As Jem sat in class the next day, she studied her classmates. Her seat was at the back of the classroom, which made them easier to observe. A pair of girls in front of her were playing MASH, of course with the names of the night class boys in the 'husband' category. Jem watched for a little while, trying to understand how it worked since she had never encountered it before, as this was her first time having classmates.
Once she got the gist of it, she wasn't surprised. The only thing that she wondered about was how this could be going on in the highly regarded 'prestigious' school. Between the girls and this being the alternative Jem chose to rehab, she wondered how it could be considered such based on the student body. Obviously, they did not have a high standard for admission, probably just obscenely rich parents, that or they had an amazing turnaround rate. She doubted the last one. She was also having second thoughts on how infallible Zero's opinion had been. She glanced over at him.
He sat further down in the row in front of her, though currently, he slept further down in the row in front of her. It must be from all the late nights on patrol, Jem surmised. She looked to Yuuki to see if she enforced this theory. Yuuki, too, was asleep.
Jem looked down at her note paper, blank with the exception of doodles on the side. They were abstract, soft, swirly, and wispy. To Jem, they looked just like smoke. She had been craving cigarettes and it was getting bad. She looked back at Zero. I wonder if he still has them. Maybe I could try and win them back from him, coax him with a trade. But what could I possibly have that he might want?
Jem looked back down at the teacher as she thought about this. Then looked back to Zero, sleeping. The only person I have ever seen him talk to is Yuuki, aside from barking at fangirls. And Yuuki still slept too. Then Jem looked back at the teacher, and she had a thought. Suddenly, she was very attuned to the lesson, and writing everything she could down on paper. With not being able to stay awake in class, he must struggle to keep up in school, she concluded rather hopefully.
When it was time to leave, Jem wove her way through the woods until she found a quiet, secluded spot. She set down her things and sat next to them. She had found a spot next to a tree, on soft grass between the big roots. Leaning back against the rugged tree, she pulled out her notebook. She tore her notes out and looked around. She saw a rock that was about the size of a handful just out of reach. Rolling a little bit, she reached out to get it, then sat back against the tree. Once the loose notes were secured under the rock, Jem took out a pen and started to copy them. As she did, she was careful to make sure they were neat and legible. She also fleshed out her short hand and added titles and the date, and anything else she could remember about any particular note as she wrote them out.
When she was done, she tore the new notes out neatly, set them on the ground, then moved the rock on top of them. Next, she took her original notes and stuck them in her notebook before she closed it. Finally, she took the rock off her new notes and put the copy over her notebook before hugging them to her chest and standing.
The light was an orange color now as it was dusk—definitely past curfew. But to Jem, it was still way too early. Originally, Jem had planned on going to the stables first to see if Zero was there, since they were nearby, but she knew that once she met with him, she would be doomed to go back to the dorms. She turned and continued to walk through the woods a little, seeing the ocean past the trees. She soon came to a cliff with a few feet of clearance between the trees and the ledge. Not wanting to lose the papers, she gripped her things tighter to her chest as the ocean breeze came and swept through her hair, pushing it to one side. Jem closed her eyes and breathed in the pure salt air. She opened them again to see the ocean covered by the bright, multicolored sky.
She stood there, she didn't know how long, it could have been 10 minutes it could have been an hour. That place by the water was timeless. After however long, she finally convinced herself to turn back around and head for the stables to start looking for the guardian.
Luckily for her, Zero was there. At first she didn't see him. She walked all the way up and stood in the entrance again, looking past each horse and stretching her gaze to the far end of the stable. Just when she was about to give up, she heard from down beside her, "What are you doing here? It's past curfew."
She turned to see him lying in the hay. "Oh, there you are," she said blatantly.
He stood up. "What do you want?" he sighed as he leisurely began to walk towards her, his impressive height more apparent with each step.
"I have something for you." Jem loosened her grip on her belongings and looked down, grabbing the sheets. "I noticed you and Yuuki sleeping during class. It must be hard to know what's going on and keep up," she mentioned as she held the papers out to him.
"It certainly doesn't make it easier," he said cynically. He looked down at the papers to examine them more. "Wow, you really have everything here. These might actually be helpful-" he admitted as he reached out to take them.
With the flick of her wrist Jem drew them closer to her body and out out of his reach. "How helpful? Helpful enough for you to give me my cigarettes back?" she asked.
Zero lowered his arm. "So that's what this is about." He put his hands in his pockets. "I don't have them anymore."
Jem's shoulder's fell and her hand holding the notes dropped to her side. "Are you serious?" she asked, annoyed, then she had a thought and narrowed her eyes, "You didn't smoke them, did you?"
"No, I threw them in the ocean," he refuted.
She sighed and looked down, then regained herself. Looking up at him, she reached out and offered the papers to him again. "Well, here, you might as well take them anyway. I made them for you."
Zero looked down at the papers again. Indeed, she had taken the time to put these together for him, he realized as he noticed Zero's Copy written at the top of the page next to the date.
He took them, and she did not draw back this time. Rolling them in his hand, he said, "All right, now let's get you back to your dorm."
"Really?" she asked, turning to look outside. "It's still light outside. You're not going to tell me that it's dangerous out here or something, are you?"
"Yes," he replied, "but mostly I don't believe that you'll actually go back. And besides, I can put these in my room."
They said nothing else as they started walking together. Once the Sun Dorm was in view, Jem sighed despairingly. Then she mentioned, "You said you were going to stop at your room while you were here, right? Could we make that stop first? Anything to delay having to go back to that room."
Zero didn't look at her, he just grumbled, "Fine, just stay near me."
They passed through the gates and started to veer towards the boys' dorm. Jem followed Zero silently through the doors and up the stairs. Eventually, they came to his room. As he walked in to put the notes on his desk, she leaned in the doorway. "Wow, you have a single?" she asked looking around. "Is this a part of the guardian deal?"
He hesitated briefly at her question, then answered, "Sure. Now let's go," and turned to leave.
Jem backed out of the doorway, letting him through. As he closed the door behind him, Jem started to pester him. "So what do you have to do to be a guardian?"
"Stay up all night, be hated by everyone, have to deal with the assholes in the night class, and have to listen to Yuuki boss you around and ask you personal questions all the time," he replied flatly.
"Oh," she responded. "So do you need any more people?"
He turned to her. "Does that really appeal to you?"
"Well, if you dislike it so much," she proposed, "then how about we switch tonight for a trial run? You stay in my room with the piglets, and I'll stay up running around outside all night. Then tomorrow, we'll have this conversation again." He simply sighed and continued to escort her. She interpreted aloud, "I'm choosing to take that as an 'I'll think about it.'"
He finally addressed her. "The headmaster feels it's a hard job and only feels comfortable leaving it to Yuuki and I because he's our father."
"Oh," Jem replied, surprised. "I didn't know you were his son, too. How come Yuuki has his name and you don't?"
"I'm adopted, he took me in after my family died in an attack," Zero responded pensively.
"Oh," she said softly, "I'm sorry."
Soon they reached the girls' dorm. Again, Jem tried to convince Zero to leave early. And again, he made sure to watch until she was closed in her room.