Maya Fujimoto had survived exactly one tutoring session with Kai Tanaka.
Barely.
Now, as she stood outside the library for round two, clutching her neatly stacked notes, she gave herself a pep talk.
"You can do this," she muttered. "You've handled worse. You once convinced thirty students to line up properly for lunch. You can handle one boy."
The doors creaked open behind her.
"Talking to yourself already? Wow, Rep. Didn't know I stressed you out that much."
Her head whipped around. There he was...Kai Tanaka, strolling up like he had all the time in the world, blazer unbuttoned, tie hanging loose. That cocky grin was firmly in place, as though he hadn't single-handedly destroyed her patience yesterday.
"You're late," she snapped automatically.
"I'm five minutes early." He tapped his phone, showing her the screen. Sure enough, he was right.
Maya blinked. "Oh."
His smirk widened. "Don't sound too shocked, Princess. I can tell time."
She flushed and marched inside before he could get another jab in.
They settled at their usual table....usual was a strong word, but whatever. Maya with her mountain of textbooks, Kai with nothing but a pen he twirled like it was a toy.
"Today," she said firmly, "we are focusing on quadratic equations."
"Can we not?"
"We are."
"Ugh." He slouched so low in his chair she wondered if he'd slide off entirely. "Math is cruel. Math doesn't love me back."
"Maybe because you never try," she said, flipping open her notebook.
"Harsh. But fair." He grinned at her. "Still not gonna make me like it."
Maya pressed her lips together. "Fine. Then we'll try something different."
His eyes lit with interest. "Different how? Like—fun?"
She scribbled a problem on the page and shoved it toward him. "Solve this."
He sighed, picked up the pen, and started writing. After thirty seconds, he pushed it back.
Maya scanned his work. She froze.
"…This is correct."
Kai propped his chin on his hand, looking smug. "Told you I wasn't an idiot."
Her eyes narrowed. "Wait. If you can solve these, then yesterday—"
"Yesterday was boring. Today I felt like showing off."
Maya's jaw dropped. "You! You mean you've been wasting my time on purpose?!"
"Relax, Rep. Think of it as a test." He leaned closer, voice dropping. "Wanted to see how long before you snapped."
Her cheeks heated. "You're insufferable."
"And yet…" His smirk softened into something almost—almost—gentle. "You keep coming back."
Maya's heartbeat stuttered. She quickly looked away, flipping her notebook with unnecessary force.
This was going to be much harder than she thought.
By the time Maya had recovered from the revelation that Kai actually could do math, storm clouds had gathered outside. The windows rattled faintly, but she tried to ignore it, laser-focused on her tutoring plan.
"Let's keep going," she said briskly. "Next problem!"
A flash of lightning streaked across the sky, followed seconds later by a booming crack of thunder that shook the glass.
Maya jumped, clutching her pen tighter.
Across from her, Kai raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me the fearless class rep is scared of a little storm."
"I'm not scared," she said quickly, sitting straighter. "Just… surprised."
Another thunderclap rolled through, louder this time. She flinched despite herself.
Kai's grin turned sly. "Uh-huh. Sure."
"I said I'm not!"
The library lights flickered, then dimmed. The hum of the ceiling lamps cut out completely, plunging them into sudden semi-darkness. Only the gray wash of rain against the windows gave the room any light.
Maya froze. "…Oh no."
"Oh yes." Kai leaned back casually, hands behind his head, like this was all some private joke. "Guess it's just you and me now, Princess."
Her heart hammered louder than the rain. "This… this is temporary. Backup power will—"
Another boom. The storm howled. The room stayed dark.
She swallowed. "It's fine. Totally fine."
Kai tilted his head, watching her with an expression that was softer than usual. Amused, yes, but not cruel. Almost… curious.
"You know," he said lightly, "you don't always have to act perfect."
Her eyes snapped to his. "Excuse me?"
He shrugged. "You're allowed to be scared sometimes. No one's grading you for it."
The words hit harder than she expected, cutting through the storm in a way that made her chest tighten. She looked away, focusing stubbornly on her open notebook she couldn't even see anymore.
