Standard disclaimers apply here.
prompt: passing
AU of the high school flavor. This is based on the fact that Kanda is loldumb, or at least uneducated haha, and Lenalee is smrt. The title is taken from the title of a poem by T.S. Eliot. The Awakening is by Kate Chopin. The Great Gatsby is, of course, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The other parts are done but I'm sitting on them for a bit because I'm really not too sure about how this has turned out; I'll probably put the second part up next Monday, or around that. There's a significance in the books I chose. There are two books in the other parts, and the chapters are named for them. They fit with the endings, along with said purpose. Also, it's possible, as the summary says, because who knows what's going to happen at this point. Look at the books. That's all I'll say about it for now. Feedback would be lovely. I've read this so many times that I'm sick of doing it, so hopefully there aren't any errors because of that, but if there are, please point them out.
The Awakening
English was never Kanda's best subject. He struggled with it all throughout high school, always getting low grades on his report card. Junior year proved to be the breaking point.
On his last paper, his English teacher wrote that he should come and see her. When he did, she told him to get a tutor, because he was failing and that was the only thing that would help. He didn't say much, and didn't do anything until the progress reports came out. The reason why was because his mother was furious over his grades, and told him the same thing his English teacher did: to get a tutor.
There was one difference between this situation and the one with his English teacher. His mother, a short woman by anyone's account, drew herself up to her full height, looked him straight in the eye, and told him, "Or else." There was no need to specify what the "or else" would be; the thought of any of her punishments was enough to make him agree.
"Good," she said, smiling, all threatening manners gone. "Now, there's a tutoring program at the school, right?"
"No," he responded, and didn't say anything else. The smile on his mother's face disappeared.
"Well, what are we going to do?"
"Why are you asking me?"
"Don't talk to me like that, Yu." He had nothing to say, then.
To say he was irritated would be an understatement. His mother sat down at the kitchen table to think.
"Oh! I wonder if…" She trailed off before revealing whatever idea she had. He almost wanted to ask what she was going to say, but knew he would get scolded for snapping or "his tone," so he remained silent. However, she continued. "I wonder if that lab worker – what's-his-name? – who's always bragging over lunch…hmm."
"What?" He couldn't stop himself from asking that, because he really just wanted to get out of there, but was sure that his mother wouldn't let him until she figured something out. She looked up at him again, but didn't scold him.
"There's a young man who works in the lab," she explained, tapping her fingers against the table, "whom I chat with at lunch. He has a younger sister who is in advanced – college level, actually – English classes and is doing incredibly well; he brings in her papers and tests, along with her report card in January. I was thinking I could ask him if she would be willing to tutor you."
"His sister?" Kanda repeated, his tone filled with doubt.
"Yes, his sister," his mother responded, ignoring his tone of voice for once. "She goes to the all-girls school across town, but if she agrees I'm sure something can be worked out. Now go upstairs and study!"
A few days later, he found his mother sitting in the kitchen, waiting for him with a big smile on her face. Kanda set his bag down and approached her warily. That smile didn't look good.
"She said yes!" she announced jubilantly. He frowned.
"Who said yes?" He couldn't figure out what she was talking about.
"Komui's sister," she began, and went on before he could ask who the hell that was, "agreed to tutor you three times a week. Komui – the young man I was talking about a few days ago, remember? – was hesitant at first, but when I suggested that you two meet at the library - and told him what your grades were like - he was willing to ask her. He originally proposed that you meet twice a week, but I talked him into one more day because lord knows you need it." He was scowling at her at this point, but her smile did not budge.
"Is that all?" he snapped, just wanting to go upstairs and take a nap at this point.
"Drop the tone," his mother replied, but still her mood was not dampened. "Anyway, you'll be seeing her Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays until the end of the school year." The frown on his face deepened; it was March, and finals were in June. He'd have to put up with some whiny schoolgirl telling him he was stupid for three months. "Tomorrow is Friday, of course, so you'll be meeting her at the public library at four. I'll call you to make sure you don't forget." You're going to go, and I'm going to make sure of it was what she meant, and he knew there was no way of getting out of this.
"Fine." There was no point in arguing; he resigned himself to it. His mother kept smiling.
