SHE COULD THINK OF hundreths of other things she would rather do than have to awkwardy walk next to Baji's friend as they made their way towards their apartment building. Chifuyu had tried to start a conversation with her and Y/n had responded, albeit with such short answers that the boy had given up not too long after.

If she had to be honest, she had completely forgotten what she promised Baji once the morning had arrived. Chifuyu, however, being the ever-dutiful friend, had entered her classroom just before she was about to leave.

She looked at him in confusion. ''You promised Baji-san you'll tutor him for the week and I have to bring you to his house.''

''Oh. Oh, right.''

And so, the two were now walking side by side, neither of them saying a thing. Chifuyu had taken out his phone by that point and was, unbeknownst to Y/n, texting Baji.

This is so awkward, Chifuyu thought as he typed it and sent it to his friend.

Aren't you guys almost there? Baji had sent almost a minute after. It was hard to type on flip-phones, after all.

Yeah, I see the building. You owe me, was the last thing Chifuyu wrote before he put his phone away and looked at Y/n. ''This is the place.''

Y/n finally looked up from her feet, seeing the relatively normal building. She nodded. ''Lead the way, then.''

Chifuyu walked ahead of her as he walked towards Baji's appartment on the second floor, knocking on the door as he did so. They stood too close and for Y/n it felt like Baji took forever to open the door.

Once he did open the door, Y/n couldn't help but let her eyes widen when Baji stood there with a kitten laying on his head and a cat on his shoulder. Chifuyu didn't seem as surprised, so maybe it was normal for Baji?

''I didn't know you have cats,'' Y/n said. Then again, it's not like she knew much about him to begin with.

Baji looked at the cat on his shoulder and chuckled. ''They aren't really my cats, I found them on the street. They're staying with me for a bit!''

Ah. That makes sense, yes.

''That's . . . nice of you,'' Y/n said. ''Anyway . . . Chifuyu, you brought your notes and homework from today, right?''

''It's right here.'' He quickly fished in his bag and brought out a few papers, handing them to Y/n, who examined them. It was simple, really, she'd already done that last year.

''Baji-san, are you gonna let us in?'' Chifuyu said, reminding Y/n that they were still standing in front of the door.

''Oh, shit, yeah!" Baji said and stepped aside, almost sending the cat on his head flying off.

Chifuyu snorted at his friend's action and walked in the house, taking off his shoes and putting them aside before going in further. Y/n took a moment before stepping in as well, feeling rather awkward under Baji's and the cats' gaze.

''You can put them here.'' Baji pointed towards the side after he watched Y/n hold her shoes for good ten seconds in confusion. Y/n nodded and quickly put her shoes down, then waited for Baji to walk further into the house.

Sitting in skirts was uncomfortable. That was universal knowledge. Y/n was sat on top of her legs so there's no peeks and her legs were going to get numb soon. Alas, she didn't have much of a choice.

''Do you need help, too, Matsuno?'' Y/n asked when she noticed that he, too, was sat at the coffee table with a notebook at the ready.

''Wouldn't mind it.'' Chifuyu shrugged, leaning his cheek on his hand.

Y/n nodded - she hadn't signed up for that, but did she really have a choice? Grabbing Chifuyu's notes and Baji's school book, she started to explain the biology lesson in her own logic; a logic fit for idiots, but logic nonetheless.

Baji nodded along to her words, watching as she grabbed his notebook and wrote down some pointers to make it easier, though he wasn't sure if he fully understood what she was talking about. No matter, she was explaining something to him and she was pretty, what else could he ask for?

Chifuyu sighed as he watched his friend watch Y/n with wide eyes. This very much felt like a scene from a shoujo manga and he was very much feeling the side secondary character that's the main love interest's best friend and has to third wheel him and the other love interest. But he couldn't just walk out now, could he?

''Baji, are you listening to me?'' Y/n asked, noticing how out of it Baji seemed. Upon hearing his name being called, Baji almost shot up, the cats that had been laying next to him jumping up slightly.

''Yeah, 'course I am. You were talking about protons and neutrons, right?''

''. . .''

''. . . Baji-san, this is Math. Protons are Physics.''

''Oh.''

Y/n sighed. He could be deemed a lost case, but she promised she would help him for the week. After all, he did punch another boy just to defend her honour - which she still found dumb, by the way - so she had no choice but to oblige.

A ringtone filled the room and Baji quickly fished out his phone from his sweatpants, flipping it open and answering quizzically. ''Hello?''

