_Chapter 36~ Middle School Him_

           "REINA KIKUCHI!"

          I internally winced at the shout of my name, fixating my gaze onto my homeroom teacher. "Yes...?"

          "It's been a couple months since the start of the year and yet you're already almost failing all of your classes!" Mr. Matsuda snapped. "If you keep this up, you'll have to take supplementary classes over the vacation."

          My jaw fell at the news. "No way!"

         "Yes way. Your last opportunity are the upcoming exams." Sighing, Mr. Matsuda adjusted the frames on his face. "As long as you pass your other subjects, you'll be fine but since you are currently failing math, you must score higher than an eighty-five on it if you intend to make it to the passing range."

          "Eighty-five?" I repeated incredulously. "But that's... impossible!"

          "If you study hard, I believe even you can make it," he said. "It's your only hope, anyway."

          I made a face as I recalled the conversation I shared with my teacher over the lunch break. He wanted me to study? Hard? Ha, yeah right. I could not-so-proudly admit that I was a procrastinator that never studied until the day before an exam. It wasn't my fault time seemed to escape from me before I could get to it. Besides, studying and me just didn't mix; studying was for the weak. Filling my brain with useless information that I would forget the minute I finished writing the exam was pointless to me.

          My shoulders slumped, I dragged my feet forward and into my classroom. Making my way up to my seat, I fell onto my chair, frowning to myself. But taking supplementary classes did not sound fun. The summer was not meant for learning... I wanted my deserved freedom.

          "Why do you look so down?" Ryu inquired from beside me.

          "I'm trying to understand why life hates me so much," I murmured. "Why does it? What did I ever do to offend it?"

           Considering my words, Ryu paused. Then, spoke, "Life's not treating you well? Should I give it a firm talking to?"

          Feigning touched, I placed a hand to my chest. "Aww, so sweet." A sigh escaped my lips soon after and I dropped my head onto my desk. "But no, life is not treating me well. While the rest of the world will be having a blast, I'll be stuck taking supplementary classes over summer vacation."

          "Supplementary...?" Ryu repeated, furrowing his eyebrows together. "Wait, are you failing something?"

          I averted my head in the opposite direction. "Um..."

          "Really?" Ryu sounded genuinely shocked. "What subject?"

          "The question should be what subject am I not failing," I mumbled into the desk. "Well, even then the answer's basically everything."

          "Everything?"

          "Hey, what's with that 'oh my God she's stupid' look?" I demanded, folding my arms across my chest. "I'll have you know that I'm not doomed yet. I still have a chance to bring up my grades if I pass the next exams."

          Ryu honestly appeared as if he couldn't believe I was the same person he'd always known. Probably because before he hadn't been aware that I was an idiot failing all of her classes. So now that I told him, I regretted it.

          So much for keeping up my façade. Now he was probably going to laugh or make fun of me. C'mon, prepare yourself for what you caused, Reina...

          Following what I was anticipating, Ryu opened his mouth. He then closed it again, shifting his attention away from a brief moment. "Do... you want me to help you?"

          My eyelids shot upwards. Okay, I was not expecting that. "What?"

          "I'm not doing so bad," he replied. "I can help you."

          Ryu, tutoring me...? I sheepishly turned away my head. "Well, um... I'll be fine."

          "Considering how you're not doing well already, you could use the help, right?"

          "But I don't want to trouble you. Besides, I'm probably the worst person you could ever try to tutor."

          "Don't downgrade yourself like that," Ryu told me. "More than worrying if I could help you or not, you should take this seriously. Do you want to take supplementary classes?"

          Heat crept onto my cheeks in embarrassment. "Of course not."

          He leaned back in his seat. "Then it's decided. I'm helping you."

          A part of me knew that Ryu was Class President last year so it shouldn't have been surprising that he took his studies seriously, but it was still somewhat shocking. My lips caved inwards. If he was going to help me, now I had no other choice but to sacrifice my precious procrastination time of watching anime... In the long run, it would help me, but simply imagining the awkwardness of the entire situation just made my skin crawl.

