HΣIШΔ

friendship seems nice i guess

the octopus had everyone out in the woods studying, his methods akin to what they'd been for midterms.

mako was currently going over her least favorite and most troublesome subject, science. she deadpans when the clone teaching her shrinks, and she swipes a knife at him, cutting off a small part of a tentacle. it scolds her slightly but then continues on rambling about the "storyline" of his clones.

'what a freak, hah'

———

while the others all talk about the offer the octopus made them, mako was busy on her phone. she didn't care that they were still in school, she just didn't want to listen to her classmates at the moment.

asshat: so, how do you plan to do on your exams?

mako: that's my business, you ass. besides, if i told you anything, you'd go off and tell shizuo about how i basically bombed my midterms, just for fun

asshat: i would never do that, my dearest little apprentice!

mako: first of all, i'm literally an inch shorter than you. second of all, you totally fucking would

asshat: you're right, i would, but i'd tease him first. anyways, i'm rooting for you. i'd prefer for my protege to do well in school, at least

mako: fuck off

she sighs, putting her phone away, she sees everyone looking determined and confident, and raises an eyebrow.

"the hell did i miss...?"

———

after school, she was walking out of the building, and she grunts when a weight is thrown on her back.

"heiwajima-chan! wanna get some cake or something?" nakamura asks cheerfully, and mako sighs.

"i don't have a choice, so i?"

"nope! let's go!"

the blonde drags her down the mountain, rambling off about all the sweets they could try together. they eventually end up at a quaint little cafe, the shorter girl enthusiastically getting them a table and they sit down.

"so, have you been studying a lot for the exams? i know i've been busting my ass." mako raises her eyes from the menu in front of her, giving her order to the waiter along with her classmate, before turning back to the girl opposite her.

"i admit that i've been studying a lot harder than i really ever have. i guess that's me wanting to prove myself after the midterms."

"did you not do well on them?" nakamura asks softly, and mako's face hardens.

"the only one i was actually somewhat proud of was my english test. i've been learning english since i was a kid, it's my best subject." the other blonde grins, agreeing about them having similar best subjects.

the waiter brings out their treats, setting them down before walking off. "hey, heiwajima-chan?"

"yeah?"

"do you consider me your friend?"

looking up from her cake, she stares at the girl for a few moments.

"why?"

"well, you've kinda made it clear that you don't want friends, but despite you being a bitch, you seem like a really cool, nice person. i think we're friends, but i wanna know if you think so, too, so that if you don't, i'm not fooling myself."

letting out a sigh, mako sends the girl a weary smile.

"sure, nakamura. we're friends."

the girl grins, excitedly digging into her treat and chattering on about her studying habits, and mako smiles softly.

she'll allow herself to enjoy having a friend for now.

———

"you fucking dumbasses!"

the ones she was currently yelling at flinch at her loud tone and harsh words. while normally, mako isn't one to berate them for something like this, as soon as they'd told the class, she was up and ranting and yelling at them for their idiocy.

"do you know what this means?! they could make a contract or some shit and force us all to comply to it, the contract involving a shit ton of stuff that we'll have to do for them! they could make us do fucking anything! it'll be hell! did none of you think this through?!"

the octopus stops her berating and ends the break period, forcing them back into studying. he yells at the redhead, who's currently sleepy and ignoring him, and she rolls her eyes at his cockiness.

he's too much like izaya, it's not even funny.

after school, she went straight to her apartment, locking the door behind her and throwing her bag down. she got changed quickly, gave shizuo a short call seeing as she had studying to do and he was still working, and then grabbed her bag once again.

pulling out her textbooks and some papers, she lets out an annoyed sigh. "school is gonna be the death of me, i can feel it. god, if shizuo wasn't paying for it, i'd have dropped out already."

shaking her head to rid herself of those thoughts and any others that tried to gain attention, she takes a deep breath and opens the first textbook.

'i gotta do good. for shizuo and kasuka. i have to do good, or else i'm just an even bigger disappointment than i thought i'd be'

and so she began the grueling work of studying.

———

on her way to do the exam, mako makes eye contact with a guy that has a similar facial structure to a certain annoying redhead, and frowns when he turns to her, smiling fakely.

"the hell you staring at, dick?"

his smile drops momentarily out of shock at her blunt words, but he quickly regains his composure.

"good luck on your exams."

"yeah, sure, asshat. like you actually mean that shit."

the boy watches her roll her eyes and walk off into the classroom, understanding that she must be the transfer student his father had troubled over a few months back. smirking, he turns away and heads back to his own class.

mako takes a deep breath, she stares down at the papers in front of her, pencil in her grip.

exhaling slowly, mako lets a small smirk grow on her lips.

'i'm not going down as easily this time, you stuck up bastards!'