A Tiny Smirk is Devastating

Chapter 22: I'm Not Him

As soon as Sasuke saw her in the library, he knew he wasn't getting any more work done today.

She just had to find a seat right across from me. He definitely wasn't looking for her. But he'd noticed her. And she just had to sit right there, facing straight towards him. If it hadn't been for the one-way privacy glass installed in the study room door, they could've stared right at each other.

In his defense, pink was a very distracting colour. So were shining green eyes.

Sasuke continued watching as Sakura pulled out her laptop and the notebook she'd been carrying in his brother's class and started studying. She must be catching up on the notes she didn't make last class. He smirked when he saw her scratch her head with a pen, making a face at the screen. She probably reached the slide that says "the proof is left as an exercise for the student".

That had been when he'd noticed she wasn't paying any attention in class. Up until then, besides the awkward interlude where she'd fallen right into his lap, she'd casually ignored his existence. Sitting in Itachi's class that day, Sasuke, who had never before been conscious of his effect on other people, experienced an unusual feeling. He'd later identified it as disappointment.

Until she didn't even twitch when Itachi left one tricky proof as an example for the students to figure out themselves. And it was fair game for the final essay. Everyone else who'd actually been part of the class had grumbled loudly, but Sakura stayed still as a statue.

At that moment, Sasuke couldn't help glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.

And then he noticed she hadn't taken any notes all lecture.

That finally made him smile a little inside. Maybe it was a bit conceited to think that she was conscious of him at that moment, but with her reaction after class when she'd run away from him like a scared bunny, he was nearly certain of it.

Nearly.

As he watched her try to work her way through this proof, though, a small twinge of regret pricked his conscience. I probably shouldn't distract her in class anymore. I'll have to think of another way to approach her. Even if her annoyed and frustrated expressions were vastly entertaining.

He actually let out a small pfft of laughter when he saw her slowly bang her head against the table.

Why is she so entertaining to watch?

Thinking he'd watched her for long enough, though, Sasuke shook himself, ready to refocus on his work, when a certain file he'd been working on over the past few days in his precious few moments of spare time caught his eye.

The responsible side of him fought a brief battle with his self-indulgent side.

This would be an opportunity...

When he saw Sakura put her head down on her desk in defeat, his self-indulgent side squashed his responsible side like a bug.

Sasuke opened up Way, and used the in-game email function to send the link to the file.

(¬‿¬ ) ヽ('⌒'メ)ノ

I'm going to find whichever professor first said 'The proof is left as an exercise for the student' and tear up their life's work in front of their face! Sakura promised the tabletop in front of her face. She resisted the urge to swear loudly, since she was still in the library, even if it was mostly deserted. She couldn't afford to break another table, either.

Just before she could gather her nerves for another attempt at this proof, a new email caught her eye. It was forwarded from Way's in-game email. Curious, because no one ever used this service unsolicited, Sakura opened it up. It was from Sm1rkMeister.