This Prereq is Bullshit!

Summary - Mia doesn't need to take English 101. But the pretty girl who sits next to her always draws her back to class.

Ship: MiaShio

"Let me get this straight," started Lanzhu, mirth lacing her words, "Our university acknowledges you as a fully bilingual transfer student from America, with all the perks of having such a prestigious prodigy on their attendance record, but they still want you to take English 101?"

Angrily inhaling another double pounder with cheese, Mia nodded as she brought her straw to her lips, washing down the latest burger of her rage-induced appetite with a deluge of soda. She nodded forcefully, draining her cup until she was just sucking air into a stomach that burned for more.

"Yep," she replied, hurling her cup into the nearest trash bin, "Even though I'm a native speaker and I cussed out the entire office in English when I went to speak to them, they're still forcing me to take a basic foreign language that I already know for some bullshit bureaucratic reason put in place by some senile old coot who has no place in leading the next generation!"

"Chill Mia, chill," said Lanzhu, taking way too much amusement from her friend's situation. She quickly hid her face behind a hand, looking away as she started chuckling.

Mia exhaled with annoyance. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," she snapped. "It's not like anything bad ever happens to Lanzhu," she griped.

"Of course not! I'm too awesome," bragged the pinkette smugly. "And you know, I think you're looking at this all wrong. Why not take the easy A?"

"It's not about the grade, it's about the principle!"

"I'm sure," smirked Lanzhu. She thought it more likely the blonde was just lazy, but let it drop. "When's your first class?"

Mia sniffed derisively. "Tomorrow,"

"Are you going?"

"Yeah, I'll go. But after that, I'm going to go yell at the academic office some more. Maybe use my family name to get around this bullshit."

"Utilizing anything to your advantage, eh?"

"I'm a Taylor. It's what we do."

The next morning, Mia went to her first day of class.

Finding a seat by a window, she sat down grumpily, pulling out her phone with the full intent of zoning out during this unnecessary interruption to her day. She tucked an earpiece in and pulled up a video on cats, but before she could press play, a shadow fell over her.

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?"

Mia looked up and gasped, completely taken aback by what she saw. A girl not much larger than herself with a stern but not unfriendly face framed with shoulder length raven hair adorned with a tiny yellow ribbon. Deep crimson eyes stared at her, and it took every ounce of Mia's willpower to not swoon on the spot.

She worked her jaw a couple times, trying to find the right words, and the mystery girl tilted her head at her in confusion. "You can sit here!" Mia blurted out. She pulled the chair back and eagerly offered it to the girl, doing her best to calm her nerves.

The girl accepted with a slight bow. "Thank you."

As the new girl sat and took out her class materials, Mia leaned back in her chair, tugging her earpiece out and doing her best to observe the girl without being obvious. Given that the new girl was steadfastly ignoring her, refusing to so much as glance her way, Mia was either succeeding well or failing poorly. Most likely the latter, but Mia attributed that to her stupid heart as it jackhammered away, flooding her body with feelings.

Despite whatever first impression she'd given this girl of herself, the blonde felt a rising urge to talk to her. Gulping down some nerves, she inched closer to the desk and leaned over ever-so-slightly.

"So... come here often?" asked Mia.

The ravenette paused as if to put some thought into her answer, before looking back to Mia. "I imagine I will be, seeing as how I need to attend class."

"Ah... Right..."

Silence.

"I'm Mia. I'm pretty good with English, so if you need help you can ask me," declared the blonde confidently. The best part was that she didn't even need to lie. She really did have something to offer.

"Is that so? Perhaps I will take you up on that. I'm Mifune Shioriko. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Mifune Shioriko. That was her name. An elegant name for a beautiful girl. She felt her heart skip a beat in elation.

And yet... how could a simple girl move Mia's heart so?

The blonde didn't know. But she had an entire semester to find out.

"EHHHH?!" exclaimed Lanzhu in shock.

"I thought about it, and I decided you were right," shrugged off Mia nonchalantly as she dug into her burger. "I work hard enough, I deserve an easy win."

She took another two bites before she noticed that Lanzhu was silent. She looked up, only to flinch as she saw Lanzhu staring at her with piercing, discerning eyes and a blank expression across her face.

"...w-what?"

"There's something else going on here," declared Lanzhu with certainty. "You'd never just tell me I was right, not with such a casual face."

"What exactly do you think of me?!"

"I know you. And I know you have another motive. It's something meaningful that will keep you going back, week after week, that you can't get anywhere else. It's not the grade. It's not the subject matter. Could it be... a person?" Lanzhu gasped suddenly. "Does my little Mia have a crush?!"

