FRIDAY | 01/10/2020

Hidan looked like he was in pain after a certain pink-haired girl gave back his test. Eve and Kakuzu gave the other their perfectly scored test. Eve smiled a little, Kakuzu looked bored, and Hidan seemed like he was about to pull out his hair.

"Hey Eve, what did you get?" He asked, seeming desperate. She was unsure if she should tell him or not. Kakuzu casually sipped the caffeine loaded drink he was just handed.

"I...got a 100."

"Of fucking course you did! Kakuzu?"

"100."

"Sakura!?"

"100...?"

"Hidan, if it makes you feel any better, I got a 50," Deidara added in a defeated voice.

"Fuck, that's still better than mine."

"Alright, pass up your tests!" Umino ordered.

Hidan slammed his head into his desk, wondering why he was even in the class full of smart people. He and Deidara were both nothing more than a pair of idiots who thought it would be easier than AP Calculus.

"H-Hidan?" Eve worriedly looked at him.

"That's what you get for not doing your homework yourself," Kakuzu said without skipping a beat.

Eve gave him a pitiful look. He actually seemed disappointed.

"You can ask for help, you know..." she reminded him of her offer. He pulled his head back up and gave her a smirk.

"Come over tonight then."

"Absolutely not," Kakuzu interjected, shooting him a glare. That idiot, had he forgotten their current situation? "Go to the library or something if you're going to get tutored."

"The fam will be out for a bit, remember? Maybe you can help me too." Kakuzu frowned. "Deidara? You down?"

"Huh?"

"Eve's our new teacher."

"...Huh?"

Lunch was a bit less talkative between everyone since Konan and Yahiko were both absent. Kisame was with his other group of friends, so it was just Hidan, Kakuzu and Deidara along with herself.

"I won't be joining you lot. Don't even think of bothering me while I'm busy, Hidan. I will not help you."

"So lame. I was gonna buy snacks too."

"Wait, what did you even get on your test earlier?" Deidara asked, shoveling yogurt into his mouth.

Hidan hesitated to answer. "31."

"Hidan..." Kakuzu frowned. Okay, so it was worse than he thought. Should he really be leaving the responsibility of helping his brother to a girl they'd just met? It's not like he was lacking that much in time.

"I'm not that good at teaching, but if you can just tell me what you're struggling with, I can set up a little...study guide or something." Eve chimed in hopefully. Kakuzu could just tell she wasn't ready for the task of dealing with idiot one and two by herself. Hidan only really struggled with mathematics, so maybe he could offer just a little bit of help. Just a little. "I have all my notes from last semester too. I was a little ahead...um..." she didn't want to sound like she was bragging but it definitely came out that way.

"I didn't think you were falling this far behind," Kakuzu muttered. "You can't fail this semester."

"Yeah yeah, I fucking know that, I just have other things to worry about. Eve here will be my saving grace, right?" He gave her a stupid grin.

"Mine too, hm." Deidara took out his phone. "Put in your number." He slid the phone over to her. She did as she was told, not noticing until after she was done that Kakuzu was looking at her. A curious glance was given in response, to which he quickly turned his gaze elsewhere. He definitely didn't need her number. Hidan had that down already.

Eve blinked in confusion, looking back down at her hands which neatly sat on the table. Did he need something? Should she ask? She wasn't sure if he was okay with her just yet, so she decided to just stay quiet and not press him for answers.

She was surprised he even took that drink earlier if she was being honest with herself. He must have been really tired.

Kakuzu rested his chin in the palm of his hand, staring at nothing in particular with little interest in his gaze. She was a lot kinder than he anticipated. He wanted so badly for her to be a nasty person, but that just seemed too untrue. It would be quite the task to help his brother and his idiot friend out on her own.

"I guess I'll help, only because I don't need to see a dead body on our floor after the two of you are finished," Kakuzu grimaced. Eve gave him a surprised look-even Hidan was mildly taken aback.

"Guess that's settled, hm!" Deidara smiled.

