X's and O's, Another Droplet

Bettering

The bell rings to finally release the tired students of Saint Sara Belle. Banashi stands up the second she hears it, shoving her books and laptop into her bag and slinging one strap over her shoulder. She walks out the door as she's allowed by the teacher, and heads straight towards the oval. She's determined for something, and the oval is the place she can start it. Her class isn't too far, so she gets there before too late.
"Nate!" She calls out, getting the attention of the pink haired boy. He looks over, and raises an eyebrow. He jogs over to her, slowing from his run, then to a stop in front of her.
"What is it? Are you alright?" He asks, wiping sweat from his forehead and pushing aside that one lock, just too short to be tied back. He catches his breath as Banashi speaks her response.
"I'm alright, just wanted to know what you're doing?" The girl answers, moving her bag to hold on both her shoulders. She's got a good idea of his schedule already, but she needs to make sure for her plan to go on. "Running another lap before heading to the library." He answers her, crossing his arms. He gestures slightly with his shoulders as he does, trying to hold eye contact with the unstable sceptic, but she's failing that for the both of them.

"Mind if I tag along?" Nate gives her a curious look for a second, putting his hands on his hips.
"I'm going to study, you realise?" He tells her, one eyebrow raised again. He assumes she'll take back her request after his response, but she surprises him
"Yeah, I figured, that's why I asked to come." She says bluntly, like he was calling her stupid. His eye widen as a smile creeps onto his lips. He gives a breathy laugh, glad to see Banashi wanting to study with him. He'd been trying to get her to for a while, as while she passes most of her classes, she could do a lot better.
"Hah, alright. Let's go now then." Nate says as he starts walking to where he left his bag. Banashi, being a little shit, starts running, and teases Nate.
"I'll get it first!" She calls out, running full speed, already tiring out.
"What- Hey!" The stressed controller breaks into a run too, passing Banashi with some effort. She's just laughing over it, slowing down when the boy gets his bag. He gets back over to the giggling girl, rolling his eyes and putting his hands on his hips. She takes a second to catch her breath, running out of it, then they walk together to the library

The air inside is much warmer than outside, taking the need for Banashi's scarf and gloves away. As she removes her green accessories, Nate leads her to a small table, fit for up to three people. They sit down next to each other and take out whatever work it is they need to do. Banashi grabs her laptop, turning it on and signing in, and her fifty-odd tabs fill the top line on her screen.
"What the hell." Nate comments, looking over at her device. She starts quickly going through and closing the ones she doesn't need. The girl silently reads through her worksheets, then goes though the useless sources she's been given, occasionally switching to another tab to type up some notes. Nate prefers his paper notes, writing simple but well sorted notes, plus some general worksheets he has for homework. The two remain in silence, besides the occasional getting the other to check over things for them (Mainly Banashi asking Nate, since he'd know better). Banashi speaks after about half an hour.

"When's your birthday? I don't think I know it." She asks out of the blue.
"Why does it matter?" Nate asks back, focusing on his work still.
"Writing down a bunch of dates and thought it'd be funny if one of these events happened on our birthdays, then realised I don't know yours." The unstable sceptic answers, looking over to him and resting her elbow on the desk, palm against her cheek. The boy looks over to her, eyebrows raised and questioning the importance and seriousness of her question. He then sighs and shakes his head.
"July 14. Don't make a big deal out of it though." He tells her, looking back to his work again.
"Aight, cool." Banashi nods, "Mine was just a few days ago actually. When I wasn't here."
"You skipped school for your birthday!?" He raises his voice just a bit too loud, causing Banashi to flinch.
"N-No-" Banashi shakes it off and clears her throat. "I stayed in because I genuinely couldn't get myself out of bed. Depression hits harder on birthdays, I swear." Nate backs down quickly, muttering an apology. Banashi brushes it off.
"I do tend to skip school on my birthday anyway. It was always within the first week of the term, here it's different but I don't really care." Nate sighs and grumbles
"That's no excuse to skip. You can get detention for that."
"I'm a good actor, don't worry." Banashi says with a smug smile. Nate ignores her and gets back to his work, and she follows.

After about an hour, Banashi's lost focus, and has resorted to playing with her pencils. She mutters random, useless comments to herself. Eventually she just starts packing up her stuff.
"Heading to my dorm now. I'm just out of it." She tells the hardworking boy beside her. He just gives her a nod. She pats him on the head lightly, aware that he'll probably be annoyed by it.
"Tell me whenever you're studying, I'll come with from now on." She then walks away, pulling her bag over her shoulders, leaving the boy alone for however much longer he plans to stay.

A/N
Sorry for not updating! I only just realised I never posted this, despite already working on the next one, that I just finished too Lmaoo