"She'll probably get there before you because her school is closer. She'll be wearing a uniform so it shouldn't be too hard to find her. Komui says she wears her hair in pigtails – and he went on and on about how cute she is." She didn't disclose the fact that Komui told her to make sure her son didn't get too close to his sister; she couldn't imagine it happening anyway, as he had shown no interest in girls whatsoever.
"Is that it?"
"Mmm, I think so…oh! And her name is Lenalee."
It was a gorgeous day. There was no possibility of using weather as an excuse for being late – or not being there at all.
Lavi, who hung around him even though Kanda was never amicable toward him, had told him this was probably his best chance of ever talking to a girl, so he should definitely go. (Why he told Lavi all of this, he still didn't know. He had offered to help Kanda in the past, but Kanda always refused because he was already around the idiot – in behavior, not academics – enough.)
So, he heaved a sigh and yanked the library door open at 4:07 that afternoon. His mother had called him three times to make sure he remembered that he had plans that afternoon. There was no way he could forget at this point. He trudged into the building, walked past the detectors and started toward the tables.
What was he supposed to look for again? His mother hadn't reminded him of that, and he had only been half-listening when she told him about his new tutor. He had been too busy brooding over the situation to properly hear her. All he could remember was "how cute she is" because his mother said it right before she stopped talking.
Kanda scanned the room; there were a couple of girls sitting at tables with schoolbooks out. He had never been very focused on looks and paid little attention to the girls at his school, so "how cute she is" wasn't going to help. He wondered if he could just say he couldn't find her and leave.
"Excuse me." The words came from behind him; he moved to the side to let the person past, but she didn't walk by him. She only took a few steps so that she was standing next to him. "Are you...um. Oh, I have it written in my notebook but now I can't remember."
"What do you want?" he asked curtly. She flinched a little out of surprise but didn't leave or even move away.
"I'm here," she responded with a tone of slight irritation for being snapped at, "because I'm supposed to be tutoring someone. We were going to meet at four, but I ducked into the bathroom to get changed." He had hardly looked at her until that moment; she was a few inches shorter than him, had dark hair and eyes, and was holding what appeared to be a uniform wrapped around itself into a ball. Uniform…hadn't his mother mentioned something about that? And "pigtails" was nagging at him, but she had her hair in a bun. She shifted uncomfortably and he realized he had been staring while trying to remember his mother's words. He glanced away toward the windows, and they were both quiet for a few moments.
"Oh, wait, now I remember." She broke into the awkward silence with a sudden declaration. "Yu Kanda; that was it." He turned at the sound of his name, and she smiled. "It is you. I'm Lenalee Lee; it's nice to meet you." She shifted her clothes to one hand and held out the other. He looked down at it and didn't do anything for a moment. Her smile faded a touch until he finally took her hand for a quick handshake. "All right, let's find somewhere to sit."
Since it was Friday afternoon and sunny outside, they had no trouble finding a table. Kanda pulled out his books slowly, but Lenalee busied herself with shoving her uniform into her bag and selected a thin notebook out of it. Flipping it open, she then waited for him to arrange his books, her gaze unwavering.
"So, what are you studying right now?" The book came out last, and he slapped it on top of everything. She had been ready for more of that sort of behavior after being snapped at and didn't flinch, just peered at the cover. "The Awakening. Ah, that's good; I read it last year."
He frowned. How was it that she was so far ahead of him? During one of the three reminder calls, his mother had dropped in the fact that Lenalee had recently turned fifteen. His birthday wasn't until June, but Kanda was still almost two years older than her, and yet she was already in advanced classes and had read the book he was struggling with.
"Um, Yu?" She sounded uncomfortable, like before, and he realized that he had been staring at her again while he was thinking.
"Call me Kanda," was all he said, turning away once more.
"All right." She seemed sure after the exchange for whatever reason and started flipping through his notebook. He was about to ask her what she was doing when she spoke. "Are these all the notes you have for this day?" She pointed to two lines on the page, underneath a date from a few weeks ago. Following the two lines was another date – the next class day. He nodded. "You need to take better notes than that. I can show you how to do that, too."
Her watch beeped at six.
"Oh, sorry, I have to get home," she explained, looking at the watch and starting to gather up her things. "My brother doesn't want me to be out very late." The second part held a twinge of annoyance and a hint of fondness, but she didn't tell him anything past that.
