Uh, keep reading I guess...anyway here ya go!
Okay, so maybe I was wrong. Maybe this is so bad. I groaned quietly and slapped a hand to my forehead. I ran my hand down my face before my fingers made my way to my hair and tugged hard. The cause of all my stress was a test sitting on the desk in front of me. I was sitting in a class that was supposed to train us in the aria field. I wasn't planning on becoming an aria, but the class was still mandatory. We had to have a little information on fatal verses just in case we couldn't get to our other weapons. I had never been good with memorization, so this class was hell on earth. This had always been the most difficult class for me, and it didn't help that this class was harder and more in depth than at my previous cram school.
I glared down at the paper and resisted shouting in anger. I had studied so long and hard for this test and still could not remember anything. I only knew about half the answers, and I wrote them slowly and unsurely. I sighed, running my hands down my face once more. Before I knew it, the class period was over, and I had to hand in what I had, which wasn't much. I walked up to the teacher and handed the paper to her.
"Miss (L/N), I'd like to have a word with you," she said, and I started crying internally. I already knew how bad my grade was in this class, I didn't need anyone else telling me. "Mr. Suguro, can I borrow you for a moment?" she called, and I gulped.
I knew I wasn't Suguro's favorite person in the world. I had been here for three weeks, and he had not said a word to me outside of an insincere "hello." I could never figure out why Suguro didn't like me, and I most certainly did not have the nerve to ask him. Eventually, seeing my confusion, Shima told me Suguro views me as competition. He viewed me as competition for top of the class and maybe even a little bit of popularity between his two best friends. I had never seen myself as such person as most people didn't talk to me much. They viewed me as the weird and quiet nerd. I wouldn't say they were wrong, but I didn't want to be alone.
Suguro stepped up beside me, and I tensed. The teacher folded her hands in front of her on the desk. "Miss (L/N), you know very well where you grade stands in my class as of this moment, and I've seen that like me, you are not pleased by it." I nodded, not saying a word. My stress level began to rise, and it felt like there was a lead ball rolling around in my stomach. Grades has always been a cause of stress. I was a perfectionist by nature, so I didn't settle for anything less than an A, and in this class, I wasn't even making a B.
"I know that you are very hard working, (Y/N). I've seen your distress over your grades, and I know you are truly trying your best; you wouldn't be so upset if you didn't care. So," she said, turning to speak to Suguro. "I'd like you to tutor her after cram school for an hour or so. Maybe this will help to improve your grade." A million different thoughts were rushing through my head all at once. Does it really have to be Suguro? Why him of all people? I know he has the best grades in the class, but why him?
"I'd be more than happy to," Suguro said formally. I had to keep my jaw from falling open in shock. Did he really just agree to tutor me, just like that? Why would be help me? He sees me as competition!
"Wonderful. Thank you Mr. Suguro. I'll really hope this helps, (Y/N)." I nodded numbly and sent her a weak smile. She dismissed us, and I quickly walked out of the room, Suguro following a little while behind.
"(L/N)!" I heard Suguro's deep baritone voice call after me. I stopped and slowly turned around. He approached me and stopped about three feet in front of me. He had his arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face. I had to crane my neck to look up at him. He was easily a foot taller than me; I only stood at five foot. "Look, I don't want to do this anymore than you do, okay?" I nodded dumbly. "Let's just get your grade up so I don't have to do this anymore. Does right after cram school in the library work?" I nodded. "Good, we start today," he said and brushed passed me, heading toward the next class. I released a breath I didn't know I'd been holding. I shook my head and followed Suguro to the next class.
{Line Break}
I had not been able to focus for the remainder of the day. I was still very uncomfortable with the idea of Suguro tutoring me. Not many people intimidated me, but he did. With his tall stature and the permanent scowl on his lips, there was just something about him that made me uneasy. I caught him glaring at me a few times from where he sat next to me throughout the day. I had every class with him except for one. While I had sparing lessons with Shura and Rin, Suguro had an advanced aria class with Shima and Konekomaru. Speaking of sparring lessons...
My blue sword clattered to the ground, and I was pushed to the ground for what seemed like the millionth time that day. "Ow," I muttered and rubbed my sure to be bruised tailbone. I sighed and pushed myself to my feet, grabbing my sword.
"What's up with you today?" Shura snapped. "We've gotten so far in your training and today you act like you've never held a sword in your life!" she exclaimed.
"I'm sorry," I muttered, not making eye contact with her. "I just have a lot of stuff on my mind."
"I could tell," she snapped and I flinched slightly. "But when you're in a fight, no matter what's on your mind, you can't let it be your top priority." I nodded, taking my stance once more. "I want you to focus purely on the fight. I want to see the powerful attacks that I'm used to seeing," Shura challenges before advancing.
This round was undeniably better. I forced myself to imagine her an enemy and to focus on her style of fighting. I still had not been able to place a pattern or a description on her attacks. They were too random, but they seemed to be working for her. As long as it's efficient. I thought, quietly wondering if I would ever be that good. My mind drifted to the swords on my hands and the stunt I had pulled in our first sparing session. Could I do it again? I wondered quietly.
