KNB: Strong (Himuro Tatsuya)

5 - Company

FIVE - Company

Days passed by quickly; too quickly. After trips to the overly-crowded library only seen during test weeks, several all-nighters, and a whole lot of trips to the convenience store, Ayano has transformed lazy Murasakibara who can never pass Chemistry to Murasakibara who could ace all of his subjects with high marks.

Well, in hindsight, it wasn't as hard as she thought it would. Despite having difficulties in subjects like Chemistry and Biology, the purple-haired male is really smart. She was surprised to learn that his best subject is Physics, whereas a lot of people find it very difficult. The only problem was: he is naturally lazy. The only thing that she helped him with was to let him understand it in a new perspective, and to motivate him.

For the motivation part, she had Himuro to help him. He was basically the one constantly spending his own money to buy snacks so that Murasakibara would not have to lose concentration. His patience seems to never run out and he was mostly the one motivating the purple-haired giant when Ayano starts to get fed up with him. He also was the one who motivates the female brunette to keep on tutoring the purple knucklehead. Every time she tutored him, Himuro was there. That was enough motivation.

And today was the day of the exams. And like any other mother, Himuro was there to walk with the two up to their classroom. He was there to give Murasakibara the tools that he needed for the test - pencils, erasers, and snacks. And if it was totally embarrassing for Ayano, Murasakibara did not mind in the slightest. The brunette could only sigh to the actions of these two.

During the exams, Ayano can't help but check up on the purple-haired male. She uses the reflection on the windows to take a peek without the proctors noticing. Whenever she did so, she would always find the usual Murasakibara - the one who seems to be uninterested in everything. He would take long breaks within the exams to sneak pieces of candy into his mouth and then press on with answering the questions. She was so worried about him she was not able to concentrate on her own exams.

At the end of the day, Ayano looked physically exhausted, with some of her schoolmates asking if she was sick. She brushes it off, telling them that it was the exams. Looking at the purple-haired giant walking beside her, he didn't seem stressed or anything. She thought she might not see him do so as long as he lives. Ayano could only huff a sigh.

"Hmm? What's wrong Ayano?"

Her ears perked up with hearing a familiar voice. Looking beside Murasakibara was Himuro, whose smile seemed unwavering. "Were the exams that hard for you?"

"Y-yeah..." she stuttered. "B-But I'm fine." Now that you're here, she wanted to add.

"How were Atsushi's exams?" Himuro then turns to the taller male, who only takes attention of the two just now.

"They're fine," Murasakibara nonchalantly answers, popping a few pieces of Skittles in his mouth. "I'm only glad that it's done."

"I could see it in your face, Atsushi." Himuro flashes a satisfied grin, which made Ayano's heart race. "Good job for you..." To think that she is hanging out with this guy for around a month already but she is still not used to this guy's charms yet.

--

"Murasakibara, you're leaving?"

It was lunchtime, three days after the examination day. The rank of the students for the proficiency exam is already posted on the school bulletin board, and that the individual test papers are already given out to the students. Murasakibara, with Ayano's help, passed the exams with flying colors, entering the school's top 30. Ayano, on the other hand, need not worry about herself, as she ranked 18th out of the entire school population. Himuro, this greedy man, qualified for the school's top ten. In line with Yosen's strict rule of academics before club activities, Murasakibara is off the hook and is now able to play in games.