At lunch the next day Natsumi was in high spirits. She believed that she had a better understanding of a certain enigma. She hummed as she carried her lunch bag out of the building to sit outside. She preferred to eat her lunches away from the noise and used that time to get some extra studying in. She turned the corner to where the empty tables always sat and froze. His back was to her, but there was no denying that head of orange hair.

She debated on what to do next. She could walk past him like she hadn't noticed him, but he would know instantly that was a lie. So she decided to just get it over with and smiled brightly as she walked up to him.

"Hi Ryuu-san." She said and he looked up from the book sitting in front of him. His eyes narrowed when he saw who it was and sighed as he closed the cover. She frowned at his actions and instead let her eyes move to the book in front of him. Her eyes widened and she gasped as she leaned closer.

"Oh! That's-That's a college level medical book! I recognize it from my brother's-" She said as she reached for it, but his hand shot out and caught her wrist. She jumped and looked up into his cold eyes as he glared at her.

"Was there something you wanted? I finally think I found a quiet place away from you people." He sneered and Natsumi puffed out her cheeks in annoyance as she pulled her hand free and returned his glare. She swore she saw a hint of amusement in his expression at her demeanor, but it vanished too quickly. Natsumi sighed and took the seat across from him.

"Please sit. By all means." He muttered sarcastically and she ignored the tone, choosing to give him a bright smile instead.

"Thank you Ryuu-san. I would love to join you for lunch."

"Do you not recognize sarcasm or are you purposely choosing to ignore it?" He asked with a raised brow and she hummed as she pulled out the two containers in her bag and the juice box. She opened the pink one and held it out in offering.

"Strawberry?" She asked and he sighed.

"Ignoring it is then. No." He added when she continued to hold out the container. She shrugged and picked up one of the little red fruits herself. Popping it into her mouth and sighing in pure bliss. She finished and smiled at him again, but he just sat there staring at her.

"In response to your earlier comment Ryuu-san...I always eat outside so that I can study easier and didn't expect to find you here. But if you want to avoid being interrupted again I suggest you find a new spot. I saw this one first." She stated as she took a bite of her peanut butter sandwich and looked up surprised when she heard a soft chuckle. Ryuu was actually smiling. It was small, more like a ghost of a smile, but it was there and it was at that moment she realized she had never seen him smile before.

"I'll keep that in mind." He said and started to pick up his bag, but Natsumi held out her hand to stop him.

"Hold on Ryuu-san. I actually do need to talk to you about something so I'm glad I ran into you here." She said and although he blew air through his nose in irritation, he relaxed back onto his seat. She smiled and ate another strawberry as she proposed her plan.

"I get the feeling that the library won't help you focus on the work we need to do. So how about after school today we go somewhere else?" She said and he raised his brow at her and she wondered if he only had three facial expressions that he relied on for human interaction. She actually giggled at that thought before looking up at him again.

"Meet me at the front of the gates after school and then we can head to my house. It's a ten minute walk, but I'll figure out a way to use that time for mini-lessons as well." She explained and he stood up, grabbing his bag with a stoic,

"Yay." Before he walked away. Natsumi smiled softly and shook her head at the boy before waving her hand and shouting after him.

"I'll see you after school then Ryuu-san!"

His head lowered, but other than that he didn't acknowledge that he had heard her. She sighed and continued to eat her lunch as she pulled out her own book. She had a history exam in a few days and wanted to prepare for any curve balls that might be on there. Mr. Mashima was known for that.

When the final bell rang Natsumi collected her things as quickly as she could, not wanting to be late again. She ran out of the classroom and down the hall, hopeful that for once she would be on time. That was dashed when Ms. Tajima walked out of her classroom and motioned for Natsumi to stop.

"Miss Kimoto. I must say I'm very impressed with your determination and the way it paid off."

"What Ms. Tajima?" Natsumi asked with a tilt of her head and Ms. Tajima chuckled.