As new surge of determination filled my body. and I began to fight harder, not caring what I was going to feel like later. Shura looked surprised by my change in attitude, but she then narrowed her eyes and pushed harder. I pushed back equally as hard. She was already a difficult opponent. and I had never seen the true powers of her sword. She told me she would use them when she felt I was ready. Let's see if I can control that energy and use it to my advantage.
I focused on my muscles and what kind of strain I was putting them through and imagined the strange sensation I had felt before. It took a few minutes, but I felt a small spark in my finger tips and this lit a fire deep down; a desire to unlock these powers. I focused on the spark and imagined it growing until I could feel it creep up my arms. This time, the energy was not visible. I guessed this was because I had called upon it and it wasn't a surprise. I was able to control it this time around. I felt the energy take root on my stomach, and I could feel and small surge of power.
A sudden fear crept into my mind, and I blanched slightly at the thought of my powers becoming out of my control and hurting someone. I felt the energy die down slightly before I shook the thought away and focused on building them again. I was successful and then imagined it flowing through my swords. Before I got ready to unleash it, I worked into getting Shura into a position in which I could disarm her without harming her. Once I had, I released the energy in a single blast and sent the sword flying out of her hands. I was ready for the burst of energy this time and only stumbled back a few steps. I recovered quickly, and I caught Shura in her daze. I swung my right arm up to position the tip of the sword at her unguarded throat. She broke out into a grin when she realized what had happened.
"Geez, kid. You're not afraid to go all out. You got guts." I smiled and lowered my sword. They both transformed back into rings before I knew what was happening. They shocked me again as I put them on. "I guess that's it for your sparring today," Shura mused, staring at the rings. "Anyway, come on Rin. Let's get started." Rin grumbled something unintelligible under his breath before picking up a practice sword and taking his stance.
They fought for a while, and I could tell both of them were growing frustrated. Shura was losing her patience with Rin's constant lack of focus, and Rin was tired of being corrected. I shook my head as Shura suddenly swung at Rin, knocking Rin and his sword to the ground. The bell rang as Rin stood up, rubbing his tailbone.
"Geez, both of you better be ready for tomorrow. I want a totally different attitude from both of you tomorrow." With that, Shura hid her sword and walked out, slamming the doors behind her.
I sighed before a sudden sense of anxiety filled me as I remembered where I was supposed to go after school. I grabbed my stuff after off the ground and headed off, trying to suppress my anxiety. "Hey, where are you going?" Rin called. Normally we walked out together. He would walk me to my dorms since it was on the way to his. I stopped and slowly turned around. "You got a date or something?" he asked. Heat rushed to my face, and I shook my hands out in front of me.
"No, no, no, nothing like that. Nothing like that at all," I squeaked. I sighed and ran a hand over my face. "Our fatal verses teacher decided to have Suguro tutor me after cram school because I'm not doing too well." Rin nodded knowingly.
"He's actually a pretty good tutor, I've heard." I only nodded, still feeling uneasy with the situation. "You'll be fine. Bon might seem big and tough, but he can be really nice. He's just not great at expressing his feelings," Rin assured me, patting me on the back as we headed out of the room.
"I've never been tutored before," I confessed. "I'm normally the one doing the tutoring." Rin hummed in response.
"You'll be okay. It'll be worth it to keep your grades up." I nodded and returned the smile he was sending me. He walked with me to the library, and I smiled and waved as he went on his way. "Good luck!" he called as he walked in the opposite direction. I called a thanks and entered the building.
I took a deep breath and started looking for Suguro. I quickly found him unpacking a few things at a table. I quietly approached him and set my bag down. I saw him glance up at me as I got a pencil and my binder out, but he didn't say anything. I sat across from him, not making eye contact. "What part of this class is causing you problems?" he asked suddenly, scaring me slightly. He was now digging around in his bag, not looking at me.
"Uh, I've just never been good at memorizing," I told him. "I don't know if you can do too much about that," I added quietly.
"Some people are better at it than others," he said evenly, like he'd had this conversation hundreds of time. "I'll find something that works for you." I nodded, slightly confused by his new tone. I'd never had this long of a conversation with him before; I didn't know what to expect. "Let's work on the homework first; I'll help you with it." I was still slightly apprehensive about the current situation. We quickly worked through the homework with only a little bit of frustration on my part. He was incredibly patient, and I could only think that he had way worse cases than me to deal with.
I groaned and grabbed at my hair, hanging my head slightly. "I'm sorry," I said looking up again.
"It's fine," he said gruffly. "You just have to be patient." I nodded at his words. He continued to walk me through the homework and finally, for the first time in weeks, I found myself understanding what was being said. We had soon finished the homework and he moved me to strategies to help memorize. He asked me about my study habits, and I told him. He gave me a few pointers on it and told me to try them out through the next week or so.
"Does two times a week work with your schedule?" he asked as we walked out of the library after our tutoring session. I nodded. "Tuesday and Friday work?" I nodded once more. I had stayed relatively quiet during our time together, but he didn't seem to mind. "Alright, well I'll see you tomorrow," he said and walked away, not waiting for an answer. Geez, just when I think he's being a little nicer. I shook my head and headed off to my dorm to get ready for bed.