Time Alone(With friends and family)

Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock…

I wake up in my bed, "Argh."

"Zzz," Kotori is sleeping next to me.

Where am I? Oh right. I'm in bed trying to heal from my wounds. I can barely move in bed. My arms are numb.

It's been two months since I broke up the fight between Tohru and Elma.

"Shiro," she wakes up. Her orange eyes glow in the dark, "Are you worried about Elma and Tohru?"

"No," I reply. It was a lie. Not too long ago they were fighting each to the death.

"Shiro," she puts her finger on my forehead, "I know you're worried about them. I can hear your heart

beating like crazy."

"Sorry," I manage to say, "I can't help, but get worried. I can't get out of bed. I want to get out of bed, I

want to know how everyone is doing!"

The door creaks open. It's Lucoa, "Ah. Are you awake again?"

"Yeah," I look at the cast on my arms and legs," I stretch a bit.

Kotori gets up out bed yawning, "Hyahh…Don't push yourself, Shiro."

The fireplace snaps and pops. I feel the warmth of the fire.

"I know," I lean back and look at the ceiling. Lucoa stands at my bedside and casts a soothing aura over

me, "Remember what Tohru said? I'm to heal you every morning with magic until you fully recover.

I nod. Since the fight Tohru has been tending to more important things. It used to be us three, but ever

since we rescued the others, the size of our family is much huger. So huge in fact, that Lucoa, Shouta,

and Magus moved into the room next to us. "Finished!" Lucoa shouts. She kneels beside me, "How does

it feel?"

I stretch my arms, "Hey, I can move again…," I say with a tired voice.

Kotori lets me climb on her back. She carries me outside. She puts me down.

"Where is Elma?" I ask.

Lucoa sighs, "She went back to the knights. She says she needs time to repeal some laws and convince

them to leave us alone."

"It can't be helped. I hope she can convince them to change their minds about us," I breath in the fresh

air. Kotori sits beside me, "Did you finish the assignments?" she asks me. Since I'm at home she's been retrieving papers from the teacher and sending my homework assignments back to me. Luckily, I finished all of them. It was tough though. I missed so much school and I'm behind by a couple chapters. This time Kotori and Lucoa are helping me with the assignments. Ironic, since not too long ago I was helping her with her homework.

She chuckles, thinking the same thing I am, "Guess we're even. You helped me understand the material and now I'm helping you."

"Don't get cocky," I mutter, "I'm much better. I can go back to school."

Lucoa thinks, "But the exam is in a few weeks."

I groan, "Dammit, I've been in bed for the past two months. I need to catch up. Quickly."

I hear Tohru's voice, "It can't be helped. You did absorb an attack from both Elma and Tohru, after all," she descends the stairs.

I fidget, "The last thing I want to do is to repeat classes again."

Tohru pets me on the head, "Kanna and the others agreed to help you."

I relax my shoulders. Oh that's right. Kanna goes to school with me, too.

Tohru shoos me and Kotori away, "Go. You have school, both of you."

I practice walking to school for the next couple days. Kotori walks slowly so I can catch up to her.

My feet hurt just a little bit. I take a step forward with my left foot and then my right.

Each day, I get better at it.

Kotori claps quietly while and gives me words of encouragement each time.

Around the fourth day of walking I catch up to her. At that point I no longer needed a cane or her to help me up.

Kotori runs to the school with me right behind her, "It took you long enough. I was afraid Lucoa would take forever to heal you!"

"Finally. That's one problem I need to worry about. Now about that exam," I jog alongside her.

Kotori shrugs, "You're a genius, right? Shouldn't it be easy for you?"

"It's not that simple," I reply.

The moment we walked into the classroom everyone's heads turn to us entering the room.

"Ah, welcome back, Shiro. Congratulations on your speedy recovery. Please take a seat while we review the material," the teacher points to the seats.

Once we're seated he writes the material on the board. We watch carefully and listen. We understand some parts of the lesson and were confused with other parts of it. Time flew by quickly, and before I knew it we were on lunch break. "Let's eat on the roof like last time," she grabs my hand and pulls.

I run with her through the hallway and up the stairs. We swing open the door to see Kanna eating. Next to her is the girl I rescued from prison. She runs to me, "It's you. My name is Saikawa I wanted to say thanks for rescuing me."

I scratch my head and turn the other direction. Modestly, I say, "It's nothing. Really. I only wanted to help someone in need."

