The next day at school, Mai found herself enchanted by the smooth way the lead of her pencil glided across her paper as she took notes. Huh, how odd, she thought as she raised it to look closer at it. It was never like that before...

This was not her pencil.

It was the same colour except the brand was different. It was one of those expensive brand pencils from the stationary shop that Ayako refused to buy for her. How did this end up in her—

Mai blinked, the image of Naru passing her back her pencil before she left the club room flashing through her mind. Right, she had used both of their pencils for Charlie Charlie. He must have given her his on accident.

Feeling odd, she half listened to the lecture as she fiddled with it.

A thought suddenly occurred to her and she felt a blush creep up her neck. If she had his pencil, then that meant he was probably using hers right now. She wondered if he realized that his pencil wasn't writing as good as usual and if he knew it was hers.

Probably not. Naru didn't seem like the type to think about those things. All he did was study.

"–remember that getting below a 60 on the midterm means summer school." The teacher's voice faded back into focus in perfect timing, bringing Mai back down from the clouds.

Right, she had more important things to focus on besides pencils.

He wasn't making it easy to focus on her studies.

"Is there something you're struggling with?"

Mai looked up. "Are you talking to me?"

"Yes." Naru's eyebrow rose.

Everyone was gathered in the club, as usual, except there was hardly any chit chat that day. It seemed midterms were weighing heavily on everyone's mind, as they were all quietly sitting at the table with their notebooks open.

Mai hesitated, her mouth opening and closing before she nodded. "Uh, yeah."

"On what?"

"Why?" She asked suspiciously.

Naru stared at her. "I'm a year above you. I know the material."

He was going to help her?

An awkward pause happened when she didn't respond, drawing curious eyes upward. Quickly trying to recover, Mai answered. "I'm having a hard time with math."

"Can I see?" He motioned for her to show him her textbook with his—no, her pencil.

She slid over her textbook and he read the contents on the page with a furrowed brow, before nodding in understanding. He started to speak quietly, breaking down the equations. Mai half listened, responding when she needed to but mostly keeping silent as he talked. He was writing everything down for her, but she found herself watching the side of his face instead, lost in thought.

It was odd to her that only a few days ago, they hadn't been on speaking terms, steadily ignoring each other and keeping to their space. Of course, considering their past together, it was obvious they would want to avoid each other but Mai was starting to second guess everything she knew about him.

He hadn't spoken to her before and she thought that was how he wanted it, but now she realized that maybe he was waiting for her to take the initiative.

After they had played Charlie Charlie together, he started talking to her more. He even walked her home and was helping her study now.

How he was acting now reminded her of the boy who covered her from the rain with his umbrella, and it was stirring something in her.

"It's getting a little dark in here." Gene commented, looking out the window. The sun was setting and the light it provided the club room with was disappearing slowly. He stood to turn the light on but paused when nothing happened. "Eh?"

Mai frowned, looking up at the light bulb. "It's not turning on?"

Gene turned the switch on and off rapidly, but still, nothing.

"The bulb probably burnt out when the power went out yesterday." Yasu yawned through his words, stretching out his legs. "Bou-san will have to get a new one for tomorrow."

"Guess we'll have to leave a bit early today, since we can't study in the dark." Gene pouted, before his face lit up. "Should we all go get something to eat?"

"I'm up for that." Mai chimed in, followed by everyone except two people's confirmation.

"Noll? Masako?" Gene asked.

Masako looked to Naru, waiting for his answer. When he nodded curtly, Masako mimicked him.

"Did you want these notes I wrote?" Naru asked as she started to stand.

"Sure!"

She was hardly listening anyway, so whatever he wrote would be helpful.

"I have my own notes written on the front of the page, so I can't give you the paper." Naru told her, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone. "But I can send you a picture of it."

Mai stared at his phone as he held it out for her before gingerly reaching for it. She tried to ignore the way his eyes were watching her as he waited for her to type in her number, hoping that her shaky fingers weren't too obvious.

"Thanks..." Mai said as she handed it back.

"Are you ready to go?" Masako's voice interjected sharply. She was standing behind them and she watched as Naru tucked his phone away, before giving Mai a cold look.

Mai averted her gaze as she fell into step behind the two, the club room door closing behind the group as they left.

Bou-san remained snoring on the matts, forgotten about.

Later that night when Mai was laying in bed, her phone dinged.

Rolling over to grab it with her attention focused on the TV, she glanced down briefly before doing a double take.

Oliver Davis was the name on her screen.

