(no subject)
Private Tutor
Pairing: AkiHika/HikaAki
Rating: 13+
Genre: Romance, Humor
Warning: shounen-ai
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters
A/N: This story I wrote based on my experiences, when I was in senior high school; that have always got bad point to math lesson. Actually, I don't know what curriculums in Japan have same in my country, sorry if I made a mistake. Super big thank to Ilen for beta (Cup! Cup! Wow! Wow!).
Private Tutor
Sixteen-year old Hikaru had been feeling stressed lately. Not only because his mother babbled excessively for more than half an hour after he came home from school, but also because his teacher always gave him extensive lectures in the school office. Just like today, when suddenly his teacher called him at break time and wondered why he had always got the point to math lesson less than ‘6’ for the umpteenth time. Was he unwilling to study the math formulas at all? His teacher sincerely worried that he wouldn’t pass the examination a month from now.
In fact, it was not as if Hikaru was unmotivated. He was a pro and almost never had time to study the material that his teachers had given him - he spent his time on Go only. Okay, okay… maybe he would hang out with his friends sometimes or use his spare time to read a manga or game on the playstation till he forgot about his schoolwork. Yup! Those were his problems.
Even though he was weak at math, he had no problem with gym class. He always got high marks in that class. Of course, this wasn’t enough to make his mother happy, and his math teacher didn’t care in the least whether he was a pro or not - it never changed his opinion about Hikaru.
He went home from school with slumped shoulders that afternoon, ignoring the people around him as he trudged down the sidewalk.
He mulled over his memories of a few months ago, trying to remember why he had decided to attend senior high school. His parents always persuaded him to continue his education, despite the fact that he had told them that they didn’t need to worry about his future. They always insisted that Go was no reason to stop going to school. Under steady pressure from them, he had finally obeyed.
((()))
Hikaru was home before he knew it. He stepped out of his shoes in the front hall, going straight upstairs to his bedroom to flop down on his bed while unfastening his red tie. He really didn’t want to face his mother today. He was tired and needed to relax in order to relieve the tension of the day. But he knew that it was futile when he heard his mother calling to him from downstairs, “Hikaru, your lunch is ready!” The two-tone haired boy sighed and started to change from his school uniform and into casual clothing.
The lunch was no different from usual; miso soup, potatoes and meatballs sat in front of him. Actually, he had already had something to eat at school during his break. Besides, it wasn’t even noon anymore, so Hikaru ate the food before him with a marked lack of enthusiasm. He took a meatball with his chopsticks as his mother, Mitsuko, sat down opposite him. “Hikaru, I thought that we agreed that you would have improved your schoolwork by now.”
Heh… that again.
“You are my son, Hikaru, and because of that I believe in you. I really want you to show me that you can do this. I know you don’t want to disappoint me, and I know you can bring your grades up. Therefore, I think that you need someone to guide you. I have arranged for you to be tutored.”
Hikaru spat out his drink immediately. “What?! Why didn’t you discuss this with me before you made a decision, mom?”
Private tutor? Oh, no!
“There was nothing to discuss, Hikaru. Want to or not, like to or not, you must obey your parents. Your private tutor will be here tomorrow. I really hope that you can change your attitude.” With that, Mitsuko walked away.
Hikaru could only sit gawking in his chair.
((()))
Tomorrow finally came, and the day went by swiftly without anything of note occurring. Before he knew it, Hikaru was home from school.
He made his way toward the kitchen, intending to help himself to a cold mineral water from the refrigerator. He grabbed the handle, just about to open it as the familiar voice from behind made him start in surprise.
“You’re home already, Shindou.”
Hikaru spun around to face the person. “Touya? What are you doing in my home?” Hikaru asked as he noticed that his rival was still in his elite school uniform.
“Hikaru! Watch your attitude!” Mitsuko appeared out of nowhere. “You must behave properly towards your private tutor.”
“Nani?!” Hikaru exclaimed. Internally, his reaction was more like: O_o
“Yes, two days ago, actually. I remembered that you had told me that you have a clever friend by the name of Touya Akira; therefore, I called him. I found his phone number in the notebook where you keep the numbers of your friends. It was on your desk, so…”
“Excuse me, mom. I need to talk to him for a second.” Without asking for his mother’s permission, Hikaru grabbed Akira’s arm and dragged him to the other side of the room, which was far enough away from her. “What do you mean by this, Touya?” he whispered harshly. “Why did you accept my mother’s request to… uuggghh.” Hikaru ruffled his hair desperately. “To give me private tutoring? For God’s sake, Touya, I thought that you didn’t have any time to do such a thing.”
