despite not having a crowd to show off. The place was packed with nerds, none of whom were his type. All the girls had their hair in tight buns, braces covering their smiles, and faces speckled in red dots. None of them were attractive.
And yet, he had dressed him best.
His best not being a suit, those were only for special occasions. But he wore a suit jacket over his white T-shirt and a pair of dark wash jeans that could have almost passed for slacks. So, he was close enough.
Whispers echoed behind him as he made his way inside the large school that was hosting the preliminaries. Mostly about who he was and he grinned at the idea of being recognized. He was well known among the nerd community, as well. Sauntering along further into the school he found Mr. B standing next to a short, rather pretty girl with short blonde hair and grey eyes. She looked like she was dressed to be a librarian from the 80’s in high waisted slacks and a frumpy green shirt. If she only had a fashion sense, she would be the most beautiful girl Leorio had ever laid his eyes on.
“Ah! Paladinight, I’m so glad you’re here. This is Kurapika. Kurapika, this is Leorio Paladinight, he agreed to join the team for one night so we can have to time to find a replacement for Shalnark.” The young lady turned to look up at him and Leorio’s breath caught in his throat. Her face was flawless, like a goddess she was perfect. Her large, grey eyes filled up her face and narrowed when she looked at him.
“Why are you here?” Was the first thing she said, and her voice came out lower than Leorio expected. Perhaps she would make a great alto.
“I’m here to help your team, sweetheart.” Leorio replied with an air of importance. He was being very cocky, and he knew it, but the way Kurapika had said those words made him a little annoyed.
“Alright, play nice you two. I’m going to go see where everyone else is.” Mr. B bailed then, leaving them to eye each other coldly.
“Do not call me sweetheart. And I doubt you will be of any help.” Kurapika turned, then, away from Leorio to look at the clipboard in her hands.
“Excuse me? How do you know if I’ll be of any help?” Leorio asked, taken aback by this girl’s lack of tact.
“You don’t seem like the type to know much about math.” Kurapika stated simply, looking over the clipboard as if it was more important than Leorio. Right as Leorio was about to retort a couple of students from another school walked by. They were both girls and were whispering giddily to each other like the popular girls did. When they spotted Kurapika standing next to Leorio they stopped talking and began to walk faster.
Kurapika didn’t look up.
“That’s Kurapika. He almost took his team to nationals last year.” One of the girls whispered as they passed. Leorio froze. He?
“Really? Who’s the handsome one next to him?” The words went in one of Leorio’s ears and out the other as he repeated the words the first girl had spoken over and over in his head. He?
“Are you a dude?” Leorio asked, completely unaware of the nature in which he had asked them. Kurapika froze in his writing on the clipboard and turned to look at Leorio, anger written tighter in his brow this time than the second time.
“Excuse me?” He asked, clearly more annoyed now than he had been only a couple of minutes ago. Leorio gaped, looking down at the petite body of the boy in front of him. He was so small! His shirt was so baggy he figured Kurapika had been a girl with a tiny figure. But he was just a small guy! Holy-
“You are a dude! What the heck, I could have sworn you were a chick.” Leorio gasped, taking a step back as he realized he had been considering flirting later when they had both forgotten about Kurapika’s comments about Leorio being dumb.
“Of course I’m male. Do you want to go into the bathroom and check?” Kurapika shot back, grey eyes searing into Leorio’s very soul. Leorio felt himself floundering, his mouth opening and closing, trying to find words to say. This kid was so straight forward! Of course Leorio didn’t want to check! That was just weird.
“No, no! I just didn’t think since, you’re so small and all, that your were, um, a dude.” Leorio responded, trying his best to save the situation. He had only made it worse.
“First you come here and insult me by saying you’re good enough for my team. And then you call me a girl!?” Kurapika’s voice was rising in volume a little bit and Leorio could have sworn his eyes were turning red with anger. “I don’t think Mr. Bernard was thinking it through when he asked you to join the team.” The blonde boy spat and Leorio snapped back quickly.
