Unravel Me

13: Misstep

   "Are you nervous?"

Kouyou was asking about finals. It was the last week before break, which meant that Chuuya would have all of his exams in the next few days. He was sitting at the kitchen island, going through study guides and building cheat sheets while his sister put up Christmas decorations.

She was going over-the-top this year with the holiday cheer. Chuuya suspected it was because of how guilty she felt. She had a shoot overseas in New York the day after Christmas, so she wouldn't be home for the holidays. The two of them decided they'd just celebrate this week to make up for it, and she was doing all she could to make it still feel special. She didn't have to go to such crazy lengths, though. Chuuya was happy just being with her.

"A little bit, yeah," Chuuya admitted. "Mostly just for Calc, though. You know how i've always been with math."

"I'm sure you don't have anything to worry about. You've been working hard, haven't you? You'll probably ace your exams thanks to all of those extra study sessions you've been fitting in." She offered him a warm, encouraging smile from where she sat on the floor, untangling a strand of Christmas lights.

Chuuya sighed, absentmindedly running a finger around the rim of the cup of tea Kouyou had brewed for him. "I dunno. Sure, it's gotten a little easier to understand, but I still struggle with some of the concepts."

"At least you get a cheat sheet for that one, right?"

"Yeah, we can fill up one side of an index card. My hand is killing me from how small I have to write, though." He waved the half-filled index card around in the air. As much as he hated his professor for putting him at risk of carpal tunnel, he was relieved to hear that they'd get to use a cheat sheet at all—their professor tended to be unnecessarily cruel when it came to that sort of thing. "And i'm sure i'll end up forgetting to add something important, too, with my fucking luck."

"Why don't you just have your tutor look it over the next time you see him?" Kouyou suggested.

"We don't have any more sessions."

"Huh? But it's finals week. Shouldn't you be cramming in as many extra sessions as you can to make sure you're ready?"

He rested his head in his palm. "I was going to, but it apparently wasn't a very original plan—all of the tutors were booked out way in advance for this week."

"Hmm, that's a shame," she replied, dragging a small ladder around the room to hang the lights that she'd finally gotten untangled. "Do you have his email or anything? Maybe you could send him a picture?"

"I mean, yeah, I have his number, but I don't wanna bug him."

She snorted. "Didn't you say he bugs you all the time?"

"Regardless, I probably wouldn't even be able to get a clear enough photo thanks to how small i've had to write everything."

The truth was, Chuuya didn't want to talk to Dazai. After how annoying he'd been over the weekend, Chuuya's patience was fully tapped. He needed a break. They needed to get back to being just tutor and student—not that their dynamic could have ever been considered normal in the first place, but hadn't it gone too far? It was weird for them to meet up outside of the academic center, right? Did he meet up with any of his other clients?

...did he?

"I bet he'd be willing to find time to meet you before your exam," Kouyou said as she finished tacking the strand of lights she had onto the wall. "I mean, he does kind of owe you, right? And you know, even though he is your tutor, from what you've told me it seems he might think of you as more than that."