▃▃▃▃▃ "what's this?", kita questioned.

"an egg", etsuko answered.

"I see that...but why?", kita questioned once more.

"a boiled egg. once you peel it, you can eat it", the girl explained, making kita raise a brow in confusion.

"why would I eat it though?"

"do you not want it?", etsuko pouted, to which the girl had laid her head on her arms that were on top of kita's desk, opposite from the boy himself, who was sitting upright.

     "I'm just wondering why you're wanting me to digest an egg in the middle of this peaceful afternoon", kita said, making etsuko smile like a fool.

     "because...it's a thank you from me", etsuko answered.

     "for?", kita asked, tilting his head slightly to the left.

     "for drawing yourself and sticking it in my bag. I shouldn't have gotten mad. I know I'm not skilled in painting...", etsuko mumbled.

     kita just shook his head.

     "it's my fault for being a bit harsh, so I only did what I felt was morally correct".

     "but still! I wanted to thank you so I got this egg and boiled it for you", etsuko said.

"why's it an egg though?", kita asked, genuinely curious.

"because..because I couldn't afford anything else", etsuko muttered, avoiding kita's gaze. "and plus, whenever I was sad as a kid...my mother always gave me an egg, even though we were in poverty", etsuko explained.

kita stared at the girl before glancing back down at the egg. taking it, the boy started cracking and peeling it.

     etsuko observed as kita ate the egg, making her smile.

     standing up, the girl sighed as she heard a knock. opening the door, the aura around etsuko suddenly brightened up as she saw kozume standing before her.

"huh? what're you doing here, kozume?"

"oh, kuroo told me to come get you. him, bokuto, and akaashi said they wanted to go out and eat, since you didn't come with last time", kozume explained.

     etsuko hummed a bit. she did want to eat a full meal, however the girl heard that ōmizu-sensei was having a mathematical test soon, and first place was to win six strings of 100 mon all in one go.

and apparently, the exam was supposed to be very challenging, which meant passing was even more difficult.

"are they...not worried about the upcoming math exam?", etsuko questioned.

"kuroo usually studies last minute and it works for him. bokuto...."

kozume halted, moving onto akaashi. "akaashi studies a bit everyday".

"and what about you, kozume?"

"I don't particularly care about the reward and neither am I too worried about the test", kozume honestly answered.

etsuko just sighed, making kita glance up.

"kozume-san, before you arrived, I was going to help haru-san prepare for the exam. perhaps you and kuroo-san could invite him out another time?"

kozume squinted his eyes at kita, who was just sitting at his desk.

etsuko nodded.

"I really need to do well on this test kozume. how about I come with you guys next time? I'm sorry...", etsuko pouted, looking down, as even the girl was shorter than kozume.

     kozume just patted etsuko's head, making her immediately look up.

     "don't worry. kuroo won't mind, and we'll be expecting you next time then", kozume slightly smiled as etsuko nodded and bid the male goodbye.

     once the doors closed, etsuko skipped over to kita's desk, squatting in front of him.

     "will you really help me prepare for the exam?", etsuko happily asked.

"I never lie. plus, you seemed hesitant, so I thought you just needed a bit of help", kita said, making the girl lightly chuckle.

"is something funny?"

"it's just interesting to see how observant you are", etsuko answered as she sat beside kita, watching him take out some sheets of paper and his notes from class.

"let's start with the basics. remember, no matter how hard the problem is, you know you can always rely on what you know first.

I recommend breaking the problem down into parts instead of looking at it as a whole. it's less intimidating", kita advised, making etsuko nod in agreement.

     as kita started making up his own problems, etsuko took a while to figure some out, meanwhile leaving a few blank, since she wasn't sure how to properly answer them.

     "for this one, you might need a soroban", kita said, showcasing a rectangle with an odd amount of rods stuck between the frames and multiple beads threaded in between for etsuko to see.

     "wow...I've seen the people in shops use them, but I never understood how they worked! can you teach me?!", etsuko excitedly asked as she held onto kita's arm, making the boy look at the girl's puppy-like eyes.

     the boy let out a silent chuckle; his face immediately returning back to his usual dull expression.

"I brought it out for a reason", kita said as he placed the counting tray down.

"notice how the soroban is split into two sections. the top section only holds one bead per rod. this one bead holds the value of five, called go-dama.

the bottom section holds four beads each rod. however, each bead only holds the value of one, called ichi-dama".

etsuko nodded as she started playing with the beads, sliding them up and down the rods as kita just stared at her, immediately stopping her hands.

"haru-san, you need to focus".

"I am! if I don't get my hands on it, how am I supposed to learn, right? sometimes you need a hands-on learning experience", etsuko smoothly replied as she continued spinning the beads.

     kita just sighed as he slightly shook his head, allowing the girl to have a few minutes of break time. especially since they've been studying for quite a while now.

     "hm~ say kita-san, could you help me a bit more in the upcoming few days?", etsuko questioned.

     "why? is it because you're tired now and you want to stretch out the study times?", kita asked, knowing that the miya twins and suna were the same exact way.

     "huh? oh no no no!! I just still need more practice. I heard kita-san always gets first, so I've still got a long way to go", etsuko smiled, not moving her gaze away from the interesting beads for even a second.

     kita internally thanked the lords that he had finally found someone sensible; someone who was willing to study and put in the effort to attain more knowledge like him.

     "kita-san?"

     the boy suddenly quickly snapped out of his trance. "h-huh?"

     "so...can you help me...or is it too much to ask?"

     "oh...it'd be a pleasure to help you, haru-san", kita said.

     "since we'll be study buddies from now on, you can just call me haru. no need to be so formal", etsuko smiled.

     kita hesitated. "well...in that case, kita's fine too...I suppose".

     "alright kita! so how about same time tomorrow then? we can also head to the cafeteria for dinner together too".

     kita just nodded. "though I'm sure the twins and suna will ask me to help them last minute, so I hope you don't mind".

     "of course I don't mind!! maybe I could even help them so that it helps me refresh the material in my own brain", etsuko positively stated as she started nudging for kita to teach her more about the soroban.

     "what a great idea", kita slightly smiled, making etsuko clear her throat as she looked back down at her paper.

▃▃▃▃▃

     "WHAT THE HELL?! OF COURSE I MIND!", kuroo shouted, making everyone in the restaurant stare at the sudden outburst.

     "kuroo, sit down. you're too loud", kozume calmly said, to which the bed-head huffed as he did as told.

     "why're you so mad kuroo? haru said he'll just join us next time!", bokuto stated as he stuffed more chicken into his mouth.

     "haven't you noticed that all haru gets is an onigiri and some water for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner?! he's going to faint at one point from malnutrition!"

     "but he doesn't want to owe us by letting us buy food for him, so what are we supposed to do?", akaashi asked, to which kuroo had to activate his big brain power.

     deeply breathing in, kuroo suddenly sighed out an idea.

     "I need you three to help chip in".

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セレンディピティ
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