(past)
Just my luck, mother showed her my baby pictures and now she's blackmailing me in exchange for tutoring sessions, why would she want to study you ask? Maybe that's because the other day she made a statement that she was going to make it to the top 100 list, how am i supposed to get that idiot there?! It's impossible! I have no idea how her mind runs, her brain is probably as small as a hamster, the hard part is on me, because i Don't know how i will be able to get her to actually study, my thoughts were interrupted by a tap on my shoulder, i looked over and i see watanabe with a big grin plastered on his face "are you thinking about aihara san?" He asked in such a cheerful tone
"Not really" i lied , turning away from him.
" i always know when you think of her, you always make that same angry face like something is pissing you off, its funny" he laughed a bit, i glare back at him. Watanabe has been my friend since middle school. He was the only bright student who was okay with me getting a higher score than him, most of my old friends would just get so mad, but with him... he was a good sport. Which is probably why i was okay with hanging around him.
"I do not"
"Of course you'd say that, you don't know what kind of face your making"
"I guess im just trying to think hard"
"About what?"
I exhale loudly and turn to face him "hypothetically, if i tutor a slow learner, someone from around class F? What do you think are the chances of them ever getting in on the top 100 list?"
He furrowed his
Brows, "aihara? On the top 100 list?!"
How did he- wait, this is watanabe were talking about, he catches on pretty quickly.
"HYPOTHETICALLY, do you think its a possibility?"
He places his finger on his lips "hmm...tests are in a week, but she might be one of those who do good with pressure so its worth a shot"
I paused for a moment. He has a point, some people do well under pressure. In some rare cases , adrenaline gets released into the body, causing them to be hyperactive.
"But working under pressure is mostly done to produce productivity. Its not really a method for amazing results, students procrastinate go get work done, not to commit the impossible"
"Ahh yes, but remember that everyone has their own way of learning, maybe if you find better ways to teach her, it might get in her head quicker"
"Thats it, studies have shown that every student has their own unique way of learning, im sure an idiot like her would have at least have one"
I take out a notebook and started writing stuff down.
Watanabe gave me a pat on the back, "if you ever get her to the top 100, il buy you lunch... its a long shot but then again, your irie naoki after all, you should be able to pull it off it you try hard enough"
Before i could even come up with a response he goes, leaving me alone scribbling my study schedule with kotoko.
After school we started getting down to business, we both ate our dinner as well quickly as possible and as i went into yuki's old room I shuddered at the overwhelming sight of pink and books piled up on her table. I knew this was going to be a nightmare.
She looked like a mix of nervousness and excitement while i dreaded to ask her "so where do you want to start? What subject is hardest for you?"
She paused for a bit "um...math i guess"
"Then let's start there"
"Yes….math….math" she searched the pile of books frantically
There she goes wasting time, and we only just begun. I instantly pull out the algebra book from the pile, questioning her eyesight, i sighed. This was going to be a LONG night.
"How much have you covered?"
"Covered? Aren't our classes the same?"
"How would i know"
"We've covered…." she looks around for her notebook im assuming, i scroll through the book casually
"Up to page 40"
"Hmmm…"
She pulls up a chair beside me
"Then you can expect questions from…" i reach out looking for something like a highlighter, im assuming the one she will hand to me would be a pink one, but instead she hands me a pencil with a silly tiny heart stuffed toy attached to the bottom of it, i gave her a look and she blushes
"I only have pencils and pens"
I raise an eyebrow
"Why? What did you need? I have a sharpie if you-"
"Nevermind, this is fine"
I glance back at the book,
"Here…here...and here"
"How do you know that?" she looked at me with a bit of doubt in her eyes, what an idiot
"They're the essential points"
She looks so amazed, then she moves a bit closer , with a curious look she asks "irie-kun, how do you usually study?"
"If i hear or read it once, i retain it" i responded to her as i continued to underline the essential questions i knew would show up on her exam.
