Chapter Text
”A dog walker would be really cool, but I know I wouldn’t be able to live off of that.”, Hirose answered his friend’s question, beaming up at the thought of all the dogs he’d get to pet should he become one.
“That’s boring!”, Takeuchi answered back, leaning against his desk in increasingly ridiculous poses, “you need something more ambitious! You’ll be a bum otherwise.”
“What do you wanna be, then?”, Hirose challenged with a visible pout, crossing his arms over his chest, pointedly glaring at his friend.
“I don’t know!”, Takeuchi answered instantly, animated as he threw his hands up in the air. “I’m asking you two for inspiration. I want something easy that pays a lot.”, he’d shrugged, making both Hirose and Mukai sigh.
“You’re an idiot,”, Mukai spoke this time, “you won’t get paid for doing nothing.”
“Yo, Nakamura!”, Takeuchi, surprisingly, had been the one to speak up towards the quiet boy, “what do you wanna do when you leave school?”, he’d asked the teen, subsequently including him into the conversation.
Nakamura seemed equally confused by the other boy asking the question, taking an initial moment as to glance between him, Mukai and Hirose a little warily before answering.
“… be a marine biologist.”
“Whaaaat? That’s way too hard!”, Takeuchi groaned, having found Nakamura’s answer to be of no help when it came to deciding what he’d wanted to do. “You smart people have it all figured out. If you become one, you’ll be super rich, too!”
“… I hope so,”, the dark haired teen answered honestly, his cheeks turning a charming tint of crimson as he’d looked away from the three (though he’d only looked at Hirose), “I’d like to spoil my partner so that they never need to work, unless they’d like to.”, the taller teen needlessly fixed his hair, looking to busy his hands.
Despite still clearly being somewhat uncertain, Hirose had been incredibly proud of Nakamura for gradually opening up and speaking more to those around him. Honestly, it’d been somewhat surprising to the teen that he’d appeared utterly unaware by his own likability and seamless popularity.
“Ugh-!”, Takeuchi grumbled upon hearing the other speak, pouting very visibly as he’d noticed that Kawamura and her friends had been watching the boys talk very intently, “you better not try taking Yuuka from me with that talk, you hear?!”
“I’ve no intention of doing that. Ever.”, Nakamura deadpanned immediately, the sudden, utter seriousness of his tone making Hirose chuckle.
“Though, Nakamura,”, Mukai butt in this time, ignoring how fired up Takeuchi got from the sudden jealousy, “aren’t you technically rich already? I’ve recently seen that your family helped fund our town’s main hall and they’re always in our festival organiser credits.”
And that… surprised Hirose. The chestnut haired teen blinked owlishly at the information, Nakamura had never acted like he’d been rich.
Well- he supposed the other teen did live in a middle class area. He’d nice lunches and an always-clean uniform, and his bike was a very good make. Perhaps he’d never been one to flaunt the fact his family had money, then?
“I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know!?”, Takeuchi huffed, still annoyed as he’s spoke, “you live with them, don’t you?”
“… do you guys go out of your way to ask your parents how much they earn?”, Nakamura answered instead, visibly perplexed as he’d glanced between the three.
Hirose tried not to visibly grimace, more than aware his mum earned the minimum. He’d hoped the topic would change soon.
He’d briefly locked eyes with Nakamura, something shifting in the other teen’s usually-stoic expression as he’d suddenly cleared his throat.
“Never-mind,”, The dark-haired boy shook his head, looking back at his notebook, tapping it impatiently with his pen, “I don’t really feel like talking about this anymore.”
Ah. Hirose truly appreciated his friend for this. No matter his feelings, Nakamura seemed to pick up on them in an instant. He’d really been a great friend.
“Ugh, you’re so boring, Nakamura.”, Takeuchi complained, rolling his eyes yet dropping the topic altogether.
The next time Hirose caught Nakamura’s gaze, he’d made sure to give the boy a private, thankful smile.
