The Demon's Little Sister

35

Silence filled the room.

A smile spread on the tall, silver haired boy's face. His face a bright, very noticeable, crimson color. He leans closer, an arm reaching for you.

You look into his eyes, quickly avoiding eye contact as you feel your face heat up. You clear your throat. "Let's get started. Which would you like to cover first: volleyball or classwork?"

Lev frowned briefly, quickly smiling to cover it up before you noticed - disappointment still lingered in his eyes. "Let's focus on making sure I don't fail my classes before covering volleyball."

You giggle quietly, assorting your belongings so you could better focus on the academic aspect of this study session. "Alright. Is there any specific order you want to go in for covering these topics?"

He shakes his head. "Not really. I need about the same amount of help for all of my classes."

You pause, turning to attempt to make eye contact with the boy. "How bad are you doing academically?"

Lev looks away, a few nervous drops of sweat roll down his face. "Um...."

"Are you actually failing?"

"..."

"Lev." You speak somewhat firmly when saying his name.

The tall boy slowly makes eye contact with you once again. "Not exactly."

"How bad, Lev?"

"I've been failing a lot of current tests and homework, the teachers gave me a warning about failing the classes this early in the year...."

You sigh, grabbing your textbooks and setting them on the table and your lap. "Don't worry, Lev. I offered to help and I intend to keep you from failing."

Lev brightened up. "Thanks, Y/n! You're the best!"

You smile, opening up one of your textbooks, handing Lev his identical book for the same course. "Alright, so let's start with the basics for this class."

***

Lev groans loudly. "Can we please take a break?"

You put your books on the table once more, standing up and stretching. "That sounds like a great idea. We've been focused on this for a couple hours now. I think a good 30 minute, to an hour break will do some good if we're gonna continue with everything else we need to cover."

Lev nods, standing up. "Want anything to eat? I can also get us some snacks."

You nod, taking your seat back on the couch. "Anything you have will be fine, I'm not really picky."

"Ok. I'll be back soon!" He disappears into a different part of the large house.

You released a breath you hadn't realized you'd been holding, looking around the room for the umpteenth time since first stepping into the house.

'Lev's house is even bigger than I imagined. What did he say his parents do for a living? Wait- did we even talk about that at all? No, stop! You should focus back on the material. But... Lev looked so cute while he was trying to figure out math problems by himself.... What am I thinking?! I came here to help him study and improve with volleyball! This has nothing to do with my feelings for him! But... he looks really good when he focused in on his work....'

Lev walked back into the room with drinks and snacks, speaking and breaking you out of your thoughts. "Is this fine? If not, I can bring you something different."

You look at the refreshments he brought, a smile and light blush spreading across your face. "This is perfect. Thank you, Lev."

He beams as he takes a seat right beside you. "It's no problem! So...."

You blink, leaning in closer to him. "Is there something on your mind?"

He flinches, then picks up his math workbook. "N-nothing. I just forgot to ask you to check this problem before we started our break."

You take the book from him. "That's fine. I didn't really need to take a break. I mainly allowed it since it seems like you need some mental rest after working on schoolwork for hours on end."

"Really?"

You continue scanning through the work on the page, not breaking the conversation with him the entire time. "Of course. I'm used to studying for long periods of time without breaks- mainly because I get everything done all at once. Anyways, you did good on this problem; everything's correct - the formula, the work, and the answer. Good job."

Lev's eyes sparkle upon hearing your praise. "Thanks!" His cheeks tint a light red color, he flusters and looks away. "Um...."

You tilt your head questioningly at him. "What is it? Something wrong?"

He shakes his head, slowly meeting your gaze. "No. It's just, um... it's been awhile since you've praised me. I- I was wondering if you'd...."

Without needing another word from him, you smile gently and extend your arm towards him until you started petting his head. "You did really good, Lev. Keep up the good work. You'll improve and show everyone that you're better than what they think in no time."