"The fact that this is day three and you have yet to be sent back to the tutor group. I'm both surprised and proud that you were correct in your assumption that you could handle this. Make sure you keep up this level of hard work and that Mr. Yoshida gets everything he needs." She said and Natsumi nodded with a wide smile and a thumbs up before running off and waving to her sensei.

She made it to the lockers and almost tripped in her haste to pull off her school shoes. She placed them in the cubby and pulled on her normal shoes in record time. She picked up her bag and ran out to the front of the school, skidding to a halt when she almost crashed into him. She bent over, huffing in an attempt to catch her breath.

"Is this a normal thing for you?" Ryuu asked as he stared down at her. She looked up, still bent over and laughed while nodding. She straightened and flipped her ponytail over her shoulder, brushing out her skirt as she collected herself. When she had finished tightening the bow in her hair she smiled up at him again.

"Sorry. Ms. Tajima caught me in the hall. But I'm here now so let's go." She said cheerfully and started walking down the street, Ryuu close behind. They walked in silence for a bit before Natsumi needed to break it.

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"My place is small, but I think it'll offer less distractions than a crowded library." She said and he shrugged, dashing her hopes for casual conversation. She sighed and looked up at the clear sky, trying to think of something else to say.

"What made you decide to do this?" He asked suddenly and she jumped, startled as she looked up to see him looking straight ahead. She cleared her throat and placed her hands behind her back, clasping them loosely.

"I was looking over those worksheets I had you do yesterday and noticed an irregularity in your effort." She stated and he glanced down at her then and she read the question in his gaze so she continued.

"Every time someone passed by us you put less effort into the answers and I realized that you were too distracted by passersby to put your full attention on the lesson. So I thought we could try this instead. Of course if you don't like it we can-"

"It's fine." He said, cutting her off. Natsumi was actually adjusting to that though, at first it annoyed her, but she realized that he was the kind of person to get straight to the point and didn't mean offense...well the last part was for herself so she wouldn't throw something at him.

"Hey Ryuu-san. Why were you reading such a high-level medical book?" She asked and his eyes narrowed slightly, it was the lightest twitch and had she not been looking she would have missed it.

"I was bored." He said and she gave him a look that told him not to question her intelligence. He frowned and shrugged.

"It's not important. Are we almost there?" He changed the subject quickly and she sighed, deciding that it was something she should let go. She pointed ahead of them to a grey four story building that housed her family's apartment. He nodded and they walked the rest of the way in silence. She used her key to open the front gate and led the way to the elevator, waving to the guard stationed at the front.

When Ryuu entered the metal box next to her she pushed the button for the third floor. The doors closed and she leaned back, holding onto the bar attached at the wall. She always had a wave of apprehension when she was in elevators and usually took the stairs. She didn't want to make Ryuu climb the three flights though so she gripped the bar for dear life and forced her anxiety to the back of her mind.

She stared at the floor until that amazing bell dinged their arrival. She sighed and stepped-well more like hopped, out of the elevator to the concrete floor of the landing. She waited until Ryuu was behind her again before walking down the path to the door with the numbers 312 bolted to the door. She opened the door and took off her shoes before walking on the hardwood.

"Mom! I'm home and I brought a...friend home." She said and Ryuu raised his brow at her as he finished removing his own shoes. She shrugged and walked down the hallway to the kitchen/living room. Her mom was standing at the stove, her back to them as her brown hair swished in the ponytail she had it in. She turned as they walked around to the island set in the center. It basically divided the kitchen from the dining room and living room.

"Hello. I'm Akira Kimoto, but you can either call me Akira or mom, whichever you prefer." Akira said with a warm smile as she wiped her hands on a dish towel and looked over Ryuu.

"When you said you were bringing someone home Natsumi, I didn't think it would be such a cute boy."

