I needed to write something light and short after finishing Disenchantment, and this idea came to me while I was making a NSFW fanart that I uploaded on my Twitter account ( RomiAmateur). It won't have much plot; it won't be very long. The characters are not sorcerers, it's an alternate universe, a school fic where all my favorite characters are alive and living in harmony. This is what my heart needs (maybe yours too). Expect nothing but some +18 scenes.
The Tutoring
Chapter 1: Bad Grades
He's quick, he's used to doing this while the teacher turns over the blackboard and explains something about arithmetic that's probably important, but it bores him. He quietly opens a Pocky box, hands hidden under the desk. He pulls out a chocolate dipped cookie and waits, the teacher turns, looks sideways at them; at him and his best friend, and when he turns to the board, he pops the candy into his mouth.
Suguru looks at him out of the corner of his eye and smiles slyly at him. He subtly reaches out his hand to him and Satoru hands him another Pocky bar.
The first day of school is exciting only for the first few hours, then it feels monotonous again and makes him miss vacation. The free time to go to the movies, to go out with Suguru and the others to some theme park or just laze around anywhere.
By mid-afternoon, sitting on the grass in front of the baseball field, Satoru shares his lunch with his best friend.
"So, you're poor now?"
Satoru hears his question and squeals, grinding his teeth at the memory, but Suguru seems quite amused at his predicament. In fact, he's always amused when something complicates his life. Since everything comes so easily to him, since he always gets his way one way or another, it's not unreasonable to see him enjoying himself waiting for him to come up with something ingenious to get away with, or perhaps, rather, to come up with something extremely stupid.
"Not exactly. I haven't failed any classes yet."
"It's a matter of time, we both know you don't disappoint in that regard."
"Hey! It's not that I'm dumb... you know? It's just..." He sighs", it's so boring... If you would help me with my homework for sure it would be easier. In fact, it should be your obligation because you're my best friend."
"If I helped you with your homework, I wouldn't be able to finish mine. Don't use the best friend card on me, you know you're failing because you're a slacker, not an idiot. Why don't you better get your dad to hire you a tutor?"
"Agh, you know the kind of tutor he'd hire? A smelly old man who beats his students too often. I'd waste half a day a day on a stuffy old man. I refuse, I'm not going to waste my youth studying... Although I could ask someone to give me a hand, someone not like you."
"Nanami has good grades, you should ask him."
"I like Nanami, maybe..."
The rumble of a baseball is heard over the campus and they both look up at the little white ball flying away. Gojou sips from a small multi-fruit juice box and Suguru bites into an apple.
Gojou is not willing to lose his freedom just because his report card is plummeting from last year. He likes going out too much to have fun with the boys at school and fears that his lifestyle will change dramatically to satisfy his family's desires.
The day ends without much ceremony. The teachers say goodbye in anticipation of a great year for the sophomores at Tokyo Metropolitan Kokusai High School. Suguru walks a few blocks with him as they talk about what they'll do over the weekend and say goodbye at an intersection. Satoru continues on his way alone and his steps begin to feel particularly heavy. He hates going home, his father will probably find something new to complain about, even if it's only the first day of school.
His lousy grades from the previous year gave him a migraine. Not because he was at all worried about failing the year, but because of his father's screams at the sight of his report card. This year started with a threat, the only one that could really affect him. If Gojou Satoru fails even one subject he can forget about his privileges altogether. No more money. And he doesn't really care about money, but it's something he has said countless times without having tasted the concept of poverty firsthand. Now that it's just around the corner, it starts to taste bad.
As he turns down the street something thumps against his chest and he hears a shriek. He looks down under his black glasses and finds a girl who has fallen flat on her butt on the ground and squeaks an apology as quickly as she hits the ground.
Gojou looks sideways at some oranges lying on the ground. The girl is dressed in shorts and a rather baggy pink t-shirt. He crouches down.
"I'm sorry, didn't see you there," he says, helping her place the fruit in an eco-friendly bag.
"No, it was my fault. I was distracted."
"Did you hurt yourself?" he asks, holding the last orange in his palm.
She stands up and denies with a slight smile on her face. He hands her the fruit and she bows to him after placing it in the bag and looks up to meet his eyes before leaving. The girl has huge blue eyes.
As she walks away, he can't help but follow her with his eyes. The cyan blue painted hair is impossible to miss. It looked healthy and shiny, too particular and crazy for a girl with such a good girl vibe.
