100 Ways

65. I'll help you study

Another aggravated groan rolls from Rin's throat and he practically throws himself over the back of the chair, his hands lifting and rubbing his eyes roughly. "I'm never going to get this," he groans, causing Yukio to sigh tiredly and glance at him across the room. "I don't understand anything no matter how long I look at it!"

"That's because you don't take time and actually read it," the younger twin says matter-of-factly. "And don't give me that crap about it being too hard no matter how hard you look at it again. It won't work."

"But it's true!" Rin defends. "I can't get this whole language thing! I speak Japanese and Latin is a dead language anyway, why do I need to know it?"

"A lot of Aria work is done in Latin," Yukio explains tightly. "If you can't remember a scripture in a pinch, any passage from the Bible said in Latin will buy you a short amount of time against low or mid-level demons."

"I can just blow them all away with my sword!"

"You can't rely on your sword all the time. Need I remind you about the camping incident with Amaimon?" Rin cringes and turns his face away, pulling another sigh from his younger brother in response. "Look, I know school's not really your thing. But you can't just blame your lack of understanding on everything. We were raised in a church for Pete's sake. You had to have come out with something."

This time it's Rin who rolls his eyes. "That's easy for you to say," he grumbles, leaning forward to rest his head in his arms. "You're always the smart one."

Yukio groans contently and pushes himself from his seat, stretching his back and rolling his shoulders in a way that can only be described as pleased. "I'm not smarter, Rin," he says, grabbing his bag from the back of his chair and heading for the door. "I'm just better at applying myself."

Rin jumps in surprise and whirls in his seat. "Whoa, wait, where are you going?" he exclaims, Yukio pausing with his hand just above the door as he speaks. "I thought you were going to help me with homework."

"I was," Yukio confirms, "but something came up. See if Bon or someone can help you with this. They're good at it."

"I don't want to," Rin grumbles again, suddenly becoming very interested in the closet door beside him. "They'll hold it over my head if I say I need help."

Yukio ponders the thought for a moment, then smiles warmly. "No, they won't," he assures. "They already know you're a moron, so they'll be expecting it."

Before Rin has a chance to respond, Yukio opens and exits the door, disappearing so fast one would think he was never there to start with. Rin's jaw hangs open at the comment his brother made, but he can't find it in his heart to go after him. It would waste good homework time he doesn't even have. With that in mind, Rin sighs, turns around, and rests his head against the desk again.

He needs help, that much is obvious, but he can't go to just anyone with the request. Bon and Shima would never let him live it down, and he doubts Konekomaru wants to be anywhere alone with him. Yes, they got over everything, but even Rin can tell there's still some distance. Shiemi may be able to help, but he honestly doubts it. She can barely remember the actual names of the plants in pharmaceuticals, asking her for a whole other language will probably end her. Shura isn't an option, and, to be quite honest, he doesn't even remember the puppet guy's name. Yukio bailed, so that leaves. . .

A gasp of remembrance pushes from his core and his head snaps up, eyes darting around his room for any sign of his phone. Once he spots it on the edge of his dresser, he practically dives for it, his fingers barely on the screen before he's dialing one of the only numbers he actually remembers by heart. After a couple rings, the line connects and a wave of relief crashes over Rin's soul.

"Hello?"

"(Y/N)!" Rin exclaims, turning and starting back for his desk. "What are you doing right now?"

"Reading a manga," she answers. "Why?"

"You're pretty good at Latin, right?" he asks. "Please say yes, you're my last-"

"I'm fluent in Latin," she informs. "I have been since I was thirteen."

Rin releases a tired groan of relief into the receiver and leans back again, almost throwing off his own balance had he not caught himself last minute. "That's amazing!" he cries happily. "Strange that you're fluent in such a dead language but still amazing!" He straightens himself quickly as if she could actually see him. "I need help in Latin because I don't understand shit. Can you possibly tutor me a bit?"

"Yeah," she answers, apparently ignoring the sigh of relief Rin gives at the statement. "I'll help you study. When?"

"Is now ok?" he asks, pinning his phone between his shoulder and his ear and his shoulder as he works on gathering his papers. "I could use some help on the homework."

"Yeah, come on over," she invites. "I'll get some snacks and we can go over what you don't know."

"You're a lifesaver, (y/n)," he says, straightening again to put his full sincerity behind his words. "Seriously. Thanks."

"It's fine," she assures. "I'll see you when you get over here."

As always, she doesn't wait for a proper farewell before hanging up the line. Rin doesn't mind, though, focusing instead on shoving his phone in his pocket and his papers in his bag. He also sends a quick thanks up to God for allowing him to meet and become friends with (y/n) before he rushes out the door. 

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A/N: I took a bit of liberty with the Aria thing as you can tell, but either way Latin is commonly used in Holy work so I thought it would work. Plus I'm studying Latin so it works even better.