"The hell I do!" refuted Mia, her face flushing crimson.

"You do! You so totally do!" chortled Lanzhu. "That's so utterly adorable!"

"You have no idea what you're talking about!"

"My little Mia is finally growing up, getting her first schoolgirl crush!"

"Shut up shut up shut up!"

"You definitely need to start bringing a notebook to class now."

"Why?!"

"So you can exchange love letters and write your initials together in hearts!"

An unbidden image of 'MT + MS' popped into Mia's head.

"LANZHU!"

Though she would have preferred to spare herself Lanzhu's teasing, it was at least nice to know she had the Hongkonger's blessing. Lanzhu had tried to offer her some tips in the romance department, but the blonde had refused, citing Lanzhu's own lack of romance as to why.

Besides, Mia already had the perfect way of holding Shioriko's interest: English.

And what was the best way of enticing someone with the English language?

Pickup lines.

At their next class together, Mia made sure to arrive early, sitting in the exact same spot with the hope that Shioriko would do the same. This time though, Mia had her own set of class materials out. Even if she didn't need any of it, she thought Shioriko would appreciate the appearance of diligence.

(She'd also attempted to affect a cool, disinterested, loner vibe, thinking that might tempt the ravenette into wanting to 'fix' her.)

And when Shioriko walked up and sat next to her again, Mia made good on her strategy. Resting her chin on her fist, she leaned in smoothly and her voice turned suave.

"Hey, Shioriko... Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?"

The girl in question glanced at her oddly, tilting her head as her mind processed the foreign words before she responded.

"I haven't experienced any falls lately, but thank you for thinking of my health."

"...oh."

Maybe this was going to be harder than Mia thought.

.

"You must be exhausted, because you've been running through my mind all day."

"Me? No, I believe I'm suitably energetic and ready to meet the day. Thank you for thinking of me though."

.

"Are you a parking ticket? Because you've got fine written all over you."

"But I don't have any tattoos?"

.

"If I could rearrange the alphabet, I'd put U and I together."

"That's an interesting thought. Personally, I would group the vowels together at the beginning, as well as the letter Y. It would bring some order to this otherwise random collection of characters."

.

"If I were a gardener, I'd put our tulips together," flirted Mia.

"I suppose that makes sense."

"Really?!"

Shioriko nodded. "Regardless of who owns them, it would be simpler to maintain and store them all together to reduce their upkeep."

.

"Mia-san," asked Shioriko one day in class, "Is this word pronounced 'of ten'?"

"It's pronounced 'often'. And since you mention it, I gotta say, you're the only ten I see," quipped Mia with satisfaction. Shioriko quirked her head in confusion and Mia groaned. "Right... I guess that'd only make sense if you knew the fifty states..."

"Mia-san," said the ravenette carefully, "Do you... believe that I'm only ten years old?"

.

Okay, this was definitely harder than Mia first thought.

Yet despite her numerous failures, she didn't garner any sympathy.

"Why are you so obsessed with hitting on her with English?" asked Lanzhu.

"Because I want her to think I'm clever!"

"How is she supposed to think you're clever with such a dumb plan?"

Mia very maturely flipped her off.

.

"I'm glad I brought my library card, because I am totally checking you out!"

"You... would like to study together at the library?" interpreted Shioriko uncertainly.

"...you know what, yes. Yes I would."

"So you're meeting her for a study date are you?" asked Lanzhu slyly.

"Yes I am, and no, you can't," retorted Mia, instantly knowing where her friend was going with this.

"You won't even know I'm there," grinned the Hongkonger.

"Lanzhu. No."

But of course no matter how much Mia tried to throw Lanzhu off her trail, she still found the pinkette leering at her and Shioriko from behind a bookcase. She even had the audacity to wave. At least Shioriko's back was turned.

Excusing herself, Mia beelined for the pinkette, pulling her back behind the shelf and doing her best to intimidate Lanzhu with a kabedon. (A quiet one though, as they were still in a library.)

"Are you seriously stalking me and my classmate?" she demanded.

"Mia! What an accusation!" replied the pinkette with an exaggerated air of innocence. "I just came here to find a nice book on penguins when I suddenly saw my dear friend willingly sharing a table and actually interacting with another girl. Totally a coincidence, I assure you. And you can't prove otherwise."

Grey eyes narrowed accusingly, but Lanzhu remained characteristically confident.

Eventually, Mia sighed. "Well... I guess if you're already here, there's no point in hiding it anymore." She looked back around the bookcase, inviting Lanzhu to do likewise. "That's her. The girl at the far table reading the textbook is the girl in my English class."

Lanzhu hummed in acknowledgement but gave no additional commentary.