"Shut up and solve problem three," she muttered.
Kai chuckled, low and warm. "Yes, ma'am."
For a few moments, the only sounds were the scratching of his pen and the storm raging outside. And in that strange half-darkness, with thunder growling in the distance, Maya felt something shift.
Something she absolutely did not want to name.
The storm raged harder, pounding against the library windows. Still no power.
Maya fumbled in her bag until she found her phone. She tapped the flashlight on, placing it upright on the table so a narrow glow lit the pages between them.
It wasn't much, but it carved the two of them into their own little island of light amid the shadows.
Kai leaned forward, elbows on the table, his face caught half in glow, half in shadow. The sharpness of his usual grin softened, his features looking unfairly striking. Maya instantly regretted the setup.
"You know," he said lazily, "this is starting to feel romantic."
"It's not," she shot back too fast.
He smirked. "Denial looks good on you."
Her pulse kicked up, and she shoved the notebook toward him. "Focus. Quadratics. Question five."
He glanced at the problem, then at her, then leaned across the table until his shoulder brushed hers. "You're in my light."
Maya stiffened. "S-So move."
"Nah. Too much effort." His voice dropped lower, teasing. "Besides, you smell nice."
Her face went crimson. "You—! Stop saying weird things!"
Kai chuckled, the sound low and genuine, not his usual mocking laugh. For a moment, the storm faded behind it.
They worked in silence for a while...well, she worked, he doodled...until another crack of thunder made the lights flicker back to life.
The room returned to its usual brightness, snapping the fragile moment like a thread.
Maya exhaled sharply and started gathering her things. "That's enough for today."
"Already tired of me?"
"Already tired of your mouth," she muttered.
He grinned, rising to his feet with a stretch. "Liar."
Maya ignored him, marching for the exit before he could see the way her cheeks still burned.
Behind her, Kai's smile slipped just a little. He glanced down at the half-scribbled page—an equation solved perfectly, surrounded by a tiny sketch of a girl with her hair tied neatly back.
He tore it out and stuffed it into his pocket before following her.
By the time Maya left the library, the rain had slowed to a drizzle. She pulled out her umbrella, muttering furiously to herself.
"He's impossible. Cocky, smug, insufferable—ugh!" She jabbed her umbrella open so hard it nearly flipped. "How am I supposed to survive months of this?!"
"Maya~!"
A familiar sing-song voice pulled her out of her rant. Lila trotted up beside her, balancing her own umbrella, eyes sparkling with nosy delight. "So… how was session number two with the school heartthrob?"
Maya groaned. "Don't call him that."
"Oh, so he annoyed you?" Lila leaned in. "Or… maybe he didn't?"
"He definitely did," Maya said firmly, marching down the path. "He wasted my time, he called me Princess again, he....he." Her face heated at the memory of him leaning in the lamplight, voice low, you smell nice.
"Maya?" Lila grinned like a cat who'd found cream. "Why are you blushing?"
"I'm not!" Maya snapped, nearly slipping on a wet patch of pavement.
Lila only laughed, skipping ahead. "Ohhh, this is going to be fun to watch."
Across town, Kai slouched onto his bed, phone pressed to his ear. The cocky grin he'd worn all day was gone.
"Yeah," he said quietly. "I'll pick her up after practice tomorrow. Don't worry about it."
A faint, tired voice on the other end responded, too soft to catch.
Kai closed his eyes, rubbing the back of his neck. "I know. She shouldn't be alone, especially with how she's been feeling lately."
Another pause. His jaw tightened.
"No, don't stress. I'll figure it out. Just… take care of yourself too, okay?"
He hung up, tossing the phone onto his desk. For a long moment, he stared at the ceiling, expression unreadable.
Then, slowly, the smirk returned. A little sharper this time, more like armor than amusement.
"Quadratics, huh?" he muttered to himself, pulling the crumpled doodle of Maya from his pocket. He unfolded it, studied it, then shoved it into his drawer before anyone could see.
Because Kai Tanaka didn't do "serious." Not with grades. Not with life. And definitely not with girls who smelled like lavender shampoo and looked at him like he was worth more than trouble.