“At first I refused and told her that my time was extremely limited with all my activities, which include shidougo, tutoring, and school. I said that it was impossible for me to teach you, but your mother convinced me that I could do it. She also promised that she would reimburse me for my time quite adequately if I were to tutor you.”
“Payment? So you…”
“This.Is.Not.Because.Of.The.Money,” Akira bit out in an irritated voice. “Whatever, Shindou, you can cancel it if you don’t want to continue. But it is your mother’s request.” Akira gave him a sharp glance. “You know that.” He turned away. Hikaru stared at Akira’s back while considering his words.
“Wait - I’m in. Please…help me.” Hikaru bowed his head slightly. Akira looked at him over his shoulder, smiling.
((()))
“So… where’s your math lesson?” Akira asked when he was seated on the floor of Hikaru’s room with him. Hikaru had already taken off his blazer and school uniform tie and sat across from him, a short table between them. Hikaru pointed at the open math book. ‘Logarithms’ was the title at the top of the page. Akira pulled the book towards him, pulling some notebook paper out of his bag. He wrote something on it before pushing it towards Hikaru. “Work on that. Finish it within fifteen minutes.”
Hikaru eyed the math questions in front of him, frowning. On the paper, Akira had written:
Log 2= 0, 3010
Log 3= 0, 4771
Log 6?
“What’s the problem? You can’t do it? This is basic, Shindou.”
Hikaru looked up at him, snorting. “If I was able to do this, then why would my mother have called you here?”
“Oh yes, I forgot.” He turned the paper over.
Forgot, huh?
“Notice this, Shindou,” Akira said, leaning forward as he wrote the formulas on the paper. “You can use this method. Log two cross log three is equal with log two plus log three, it’s mean zero comma three thousand ten plus zero comma four thousand seven hundred seventy one, so that the result is zero comma seventy thousand hundred eighty one. You understand?”
“Anoou… Touya, could you repeat this for me more slowly, please?”
Akira could only sigh. ^_^;
((()))
Hikaru was always bored when the time for his tutoring with Akira came. He had private tutoring with Akira four times a week, except if one of them had shidougo. If that was the case, they rescheduled it for another day. Hikaru had begged his mother to give him one free day, just Sunday, but she refused and ordered him to fill his free time with his rival’s tutoring sessions. On one hand, Akira didn’t mind at all if his routine of teaching Hikaru had him working on Sunday. He usually used that day to practice his Go (in order to increase his skill, of course), study for school or visit the library. The other reason was that he didn’t have many friends his own age to hang out with. It was very different with Hikaru, who had already had an invitation from Waya that day.
Akira had excused himself for a moment to use the bathroom, so Hikaru was alone when his cell phone suddenly rang. He answered immediately.
“Hello, Waya?”
“Shindou, what are you doing now? We’re all waiting on you, and we’ve been here for a while.”
“Sorry, Waya. I don’t think I’m going to come.”
“What are you saying? Listen, Shindou, it’s really fun here. Our friends from the Go Institute - you know, the guys - are almost all here. Even Yashiro looked really excited when his turn during round two finally came.”
“Yashiro was there, too?”
“I’m sure that you’ll regret it if you don’t come.”
Piiip….
The phone hung up.
“He… hello, Waya?!” Hikaru eyed his cell phone with a pang in his heart. “I should go now,” he muttered to himself, looking over at his bedroom anxiously. If he left that way, he was sure to be caught. So he had no choice but to go out the window. With resolve firm in his heart, he decided to do just that.
He looked at the doorway for the last time to make sure that no one there, then climbed up onto the bed before climbing out the window. He craned his neck slightly to throw one more glance back at the window, and then started down carefully. When he finally put his feet on the ground, he shouted happily, “Yes, I did it!”
“Where do you think you’re going, Shindou?” came a cool tone from behind him. He froze, eyes widening. Slowly, he turned around.
“To… Touya? How did you…”
“Yes, I know. I overheard your conversation with Waya earlier.” Akira was glaring at Hikaru with annoyance. That look was enough to make him lower his gaze to the ground. He was too startled to reply.
“What does this mean?” Akira pressed.
“I… I got an invitation from Waya today, and because of that… please let me go.”
“Invitation for what?” Akira asked in a strained voice as he folded his arm across his chest.
“Ummm… it’s…anooou…” His cheeks were tinged pink with embarrassment.
Huh! The invitation must be only for adults! Akira thought before continuing to speak. “You can’t explain, can you? You can’t go anywhere, Shindou. I already promised your mother that I’d look after you during these sessions. You’re my responsibility. Let’s go back inside and continue your tutoring.” Akira turned and walked away, abandoning him. Hikaru felt irritated, but resisted the urge to abuse the boy.
I can’t take it anymore!