She pauses as if confused by my reply. Her confusion turns to laughter, "Hahha. I get it. You're modest. You must be Kanna's friend, right?"

Kanna shakes her head, "No. We are acquaintances."

She puts her hand on my shoulder, "I see. Thank you. It's because of you I can see my dear friend, Kanna again. Thank you, Shiro. If you ever need anything let me know. I have to return the favor after all."

Repay the favor? In that moment, something did come to mind. Something she could help me with.

"Could you possibly help me catch up on my studies. The exams are coming up, soon."

She jumps up in excitement, "Ah, yes that's right," she looks at Kanna, "Kanna-san didn't you say I have to catch up on my studies, too?"

She lays on the floor. In a monotone voice she says, "Studies? Yes. You haven't been in school for a long time, Saikawa."

We all huddle together, "Then it's settled. We're going to study together," Saikawa raises her fist in the air.

After school, we sat in a room together and studied. Saikawa was nodding off. Her eyes open and shut. Kotori is on the floor, yawning. We've been rushing through three out of the five chapters that I missed after the battle between Elma and Tohru. I slam the table, "Wake up! These chapters are important and you're not taking it seriously.

"But it's boring," Saikawa whined.

Kotori rolls around. She lies on her belly and flips through the book, skimming whatever information she can. I turn to Kanna. She silently reads each page and rushes through her assignments without even saying a word. Is she getting the answers right? I lean over her shoulder and scan through the pages. I can't believe it. My eyes open wide. I'm stunned. She got every question right.

"Kanna," I snap my fingers, "You're good at this. Please help us."

She reads through the book, "On one condition."

"What do you want?" I tilt my head.

She shuts the book with both her hands, "Buy me sweets."

Sweets? That's an odd request for a high school student. That sounds like something an 8-year-old would request. I shrug it off and dig into my pockets. I see that I have some money. An allowance from Tohru. Please don't be expensive, I pray.

"Fine, I'll buy you sweets. In return, you help us pass the class so we don't have to repeat it."

Kanna shakes my hand, "Deal."

She bonks Kotori on the head hard. The force causes the floor to rumble.

"Ow," Kotori rubs her head, "Why'd you that?!" she flails her arms.

"You're not paying attention," she responds. She looks at Saikawa.

"Zzz," Saikawa snores loudly.

Kanna licks her on the face. She wakes up immediately. Her face is red as magma and she shouts, "Kyaaaahhh!" she rolls on the floor. My jaw is wide open, "What was that?"
Kanna pets her, Saikawa mews like a kitten, "She does that a lot when I was eight. It's just like old times," she nods.

I groan. Deeply disturbed by the noises she makes, I beg Kanna not to do that again.

"Please don't make her do that…It's…weird," I manage to say.

Kanna puts on a serious face, "Let's begin."

I grab my laptop. The camera on the front flashes on and projects a PDF of my textbook to the wall. Kanna puts on a teacher outfit and glasses. She walks up to the front with flashcards in her hand.

"Kanna-sensei…You look good in that outfit," Saikawa moans. Kanna bonks her on the head with a yard stick.

"Bad, bad, bad!"

"I'm sorrryy!" Saikawa rubs her head.

Kanna reads the flash cards (Flash cards I wrote).

"Evening class, we're going to be learning…," she flips through her flashcards, "Calculus."

I nod at Kanna. She continues. We flip through the lesson. I draw visual examples and Kanna explains how to do them. We gather around a textbook and talk about how to approach the problems. Saikawa rubs her cheek against Kanna's shoulder. Saikawa gets sent to the corner. Kotori looks at the window. Kanna ties Kotori to a chair and forces her to look at the presentation.

"No distractions!" Kanna shouts.

I look at the calendar. It says Monday. I worried. This could take several days. It can't be helped. We'll just have to struggle through every subject until it's time for the exam.

Tuesday

Next subject is literature. We're sitting together, reading Shakespeare.

"This is kind of hard to understand," Kotori mutters.

I nod, "Yeah. They have weird accents. Don't worry, you just need to remember the plot.

"Oh," Kotori rubs her chin with her finger in deep thought, "I can do that!"

Saikawa is giggling, "Romeo and Juliet," I can see her lewd face, daydreaming about some weird situation with Kanna.

Kanna rips the page out and throws it into the trash, "Wrong story!"

