Chapter Five
I was a wreck at school the next day, completely sleep-deprived. It was a wonder how Aihara had any energy, but it seemed as though she'd made flash cards after I left last night. She'd studied them under the table during breakfast and during the walk to school. She was so driven it was almost admirable.
During school, she was mute other than the reciting of formulas and English vocabulary words that I heard when she was out in the halls. I was happy she was sticking to the plan, because the more time she studied on her own, the less time I had to spend helping her.
While I was pleased with it, Kinnosuke whined about it.
"She's like a zombie! What's happened to her?" I could recall hearing. Kinnosuke would've known what had happened to her if he'd ever put any effort into studying. But he never would. For a brief moment, I wondered how he would react if he found out Aihara and I were living together. How noisy he would be, moaning and complaining. All the more reason to keep it a secret.
At dinner that night, my mother kept eyeing Aihara and I. It was getting to be annoying, so I quickened my meal.
"Eat. We need to get started early today." I told Aihara as she shovelled food into her mouth and went through her flash cards.
"Right." She said in between bites. She almost wasn't the same person anymore. Almost. But she still smiled a lot and enjoyed the food my mother made. I appreciated that she was sticking to her end of the deal. She may have been demanding, but she was cooperative.
We finished up quickly.
"I'll make you two another snack tonight," My mother said to Aihara as we left, "Good luck with your studying."
"Thanks!" Aihara said, smiling warmly.
She led the way to her bedroom where we resumed from the night before. Dumping school books onto her bed, she reached for the English book. Today's designated subject. There was no way English would be as hard for her as math.
I was sadly mistaken. She couldn't pronounce any of the words without a heavy accent, and she didn't even know what they meant.
"Try again," I ordered, "Loosen up or you'll never get it." Aihara filled her cheeks with air and nodded sharply.
"In-ten-tional." She tried, dragging out the syllables. It was better.
"What's the meaning?" I said.
"Um…" She bit her lip and thought. I remained patient.
"On purpose." I answered for her.
"Oh, right! On purpose." She repeated.
I grabbed a journal and jotted down a list of vocabulary words for her, writing the meanings down next to them.
"You should make more flash cards out of these. Study them thoroughly." She took the list and her eyes scanned over the words. I went over them with her until my mother came in with the snacks.
This time, she toted in a large tray and her camera. That thing was constantly glued to her hand. It was no wonder there were so many pictures of me dressed up… the way she dressed me up as a kid. As said before, there were albums full, and not just one or two, but four painful albums of it.
My mother snapped a picture of Aihara studying the list of words, and then one of me becoming cross.
"Get closer, you two! I want to take a picture of you together." She swished her hand in the air.
"No thanks." I said. Aihara looked disappointed.
"Oh, come on, Onii-chan. Don't be a spoilsport." I huffed and moved an inch closer to Aihara. It seemed to please my mother enough. She took the picture and left.
"Do good work!" She said on the way out.
Aihara went for the snacks on the bed. Since today's studying wasn't going to need to be as rigorous as yesterday's, I chose to take a break. Aihara took a big bite out of a rice ball. I grabbed one as well. While I was predisposed to rest my mind for a few minutes, she would do no such thing. She studied the English words while eating, saying them over and over. This was one of the few methods that worked for her. She wasn't so lucky as to just hear something to remember it. She had to repeat it to herself. I was going deaf to the sound of it, blocking it out for the chance it vexed me too much.
I watched her as she studied. One would've thought she needed to be on that list or it was the death of her. With the route she was going, it might've been the death of her even if she did make the list.
She went to war with the English, unwavering. Maybe I would have a chance after all.
She stopped for a moment.
"It might seem weird to you that I want to do this out of nowhere," Aihara said, eyes still trained on the list, "But no one will ever take a stupid person serious. I have to."
"Keep working, then. You won't get on the list by talking." I said. She looked up to me, smiling so hard that her cheeks turned rosy from her lips tugging at them.
"Okay, Irie-kun."
I helped her for another hour and left her to study on her own. Thankfully, I was able to get more sleep than the night before.
