It was a late Sunday afternoon. About an hour before dinnertime, Hajime was in the library doing some last minute studying for the exams the next day. He definitely felt prepared. Overprepared even. But he just had to make sure he had everything on point.

'I just hope I don't forget mid exam…' He shivered at the thought, it happened at times and he still bangs his head whenever it arrives.

He was going over the formulas of linear algebra. The teacher wasn't going to provide one for the finals and there were way too many to cover that he's been memorizing all of it for a month straight. Adding the fact that the guy was very strict and didn't offer much help outside of class. You either listen or you don't.

"Ax + By + C = 0." He recited. "This is the general form of a linear equation."

The library itself smelled pretty musty. It had a huge collection of books, ranging from new popular novels all the way to books that predated any of them and their parents. The building itself was really old and very unkempt. So, not a great deal of people actually visit which was advantageous for Hajime.

Well, aside from that brooding girl with glasses he encounters from time to time.

He liked the quietness and stillness of the place. The only thing missing was coffee and some music playing in the background. Too bad both of them were banned in the premises, cafes were too loud for his taste so he chose this.

Accompanying him were Komaru and Makoto. They sat in front of his mountains of paper and books. Makoto had an English grammar book in hand, his eyes were scrunched from reading. Komaru was eyeing her science book, just glancing over the pagers without really reading much.

"Man…" His sister stretched her arms. "Nii-san, when are we going home?"

"Whenever you start reading your book instead of having a manga over it." He glanced in her direction and went back to his notes.

"O-Oh, uhh." She lowered the book and hid the manga underneath the table. "What manga?"

"The shojo one you've been reading for fifteen minutes." He announced, fully confident in his guess. She hid her face in embarrassment.

"How'd you know?" She asked, astounded by her brother's hunch.

"You're flipping the page too much. Not exactly slick about it." He flipped his own page. "Also the fact that you're not struggling reading a science book." He knew what her worst subject was.

"T-That's fair…" Tapping her fingers together.

"Makoto, I hope you're remembering what you're looking at." Hajime turned his attention to his other sibling.

"I dunno, nii-san, I'm trying but it's not sticking." Makoto scratched his head. "There's just way too many rules? How do people even do this?"

"Yeah, the native speakers have a knack for it…" He admitted. "How they check their grammar is 'if it sounds right.' It doesn't make sense sometimes and you'll just have to accept that fact."

"There's just no shot at memorizing everything…" Laying the book over his head. "Nothing makes sense…"

"Why not write the information down?" The eldest took the book off and placed it on the table.

"Cuz I lost my English notebook." He chuckled nervously.

"And your other notebooks?" Hajime asked further.

"Left them in class because my bag will be too heavy." Answering his brother.

"How did you manage to lose your English notebook then?" The girl jumped in the conversation.

"I was reading my notebook for lunch and a bird took it from the window." Both his siblings looked at him dumbfounded.

"How in the hell did that happen?" The eldest closed his own notebook to focus on his sibling.

"Makoto-nii, I know you're unlucky sometimes but that's impossible." She shook her head in disbelief. "That has to be an elaborate lie."

"No it's not! I swear I'm not-" He retorted. Hajime shushes him into silence before they get kicked out by the grumpy old librarian. "I'm not lying, it actually happened in front of me."

"Are there any other witnessnesses to back you up?" He inquired.

"N-No, sadly, everyone was turned around when it happened."

"So the bird just got inside the classroom, took your notebook and left without taking anything else?" Hajime was processing the absurd info he was thrown at.

"Yep. I left the window open since it's a little hot and that happens to me…" He sank down to his arms.

"Does this happen to you often?" The sole girl asked, opening her brother's pencil case.

"This level of unluckiness is once a month but the rest is just minor stuff like losing a pen or dropping coins near a grate."

"How come you never told us this?" Hajime asked.

"Because it's embarrassing and no one will believe me…" The middle child lowered himself further.

"It's really interesting though, how can you be this unlucky?" Komaru twirled her brother's pen. "Are there times where you're lucky to equal it out?"

"Never honestly… maybe some glimpses here and there." Makoto pursed his lips.

"What happened last month?" Hajime couldn't stop his curiosity from prying.

"Uhh, I got locked in the gym changing rooms until the janitor freed me."

"Ohhh." Their sister hit her palms with a hammer hand. "I remember that! The teachers called to ask where you were and mom got really worried."

