Hello!  I have more notes at the end of the chapter that explain a scene in this chapter.  Enjoy!

Disclaimer: RahXephon and its characters are the property of their respectful owners, this piece is not for profitable purposes.

Chapter 13: Study Session – Part II

Embarrassed by my mother's behavior, I quietly lead Mishima back to my room. 

"Mishima, I have some snacks here, that is, if you're hungry."  She eyes them rather eagerly and smiles broadly.

"Wow, Kamina-kun, I love these, how did you know?"

I blush again, and stammer my response, "Well, that's just, just what I've seen you eat…"

"Well, thanks very much!"

"You're, you're welcome."
I pick up a Pocky stick, and notice that Mishima is drinking ramune.

"Kamina-kun, aren't you going to have a ramune?"
"Well, honestly, I've never had it before."

"Really?  You should try some! Here, have one."
She hands a bottle over to me, and I imitate what she did to get off the top.  I tilt the bottle into my mouth, and hear the ball inside jingling, and I notice that I'm not getting any liquid in my mouth. In frustration, I try again and again, and then notice Mishima giggling.  I quickly put the bottle down.

"I guess I didn't realize you didn't know how to drink it."

"You have to drink it a certain way?"

"Well, you see the marble in there?"
"Yeah."

"You have to get that in the grooves in the bottle neck to make the liquid come out."

"Oh, ok."  I pick the bottle up once more, and after a little finagling, I get it correct. I blush again as Mishima claps.

I decide it would be best to change the topic.

"So, would you like to get started?"

"Yep, sounds good! So, how do you want to do this exactly?"

I scratch my head.  "Hmm, let's see, how do we usually do it when I'm studying with Mamoru and Asahina…"

That's right, usually I do the work while they're off doing other things, and then they make me explain everything after I've done it.

"I don't think that's the best way after all.  Well, why don't we work on a practice exam separately, and we can ask each other questions after we finish?"

"Sure, I think that's a good idea."

I look at the first problem, hmm, I think I get this one.  Wanting to give a good impression, I work diligently on the problems for a while, but I become curious about how Mishima is doing.  I look up and see her staring up at the ceiling, tapping the eraser end of her pencil against her cheek.  Her eyes are narrowed and she looks like she's concentrating very hard. I smile a little bit, but try to stop myself so she doesn't notice.

I finish the exam, and look up at Mishima again, who is still working.  While I wait, I have some snacks and finish off my ramune. 

"Kamina-kun?" I look up at her, realizing that a Pocky stick is dangling from my mouth. Not surprisingly, she laughs and I blush.  I quickly stuff it into my mouth and swallow.

"Uh, yes, Mishima?"

"Are you done?"

"Yep, would you like to look it over?"

"Sure."

She moves over so that she's sitting right next to me, our shoulders are even touching a little bit, which feels nice.  Mishima doesn't seem to mind, either.

She smiles at me and says, "Ok, question one."

That took a while, though I think that it helped us both.

"Thanks, Kamina-kun for your help!"

"You too, Mishima."

"What time is it, Kamina-kun?"

"Hmm, it's 3:30."

"3:30 already?"

"Yeah…"

"Ah, I have to be home soon, I should get going."
"Mishima, wait, please."

"Is something wrong, Kamina-kun?"

"Remember how I said I wanted to have the study session here, but I wouldn't tell you why?"

"Yeah, I do remember that."  I smile at her and get up. She gives me a curious look and watches as I go over to my closet.  I take out what I'd been keeping in there to give to her.

"Well, I don't know if you'll like it, but I promised you'd be the first one I'd show it to, and I'd like you to give it to you for the birthday I missed, that is, if you don't mind…"

"The painting of me!  Oh, it's wonderful Kamina-kun, I love it, what a wonderful gift!"

I blush again, I'm so happy that she likes it.

She gets up quickly and comes over to look.  She continues to compliment it as I hold it up.  She lifts her head until our faces are what seems like only a few centimeters apart.  We stare at each other seriously.  I wonder, I wonder if I can, if she would like it if I kissed her.  I move the picture down slightly and start to move my face closer to hers, noticing that she has not moved.

"Ayato."

It's my mother!  I pull back quickly, furious that my possible chance has been destroyed.  Mishima still has not moved, making me wonder if she didn't move earlier because she didn't know what I was planning to do.  After all, she probably isn't interested…

"Ayato!"

"Uh, yeah, Mom?."

"How is your studying coming?"

I move the painting behind me, having noticed my mother staring intently and angrily at it.
"Uh, well, Mishima has to get going now."

"I see."

Mishima finally moves, hurriedly collecting her texts and notebooks and the painting.  She bows before my mother and says, "Thank you very much, Oba-sama, for letting me stay here, I greatly appreciate it."

My mother bows slightly but says nothing in return, which makes me angry. Mishima turns around quickly and bows to me, as well. 

"Thank you, Kamina-kun."

I am surprised by her actions, and quickly bow in response.

"Uh, of course. Good bye, Mishima."

Mishima rushes out the door and leaves me in the room with my mother.

"What was that painting of, Ayato?"

What should I say?

"Nothing," I say as I walk past her out of the room.  I look back slightly and see her expression, a mixture of anger and sadness as she looks at the snack tray and the empty ramune bottles.

Notes:

Some readers may be thinking, didn't that ramune scene happen between Ayato and Megumi?  Yep, that's correct.  When I watched that scene in the series, I thought to myself, how is it possible that Ayato is so clueless about ramune?  Even if there's no ramune in Tokyo Jupiter, isn't it likely that even Ayato's falsified memory has some memories about ramune (either him or other people drinking it)?  Considering the fact that Maaya "designed" Tokyo Jupiter and her resentment towards Haruka, I concluded it was possible that Maaya erased Ayato's memories of things that she associated with Haruka (including ramune) and did not include these things in her design of Tokyo Jupiter, resulting in the anime scene between Ayato and Megumi. Of course, that may not be the case, but I thought it was an interesting idea, so I included the scene in this chapter.

Next Chapter

The End of the Spring Semester