Chapter 22 is up! I decided I've put Tobirama through enough misery for now, so I'm going to let him get just a little nearer to Izuna. Enjoy and review!
Izuna sighed, staring at her books in frustration. Geez, why did everything in math have to be so complicated? If she hadn't ruined her teaching session with Tobirama by ruining his food then she wouldn't be in this dilemma: studying until midnight about some fucking problem when everything else was known by heart. To make matters worse, the tests were tomorrow. Her sister had already fallen asleep on her bed after teaching her the eleventh time how to do one of her problems, and Izuna had covered her with blankets. Not that she was going to sleep anytime now. She looked out the window, gazing at the stars as she stretched tiredly. Just three more problems to go.
"I have to do well tomorrow, or all this will be for nothing." She muttered, flipping the pages of the book in irritation as she tackled the last of the problems.
Tobirama walked alongside his brother, who was busy looking for his girlfriend. He wanted to pretend like he didn't know him, because his brother literally dashed towards Madara san. He spied Mito san in a distance, with a horrible look on her face. He dreaded Mito's wrath, and he tried to look out for his brother as much as he could. So far she hadn't tried anything yet. His attention then focused on the younger Uchiha, who literally looked like hell. There were dark circles under her eyes, and she was yawning at two minute intervals. Her usually smooth black hair now looked unruly, like she didn't have the energy to comb it.
"Whoa, she really needs a coffee boost." Tobirama thought. "I hope she doesn't fall asleep on her test paper." Izuna glanced at him with competitive eyes, as if reminding him of her challenge. "Her Uchiha pride hasn't lessened, though."
"Madara, have you finished preparing for the test?" Hashirama's voice sounded in front of him. They were holding hands like an actual couple, and his brother was trying to sneak a kiss on Madara's cheek, earning him a flustered glare each time.
"Yes, you pervert! We are Uchihas for Kami's sake!"
"Oh, come on. You know I was teasing."
"Do you want a fist up your nose, Senju?!"
Tobirama listened to the childish banter with exasperation, and walked to the younger Uchiha's side. As much as he knew he would anger the girl, he just couldn't help leaning nearer to her.
"What do you want, Tobirama?"
"You need a cup of coffee." Tobirama stated nonchalantly. "If you don't have one soon, you'll fall asleep on your test."
"I'm not that tired."
"The fact that you let me come so close to you is proof."
"You….!" Izuna glared at him with sleepy eyes, her irritation hardly concealed by the drowsiness. "If you care so much about me having coffee, buy one for me, then!"
"Fine, but you owe me." Tobirama said, sighing. Now his rival would not fall asleep on the spot.
"I'll give you the money. I don't want to owe you anything."
"No. I want other stuff as payment." Tobirama commanded. "I want you to obey one of my commands."
"NO! What if you want something I cannot give or would never want to give?!" Izuna yelled in terror.
"Don't worry. I won't give you unthinkable or inappropriate commands. They will be simple ones. I promise." Tobirama replied. He wasn't like his brother, who strove for Madara san's attention. There was no telling what his brother would ask for if he was in the same situation. Probably something Tobirama would regret knowing.
"Fine!" Izuna huffed. "But you better get it FAST!"
"Yes, yes."
The coffee incident, thankfully, ended uneventfully. Thank Kami Tobirama only asked her to forgive him for kissing her cheek. (Seriously, he asked for that when he could've wished for so much more? Not that she minded, though.) Now, she was skimming each problem on her math test and chewing the top of her pencil. The last test subject was math.
"Okay… so problem 11 solved. Nine more to go." She thought. "Last night's staying up late really paid off after all." She glanced over at Tobirama, who looked like he was reading a novel instead of taking a test: effortless and enjoyable. It just wasn't fair.
"Ten minutes left!" The teacher announced. Izuna's head jerked up in alarm. She had totally forgotten the time. Frantically, she rushed through the test, trying to make the best of the time left.
"Kami, no! Two plus a hundred and four and divide by…." Her pencil flew across the paper, calculating, erasing, checking, and tearing. She was so agitated she slashed open the paper several times.
"Time's up! Last one in the row, get up and collect the papers!" The teacher yelled. Izuna looked on dreadfully as her paper was whisked away, hoping she didn't make too many mistakes. Tobirama leaned over and gave her a questioning look.
"How did you do?" He asked. Izuna scowled at him.
"It went okay, and I know you probably thought it was a piece of cake."
"It was quite simple."
"Jerk!"
"Okay, okay!" Tobirama raised his hands in surrender. "I know this subject is the easiest for me but hardest for you. Let's just talk about something else."
"Okay…how about we talk about the field trip the whole school would be going after the tests? You're going, aren't you?"
"Of course. It's not that I have a choice. You?" Tobirama said with a shrug. The school would be heading to an onsen hotel after the tests for a little vacation, visiting a few museums as well during the two-day-one-night trip. People were very excited, resulting in decreased attention during tests. The teachers didn't like that, but that was the consequence of announcing the trip early.
"I love going to hot springs! I hope we can choose our own partners for sleeping."
"That would be nice. I do not want to sleep with some freak in our class, but on second thought, Sasuke and Naruto might choose the same room and…"
"Don't. Finish. That. Sentence."
"I didn't want to finish it either, you know."
As they tried to get rid of the disturbing mental image, Izuna smiled. It felt good to talk to Tobirama as a friend again. Behind them, all their friends stared at them in confusion.
"I thought they were enemies?"