Welcome to chapter two. :P This story will basically be a multitude of shorts with a plot (omg what) that pretty much flows as a string of trial and errors.

The song Neru was listening to is, "HOT SUMMER" by f(x) but the Guriri and Nobunaga version.

Disclaimer: To each his own, but I do not apply.

Popping a Bubble

Chapter 2: Math

Miki yawned upon entering the classroom, mechanically walking to her seat that was not assigned to her. It didn't bother her teacher as she still worked as hard as ever and proved her seating didn't effect her studies. Of course, she only did her work because she wanted to stay in the seat, which was right behind Neru.

It wasn't that she had a crush on her or anything, Neru just wasn't one to talk that much, which lead to mystery and then Miki wanted to know her more. She was smart and was pretty average at her studies, although her grades were higher than Miki's. But it amazed the redhead that she seemed so apathetic to everything and anything.

"Morning," she said to the blonde listening to music through one earphone. When Neru didn't respond, she leaned forward onto her desk and poked her neck, giggling at the way she squirmed in her seat and turned around to glare at her. Miki smiled, sitting back into her seat. "Morning," she repeated.

"Morning," Neru replied, going back to staring at her notebook. A little bit of her music leaked, and Miki was surprised at the pop music. She was sure Neru listened to rock music to fill in the void made by her depressing attitude.

Before the bell rang, she got out of her seat and walked to Neru's desk, lifting up the dangling headphone, placing it in her ear.

Hot summer! A hot hot, summer!
Hot summer! A hot hot, Neomu dawo!
Hot summer! A hot hot, summer!
Hot summer! A hot hot, Ige-

"What are you doing?!" Neru snapped, nearly ripping out her earphone from Miki's ear. A blush stained her cheeks and her eyes were full of fury. "Don't do that." She stopped the song, hiding her iPod from view.

Miki rubbed her ear a little, and pouted, standing from her crouching position. "Does that mean I can if I ask for permission?" she asked with a pout, voice full of innocence.

"No. Now go sit down," the blonde said, putting in the other earphone to block out her voice. Miki sighed and did as she was told, the bell signaling the start of class. The entire time, even through attendance, Neru kept her earphones in. She still managed to take notes and do the homework despite it being a new topic.

Ten minutes before the bell rang, they were given a chance to chit chat and hang out, to which Miki decided to do her homework so she wouldn't have to do it at home. A few things bothered her though: one, Neru simply there, ready to be teased, and two, she didn't understand what was being asked of her.

She pondered whether to ask the teacher or the girl in front of her for help. It was embarrassing when she had to ask the teacher for help, since he made her seem dumb each time, so she stuck with interrupting Neru's relaxing time.

"What?" she asked in annoyance, taking one of her earphones out at the slightest touch from Miki's finger. She turned ever so slightly to get a glance at the confused girl and sighed when the redhead pointed at her notebook without a word. "Help?" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Mm. I don't get how to do these," she replied, showing her the type of equations. Neru sighed and rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "Please?" Miki begged, tugging at her sleeve. Neru just shrugged her off, making her frown.

Miki sighed and decided to close her notebook, looking forward to battling with it later that evening. But before she stuffed everything in her backpack, Neru turned around again and moved her chair to make it more comfortable. "Fine," she said, slamming down her completed homework. "Copy it."

"That's no fun! I wanna be taught step by step," Miki whined, shaking her head. The small ahoge on her head bobbed from side to side.

Neru's eye twitched, about to smack the thing into place, when Miki stopped, looking up at her with wide, glittering puppy dog eyes. "Please?"

Her urge to smack that look on her face got bigger, but Neru fought it off, and sighed. "Just one problem. Then you do the rest by yourself," was her answer, her inner self repeatedly punching her brain for not processing normally.

Few minutes passed by the time they got done with five problems (four more than she had promised), and Miki showed she could do it on her own, letting Neru off the hook with a minute to spare. When everyone started getting up for their second class, Miki tugged on Neru's sweater, a big smile on her face.

"Thanks! I really thought I was in trouble there," she said with a genuine giggle. Neru looked away, her cheeks burning.

"Whatever…"

The rest of the week went very annoyingly for Neru. For each morning, every day, Miki requested help from her about anything. Be it related to math or not, and every time, Neru agreed to doing so. It annoyed her, especially since she couldn't stop herself from falling for the same trick over and over again, the stupid puppy dog look.

"Neru-chan," Miki called from behind the brooding blonde, her desk empty save for her phone. "Look, I wanna show you something!"

Before she knew it, the iPhone with a black case and a picture of Marilyn Monroe on it was shoved in her face, the bright screen showing her current grade in the class. A pretty big A was there, followed by a high percentage; it almost rivaled Neru's grade just by a few.

"Okay…and?" she asked, feigning nonchalance. If she remembered, Miki's grade was falling toward a C at best, not a very great thing to see on her report card.

Taking her phone back, Miki gave her a toothy grin. "It's because you helped me! Now I understand most of the lessons, and I can do the homework with almost no help!"

Neru stopped thinking for a moment, trying to let the information sink in. Within moments her face was beet red, so she stuck to putting her things into her backpack. "Okay. Well, just don't screw it up," she said, standing from her seat. There was still nearly half an hour until class was over.

"Wait, where are you going? N-Neru-chan?"

The blonde got a pass to the bathroom, her intent not exactly to go, but to splash her face with ice cold water. Staring into the mirror, Neru seethed at the blush still painted on her face. She had never been so annoyed in her life, moreso now that some girls had to do a double take at seeing her of all people in the bathroom. Neru, who dubbed the toilet seats a way to get a venereal disease…or pregnant, whichever one came first.

There we go! Chapter two is here. Since tomorrow is Easter I will be inactive, but come Monday afternoon/evening, I will try to post chapter three!