Natsumi walked into the library the next day after school, ready to begin. She looked around until she saw him lounging in a chair at a corner table. She took a deep breath and walked over to Ryuu with a bright smile. She raised her hand in greeting, but before she could say anything he cut her off with a sharp look.
"You're late." He said and her smile fell. She was about to tell him that she had gotten held up in her last class, but what came out was actually,
"You were late yesterday." Natsumi covered her mouth and blushed when she realized that had slipped out. Luckily he didn't seem offended by it and simply shrugged so she sighed and took her seat next to him. She pulled out the worksheets she had made the night before and pushed them in front of him. He looked them over lazily and then turned his attention away, pulling out his phone. Natsumi frowned and she reached out to snatch the phone away. His glare turned on her, but she didn't let it intimidate her.
"Finish these the best you can. I'm going to use them as an assessment of how far back we have to cover to catch you up where you need to be." She said, setting his phone on the table and pulling out a separate notebook for herself. Ryuu made a face before rolling his eyes and picking up the pencil she had placed near him. Natsumi watched him carefully from out of the corner of her eye. She was also using this as a chance to observe her student's behavior. His comment yesterday had thrown her off and she had spent most of last night thinking it over.
She watched as a line appeared between his brows as he concentrated on the questions she had written out. She noticed that he took quite awhile on each part and she made a note that he had trouble reading in English and to make several of their sessions dedicated to the basics. Ryuu suddenly leaned back in his chair and twirled the pencil between his fingers. Natsumi looked up completely as she watched him lounge, she looked down at the paper to see he wasn't even halfway done with the first page. She narrowed her eyes and started to reprimand him when he just as quickly returned his attention to the work.
'Strange. Maybe he was thinking over the question?' She thought to herself and return to her notes. She watched and noted him repeat the motion seven different times after that. On the eighth she finally saw his eyes flick to the side briefly, granting her a line of sight to what was catching his attention. Natsumi watched as a pair of students walked close to the table, their eyes on Ryuu as they whispered quietly to each other. As soon as they were past the table Ryuu returned his attention to the sheets again. Natsumi looked at him curiously, wondering once more what his behavior and actions meant. When he was finally finished she collected the worksheets and went over them carefully.
"It seems we have a lot to cover before your next exam Yo-erm...Ryuu-san. You misspelled a lot of words and your grammar needs serious improvement." She said as she wrote more notes in her notebook. He was on his phone, since she had given it back to him and making non-committal noises. She pursed her lips as she looked at him.
"You know...you could say something in response." She muttered and he glanced at her, shrugging silently before his eyes returned to his phone. She rolled her eyes and looked over the pages some more.
"I guess this means we'll have to go back further than I thought. Which means I'll have to change somethings in my plan..." She mused out loud, not realizing that Ryuu was looking at her out of the corner of his eyes. When she looked at him again he was paying attention to his phone's screen. She sighed and collected the sheets together, placing them in her notebook. She pulled her bag across the table to in front of her as she dug through it for the book she needed. She pulled it out with a smile and set it open in front of him. He ignored her and she felt a vein throb in her head as she made a grab for his phone again.
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This time he knew she was coming and turned, pulling it out of reach. She gritted her teeth and leaned across the table, trying to take the phone. He kept it just out of her reach, slightly amused at the position she was placing herself in.
"Ryuu-san. Our session today is almost over already! Can't you just cooperate with me for a few more minutes?" She begged and he finally looked at her fully.
"Why? What point is there when you've already assessed what you needed." He said and she sighed, her head falling onto the table as she groaned and her hand also fell limply to the table.
"I'm too tired for this." She mumbled into the cold wood. Ryuu looked down at her curiously. Her ponytail was fountained over her head as she stayed in her face down position. He closed his phone and stood up from the table. Natsumi looked up at the sound of his chair scraping. Ryuu had his bag over his shoulder, his crimson eyes on her.
"Then let's call it for now. I'm done with wasting my own time as well." He said as he walked out. Natsumi sat back up, frowning at his back. He must have misunderstood her, but it was too late to go after him and she doubted it would help. He was proving more difficult than she first thought. She sighed and collected her items, placing them in her bag so that she could head home herself.
Later that night when she was changed for bed in her pink pajamas with tiny strawberries decorating the fabric, she sat at her desk with her night lamp on. She had finished up her own assignments for her classes and was now looking over the lesson plans she had created for Ryuu. She had her notebook open to the page she had been writing on today and the worksheets were spread out before her.
Something was nagging at her and she was determined to solve what that was. She looked over his writing again and tried to replay their time together through her mind like a movie. She frowned as again something seemed off as she remembered the way he had stopped working when people got near.
Her eyes snapped open as a spark went through her. She pulled the notebook towards her and slid her finger down the page until it hit the first time she noted his pausing. Then she looked over to the worksheet and timed which problem that would be. She found it and her eyes widened as she compared it to the one before it and the one after.
"That's it!" She shouted, throwing her hands in the air in victory. She laughed as she leaned back, but that quickly turned into a scream as her chair toppled over, taking her with it. The crash rang through her room and she peeked open one eye and sighed in relief. She was now sprawled on the floor, but at least she was in one piece. She turned her head over as her door opened and her mom's blue-eyes stared down at her.
"You okay in here honey?" Her soft, melodic voice asked and Natsumi laughed again as she sat herself back up.
"Yeah mom. Just got a bit over excited is all." She chuckled as she stood up and fixed her chair, taking her seat again. Her mom came into her room and leaned over her shoulder, taking in the mess spread across her daughter's desk.
"What's all this?"
"Something that's going to help the both of us." She said, causing her mom to frown. Natsumi blinked as she realized her mom didn't know what she was talking about. She laughed again and smiled up at her mom brightly.
"Hey mom. I'm going to be bringing someone home tomorrow after school."