𝕯𝖆𝖙𝖊 𝖓𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙𝖘 𝖔𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖗𝖔𝖔𝖋 𝖙𝖔𝖕

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖜𝖔: 𝕳𝖊 𝕹𝖊𝖊𝖉𝖘 𝕿𝖚𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖌

The next morning Kanae couldn't wait to see Kotoha. She threw on a white blouse, vest and skirt, with some boots and leg warmers before rushing to Potho's.

Slamming the door open, Kotoha's face lit up as she almost fell over the counter so she could hug her friend. "Kanae! You didn't tell me you were back," she yelled squeezing her until she couldn't breathe.

"Sorry-Girl sToP!" she squeaked, finally being able to come up for air "I was busy last night but you've got me all morning!"

"Oh I know you were," Kotoha said under her breath as she went back behind the counter

with a smile on her face "I'll make you some breakfast while you tell me all about itttt~" she began, dragging out the last words and wiggling her shoulders suggestively

"Okinawa was beautiful, it's like a picture everywhere you look-" Kanae began recalling her

time away from home. "NO! Not Okinawa. You spent the evening with Umemiyaaa~" Kotoha teased poking her shoulder

"WHAT NO I DIDN'T," she shouted back, wobbling on her stool as she almost fell backwards. Grabbing onto the counter just in time to save herself.

"THEN WHY DID HE CALL ME THIS MORNING TELLING ME ABOUT IT-" Kotoha yelled. back, cackling as she watched Kanae struggle to stay upright.

"What he did? What did he say?" she suddenly paused, eyes widening as she looked up at her friends.

"Suddenly interested are we?" she teased going back to cooking "He was just saying how much you'd changed since he last spoke to you," She paused, turning to look over her shoulder at Kanae "WAIT! Do you still like him,"

"NO! No. That went down the drain in middle school. I resented him for a while but something about being around him calms me," she explained looking down, a smile flicking on her face "I'm okay with him now!" she said confidently sticking a thumb up

"He has that effect on people, oh yeah I wanted to ask if you were still tutoring for Furin this year?" Kotoha asks placing a plate of omelette rice

“I am, that's where I'm going after I’ve been here. Furin's Library to put my name down,” she sighed putting a spoonful of the meal into her mouth “I know Hiragi is going to come running,”

"I thought so," she muttered quietly.

~~~

“If we're basing it off him then I'd say we've got some pretty strong first year- oh one second,” Higari paused hearing his ringtone and pulling his phone from his pocket.

“Hiiiigarrriiiii!” a familiar feminine voice yelled from the other end of the line, loud enough for the others on the table to hear.

He cringed pulling the phone away from his ear “Stop yelling damn it!” He scolded

“Heyyy don't be mean I'm trying to do you a favour- anyway the point is I'm on my way to furin to put my name down for tutoring, I thought I'd ask you and Tsubaki before the masses find out,” she explained, with a sigh “but I guess you don't need me this year-”

Tsubaki suddenly leaned over the table and snatched the phone from Higari, pressing the speaker button. “OI TSUBAKI-”

“Kanae, please my love- don't make us study with Mizuki- he's so annoying~” they wined, ignoring the glare from Mizuki

“Wait it's Kanae?” Umemiya perked up from his gardening looking between Hiragi and Tsubaki.

“Only for you, dearest love! Anyways I'll be in the library for an hour or sorting out the study section because I know you guys don't byeeeeeee-” Kanae finished hanging up the phone

“My god she's difficult,” Hiragi complained, getting a smack around the back of the head from Tsubaki “But she's a good tutor so I put up with her,”

“Kanae?”

“Yes, kanae who else?”

“Oh… right,” Umemiya mumbled as he continued planting the seeds in the small pots “Whatcha thinking about Ume?”

Tsubaki asked, seeing his expression change from his usual cheerful one.

“Nothing, Kanae just keeps popping up since she got back,”

“How so?”

“She came to drop off some pastries that didn't get sold and I walked her back,” he explained with a content smile Tsubaki and Hiragi shared a look, the other two kings losing interest.

“He likes her doesn't he,” Tsubaki squeaked

“Seems that way,” Higari sighed shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose

“Wait what I never said that-”

“But you didn't deny it either~”

“I- well she's-” Umemiya tried forming coherent sentences, stumbling every time he glanced at Tsubaki's smile (one that saw passed the bullshit)

“She's pretty alright!” He admitted bashfully Tsubaki grinned clapping their hands while higari rolled his eyes. “And I’ve seen and talked to her for longer in the past two days than I have in years,”

“Dude-” Higari huffed getting more irritated “She's always been around, for fuck sake she's been tutoring at this school since we've reformed it! If you had bothered to pay any attention you might have gotten to know her,” he stood from the bench, stomping over to Umemiya “You know as we did?”

The blue-eyed teen brushed this behaviour off as typical Hiragi shaking his head and chuckling “You make me sound so mean, I haven't done anything purposefully,” he sighed, seeming upset with himself “But you're right, I haven’t put much effort in.”

Twenty minutes later Kanae got to the school, sending a quick message as she headed to the library. She wrote her name on list of tutors on the wall before she began organising her materials.

People came and went, adding their names to the lists of those wanting to be a tutor and needing tutoring. Tsubaki, Hiragi and a few others putting their names on Kanae’s list.

As it got later on in the day and the sun began to set, Kanae realised how long she had already been here, it seemed like she had only just arrived but when she checked the time it had been hours. She doubted many others would still be in the school at this time.

But to be fair, she had organised all the studying materials, and planned out her schedule for the many wanting her teaching. She yawned stretching her arms over her head and cracking her neck.

The door creaked open yet again and a familiar white-haired boy poked his head around the corner “Hey Kanae!” he greeted a bright smile on his face.

“Umemiya,” she replied packing her stuff into her shoulder bag.

“So I hear you’re a tutor again this year,” he asked leaning against the table.

“Yeah, why you want a tutor?” she asked sarcastically but his smile grew and he nodded

“Actualy yeah, I don’t have much time to study and when I try, I can never focus. So maybe if someone helped me…” he explained, trailing off. While what he said was true, he also wanted to act on his and Hiragi’s conversation earlier. So here he was, attempting to spend more time with Kanae and hopefully getting to know her better.

She sighed “Fine but we need a session tomorrow, so I know where you’re at since I’ve never tutored you before,”

“Yayy!”