Ara's house was only a couple blocks away from the bus stop, a short five minute walk after a fifteen minute ride. It was a pretty nice neighborhood, with small, stylish houses fringed by freshly clipped shrubs and lawns.

But of course, such a picturesque suburb would also come with a bigger price tag than usual. Naturally, Add's disgustingly practical mind couldn't just stop at his first thought of 'it's such a relaxing sight'. Nevertheless, he was right. The area was a habitat for successful businessmen and V.S.M.*-certified doctors to small well-to-do families headed by college professors, all of them very conscious of their self-image, which in turn maintained and even improved the neighborhood's look.

The Haan family was no exception. Although Add didn't know that much about Ara's parents, she had mentioned that they had been requested by their company's president to personally facilitate the establishment of a new manufacturing complex overseas. Well, not exactly. Ara had actually said something more like, 'the boss himself asked them to help set up a new factory somewhere far away!'

Still, the bottom line was the same: even though it was a nice house, for the past ten months, Ara had no one to share it with aside from their regular handful of visits home. At least she had kind old Mrs. Rose, the gray-haired family doctor who was at the moment officially signed as her guardian and brought over the occasional casserole or lasagna steaming from her kitchen up the street.

And so, for nearly a year now, Add had been stopping by to, as he put it, 'help granny Rose look after you'. Mrs. Rose had clearly left quite an impression on Add if he was to actually admit to helping someone, but that's another story.

At the moment, a certain familiar someone finally noticed Add walking up the street and leapt up to open her window. Hair fringed with orange in the evening glow, she leaned outside to wave at him.

"Hey Add!"

"Hey." Turning off the sidewalk onto the five feet of cobblestone that cut through the standardly immaculate lawn to the front door, Add gave her a nod in response, not bothering to take either hand out of his pockets to wave back.

Ara leaned precariously out the window to stare down at him. "Hey, we're not at school anymore, so you don't have to put so much effort into acting cool, you know!"

"Hah, are you saying I need to put effort into being natural? Oh by the way, if you fall out of that window right now, I'm just going to causally step to the side. If I tried to catch you I'd probably die instead."

"Eh?" Ara's eyes traveled from Add to the stone under his feet, and she cautiously shuffled a couple feet back. "I-I'm not that clumsy! It would be really embarrassing for anyone to die from falling out their own window…"

"It's kind of useless to protest that it wouldn't happen to you if you're going to move back until I can only see the top half of your head…"

"Ah, well, I guess I wouldn't want to risk killing you."

"I just said I'd step aside if you fell."

Ara's eyes shifted to the side. "I don't think Add would do that," she whispered to herself.

It was kind of useless for Add to protest that he wasn't a nice person when his actions said something entirely different. But for the moment, his sassy mouth wasn't done yet.

"Hey, what are you still mumbling to yourself about up there? Hurry up and open the door like any normal person would instead of talking to me from the window!"

"!" Realizing her mistake, Ara flushed and fled from the window.

Fifteen minutes later, Add was seated at the coffee table with the contents of Ara's schoolbag on his left, the owner of the mess on his right, and an open math textbook in front of him. Indoors, it was much warmer, and he had hung up his leather jacket. The scent of tea leaves drifted through the room from two steaming cups next to which sat a plate of soy sauce rice crackers. Add took a sip of his tea.

"Ara, I'd say that I couldn't believe I'm helping you with your schoolwork again, but I really can't be surprised given your track record and my top tier grades."

"But track is the one place at school where I'm pretty sure I can do better than you… You mean my math record?"

"Track record can mean your record for anything, silly plebian. It doesn't have anything to do with track." Add muttered something about athletics not being important at all, but the reminder had clearly somewhat irked his perfectionist core. He placed his cup back on the glass tabletop.

"Anyway, shall we begin tonight's lesson?"

The next two hours were intense and industrious. Add was surprisingly effective at simplifying complex ideas to the level that even idiots could understand - after all, what would the use of being a genius be if everyone else scorned your knowledge as 'scientific mumbo-jumbo'? Although Ara was hopelessly confused with her math and science textbooks at first, she eventually managed to finish the day's assignments properly. Mostly.

"Ara… we're out of crackers again."

A suspicious crunching noise came to a guilty stop as Ara mumbled, "Jusht checked… Teh bag'sh empty too."

"Alright well, see you tomorrow Ara." With the day's work done, teacups emptied, and snacks finished, it was time to go home.

"Bye! Wow… it's all dark outside already. Be careful!"

"Heh, don't worry about me, it's only a five-minute walk to my house."

"No, I mean, look out for the-!"

"-? Ow!" Turning around, Add had bumped his head onto an object that had somehow avoided the light streaming from the doorway.

"-Hanging flowerpot. Um."

Add rubbed the back of his head and turned to look at the offending garden fixture. "I'm fine. It's only a light wooden flowerbox."

Ah, hold on, let's rewind the conversation a little. A five-minute walk?

That's right - Add is also part of this opulent neighborhood.

Well, given his prestige, it shouldn't be a surprise, right?

"Haha… well, take care of yourself tonight, Add."

Also, not only does he share a neighborhood with Ara…

"I'll be fine. After all…"

Do you recall an earlier conversation?

"…I've been living alone for longer than you have, remember?"

They both lived by themselves, but unlike Ara…

Add's parents could never return for a visit.

A sad smile formed on the soft lips of the idiot who couldn't do anything but care. "…That's why I worry sometimes."

In the moonlight, a bittersweet yet resigned smile formed on the scornful lips of the genius who pretended not to care. "Worry about your upcoming tests more, idiot."

With a lighthearted wave, he detached himself from the melancholy atmosphere and headed home.

Author's Note:

Whew, I'm finally back! Those two first weeks of June were crazy... Among other things, most of my first week was spent studying for an exam, then I got sick on Sunday, the day after I took the exam. Finally recovered by Monday... Here is a longer chapter to make up a bit for the lapse!

The beginning of the chapter was a bit of a ramble, but I hope the picture I tried to paint at the end makes up for it.

*V.S.M - Velder School of Medicine.

*I know Ara isn't Japanese but I like Japanese snacks so I put them in the story...

*As a bit of background, Add lives alone in a house rented by his uncle, who is the boss of a rich tech company. A hired lady comes by to take care of the house each day.

Add usually buys his own food and only stays home to sleep at night.