𝔟𝔩𝔢𝔰𝔰𝔢𝔡 𝔟𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔡𝔞𝔪𝔫𝔢𝔡.

Studying

"The test isn't that hard, all you gotta do is go with your gut, but I know you don't have one, so I'm gonna be nice and help you."

"That part wasn't very nice," you rolled your eyes and plopped down on Maki's bed. Her sheets were so silky, it made you a bit jealous, and made you think your own sheets were incompetent in comparison to hers, seeing that you toss and turn every night.

Maki shrugs before she reaches into her drawer and pulls out a few sheets of paper, "These are the answers on that test," she says as she hands them to you. "They aren't hard to memorize, there's just quite a few."

"I didn't think this is what studying was," you mumbled as you looked at the sheets of paper. They were all the same test, each with different dates and scores no lower than a 92. Impressive, you would think, if you didn't know that Maki was already smart to begin with. She simply shrugs and sits down next to you on her bed. "That just proves you've never taken a test before."

"I have, just not a paper test," you begin to chew on your bottom lip as you look between the three sheets of paper. All the answers were the same, since they were all the same sheets just with different dates and such, and the spaces between the letters that joined to construct her name were obviously different, otherwise you'd think she's a robot. You wouldn't be surprised, with the way she walks: always in a straight line with seemingly perfect posture, her shoulders are always squared- or maybe that's just the small shoulder pads of her uniform; the way she trains, you've watched her do the same routine every day for two and a half weeks: waking up, breakfast, training, lunch, training, dinner, then it resets the next day. It's like she's in a circle and she doesn't realize it, probably because she lived that way back at the Zenin estate.

"Well, they're not hard, but there's a lot of questions so you might get confused on which answer is which," she sat up from her headboard which she previously leaned back against then looked down at the papers in your hand. Her sharp eyes switched from the paper to your focused expression, and kept switching for a moment before you let out a sigh. Then you narrow your eyes at the final question on the backs of each test, "Why the hell is Gojo trying to stroke his own ego?!"

"I ask the same thing every time I see that question. Imagine being that sad and lonely that you have to get the approval from teenagers about yourself," Maki shakes her head, a hearty chuckle leaving her lips as she does so. You follow, your shoulders shaking in sync with the giggles leaving the flesh of your lips.

"You could just take a sharpie and write down the answers on your hand, he won't notice," Maki leans back towards her nightstand then pulls a marker from the top of it. You looked up from the sheets of paper and found her holding the sharpie in between her fingers. "Take your time writing them down, I don't mind having you in here."

"I'll be as slow as I possibly can," you chuckle as you pop off the lid and set the tests down on her bed, flattening your hand right next to it and writing stuff down on your palm. You wondered how long the ink would last, but you figured since you wouldn't be doing much this weekend, you'd be able to keep them on your hands for that long.

"I wonder how Naoya would react to seeing this," Maki circles her finger in the air around her whole room. "Bet he'd have a stroke." she finished with a small chuckle before she looked at you, watching you write the answers down on your palms.

"Probably, he never liked seeing me interact with others," you shrugged before putting the lid back on the sharpie. You turned to her, handing her the sharpie, hanging it loosely between your fingers. She takes it back, setting it down beside her and staring at you, "Do you think Naoya had a soft spot?"

"Absolutely not," you frowned a bit with an embarrassed huff, completely ignoring the small warmth in your face. "I just know that man loathed me."

"You'll know he loathes you when he bullies you relentlessly every day," Maki hums as she scoots closer. Your face practically lights on fire when your arms and knees are touching. "It got boring after a while, but I got used to it. I remember I used to wake up thinking he wouldn't do it that day for a change, but he always found a way. Be it verbally or physically, he always found a way to bully the shit out of me."