Wednesday

Kotori lights the fireplace for us. We're working on science.

"And that's how gravity works," Kanna explains, pointing at complicated physics formulas.

"Hey, this isn't that hard," Kotori smiles, "We should be able to pass this exam no problem."

I nod in agreement. We have a few more days. I feel like I already studied everything I need to know for the exam.

Thursday

We review everything we learned through flashcards. Kanna aces every question. Kotori completes an average amount. Saikawa drools. That girl has issues. I guess being alone in a cell does that to people. I look at her results. Afraid to see the amount of errors on her answers, I hold my breath. I'm dumbfounded, she passed. Barely, but she passed. Did she study really the whole time?! I only saw her daydreaming for the past couple of days.

"Exams are on Friday and Saturday," Kanna stretches her arm and yawns quietly.

I smile with anticipation. I slam my books shut and rest on the couch. Kanna stares at me.

"Hmmm…."

"Yes?" I open one of my eyes.

"Sweets. I want them. After the exam."

I sigh. Please don't make me buy anything expensive. Please don't buy anything expensive.

Friday morning, we meet up at the front gate of the school.

"Good luck, everyone."

Kotori looks like she could jump with joy, "This'll be easy, Shiro. Let's make bets. We owe a favor for the person with the highest score!"

I step back, waving my hands to show her I'm not interested in betting, "That's too much. Shouldn't the satisfaction of passing be enough?"

"Pfft. Boring," Kotori smirks.

"Yeah! Let's make a bet," Saikawa chimes in.

Kanna holds Saikawa's hand, "Yes. Let's make a bet, together."

"Kyaaahhh!," Saikawa squeals.

I sigh and admit defeat, "Alright."

We head to class. The teacher hands out our exams and I quietly get to work. I can't let them beat me I think to myself. The first subject is literature. I recognize a lot of the questions from studying with Kanna and the others. The questions ask me to go into detail about the meaning and plot devices Shakespeare's stories use. I give a two-page response to each question, mentioning the philosophies and cultural norms during the setting of his stories. I flip to the next part is science. Fortunately, I memorized all the formulas for physics and chemistry. The only challenging part about this section is determining which formulas to use for which questions. Once I figured that out I went through each question in under 10 minutes. I defeated the exam, crushing it within 2 hours. I lean in my chair and take a nap.

On Saturday, the results displayed for everyone to see. Kotori, Kanna, and Saikawa beat me to the boards. They search for their names. "No way!" Kotori punches the wall.

"H-H-How did they get that scoooore?" Saikawa stutters.

Did I win? I look at the board and my jaw drops. Kanna beat all of us. Me, Kotori, and Saikawa had the same score. Kanna's score was only 1 point higher. Dammit.

"I won the bet. You all have to buy me sweets."

"O-Of course Kanna san!" Saikawa sighs deeply, letting her thoughts wander.

Me and Kotori look at her and then each other before letting out a deep groan, "Fine," we both say at the same time.

We go to the shopping mall and buy her all the sweet she wants to eat.

"Crap," I look at my empty wallet, "This food sure is expensive…"

She gobbles down the food in front of us callously. Our stomachs rumble.

"Kanna…do you really have to do this in front of us?" I ask her.

She stops chewing on her food, "Well…You can have some," she offers a portion of her meal.

"haha…Thanks Kanna!"

The four of us dig in.

"Om nom, nom, om."

Food gets on our clothes. We ordered a large amount, so large that it takes up the entire table. People who are relaxing at the tables stop chatting with their friends to watch us go through an entire month's work of food. They stare. Horrified by the amount of food we can stuff down our mouths. A clique of girls cover their eyes.

"Hah…," I rub my full belly, "We passed!" I hold up a bottle of chocolate milkshake.

"With your help, big bro, and Kanna," Kotori acknowledges toasting me.

Gulp Gulp Gulp

By the time, we finish it is getting late.

"Urggh," I look at the time and jump out of my seat, "Dammit!"

"Hmm?" Saikawa wakes up from napping.

"We have to get home. It's almost curfew time!"

"Dammit!" Kotori grabs us.

We run out of the mall.

"Come on fly!"

Kotori and Kanna change into fat dragons and flap their wings. Saikawa and me ride on their backs. However, because they ate so much, their flying speed is severely hindered.

"C'mon. Faster!" I shout.

"I'm trying!" Kotori whines.