Save my grade, steal my heart | Nobamaki

Study sessions and first impressions | One |

The campus library was dimly lit with soft overhead lights, casting a warm glow over the rows of bookshelves and scattered study tables. The air hummed with quiet activity-students typing away at laptops, flipping through textbooks, or chatting in hushed voices. It was the kind of background noise that usually made the place feel alive, but today, it only grated on Nobara's nerves. Nobara sat hunched over the table, scribbling notes furiously from her laptop.

She let out a small grunt of frustration for the third time, prompting Megumi to glance up from his book. He had been trying to read in peace across from her, but her mounting irritation was getting harder to ignore. He sighed, closing his book with a soft thud and raising an eyebrow.

"So, are you going to tell me what your problem is, or are you just going to keep groaning like a constipated six-year-old?" he muttered, clearly annoyed.

Nobara lifted her head and shot him a faux-cheerful smile. "Well, thank you for asking," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "It's just that I have to take this stupid human anatomy and physiology class. It's a requirement for some basic science credit I need for my fashion design major, for reasons that completely escape me."

She let out a dramatic sigh, running a hand through her hair as she slumped back in her seat. "This stuff is so boring and hard, and my final is in two months. Do you know how much I have to memorize? A lot! What do the organs and bones of the human body have to do with the size and measurement of a dress, huh? It's ridiculous!"

Megumi stared at her, unimpressed by the outburst. She continued, her tone growing more desperate. "I'm seriously going to rip my hair out if I can't get a grip on this soon. Goodbye, dreams of starting my own fashion line. It was nice knowing you," she added, flopping her head back onto the table.

He kept his gaze on her for a beat longer before sighing. "Are you finished?"

"Yeah..." she murmured, resting her forehead against the cool surface of the table.

Megumi reached for the study guide she had been pouring over. "Alright, let me see. I took A&P last semester," he said, scanning the sheet. His eyes skimmed the questions, his expression shifting from mild interest to outright bewilderment. How does parathyroid hormone affect bone remodeling? Nope. What are the major components of a synovial joint? Definitely not that. Name the three bones that make up the pelvic girdle. Maybe something else. What organs are in the RUQ of the abdomen?

He squinted at the paper as though willing the questions to morph into something more familiar, but they stubbornly refused.

"Well?" Nobara asked, her tone expectant.

"Yeah... I forgot everything. I can't help you," he replied, handing back the packet.

Nobara's face fell as she snatched the guide from him. "Well, thanks for nothing, I guess," she grumbled, slumping back into her chair.

Megumi rolled his eyes and reopened his book. The silence settled back in, though it didn't last long.

"Do you think I could get away with killing my professor?" Nobara mused after a moment.

"No."

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After wrapping up her morning classes, Nobara headed back to the off-campus apartment she shared with Yuji and Megumi. It was a standard three-bedroom, two-bathroom setup-nothing fancy, but it worked. At first, she'd been skeptical about living with not just one, but two boys. She'd expected the place to be a mess of dirty laundry and half-eaten takeout containers. To her surprise, though, Yuji and Megumi were surprisingly tidy, even considerate. They had given her the master bedroom with its own bathroom since she was the only girl, which she had to admit was pretty sweet. Splitting the rent three ways made it easier on all their budgets, so she wasn't complaining.