A/N: I OWN NOTHING! I am just borrowing Naoki and Kotoko for my own amusement.

-3K+N3-

As Naoki took his seat at the table, he saw Kotoko put her workbook down to focus on dinner. He clasped his hands together, thanking the gods and his mother for the meal before beginning to eat as he contemplated the study session that he had planned. 'I wonder how much help she is going to need,' he thought. "After I find out what sections they have covered I will try giving her practice problems to see where she is at with it."

"Are you studying again tonight, Kotoko-chan?" his mother asked. At her nod, she continued. "I will prepare snacks again for you tonight then."

"Prepare enough for two and take it to her room," he interrupted while not looking at anyone.

"Oni-chan," his mother gasped in shock. "Are you going to be studying too?"

"Yes," he replied, drinking his water and pushing his empty plate away. "I am done. Thank you for the meal. Aihara, let me know when you are ready."

"ONI-CHAN," Yuki whines. "You never help me study."

"You don't need the help to get good grades," he replies simply while acknowledging Kotoko pushing her plate back and thanking his mother for the meal. "Let's do this then." He led the way up to her room, waiting patiently at the door for her to remember that she needed to invite him in before invading the space and closing the door behind himself. "What is your worst subject?"

"Um, Math," she answers shyly, handing over her workbook. He starts to flip through it unsure about how far they were in the book but recognizing a few of the different concepts.

"What sections have you covered?"

"The same as your class I would expect."

"I don't really pay attention to that," he replies, waiting. He watches as she goes back to her bag and picks up her planner.

"Up to page 40," she responds after verifying with the date book in her hand. He nods as he skims over the pages in the book and then writes out five different types of problems that use the formulas in those sections.

"If you can solve these, you should get at least an 80," he explains at her incredulous look.

"How do you know that?" she asks.

"They are the main concepts." He gestures for her to sit down and work through the problems. As he observed her, he noticed that she was struggling with the first problem. "Do you not understand how to do these problems at all?" He was shocked when she just shook her head. "What do you do in class? I would love to look at your brain to see what even happens in there." He watches as her face turns bright red, so he inhales deeply and sighs. "Okay, from the beginning then."

Over the course of the next few hours, he slowly explained the different formulas three times, as she slowly worked through the problems in her workbook. "She isn't stupid," he muses as he watches her tongue poke out of her mouth between her teeth as she tried to solve the current problem. 'She just needs things explains in detail a few times slowly. Then she seems to get the concepts.' He sits down at his laptop and begins drawing up a study schedule for the girl that seemed rather intense but would guarantee her a place on the board. He realizes that he is actually setting himself up for having to grant her a wish, but the actual memorization aspect and testing would be completely on her.

His mother comes into the room right as she finishes the last of her math problems, it now being around 11 o'clock. "It makes me happy to see you both studying hard," she says teary eyed as she drops of the tray with snacks and tea. Naoki just nods while looking over the schedule he just finished to make sure he did not miss anything before printing out the pages.

"Do you have any tape?" he asks Kotoko as his mom leaves the room again, closing the door behind her. He accepts the flowery print tape from the girl, securing the two pages together. "This is the schedule we are going to use for the next week. You will have vocabulary cards with you no matter what, and I mean that. If you are using the restroom, those cards had better be with you. If we stick to this plan, we should be able to JUST cover everything and have you pass the midterm."

The young woman looked at the packed schedule flabbergasted. "Irie-kun, you are a devil. A demon I tell you. This is insane."

"You are the one that requested I tutor you, Aihara" he replied as he taped the schedule on her wall. "Let's get those vocabulary cards made up, and then we can start studying English since you have math down at the moment."

"But Irie-kun," she whined. "I want a break."

"I'll tell you what," he coerced. "If you finish making all of your vocabulary cards, we can take a break and talk or play 20 questions or something to get to know each other better. Deal?" He saw the fire in her eyes blaze as a hopeful look lit her face as she smiled brightly. She nodded repeatedly, making herself look like a bobble head before grabbing her flash cards to begin the tedious work of writing out her English and Kanji vocabulary cards. 'Well, I guess that worked well,' he thought sardonically. 'Why do I keep signing myself up for this nonsense?'

After about an hour, Kotoko had finished all of her vocabulary cards. With a sigh, he stretched and looked at her. "Are we just going to talk, or do you have questions?"

"Um, maybe a mix of the two?" she asks shyly.

"Sure," he allows simply.

"Why did you agree to tutor me?"

"You mean besides the blackmail?" he questions. At her nod, he contemplates his answer before responding. "Honestly, I kind of respected you for attempting to blackmail me. I was also curious about your thought process. You claimed that you are not stupid, but you are in Class F. It made me curious on if that was due to your own ability or due to your instructor not properly doing his job."