Nakamura’s features flushed immediately, the boy waving his hand dismissively, assuring the shorter teen that it’d been nothing. It was all the proof Hirose needed to know that Nakamura truly had read his mood.
As Hirose looked back to the front of the class, their teacher had only just walked in with a quiet apology for being late, the woman carrying a large stack of papers. As the teacher’s words gradually dulled in Hirose’s ears, a thought nestled somewhere at the back of his head. He’d looked down at his little octopus-themed pentop he’d been given by his friend, smiling a little sadly as his mind wondered:
‘What was it like?’
Before he’d a chance to properly dwell on his silent question, their substitute teacher placed a test paper right in front of him, startling Hirose a little. He’d quietly thanked the woman as she’d walked past, before looking down at his marked test:
Hirose Aiki
Japanese Language — 68/100
Grade: 2
Needs improvement
Hirose cringed at the result, sighing quietly before he’d subtly glanced behind him. His eyes found Nakamura naturally, as they often had these days, with the quiet boy’s delicately satisfied features being telling enough. Hirose hadn’t needed to walk closer to see the neat ‘100’ circled at the top of his friend’s test paper.
——
”Im home!”, Hirose called out into his home, kicking off his shoes and shrugging off his backpack with usual-urgency. He’d put on his sister’s old slippers, popping his head into the living area as to see if he could spot his mum.
“Welcome home, hon!”, His mother called out from the kitchen, instead. The teen quick to change course, walking towards the sound and ignoring the pointed creak of wood beneath his feet. It’d always been particularly annoying whenever he’d needed the toilet at night. “How was school?”, she’d asked curiously, giving her son a sweet, tired smile once he’d entered the open kitchen.
She’d just finished scrubbing the floor of the room, sighing out in content accomplishment as she’d stood to her feet, Aiki outstretching his hand out of habit, the woman taking it thankfully as additional support.
“Good,”, the teen shrugged, giving his mum a genuine smile, letting go of her hand and absently watching her pat down the apron she wore, a small tear at the bottom corner of the large pocket noticeable with the action. “Like always.”, he’d gently assured.
“Ah, I’m glad I’m glad,”, she’d nodded happily, dusting off her hands, “did you end up getting those results?”
Ugh, Hirose attempted as to not grimace, only now remembering he’d ended up telling his mum of the test a few days back, pointedly complaining, yet strangely confident in himself. It’d been an improvement from his prior score of 62, but it had still felt a long way from passing.
“I… did.”
“How did it go?”, she’d asked hopefully, watching her son sit down at the small kitchen table, the woman eager as to pass her boy a portion of warm soup from the night before, a small serving of rice beside it.
Hirose looked down at his food briefly, noting how a piece of pork floated beckoningly atop the warm liquid, with the teen aware his mother left him the last piece, undoubtedly.
“Ok?”
“… Aiki.”
“Ugh,”, the boy grimaced, picking up his bowl as to take a greedy gulp of broth. He’d sighed contently once the ceramic dish left his lips, but his mother stood straight and waiting, arms folded over her chest. “It was better than last time?”
“… was it passing?”
“‘Needs improvement’”
“… honey-“
“No no, I know, sorry,”, Hirose sighed, “but it is better! Almost good, even. I just needed a couple more points. I’ll pick it up, promise.”
“… I just want you to be able to get into a good school. For you to have a good job, you know?”, the woman explained needlessly, as though she hadn’t given this lecture to her son time and time again.
“Yeah, mum, I know…”, Aiki trailed off a little solemnly, feeling somewhat disappointed, now.
“Ah, but chin up! You’d improved, yes? That’s good! We cannot overlook that,”, the older woman smiled kindly, walking up to her son as to ruffle his hair affectionately, “but maybe it’s worth looking into getting you a tutor, or-“
“No!”, Hirose snapped a little too loudly, making his mother flinch at the volume. “S-sorry! I’d just meant we don’t need to waste money on that!”, he’d laughed, awkwardly attempting to mitigate the situation. “I could… I could ask a friend to tutor me! He’s really smart.”, the teen smiled pleadingly.
