What's the Deal?

Time had run fast that another week had passed by, Kanae received a request from their student council adviser to watch over Keiji again, for the nth time and God knows what trouble he did this time. She had enough that she concluded she is finished being one of the victims of Keiji's antics.

It was out of her character yet she believes it wouldn’t be that bad if she refused Saeko-sensei’s request once in a while — with a valid excuse. Her teacher was kind enough to understand.

She thinks everything is going on smoothly. Not until the next day came; Kanae eventually regretted the fact that she had refused her adviser’s request a day before.

“Kana, someone is looking for you.” A classmate informed her while they were having their lunch break.

She questions what it is that Ritsu wants this time. She lazily walks her way outside their classroom.

Her droopy eyes widen after seeing the person that was looking for her.

“Kei. . . Keiji?!” Kanae disbelievingly asked as she saw him leaning on the railings of their corridor, tie of his school uniform slightly loose, hair still messy, seemingly looking a bit upset.

She can feel the mood gets heavier as well as the gazes from her classmates and other students passing by the corridor, she dislikes attention that she becomes anxious.

'What the hell?' She thought.

“You didn’t come yesterday.’’ He recalled in a serious tone, Kanae may not notice it, but sulkiness could also be heard in his simple statement.

'Shit. What’s the deal with this guy?' Kanae inwardly cursed.

She clears her throat, strengthens her posture, “Well… I had something else important to do. What are you doing here?”

“I’ve got something to ask you.” Keiji’s hazel eyes were intensely piercing straight through Kanae’s obsidian ones.

She looks sideways as she was aware of some students were looking at them and surely eavesdropping on their conversation. Keiji talking to someone like her is such an unusual sight and somehow intriguing, to begin with.

“Can we talk about it somewhere quiet?” She offered.

She pulls Keiji away from the hall before he even had the chance to respond by grabbing his wrist. She immediately released him when they reached a more secluded place within the school to have a conversation.

“Tell me, what’s your deal showing up out of nowhere?” She asked.

“I need your help.” He replied immediately.

“In cleaning the restroom? In the school library? Oh please give me a break.” She complained, questioning why he never runs out of ways to humiliate her — he hasn't noticed it but she also hates embarrassment, even simple ones like those stares that happened earlier.

He slightly laughs in amusement after hearing her response, his sharp, white canines showing.

God, if Kanae was just an ordinary girl she would’ve melted from such sight already, but unfortunately, she isn’t like any other girl.

He shook his head, “That’s not it. I want you to be my tutor.” He stated, without second thoughts, or beating around the bush, he said it right away as his hazel eyes are still piercing to her obsidian ones; silently praying for her acceptance.

“Say what?” Kanae asked, shocked, she acted like she was clearing her ear as if she misheard his words.

Keiji, a notorious troublemaker, all of a sudden was looking for a tutor? And out of all the people, he asked Kanae, an asocial bookworm who would rather interact with books than people. The fact that they barely know each other makes his sudden request to her even more unexpected and surprising.

“Midterms are coming, and my grades aren’t doing well,” He started.

'As expected.' She commented, inwardly.

“I need to get a decent grade in the incoming exams to make up for it.” He added.

She raised her eyebrow, “You should’ve thought of that before you started skipping classes and coming to class late—”

“I’ll pay you.” He confidently stated to cut Kanae off; not wanting to hear her scolding.

She bit her lower lip to contain her displeasure before speaking again, “Sorry, I’ll be busy preparing for the exams too.” She declined.

He clicks his tongue and exhales shortly in disappointment, “How much do you want?” he asked, as he thought that increasing his offer would change her mind but his question had only backfired at him.

Kanae began to assume that perhaps, Keiji thinks that she is just playing the hard to get game and that she would easily give in exchange for a bigger sum of money when truly she feels insulted with his tone and words. Yes, maybe her family was not that wealthy that they tend to face financial struggles in some instances but she is still a woman of dignity and value — not some kind of gold digger.

'Rich people thinking they can get whatever they want just because they have money.' She thought as she tried to keep herself calm and contain the bottle of anger building up inside her.

“Do you think money solves everything?” She asked while glaring daggers at Keiji with her stone-cold eyes.

If looks could kill, his fangirls are probably grieving by now.

He may have a huge ego, couldn’t care less about others, but the sudden shift in her tone and attitude, the way she is glaring at him, makes him think he is talking to a different girl.

He isn’t that stupid to overlook that she is mad as if he stepped on a field of landmine and once he took a wrong step, a bomb will surely explode.

Silence covered both of them still not long enough, he figured the reason which triggered her sudden outburst. He had chosen the wrong words and offended her. Clearly, at that point, they weren’t on the same page.

He ran his fingers through his already messy hair, frustrated at himself. “Shit, I'm sorry. I’m just trying to think of better compensation to convince you.” He explained, uncertain if the only reason for his frustration is his difficulty to get a tutor or to get Kanae as 'his' tutor.