"I need to clean up a bit before anyone comes over. Eve, you need a ride?" Hidan asked. She nodded, getting ready for the bell to ring to dismiss them from lunch. "Dei?"

"I'll just get my old man to drop me off."

"Aight."

"Time to disappoint Mr. Umino some more," Hidan exclaimed, standing straight up, ready to leave the cafeteria.

"You sound too excited about that," Kakuzu replied flatly.

"I can only handle one AP class, can't believe you guys are taking three," Deidara stretched. The bell rang and the trio said goodbye to Deidara before heading off to their next class. Hidan walked next to Eve and was rambling about nonsense to her while Kakuzu stayed behind them, again. He was glad that his brother was finally hanging around someone who had more than a single brain cell in their head. It was refreshing. Whenever he and Deidara would hang out anywhere outside of school, something bad would happen, and police may have been involved on multiple occasions. He doubted that sort of thing would happen with Eve. She seemed level-headed enough, aside from her susceptibility to throwing binders at people's heads when distressed. He smiled to himself a bit, not even realizing he was doing so.

"Mr. Umino is gonna be showing us how to dissect a worm today, right?" Hidan asked.

"Worm..." Eve frowned, not wanting to even think about what she was going to have to do next week.

"Aw, you afraid of a little bug?"

"N-no..."

Just as they assumed, it was a demonstration day, so there wasn't too much paperwork for the students to do. All they needed to do was sit back and watch, take notes and not fear worms. Eve was missing one of those requirements.

"You slice it down this section, and then pin down the skin so it doesn't move back," their teacher explained, everyone watching intently. Kakuzu yawned, already knowing what to do. What a waste of time. He could be napping right now, but he was stuck watching his poor teacher explain a simple procedure to them like they were idiots who didn't read the textbook like they were supposed to, which he assumed Hidan wouldn't do.

The air in the room was beginning to feel stuffy, and he just wanted to leave. Thankfully, after just one more class, they'd be able to leave.

The day ended as quickly as it started, and soon enough, it was Friday evening. It was already beginning to darken outside since it was only January, but that was the least of anyone's worries.

Eve was in her room, rummaging around for a better outfit than what she'd worn at school that day. Realization dawned on her-she was just helping Hidan and Deidara out, why did she care how she looked? She wasn't there to impress anyone. Despite her inner dispute, she still came out wearing a black skirt with a white turtleneck and a tan cardigan. It was comfortable, that's all that mattered, she nodded to herself, getting her school things together. She'd only be there for a couple of hours, then Hidan would drop her off. At least, that was the plan.

Her phone made a quick ringing noise, notifying her of a text. She peeked at it while she was brushing her hair, seeing it was from Hidan.

Here, hurry the fuck up :0

Eve shut her phone off and quickly left her apartment, checking herself one last time before wandering off to his car in the cold.

The albino looked at her when she opened the door to the passenger seat and smirked.

"Lookin' good. Going out?"

"Yeah, I'm helping two idiots pass their stats class. You might know them," Eve deadpanned.

"Damn, is that Kakuzu rubbing off on you? That stung," Hidan chuckled, pulling out of the parking lot. "I have to get there quickly so Deidara doesn't have to sit there alone with my brother for longer than he needs to."

Eve smiled, looking out the car window as the scenery seemed to move by in a blur. Hidan had the radio quietly playing music as they drove so the inevitable silences they'd have didn't feel as awkward.

"I might've gone a little overboard with the snacks, so I hope you're fuckin' hungry."

"Hm, no such thing as overboard with snacks..." she said quietly. Her hand wandered to her stomach without her even noticing, tightly gripping the shirt which covered her. "You'll wish you bought more."

Hidan laughed, but a little nervously. Was that supposed to be a threat?

Eve stared at the other apartment complex that was a lot closer to her than she thought. She definitely could've walked if the weather wasn't in the negatives.

"We have to walk up a bunch of stairs on the outside, so watch your step. Might be slippery."