          I shook my head. Yeah, on second thought...

          "I'll be fine," I quickly told him. "I'll study myself."

          Ryu's eyelids rose. "What, but—"

          "I don't need help," I said through my teeth, as convincingly as I could. "Much less, yours. I'll get by perfectly fine without it."

          "Hey, I was just trying to be..." Ryu stopped himself and gritted his teeth. Contemptuously, he jutted his chin. "Fine. Fail and suffer for all I care."

          A sensation of guilt bubbled up inside at the pit of my stomach, but I didn't try to apologize. I'd get by. Studying my other subjects I was capable of, and if I just practiced math then it shouldn't be too difficult to pass that test, too.

          I could do it.

* * *

          I was an idiot.

          Whilst my attempt at studying math, I realized that for the umpteenth time in my life.

          Swallowing hard, I stared up at the house that stood before me. Multiple emotions coursed through me—but the strongest had to be my immense desire to run.

          But I couldn't.

          I'd already decided I'd commit to this whole studying thing, and although I was practicing problems for hours and hours all week, I just couldn't get the correct answers. I did try keep at it anyways but with my stress high, I only kept distracting myself with other things—binge-watching Blue Exorcist wasn't a good time investment of mine, I admit, considering my test was tomorrow.

          And instead of merely continuing to tackle that hopeless subject making me want to yank all my hair out as we speak, I'd just confront him now. I was so screwed.

          And Ryu Iwasaki was my only hope.

          I glanced down at my hands carrying a container of bribery cookies, bobbing my head. I was set.

          Putting on my best smile, I strolled up to the front doors, ringing the doorbell as I did. My heart was pounding relentlessly in my chest as I waited for somebody to answer the door—hopefully the guy himself.

          When the door finally swung open, I prepared myself for the worst. Though, when I saw who had come to greet me was Ryu himself, my nerves instantly relaxed. Him, on the other hand, had tensed immensely.

          "Kikuchi?" he said in surprise. He quickly glanced over his shoulder and into his household before shutting the door and blocking me off from entering. "What are you doing here?" he demanded.

          "I need help with math," I admitted.

          He furrowed his brows. "You're the one who insisted you didn't need my help."

           "And I realize I was wrong," I said. "Can you help me?" He sent me a sour look. "Please?" I timidly added.

          He frowned at me. "I don't feel obliged to."

          "Don't be like that!" I begged. "Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

          Ryu heaved a loud sigh. "I'm busy right now, so no." Shaking his head, he nudged me forward and off of his porch. "Now hurry up and get out of here. Or else she'll—"

           "What's going on, Ryu?" The door swung open, revealing a middle-aged lady. At first, surprise crossed her features as she stared back and forth between a mortified Ryu and I. Then, she cracked a polite smile. "Why, hello there."

          "Hello," I greeted back, pinning on my brightest grin. "My name is Reina Kikuchi; I live right across the street. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Iwasaki."

          Her eyes widened in recognition. "Is that so? You're Kahoko's daughter aren't you? It's so nice to meet you!" she gushed. "Are you here for something? Come in, come in!"

          Ryu clearly looked appalled by the development as he turned towards his mom. "It's fine, she was just leav—"

          "I'll kindly accept you on that offer," I cut him off, offering her the container I had brought. "We've got some studying to work on anyway."

          The middle-aged lady seemed touched at my gift as I politely followed her inside. "You take school very seriously don't you? Ryu always slacks— oh! Sorry about the mess in here; I wasn't aware Ryu had invited anyone over!" Picking up strewn jackets and shoes, Ryu's mom went on to to tidy up the already seemingly spotless house. "Jeez, Ryu, you could have told me!"

          Ryu was glaring at me from where he was. "Trust me, if I had known..."

          I smiled innocently at him in response to which Ryu sourly turned his head.

          "Hey, what kind of attitude is that to have towards a guest?" snapped his mother, most likely catching the look he had sent my way. "Reina came here for you!"

