Study Buddies

Chapter 3: Sleepover

It was the day before exams, and all through the library two creatures were stirring. An intense english study session was taking place, but Mondo didn't feel like it was enough. He appreciated how hard Ishimaru was trying, but he felt like he needed more. More studying, more review, more Ishimaru explaining things in a way he could understand, more Ishimaru smiling brightly when he got a hard math problem right, more Ishimaru staring off into space happily while Mondo read a word problem-
"Mondo are you ok? You're drifting off, is this too boring?" Ishimaru interrupted his thoughts
"Hm, oh sorry. I was just thinking about how hard I need to study tonight on top of all this" Mondo sighed
"Are these sessions not helping?" Ishimaru inquired worriedly
"No, no they are, I just feel like I'm still not ready" Mondo huffed. Ishimaru thought for a moment and came up with an idea
"What if I came over and we could study more? I feel that it will help if you are in a more comfortable place and I could keep you out of trouble" he beamed proud of his idea
"That- actually sounds like a really cool idea!" Mondo grinned "I can give you a ride to your house so you can get whatever you need then we can head over to my place!"
Ishimaru nodded, signifying he liked the plan. Mondo, however, was pretty nervous about this. What if Ishimaru didn't like his house? What if he doesnt like motorcycles? What if this whole study sleep over does nothing to boost Mondo's chances of doing well? His worrying was cut short by Ishimaru tugging on his jacket sleeve.
"Are you ready to go?" He smiled. Mondo nodded and the pair walked out to where Mondo's motorcycle was parked. Luckily, he had an extra helmet with him today just in case. After they both put on their helmets, Mondo gave him a basic run down of what he needed to do in order to not fall off the bike
"Just wrap your arms around me tightly and you'll be fine. I won't go too fast" Mondo explained. Ishimaru gave a thumbs up and Mondo helped him get on the bike before getting on it and revving the engine and driving off. The bike was going a little faster than he entended but the only reason he noticed was Ishimaru's incredibly tight grip on him. He slowed down a bit since Ishimaru clearly wasn't too keen on going so quickly just yet. His grip on Mondo slowly loosened a bit and he smiled to himself, he was starting to actually enjoy this! Mondo spead up little by little, not minding Ishimaru's arms around him. Just thinking about it made his cheeks go pink. Mondo quickly shook away his not quite straight thoughts and focused on the road and not on the fact he could feel Ishimaru's warm breath on his back. Ishimaru, on the other hand, was more focused on hanging on and looking at the road quickly disappear just as soon as it appeared. He scooted up to tell Mondo to turn left soon in order to make it to his house, dismissing the fact Mondo's ears were incredibly red along with his cheeks
"Hey Mondo, you're going to want to make a left at the next stop sign, my house is just down that road" Ishimaru directed. Mondo nodded and did exactly as instructed. They eventually arrived at Ishimaru's house and Mondo helped Ishimaru off the bike. Ishimaru took off the helmet and handed it to Mondo.
"I'll be right back, i just need to grab a few things" he smiled before running inside his house. He came back a few minutes later with a bag full of stuff including books for them to study with.
"Let's go!" Ishimaru grinned excitedly. Mondo nodded handing him the helmet and helped him back onto the bike. Once Ishimaru put his arms around Mondo, he knew they were ready to go. He revved the engine and off they went.
Once they arrived at Mondo's house, Ishimaru was surprised to see that there was another motorcycle in the garage. Mondo noticed him staring at it.
"Oh that's my brother Daiya's bike, don't worry he's nice" Mondo explained
"I didn't know you had a brother, that's pretty neat" Ishimaru smiled
"Its just me and him most of the time, but i'm sure he won't bother us" Mondo shrugged nonchalantly "He's probably going out tonight with the gang anyway"
"Oh ok, well let's get started! We have much to do" Ishimaru grinned at him "Any particular subject you want to start with?"
"I suppose math would be a good place to begin" Mondo shrugged opening the door into the house and held it open for him, suddenly being uncharacteristically chivalrous for a moment. Ishimaru stepped inside followed by Mondo and he studied the house for a moment just taking it in for a second. It was anything but huge but it wasn't too claustrophobic. The house was simple, it essentially had the basics and nothing extra. A couple bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom, etc.
"It's not much I know, but it works" Mondo sighed
"It's quite nice, actually" Ishimaru mumbled not intending to be heard, but it was heard by Mondo regardless.
