Ryuji stretched his calves against the wall of the school, wincing from the intense pull he felt in his muscles. Yesterday's run had really done a number on him, and he mentally kicked himself for not stretching properly after the run.

After stretching his quads, he jogged in place a little to warm himself up when he spotted another person walking up the steps of school. Again? When he turned to look, the person turned their head to meet his gaze. The student council president was there again, now turned back to the school where she was unlocking the front door and disappearing into the building.

What the hell was going on? I mean, she was the student council president, but as far as Ryuji knew, she wasn't part of any clubs. Not that any of them met this early, but it would at least make more sense than her just showing up early. He tried to think of a reason she might be here so early. He sighed heavily. Maybe she was just here to study. It was so quiet now, it must be easier to study free of distractions. Ryuji frowned, thinking of his conversation with Kawakami yesterday. He shook his head and started off on his run. He'd just have to go along with Kawakami and hope it would work.

After Japanese class that day, Kawakami cornered Ryuji after class. Her eyes were unusually bright with triumph and Ryuji felt his uncertainty peaking within him.

"Ryuji, I found you a study partner!" she said, grabbing him by the shoulders and grinning into his face. When Ryuji just stood there in stunned surprise, Kawakami shook him. "Hey! You could at least be a little grateful that I managed to pull this off for you!" she hissed, looking disappointed. Ryuji shook himself out of her grasp.

"No don't get me wrong Ms. Kawakami, I am grateful! I'm just uh...surprised?" said Ryuji, his tone defensive. He noticed he had his hands up, as though to protect himself from incoming blows and he dropped them immediately, looking at the floor. He felt embarrassment like a hot coal in his chest. What a stupid thing to do. It wasn't like Kawakami was going to do anything to him.

Kawakami noticed it and her face fell. "Sorry Sakamoto, I just forgot; I was so excited," she mumbled, glancing away. "Anyway, come to the library with me," she continued, trying to regain her earlier bright tone and meeting with mixed results.

Ryuji looked up at her with a doubtful frown on his face but he didn't protest as she dragged him to the library. He pretended he didn't hear the hushed chatter of the other students as he passed by. Ryuji even succeeded in ignoring the glares of his former teammates during his forced march.

But when he was pushed through the doors of the library, Ryuji's mouth dropped open in shock.

"She's my study partner?!" he yelped, pointing at the girl seated at the library table.

The student council president looked up at him from her work with an annoyed glance. Her brows furrowed but she didn't say anything.

"This is the student I'm tutoring?" said the student council president, her gaze shifting to Kawakami who pretended to be oblivious to the uncomfortable atmosphere.

"Yes Nijima, Principal Kobayakawa and I thought you two would both benefit from this partnership," said Kawakami, smiling broadly. The annoyance faded from Nijima's face as soon as she heard the Principal was involved.

"If Principal Kobayakawa thinks this is a good idea, then I will do my best to execute his idea," replied Nijima mildly. Her unusual red eyes lost their annoyed spark, and she settled back down at her table. Kawakami beamed and pushed Ryuji to his seat at the table.

"I expect great things from the two of you!" she exclaimed, her grinning face looking only slightly artificial. Satisfied that her task was complete, Kawakami wished the two students luck before leaving to attend to her actual work as a teacher of Shujin Academy. The two students appraised one another from across the table, trying to get the measure of one another.

It was Nijima who finally broke the silence, clearing her throat with a delicate cough. "So you're Sakamoto right?" she asked, closing one of the many binders spread out on the table. Ryuji swallowed.

"Yeah, that's me," he said, attempting to be jocular and failing. He felt nervous under her gaze and he found himself looking everywhere but her face. In contrast, she stared at him with unblinking focus.

"I've seen your exam results posted on the board," she said flatly and Ryuji's eyes widened. "They're..." she seemed to weigh her next words carefully, as though trying to be tactful about the catastrophe she'd seen on the boards. "They show potential for improvement," she finished and Ryuji looked at her cautiously.

"They do?" he asked, sounding suspicious.

"Anything that low shows potential for improvement. You've got nowhere to go but up!" said Nijima with a smile.

Ryuji rocked back in his chair feeling like she'd just reached across the table and slapped him in the face. Nijima, for her part, seemed not to notice. She pulled out a thick sheet of manila paper with Ryuji's name on it. "Ms. Kawakami provided me with your grades so I could see what areas you were struggling in, as well as some of your previous exams," said Niijima. "Since it looks like you're struggling in most areas about the same, I'll let you pick what topic you want to work on first," she finished, pushing the paper across the table to Ryuji. Ryuji carefully avoided touching the paper, his eyes scanning the words with an increasingly worried expression.

"Well, see the thing is, I didn't bring any of my study materials with me today," said Ryuji, only just managing to keep his voice from sounding like a whine. Niijima's expression turned withering.

"You're not serious are you? How did you come to school without any of your books?" she asked pointedly. Ryuji fidgeted and began picking at a loose thread on his shirt.

"I just didn't know that we we're meeting uh...today is all," replied Ryuji, looking like he'd rather be anywhere but here. "How about we meet tomorrow instead? Same time and same place?" he said, getting up abruptly.

Niijima's red eyes followed him, and then she sighed. "Alright Sakamoto, we'll meet tomorrow. Bring all of your books and something to take notes, we're going to hit the ground running since we weren't able to get anything done today. Also, I want you to be ready with a class you want to study for. If you don't have one you want to start then I'm going to pick it based on the feedback portion here," said Niijima, pointing to a section on the manila paper. But by the time she finished her spiel, Ryuji was already half way out the door.

"Sounds great Niijima! I'll see you tomorrow!" he called behind him as he left Niijima sitting in the library, surrounded by her color coded binders and her heavily annotated papers. She sighed to herself again. She could only hope this would make for a good college essay if nothing else.