"Have you figured out which one it is yet?" she demands, a flush beginning to cross her face and move slowly down her neck.

Naoki got distracted trying to figure out how far down the lovely red color would go before he cleared his throat and met her eyes again. "I think it is more of a combination. I cannot say how your instructor teaches, but you have the ability to learn. It just takes a lot of repetition and step-by-step instruction for you to grasp the concept. Which is not a problem, many people learn like that. I think your instructor just does not have the time to stop and focus on one thing."

"So, you don't think I am stupid?" she questions, surprised.

"No, I do not. I never really did." He smiles slightly when he sees her beam at him for his response before, he notices that they had been talking for about 20 minutes. "Okay, back to work. Time to go through these vocabulary cards." The determination on her face made him happy in a way he could not explain. He was enjoying the journey of tutoring her. If this is how the next 6 days went, he would gladly participate.

The rest of the week followed along the same vein, with them doing lessons and taking breaks to learn more about each other. Naoki learned about the few memories that Kotoko has about her mother and how she grew up fending for herself for the most part due to the hours that her father had to work. He explained that yes, he feels lonely sometimes in the grand scheme of things, but that it was hard to realize when you did not pay attention to emotions. He revealed a lot about his logical break versus use of emotion, and that he really did not know what he wanted to do with his life, but he knows he does not want to just follow the expectations of others. All in all, it was a pleasant week of quizzing her in her room, running through vocabulary words as they walked, and just watching her study during breaks at school when he happened passed her class.

The night before they were to begin the midterm exams, Naoki drew up a practice exam, most of the questions were ones he expected to see on the test itself. He wanted to try and prepare her as much as he possibly could. As she was working, he laid his head down on the table and closed his eyes. The next thing he is consciously aware of is waking up to a stiff back with a blanket around his shoulders and the young girl missing from her room. He picked up her test and quickly scanned it, impressed when he realized she scored an 85. He stood and stretched, folding up the blanket before setting it down on her table and wandering into his room to change for school.

Once he was ready for the day, he wandered downstairs, confused by the silence. "Good morning, Irie-kun," Kotoko said softly when she saw him, staying focused on her task of pouring hot water over the manual coffee percolator. "Would you like some coffee?" Naoki half smiled and nodded, hoping the caffeine would help him wake fully as he sat down at the breakfast table. After a couple of minutes, she set the cup down in front of him.

"Thank you," he muttered as he picked up the cup, inhaling the revitalizing aroma of the morning. He blew gently on the hot liquid before taking a sip, half expecting the coffee to taste horrible after learning that she was not very adept in the kitchen. To his surprise the rich flavor of the beverage overwhelmed his taste buds in the best ways possible. 'This is officially the best cup of coffee I have ever had made,' he muses in shock. 'I wonder if I can convince her to make this a daily thing…'

The pair enjoyed their morning beverages in silence before putting away their dishes and putting their shoes on so they could leave. "Wait, Kotoko-chan," his mother cried, rushing from his father's office space. "Take this with you. Do not open it until after you receive your results. It is your good luck charm." As she was explaining, she handed over a floral printed envelope that said GOOD LUCK CHARM on it.

Naoki snorted in amusement as the young woman profusely thanked her Oba-sama, before saying: "I'm going," as he walked out the door. He heard Kotoko not far behind him as he walked quickly towards the school building. "Do you feel ready?" he asks after they reach the halfway point between the school and their home.

"I think so," she says quietly. "I just hope I don't draw a blank when the exam is in front of me."

"Just take a deep breath, and focus." He found himself coaching the girl, knowing that some people end up with nerves that prevent them from performing well. "You know the material. You can do this. You can always remember that you get one wish of whatever you want after you do well too if it helps to motivate you." With that he walked towards his classroom. Kotoko made a point to walk passed him quickly on her way to her own class.

"Thank you, Irie-kun," she muttered in a heartfelt voice.

"Do your best," he replied. Just like that, they began the rigorous week of exams, knowing the results would not be available for at least three days upon the conclusion. The pair studied briefly during the evenings before the different sets of exams but did not want to lose sleep during the important time. Finally, the exams were over, and Naoki watched as she walked off with her friends to celebrate.

"Hey Naoki," Watanabe interrupted his stare. "Do you want to go to a coffee house with the rest of Class A to celebrate?"

"You know what, sure," he responded to the shock of his friend. "Getting out once in a while might be good for me." With that, the duo met up with their classmates to enjoy some down time while they anxiously awaited their results. Well, in his case, anxiously awaited the results on someone more important that could affect his life greatly. 'I do not know if I should hope that she does well or hope that she failed so I don't have to grant this favor,' he ponders as he sips at the lackluster coffee, knowing that no coffee besides Kotoko's will ever satisfy his need for the beverage again. 'All will be revealed next week. No use worrying over it,' he thought as he focused back in on his classmate's conversations.