Theme: #40. Newspaper
Warnings: Violence involving a newspaper
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or Gravitation and make no profit from this work.
Summary: Ayaka needs Maiko to help her study for entrance exams.
Ayaka was a brilliant student if truth be told. She'd went to one of the best schools in Kyoto and had not wanted for tutors. Of course, she had also expected to go right from high school to marriage, not college. So when her previous plan became a wash and she was forced to rely on her new plan, it was and wasn't surprising when she bombed all of her entrance exams.
Staying at home was no longer an option at that point. Her parents didn't like having a daughter they couldn't seem to marry off hanging around eating up their resources at the moment. It absolutely had to be college, any college, preferably in Tokyo. She just had to retake the exams and for that, she needed a study buddy.
Unfortunately, the only person in Kyoto who could have helped was Tatsuha, and while not an idiot, he wasn't really a genius in the art of cramming. He'd sooner party then study. About the only thing he did help her with was to take her down to Tokyo, to find Hiro.
Not that she wanted to bother Hiro, but he was the smartest person she knew aside from Eiri and would be willing to actually help her. When she'd knocked on the door, for some reason she'd gotten Maiko. Maybe it was bad timing, but Ayaka had regretted it ever since.
"Did you study problem five on page two hundred?" Maiko was standing over her, eyes like a hawk, right hand wrapped around a rolled up newspaper. Slowly, knowing exactly what was going to come, Ayaka shook her head no. The whap to her head was quick, although not as hard as previous blows.
"That was the one I was going to study next!" Ayaka gingerly rubbed the top of her head, glancing up at Maiko through watering eyes. It had been her idea that Maiko could use whatever means necessary to help her pass, so she couldn't exactly complain, but she hadn't expect the other girl to be such a harridan.
Sighing, Maiko slapped the newspaper into her hands lightly. "How did you ever make it through high school? Were you really expecting to just coast through life on your good looks?" Before Ayaka could answer, Maiko marched out of the room.
She didn't really remember much about her time studying for the university, save for that moment and one other. As she had almost nodded off after having studied for too long, she thought she felt a pair of lips gently pressed against her head where the newspaper had struck.