"Alright..." she began holding onto the railing for dear life once they made it to the suspiciously creaky staircase. Hidan watched in amusement, going up with ease as she struggled to even make it up a few steps. "Be there in a moment..."

"So fucking slow! It's ice, not kittens! Come on, you're keeping everyone waiting." Hidan slyly grabbed her hand, pulling her up a little quicker. The warmth of his hand felt pleasant as he walked up with her. Were her cheeks red from the cold or from the fact that he just held her hand like it was nothing? She wasn't sure.

They were pretty high up after a few minutes of walking, soon making it to a door with a Christmas reef still hanging in the center of it. He shoved his key into the keyhole, kicking the door open with his foot. A wave of warm air overcame her as a warmly lit kitchen greeted her. It seemed so homely compared to her own place. Candle flames were dancing in glass jars on the kitchen counters, leaving the place smelling like fall leaves. Eve unconsciously gripped at her cardigan, only pushed out of her thoughts by Hidan gently shoving her in with his hand before shutting the door.

"Hey fuckers, I brought the goods," The albino exclaimed loudly.

"About time, hm. I'm ready to finally pass a single test," Deidara remarked sarcastically.

Eve slammed down a binder filled to the brim with papers, causing the blonde to jump.

"I hope so."

Hidan and Deidara looked at one another, wondering if this was a mistake. Eve smiled sweetly, taking a seat in the empty chair nearest to the window. After another look around, she noticed that Kakuzu was nowhere to be found.

"If you're looking for Kakuzu, he's finishing some paper up before coming out. Well...that and I don't think he wanted to sit in the kitchen alone with me," Deidara said. Eve's cheeks reddened. She was not looking for him!

"Anti-social weirdo, as usual," Hidan twirled a pencil around in his hand. "I'll get him."

Eve had a feeling he was stalling.

A few moments later, Hidan came back with a disgruntled-looking Kakuzu at his side.

"You two will be dreaming of nothing but box and whisker plots when I'm done here," The dark-haired man growled.

Deidara gave Hidan a pleading look, but Hidan seemed defeated. They were stuck with two of the top students in their class, and they'd be stuck there awhile.

"God, it's already been two hours? Holy shit. I need some air. Dei, come with me," Hidan beckoned, the two of them stepping outside after what seemed like years for the pair. Kakuzu rubbed his temples, wondering if anything he and Eve said even went through their thick skulls.

Through the headache, he realized he finally had a chance to do what he wanted, though he still wasn't sure how to word it despite thinking about it multiple times a day. When he turned to look at her, she was stuffing her face with the snacks that Hidan complained about buying way too many of. How unsightly.

"You're going to get sick."

Eve was eating way too fast, and after one look at all the emptied snack containers on the table, he realized they might have a problem on their hand.

"I'll be fine," she replied after swallowing another mouthful of food. Kakuzu frowned.

"Anyway..."

Eve perked up. He was actually talking to her? Was he about to say something rude? Demeaning?

"I...wanted to apologize."

Well, that's not what she was expecting.

Kakuzu cleared his throat before continuing. "It was immature of me to assume anything about you."

Eve could tell he was taking a major hit to his pride at that moment. He genuinely seemed pained while apologizing. She smiled, then let out an airy laugh.

"Thank you..." she replied softly. "I'm sorry too."

Eve seemed genuinely sad when that apology slipped through her lips. Her eyes seemed barren and void of any happiness she was showing earlier. Her bottom lip quivered, before she looked back up at him, eye contact and all. His expression shifted from annoyed to concern.

"For what?"

She smiled, laughing again. "For throwing this binder at you!" She held it up in one hand with ease, showing him the assault weapon as if it was a trophy.

Kakuzu's brow twitched. She was only messing with him?! He grabbed it with one hand, the two of them keeping it in the air together, eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. "Aren't you just a little comedian? This thing left a bruise on my forehead."

"I'll take back my apology."

"You didn't even need to apologize in the first place, idiot!"