Author's note: So here's the sweet chapter 2! Review for opinions or suggestions. Thank you! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own PoT.
The regulars are now in the clubroom, changing to their school uniforms for their afternoon practice had just ended. A certain red-head male approached his Brazilian friend, letting out a sigh. "Looks like I won't be able to go home with you today, you can go ahead." Many shifted their gazes to the owner of the voice, curiosity lingering through their eyes.
"Oh? Why?" Jackal asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You see, I have a Math tutor today. My teacher said I have to improve my genius skills more. Ja, bye." With that, the sugar-freak headed out of the clubroom, fixing his tie once more. Upon seeing Kyoko waiting in front of the gates, Marui quickly ran towards her – sending her an apologetic smile.
"Sorry, how long have you been waiting?" He asked, placing a hand inside his pocket.
"It's okay. I guess I have been waiting for about 15 minutes only. Let's go." Kyoko responded, her façade remaining impassive as she started walking.
"Ah! Wait! Accompany me somewhere for a bit." Marui stated after catching up with her - which made the girl's steps come to a halt; he pointed his thumb at the opposite direction, closing an eye as a wide grin was plastered on his face.
"No." Kyoko replied quickly, making the male's lips form a frown and she answered with a slight frown as well. "We have lots to do. Or rather, I have a lot of things to do than accompanying you somewhere." She added but her eyes widened a bit as the male grabbed her wrist, gently dragging her to the opposite street.
"It's okay, just for a bit. I really need to go there or I won't be able to study." Marui protested, the grin returning on his face. Blinking a few times, Kyoko's lips fell agape and quickly took her wrist back. "Fine. Just for a bit then." She said, sighing in defeat which made the male's grin widen. Marui stuck his hands in his pockets as he walked, chewing on a bubble gum; his magenta orbs then glanced at the female walking a few steps behind him.
"Is there something wrong? You're like walking so far." Marui broke the silence, thinking that she probably don't want to be seen walking with him. Blinking, he saw the female probably twitched when he suddenly spoke.
"No, nothing." She replied and started walking fast, finally walking beside him.
Marui just shrugged and stopped, his grin plastered on his face once again. "We're here." He said and looked up at the shop in front of them. Kyoko did the same and raised an eyebrow, letting it twitch slightly in annoyance. "Sweets.. shop? You dragged me all the way here just for a sweets shop?" She asked, clearly perplexed by the male. "What? It's just for a bit. Come on." Marui didn't mind her being annoyed as long as he can buy his sweets. The male wandered inside the shop – followed by Kyoko, his eyes looking for some sweets that he must buy. Some girls eyed him – whispering, giggling and taking glances. They are probably this shop's regular customers who come here just for Marui. Girls these days. Kyoko thought as she looked at the sweets too, thinking that the sweets look.. really good and tempting. When Marui bought a large cake, Kyoko went out of the shop abruptly – she don't want her stomach to growl inside the shop and in front of Marui.
"Are you done now? Let's go." She said, quickening her pace as she walked.
Marui just nodded with a wide smile, he certainly is happy that he got his sweets now. Kyoko let out a sigh, glancing at Marui. Somehow, his smile has this different kind of feeling in it. A refreshing one.. he's like a cheerful little child. No wonder many girls liked him, he's probably too nice to them. Unlike those other popular guys, Marui wasn't a jerk at all. Kyoko guessed that the tutoring will go well if he's like this.
The male glanced around at his surroundings, guessing what Kyoko's house would look like when finally, the female stopped in front of a house. And not just a house.. a very small one and run-down. Blinking a few times, Marui's lips fell agape when he noticed the girl was looking at him.
"What? You think you can't study at a place like this?" Kyoko asked, her eyes filled with… something. Not sadness nor embarrassment that her house is like this. But something else is in her eyes the moment Marui stared at them, he just couldn't figure out what it was. The red-head genius shook his head and smiled proudly.
"What are you saying. This genius can study anywhere as long as it's not noisy." He stated which made Kyoko blink in surprise. She was expecting him to whine or at least say something insulting about her house but he didn't, instead – he kind of looked excited. It's not like Marui is rich or anything like that; however, his family has more than enough money to sustain for their living thus he has the ability to buy all the sweets he that he wants. It just made him wonder that if Kyoko is poor, how can she afford to study in a private school like Rikkaidai Fuzoku Chuu? Marui followed the female as she headed inside, passing through the old, small gates. There's a wooden stairs that leads to the front door of their house and the moment Marui stepped on it, he felt as if it's going to break any minute. Do I really need to diet? He thought as he hurried inside the house before the stairs actually break.
When he made it inside, he wasn't so surprised of how it looks like. It's really simple and clean inside. There's a little table at the middle and in front is a small television, on the floor – there lied four pillows surrounding the table for a couch won't even fit inside a house this diminutive. And there's a door that probably leads to a single room and there's also a kitchen in sight and another door, probably the bathroom. That's all there is to it in the house, there are no furniture at all.
"You can sit anywhere you like." Kyoko said as she took off her shoes and went to sit at one of the pillows on the floor – taking out her study materials. Marui nodded and did the same, placing the box of cake on the table – his eyes wandered around once more.
"So… where are your parents?" Marui asked, as leaned back, letting his hands support him. When Kyoko raised an eyebrow at his question, he blinked and quickly waved his hands. "I don't mean anything to it! I'm just you know. Wondering." He laughed nervously, scratching a finger on his cheek.