"She... she's really adorable," Mia sighed, not even trying to hide her infatuation.

"If you want, I could put in a good word for you," offered Lanzhu.

"You?" snorted Mia. "Please. Your interference is seldom wanted, rarely asked for, and works out even less frequently. I'll take my chances."

The Hongkonger shot her a knowing look. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

Lanzhu hummed in faint amusement, then shrugged. "Alright. But just remember, I offered."

After their successful study date, the distance between Mia and Shioriko seemed to shorten. The pair began to meet up outside of class at least once a week to immerse themselves in the English language. They would review in the library, study at a cafe, explore campus together while only speaking English, and all sorts of other activities that Mia deeply wished were more than just unofficial office hours between two students.

So after some taunting from Lanzhu, Mia decided to take the next step and invite Shioriko back to her place.

And she didn't even use a pickup line to do it.

"I'm sorry for intruding," spoke Shioriko as she walked into Mia's dorm room.

"It's okay. I don't hate having company," murmured Mia. She donned a small smile. "We can call this a date now, don't you think?"

"Hmm?"

"Ah, nothing! Never mind!" As she mentally berated herself for her careless phrasing, Mia quickly attempted to divert by tossing her stuff on her bed. "Here, you can put your things down. I've got plenty of movies I can play on my laptop and bags of chips and cup ramen for days. What kind of movie do you want to watch? Comedy? Horror? Action?"

The ravenette blinked. "I'm in the mood for a romantic comedy, if that's fine."

"Sounds good to me," assented Mia. "Plenty of good picks there. Fifty Shades of Lily White, Not-So-Guilty Kiss, Dino Diva…"

As the blonde shifted her attention towards finding a movie to stream, she missed the look of speculation Shioriko sent her way. All semester long, Shioriko had tried to puzzle out the mystery that was Mia Taylor, and now finally, the pieces were coming together.

Once the movie marathon was over, Shioriko invited Mia out to a nearby park for some late night stargazing, the blonde accepting without a second thought. They lounged on the first bench they found, staring to the heavens to see those twinkling, otherworldly lights amidst the light pollution of Tokyo nightlife.

As they sat together under the stars, Shioriko spared a glance at the natural blonde. "The moon is beautiful, isn't it?" she prompted gently.

Mia leered up at the sky, unimpressed. "Eh, not really. Crescent moons aren't really for me. It never feels like it's enough to look at, you know? I'd say I'm more of a gibbous girl."

Blinking in surprise at the unexpected response, Shioriko couldn't help but laugh.

The shorter girl looked over, a frown on her face as her crush chortled away. "What's so funny?"

Calming down, Shioriko shot her an amused smile. "It's just... I believe I finally understand what you've been trying to tell me for all this time, Mia-san. So I thought I would try to respond in kind. However, much as I didn't understand the content of your words, you don't seem to understand the context of mine."

The blonde's brow furrowed uncomprehendingly. "Context...? Okay, I guess I can see that. Then, you're not really asking about the moon."

Shioriko nodded. "Yes. Therefore, allow me to be more upfront with my words. Mia-san, I like you. Will you go out with me?"

Mia gaped at her, face alight with joy and eyes sparkling in elation. "HELL YES!"

The Next Day...

"Well, well! If it isn't my two closest friends in the whole world!"

"Hello Lanzhu," greeted Shioriko brightly.

"What," deadpanned Mia. "You... you two know each other?"

"Yep! Shioriko and I grew up together, and even after I moved away we've kept in constant contact."

"Yes," agreed Shioriko, "And now that we're attending the same university, we spend quite a lot of time together."

"Hold up. You're telling me I went an entire semester making a complete ass of myself and you could've just... introduced us?!"

"That's exactly what I'm telling you," said Lanzhu mirthfully. "If only someone had wanted and asked for my interference."

"I feel like such an idiot..." groaned Mia.

"That's because you ARE an idiot," rejoined Lanzhu.

"It's okay Mia-san," giggled Shioriko, gently squeezing her hand affectionately. "Even if you are an idiot, you're still my idiot."

~END~

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Omake:

"You could just write her a love song," suggested Lanzhu over coffee.

"Lanzhu, if this girl doesn't even understand a single pickup line, how is she going to understand an entire song in English?"

"Now Mia, you know better than anyone that music is a universal language," she said sagely. "Besides, why not write a song in Japanese?"

"Don't I butcher this language enough already?"

"You mean the language we're both speaking and communicating with right now?"

"Yeah. I'm pretty unintelligible aren't I?"

"...you know what, you're right. You are pretty unintelligent."

Mia very maturely flipped her off.