Back from my holidays, it's time for a new chapter here!

Was it that day at the library?

Vanitas was a lot of things (including a thug, a brute and a jerk), but if there was a thing that he wasn't, that would be a bookworm. In all his years of school, he only set foot in the school library if forced to, and couldn't remember borrowing a book even once. He didn't enjoy reading - not even graphic novels. Books were a bore to him: he needed action, he needed thrill, and never found such a thing in words. Videogames were the only time he would actually enjoy sitting in a chair and do basically nothing - fighting through the screen for when he couldn't fight in real life.

Ventus was more of a casual reader. He enjoyed comics, and some occasional novels. Vanitas never got interested enough to know what his brother actually read.

But the thing was, Vanitas got tricked by his brother, and now had to go to the actual library, and he was pissed.

"Oh, come on, you said you were going to the library, didn't you? So you can drop my books while you're at it! If I am late to return them, there's a fee to pay!"

That little rat knew more than anyone that "I'm going to the library" was his excuse for staying out late, and that at no point it involved a real library. And he also knew that asking in front of their parents meant that Vanitas couldn't refuse without telling the truth. He would get his revenge, and he would make sure it would be a good one. But for now, all he had to do was drop the books on the counter and leave this place forever. No big deal, and he would soon join his group of friends, doing whatever did not involve a book.

He burst into the building for the first time of his life. He looked left, right, without a clue of what to do next. He guessed the woman staring at his from behind a table, her cold eyes piercing through his skin as if she knew he did not belong there, was a good hint that she could be the librarian. He walked to her.

"I've got books to return. That's the place?"

"Usually, it is very appreciated to greet people with a Good Evening or so." She dryly answered. He glared at her, shrugging.

"So that's the place or not?" She sighed, her eyes rolling.

"Yes. Yes, that's the place, young man. Just give me the books and I will take cake of that."

He dropped the bag on her desk. She carefully took the books out one by one, checking every one of them as if she worried he'd have torn some pages or burnt a hole through them.

"Everything seems fine with me. Have a good evening." She insisted a lot on these words, staring at him. He smirked, taking one of the flyers on the desk (something about an orchestra or whatever), crumpled the paper and threw it towards a paper basket on the other side of the room. Of course, he missed. He sucked at basketball. He turned around, ready to go, proud of his whole bad boy aura when he caught a glimpse of something familiar in the corner of his eyes.

It wasn't even that surprising, and yet he didn't expect to see her here tonight. Even from afar, even though she wasn't facing him, he couldn't not recognize her - he never met anyone with blue hair before. She promised it was natural, but he could hardly believe that. Anyway, she was over there, sitting at a table, with a pile of books around her, not sparing him a single glance - it would be so easy to just leave the facility.

"Do you need help to find the way out?", the librarian asked with a faked polite smile. "It's the exact same door you came in from. Right behind you, a few feet away."

"Oh, shut up.", he said, ignoring her further protestations. It would be so easy to leave. And yet he didn't.

He walked towards her, freezing just a feet or so behind her. What now? He had planned to make fun of her, then leave. But what should he make fun about? For once, he had no inspiration.

"So that's where you hide when you don't want to see Terra's face? Clever. I doubt he can even read his own name."

Mh. Not bad, but not too good either. This got him nasty glances from people around - so the myth about being quieter than the dead in a library was true - but Aqua didn't react at all, much to his disappointment. She was taking down some notes on a notebook, glancing at a book full of text and schemas he didn't get. It ticked him off. Was this book really more interesting than him? That felt really insulting.

"Hey. Are you really going to ignore me? And they say I'm the rude one."

Annoyed, he was about to leave, when she accidentally pushed a book with her elbow and the book fell. She moved to pick it up, and gasped when she saw Vanitas, startled. He noticed she was wearing earbuds - she did not ignore him, she simply couldn't hear him.

"Vanitas! Have you… Have you been there long? You scared me!" She took off her earbuds and put a hand on her chest, as if her heart was still racing. To be fair, his was a little, too. He smirked, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, that's usually how people feel when they see me. Their brain tell them that they'd better stay away."

"And you're… proud of it? That sounds a bit sad." He shrugged at that, taking the seat next to her and stealing her book.

"What's that? Looks boring."

"That's social anthropology. Would you mind giving it back? I really need to study that. I have an exam tomorrow and I need to be ready."

"Oh? Studying the day before the exam? That doesn't sound like what a first-class student like you should do."

She sighed. "I've been really busy with my association this week, and I didn't have time to… You know what? I don't have to give you any excuse, anyway. What are you doing here? It's unusual to see you… In this kind of place."

"Are you implying that I'm too dumb to enter a library? Maybe you even think I'm stupid and illiterate? That's disrespectful and you should be ashamed. I had some books to return, mind you."

He ignored the fact that he had been implying the exact same things about Terra just a minute ago. She had not heard him, and she couldn't know. She wouldn't know. She simply sighed again - did she sound angry? Could a sigh sound angry? It sure sounded angry.

"Don't talk about respect when you just implied yourself that illiterate people are stupid, because that's one of the worst things I've heard you say this week. Now if you'd excuse me, I've got a test to study."

"Prompt to anger, no patience… You really are exhausted, aren't you?"

She was. He didn't need her answer to notice how lifeless her eyes were, how hard she was fighting to keep her eyes open, not to mention these dark circles under them. She had mentioned some kind of association. He didn't know what it was, but it appeared she had invested a lot of herself in that - and a lot of her nights.

"It doesn't matter. I have to… study."

"Yeah, because knowing all this crap will do you a lot of good once you fall asleep on your copy tomorrow."