"I didn't say anything. My father has another family while my mom is at work." Kyoko responded and watched as Marui nod his head slightly. "Bring out your notes." She added.
"Oh right." Marui muttered as he brought out his Math notes and a pen, before a grin was plastered on his face once again. "Hey, let's eat the cake." He said which made the girl's eyes widen slightly in surprise. "Aren't you going to eat it in your house with your family?" Kyoko asked.
"No, my sweets are for myself though I sometimes bring some for my brothers." He replied, as if eating a whole cake is just a normal thing that a person would do. Kyoko then realized that of course, Marui is not as poor as her and can afford such things whenever he wants it. Conceding, she stood up and took out one small plate accompanied with a fork. "Here." She handed it to him and started opening the Math notes. Marui's magenta orbs blinked several times as he looked at the female. "What about you? Don't you want some?" He asked, he may be a sugar-freak but he's actually generous enough to share his sweets like the last time he shared some with Jirou Akutagawa from Hyotei Gakuen.
"No, thank you." She replied which made the male frown slightly, he actually wanted the people to taste the delicious sweets that he loves so much. How can she decline? Shrugging, he started slicing the cake as he let the female write some stuff on the paper. Marui then started eating his slice happily and glanced at the girl once again. He stared at her dull gray eyes; as if it's full sorrowful memories. Marui then realized that this girl probably never had fun for the rest of her life. Judging from her grades, she's probably a study-freak who does nothing but study. Well, he kind of understood her; with this life, she just probably wants to study hard so they could rise up from poverty.
"Are you a scholar in our school?" He suddenly broke the silence once again, licking the icing from the fork.
Kyoko didn't bother looking at him and continued writing notes before replying. "Yes, as you can see – I'm indigent and can't afford studying there. But thanks to my scholarship, I'm able to do that. I have to maintain my high grades though."
"I see.. it must be tough." Marui replied and leaned closer to her to take a look of the notes she's writing. With that, Kyoko's eyebrow twitched a bit. She quickly looked up from what she's writing only to meet with Marui's countenance, their faces only inches away. Her eyes widened slightly as she was taken aback and quickly moved backwards. Marui blinked a few times as he tilted his head to the side, confused by the female's actions. Pushing up her glasses, she tried to regain her composure.
"What do you mean tough. Isn't it just normal for students to study hard to maintain high grades?" She responded and shoved a paper at his face. "Stop asking and just answer those questions so I'll see what you don't get." She added, looking away.
Surprised by her sudden action, Marui winced slightly but somehow – it made him smile. Taking the paper from his face, he nodded with a grin. "Hai, hai." He replied before taking out his pen, answering the written questions with all the knowledge he knows. Kyoko then started writing easy notes on his notebook, notes than can be easily understood no matter how small the brain of that person. It explained the step by step process of solving, however, Marui still has a long way to go for this isn't the start of their current lessons yet. She's just explaining the basics for it is the most important and he needs to master it first before proceeding to the harder ones.
Almost an hour passed when Marui finished, she started checking his work and surprisingly, he got some of it correct. He probably just doesn't have much time studying because of club activities and tennis is a very tiring sport. Kyoko then started explaining to him what he did wrong and how to solve it properly. By the time they finished, it was already dark outside.
"Ja, I'll be leaving now. Thanks, Minami-chan. Or maybe I should call you Kyoko." Marui sent her a teasing grin which made her eyebrow twitch slightly. Upon observing her, Kyoko wasn't the type to act close with people so she's probably not going to be used to someone calling her first name.
"W-Who do you think you are, Bunt—I mean Marui-kun." She replied, feeling her cheeks heat up slightly in embarrassment. It was a strange feeling that she felt that moment. She never really had a friend who teased her because she never really had a close friend. She had a few friends but she isn't really close to them. But this red-head boy, how could he act close to her – even daring to call her on her first name without honorifics?! Well.. she guessed that's probably why it wasn't awkward being with him or he's probably doing that to avoid awkwardness.
Marui let out a chuckle and stood up, placing his notes inside his bag before heading to the door. "See ya', Kyo-ko-chan." He teased for one last time, popping a green bubble gum before heading out. Kyoko once again felt her cheeks heat up but then heard someone falling from the stairs. He's probably not used to a house having a stairs right at the front door. The side of her lips twitched as she tried not to laugh but failed; she let out a light giggle. It certainly felt good… laughing like this because she found something funny. It has been a long time since it happened. This isn't so bad, I guess. She thought, thinking that she'll probably have fun tutoring the carefree male.
Upon standing up, Kyoko noticed something. Something that Marui forgot; the cake! Wait, it's impossible for Marui to forget such an important thing. Staring at it for a while, Kyoko saw a note at the side of the cake.
"I'm leaving this precious thing here. It's my favorite but I'm giving it to you because I don't want to see you drooling again. You want some, right? What do you think, aren't I genius? You can thank me tomorrow, Kyoko-chan. ^_^"
After reading the note, Kyoko's lips slowly curled up to smile. Really, that guy is unbelievable. He probably noticed how she's always taking glances at the cake but didn't dare to even taste it. Kyoko couldn't help but smile to herself; thinking that she'll repay him someday. "Thanks.." She muttered against her breath.