"Huh..." he mumbles and continues on his way. "Huh..." he utters again the next day as he sees her enter the classroom dressed in a girl's uniform.
"My name is Miwa Kasumi, I hope we get along very well," she says cordially, blushing and with an awkward smile and gives them an exaggerated bow, very similar to the one she gave him the day before.
"Sit there, Miwa," says the teacher, indicating the empty seat next to the window, in front of Satoru. "I expect you to help Miwa with whatever she needs."
Most of them turn to her as she walks to her desk and arranges her things. It's quite normal, they always act like this when someone new arrives at school, especially when it's a pretty girl.
The seat across from Satoru has been vacant since Utahime got fed up with his pranks, too many months of sending her messages on paper balls, asking her for the answers to exams. Her boiling point came the day she got some of his gum stuck in her hair and had to cut it off. Now she sits next to Mei Mei on the other side of the room. No one else has wanted to sit there since.
The new girl sits across from him and Shoko bows to greet her and introduce herself. So does Suguru.
"Are you the girl from yesterday?" Gojou asks and she turns to look at him and opens her eyes wide.
"Oh! it's you. So, you come to this school too."
"Yeah, I recognized you by your hair," he says, reaching out a hand to take a lock of hair between his fingers.
The girl suddenly blushes and freezes in place. Suguru murmurs a soft laugh.
"Don't scare her, it's her first day," he says and he lets go of the lock of hair.
"Gojou Satoru," the math teacher says loudly, "Can we continue with the class?"
"Sorry," say the three of them in unison, Miwa in a louder tone than the other two.
The class continues as he does what he always does; he hides his hands under his desk, takes a piece of candy out of a small bag and sneaks it into his mouth. The teacher writes some equations on the board and turns around.
"Who can solve this equation?" No one answers the question. Satoru begins a silent plea when he notices the teacher's gaze wandering in his direction, but sighs when he sees the new girl raise her hand. "Go ahead, Miwa. Do us a favor."
She gets up and walks to the board, picks up a piece of chalk and begins to solve the math problem, and he hears the teacher congratulate her and send her back to her desk.
"Does anyone know another way to solve it?" asks the teacher and Yu raises his hand.
Satoru looks disinterestedly at the enthusiastic boy who passes to the front. He doesn't understand or share what motivates them to study. Probably because being a Gojou assures him a future without any effort involved. Even if that were not the case, he doubts he could keep up with their studies.
"Hey..." he whispers to Miwa and she turns her face slightly in his direction, "Do you paint it?... your hair."
"N-no..." she replies, also in a whisper. "It's a... birth defect."
"Weird... I guess we have something in common."
She smiles and he gets to see the way the skin on her cheeks turns from a pale pink to a very soft shade of red. Then she turns away and continues to pay attention to the class.
By the time the recess bell rings, all the girls come up to greet her. This is the closest thing to something interesting, at least for Gojou it is. Suguru pulls his chair closer to his and they both listen attentively.
"You might want to change desks, Miwa," Utahime lets go and Gojou smiles at her, the girl sticks her tongue out at him. Is she never going to forget the gum incident?
"Why? is there something wrong with this one?" asks the new girl, examining her assigned desk.
"What's wrong with it is the company," laughs Mei Mei, sitting on Miwa's bench, crossing her legs. "Watch out for those two back there."
"Mei Mei, I hope you're not including me," Suguru complains.
"Ha? Are you talking about me? I haven't done anything wrong."
"No, not yet," Mei Mei replies and smiles mischievously again, though Satoru is sure she's the most dangerous one in the room.
"We should go, Satoru. Practice starts today."
"Oh, you're in a club?" asks the new girl.
"They're the best players on the school's basketball team," Yu interrupts and Satoru widens his smile, as if he's been sweet-talked.
Miwa sees him lower his glasses and blushes when he winks at her.
"Did you hear that, Miwa-chan? We're the best," Gojou reaffirms.
"What clubs are there in this school? I'd like to join," Miwa asks, turning to the rest, completely ignoring Gojou's gesture.
"Come with me, Miwa-chan," Yu invites. "Nanami and I can show you around."
On the other side of the room, Nanami hears his name being called and makes a gesture that no one gets to see. Somehow Yu always ends up dragging him into these extracurricular activities.