"Okay! So let's go to my room and get started on those study lessons!" Natsumi said, jumping up to block her mom from view and giving a nervous laugh as she practically herded Ryuu out of the living area, her mom giggling after them. Natsumi groaned and then remembered as she stuck her upper body out of the hallway, holding onto the wall.

"Oh mom, can you-"

"I'll slice some up now and bring them to you two after I finish this soup." Her mom said and Natsumi waved in thanks. Then she turned back to the waiting Ryuu and lead him down the second hallway.

"That's the bathroom and this is my room." She said as she opened the door to reveal her room. She was glad she had taken the time to straighten it up this morning so that it looked presentable. Her bed was made with the pink comforter, tiny strawberry emojis decorating it. Her desk was clean for once, all her journals and notebooks stacked in straight piles. And the green carpet was vacuumed, probably thanks to her mother.

She walked over to the small table set to the right of her room, next to her mirrored closet. She set her bag on the floor and folded her legs underneath her, waiting as Ryuu followed and sunk to the floor next to her. He leaned back so that his back could rest against the pink wall behind him. Natsumi pulled out the notebooks she had created for him and handed the first one over.

"Okay so we'll start with basic words and then move on to sentence structure. Here." She handed him a pencil and flipped open the cover to the first page. She looked up at him expectantly and he sighed as he focused down on the words. She had written out a list of basic words in japanese and wanted him to translate them and write them into english next to the words.

When he would get stuck on one she would step in and talk him through it. Creating ways for him to remember in the future by comparing the word to similar ones or using images to help. She was pleased that he didn't fight her and made it through the first page pretty quickly. She looked over his work with a smile.

"See, this already looks more promising than it did yesterday. Your spelling still needs help, but you only missed a few that are actually easy to mistake." She praised and smiled up at him, but he only shrugged and twirled the pencil between his fingers. She frowned, but it quickly disappeared as her positive attitude returned. Ryuu was a fast learner, evident in the way he picked up on her hints instantly and used it to his advantage. He was smart and she wondered if he would be okay after only a few sessions.

They finished the list of words she made and she showed him the correct ways to spell the ones he missed. As she was finding a passage for him to read aloud her mom came in with her requested snack.

"Thanks mom." Natsumi said as she happily picked up a sliced strawberry. Ryuu waved off the offer of something and watched as Natsumi ate almost half the bowl before sitting back and picking up the book again.

"You have a strange obsession with strawberries Kimoto." He said as he took the book she held out to him. She pointed at the passage she wanted and giggled,

"I love strawberries. They're a healthier alternative to satisfying my sweet tooth. Although I do add powdered sugar sometimes." She admitted and he shook his head before reading through the passage. She cringed at his pronunciation and accent as he read through the words. He would often misread as well and mix words around, much like when he wrote his sentences. She pulled her notebook to her and made a mark to focus most of their lessons on grammar. His phone buzzed and he pulled it out of his pocket, checking the screen.

"My car is here." He said, closing the book and standing up from the floor. Natsumi jumped and glanced at her alarm clock. Sure enough it was six o'clock and their session was up. She had completely lost track of time and would be cutting it close tonight. She got up and walked Ryuu through the apartment. Her mother waved goodbye and her little brother, Hiro, glanced away from the book he was reading at them briefly before his blue eyes swerved back.

Natsumi walked him all the way back out the building and her mouth fell open when she saw the black luxury car waiting for him. A man in a black suit and hat waiting by the back door. He bowed slightly to Ryuu and took his school bag as he opened the door. Ryuu got in the back seat and Natsumi waved.

"Alright Ryuu-san. I'll see you tomor-" He grabbed the door and shut it. She glared at the tinted window, knowing he could see her. He may be handsome, but he had to be the rudest person she had ever come into contact with. She sighed and ran back into the building so she could get ready. Rude or not didn't matter. She had a job to do when it came to Ryuu Yoshida and after today, she felt more confident that she could. Then she wouldn't have to look at his irritating face again.