"Do you want to study here in the living room or is there somewhere else you'd prefer?" Ishimaru asked him as he fished out his math textbook from his bag
"I guess we can go up to my room, the bed is a lot softer than the couch" Mondo chuckled lightly
"Lead the way!" Ishimaru grinned. The pair made their way upstairs as Kiyotaka admired the rest of the house along the way. He noted there were quite a few pictures of a little white dog. They arrived at Mondo's room and it was neater than he expected. It had a few posters on the walls of motorcycles, which was no surprise, but also a few football team posters. Ishimaru looked around some more as Mondo picked up the clothes that were on the floor, just to be nice. Ishimaru sat on the bed pulling out his math book.
"Quadratic formula might be an easy starting place, is that ok?" He smiled at Mondo
"Yeah, I still don't get it so that would be lovely to start with" Mondo huffed "I can't remember it very well, any ideas on how I can?"
Ishimaru thought for a moment "You could sing it I suppose"
"Sing it? That seems kinda childish don't you think?" Mondo muttered
"If it helps you remember it then who cares" Ishimaru frowned "It helps me remember" he started singing it happily "Negative b plus or minus the square root of b squared minus 4ac all over 2a!" He grinned "Was that helpful?"
Mondo blinked having stared at him the entire time he sang
"Hm? Oh yeah that was actually kinda helpful. Could you sing it again?" He mumbled. Ishimaru nodded and cheerfully sang it again. Mondo blushed softly trying to remember the song but was having trouble focusing.
"Now you try!" Ishimaru smiled at him. Mondo gave a thumbs up and tried to sing it. He stopped half way through cause he forgot the words and sighed disappointed in himself. He looked at Ishimaru and noticed he was staring at him.
He smirked at him "am I that good? I forgot half of the damn thing and its only 10 seconds long"
Ishimaru blushed "you need to practice it more, but you're on the right track"
"Can do, but I'd appreciate it if you'd sing with me" Mondo winked. Ishimaru's face went red but agreed to sing with him. The two sang it over and over until Mondo finally knew it.
"Now that you know the formula, let's try some problems involving it" Ishimaru flipped through the math book till he found the page he was looking for. He handed Mondo a pencil and a piece of paper and read off the first problem. He answered and if he was right, Ishimaru would cheer. If he was wrong, ishimaru merely explained what went wrong and let him fix it. They continued this pattern for a while till Mondo got 10 problems right in a row, signifying he finally got it. It was nearly 7 before they decided to move on to something that wasn't math. There wasn't really anything Mondo was struggling with a whole lot at this point so they decided to review and quiz each other just for fun. But first, a little break to chat and give their brains a rest.
"So what do you plan on doing after graduating? You clearly have some idea of what you want to become" Mondo mused, laying on the bed
"Well I am quite fond of politics, I'm striving to be prime minister some day" Ishimaru proclaimed before his expression sunk "But, I do worry that I won't be good enough. I'll never be the man my grandfather or my father are or ever be. I'm just an uptight hall monitor" He mumbled as a tear slid down his cheek. Mondo noticed it and wiped it away.
"Hey, don't cry. You're gonna be the best prime minister of all time! Hall monitor is just a stepping stone" Mondo attempted go cheer him up. Ishimaru hiccuped trying to stop himself from crying. Mondo pulled him close and did something totally unexpected. He hugged him. He held that boy close and refused to let go till he smiled and stopped crying. Ishimaru hugged back failing to stop his tears
"If it makes you feel any better, anything you do is better than my life goals. All i aspire to be is a carpenter" Mondo chuckled at the thought of it.
"That's a very noble profession!" Ishimaru tried to yell but it came out more muffled than intended.
"Not compared to prime minister! You'll do so great! And I'll just do..something" Mondo shrugged. Ishimaru looked up at him and Mondo wiped the tears from his cheeks
"Do you wanna continue studying or have some dinner first" he smiled softly at him. "Dinner please" Ishimaru mumbled
"Ok, i'll order some pizza. You can just stay right here i guess" he chuckled patting him on the back before letting him go gently and getting up to order some pizza. Ishimaru merely flopped over on the bed finally getting the tears to stop falling. He noted that the bed smelled like Mondo and closed his eyes wishing Mondo was still there hugging him. He honestly didn't realize how much he really needed that. He didn't realize how much he liked, no, loved being held by Mondo. He didn't realize how much he wanted to be that close to him. Dare he say it, but he thought this was or could be than friendship. He shut his eyes tiredly and before he could protest, he fell asleep.
