Natsumi frowned as she stared at the math problems in front of her. She picked up her red cup of orange soda and chewed on the end of the straw as her frustrations grew. She was sitting outside at the lunch tables, trying to get through some of her homework, but this was one subject she always struggled with. She may have high scores in all her classes, but math was still challenging and took twice as much effort on her part. She gripped her pencil tighter, digging the tip into the paper and threatening to puncture a hole. She groaned and slammed her forehead into the open book sitting in front of her.

"I'm never going to understand this!" She moaned as she folded her arms in front of her head. She closed her eyes and sighed again.

"Are you telling me there's something Miss Perfect can't do?"

Natsumi's head lifted and her eyes widened as she watched Ryuu set his school bag on the bench next to him and sit across from her. Her mouth fell open as she watched him casually pick up the sandwich on his red lunch tray and take a bite. He noticed her staring and raised a brow at her. She quickly closed her mouth and sat up again, still unable to think straight.

"What?" He finally asked in irritation as he set the sandwich down and openly glared at her. She swallowed and frowned as she pouted her pink lips while she eyed him warily.

"Why are you here?"

"This is the lunch area." He said and took another bite of his food. Her eyes narrowed further as she reached up and brushed her bangs to the right, tucking the strands behind her ear. She waited until he glanced up again, his red eyes just visible through the loose orange strands that covered the top of his forehead.

"I thought you said that you didn't want to be bothered at lunch?" She asked and he shrugged, popping the last of the sandwich into his mouth.

"Unfortunately this is the only place where I won't be bothered. You seem to be the only other weirdo that avoids the crowds inside." He pointed out and picked up his own cup, slurping on the straw. Natsumi covered her mouth to try and muffle her laugh, but failed as her giggles still escaped. Ryuu frowned at her with the straw still in his mouth. Natsumi smiled at him and tilted her head,

"Did you just refer to yourself as a weirdo?"

"That's not what I meant." He growled and she laughed harder, shaking her head and picking up her pencil. He snorted and continued to drink his cola slowly as he watched the frown reappear on her forehead. Natsumi worked through the equation, thinking that she was finally getting it, but the answer didn't make sense. She groaned and looked down at her math book again, rereading the steps for the equation, trying to pinpoint her mistake.

"That's supposed to be a plus sign in the second part." Ryuu said as he reached into his bag and pulled out a notebook. Natsumi jumped and looked up at him as he flipped through the pages until he found the one he was looking for. He folded the back over and then flipped it forward, showing her the page he had wanted. She looked over his notes and her eyes doubled in size at the precise and neat way he wrote out the formulas. Nothing like his work in English.

"Right there." He pointed out before pulling the notebook away. Natsumi looked down at her own work and saw where she had messed up. She erased her mistakes and reworked the problem. This time the answer she got was right and she shouted in victory, throwing her fists into the air. Ryuu watched her with a blank expression as he said,

Stolen novel; please report.

"It was just one problem."

Natsumi laughed and smiled brightly at him, shaking her head which caused her brown hair to swish and brush against her cheeks. She reopened her soft brown eyes and leaned forward, clapping her hands together.

"It was still a big help! Thank you Ryuu-san!" She said and she swore she saw a ghost of a smile cross his lips before it vanished.

"Whatever...I thought you were the school's genius? Yet you struggle with something so simple?" He said and she shrugged, not taking offense at all as she sipped on her soda and sighed.

"I never claimed to be a genius. There are plenty of students here that are above me. I don't try to outdo anyone. I'm just trying to reach my goal and that requires a lot of hard work." She said, closing her eyes and taking a long drink when she was finished. She peeked at him through one eye to see what he was doing. He was pulling out the same book she saw him with yesterday. But she saw that small smile there once more, as if he approved of her answer.

Natsumi set her drink down and leaned forward to better examine the book again. She hadn't been able to see as much before because he had closed it, but now she could see diagrams and words that made her head hurt. She groaned and rubbed the top of her head,

"This is just like when Hiro tries to explain medical theories to me." She grumbled and he looked up from his reading to meet her eyes.

"Your younger brother?" He asked and she nodded.

"Yeah. He's the real genius of the family. He's nine and yet he can already read and speak three languages and plans to become a doctor. Hiro wants to save the world, he's so cute, but acts like a robot most days." She said as she met his eyes, she saw a spark of interest light Ryuu's eyes. She could have sworn he was actually happy about the news, but she doubted that and ignored the feeling. She looked down again and worked through the rest of the problems on the page. Anytime she got stuck Ryuu would point out her mistake without taking his eyes off his own reading as he leaned against his fist. By the third time he did it she laughed,

"Who's the tutor here mister?" She teased and he blinked as he glanced at her. She was smiling at him and was even more surprised when he grinned slightly at her.

"School's not over yet. Until then we're on equal fields." He said and she giggled, nodding in agreement. She couldn't understand her innocent enjoyment of this moment. But Natsumi was suddenly very happy. Ryuu was being decent to her and that meant he wasn't that much of a jerk...right? Well it gave her hope that he could be a good person and all she had to do was use her quiet patience with him.

They worked through the remainder of lunch in silence and when the bell sounded, signaling the end they both sighed. Ryuu packed up first and stood as he stared down at her.

"Finished?" He asked and she shook her head.

"Just four more, but I skipped them because they were more difficult. I'll finish later." She said and he shook his head.

"Maybe you're the one who needs a tutor." He said and she puffed out her cheeks and placed her hands on her hips.

"I'm not the one failing a class!" She said and he shrugged.

"Probably because you're the school's pet." He said and she started to retort when she noticed that he was grinning at her. Her eyes widened and she giggled as she realized that he was teasing her. She gave him a smug look then,

"Well, isn't this interesting. Ryuu-san has a sense of humor after all. I guess I can cross robot off my list, but I'm still holding out for alien." She teased back and he snorted, making her laugh again as she picked up her bag. She started walking next to him back to their classes, in a better spirit than she was before.

"Really though...thank you Ryuu-san. For helping me." She said as she smiled up at him and he shrugged, not responding. The two walked into the school building together, heading in the same direction since their classes were close to one another. Natsumi didn't notice the eyes following her and Ryuu as they walked together. She hummed softly to herself, unaware that Ryuu was also looking at her out of the corner of his eye.

"This is me. I'll see you after school Ryuu-san." She said and ran into her class and took her seat. She didn't bother waiting for a response because she knew there wouldn't be one from him anyways. And sure enough he had kept walking without answering, but his lips had turned up at the corners in a soft smile as he shook his head.