Mai bolted upright, her heart picking up speed as she opened the text. It was a picture of the notes. She zoomed in closer when she realized that she could see the surface of what seemed like his desk and the bottom half of his legs, which were covered by pajamas with his name printed in a small pattern.

She instantly typed out a message.

Mai
nice pjs

His reply came almost instantly.

Naru
 They were a Christmas present from my mother.

Mai
whatever you say, narcissist.

She watched his text bubble pop up as he typed.

Naru
I'm serious.
Gene got a pair too.

A photo popped up in the chat immediately after his texts and Mai burst into laughter.

It was of Gene sleeping, tangling very ungracefully in his blanket with his mouth wide open, wearing 'Eugene' patterned pajamas.

Mai
Your mother must be happy you guys actually wear them

Naru
What else would I wear to bed?

Mai
Maybe pjs that don't have your name written all over them lol

Naru
Didn't realize I was talking to a pajama expert.

Mai
Well, now you know ;)

Naru
Okay, Ms. PJ Fashionista
What stylish pajamas are you wearing?

Mai froze.

He probably didn't mean it to come off so suggestive, but Mai's heart leapt in her chest anyway.

She hesitated, wondering if she should just send a snarky text back but then paused as a more risky thought occurred to her. She looked down at the sweats and baggy t-shirt she was wearing and then scrambled off the bed, tearing open her dresser.

She dug through her sleeping clothes until she found the PJ set Ayako had bought her for a girls night they had a couple of months ago. It was a light pink set, made of silk, with shorts and two options of tops. One of them was a camisole and the other was a short-sleeved button up, with a collar and a pocket on the breast.

Mai changed into the shorts quickly and then hesitated as she reached for the button up, her eyes falling on the camisole.

"No, no." She shook her head and changed into the short sleeve, walking over to her mirror to check her appearance.

It was just a picture that was supposed to be fun and casual. He was probably going to send back a snarky reply and he wouldn't think twice about it. Her hands slowed as she ran her fingers through her hair, Naru's cold and unchanging expression coming to mind.

Mai turned, ripping the short sleeve off and grabbing the camisole, smiling deviously to herself as she took one last look at herself and then picked up her phone.

I'll give you something to think about, Oliver Davis.

DING

Naru's writing paused and he picked up his phone with his free hand, clicking on Mai's name, his eyes widening slightly at the content.

It was a picture.

She had taken it from an upward angle with her arm stretched out and her head tilted slightly as she held up a peace sign. Her legs were crossed as she sat on her bed, and they were mostly bare, as the silk pajama set left a lot uncovered.

"Are you still studying?"

Naru jumped, slamming his phone face down on the desk as Gene approached from behind, looking like he was still half asleep.

"Yeah." He answered, swallowing as he tried to act like he hadn't been caught doing something suspicious.

Gene rolled his eyes as he walked into the bathroom of their shared room. "Nerd." He said as he shut the door behind him.

Naru waited until he could hear the shower running before he picked up his phone again, his eyes trailing over Mai's smiling face and bare skin. He leaned back in his chair, tapping his finger on the surface of his desk as he thought about his response carefully.

The text bubble as she typed popped up.

so what's the verdict?

Mai pressed send and covered her face with her hands, immediately regretting it.

Even though she had all that courage to send him a picture like that a moment ago she was terrified to see what he would send back. She knew he was most likely going to brush it off and send her a joking response, but that one in a million chance that he might respond differently was making her stomach do flips.

DING

Mai snatched her phone up, her fingers shaking as she opened his text.

Silence passed as she stared at it, her mouth parting.

Naru
Very cute.

Shrieking, Mai tossed her phone across the room where it landed with a loud thud and then threw herself face down onto her bed.

Very cute.

Naru had said that.

What was cute? Her? Her PJs?

She let out another shriek, kicking her feet up and down.

"MAI!" Her bedroom door burst open as Ayako entered, looking annoyed and tired. "What the heck are you doing in here?!"

Mai stared up at the women like a deer caught in headlights. "N-nothing?"

Ayako sent her a narrowed gaze before her eyes traveled down to what she was wearing, and she smiled pleasantly. "Oh, you're finally wearing the PJ's I bought you."

Mai laughed nervously. "Yep... they're, uh, very cute."

Ayako started to close the door. "Just keep it down, okay?"

"Okay!" Mai said and waited until her footsteps retreated.

She rolled onto her back, smiling up at the ceiling with flushed cheeks.

She was going to wear these PJ's forever.