Mondo's Pov
My brother and my crush stood in the kitchen together.
"Alright. Let's get going before you end up tutoring them instead." I complained. Ishimaru looked pleased at this. He picked up his black backpack.
"Please show me to your room. Then we can get to making you not so terrible at math. That was a joke. Even I make jokes sometimes too! I'm sure you'll be great!" He smiled. His smile had the force of a thousand sunshines. Ishimaru was too pure for this world.
"Come on it's this way." I walked up the creaky stairs. We should probably get them fixed. Ishimaru followed me up there.
We walked down the hallway to my hellhole.
"Gimme like two minutes to clean. I wasn't expecting guests much less the president of the student council. Though I don't think they hand out gold stars for tidy rooms." I asked.
"Of course. Scientific studies have also shown that clean rooms help you work better. Clean room equals clear mind."
He stated. Jesus this guy is a nerd.
Ishimaru walked over to the stairs and sat down. He took out a book longer than my life expectancy.
I quickly threw blood stained clothes into random draws and piles of socks into the corner. I threw old takeaway cups into the trash. I tried to make my bed look as nice as possible and I stuffed my flags under my bed only leaving my gangs crest and some family pictures on my wall. I organised my desk to look appropriate for studying and put out all the books I owned onto it to make me look smarter than I am.
By the end of it my carpet only had a few patches of red, the bed looked orderly and I didn't look like a complete psychopath.
"Hey you can come in now. It's not too much of a hellhole anymore now it's only like Florida level." I half-yelled.
I heard a book close and shoes walk on the creaky tiles.
"Coming!" Ishimaru cried. He stood in the doorframe while I stood awkwardly in my room. I saw my trans flag sticking out from under the bed and quickly kicked it with my foot.
"So whatcha gonna do? Use hypnosis to get me good at math? I know a guy who said he could do that if I gave him a hundred thousand yen. I did but nothing happened. Only put a few more bills in the pocket of a scammer." I said. I think the guy said his name was hagakure or some shit.
"No no! Nothing like that. Only hard work and consistency truly pays off. I study every night and I have never gotten a grade below B." Ishimaru retorted. "Now we shall go over what we learned today in math. Pythagoras Thereom. Now what can you tell me about that?"
Shit. I was so caught up in sitting next to him and talking to him that nothing sank in. There was something with triangles. I know that. Then Ishimaru's pretty smile. His laugh. Wait that's not math.
"Ummmm there was some shit with triangles and length." I answered confused.
"Not the exact answer I was hoping for but an answer none the less! So you have to add the smaller sides....." I tried to concentrate but I got lost in his eyes. They were pure crimson and filled with an indescribable energy. Suddenly a voice snapped me out of my haze.
"Hey Mondo? Are you concentrating? If this technique isn't working we can try something else. Okay imagine you are riding on your bike and there's a traffic cone in your way. You need to jump over it so that you don't crash. And you need to find out the hypotenuse also known as the long side so you know how high up to jump. You would us the square of the perpendicular and the base to work out the square of the hypotenuse. Then find the root and that's your answer. So A squared times B squared equals C squared. Did that make sense?" Ishimaru looked at me with an anxious hope on his face.
Holy shit that actually made it click. What sorta tricks does this magic man do. I swear he is using hypnosis.
"Wait that actually makes sense. You're really fucking good at this Ishimaru. Not even my bro can make it click for me and he is pretty much the same as me." I smiled.
"I'm just doing my job you realise. But I'm glad I'm helping. Also please call me kiyotaka. Ishimaru sounds too formal."
He said this like it was a big deal. I guess it must be for him. I know how it feels asking to be called something else way too much.
"Sure bro. You can keep calling me mondo. Owada gets a bit confusing in this house." I replied.
We spent more time just talking. Usually about math but it would dip between personal elements now and then. Like i would say something and he would accidentally laugh and I got jokingly mad at him. Then he said something unexpected.
"Hey Im not quite sure how to say this but." Holy fuck what was he going to say. "What did you kick under your bed earlier. If it's a personal thing then you don't have to say."
Shit. Fuck. Shit. What do I say. Should I tell him ? I think Kiyotaka would be okay with it. What if he sees me differently afterwards? He's friends with a genderfluid kid so I'm assuming trans people are fine. It's probably safer not to. I'll tell him later.
"Oh it was just some dirty clothes I had shoved under my bed." I lied.
"You should probably wash them you know. Dirty clothes are extremely unhygienic to keep around. I wash my clothes weekly."He didn't sound overly suspicious which is good.
"Yeah, yeah I know. Daiya keeps pestering me about it."
There was a silence. It wasn't awkward but it wasn't calming either. Just a space between a stereotypical bad boy and the class president. If this was a movie he would fall into my arms. If things only went like that in real life.
A few more seconds passed.
"Hey Mondo? Here's my number." Kiyotaka leaned over towards me holding a neatly torn piece of paper. "Just in case you're ever doing your homework and need help or if you want me to tutor you. Or if you just wanted to text in general. I usually have my phone on me except in school during class."