The voice on the other side of the line was very faint, so neither Y/n nor Chifuyu could make out who was talking. ''Right now? . . . Yeah, we're studying . . . Yes, actually studying . . . That urgent? . . . Fine, we're coming.''

Baji closed his phone and looked at Chifuyu. ''Mikey said there's an emergency meeting and we gotta meet up with him and the others.''

Chifuyu knew what Mikey wants. He was bored and probably simply wanted to hang out. Usually, he would find it really annoying when Mikey pulls those stunts, but this time he was being saved from being a third-wheel, so he was more than happy to go and hang out with the others.

''Sorry Y/n, it's urgent. You'll come again tomorrow, right?'' Baji asked.

Y/n had to withold a sigh. ''Yeah, sure. Just read the notes I wrote down for each subject so you at least know what's happening in class.''

Baji looked down at the notebook Y/n had been writing in, seeing that she had written quite a lot in two hours; it was simplified, too, and he wondered if she made it so specifically for him.

''Aight, cya tomorrow, then!''

Once she left the house, she felt like she could finally breath. The awkwardness had been sufforicating and she was glad she finally got to escape. Though, not too long after the relaxed feeling left her and dread filled her as she remembered she had to go again the next day.

Whatever, at least I can finally go back to writing now.

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''What was the emergency, Mikey? And why are we in front of a restaurant?''

''Dorayaki!''

Baji wondered why exactly he was surprised by Mikey's answer. His mood immediately sunk and he wanted to go set a car on fire to release his frustration.

''You ruined the study session to call us to eat?''

''Were you really studying, Baji?''

''Yeah!''

''More like he was oggling the tutor,'' Chifuyu had decided to join the conversation.

''Oi! I wasn't!''

''Yeah, sure.''

''Chifuyu, shut it!"

Y/n felt a shiver go down her spine as she sat on her desk, still clad in her school uniform. Is someone talking about me? Shrugging, she turned back to look at the open page she had reached in her ideas notebook.

Would Baji really understand what I taught him today? Was a thought that crossed her mind. It wasn't supposed to be there during her brainstorming time, yet it had wiggled it's way inside. Wait, I still have my old notebooks from last year.

Standing up from her desk chair, her open notebook laying discareded on the desk, Y/n scurried over to her bed and bent down, looking at the few boxes pushed under there.

High School - Year 1. Grabbing the box with that name, she quickly brought out all her old notebooks and opened the first one she grabbed, cringing slightly at how messy it all was. It's messy, but maybe it'll help Baji understand.

Maybe she wasn't the best tutor. The long forgotten tests with a 83/100 or a 59/100 were the proof of that. A bad trait of hers was that she usually understood the material after the test had been written, thus resulting in her being an average student.

Not that she cared, no. She was planning to be a big author, so as long as she published a book, she didn't need to know how to calculate the surface area of a square.

That's the exact topic Baji's class is doing, Y/n said as she listed through her maths notebook. Sighing, she picked up all the notebooks and pushed the box back under the bed. Placing them on her desk, she brougth out a clean notebook and picked up her purple pen before copying down the notes from her old notebook.

Neater this time, though.

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''I can't come to Baji's today.''

Y/n blinked once, not having realized Chifuyu had entered the room for a moment. ''Okay?''

After announcing that and giving her the work they got that day, Chifuyu left and Y/n realized that maybe she should've asked him to explain the way to Baji's again. It was too late now, so she simply had to trust her instincs and orientation to do it.

Baji was surprised to receive a call right after school had ended, from Y/n, nonetheless. ''L/n? What's up?''

''I might be late.''

''Something happen'?''

''I may or may not be entirely sure exactly where your house is.''

It took Baji a moment before he understood what she meant. ''You lost?''

''. . . Yes.''

Baji couldn't help but snort, laughing more as he heard Y/n humpf at his reaction. ''What way did you take after you left the school?'' After giving him a few directions and telling him what she can see around him, Baji finally realized where she was. ''Hold still, I'm coming to get you.''

"Fine."

It wasn't long before Baji found the girl, who was leaning on a wall with her arms crossed across her chest and a neutral expression on her face as she looked around. Baji chuckled at the sight, approaching her and tapping her shoulder, causing her to jump slightly. "Your savior is here, girlie."

Y/n rolled her eyes and straigtened up. "Shut up and don't tell anyone about this.''

The walk to his house was as quiet as the one with Chifuyu had been. Baji didn't find it awkward in the slightest, whilst Y/n wanted nothing more than to run away in the opposite direction. They were going to be alone the whole time today, which made it even more awkard. For Y/n, at least.