In Hikaru’s Bedroom:
“Work on that.” He had given Hikaru only a few questions on the paper, but they were more difficult than before.
As usual, Hikaru just eyed it. He felt his head was spinning as he stared the difficult questions in front of him. He also felt as if his eyes really wanted to fall out of their sockets when he stared at these damned questions. It had never happened to him before. Ever! It was a bad dream! Why couldn’t he escape from this situation? This was hell!
“Dammiiit….”
Crak!
Akira raised his eyes from his book to the source of the noise. Hikaru had pushed down too hard on the tip of his pencil, causing it to break suddenly.
“What’s the matter, Shindou? Is there a problem?” Akira asked in concern as he folded the corner of the page he was reading and closed his Japanese Literature book.
“Nope,” Hikaru replied flatly.
Akira leaned in to look at the paper, then moved to sit beside Hikaru. “Here.” He took over the worksheet and started to teach him - kind, plain, and patient. Hikaru was actually paying attention to the tutoring, his attitude more serious this time. After Akira had been explaining the math for approximately thirty minutes, he finally understood, even if it was just a little. He looked up with his green eyes to ask something and became aware of Akira’s hair brushing against him. Hikaru blushed immediately. When had Akira gotten so close to him?
((()))
That Sunday was too bright. Everyone had chosen to take a walk to enjoy the sunlight. Two weeks had passed already since the day that Shindou had tried to go out the window, and it had also been two weeks since he had begun getting butterflies in his stomach every time he looked at his rival. Akira had something that he wanted to do today, so he was unavailable to teach Hikaru. Therefore, here he was, sitting in the café across from Yashiro, Waya seated beside him. Isumi had gone to the bathroom five minutes ago.
Hikaru looked at Yashiro. “So you came because…”
“Yes, I got the invitation from Isumi this time,” Yashiro said before taking a bite of his donut.
“You mean you flew from Kansai to Tokyo just for… that invitation?”
Yashiro almost choked on his food at the surprised tone of Hikaru’s voice.
“Uh, I think, I’m kinda, ummm…intoxicated with… yeah, you know, don’t you?” Yashiro said with shyness, sipping his coke immediately to hide his colored cheeks. He finally looked up. “Why don’t you join us later?”
“Huh?” Hikaru looked up from his orange juice, slightly surprised at Yashiro’s invite. “Oh, no thanks. I can’t go with someone else.”
“Someone else? You mean us?” Waya’s voice this time. “It’s mean you have the one you can to? Who? Does he… Touya?”
“What?! Of course n…”
“Yes!”
Silence.
Isumi came back from the bathroom and sat down quietly in front of Hikaru.
“Ummm… maybe.”
Yashiro spewed out his drink on Waya’s face.
“Hey!” Waya shouted before snatching Isumi’s napkin to clean up with.
“So… sorry.”
Hikaru felt quite embarrassed. Heat rushed through his body. He really wished that he could just vanish.
“Oh, come on, Waya. Don’t pretend to be grossed out. Two weeks ago when we ****** you sucked my **** till I was exhausted.”
Yashiro had seduced him.
“That was… that was a different situation, idiot!”
They all laughed at Waya’s furiously blushing face.
An old man looked up from his magazine and glanced sharply at the noisy young pros that dared to be obscene in a public place - and so close to him! He shook his head desperately at that. He despaired of boys nowadays~
((()))
Hikaru tried hard to concentrate on the questions in front of him. Two hours had passed already, but he found it difficult to make the situation easier, at least for himself. He stole a glance at the sexy boy that was still in his school uniform. He looked as if he were enjoying reading his Chemistry book from the beginning, ignoring the poor boy sitting across from him. It didn’t help that the room felt a bit too warm.
Akira loosened his tie coolly to reveal his smooth collarbones, never taking his eyes from the book as he did so. Hikaru swallowed hard as he looked and felt sweat begin to dampen his own shirt. Why is it so hot in here? Hikaru thought, putting his pencil down on the paper before leaping to his feet. “I… I’m going to the bathroom.” He walked off without glancing at Akira.
Hikaru splashed water on his warm face. “What’s the matter with me?” he asked to himself as he looked at his reflection in the mirror. “Uuugghhh… Touya. Why do you make everything even worse?”
He didn’t want to go back to his bedroom, to be honest, but he must to do it if he didn’t want his mother to harass him again. “I can’t let this happen to me now. Okay, if I can’t avoid him, I will do the opposite.” He was decided. With that, he went back to his bedroom.
He sat down at his earlier place, slightly disappointed when he saw that his rival had no reaction at all. He cleared his throat and said, “Touya?”
“Yes?” Akira looked up from his reading.
“Could you sit beside me?”
