"Ishimaru-kun, I would like you to help me study!"
Kiyotaka Ishimaru nearly dropped his books, he was so surprised. Standing before him was Sayaka Maizono, for once without three or four guys lurking behind her, an expression on her face so serious he wasn't quite sure it was actually Maizono standing in front of him.
"Excuse me?" he asked. While he was surprised, it was a good sort of surprised – half of the students here didn't think anything of studying. They were already Super High School Levels, and therefore felt that they had everything they needed as long as they passed. While it had made it easy for Ishimaru to stay at the top of his class (not that he ever 'took it easy', he worked just as hard as ever), it was almost insulting.
She kept that serious look on her face, though her voice was a bit quieter as she said the next part. "You're at the top of the class, and I need new studying techniques. Things work a lot differently here than my old school, and since my work as an idol has been cut down a little, I have all this extra time!"
"Of course I will help you!" he said, grinning. Now that the initial shock of it was over, he felt the exuberance that always came with someone who wanted to work hard.
"Are you free after classes? We could meet in the library and you could teach me what you have to teach me!"
"Yes, that sounds like it will work," Ishimaru said. "Thank you for wanting to work hard, Maizono-kun!"
"Thank you for helping me, Ishimaru-kun!" she replied, smiling. He watched her leave, pause, then turn back to give him a small wave.
He wasn't quite sure how to respond, so he just nodded and turned to go on with his duties.
He wasn't quite sure why, but he was extremely nervous throughout the rest of the day. It was more difficult to concentrate on what he should be concentrating on, which was strange and also slightly annoying. Still, he managed to make it through the day, and was shocked to find Maizono at the library before him.
"I am sorry for making you wait," he said, frowning. "I am a disgrace."
"No, I'm early," she said, smiling. "I couldn't wait, I guess!"
"Oh," Ishimaru said, blinking. "Alright. It's not often I see someone who wants to study as much as you here. Apart from myself, ha ha!"
She laughed along with him, and he sat down next to her. They were at a table near the edge of the library, and it was a bit dark, so eye strain could be a problem, but he thought that it would be okay. They went through their homework, Ishimaru mentioning how he studied and Maizono supplying things to the conversation as well. It appeared that he could have a 'normal conversation' with someone if said conversation was about schoolwork.
By the time they packed up, Maizono was sitting right next to him with barely any room for him to move on that side without touching her. It made him nervous, though she must have been that close during at least some of the studying, or he would have noticed her squished up against him.
He turned slightly pinkish as she kept talking.
"Would you like to walk me to my room, Ishimaru-kun?"
"Of course!" he said. Her room was across the hall and a few doors down from his, so it was not that much extra walking, and seeing as she had asked, he thought that he should. They headed out of the library, Ishimaru reminding Byakuya Togami that he needed to get back to his room soon.
This was met with a scoff and a mutter about commoners and important work being done, but Ishimaru didn't really listen to him. He had long learned that listening to Byakuya Togami only made one a bit disappointed with oneself and occasionally violent.
` They made their way to her room, her chatting about things and him interjecting when he could. She was much more adept at small talk than he was. When they got to her room, she turned and gave him a full-on smile that made him feel a bit fuzzy inside. "Thank you, Ishimaru-kun," she said.
"It was no trouble!" he said. "Be sure to use the techniques I taught you!"
"Of course," she said, smiling at him once more before ducking into her room.
He made it back to his room in a daze, nearly running over Chihiro Fujisaki in the process and only managing to get his bedroom door open by sheer luck.
Sayaka Maizono was most certainly one of his favorite classmates.
This was requested by an anon on Tumblr, who wanted a sayamaru (or sayahiro, but [a] I wasn't sure if that was sayaka/chihiro or sayaka/yasuhiro and [b] if I have the chance to write ishimaru i will), and I think this is a pretty cute pairing!
Of course, I ship Ishimaru with basically everyone, but.