"Fine," he muttered in response, putting his books away and paying careful attention to that; there were a few more points that afternoon where he had found himself staring at her while being lost in thought. Her reaction became more variable as it continued, but she never said anything specific about it.
Lenalee didn't stand until he finished shoving the last book back into his bag. She straightened the short skirt she was wearing and took her hair down, only to retie it back the same way.
They walked out together, simply because she waited for him. Kanda couldn't figure out why.
"There he is," she announced brightly as a car came rolling into the parking lot. They watched it come to a stop in front of them and Lenalee walked over to it, opening the door and saying something to whoever was inside it in a language he didn't understand. She then motioned him over, and, after a moment's hesitation, he took the few steps to the car. "This is my brother, Komui; he works with your mother."
"I know that," Kanda grumbled, not liking how Komui was looking at him.
"You'd better not do anything to hurt my sweet, adorable sister," he finally spoke; he had a little bit of an accent, hardly noticeable but still there. "This is just for tutoring. Remember that."
Kanda frowned and said nothing. Like he would ever want to do anything past this stupid tutoring. Lenalee gave an irritated sigh and put her hands on her hips.
"What did I say last night?" Komui turned to her and gave her a pathetic look. It did nothing.
"But Lenalee-"
"No buts. Let's go home." She got into the car and gave Kanda one last smile. "I'll see you on Monday, okay?"
"Yeah," he responded, already starting to walk away.
After that, they fell into a routine: Kanda met Lenalee at the library three times a week, she was always be three steps ahead of him, and Komui threatened him every Friday.
Through all of it, though, she never implied that he was stupid or that he desperately needed her help (as his mother seemed to think - and she was probably right), and even when he would give up or not want to do anything, she coaxed him calmly through her obvious exasperation.
His mother was very pleased with his next progress report and essay grade; they were both much higher than before.
"See?" she said, holding both up, "Wasn't this a good idea?" He didn't say anything. He didn't care about his English grades either way.
The routine was broken, however, the day she asked him an odd question.
It was mid-May. The school year was coming to a close and finals would be upon them soon. One Wednesday, she suddenly brought something else up.
They had been studying The Great Gatsby when she changed the subject. "Mmm, you know, there's an end of the year dance at my school this Friday."
"Is it at four?" He was perfectly fine with missing a Friday meeting, actually.
"No, it's not that," she admitted, staring down at the book. She appeared unable to tear herself away from it, even though he knew she wasn't reading. "They – the school, that is – said we could invite people from other schools to the dance."
He gave her a blank look, not understanding what she was trying to say. Lenalee sighed and turned her gaze from the book to him.
"I was wondering if you'd like to come with me." She was unwavering in her words, but appeared unsure in spite of that.
"I'm busy," he told her immediately, and he wasn't lying. His mother wanted him to fix something in the house, but told him to wait until then because the weeknights should be dedicated to homework. He didn't think to apologize for it, nor did he realize that she would have been happy to hear he had plans and put off the chore until the next day.
"Oh. That's all right," she replied, and still smiled at him. "Maybe another time?"
"What do you mean?" She looked at him for a moment.
"I mean…never mind." The smile on her face was gone, and she started flipping through the book again. "Which question were we on?"
"…seven."
She acted slightly annoyed the rest of time they were together, and that Friday it was the same. Once the next week began, however, Lenalee was back to the way she used to be. Kanda didn't know the reasons for the changes in behavior, nor did he understand why she asked him that question. But he never said anything, and she never brought it up.
In June, three things happened: Kanda turned seventeen, he passed his English final with no trouble at all, and he had a dream about Lenalee. Initially they were out somewhere together, but it quickly devolved into them together in his room...on his bed.
The dream bothered him, but the fact that he suddenly realized he would miss her that summer bothered him more.
The last time they saw each other, she'd said, "Well, maybe I'll see you in the fall?" She sounded hopeful.
"Probably," was all he offered in response. She seemed to be waiting for something else, but he had nothing to say. Disappointment flitted across her face so quickly it was hard to know if it had actually been there; then she smiled at him and...that had been it.
Now, as he sat alone in his room, he was confused. Why did he want to see her? And why did she seem to want to see him again? He had no answers to either question.
It was a long summer that year.