"Don't bore her too much," Gojou comments, getting up to leave, "If you get sleepy on the tour you can stop by to see us at practice," he tells her, as he walks out the door frame.
As the basketball team's best players leave, Miwa manages to hear Yu, approaching Nanami to drag him along.
"You need to socialize a little..."
Gojou slouches down so as not to hit his head on the door frame and leaves with Suguru beside him, on his way to the gym locker room. It's probably his role on the team that deters teachers from punishing him all the time, whether it's for talking in class, eating on the sly, or wearing glasses in class. Or maybe it's because, if Gojou is punished, it just means reducing his time on the basketball team's practices. Which would mean getting in trouble with his coach.
"Isn't it too early? Maybe he's still sleeping in the prop room," Gojou says, his face already beginning to pucker at the thought.
"Let's hope he hasn't been drinking," replies the other.
In the locker room, both put on their light blue uniforms with white lettering. Satoru proudly wears number 23, while Suguru wears number 32. They look for a ball in the storage room next to the basketball court and search for the coach.
"He's not here yet."
"Told you, it's too early," Satoru replies. "The rest of the team hasn't even showed up yet."
"Well, we can do a light warm-up in the meantime... What do you say?" Suguru asks, smiles mischievously and throws a ball at his chest.
The squeaking of the soles of their sneakers fills the room as Miwa, Yu and Nanami enter the court. Satoru throws the ball accurately into the basket and smiles at the newest spectators as he hears the door. He doesn't even see when the ball goes through the hoop and lifts his chin with obvious arrogance. Now he has a chance to impress the new girl.
"Four to three," he comments, stepping aside to let Suguru take his place in front of the hoop.
"That was great!" Miwa lets out a sigh and watches Suguru make the next one. "They're really good!"
"Tied," he remarks, shaking a black lock of hair over his face, with the same smug air as his friend.
The rest of the team arrives and behind them the coach. Kasumi turns around, petrified just to see him open the emergency exit door to finish his cigarette and throw it out.
"Is that... the coach?" Miwa mutters.
"I can't believe it either," says Nanami, this being one of the few comments he has made during the whole tour.
"It's Toji-sensei," Yu replies, "Let's go... before he sees us."
Satoru watches from the center of the court the trio leaving and sees with annoyance the hungover face of his sensei. He sighs, if he had a bad night, surely today's training will be hell.
"Ugh... you started without me? Everybody down, fifty planks. And thank Gojou and Getou-kun for that."
A dozen looks unhinged, jaws dropping to the floor. Gojou complains and retorts and only manages to earn an exemplary punishment of a hundred planks with a ball on his back. The rest of the team complains just before the gym door closes and Kasumi sees the boys on the floor, beginning the repetitions.
"You can tell he's very strict."
"He's a drunk, gambler. He's always late and threatens the other teachers so they won't punish his team members."
"He's not that bad... " Tries to defend Yu, forcing a smile, "well... yes... Nanami is right... He's a scary guy..."
At the end of the day the bell rings and Kasumi leaves, having signed up for six different clubs. She hopes this will give her some time to look for a part-time job, though the thought of it seems impossible.
As she heads home, she hears two laughs that have started to become familiar. Gojou and Getou are going the same way as her to return home. However, she is not brave enough to make her presence known to them and prefers to walk behind their footsteps so as not to be noticed. Eventually they will turn a corner somewhere and she will lose sight of them. But they don't. After ten blocks she still hears bits and pieces of their conversations and feels like an intruder. And, just as she thinks about changing course back home, she hears Gojou say goodbye to Getou.
She looks up and realizes that she has been spotted. Gojou stares at her for a while and then smiles at her.
"Are you stalking me?" he teases and she suddenly blushes.
"N-No! Of course not! My house's in that direction!"
Kasumi calms down a bit at the sound of his laughter.
"Easy, Kasumi-chan. Want me to come with you?"
Miwa falls silent, impressed by her classmate's quickness in addressing her by her first name.
"That's not necessary."
"Huh? Didn't you say your house was at the same direction? If you say I can't come with you, I'll think you were following us."
"I wasn't!" she squeaks, blushing again.
"Then let's go, after all it's the same way, isn't it?"
She nods and ends up agreeing. She walks up to him and lifts her chin to see his wide smile. She laughs, tucks a lock of hair behind her ear and continues walking.
"Kasumi-chan," Gojou begins, after a few meters, "why did you miss class yesterday?"
"I had... some inconveniences."