She rubbed her eyes. "But… the exam…"

He quickly shushed her, clicking his tongue in annoyance. "Okay. Tell you what? At what time does the library open in the morning?"

"It… doesn't, technically. They stay open 24/7 for the whole months, for exams."

"Okay, good. When is your exam?"

"Tomorrow at ten. But what are you -"

"Silence, let me be the smart one for once. It is 7.00 pm. You go home, you go get some sleep, and you meet me here tomorrow morning at 6. I'm an expert at last time revisions. I'll help you study. Deal?"

She frowned, fighting sleep harder than ever. "Why would you help me?" He shrugged, staring at the ceiling. Why, indeed? He didn't owe her anything. He didn't know a thing about social anthropology. She wasn't his friend.

"If you fail at school, you'll end up following the same path I did, and I don't want you on my path. It's my path, so follow your own, far from mine where I can't see you."

She got up, trying to pick up her books. He stopped her. "Don't worry about this, I'm sure the lovely lady at the desk will be more than happy to clean that up for you. I'll go and ask her. That must stay between the two of us, but I think she's got a thing for me." He winked at Aqua, who let out a weak laugh.

"Alright. I'll come back tomorrow, then. You don't have to come, you know. This exam is my problem, not yours, so you don't have to wake up early for that."

"We'll see about that. Now go to sleep!" He shooed her away, and she finally left, under his amused eyes.

She came back at 6 on the dot, looking much more alive than the night before. He was already there, two steaming cups of coffee on the table and a basket with some fruits on it next to the cups.

"So you came back." She sounded surprised, but the blush on her cheeks seemed to indicate she was glad. At least he hoped that's what it meant. He wasn't much familiar with body language. She didn't look angry, which was already a good point.

"No time to lose. You forgot your notebook yesterday."

"I did." She took the notebook, reading through her notes quickly. She frowned and paused. "Wait, is that…"

"I know nothing of social anthropology, but I scoured down the book and took the liberty of writing down everything that seemed important. I might have missed some things, and written down some useless junk, but that should be fine."

"Vanitas, that's…"

"I've also reorganised it on smaller index cards, by the dominant themes of that. I'm giving you thirty minutes to read them and remember as much as you can, and then I'll start asking questions. Ready? Go."

"This must have been so much work for you… You didn't stay up all night, did you?"

"Twenty nine minutes."

She smiled and picked up the cards. Truth was, it had been exhausting for him. He spent the whole night reading a boring book, and, while he got the main ideas, he had really no interest in it. He only wrote down anything that looked important on the notebook, and then remembered that Ven often used index cards to revise, and he gave it a try. And while he managed to organise everything, he couldn't remember a thing that he wrote. Good at organization, terrible at revisions. That had always been like this. That was why he failed test after test. He couldn't get himself to focus long enough to care or learn anything. Simply focusing on these cards took him five hours. He barely had time to pop in at home for a quick shower, bought the coffee as well as the fruits and hurry back to the library before she arrived. The librarian didn't even say a word when he brought the coffee in, flashing her a smile with the most hypocrite "Good morning" he could muster.

She grimaced as she drank her coffee. "So sweet! Just how much sugar did you put in that?"

"Four. Always four cubes. The perfect balance between bitter and sweet. Time's up! Ready for the first question?"

"Go on."

"Okay. I want you to tell me the five main pillars of…"

And they went on like this, for three hours, every time thirty minutes of some more revising, followed by thirty minutes of questions, where Vanitas checked on the notebooks the notions she got right, the ones she got wrong and the ones she forgot. Of course, he couldn't really evaluate her insights or anything she developed and had no idea most of the time if she was right or wrong. All he could ensure was that she remembered the main themes on her notes. That would have to do it.

"Alright, only thirty minutes before your exam. Off you go." She stretched, finishing her cup of coffee with a shiver.

"This is really too sweet." But then she beamed a smile at him, leant forward and put a kiss on his cheek. "And so were you. I cannot thank you enough for this. I'm still not sure why you helped me, but… Thanks. I will remember that."

"Yeah, about that…"

"Let me guess: not a word to Terra or Ven?" She winked at him, and he slowly nodded. He had a reputation to keep. He couldn't let anyone realise that he wasn't as tough as he pretended.

"Hey, Aqua." She looked at him, smiling. "Remember what I said. The streets are my realm, a dark, dark realm… So be sure to stay away from there. I only helped you to be sure you won't be out there stalking me."

She chuckled. "Sure. I'll stay in the Realm of Light, and you in the Realm of Darkness. But remember that at every dawn and dusk, these Realms actually come in contact, even for a short while." She winked. She winked a lot, he noticed. Did she wink at Terra that often? "Alright, let's rule that exam!"

She left him, humming. He stared at her go, before gathering all of her books, and going back to the librarian. He dropped the books on the desk.

"Here. I don't know where they go. But that's your job, isn't it?"

The woman squinted, staring at him. "I really cannot understand you, young man. How can someone so rude and uneducated actually be so kind and considerate with someone? You must really like her."

He shrugged, sticking his tongue out at her. "Not your business, granny. See you around!"

She mumbled something about respect, but he didn't listen. He was long gone.

As soon as he got home (skipping class, because he had studied enough for the rest of the week), he crashed himself into his bed. He was exhausted.

He fell asleep with the memory of soft lips on his cheeks, and a stupid grin on his face.

It was kinda hard to write this chapter, because I was really annoyed at Vanitas being such a brat with the librarian xDD Also (besides the brat part), Vanitas is pretty much me right there, I am really bad at learning things for exams. It's either I understand and remember the first time I hear something, or it will never stay in my brain! Revisions sheets work pretty well for me, though!