“Mr. B had been begging me to join his team since he first met me in my freshman year! I’ll have you know I’m smarter than you!” Leorio hissed back, leaning down and slipping his hands into his pockets angrily. Kurapika was practically nose to nose with him, standing on the balls of his feet to reach high enough.
“You most definitely are not!” Kurapika snapped again and Leorio huffed.
“Fine! I answer five questions correct tonight and you admit I’m smarter than you!” Leorio offered, still fuming at the insult from the younger boy.
“Absolutely not! I will never admit you’re smarter than me!” Kurapika snarled. This time Leorio was almost one hundred percent sure his eyes were red now.
“I bet you’re too chicken to! Because I know I can answer five questions correctly! In a row!” Leorio snapped back, leaning in just a bit closer to Kurapika who’s brow was knit so tightly in anger, the older boy was sure his face would fold in on itself.
“What!? That’s preposterous!” Kurapika gaped, taking a small, offended step back from the taller boy. Leorio felt victory within his reach when Kurapika added: “If you answer five questions correctly in a row, I will admit you’re smarter than I thought.” Gah!
Leorio didn’t want to accept these terms, they were not the ones he had offered. But Kurapika’s determined expression told him there was no other option but to fold.
“Deal! I answer five in a row, then I’m smarter than you first thought.” He shot out his right hand which was met with the small, soft hand of Kurapika. It was kind of pleasant, though his hands were far colder than Leorio had expected.
“Deal.” Kurapika spat, shaking firmly before letting go and turning to go somewhere else. Leorio huffed in his direction before turning to find that they had an audience. Instantly Leorio relaxed, embarrassed that everyone had been watching that.
“Let’s hope that doesn’t impede on your teamwork.” Mr. B had approached Leorio with folded arms. But he didn’t look upset. He actually looked just a little bit intrigued.
----
The competition between Leorio and Kurapika did impede on teamwork, but it didn’t impede on the team’s performance. It was almost as if none of the other members existed, Kurapika was determined to prove Leorio wrong and Leorio was determined to prove Kurapika wrong. Occasionally the other members would get an answer in, but for the most part, the two of them dueled it out.
And Leorio came out on top.
Standing off to the side, the senior waited for the team captain to come down from the awards podium with their first place ribbon to rub it in his face. It wasn’t long before the blonde haired, grey eyed sophomore stepped down from the podium and walked right up to Leorio.
“You are smarter than I thought.” Kurapika stated. But it didn’t sound like he was stepping on nails to do it. Leorio lifted his head in thought.
“I think you should admit I’m smarter than you.” Leorio stated matter-of-factly. Kurapika gaped, turning red in the face.
“We had a deal! You answer five questions correct in a row and I admit you were smarter than I thought.” Kurapika protested angrily, crossing his arms in defiance as the rest of the team gathered to see what was happening.
“Yeah, but I answered ten in a row and didn’t miss one. How many did you answer correctly?” Leorio pointed out, mocking the younger boy by asking him how many he had answered correctly. Kurapika tsked and turned his face away from Leorio.
“How many was it Kurapika?” Leorio asked again, this time leaning in toward Kurapika to elicit an answer.
“Six.” He muttered under his breath. Leorio smirked, but he prompted again and this time Kurapika answered louder. “Six, okay. I answered six correctly and one wrong, none of them in a row.” He spat, looking back up at Leorio, his eyes red but this time not because of his anger. There were bubbles at the corners of his eyes and Leorio took a step back out of surprise.
“Leorio Paladinight, you are smarter than me. Now leave! I don’t want you on my team!” Kurapika practically screamed this, his anger boiling over into rage. Leorio, taken aback by the boy’s response, took a step back. When Kurapika took a step forward, as if threatening for a fight, he turned and walked away swiftly.
It wasn’t like he was afraid of the little sophomore it was just that…. Well, he was afraid of him. Something about Kurapika was positively frightening and Leorio didn’t want to stay to find out of the smaller boy would actually fight him.
At least the math team thing was a one time gig.