'Breath.' She told herself. 'Just breath; it's no big deal. You're making it worse.' She stared at the dreaded beast in front of her, unsure of what the best course of action should be.
'Dammit...' She thought miserably. 'I suck at math.' She resisted the urge to smack her head down on her desk, knowing it would be painful.
Nanase Ori wasn't stupid, far from it, but there was something about math that made her skin crawl. Even just saying the word left an unpleasant taste in her mouth. Yet here she was, suffering in the middle of her math test.
She'd gotten a tutor, but they gave up after the first day. Ori tried not to feel helpless and pitiful, but after her tutor ran out after just twenty minutes, the feeling crept up behind her like a creepy doll in a horror movie.
Time was up. The teacher came down the aisles, collecting the homework. When his eyes locked on Ori, the familiar disappointed look on his face made her roll her eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, I know." She muttered as she handed him her test. She looked out the window as the humid July air made the leaves on trees curl slightly. Ori found herself wishing she was a tree. She wouldn't have any responsibilities except for taking in sunlight and carbon dioxide and producing fresh air, and the best part was Ori doubted she'd even be aware she was doing it. It would be as natural as breathing.
"Excuse me." A masculine voice next to Ori made her turn. It was Yagami Raito. Teen prodigy and quite popular with the ladies. His light brown hair fell neatly over his chocolate-colored eyes. He was pretty tall, standing at 5'10.
'That's probably why all the girls like him so much. Because he's tall, good-looking, and smart.' Ori thought in annoyance. She watched him lazily with her hand holding up her head as he stared at her.
"Do you need something?" She asked.
Raito smiled sheepishly. "I couldn't help noticing you were having trouble on the math test. If you'd like, I could tutor you." Instantly, Ori picked her head up. Raito tutoring her would be a huge benefit. He was the smartest guy in their grade. Heck, probably even their school. She quirked an eyebrow at him.
"Are you sure? My last tutor went running for the hills half-way through our first session." Ori was aware of the girls watching her with a glare that would scare anyone, but Ori ignored them the best she could. Raito, on the other hand, had taken on a nervous expression, though Ori doubted it was because of their fellow female students.
"W-well. I could certainly try." He said. Ori stuck out her hand with a bright smile and Raito hesitantly took it.
"You got yourself a deal, Yagami Raito. I'm interested in how long it'll take before you have steam coming out of your ears." Raito chuckled half-heartedly but stopped when another girl came over. She had straight, dark brown hair that stopped just passed her chest and light brown eyes. From what Ori could remember, her name was Ito Yui. She watched both of them with an angry expression when her eyes locked on their conjoined hands. Ori pulled away and began to pack up her things. The bell signaling their dismissal would ring at any second.
"Excuse me, what are you doing with Light?" Yui asked. Ori cast a quick glance at her, desperately trying to fight off the smile that tugged at her lips.
"Nothing at all, Ito-chan," Ori said in a teasing tone. She normally didn't use those types of suffixes, but this could be considered a special occasion.
"Raito was just offering me some help. No big deal." Ori slung her bag over her shoulder, but that only seemed to make Yui even angrier. She didn't say anything, however, and just stomped off to her friends. Ori could imagine her going to her friends to spread rumors about Ori being a slut or something. It didn't bother her though.
Ori turned Raito and smiled. "So, Raito. Do what want to go to my house, or yours?" Raito looked taken aback.
"W-wait, today?" He asked.
Ori shrugged. "Why not? Oh, how about my house. My mom's making Italian tonight! That's her specialty." Raito chuckled as he nodded his consent. Ori pointed out the door in excitement.
"Let's go, Yagami Raito. Our quest for my math grade and my mother's delicious food awaits!"
"I actually go by Light." He said, but Ori pretended as if she hadn't heard him.
"Let's go, Yagami Raito." She repeated as if she hadn't heard him and marched out the door. She was on a mission.