“You seem capable of paying much, why not look for other tutors instead?” She asked cynically while crossing her arms in front of her chest.

“I tried but most of them didn’t even last a day. I don’t know, maybe because I get bored and lose my focus easily. Maybe they weren’t good enough, or…” He hesitated for a second, “Maybe I’m the one who’s not good enough.” He reasoned out, lowering his tone to his last sentence, he tried so hard to deny his weakness, hesitating to tell such reasons to answer her question.

Oh. She thought.

Kanae tries to suppress the pity she felt for him after hearing his answer, reasoning it wouldn’t change the fact that he had been a jerk earlier; the way he treated her felt like a lowly servant that is eager to have money, who he could always slap with money to gain something for his advantage.

After all, her parents never raised her that way. She rather wants to be rich with her blood, sweat, effort, and hard work than by someone else’s money.

She questions if it’s just one of his strategies to get her sympathy and get her convinced.

“And what makes you think that having me as your tutor would make any difference?” she asked.

'Damn, she’s right. Why did I end up asking her, of all people anyway?' Keiji questioned himself.

He thinks for a moment, “Not sure if it’ll work but maybe it’s worth a try. We’ve talked a couple of times before,” he said as he recalls the few conversations he had with Kanae which made him realize that she is not like the other girls who easily fall for him because of his looks.

Kanae is smart, she doesn’t talk much but once she talks, everyone starts to listen. She is quiet, she hates being the center of attention but that was also the reason why she caught his attention when he had always ignored the girls that ran after him. She may be hard to deal with if you get into an argument with her, but it's because her points were always valid. It's scary.

Keiji finds her challenging, but not annoying compared to other girls. He finds her different, in an 'interesting' way.

He hesitated for a while, until he finally admitted, “…I do think you won’t be a boring tutor.”

'Great, looks like you’ve just given her more reason to be more prideful than she already was.' He inwardly scolded himself.

Kanae feels a strange feeling swirling from her chest down to her stomach. It seems weird, but she doesn’t also hate it. Nevertheless, of that confusion, or weird sensation, she tries to remain on her senses and concludes that Keiji might just be saying those things to please and convince her for his interest.

However, a voice at the back of her mind is convincing her that he probably means it, his tone is sincere.

She contemplates for a while, “I’ll think about it.”

“Please, say yes.” He requested.

'It almost sounded like a confession.' Kanae thought.

She almost laughs at herself for having a ridiculous thought. Not a single guy has ever expressed an interest in her, most of them only interact with her when asking for her help in solving problems. Experiencing an actual confession had never been a thing for Kanae. So where the hell did she get that idea from? Kurayami Keiji? The guy who’s full of himself and couldn’t care less about others? Keiji, who’s always hitting a nerve on her in the few instances they’ve been together?

But given the inappropriate situation, she successfully managed to restrain herself from laughing at her stupid thinking.

Her train of thoughts was interrupted when Keiji spoke again.

“Let’s put it this way, aside from the money, you can think of a request and I’ll grant it for you so long I’m capable of doing it.” He negotiated.

Kanae realizes his offer doesn’t sound bad after all. She’ll be able to earn money to buy that book she greatly wants and ask for less allowance from her mother that could at least lessen their expenses. More than that, she gets to ask any valid request from Keiji, and teaching him would be a good opportunity for her to review her lessons since they're in the same year level. She bet anyone in their sound mind (particularly girls) wouldn’t hesitate to accept the offer.

She’ll give it a shot.

“Before I say yes, I just want to make it clear that I have the right to quit if the situation calls for it.” She pointed out.

A wide genuine smile formed on Keiji's lips, “Of course, you can, so is it a deal?”

She only gave him a slight nod as an answer.

“When are we going to start?” She asked.

“Totally up to you. No pressure, I don’t want my tutor to quit on her first day.” His smile turned into a smirk.

Kanae laughs, the tension earlier eventually fading, “I’ll make a schedule and inform you right ahead.”

“Can I get your phone number then? Social Media accounts?” He asked.

Wow, this is the first time a guy asked for her phone number or other contact information, but of course, she is aware that it is purely business-related; nothing more.

“Phone number.” She said.

He sent him a text afterward to confirm he got the right number and for her to be able to save his’.

“I do hope you won’t go around spreading it to others.” Keiji jested.

She grins, “Of course not, Mr. Popular.”

“Don’t worry, I'll keep yours a secret too.” He reassured, he slid his phone back into his pocket.

“Suit yourself, not like anyone would be interested in it anyway.”

Kanae thinks there’s nothing more for them to talk about and staying longer with Keiji in a secluded place might cause misunderstanding to others if they saw them together. She turns her back and walks away.

She barely heard his reply as he whispered, “We never know.” Staring at her back, with an unknown small smile on his lips.