           Despite not disheartening under any circumstance, Ryu was at a loss to his mom. "B-but—"

           "Am I asking you about your butt here or are you going to show Reina the hospitality she deserves?"

           I folded my arms in amusement to Ryu's speechless reaction. I wasn't sure if it was because of his embarrassment or anger towards me that was making him react so submissively, but I was enjoying it nonetheless.

            As his mother shot him the 'you'll see after she leaves' look, I took notice of the fact that his mother and him didn't look much like each other at all. She possessed wavier brown hair and sharper facial features as well. Maybe Ryu looked more like this dad?

            "Enjoy your stay, Reina," Mrs. Iwasaki wished me with a beaming smile.

            A grumbling Ryu ruffled his hair and focused his attention on the staircase in front of him. He went up the stairs and after giving his mom a quick bow, I dogged him.

           We passed three rooms; two of which hung colourful door signs that labelled whose room was whose. When my attention fell upon the last one, it was to my surprise to find the sign for it broken in half so you were able to only read the 'ki' letters on it.

          Seeming to understand what I had stopped to look at, Ryu flinched as I squinted my eyes to figure out the rest. Seizing my arm, Ryu ushered me towards the door at the end of the hall—the only one without a nameplate. We entered the rather tidy bedroom that I could immediately pinpoint was his.

           Running his fingers through his unusually tousled hair, Ryu let out a loud breath, "See what you caused by coming here?"

           "I don't know what you're talking about. I honestly believe this all couldn't have gone any better." I sent him my sweetest smile.

          Ryu's shoulders from behind squared. Defeated, he rolled his eyes and took a seat at his desk. "I have to study myself so leave. I need to focus."

          "I just need to ask you a few math questions. You can help, right?" Slipping his various mangas off his shelf, I flipped through them. Wow, he had a lot of series...

          "Hey, stop touching my stuff." Appearing by my side, Ryu snatched the One Piece manga from my grasps.

           "Oh, sorry," I apologized, holding up my hands in surrender. I had gotten distracted yet again. See what anime and manga did to me?

           Ryu wasn't wearing a friendly expression in the least as he pushed his manga back into its place.

          "So... is that a yes or no?" I carefully asked.

          I wasn't surprised when he replied, "No."

          Disbelief surged up inside me and I stared up at him with a pout. "But I'm asking so nicely! Do you want me to suffer all summer?"

          As soon as I met his eyes, I was backtracked. As always, they were such an awing colour. "Of course I don't want you to suffer," he said after a pause. "But you're the one who turned down my help before. And I'm trying to study by myself and you're taking that time away."

          Ugh... I even knew it that it was stupid of me to care about trivial kinds of things when I turned him down. I probably offended Ryu that day last week. "I'm sorry." I stepped towards him. "But I really want to pass! Please?"

           I hadn't even realized our bodies had gotten so close until the sentence left my mouth. Immediately, heat rose to my cheeks and my heart rate picked up as well.

           In an almost contemplative manner, Ryu continued to stare at me even when I averted my gaze downwards, and after a couple seconds when silence did nothing but consume the room, I opened my mouth again.

          "If it'll make you reconsider, how about I let you finish your studying first? I'll be quiet!"

          Observing me for a long time, Ryu eventually relented with a huff. Without warning, he headed out his door.

          "Wait—" I called after him.

          "Lucky for you, I happen to be studying math," he cut me off, stopping at the door. "I have a document already open with some questions and answers on my laptop. Read them over and ask me anything you don't understand when I come back."

          He didn't give me a chance to say anything as he departed. The room fell into a state of silence, leaving me a bit on edge. I slowly sat down at Ryu's desk where his laptop was, thinning my lips.

          Jeez, if he was studying the same subject why'd he make it so difficult? It'd have been so much easier if he just agreed. Then again, I guess I was the one to blame for his reluctance...

           A frown took the form of my lips as I scanned the area around me. I know I did barge in here and all... but, this was Ryu's room.