Her smile disappeared and was replaced with a frown, as if my answer disappointed her, not like i cared or anything
"Wow, that must be nice"
"It's not like i had anything to do with it… anyway, i'll give you some sample questions, solve them"
She nodded and i got down to writing her some very similar questions
I can feel her eyes staring me down, not like i wasn't used to it at this point. Ever since she moved in that's all she ever did. At first it was annoying but now i have gotten used to it, the staring wasn't like she was stalking me or anything (even though she probably was) but to me it felt like she was trying to observe how i was as a person, figured if she did eventually find out just how boring and uninteresting my life was, she would back off.
I handed her the notebook
"If you solve these, you'll score at least 80%"
She smiles and grabs another stupid looking pencil, just as she saw the questions on the paper her facial expression drastically changed again.
It went from happy and determined to completely confused and lost
I just stared at her wondering what she would do next, she tried to look okay for a bit then after a few seconds her gaze slowly turned to me
I sighed in frustration
"What do you even do during class?"
Her face turned from confused into shame
Then guilt
"Makes me wonder what's in your brain" i lectured her as i slammed the book on the table, this made her flinch a bit as she said she was sorry.
Another sigh again, i was losing my temper, she didn't even try to solve the problem and now she's expecting me to help her?
Ugh, this girl.
While she was trying to solve that ONE question, i started on making her study schedule, if this was going to work, i have to use as much time as possible. I printed out her study schedule and got on my laptop to make her a reviewer, in between breaks i would help kotoko with the sample questions, time flew by quickly and two hours had finally passed, i printed the reviewer and stapled them unto a folder for each subject, then i labeled them and handed her the study schedule
I held it up to her face
"You will adhere strictly to this schedule"
"I don't care if your in the restroom or your eating, follow the schedule and keep the folders with you on all costs, i want you reading them, remembering them and understanding them, tomorrow i'll give you flashcards since i assume your a visual learner, make sure you go over them too even during breaks at school"
"Thats…. Too much"
"Don't complain, you asked for this, now lets go over the math formula's, all your answers are wrong, and i'll explain why later"
"B-but… it's past midnight!"
I ignored her whining and read her the formulas.
That night, we finished our study session at 1;30 AM, i got ready for bed and lied down on my mattress as i stretched in comfort,
Will she really be okay? I wondered.
I couldn't sleep with thinking about the lack of progress we had today, so i went downstairs and searched the cabinets for mom's old tape recorder.
When i finally found it, i recorded myself stating the math formulas kotoko would need to remember. I figured maybe this will help her memorize them since i know she falls asleep whenever she reads too much.
After i finished i was finally able to sleep and before i knew it, day 2 arrived.
(kotoko's POV)
The reviewer irie-kun made me was easier to understand than the books or notes that i have!
It gives me so much hope that maybe i really will be able to make it to the list! His handwriting is so neat and i can't help but blush whenever i remember how patient he was studying with me last night, i guess he's not a big jerk after all, i shook my head, stop daydreaming kotoko, you have to focus! I put my attention back to the reviewer i was reading and read what it says out loud, this surprisingly helps compared to silent reading, which always ends up making me nap after a few words.
The rest of the day went smoothly since i distanced myself from my friends, i skipped the regular cafeteria lunch meeting we always had and ate my sandwiches on my way to the library where i tried to solve irie-kun's new set of sample questions, he also gave me a voice recorder this morning so i kept it with me throughout the day and listened to it during class time, it's not like our teachers care anyway.
Whenever it's a week before the exams they usually give us "study time" while the teacher just sleeps. Not like class F actually studies, they use this time to do whatever they want like talk and play with each other, well not me. I took advantage of those times and instead of talking to my friends like i usually do, i would study with all the materials irie-kun has given me.
It kind of felt nice knowing that he put in so much thought and effort into these things to make sure im studying,not just remembering the things i need to know but actually understanding them made me feel like irie-kun maybe was cheering me on.
This motivated me even more and made me focus on studying more than ever.
As the days passed, i slowly started to gain more and more confidence in myself, i recently discovered that i found english the most interesting subject! Maybe it was the way irie-kun would speak english as if he was from america, but i wanted to learn more of the language and maybe one day become fluent like him? That would be nice.