On their walk to Ori's house, she asked Raito all sorts of questions about his family, his studying methods, and even random stuff like his favorite color. She was sure that she was annoying Raito, but he never said anything regarding it. In fact, he asked her some questions about her mom's food, and what specifically was giving Ori a hard time when it came to math, in which she responded with, "Everything." She smiled and kept ignoring the times when Raito 'reminded' her that he went by Light. Ori stopped when they reached her house and opened the gate.
"Weird," Raito said absentmindedly.
"What's weird?" Ori asked.
"My house is just down the road. I never even noticed that we were walking in the same direction I take every day." Ori hummed in response as she opened the door to her house, the warm smell of food wafting into her nose holes.
"I wonder why we've never run into each other before now," Ori said, then she remembered that she had just moved to Daikoku Private Academy at the beginning of the year, four months before, and from what Ori could gather, she was pretty sure Raito did Cram School. The two of them took off their shoes and set them down then walked further into the house. Ori's mother, Vivian Nanase, walked in with a smile. She was holding a wooden spoon and an apron that said, 'It's not easy being cheesy' in English with a large slice of cheese underneath the words. Vivian was born in America but came to Japan three years after she met Ori's father. That apron was among the many things Vivian had brought with her.
"Hey, Honey," Vivian greeted cheerfully. "How was school?" Her smile dropped when she saw Raito standing awkwardly behind Ori. Ori set her bag down on the sofa next to the stairs that led up to the bedrooms. Her happy smile was replaced with a mischievous one.
"School was good, Mom." Ori knew what her mom was going to say. She was going to jump into the story of how she had met Ori's father when she still lived in America.
"And who is this?" Vivian asked with a suggestive smile and the raise of a slim eyebrow. Raito fidgeted uncomfortably.
"This is Raito; he offered the tutor me in math." Suddenly that mischievous smile was gone and in its place was a woman on the verge of tears. She walked forward and took Raito's hands.
"Oh, thank you! Thank you, you sweet, sweet boy!" Raito looked like he was about to panic. Ori figured he hadn't thought about what a lost cause she was.
Vivian pushed the two of them towards the carpeted stairs and thrust Ori's bag into her hands.
"Go and get started. I'll call you two down when I'm done with dinner." Ori had already started walking up the stairs but stopped when she heard Vivian whispering to Raito loudly.
"I hope this doesn't make you think too poorly of Ori. She really is a smart girl."
"Mom!" Ori shouted in exasperation. "Don't scare him away! He's my ticket to Todia!" By this point, Raito looked like he was about to pass out. Ori took his tan-colored jacket sleeve and led him up the stairs. She let go of his sleeve when she opened her door and walked into her thankfully clean room. She plopped down on her bed while Raito took a seat at her desk. "
"Sorry about my mom. She just gets excited easily."
"I can see where you get it from." He laughed. Glanced around Ori's room, taking in her teal walls and gray bedspread. Ori stood up from her bed and opened her bag.
"How about we started at last week's homework?" Raito asked. Ori nodded and pulled it out. She was almost nervous about handing it over. The image of the face he would make worried her. Nonetheless, she handed over the paper. Raito looked it over, his face was expressionless, which only made Ori feel more anxious. At least she would be able to tell what he was thinking if he were to look horrified, or even disappointed, but she had no idea what he was thinking. When he finally spoke, he sounded like a teacher, professional and ready to help. He turned the paper so Ori could see it from her spot on her bed.
"I can see what you were trying to do, but this is the equation you use instead." He scribbled on her paper the correct way to solve the problem. It went on like that for the next hour or so. Every now and then, Ori would exclaim when something would click in her brain.
"Hey, you two. Dinner's ready." Ori's mom said from the open doorway. Ori stood up in excitement. Raito rose a little slower, picking up the jacket he had discarded a little while ago.
"Well, I guess I should head home." He pulled his arms through the jacket in a swift and graceful motion, and instantly Vivian was voicing her disagreement.
"What kind of hosts would we be if we sent you home hungry? No, you'll eat here, then Ori can walk you home." Raito opened his mouth to argue, but Ori just shook her head, telling him it wasn't worth it.