            A boy's...

           My cheeks warmed at the thought but I quickly nudged it away. No, you came here for a reason. Don't distract yourself again, me!

            Sliding the laptop closer to me, I pulled it open. I waited for the screen to load and when it did, I saw that he had already typed up majority of our exam reviews. Reading through it as well, I admitted he was very articulate too. I slumped my shoulders. Ryu really didn't suit this studious side of his; I knew him for quite a long while now and it still held true.

           Scanning the questions page, I felt like an idiot fairly quickly due to not being able to understand a single one. Letting out a sigh, I minimized the tab. Though, as soon as the screen was supposed to go back to its desktop, my eyelids rose a bit to see some files under photos, specifically one poking out from behind the tab.

          The curiosity inside me couldn't stop myself from clicking onto it.

          As I did, I was left staring at a picture of a younger boy—baby cheeks and dishevelled uniform indicating that he was most likely in middle school. A mop of black hair fitted the tip of his head, lips pursed, grey eyes narrowed into the form of a scowl at something he was staring at to his left. Piercings stood out from his ears and as I continued to click onto the following pictures, only panic sent my heart into an erratic pace.

          The last picture of the slide was one where the boy barely surpassed the age of five and a similar, though younger version of him was latched onto his arm, beaming cutely from ear to ear.

          Processing the photos, my eyelids were as wide as saucers. Was this boy... Iwasaki? And the other one... Aki?

          "I hope you don't mind drinking tea— What are you doing?"

          My heart leapt to my throat in surprise. I lurched away from the screen that I now realized I had hunched over so close to, feigning a smile Ryu's way. "H-huh?" I fired a laugh. "N-nothing! I was reading..." My fingers tapped rapidly for the document I was on at first. "Y-yeah... the—"

          Ryu didn't believe it—not that I really expected him to with the horrible lying skills I possessed. Setting down the tray of tea he had brought in, Ryu raced over to my side before I could successfully bring up the document, snatching the laptop from my fingers. My shoulders squared as I carefully peeked upwards. Ryu had figured out what I was looking at, his jaw falling at an incredible rate.

          "U-um," I whimpered. "I-It was just there, and..."

           Instead of flipping out on me, a vibrant blush consumed his cheeks.

          "Um, Iwasaki..." I hesitantly asked, puzzled by the fact hell didn't break loose yet. "Was that... you?"

          At the question, Ryu's blatant blush was enough of an answer. It had reached the tips of his ears and he was trying his best to avoid my eyes by hiding his face behind the laptop.

          "Wait, that was you?" I demanded, now in startled disbelief. "In middle school?"

          "I-It's not..."

          "You had black hair and piercings in middle school? You look just like a delinquent!" I exploded, amusement slipping into my tone. "And who's that boy that was with you? Is he your brother? Possibly one by the name of Aki Mitsoyu?"

          Although remaining a bumbling mess to all my other statements, at the mention of Aki, Ryu's embarrassment shifted to shock. He dropped his laptop from his face, and the amount of anger I saw in his eyes froze me on the spot. My lips clamped shut and I took a cautious step back. Great... I probably shouldn't have said that.

         "Who told you that?" Ryu demanded. "How long have you known?"

          His questions succeeded in catching me off guard. He wasn't denying it then? "Wait, you really are brothers?" I said incredulously.

          Ryu's expression contorted for a brief moment as he set his laptop down. He seemed extremely reluctant to voice an answer. Then, he did, "I guess I was asking too much of you when I told you to ignore him."

          "I-I did try!" I defended. "He just—"

          "Do you want help with math or not?"

          Ryu's brusque response lodged all remaining questions I wanted to ask in my throat. I watched his reaction and similar to the Kyoto trip, it was full of the same amount of wistfulness. Frowning, my heart felt heavy in my chest as I took a seat across from him, setting my books out onto the table. Ryu watched as I opened my book up and I leaned over to show him the first question I was having trouble with. He bent over as well, instantly invoking nervousness throughout me due to our proximity.