My hardest subject math, wasn't as hard as i thought. The more i understood how the formula's are, the quicker the answers came to me, its as if the numbers just change, but the way it's solved will be the same as long as i remember the method on how to solve them.
Irie-kun really is amazing, somehow he's found different ways of teaching me, ways that our teacher doesn't even try.
The way they do it in our class is usually the same, the teacher tells us what page it is and writes a couple of notes on the board.
One thing i noticed was that before i would just copy the notes without even trying to know what they mean.
When irie-kun explains it, he makes it a mission to make sure i understand every word. It takes long but i remember it more if i write it down while i read it outloud. He really is a genius huh.
When the night before our final exams came
Irie-kun made me a trial exam , he said that these questions should look like the ones in our test so if i get them right i should get a high score during the actual exams.
My eyes lit up as i looked at my answers
"Amazing, they just keep coming to me like"
"Just get it done" irie-kun slams more papers on my desk
"We have other subjects to cover"
By now i've gotten used to his coldness, he wasn't doing that to be rude or anything, i guess that's just how he talks, at this point it doesn't even irritate me anymore. So i smile and keep answering.
As the questions keep getting harder irie-kun explains some things to me, he helps me go over the math equations since he knows those are what i struggled with most
Right when i was done answering the last question i sighed with relief
"Im finally done"
But when i looked over across the table i saw irie=kun's handsome face calm as a cat, sleeping like a baby.
My heart melts like a candle as i look at him
He truly is a handsome guy, i'm so lucky i get to see what he looks like when he's sleeping, and with that i myself slowly drifted away into deep sleep.
I woke up the next day feeling refreshed ignoring the fact that i slept sitting on the ground over a table i smiled widely seeing irie-kun still sound asleep, the Gods must really be on my side since he was the first thing i saw when i woke up, i took a blanket and placed it over him to keep him warm, at this point of the morning everyone was still asleep, so i headed to the kitchen to make some coffee, maybe irie-kun would like a cup when he wakes up.
(noaki's POV)
I woke up with the aroma of coffee, i look around and wasn't surprised i fell asleep inside kotoko's room, only, she wasn't there.
The smell of coffee beans invites me to the kitchen so i get up to slowly get some breakfast.
I felt my stiff muscles on my neck and my back, damn it, why did i have to fall asleep like that, why didn't she bother to wake me up.
But before i could open my mouth to greet my mother good morning, i instead paused at the surprising sight that it was indeed in fact not my mother preparing the coffee but kotoko.
Her tight hair bun from last night was now ruined, strands of her wavy hair framed her soft face, her dark circles didn't seem so dark with the ray of the rising sun kissing her slightly blushed cheeks
She had a warm smile as her gaze remained on the coffee,
For a second there i felt like we were newlyweds or something,
Of course this was all thanks to my mom who keeps forcing kotoko and i to become more than just housemates, i shook my head to snap out of it, no way THAT was happening, i try to convince myself that this was just due to the lack of sleep i've been getting. Of course that was the answer.
I completely snapped out of it when kotoko finally noticed my presence and asked me if i wanted some coffee. I hesitated, remembering how bad of a cook she is but i knew that i needed caffeine, so i responded with a quick yes and made my way to sit while she served me a cup and served herself one as well as she sat adjacent to me.
The coffee was surprisingly really good.
Even my own mother can't make it like this, i didn't really want to admit it but it was the best coffee i've had. But i keep this fact to myself and all was silent as we both sipped on our morning drink.
AN: i'm going to try to update as quickly as i can, so if there is any delays it can only mean that i'm busy with adulting, regardless of my tardiness with continuing this story i promise it will be a story worth reading, it is meant to be filled with long chapters and endless roller coaster rides of emotions.
Please leave a review as much as you can with what you think about the story so far, it makes me feel like i'm connecting with you more and makes writing so much more humane and authentic knowing that someone out there is reading. Thanks so much for waiting and hope you liked this chapter, the next one should be out soon! Ps. know that most of this is written out on my phone since i type it out whenever i have free time, so please excuse some errors and wrong use of words. Thanks !