"Oh they did?" He grimaced at the thought. "I just came home, showered and slept. I didn't even eat that night so I didn't get to see mom."

"She thought you broke up with your secret girlfriend." Tapping the pen on her forehead.

"H-Huh?" He was slack jawed from her response. "What? That's what she thought?"

"That's what we all thought." Hajime crossed his arms. "You looked really depressed, dad suggested not to consult you before you return to neutral."

"B-But, where did the girlfriend part come from?" He pried.

"A few weeks ago, you came home with the brightest smile we've ever seen you have." The older brother recounted. "Mom just jumped the gun and thought you finally got around to getting one."

"She also mentioned that you would be the only one who could get one out of all of us." She huffed. "Nii-san just shrugged it off but I found it offensive."

The two boys looked away, fully knowing why their mom thought so. "I-I see, when was it exactly? Maybe I can recall why."

"It was the day dad burned our dinner inside the oven." Hajime chuckled. Their dad just ordered pizza instead of making it himself. The thing ended up as a burned circle of cardboard, they had a good laugh while the man sank in embarrassment.

"Ahhh, I remember helping a lost crane home." Rubbing his chin in remembrance. "It let me pet its kids and it was really cute."

"I'm surprised it didn't just attack you given your track record with animals." Komaru nodded.

"Yeah me too but it let meI was just imagining what it must've felt like when it got back to them. It made me really happy." The younger brother cupped his cheeks and smiled.

"Awww, that is so cute!" She cheered out loud.

Hajime placed his finger on his lips to warn her. He glanced over at the librarian's counter and she was eyeing them menacingly. "Guys, be quiet, we don't want to be kicked out."

"O-Okay." She bit her lips, eyeing at where her brother was looking at.

"So, it wasn't a girlfriend. How come you haven't gotten one? Wasn't there a girl you were crushing on?" Crossing his arms.

"N-Not really, I don't think I'm anyone's type in school. I'm way too average to pay attention to. Plus. I'm still 15 and in Middle School." He explained.

"No way you aren't anyone's type." His brother didn't believe him, knitting his brows. "Age doesn't really matter, anyone can have a crush at any age."

"Honest." The younger brother was serious. "Girls really like the bad boys or jocks in school. People like me get left out because all the girls hang out with them all the time."

"You may be right, but trust me, that changes quickly in High School." His older brother reassured. "The girls realize that it's nothing but a front."

"I-I see." He didn't know how to react to his encouragement. "I'm not really crushing on anyone so it doesn't really affect me."

"I doubt that. Isn't that idol attending our school? I've seen you throw a few looks at her." Komaru interjected.

"Everyone does the same." He justified himself. "Every guy has a crush on her, as do a few girls."

"...Fair enough." She pursed her lips.

"Okay okay, that's enough talk. Let's study, while we have some time left." The brother lightly clapped.

"But it just turned interesting." Komaru pouted. "Why do we have to study anyways? The exam shouldn't be that hard."

"My finals back then were pretty hard, I wouldn't have passed it if I didn't study." Hajime recalled the all nighters he pulled a year ago. It was much less intense than now but that still didn't take out the monumental effort it took.

"Hehe… not that hard right?" His sister was sweating.

"Really hard. The only thing that was remotely easy was math. You are not passing if you don't study, Komaru. Not to mention, do you guys even listen to the teachers' lectures?"

"...Sometimes." She hung her head low.

"I try but just end up doodling on my notebook." Makoto admitted.

"Well, then you have to study even harder." He said. "No more slacking from now on. Same goes for you Makoto."

"Can we do this another time?" The girl requested.

"We might as well wind down before we leave the library." The younger brother backed her up.

"But you guys barely even studied." He pointed out.

"We have a week left, it'll be fine~." She slyly waved.

"I sure hope so, but just know that next weekend. You're not escaping my grasp." He cracked his knuckles. His younger siblings gulped.

"Just go easy on us okay…?" Makoto requested.

"Depends on how well you listen to me. We're not going to leave the library until you can do the curriculum I'm going to prepare." The eldest grinned from ear to ear.

"N-Nii-san, you're really scary right now…" She nervously chuckled. "L-Let's just chill okay? No need to get amped up."

"Okay, I'm just giving you an idea on what's about to come." He held up his hands. "Trust me, you'll thank me for this after your exams."

"So, you're going to put us through hell because of exams?" Makoto was sweating bullets.

"Indeed." He simply nodded.

