Smart Girl | Ushijima x OC

Chapter 23: Tutoring

"Hana-chan, my history teacher wants to know if you can stay late after school to help with a display wall. What do you want me to say?" Aya asked. Hana put down her lunch.
"Tell him I'm sorry but I can't. I have practise and then I have a tutoring session." The three stared at her in wonder.

"Since when did you do tutoring Hana? Do you need cash or something?" Asked Mari.
"Nah I'm doing it for free. It's for the volleyball team. I'm their manager after all, and I'd feel bad for charging them. I just need to get the guy's math grade up or he'll be pulled from the team for a while." She said taking a sip from her bottle.

"Pulled from the team huh? That would suck for the guy. Who is it anyways?" Asked Aya.
"It's Toshi. The team doesn't want to lose their ace and captain." Hana uttered. Hearing this, Kaori broke out into a devilish grin.
"Ushijima hm? So it'll be just the two of you? Studying together? And it'll be at your house I'm guessing? Are you sure there's nothing going on there Hana-chan?" She smiled, and the others started giggling.

Hana glared at them and stuffed some food into her mouth.
"Shut it Kaori. Don't make this into something weird again. I'm just helping him study. That's it. Ushijima is very important to our school's reputation, and without him the team will be at a disadvantage. So stop playing Cupid, and get your head out of your ass." She growled, only making the three laugh harder.

"Whatever you say Hana babes. But just remember, you don't have to worry one bit about us ruining your little make out sesh with mr superstar. We got your back." She winked and Hana started swiping at her to try and attack.

                             ~~~~~~

The walk to Hana's house was quiet. She lived in quite a lonely neighbourhood, where not many people attended her school, so they weren't really accompanied by anyone else walking home.

The small talk mostly consisted of the lesson plans Hana had compiled for the four sessions. She had a feeling Ushijima wasn't completely thrilled about doing math, which in a way she found amusing. Someone as blasé as Ushijima getting all bothered about something as trivial as math all because he didn't want to be taken away from his team.

"Alright, before we go in, I need to warn you. When I told my mom I was tutoring you she got really excited because she remembered you as one of my friends from my birthday, so I apologise in advance if she's super over-bearing." Hana warned him as she pushed open the door.

"Mom I'm home!" She called, as she dragged Ushijima inside, trying to escape upstairs before any commotion started. However her attempts were in vain as her mother came running to the door to greet them.

"Oh Hana you're home! You must be Ushijima. I'm Hana's mother. Please just call me Kurume." She beamed. Ushijima straightened out and bowed, trying to be a good house guest.

"Thank you for having me Mrs Kurume." He said. Hana's mother gasped in delight.
"Oh Hana, what a lovely and polite friend you have. I would love to have a son just like you-" Hana quickly averted from the topic and cut her off.

"Ok that's enough mom, we're going to get started. Wouldn't want to waste any of that essential tutoring time. We'll just be upstairs then." She said through gritted teeth.

Her mother chuckled at her embarrassment.
"Alright, alright. If you need anything at all Ushijima, just ask. I'll be glad to help." She smiled. He thanked her as Hana continued to drag him away, trying to end this awfully awkward interaction. Entering Hana's room, she set up a small table and two cushions in the middle of the floor.

"You can change first in the bathroom, I'll get everything we'll need today out." Ushijima grabbed his change of clothes and went to get dressed while Hana started preparing. Truth be told, she found it fun making a lesson plan for someone other than herself.