Mondo came back a couple minutes later, finished with ordering the pizza and didn't realize Ishimaru was asleep immediately
"The pizza is ordered and we are ready to study! Feeling any better?" He poked Ishimaru gently on the cheek. Ishimaru didn't respond. Mondo snorted realizing he was asleep
"I leave for 5 minutes and you pass out on me" he shook his head laughing to himself as he softly moved ishimaru so his head was on a pillow. He blushed at the sight of him sleeping and decided to try to study without disturbing him. This was easier said than done. Every time Mondo tried to focus on his studying, ishimaru just had to shift or mumble something in his sleep. It was very distracting and very adorable. At one point Mondo was finally getting some studying done and Ishimaru just had to mumble 'Mondo..' in his sleep. Now Mondo would never get anything accomplished! He decided to give up for a little bit and read a magazine he had stashed in his closet. It was kinda lewd, but it was mostly women and for some reason he wasn't all that interested. One page in particular, however, set him off. It was a picture of a man with black hair slicked back wearing a leather jacket and nothing else on top of a motorcycle. Mondo's mind drifted waaaay too far down the rabbit hole before he realized who was sleeping only 4 feet away. Not right now Mondo. He threw the magazine back in the closet and sighed staring up at the ceiling before his eyes drifted to the bed
'Maybe just a quick nap won't hurt..i'll wake up before him and he won't even know I was there' he pondered before stood up and walked towards the bed. He figured this could work, he'd just lay on the side Ishimaru wasn't on and set an alarm that would wake him but not Ishimaru. Perfect! Mondo carefully laid next to him and shut his eyes. Just 5 minutes. He thought that an hour ago.
Ishimaru woke up to the sound of the doorbell and quickly shot up realizing where he fell asleep
"sHOOT- MONDO I'M SORRY I-" he halted mid sentence when he saw Mondo sleeping next to him and quickly covered his mouth in an attempt to contain the screech of surprise he so desperately wanted to let out. Once he regained part of his composure he cautiously exited the room and went downstairs to pay the pizza man. Once he paid the pizza man, he went back upstairs and set the pizza on Mondo's nightstand. He gently nudged Mondo
"I'm afraid naptime is over, the pizza is here and we have work to do"
Mondo grumbled and scooted away
"No, fuck you"
"Mondo please, we still have to review science" Ishimaru huffed
"Five more minuuutes.." he whined
"Mondo if you don't wake up I will cut off your pompadour and shove it where the sun doesn't shine. Your nose!" He whispered in Mondo's ear, which made Mondo very afraid and a little turned on?
"Ok ok i'm up- no need to threaten the hair!" He huffed sitting up "you're the one who fell asleep first"
"You're the one who chose to sleep next to me" Ishimaru retorted, resulting in Mondo blushing, much to his dismay. They both fell silent for a moment before Mondo finally broke the silence.
"Do you feel better now? I didn't mean to pry so much I'd make you cry.." He mumbled.
"You didn't make me cry. I jumped to conclusions far too quickly and it spiraled out of control.." Ishimaru quickly explained
"Don't fret about the future. We're in the now and right now I just wanna eat some pizza with my Ishimaru" he smiled a bit sheepishly. Ishimaru's cheeks went rosy red at being called Mondo's Ishimaru. He smiled back at him.
"Yeah, I guess you're right" he shrugged handing Mondo a slice of pizza.
The two ate their pizza and chatted more about whatever came to mind until they ran out of pizza and topics. They decided to review some science vocab and such just for fun. Once they felt it was as good as it'll get, they moved onto history. The pair were both quite tired at this point, which was evident by how loopy and silly they were.
"Category is Who Said It" Ishimaru stated very seriously
"I'm gonna gamble for 400, Taka!" Mondo giggled sleepily
"For 400, 'speak softly and carry a big stick' Who said it?" Ishimaru laughed "as the kids say, big stick energy" Mondo laughed too at the horrible joke.
"Teddy Bear Rosebush!" He answered confidently
"Close enough!" Ishimaru snorted laying his chin on the book "y'know, i'm beginning to think you only asked me for tutoring cause you think I'm hot. You're really really smart!" He winked at Mondo, eliciting a fiery blush from him.
"I am very fucking dumb!" Mondo huffed "I asked you for help cause you're way smarter than I am. You being smoking hot has nothing to do with it"
"So you do think I'm hot?" Taka gasped, on the verge of passing out from exhaustion.
"Well, more cute than hot but yeah" Mondo mumbled, struggling to keep his eyes open. The two stared at each other tiredly before Ishimaru succumbed to sleep first. Mondo chuckled and put Ishimaru in his bed. At this point he was far too tired to care about how gay it was, the man just needed some damn sleep. He slipped into his pajamas, aka a t-shirt and his boxers, and slipped under the covers facing away from Ishimaru. As soon as his head hit that pillow, it was lights out.