Scarred - Chapter 2
Title: Scarred
Author: Me
Pairing: Takaki Yuya X OC
Genre: Romance. Slice of Life. Slight Angst.
Paper planes fall.
Leaves wither.
Sun sets.
Stars disappear.
People get wounded.
Wounds turn to scars.
Yuya rolled his pen over the test questionnaire and waited until it stops. ‘Letter C.’ He took his pen and wrote his answer on the answer sheet. After that, he looked at the next part of the exam.
A soft groan escaped from his lips. He glanced at the calculator beside his hand and back at the computation part of the exam. ‘What is the use of a calculator if I don’t know how to solve these?’
And just like before, he wrote something to answer the remaining questions.
He looked at the wall clock and grinned to himself. He wanted to laugh at himself, actually. He finished answering Math in just fifteen minutes? Unbelievable. But for a guy like him who depended on luck during examinations, it’s not new.
He spent the remaining time doodling things on his clean scratch paper.
“Time’s up.” The teacher stood up from the chair in front and started roaming around to get the test papers. “Pass your papers now.”
The whole class started talking, creating a loud noise. Yuya waited for his teacher to take the paper on his hand. When his teacher got his paper, he immediately grabbed his bag. He was about to stand up when his teacher placed a hand on his shoulder.
He looked up his teacher and saw his furrowed brows and narrowed eyes behind the eyeglasses. “Sir?”
“You call this an answer sheet?” The teacher’s voice raised, reducing the noise of his classmates. His teachers put down his paper back on his desk.
He looked at his answers on the last part. He saw the smileys and emojis he drew earlier. He furrowed his brows and stared back at his teacher. He had been doing that since he encountered letters in Math. So, what’s the problem now?
“What?” His teacher shot up his brow.
“What, sir?” he asked back. What does this teacher want him to do?
“Answer it,” his teacher ignored the irritated tone he had and pointed his answer sheet. “I won’t let you go home unless you finish this.”
He faced his paper and pressed his lips together. At the moment, he wants to return his paper and just escape his old teacher but it might lead him to something more complicated. He sighed and took his pen and calculator to answer it.
‘So troublesome.’ He glanced at his teacher who’s walking back toward the teacher’s table. He glanced around and saw some of his classmates looking at him but going out of the room after a while.
He read the question and felt a bit of frustration. How can he solve this is he can’t even understand the question. ‘Seriously, I hate Math!’
A red capital ‘F’ was expected on Yuya’s paper. What he didn’t expect was that his teacher will require him to attend boring extra classes in Math every dismissal. He tried rejecting it and talking about it with his teacher but the only answer he got was, “Takaki, your grades are critically low. I won’t give you a failing grade this quarter but you have to attend extra classes. I don’t want my students failing my subject.”
He yawned and scratched the back of his head while staring at his teacher who’s patiently showing all of them who are attending the extra Math class the correct way of solving a certain equation. He knew it was a bit basic. He remembered he already encountered in two years ago, when he was in grade 9. However, he still doesn’t understand it.
“Did you understand?” the teacher put down his chalk and faced the class.
“Yes sir,” the whole class replied except for him.
‘I don’t understand anything, sir,’ was what he wanted to say. But he already wanted the session to end so he didn’t bother telling it.
“That’s good.” The teacher smiled. “I told you, if you listen carefully, you’ll understand my subject.”
He wanted to laugh but stopped himself so he ended up grinning at what his teacher said. It was definitely not true. Yes, he’s not usually attentive but during the times he’s listening, he really couldn’t understand anything.
“Before we end, I’ll give you some homework. Finish those and submit it tomorrow, okay? We’ll see if you really understand.”
He frowned while staring at the slightly thin bundle of papers being passed to him. He took it and scanned it. Overall, there are 20 questions. He couldn’t help but let out an annoyed sigh.
As the students stood up, he also stood up. He placed the homework in his body bag. He decided that he won’t answer the questionnaire. It was just an extra class, right? Even if he answers it or not, there will no be effect.
As if hearing what he had in mind, his the teacher cleared his throat. “Those who won’t be able to pass tomorrow will have another set of questionnaires that will be answered here in my class and will not be able to go home unless he or she’s done answering.”
Yuya yawned while resting his chin on his hand left hand with a pencil on his right hand. He’s really not the super lazy student. He studies and he gets good grades in all of his subjects except really for Math. Whenever he sees numbers with letters, his head aches or he feels sleepy. And right now, he’s feeling the latter. The clean white walls of the library, the neat arrangement of the books in big shelves and the silence inside aren’t helping him to stay awake.
He slid his face down his arm and closed his eyes for a while. “Just fifteen more questions,” he muttered to himself, hoping that those words will make him answer the given questionnaire. He doesn’t want to spoil his leisure time at home so he decided to stay at the library for a while and finish his supposed to be homework.
“Math problems?”
“Yeah.” He lazily opened his eyes and looked at his side to see who spoke. He sat up quickly when he saw that it was the girl whom he met during the bike incident a week ago, with a backpack hanging on her shoulder.
She smiled at him and slid down the seat beside him. “Let me see if I can help you.” She placed her bag on the table and took his paper.
He doesn’t know why but he felt the urge to stare at her face. Her lashes aren’t that long but they are too dark, complimenting the brown color of her eyes. Her nose is a bit small but he found it cute. Her lips--
“You have a wrong answer on this number.” His thoughts were cut when the girl spoke. He looked at the questionnaire and saw her finger pointing on the third question.
“Oh,” he lifelessly said. He didn’t mind having wrong answers, really. “It’s okay--”
He startled when the girl took the pencil from his hand and pushed the paper toward him. “Let me help you.”
She showed him he correct solution. He watched her hand as she write down numbers and variables on the paper. He’s uncomfortable with having someone he doesn’t know teaching him. Well, actually, he’s uncomfortable being with someone.
He unconsciously shifted from his seat when she started explaining the problems. He’s really not used to this. However, for a reason he wasn’t sure, he’s already starting to understand how to solve those kinds of Math problems. Is it because of the short and concise explanations she’s making? Maybe. Is it because of the simple words she’s using? Perhaps. Or is it because of the gentle and sweet voice she has? He doesn’t know.
When the girl finished, she handed him the pencil. He thought she was going to stand and go out of the library already but she just stayed there and waited for him to move.
Getting conscious of the look the girl beside him is giving, he started answering the next questions. He knitted his brows together when he realized he’s still solving slowly but a bit faster than the earlier. He also wondered why the questions seem to be less complicated.
“Hey!”
His already at the 10th number when a voice disturbed him. He looked up and saw the guy named Hayate smiling while standing beside the table. The guy’s eyes shifted from the girl to him.
The girl beamed, “Hayate!”
“Who’s this? He looks familiar.” Hayate seemed to remember him but not clearly.
“A new friend?” She glanced at him. Then, she faced him with a surprised look on her face. “Wait, I haven’t even know your name!” She chuckled.
The side of his lips lifted up a bit at her realization.
“What’s your name?” the girl asked.
“Yuya Takaki,” he replied. “You?”