Sweetheart

79

"You still don't look good," Natsu commented.

Aina huffed and set down her bag on the floor before taking her usual seat in the library. She got out her psychology textbook and flipped through the pages until she got to the practice test she needed to complete. Natsu reached into his bag and tossed his math worksheet on the table.

"You think the library has coloring stuff?"

"Coloring stuff? You know that worksheet isn't homework, right?"

Natsu shrugged and left his seat to walk over to the proctor. He came back with a handful of coloring pencils. He cracked his knuckles before getting out his notebook and starting to work on the problems. Aina squinted her eyes as she looked at his concentrated face. She dismissed it and continued to work through her practice test.

"I can't do this anymore," she whined. "Why does he even make us do this? None of these are ever on the test."

"Quizlet."

"That's cheating."

"Oh please. You've never cheated before?"

"Well, one time in fifth grade--"

"Jesus, sweetheart."

"What?" She bit. "You're not supposed to, so I don't."

"I'm pretty sure every psych teacher's tests are all on Quizlet. Word for word. You'd save yourself so much time and stress. You're on your way to a burnout already. At least give yourself a break every once in a while."

"I get along just fine."

Natsu hummed and continued to work through the problems. Aina shut her book and reached into her backpack, taking out a blank piece of paper. She reached over to Natsu's pile of coloring pencils to take a couple when Natsu spoke up.

"Not blue, red, yellow, green or purple."

Aina quietly took a pink and an orange, scribbling on her notebook. She would look up at Natsu occasionally and see that he was fully concentrated. Her small giggles pulled him out of his train of thought. His eyes met hers before he crossed his arms.

"What? Can I not color?"

"I've never seen you this concentrated before," she laughed.

Natsu went to sass her when he studied her face.

"Hey, uh, you okay?"

"Huh? Yeah I'm fine. Why?"

"You're bleeding from your ears."

Aina's hand immediately touched her ears, her right hand stained with blood when she looked at it.

"You wanna go to the nurse?"

Aina nodded and started to pack her stuff. Natsu told her that he'd carry it down to the nurse's office for her, and the proctor quickly dismissed them both.

"What's up with you and needing medical attention all the time?"

"It's not all the time," Aina defended.

"Whatever you say, sweetheart."

They made their way to the nurse's office and checked in. Aina took a seat in one of the curtained rooms and stretched her arms. The nurse came in a few minutes later and took a look at her. Natsu set down her bag and waved her off before disappearing back into the hallway. The nurse looked inside her ears and sighed.

"You have an ear infection. You haven't been in any pain?"

"Not that I know of. But I do have a high tolerance for pain."