"Damn you're handwritings neat. You sure you didn't type this? And yeah I'll text you. You can tutor me. You're a lot of fun to hang out with you know that nerd." I said closing my textbook.
"You're fun to hang out with too. I don't usually get excited about tutoring people but I have high hopes for you!" Kiyotaka beamed.
I walked him down the stairs after he had packed up his things.
"Do you need a ride home?" I asked.
"No this is only about fifteen minutes away from where I live actually. Its really nice seeing you Mondo!" Kiyotaka replied.
Before I knew it he hugged me. There wasn't a mirror nearby but I know my face was full fucking red. I hugged him back obviously. It's a once in a lifetime chance for your crush to hug you so it was obvious.
"It's really good to see you too you dork. See you in math."
The door closed and I walked into the living room.
"So this Ishimaru" Daiya immediately said while staring at his phone.
"What about Kiyotaka?" I nervously asked. I played with my hands in anticipation to see what he would say.
"Don't even try to hide it. You have never tried a tutor. Even I tried. You are head over heels for mr goody two shoes aren't you?"
"What! Fuck no!" I tried to reject. I'm bad at lying around Daiya.
"Okay and if you do like him I would tell you this. Go for it. But take it slowly. The kid likes you. But he doesn't know so flirt. Make him realise. If you liked him of course." He grinned.
"And if I did like him I'd say thank you. But I don't so no thank you." I said sitting down on the couch beside him.
"I would also say you two are good for each other. You don't put on the tough guy act around him and can just relax. And you can just tell that he enjoys hanging out with you."
"Yeah sure" I mumbled half heartedly. I didn't realise I acted different. Maybe I will ask him out at some point.
Daiya was watching Drag race again. I reached into my pocket to get the piece of paper with Kiyotaka's number on it. I typed it in to my half shattered phone with the same two year old phone case. It had some dried blood on it. I'm not sure whose it was but it wasn't mine.
A picture of a smiling Kiyotaka appeared on my screen in the corner. He was still in his uniform and next to a shorter dude with brown hair. I assumed it was Chihiro. I'll ask. I knew it was him but I just wanted to text.
'Just checking this is you. This is Mondo btw" I typed.
I mentally squealed when the two blue ticks appeared.
'Yes this is Kiyotaka Ishimaru."
'K that's good. Hey is the dude/girl in your profile Chihiro?'
'Yeah! Do you know them?'
'No you talked about them earlier and idk I just thought you wouldn't have someone on your profile unless you really care about them'
'Yeah they're my best friend. I don't really have many friends unlike you.'
He got that wrong.
'I have allies and workers. I only have about four I would call my friends. One of them is my mechanic unsurprisingly.'
'Interesting. I greatly apologise but I must leave. I have homework which is due in in a week which I haven't got around to.'
'And when was it set?'
'Fourth period.'
'You dork'
'It's better to do your homework early so you have more time! It's better than not doing it at all like some people I know.'
'Hey I do my homework. I just have an illegal extended deadline.'
'And do you ever get in trouble for the extended deadline?'
'Sometimes'
'You proved my point. Also if you do your homework now then you have more time for activities like hanging out with friends or going biking'
'1. No 2. You don't 'go biking', you get on a motorcycle and ride and sometimes get in fights.'
'By sometimes you mean you literally have blood on your clothes.'
'Hey these are my good clothes. I dressed up nicely for you.'
'You look very nice. Now go do your homework'
'You sound like Daiya'
'I'm going to take that as a compliment. If you need any help I'll be here just on the other end :D'
'Okay. Just be warned I'll text way too much.'
'That's fine I like the company.'
'You are too. Even when you act like a total dork.'
Kiyotaka status: flirted with
'(//∇//)'
'You're adorable. And just as big of a nerd as I thought you were. Now I have some equations i need to work out.'
'Me too. I'll send you a useful playlist of songs I listen to. They aren't helpful but I like to listen to them.'
I shoved my phone into my pocket filled with miscellaneous items(I felt a knife at one point and I don't remember having one).
"I'm gonna go do my homework for once" I explained.
"What do you mean for once? Mondo Owada I will kill you. I know where every weapon in this house is- Wait where are you going?" I could tell he was faking it. We're practically twins. Can't lie to one another.
Before he could continue trying to kill me I had ran upstairs and taken my books out.
I checked my phone again for the playlist Kiyotaka was meant to send me. I opened the messages and scrolled down all the different people I know.
"Kazuichi, Leon, Hiro, wait how did I get Gundhams number? Anyways there Ishimaru." There was a new message.
A Spotify link to a playlist mixed of indie and alternative songs. Never took him for that sorta guy. Maybe it's Chihiro's music taste and he got into it for them? Yeah probably.
I put my practically broken headphones on and started listening. They worked okay but every now and again they would glitch while the music played. Makes some fucked up songs.
Okay, question 1.
I'm not great at math but hopefully I'll improve. At least if I'm with him.