Akari

A big red circle marks the impending day of the end-of-term exam on the calendar. My eyes shift from it to the books piled high up on my desk.

"Two more days..." I mutter. My eyelids threaten to close. There is no way I can memorize all these in two days. Even with the notes I made, I'm terrified that I would not pass the exam.

"Screw this." I cover the book I was studying, grab my keys by the counter and leave the apartment.

The moment I stepped out of the suffocating apartment, I feel relaxed. The night air is cool against my skin. I look up. The crescent moon lights up the broad starless night sky.

"Akari?"

I turn around. "Karma?"

"What are you doing?" He asks.

"Getting away from the killer books. What are you doing?"

"Going to the convenience store for some snacks," he replies. "How's your study going?"

"Terrible. I'm afraid that I might not remember everything important."

The corner of his lips curves up. "I believe that you can do it. So don't worry."

"Hmph," I snort. However, secretly I'm delighted to hear him say so. "Says the guy who aces almost every subje—"

He suddenly grabs my hand and drags me along with him. "Let's go."

"Where are we going?"

"A late night snack. Fancy cup noodles?"

My stomach growls in response. He smirks.

"Good."

"But the books and the study and......"

He chuckles. "Why study with dead books when you have a living ace with you right now?"

I sigh. "You're right though. You're better than books who don't answer my questions."

He nods in approval.

"But Mr. Ace, please don't try to end up worse than the last end-of-term exams. Especially after you declared against Asano."

He turns around to glare at me. "What? You don't believe in me?"

"Well..." I pause deliberately. "Yes, I do believe in you."

His eyes shift away. "Hmm." His voice is timid.

"I can't hear you~"

"Thanks." His voice a little bit louder, but I can sense some shyness in his tone.

"You're welcome."

*****

"So, two more days till the exam, huh?" Karma says as he slurps steaming cup noodles. "You need my help for anything?"

"A LOT." I drown my sigh with a big bite of noodles. An idea pops up in my mind. However, it feels like an unreasonable request. "Since you are a genius... you must have understand almost every subject, right?"

He nods. "Except Japanese. I still never understand that."

"Well..." I put down my chopsticks. "Is it okay if... if you spare some time in these two days to help me out with my studies? I know it's kinda' unreasonable since it's vital for you to get your own studies done as well... I don't mind if you say no. Whatever. Just forget I said tha—"

"Hmm. Okay," he replies nonchalantly.

"Huh?"

He looks at me. "I'm fine with helping you. It's a good revision for me too."

My eyes sparkle with joy. "Thank you so much!" I refrain from giving him a hug.

His evil smirk suddenly appears. "Then you'll owe me a big favour."

Now I refrain myself from strangling him.

"We'll start at 8 in the morning tomorrow so get a good night's rest tonight because for the next two days, I will be torturing your brain as much as possible," he says. "Meet at your place?"

I shake my head. "I need a change of environment. That place is killing my brain."

"Mine then? My parents aren't around."

I think of my empty fridge for the past few days and the food my stomach had to endure because I couldn't spare enough time to even buy something nice to eat.

"You... have food in your fridge?" I ask timidly.

He chuckles. "Of course. I'll even cook for you."

I smile gleefully, unable to contain my happiness. My dear stomach, you shall be pampered!

"Do remember we're studying. Not eating for fun."

That literally shatters my fragile heart.

*****

Countdown 48 hours until exam d-day.

I arrived two hours ago at Karma's doorstep, with books and notes stuffed in my bag. Karma was already awake a long time ago. His house was wafting with delicious scents of bacon and eggs. "Eat while you study," he said, so we studied as I stuffed the food into my mouth greedily. My mind was fixated on the rows and rows of words scribed on the book instead of enjoying the food.

"Your calculations are wrong. You need to change x here to x2." "You're missing an element in this chemical equation here." Karma patiently teaches me.

In return, I also teach him. "I think another word can be used here. 'Ephemeral' for 'temporary', perhaps?" "Hey Karma, I think the answer here should be 84, not 79."

Studying is all we know. I didn't know studying would be less boring with Karma around. He even cooks some comfort food whenever I get hungry. As the night approaches, we continue to study. I know Karma is tired as he yawns but he persists to teach me until I call it quits.

"Night, Karma," I say as I lie on the sofa.

"Night, Akari." He sleeps on a pile of thick blankets on the floor next to me.

"You could have slept in your room, you know." I turn to look at him.

He looks up at me. "And leave you alone cold? Who knows when you need my warm hug—"

I throw a pillow in his face. "Shut up and sleep."

The next day, the battle against books continues. The same routine happens again: study, eat, nap, study, eat. It is all pure torture. I'm glad when the night comes. It means I could rest and that after tomorrow, the torture would be over.

However, I'm not ready to let my mind rest yet. Even though I memorized and understood a lot more than before, fear tells me that my mind would go blank tomorrow.

"Akari, let's call it a day. A good night's rest is better for you." Karma prepares his makeshift bed.

"But... but..." The figures and words on the desk are driving me crazy.

"Sleep now or I'll just carry you to my bed and we'll sleep together."

I ignore him and focus on my books.

Suddenly, long arms wrap around my shoulder as a voice whispers in my ear, sending chills down my spine. "Sleep? Or......" The red-haired devil threatens.

My heart races. His warmth is tempting. His voice is alluring. Everything of him is nice—just as nice as the times we were together. This is making me hard not to kiss him.

I push his chin away and untangle myself from him. "Sleep!"

He smirks. "Not a very wise choice though."

"Shut up and let me sleep! You're... you're making it hard for me to sleep!"

"I would encourage you not to sleep but exams are more important so... good night, Akari."

I cover my head with the blanket so that he couldn't see my flaming red face.

Silence.

When I'm sure he is asleep, I remove the blanket from my face and let out a long sigh.

"You can do it." Karma's voice startles me. I jump.

I peek over the sofa. Our eyes meet. By instinct I would have cover my face again but his golden eyes are like magnets, attracting mine.

"How do you know about that?" I mutter.

"Because it's you. Okumura Akari has overcame so many obstacles throughout this year. Although she was hurt in the process and made people worry, she never fails to surprise people of what she can achieve. That's why..." Karma sits up. I can feel his breath tickling my face, "I believe that you can do it."

My heart skips a beat. Not only because of the motivation he gives me, but also because of how good-looking he can be with his face in such close proximity.

"T-thanks." I stutter.

"Are you falling in love with me again? 'Cause it looks like you are."

"Good night!" I avoid answering his stupid question. Was it that obvious?

A hand pats my head gently. "Just keep in mind everything I taught you and you'll do fine. Night, Akari."

My heartbeat booms in my ears. Shoo, Karma! You're making it hard for me to sleep!

Somehow, I felt lonely when the warmth of his hand left.

*****

I'm back peeps! This is just a short chapter but filled with some fluffs here and there. Hope you guys enjoyed it! Sorry for taking so long. The next few chapter will due to come out once per month (depend on my busy schedule because university is not over yet). 

Thank you for readers, old and new, for supporting this story! Bye!