Study. Study. Study.

That was the only thing that our young lady here had in her mind. She literally studied anywhere and anytime during these past two months. The two months that would determined her fate. That was a hyperbole, but seriously, she even prepared some notes to put in her phone so she could read and memorize them in the shower.

Yeah, she was kinda nuts. But who could blamed her? She was obsessed to win. Well, obsession was never good, just that for her, winning and being number one was always her way of life. That was how she lived her life for the past 14 years. To had someone who can actually top her in everything sort of turned her life upside-down and she intent to bring her life back together again, starting with these exams.

"Pencil case, checked. Student card, checked. Calculator, checked. Water bottle, checked..." The list goes on, she was making sure that she didn't leave any important items behind for the last exams day. How long does the exams last you ask? Only two days. There were only a few papers left, the others were done by just submitting an assignment. Basically these few papers were the core of her studies. How was the first day? Of course, She was very confident with her answers as per usual, "...All set! I'm ready to go. Six, please guide me."

-

She opened her eyes slowly. They were cloudy, her mind was hazy as well. She couldn't really tell where she was or what she were doing before this. The last thing she could remember were only that she had exam. Which brought her to reality.

"MY EXAMS!?"

She checked her phone hastily. She must know the time right now.

12.30 PM

She suddenly realized that she was still at home. Everything that she prepared for school was untouched where she left it. She was not stupid nor slow, to put two by two together, she easily figured out that she passed out just before she stepped out from her house. That was the only scenario that made sense, she woke up on the hard wooden floor, fully dressed in school uniform with her bag next to her in front of the main door.

She couldn't believe her eyes. She missed the exam. The exams were long gone. The first exam started by 9 am sharp and the second one started two hours after. Lack of sleeps, and not eating healthy during these past weeks left her exhausted. Somehow her body decided to gave up in the worst possible timing. Irony. She studied like mad for the exams, neglecting her own health, just to have her body betrayed her on the big day. Great.

When the reality sets in, she nearly fainted for the second time. What in the earth she were supposed to do right now? Forget about her revenge, even without winning, she still needs to submit her exam. After all, these papers were the key to her future, without the results of these exams, she couldn't be enrolled to any high school in Insomnia at all. Now, what to do? She never missed any exams before. Heck, she never even missed a day at school. She had no idea at all.

Forget it. Whatever.

She could no longer think straight. Her feet dragged her back to her room. She felt empty, everything that she has done, means nothing at all. She just wanted to sleep right now, running from reality. Fuck her exam, fuck her revenge, fuck her future. She couldn't be bothered right now. Fully conscious with her condition right now, she drifted to sleep.

-

She woke up the second time by the sound of bell ringing. Someone is outside. For Six's sake, why did whoever-it-was had to visit her house at this kind of timing?! Not like her parents were home. She was alone as usual. Even if she opened the door, the person would not be able to meet whoever they want to meet. Except if they were actually looking for her. Very unlikely. Her eyes slowly closed again. Maybe if she ignored it, the person would go away.

Nope. The bell rang again. Annoyed, she dragged her ass to the main door, yanking it open, ready to scold whoever it was at the other side. Even if the person were not related to her tragedy, this person still disturbs her sleep. That was all she need to burst out.

Guess who she saw? A perfect target for her frustration, her anger, and her disappointment. For both her exams and her sleep disturbance.
Ignis Scientia. Stood there with some documents on his hands, and a paper bag on the other. He was still wearing his uniform, obviously just came back from school. After the exams and everything. What the hell does this supposed to mean? Good question. Whatever Ignis had in mind right now didn't matter, to our young lady, this just felt like salt being poured the her open wound. Totally an insult.

"Good after-"

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?!" She snapped at him, didn't let the young advisor finished his sentence. Her nose hurts, her green eyes stings, she was so angry that she started crying, "..Why are you here? Is it not enough? Is it not enough for you to know that I lose without fighting? Is being number one not enough for you? D-do you really have to come to my house and mock me?" Her words were trembling, her whole body shivered in rage. She could no longer hold her frustration, her anger and disappointment with the sight of Ignis.

For a good two minutes, none of them talk. Ignis was rather shocked, definitely didn't expect the explosion. You could see the gear in his brain moving, trying to think and calculated his next move. What kind of reaction he should give in this kind situation. He understand very well that in this situation, even with just a slight wrong move could be fatal. He must approached this with care.