          "Um, I couldn't get this one..."

          "Oh, this one's easy," Ryu said. He reached for the pencil in my hand, brushing our fingers in the act and allowing my face to heat up. Accordingly, Ryu explained the question for me. He went in much simpler detail than our teacher and walked me through it. It was like a lightbulb had lit at the back of my mind because it truly did seem to make sense.

          Until, of course, I tried to do a few questions.

          Then it all went downhill.

          "You can't get this one either?" Ryu asked in exasperation.

          I groaned, dropping my chin onto the table. "This is impossible after all!"

          "It's not impossible..." Ryu's jaw fell as he picked up my book in disbelief. "You couldn't even do a basic division question?"

          The way he said it made me feel like an idiot. That was more than just division! There were positives and negatives everywhere!

          "Do you even have a brain inside here?"

          I puffed my cheeks as he began tapping the top of my head. "I think so."

          "Then use it," Ryu said. "How are you in your third year of high school if you can't even do basic algebra?"

          "I just made a mistake okay." I frowned. "Stop getting so mad."

          Ryu exhaled loudly, putting down my book and pointing to a certain question. "Fine, try this one."

          Picking up my pencil I stared at the question with utter dread. What were all these signs? What the heck? Feeling Ryu's gaze from overtop of me, I connected the lead with the paper. Just write something. He's been watching you stare at the paper for how many minutes now? I sighed after a pause. But I didn't get this stuff! I was hopeless! Why should I even bother at this point?

          I dropped face-first onto the table. "Motivation..." I whined. "I don't have the motivation..."

          "This is seriously... What kind of motivation do you even need? You're gonna fail your exams!" Ryu exploded.

          "Whatever, I don't get why I even bothered to come here after all. Just because I had a little hope for myself."

          "Ki-ku-chi."

          "There's no point. I don't understand anything and the exam's tomorrow."

           "Hey."

          "I'll get through somehow, Iwasaki," I groaned. "I'm sorry for wasting your time but thanks anyway. You just enjoy your summer without me okay?"

          "Kikuchi!"

          "Is my name all you can say?" I pouted, rising my head up. "You do realize this kind of diligent attitude doesn't even suit your face, ri—"

          My words were cut short when his lips nearly brushed against mine. It was a split second realization, but it was enough to send all my sleepiness away, jolting every fiber of my body. I lurched backwards as my heart rate picked up in an irregular beat, eyes as wide as saucers.

          "I don't care if you're tired, you're studying," Ryu said, utterly oblivious to what had just happened. "How do you expect to become a teacher in the future if you don't put the effort in now?"

          I tried to swallow back my embarrassment to the best of my ability, so Ryu's words had for sure done the trick. "You... How do you know that?" I demanded, sitting up straighter.

          Even though he didn't seem fazed at what had happened earlier, he timidly turned his head at this. "It... It's just a lucky guess."

           "There's no way that was just a lucky guess!" I accused, leaning forward in my seat so that I could get a closer glimpse of his face. "Who told you that?"

          "Nobody did!"

          "Liar!" I objected with a grin. "I probably said it once then... And you remembered it!"

          "Why is that humorous to you?" he snapped.

          "It's not! I just can't believe you remembered that. It's sweet."

          Ryu flushed harder. "N-no, I—"

          "Aww," I laughed even more, picking up my pencil and grinning from ear to ear. "Aww."

          "Stop "aww"-ing," he ordered. "It's not that surprising. Unlike you I actually use my head and—"

          "Aww," I cooed.

          Scowling, Ryu gently bopped my head. "Question," he proclaimed, holding out his textbook. "Solve for 2x² minus 8x—"

          "W-wait!" I cried, hurriedly reaching for a paper. "Repeat it!"

          "—plus 8."

          "Iwasaki!" I whined. "I didn't get the beginning!"

          He stared at me impassively. "Then it's a zero."

          I gasped at him. "How can you give me a zero? You're supposed to be helping me learn!"