"I wrote down some notes that might help you." They were sitting at the coffee table again, side by side. Baji took the notebook and listed through the pages, admiring her handwriting and the colors she'd used to highlight important parts. It looked very organized. "You can also add things you think are important."

"Thanks," Baji said and put the notebook down. "So, are we gonna start or?"

Today, Baji seemed to pay more attention to her teachings. He wasn't as distracted as yesterday - that is not to say he wasn't distracted at all - and managed to answer some of the exercises from the school book, as well as do half of his homework without her help.

It was a surprising improvement after a three hours of tutoring.

"You're so smart," Baji had remarked, though Y/n had dismissed him immediatedly. She wasn't as smart as Baji thought. She'd just already learned the material and revised it the day before.

Y/n hadn't realized how much time has passed until she heard keys jiggling and a voice calling out. "I'm home, Keisuke!"

Stiffening, Y/n looked at the clock that was hanging on the wall, realizing it was nearing seven o'clock. "Shit, it got really late."

Baji looked down at his phone; he couldn't be bothered with reading the clock. "Shit, I forgot to take out the chicken from the freezer!" he wispered in horror.

"Keisuke!" his mother called from somewhere else, causing the two teens to turn around and look at a woman who had entered the living room. Y/n could only assume she was Baji's mother, considering they looked very much alike.

"Keisuke, I told you to bring out the chicken from the freezer in the morning! And yet-" the woman halted, noticing that they had a guest that wasn't Chifuyu. "Oh? Are you Keisuke's friend? I haven't met you before, I'm his mother."

Standing up, Y/n bowed to the older woman. "Nice to meet you, I'm L/n Y/n and I'm tutoring Baji during his suspension."

"Ah! That's so nice of you to do for my Keisuke, dear. He's not from the smartest, so it's greatly appreciated."

"Ma!"

"Would you like to stay for dinner? The chicken is still frozen, so I'll whip something else up real quick!"

Y/n didn't want to seem rude, but it was awkard meeting parents for the first time. "Thank for the offer, Baji-san, but I'll have to decline. It's getting late, so I should probably head home since I have some homework as well."

"It's alright, dear, hopefully you can pass by another time and eat with us? As a thank you for tutoring Keisuke."

"It's alright, I owe him, since he got suspended because of me." Maybe she shouldn't have mentioned that part.

"Oh, so you're the girl! Keisuke may be a delinquent, but he sure is a gentelman!"

"Ma!"

His mother laughed at his redding face and the thick mark appearing on his forehead. "Keisuke, walk her back home, will you? I'll start up dinner in the meantime." Baji nodded and picked himself up as well, leading Y/n towards the door. After bidding goodbye to his mother, the two left.

Y/n didn't feel as happy about leaving Baji's house than she thought she will. Sure, he was an idiot and could barely concentrate on school work, but his company wasn't a total annoyance. Or maybe he was just uncharacteristically calm this time.

"You don't have to walk me all the way home, I have to catch the bus anyway," Y/n explained.

Baji shrugged, his hands in his pockets as he walked. "I'll walk you to the stop, then."

Once he was back home the hallway smelled delicious and his stomach made a sound, anticipating whatever his mother had cooked. He made his way to the kitchen, announcing he was back.

"I didn't want to ask you in front of her to not make you more flustered, but is that your girlfriend?"

"Ma, no! She's tutoring me, she told you herself!"

His mother laughed knowingly. "Okay, I believe you." Somehow, Baji wasn't convinced.

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It was late, yet Baji couldn't help but sit on his desk and look over the notes Y/n had given him. He wasn't necessarily studying them, but was rather admiring both their handwritings dancing around the page. It was oddly cute to him.

Everything seems so organized, Baji thought as he flipped to the next page. Is it 'cuz she writes a lot and knows how to take notes? What does she even write? I kinda wanna read that notebook of hers.

He shook his head. There was no way in hell she was going to let him read it, was there?

A tap on the window interrupted his thoughts and he looked up, seeing Chifuyu standing there in his Toman uniform. Right, they had a meeting today, he forgot. "Yo, Baji-san, you ready?" Chifuyu asked once Baji opened the window for him.

"You go open the garage, imma just get changed," Baji said and stood up from his desk, leaving the notebook open. Chifuyu looked down, interested to see what had gotten his friend's attention. Once he saw the familiar handwriting, everything became clear to him.

Baji was definitely not studying.