Unravel Me

1: The Tutor

"A 26? Jesus."

"I really tried this time," Chuuya groaned to the other redhead, burying his head in his arms on the table.

Gin sighed as she watched her friend wallow in his despair. "How much time did you spend studying?"

"I started as soon as I got home from practice and ended up passing out on my books sometime around 2am."

They shook their head. "Oh, Chuuya. . ."

"It just doesn't make any sense!" He exclaimed as he shot back up, earning a couple of looks from some of the other students in the cafeteria. "I'm majoring in social work! When will I ever need calculus?!"

Gin tried to calm their friend with the help of a few carbs, pushing their fries across the table toward him. "Why didn't you take an easier math class?"

"It was the only one that fit with my schedule," Chuuya replied, angrily shoving a couple of fries in his mouth.

"Well, why'd you save your gen-eds for your senior year instead of getting them out of the way first like everyone else?" Tachihara butted in.

"Uhh because I didn't want to do it."

"And how's that working out for you now?"

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Captain Hindsight."

Gin frowned at Tachihara, but he pretended not to notice as he continued. "You know, instead of pouting about how bad you are at math, you could actually do something about it."

"Yeah? Like what?"

"Just get a tutor from the academic resources center."

"And have everyone think i'm stupid? Fuck, that's embarrassing."

"More embarrassing than failing?"

Gin sighed. "You're overreacting. The tutors aren't going to try to make you feel dumb, they're just there to help. I used to take my lab reports there before turning them in. They're the only reason I passed Chem."

"Alright, maybe i'll try it," he muttered.

Her reassurances didn't make him feel any better about himself as he walked into the building later that night. Going from the soft light of the setting sun to the harsh glare of the fluorescents was jarring. Even once he'd found the door to the academic resource center, he still felt unwelcome.

It didn't help matters that boy behind the front desk didn't look up when Chuuya stepped inside. He was reclined lazily in his chair with his feet up on the desk and a lollipop hanging out of the side of his mouth, too focused on the graphic novel in his hands to notice Chuuya. Or, that's what it seemed like, at least.

"Do you have an appointment?" He mumbled around the candy, still focused on his book.

"Uh, no," Chuuya replied, adjusting his bag on his shoulder.

He sighed. "We only have one tutor available right now, and he's a little. . . indisposed—for lack of a better word."

"I'm not seeing anyone right now, Ranpo," another voice said from behind the desk.

Chuuya stood on his toes to look for the source, and found another boy sprawled out on the floor, eyes closed with one headphone in.

"Is he alright?" Chuuya asked the first boy, Ranpo.

He didn't seemed fazed at all by the strange behavior. "Yeah, he's fine. That's just how Dazai gets sometimes."

"Don't talk about me like i'm not here," Dazai said, peeking an eye open at them.