"This isn't fair…" The youngest pouted. "How come we have to try?"

"I already answered this, so you can show other people what you're capable of." He responded with pure honesty, "I know neither of you like studying, even I don't. But you have to push yourselves to be better instead of relying on blind luck to pull you through. I learned that the hard way early on so I can warn both of you before it's too late."

"..." They let him continue.

He looked at them, dead in the eye. "I want both of you to do better than I have. I'm just realizing now that I've been ignoring you for myself, so I'm here to do better and actually help my siblings instead of being selfish. You might hate me for forcing you to do this but… I just care, okay?"

Both of them were stunned. But also scared shitless, there was no way to escape this now or they'd disappoint him. And they didn't want to waste his efforts. Not only was he going out of his way to encourage them to get better, he was willing to spare them the time he needed for his own exams.

Makoto and Komaru looked at each other and nodded. They had to work harder than they've ever done before. They both shivered at the thought of their brother's scary expression when he gets very into studying, but it was a better compromise than making him feel sad that they failed even with his efforts.

They didn't deserve a big brother like him.

"T-Thanks a lot, Hajime-nii." Makoto went in for a hug.

"Yeah, we really appreciate it." She followed suit.

They hated how well he could do his pep talks. He was too damn convincing. The hug lasted for who knows how long but by the time it was done, they had to get back home.

"Okay, let's go. I'm going to start packing, you guys can go on ahead." He told them. "You probably hate the atmosphere here since it's so musty."

"Yeah, I've been trying not to breathe by my nose the entire time." Komaru pinched her nose.

"I can admit, the air here is very thick." Makoto grimaced. "I don't get how you study here for so long."

"You get used to it." Hajime shrugged. "It's certainly much better than my school, it sucks to study there."

"How come? How can you even get worse than this?" His sister asked.

"I'm almost certain no one has cleaned that place in years. There are way too many bugs and there hasn't been a catalog update in years. The latest books there were from 2005."

All three of them laughed. "That bad huh?" The three of them put on their coats.

"You'll hate it once you get there next year." He stacked all his books together and closed the zipper of his pencil case.

"I can't wait…" The younger brother scratched his cheek.

"I'll teach you the ins and outs of it." Putting everything in his gigantic backpack and tote bag.

"Is there a cafeteria there?" He asked.

"I would never recommend buying there. I've seen the students get sent to the bathroom because the food was so bad. I'm glad mom still finds the time to make us lunches." Hajime wrapped his bags on his shoulders.

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to spend money from restaurants anyways." Makoto carried his one and only book by his hip.

"Where's Komaru?" The eldest asked.

He noticed she was gone from their vicinity. She couldn't be far

"I assumed she went outside already?" Makoto suggested.

"We would've heard the door open then. That thing is really squeaky."

He turned his head towards the direction of the entrance. Only to find Komaru poking the sleeping now sleeping librarian. "Miss, wake up…"

"Komaru!" Hajime whisper-yelled. "Stop that!"

"Huh? Why?" She looked in her brother's direction, still poking the librarian's face.

"Because she won't be happy! I've seen her kick people down because they woke her up!" He motioned her to cut it off.

"O-Oh." Once she stopped, the old lady started to jerk awake. The young girl booked it towards the exit. Not wanting to be recognized or spotted. The door harshly opened as she rushed away.

The two of them followed her trail as the librarian started to realize what was happening. The old woman screeched. "You little shi-" The door closed behind them before she finished her sentence.

"That was close!" He kept pace even with all the weight he was carrying. "I really didn't want to have a bruise when we got back."

"I-I agree." His brother was running out of breath from the short sprint. "I… need to do more… cardio…"

"'Maru! Come back here! I need to give you a lesson!" He yelled at the girl sprinting as fast as she could.

"No! Don't come near me! I don't trust you!" She rejected as the girl started to pick up the pace to an inhuman degree.

"How does she run like that?!" Makoto wished he could do the same.

"I don't know!" Hajime wouldn't be able to keep up, even if he dropped all his books. "We're arriving at the same spot anyways. I am… inevitable…"

"Nii-san, don't quote him now!" The boy told his brother off.

"Can't help it!"

The two of them rushed down the underground metro station, confusing every passerby. Another day of chaos for the Naegi siblings.

[-x-]

I'll try to update this fic weekly, should be easier considering I don't need to make gigantic chapters for it. Hope you enjoyed!