some cute stuff at the end of this one. :)


Wednesday, October 15

Mai had a rough night to say the least. Continuous nightmares mixed with the feeling of being watched kept her awake until eventually, she gave up on trying to get a good nights rest. She had a reoccurring nightmare about drowning, and every time she tried to swim up something would pull her back down further and further into the darkness until she could feel her lungs screaming for air. She always woke up gasping for air. When these nightmares would happen, she felt it helpful to confide in Gene. Sometimes she would text him early in the morning, and he would somehow always be there for her. Other times she would wait until Naru left the classroom to tell him. She didn't feel like having Naru use her nightmares against her as insults. Besides, Naru didn't seem like the kind of sympathetic and understanding person she needed to talk to. Mai found it strange that Gene knew so much about dreams, but she brushed it off as a possible hobby.

"Make sure you understand this, class. You will be having a small essay quiz on this tomorrow." The class let out an almost inaudible groan. Mai let her head fall flat to onto her book, half because of the lack of sleep and the other half because of her incomprehension of the topic.

"Putting your head on the book won't make you magically learn it. This isn't osmosis," Naru whispered to the defeated figure next to him. She rolled her head over slowly with a snarky grin," Wow thanks, that must be why it hasn't been working!"

"Mai, is there something you would like to share with the class?" She got busted by her teacher and immediately turned red.

"I, uh, think she was just asking Kazuya about the upcoming test," Gene quickly covered for her, knowing she had a rough night and his twin's antics definitely were not helping. Despite his try, Mai could still feel the hot stares of her classmates burn into her even when their teacher began to lecturing. She didn't even have to look up to see Naru's ever present smirk. The bell rang shortly after, giving the students a few minutes of break before they return to cramming their brain with impractical information. Gene turned around to Mai with a sympathetic smile, "I tried to save you there but…" Gene laughed nervously as Mai let out a long-awaited sigh.

"Do you even understand what we are learning?" Nothing seemed to come easy for Mai, despite long hours of studying nothing ever stuck. However, the case wasn't such for the person sitting beside her.

"How could it get any easier?" Naru asked, writing something down in his notebook.

"I wasn't even talking to you, eavesdropper," she sent him an angry look but he didn't seem to mind. She flung her arms in the air, "Oh, it's not fair! You don't even have the book out, yet still understand it front and back!" Mai pulled her legs up to her chest and placed her face in them.

"Because it's easy," he stated matter-of-factly.

"Well if it's sooo easy for you, Mr. Genius, why don't you teach it to me?" She snapped out at him, shooting a glare over at him to be met with his own set of blue eyes. They stared at each other for a moment before Naru broke the silent tension.

"Fine, I will. After school." It took a moment for both Mai and Gene to register what just came out of Naru's mouth. Mai sat there shocked, Gene also shared a look of surprise on his face. Their chins both dropped as they looked at each other. The Great and Almighty Naru helping someone? Almost voluntarily? Absolutely shocking.

"And I appreciate the title too. You should use it more often," He smirked as he stood up and grabbed his jacket before striding out of the room coolly.

"Did that really just happen?" Mai sat dumbfounded as she looked at Gene. Gene only returned her look with one of his own, shrugging his shoulders and lifting his hands.

"Must be a full moon or something," he joked, "So, anyways. Tell me more about that nightmare."

A few minutes later, Mai's mind was still swirling with nervousness and shock. There were only a few hours left before the end of school. She began to wonder if he was even serious. "Maybe he was joking just to get a reaction out of me," She pondered before shaking the idea from her head that he could actually do something nice for her and stared at the textbook in front of her. Mai felt her cellphone buzz in her pocket, catching her off guard. She reached in her sweaters pocket to find the device she was looking her. Flipping it open, she saw a few new messages from her best friends in the classroom over.

[1:15PM] Michiru: OMG! Mai you didn't tell me you scored a date with Kazuya!

[1:16PM] Keiko: What! I haven't heard about this! :o

[1:16PM] Michiru: I overheard some girls from Mai's class talking about it! It's true, right?

[1:18PM] Michiru: Mai?

The brunette rolled her eyes. She found it funny how rumors evolve and spread. "Looks like Naru wasn't the only eavesdropper."

[1:19PM] Mai: Sorry to disappoint, but you've got it wrong. He's helping me study for a quiz tomorrow

[1:20PM] Keiko: Study must be a code word for something

[1:20PM] Mai: I swear, you guys would be the first to know if anything happened. But it didn't, and never will! This isn't one of those high school anime dramas

[1:21PM] Mai: I'll text you guys when class is over for the day

Mai slipped her phone back into her pocket and noticed that a certain narcissist had returned to the classroom and was looking over at her. She furrowed her brows and mumbled, "What do you want?" Naru just turned back to his book, sparing her not another second of attention. Their next teacher walked in and wasted no time before teaching. Mai looked around to find the page they were now on, hoping not to fall behind this time.

Time came and went, and before she knew it the school bell rang out to signify the ending of classes for the day. Mai looked Naru out of the corner of her eye to see what he was going to do. "Maybe it really was just a joke… No way would Naru help me." She laughed at herself, thinking about how stupid she must be to have believed his offer. Gene rose out of his seat and gave Mai a small smile before heading over to his twin's desk to talk. She checked her phone and replied to Keiko and Michiru before packing the books she would need in order to study and grabbing her sweater from the back of her chair. "I should really buy a new jacket, it's getting too cold this now." Shrugging, she picked up her bag and began to walk towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Naru looked over his shoulder to see Mai almost through the door.

