Valentine’s Day came and went, ushering along newly formed couples.
There was a cozy, romantic ambience that enveloped the whole school. The new love birds wouldn’t be able to enjoy that for too long, however, as spring break loomed on the horizon. That meant that exams were rapidly approaching.
A growing number of students began to populate the library and empty classes with each passing day, and it had become a regular occurrence to spot them gathering at family restaurants near the school.
Asahi, as a matter of course, was diligently attending to his studies, reviewing past lessons and preparing for future ones. He resolved to put exceptional effort into studying on weekends, though this was primarily due to the fact that he was secretly looking forward to Fuyuka’s visits.
“Heyooo! We’re here in Asahi’s crib, about to kick off the fiiirst...”
“...Study meet to prepare for the upcoming exams!”
“Let’s gooo!”
“The Obnoxious Couple” clamored, disturbing the peace of the normally silent apartment. Their enthusiastic remarks reverberated throughout the room until a swift pair of whacks silenced them.
“You guys are clowns.” Asahi, the bringer of punishment, rebuked them.
“I-I’m gonna call child protective services!”
“Why’d you hit me harder than her, dude?!”
Hinami and Chiaki protested, teary-eyed, and massaged their heads.
Textbooks, notebooks, mechanical pencils, erasers, and other such items lay scattered in front of them on the table.
“Yeah, yeah, sorry I had to cut the fun short,” Asahi grumbled. “Hey, remind me again who came crying for help because they were about to flunk these exams? Gee, I can’t seem to remember...”
“Me...”
“Me too...”
“That’s what I thought. You two better start taking this seriously.”
The rowdy couple, having suddenly become conscious of what a catastrophe failing the final exams of their first year of high school would be, turned to Asahi for assistance. He’d decided to organize a study group at his place.
There’s no point in the whole thing if you don’t give this your all, guys.
This good-natured aspect of Asahi’s personality, the one that made him want to help those in need regardless of other circumstances, made him perfectly suited to become the pair’s tutor.
“Oh, be nice to them, Asahi,” a calm-sounding voice—a complete contrast to Asahi’s rigid disposition—chided him. “Some people can’t focus past a certain point when they’re tired.”
“Fine... if you say so, Fuyuka.” Asahi reluctantly disengaged his hardass mode. When he felt an impertinent gaze fall on him, however, he quickly snapped, “You! What’s so funny? You want to get up and share with the class?!”
“Eek! Asahi’s being scawy, Fuyu-Fuyu!” Hinami yelped, opening her arms wide to seek pity from her friend.
“H-Hey! Don’t cling onto me please!” Fuyuka held Himari at bay.
Chiaki, observing the whole ordeal from his chair, laughed. “Anyway, I’m glad you could make it, Himuro.”
“Oh, it’s nothing. I was planning to do some studying myself anyway.”
“I’m glad you’re here too, Fuyu-Fuyu!”
“With you here, passing these exams is gonna be smoooth sailing,” Chiaki said.
No clue where those two get their confidence from. It just comes down to the amount of work they put in, which is why I want them to study hard.
“The Obnoxious Couple” seemed to be relatively motivated—they’d even brought a plethora of textbooks and resources along to aid them. Fuyuka had been kind enough to join them for the study meet, as well.
“You two better not cause any trouble for Fuyuka, got it?” Asahi warned.
“Aye, Aye, Captain,” the couple responded in unison.
The finals were practically knocking on the door. With only one week until the dreaded date, there was no time to dawdle. Their first study meet began with the four of them gathered around one table. They adopted a one-on-one tutoring structure; Fuyuka handled Hinami, while Asahi worked with Chiaki.
✦ ✦ ✦
＊
“I’m tirrrrreeeeed!” Hinami complained loudly.
“Same. Any more and I think I’ll keel over...” Chiaki agreed.
Asahi eyed the clock on the wall, ignoring their whining, and noted it was already evening. Despite squeezing in an adequate amount of breaks into their schedule, “The Obnoxious Couple” weren’t used to investing so much time into their studies. Their ability to concentrate seemed to have reached its limit.
The couple, despite appearances, weren’t stupid. In fact, they were more than capable of passing these tests. That, combined with Asahi and Fuyuka’s effective tutoring, had greatly helped their comprehension of the exam material. They had even done well with a short quiz Asahi had created for them; they’d gotten over 80 percent of the questions correctly.
Looks like we won’t see any failures if we keep this up, but they’ve run out of steam. Obviously, I can’t force them to study any more. Whatever they decide to do, it’s on them. All I can do is remind them.
“Hmm, guess it’s about time for dinner, then,” Asahi declared.
The four of them had settled on having dinner together beforehand. He got up and made his way to the kitchen.
“Woohoo!” the couple exclaimed.
“I’ll help, Asahi,” Fuyuka offered.
“I’d appreciate that, thanks. Could you get out the utensils we’re gonna need? Oh, and it’d be great if you could start peeling the vegetables.”
“Got it.” With that brisk reply, Fuyuka got to work. “It’s only been a few days, but... it feels like it’s been forever since we were in the same kitchen like this.”
“True.”
“Did you miss it?” Fuyuka suddenly asked, surprising Asahi.
“I guess so. We were together pretty much constantly until recently, after all.”
“I feel the same way,” she said with a chuckle, tying the apron behind her back.
“Better not mess up in front of those two, okay?”
Asahi had immediately relapsed back into his bad habit of teasing Fuyuka to hide his embarrassment.
“I-I’ll be fine, thank you very much! I’ve put in a lot of work to—Ah!” She lost her footing and grabbed onto Asahi’s shoulder for support.
“You okay?” Asahi asked, and she nodded in reply. “Be more careful.”
She nodded a second time without uttering a word. Instead, she hung her scarlet-tinged face down. Asahi couldn’t determine if she was blushing because she was ashamed of the blunder she’d committed in front of him, or if it was something else entirely.
Whatever the case was, Asahi composed himself by inhaling deeply. His own blush dissipated, and he stole a quick peek into the living room. He heaved a sigh of relief. “Thank god—looks like those two weren’t paying attention.”
“You said it... If Aoba had seen what just happened, I don’t think she would’ve ever let us live it down.”
“Yeah, and I’m sure Chiaki would’ve loved to jump on the bandwagon. You know, with that stupid grin of his and all.”
Realizing that they’d gotten off scot-free lightened the awkward mood inside the kitchen.
“All right, let’s get this show on the road,” Asahi declared. He found he was more in the zone than usual, and immersed himself in cooking dinner—Hamburg steak with cheese.
“Commander Hinami, Ma’am! It would appear that Himuro has a comprehensive grasp over the Kagami kitchen sector according to local intelligence!” Chiaki barked out faux military speak to his girlfriend.
“Are you positive, Private? That information seems to lack credibility, if I do say so myself.”
“Ma’am, we’ve also spotted her deploying an apron—believed to be the same one Asahi gave her on her birthday!”
“Well I’ll be damned, ladies! It looks like we’ve got ourselves a pair of love birds in our sights.”
“Affirmative! They’re getting along like a house on fire, Ma’am!”
“Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see them hug or someth—Yikes! My cover was nearly blown by Asahi surveillance! Stay frosty, Private!”
Asahi had looked their way.
After a pause, Chiaki suggested, “Let’s just keep a lookout and see how things go.”
“Mhm! Maybe we could even occasionally give them a teeny tiny nudge!”