          "Your fault for not concentrating."

         "I am concentrating," I enunciated, leaning forward across the table. "You're the one who distracted me by randomly mentioning my ambition!"

          He recoiled. "I already told you that was a lucky guess. Now stop talking about unnecessary things and focus."

          "What do you mean unnecessary?" I said. "You brought it up!"

          "N-no, I—" Bashful, Ryu clenched his teeth. "I only said it to encourage you."

          An amused smile had upturned my lips. "Stop acting like such a tsundere, Iwasaki."

         Ryu aimed a flustered glower at me. "Be quiet!"

          I laughed. The ringing of my cell phone snatched all my attention and confused, I placed it to my ear. "Hello?"

          "Reina! You will not believe this!" Daichi's voice rang out from over the receiver, oozing excitement.

          "What won't I believe?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

          "Mortal Mania is coming to our city July 23rd!"

          My jaw fell. "The Mortal Mania?"

          "Yeah, and my older brother scored me some tickets! I have an extra one so you can come if—"

          I lurched to my feet. "Heck yeah I'll come! Oh my gosh, I get to see them in perso—" My words got caught in my throat. Although this was a joyous situation, I couldn't accept it wholeheartedly.

          I'd have supplementary classes then. And knowing my mom, she'd be angry and wouldn't let me leave the house at all. I couldn't go.

          "Reina?" Daichi asked, puzzled by my sudden silence.

          Dejection overcame me. But it was Mortal Mania! How could I...

          I needed to pass my test.

          "Daichi, I will go no matter what!" I shouted with a sudden burst of energy. "Just you wait! I'll pass my exams and then we can rock out together!"

          I hung up before he could reply and faced a face-palming Ryu from beside me.

          "Let me guess, now you have motivation?" he asked.

          "A lot," I said with a grin, sitting back down and picking up my pencil and twirling it. "I'm passing this test!"

*     *     *

          I couldn't believe my eyes.

It seriously had to be a dream because...

"A ninety-five?" Erika demanded from my left, her jaw falling rapidly. "How does... How hard did you study?"

Super hard, was all I could think. I studied more than I'd ever studied for a subject before, absorbing the necessary information left and right. I couldn't believe the outcome myself. How good was my memorization skills if I put my mind to it?

Just after Mr. Matsuda handed out all the exams and everyone began socializing, Ryu was coming back down the row. My mouth spread back into the widest smile as I sprung to my feet, racing up to him.

"Iwasaki, I did it!" I literally screamed, showing him my exam with a huge smile.

Ryu's eyelids definitely shot as high as the sky as he gaped at my mark. "A ninety—"

"Oh my gosh I did it!" I cut him off, too giddy to stand still. Without even thinking, I threw my arms around him into a hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! Now I can enjoy the break! It's all because of you!"

Ryu had clearly stiffened as a result of my contact but only after I craned my neck upwards and saw his bright red face did I realize what I'd done.

"Ooh, Reina," whistled Erika from behind me.

Giggles erupted from the girls of the class and the boys shared equally amused looks. Embarrassment seized me in one big swoop and I'd turned firetruck red. Gasping, I immediately lurched away from an equally awkward Ryu, clasping my hands over my face in disbelief.

Did I seriously just...

"I-I'm s-s-sorry!" I stammered profusely. "I-I-I didn't mean to— I-I mean I did, b-but..."

Erika's giggles filled me with even more mortification that I scurried back to my desk, burying my face into the wood without bothering to look at the guy.

My heartbeat was high in my chest so I inhaled shaky breaths to calm myself down. Though, as embarrassing as it all was, I still meant what I said to him; without Ryu, I'd have been a goner.

I was really glad he was there for me.

___________________________

The fluff... But wow, I can't believe I didn't update this chapter yet. I seriously thought I did a while ago... Sorry guys. Don't worry, the next one will come sometime in the next few days, or maybe even tomorrow, lol.

Tell me your opinions about the chapter! Hopefully you found it sweet :)

-Misty