"Uh… home? Where else would I be…" Mai's voice trailed off as she realized, "Oh, my God. He wasn't kidding." Naru smirked as if he had read her mind, grabbed his textbook and jacket, and walk past Mai giving her an 'are you coming?' kind of look. Gene gave Mai a good luck wave before he too went to grab his things. Mai followed behind Naru as he gracefully made his way through the crowd of students, glaring at anyone who didn't move out of his way. Mai apologized to those individuals for his rude behavior while still keeping pace with the narcissist. Eventually, he led her to a door, and when pushed open it revealed a set of stairs. Mai haven't been here before. She curiously followed Naru up the stairs.

"Are students allowed up here? I've never seen this before…" Mai waited for an answer, but it never came. At the top of the stairs, another door stood in their path. Naru pushed it open, not caring to hold it for the petite brunette behind him, and strode out into the fresh air. Sun poured into the once dark stairwell, fresh fall air filled her nose, the crisp air brushed tenderly against her skin.

"I never knew there was a stairwell to the rooftop!" Mai bounced out of the door and rushed over to the edge where she leaned over the side of the building, looking down at all the students making their way to somewhere not here.

"Don't get too close to the edge. Knowing you, you will probably fall over," Naru said, leaning back on the wall near the door they had just emerged from. Mai spun around with an angry sigh, and crossed her arms.

"I'm not suicidal…" She muttered grumpily before stomped over to him and sat down on the cold concrete. She picked her English textbook out of her bag and set it on her lap. Naru took a seat next to her and mirrored her actions.

"Since it will be an essay exam, you will be more than likely be tested on your ability to form proper, grammatically correct sentences," Naru started in a monotone voice. Mai nodded and glanced down at the pages of the book that all seemed to be gibberish.

"Now, try to describe something you see, and we will go from there."

After seemingly forever for Mai, Naru sighed almost in defeat. He couldn't understand how it was so difficult for her. Sure, he may have been fluent in English from a young age but it wasn't that hard to learn truthfully. Mai held her face in her hands, waving the white flag of surrender.

"I just don't get it," she groaned. "Why is everything so easy for you," she complained.

"I was raised speaking English," he explained, staring off into the sky.

"Really? You never told me that…" She looked at him curiously. "Why not Japanese?" She wondered but didn't want to ask.

"This language is dumb anyways," she pouted, stretching out her arms and legs. Why did verbs need to be conjugated? And what's the difference between a direct object and indirect object? She just couldn't get it. She looked up at the sky. The sun was close to the horizon, she guessed the time to be quarter before six. A few darker clouds hung in the distant sky. The once cool air had turned to cold and the gusts of wind didn't help. She shivered and tried to warm herself up by rubbing her hands on her arms. "I knew I should have bought a heavy jacket instead of a sweater. Maybe I can go to the store with Keiko and Michiru over the weekend… wait scratch that, I have work." While caught up in her mental conversation, the feeling of cold was replaced with warmth. She now found her shoulders adorned with a black jacket. She gave Naru an inquisitive look before he spoke, "If you freeze to death you won't be able to take the quiz tomorrow." She opened her mouth to retort but realized her pride could suffer a bit instead of facing the harsh cold. Naru cleared his throat before beginning to explain verb tenses again and ignoring the girl's now rosy cheeks next to him.

It was not too long after that Naru closed his textbook with a snap. A shadow stood in the way of where light once was. She looked up from her book and saw Naru standing.

"Where are you going?" She asked him, tilting her head to the side. She went to stand up too, but the jacket on her shoulders fell to the ground from the sudden movement.

"Go home and try to study some vocabulary. I think you know enough to pass now," he said walking back over to the door and opening it to exit the roof. Mai scrambled to gather the black jacket along with her things and ran to the door to try and catch up. Almost tripping down the steps, she rushed down the hall to exit the school. Bursting out the main entrance doors, she saw Naru walking down the pathway towards the road.

"Wait!" She called out to him, panting as she ran. Curse his long legs, they carried him farther and faster than her own.

"Here," she said, sticking out her hand that held his jacket in it, "Thanks…" she said as she in between gasps of air. He only shook his head.

"Keep it for now. Tell your parents to buy you a warmer coat," he turned around and continued walking and eventually turned the corner and went out of view. Mai stood there shocked, the black jacket gently blowing in the breeze. She squeezed the jacket in her hand, half angry at his pity towards her but also half happy at the kind gesture. She pulled the jacket into her chest and hugged it for a second. It was soft and warm, almost the exact opposite of Naru. It smelled like tea and a soft hint of lavender. She stood there in a trance until her cellphone began to ring in her pocket.

"Oh, man," Mai muttered as she read the caller ID. Sprinting out of the school and onto the sidewalk, she picked it up with a, "I know I'm late I'm so sorry I'll be there in ten minutes!"


Thanks for reading! Please leave a review~

I already have the next chapter written so hopefully I'll be posting that tomorrow.