"Oh, you overslept? It happens to me..."
"Sure... something like that."
"So? Did you join a club?"
"Yes, I'm in the baseball club, kendo, science, math, debate and cooking."
"Wow! How'll you have time to have fun with so much work?"
"I don't think I'll have time... but I have to if I want to get a scholarship to go to college. Otherwise, I won't be able to afford it."
"You're thinking about it already? Huh..."
"Yeah, aren't you, Gojou-kun?"
"I might get called up to play for a professional team when I finish high school. I'm not too worried about it... You should go watch our games. I have one on May 2nd. You could be a cheerleader; you have nice legs."
"Gojou-kun!"
"Hehe, sorry."
"Don't say such things... Please."
Utahime would have already hit him, so Gojou is almost certain that he will make some comment similar to this again, as despite what she has asked him, she smiles. He apologizes again even though he's not really sorry and they continue walking in silence until she stops.
"My house is in that direction," she says, giving him a small bow with her school portfolio in her hands. "Thank you for walking with me."
"It's nothing, see you tomorrow, Kasumi-chan."
...
The first weeks of school go by too fast for Gojou. His new classmate seems to adapt quite well, she is enthusiastic and quickly makes a place for herself among the girls, one could even say that she has become quite popular. She has been a topic of conversation in the team's locker room and he is sure the same has happened in the other disciplines. She gets along well with Yu and even Nanami, which is rare. He comes to like her too, has a high tolerance for his jokes and always laughs. Occasionally he throws a paper ball at her to get her attention and treats her to the occasional candy, nothing out of the ordinary for him. Many others, he fails to get her head out of her books and quickly leaves the room to go to her clubs. She has not walked home again on the same schedule as he and Suguru and wonders if this is due to her extracurricular activities or if she has changed her route home.
He, for his part, spends three days of the week training for his first game which comes as fast as his first algebra exam.
Satoru receives his test and winces as he looks at his grades. Suguru sees him slumped over the desk with the paper in his hands and stretches in his direction to see the grade written in red ink.
"You failed," he says, grimacing, as if it pained him to see his grades.
"How did you do?" he asks, and his friend holds up his paper.
"You passed?! But you didn't even study!"
"No, but I paid attention in class..."
"Shit... how can I change the grade so no one will notice? You think I can turn this 5 into an 8?" he asks in a whisper, picking up a pencil, starting to re-draw the numbers.
"It's... a way to work it out."
"Pss... pss..." he murmurs, touching Miwa's back with the back of his pencil. "How you did, Kasumi-chan?"
"Oh," she mumbles and turns to the boys. "I got a 98."
"¡¿98?!" His glasses slide down the bridge of his nose to the tip. "How do you do it? Where do you find the time to study so hard?"
"I guess I have so little time to study that I make better use of it."
The bell rings and Kasumi quickly gathers her things to leave the classroom, but not before bidding a cordial farewell to her classmates.
"I'm going to run away from home... I can't go back with these grades," he complains, slumped over his desk.
"You could start paying attention in class or get a tutor."
"Nanami-kun!" Gojou suddenly shouts and the boy looks up from his seat. "Would you like to tutor me? I need help with algebra."
"And foreign languages," Suguru adds with a slightly uncomfortable smile.
"And science," says Shoko, who has been listening to the conversation behind his back.
"Frankly... I don't care if you fail all your subjects, Gojou Satoru. It's not my problem," Nanami answers, gathers his things and before leaving he hears the complaints of the best player of the basketball team.
"Agh! Come on Nanami, don't be like that!" As he watches Nanami leave, Gojou plops back down sadly on the desk, looks at the empty seat in front of him and sighs, "How about if I ask Kasumi-chan?" asks to Suguru, turning in his direction.
"Miwa? I don't think she'll have time; I haven't even seen her having lunch."
"Well, in that case I have other techniques to convince her that I couldn't apply with Nanami-kun..."
"I don't think it'll work," Shoko replies. "I heard she likes a boy from the science club."
"I don't like you underestimating me like this," he replies, annoyed, and looks back at the red letters written on his exam paper. He hopes the latter is not true, for in that case he'll have to find another way to convince her or he'll end up with a smelly old man as a tutor or an empty wallet.
Notes: This is basically the premise of this story. I don't know if I'll have time to post as often as Disenchantment, since I have very little time available lately, but I promise I'll do my best, I hope you like it!