"First of all, I believe you need to calm down," He slowly adjusted his specs, "I come here with no ill intention. I didn't see you today at school, so I assume you must not feeling well. Thus, I went ahead and arranged a late-testing exams for you. As a class representative I could not possibly let one of my classmate missed the most important exams." The last sentenced was said with his eyes glued to the pavement, his face were red, almost like he was trying to hide something, "However, if my presence here are not welcome, at least take this. Inside you could find the schedule and some notes that I thought might be useful for your study." He continued while stretching his hand with the documents, offering it to Crystal. "One last thing, I made these for Noct, but I think you would need them more than him right now." The paper bag. He was referring to the paper bag that he was holding, offering it to Crystal as well.

The youngest member of the Minerva family didn't expect this kind of reaction. She judged too fast. She could not believe that the light-brown teenager would do such things for her. Her rival, the one person that she was obsessed to beat were doing these kind of things for her. Great. Now she had mixed feelings, even worse than before. Other than anger, frustration, disappointment, she had guilt, and shame to add-in. She shouted at Ignis for arranging a late-test exam for her, something that she had no idea could be done. She practically shouted at him for helping her secure back her future. Well, in her defense, she didn't know what was his intention coming to her house, but she could have waited and listen to what he wanted to say rather than exploded in front of him straight away.

"..."

She took the notes and the paper bag that had been offered to her. She didn't know what to say. Her tongue was numb. Her brain could not processed this event. Why would her rival help her? Why did he do this? What was his intention? She didn't understand at all, she didn't know how to react. She could not helped but to think that there must be something that he wanted from her by doing this. Her pride screams to her not to accept his help, but at the same time, she knew that if she didn't accept this help, she is doomed.

"I shall take my leave then. Good evening, Crystal." Ignis turned his back against her, ready to leave. There were a hint of disappointment in his voice. Something that Crystal caught but unable to understand the meaning of it. She just assumed it was from her shouting earlier. Her heart ache, she felt guilty.

"...Thank you." The least she can do was to thank him. It was barely a whisper, but loud enough for Ignis to heard it. The teen look back and gave her a weak smile before truly leaving the place.

-

His hand writings were neat, his notes were structural and tidy unlike the other male teenagers writings around his age. No wonder they chose him as the future advisor. These notes totally screams his name. She could almost imagined him writing all of these in her head. Comparable to her very own notes in terms of the information jammed inside. But it was always interesting to see how others made tiny notes and scribbles to make it easier for them to remember and understand the materials. It was almost cute. Ignis surprisingly had tons of small ways to remember things. From some abbreviation, resume, to some kind of drawings. His drawing was especially good and easy to understand. Crystal would not say it out loud, but she was impressed.

"Wrong move. I will beat you with your own notes." She talked to herself. He gave this to her, she was granted more materials and time to learn for the exams. And she would totally use it. She would use anything within her grasp to beat Ignis in his own game. For once, something got the better of her other than pride; her obsessions to win.

Finished checking out the notes, she peeked onto the paper bag. Inside was a small box, looking like a cake box. He mentioned that he made this for Noctis, the crown-prince of Lucis. That statement sort-of triggered her curiosity. She wanted to know what Ignis were making for the prince, and also curious about what the prince liked.

She was quite surprised when she opened the box. It was Tenebrae's traditional desert. No one really know what it was called, different part of Tenebrae called it differently but everyone definitely knew and has eaten it before back in Tenebrae. She didn't really expect to see or eat it in Insomnia, the fact that someone here actually know about this food was already quite mind-blowing. Well, at least from the looks, these cake Ignis made sort-of nailed it. About the taste? She would need to try it to know.

She took a bite. The taste was... Not quite like it. It was slightly too hard and kinda sweet. It was supposed to be soft, fluffy, slightly sweet but not too much. Oh, it has to has that creamy, milky smell to it as well, the one Ignis made were lacking of those. Nonetheless, they were tasty, just not quite the same. Maybe she could help him finding the right ingredients in order to make a real one. She made a mental notes to ask her mother about it, even though being a business woman, she doubt her mother knows about it. She barely cooks, you see. Left alone baking.

Taking another bite, she went back to examining the notes Ignis passed her, comparing to her own notes, reading them side by side, complimenting each other. All those negative emotions she felt before could wait. Now that she had another chance to beat Ignis, she would do her best to achieve it. Honestly, at the back of her head, she still could not understand Ignis' motives by helping her, but that, like everything else could wait. At least until the late-test exams date, which due next week.