“Well, if they’re ok to, I’d really appreciate it,”, the woman smiled, “it would ease my heart, you know? I’ve already lost so much sleep over your sister moving out with her husband. Daiki is a wonderful man, but a mother can’t help but worry! You’ll understand when you’ve your own kids.”,
“Yeah yeah,”, Aiki laughed good-naturally, rolling his eyes playfully at his mother. “I know, and having a friend tutor me will make me feel better, too.”, he’d smiled, the response evidently satisfying the woman.
“Alright, now that that’s settled, eat your food before it grows cold. I’ll be upstairs getting ready for work.”, the woman nodded towards the half-full bowl of broth, gesturing towards it with feigned impatience.
Hirose shook his head is disbelief, making a show of taking a large gulp of the food. On her way out of the kitchen, his mother laughed heartily, smiling warmly as she’d gave her son a parting wave.
When she’d left the room, Hirose’s smile gradually fell. The young teen sighed quietly, looking away from where his mother disappeared to, instead glancing at his food. The pork still floated on the surface, urging the growing boy to take another gulp. Instead, however, Hirose reluctantly took out his phone.
He’d unlocked the device with practiced ease, swiping out of the game he’d shut the device off on, instead going into his LINE. He hadn’t needed to scroll, the contact he’d intended to message right at the top of the list, save for a couple of unread messages from Matsumura and Takeuchi that he hadn’t intended on opening at the moment.
He’d pressed on Nakamura’s name, the chat opening to reveal a mixture of random conversation, photos and memes. The last thing sent between them being an exchange on the way back. Even though they’d walked half-way together, after they’d split Hirose ended up spotting a cat, sending a quick picture of it to Nakamura, the other teen promptly cooing about how adorable it’d been.
Hirose faintly smiled at the exchange, but was quick to focus, his expression becoming more neutral. He’d took a deep breath and pressed as to start the message.
‘Hey! I need you to-‘
He deleted it.
‘Since you’re really smart, could you help me with-‘
He’d backspaced all the way to the start again,
‘Could you do me a favour-‘
Another delete.
Hirose sighed, growing quickly frustrated about how he should word the question. He didn’t want to come off as too strong or desperate, but he didn’t want to make it seem as though he didn’t care, either. He’d stared at his phone for a while, willing for Nakamura to simply read his mind through the screen. As that hadn’t happened, however, the teen instead sighed in defeat, deciding to write the first thing that came to mind;
‘Could you help tutor me with Japanese, please? I’d really appreciate it! 🙇♂️ it’s alright if you’re busy, though!!’
Hirose pressed send before he could overthink it. He’d quickly locked his phone, groaning quietly to himself as he’d looked up at the cream-coloured ceiling of his kitchen. He’d trailed the patters of it, but was relatively quick to grumble to himself about being a ‘coward’, reopening LINE with a newfound determination.
By the time he’d re-opened the app, a type bubble had already materialised in the corner of his screen, letting him know that Nakamura had been typing something on the other side.
Then it disappeared.
Showed up again.
Gone.
There again!
Hirose began to pointedly smile, finding it amusing how his friends always seemed to do this, subtly reassured about his own overthinking of sending the simple question. Following another moment, however, a response shifted the display of Hirose’s screen.
‘👍’
‘When?’
The messages had been simple and comically minimal to all the effort they’d seemed to need as to be sent, but Hirose couldn’t help but relax in his seat. He hadn’t noticed how wide his smile was from the simple exchange, or how goofily he’d swung his legs under the table, borderline giddily.
It’d only been when he’d taken another sip of his soup that Aiki abruptly grimaced.
‘Ah, it went cold…’, the boy sighed, finishing his meal despite the fact, typing out a quick response to Nakamura as he’d done so.