"You've got a mom, right? You should know that's it's useless to say no when it comes to food." She went downstairs to the dining room and the sound of Raito's footsteps told her that she was following. The warm smell had grown since they had first stepped into the house. The smell of seasoning, pork, and vegetables made Ori smile, her mouth watering in expectation. The two of them sat down as Vivian placed their dinner in front of them. It was Italian breaded pork chops with potatoes, green beans, and cherry tomatoes. Raito and Ori quickly thanked Vivian for the meal and began to eat. The flavor was homey and delicious. Raito chewed, then smiled at Vivian.
"This is delicious." He said. Vivian blushed and smiled and she bit into her own food.
"I told you that Italian was her specialty," Ori said as she continued to shovel the food into her mouth. Before long she was done and Vivian took her plate with a sigh. She disappeared into the kitchen then came back out with more food on Ori's plate.
"I still don't understand how you can eat so much and still be so small. I'm sorry, Honey, but you should be the size of a baby whale with how much you eat." Vivian said. Raito coughed as he took a bite of his food and Ori just swallowed and laughed.
"That's a trade secret, Mom," Ori said while tapping on her own temple. Vivian just rolled her eyes and went on eating. When they were all done, it was passed eight' o'clock. Ori grabbed her jacket and slid her shoes onto her feet.
"You don't have to walk with me." Raito offered, but Ori just smiled.
"It's no big deal. You said your house was just down the road, it's not a long walk." Ori shut the door once they were both outside, then sighed.
"Okay, the real reason is that I don't want my mom to yell at me after she already volunteered me. I'm actually doing this to save my own skin; I'm selfish like that." They walked to Raito's house and waved a quick good-bye as Raito walked inside. Ori took a deep breath and turned around to walk back home. She looked up at the stars twinkling brightly in the sky billions of lightyears away. She thought of a quote she'd read a long time ago by an old poet named Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: "Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven, blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels". Ori had no idea if the quote was meant to be a black-and-white meaning, or if it had some deeper context that she would only know by thinking about it deeper, but she liked the quote anyway. It sounded mysterious and full of the greatest possibilities. Not to mention that Longfellow sounded like a ridiculous name.
'I bet he got bullied a lot.' Ori thought in amusement.
As she continued to look up at the stars while she walked, she could see Katakana, Yagi, and Ohitsuji: Orion the hunter, Capricorn the sea-goat, and Aries the white ram. They twinkled back at her like they were trying to give her the meaning behind the quote, but their quiet voices were lost in the great distance between them and Ori.
Ori was laying in her bed, feeling very pleased with herself. She had had the smartest kid in Japan help her with math and now that she understood it a lot more, getting into Todai would be so much easier than what it had been previously before. Ori knew that she would need a lot more help down the road, but this was a good start.
She wasn't going to be falling asleep any time soon, but the soft sound of her ceiling fan spinning around was soothing, so she changed into her pajamas and crawled back under the covers to relax. Her dark blue curtains were partly opened revealing the gentle glow of the streets lights on the road. She couldn't see the stars, but she knew they were there. That's what she liked about stars. Even when she couldn't see them, they were always there, constant, and yet ever-changing. The hot balls of gas were always dying after being alive for too long, only to the replaced by more stars. Constant, and yet ever-changing, just like everything else.
"Hey, Raito!" Ori cried cheerfully when she arrived at school. He was standing in front of her, the morning sun bringing out the gold strands in his otherwise brown hair. He turned when he heard her voice and smiled.
"Hello, Ori." He greeted politely when she caught up to him.
'Seems like he's given up on correcting me about his name.' She thought in amusement.
They walked into class together, still talking until the teacher walked in and announced the start of class. After a couple weeks, it became a routine. Every week Raito would tutor Ori in math, alternating houses every other week. Ori was now familiar with Raito's parents and little sister, Sayu. But there was something about Raito that was beginning to bother Ori. He was so polite and smart. He was almost... too perfect. And it didn't help that no matter long Ori spent time with him, she could never tell what was going on in Raito's head. His thoughts were so guarded to her and everyone else, that it was starting to worry Ori, but she pushed the thought away. Thinking about it too much would only make things worse.