“Why?” Akira’s brow furrowed. “I can’t see how that makes any difference.”
“It’s just… it would make it easier on me if you would teach me that way. I still have a problem that I haven’t finished yet.”
Akira sighed and closed his book. “All right.” He complied, sitting down next to Hikaru.
Hikaru felt a surge of triumph, confident that his wicked plan was going all too well. He pointed out the problem to him. As Akira explained the formulas, he silently raised his hand and let it rest on top of Akira’s.
The long-haired boy seemed confused at the sudden contact, as he had no idea what the hell Hikaru was thinking or why he was doing this to him. “What are you doing?” He gave Hikaru a quelling look, trying to restrain the anger that was about to overwhelm him - only to feel Hikaru’s fingers caress his hand. “Stop touching me!”
“Why?” Hikaru whispered hotly.
Akira felt the other’s warm breath in his ear, which made him shiver instantly. He resisted the urge to let out a whimper.
“It’s fine.” Hikaru bit the curve of his ear lightly.
Akira closed his eyes, responding with, “Ngh…” The sound of pleasure was out of his mouth before he could catch it. He tried to turn his head away from his rival, but Hikaru’s hand on his cheek wouldn’t allow it.
Hikaru smiled as he saw that Akira would not protest after all. He decided to dare to go further, leaning down to press his lips to Akira’s.
They withdrew quickly as they heard the creak of the door being opened and Mitsuko’s voice saying, “Hikaru, I have juice and some snacks for you two.”
Hikaru quickly pulled the paper and pencil towards him, pretending to write something - anything. Meanwhile, Akira sat there with the sweetest smile on his face.
“You two look a little tired,” Mitsuko said as she put both trays down on the floor beside the table. “You should take a break.”
“Thank you, Shindou-san,” Akira said before Mitsuko left the room.
“Oh, my…” Hikaru sighed desperately, laying his head down on the table.
((()))
On the Street:
“Touya! Hey, Touya! Wait for me!” Hikaru shouted at the angry boy who walked quickly before him.
He turned around abruptly to face the other boy, a fiery look in those emerald green eyes. “How could you to do this to me?! What do you think I am, Shindou?! Do you think that I’m… abnormal?” He turned around and began walking again.
“Touya, look, I’m sorry! I don’t know what came over me earlier.”
Akira stopped in his tracks to face him again. “Okay, but you must promise me that you won’t do that again.”
“I promise,” Hikaru said in a weak voice. He didn’t have the courage to look at his rival, and he felt that his self-respect had gone somewhere. More importantly, he had been truly embarrassed in front of Touya now.
“Maybe you should wash your brain to purify your mind of those dirty thoughts. Anyway, it’s kinda… weird, you know?”
“I’m sorry.”
They walked side by side in silence for a little while before Touya said, “Shindou, if you can get a good score on your math examination later, I will give you a present.”
Hikaru looked up at him, blinking. “What kind of present?”
Akira gave a sly smile, “Whatever… whatever you want from me.”
((()))
Hikaru studied his math very seriously for a whole week. Usually, he only spared an hour to study - this time he added two hours more. He had thought of what he would ask for as a present from Akira and still had no idea. How about if he asked him to be his friend? But they were friend already, weren’t they? Or maybe he could ask him for a kiss? No, no, no! Akira would think that he was insane for damn sure. Ummm… how about if he ordered the boy to accompany him for a full day and invited him to go to Disneyland? But… Akira didn’t like walking around, although maybe he would agree to it if Hikaru asked for it as his present.
((()))
Finally, the day for his math examination came. Hikaru was nervous when he looked at the questions initially, but felt more confident as he went on. By the end of the exam, he thought that he had answered the questions well.
A few days later, his teacher gave away the result of his examination. The older man congratulated him on finally understanding. Hikaru really wanted to cry in that moment, resisting the urge to shout happily in the classroom. He settled for strongly embracing his teacher.
As the school bell rang, Hikaru ran out of the classroom as quickly as his feet could take him, not sparing a moment. He had a match with Akira in a Go salon after school, so he made his way toward the salon with his math examination in hand.
He rushed into the building, ignoring Ichikawa’s greeting, and stopped right in front of Akira while trying to catch his breath, bracing his hands on his knees.
“Shindou?” Akira, sitting in his usual place, blinked and looked surprised as he took in the disheveled appearance of his rival. Making an effort, Hikaru held the paper out to him. Akira’s beautiful eyes went wide as he saw the point ‘8, 7’ that was written on it.
((()))
Akira and Hikaru stood on the roof of the Go salon, feeling completely comfortable as a lazy breeze tugged at their hair and clothing. Hikaru stood before the border wire, one hand holding onto it, and gazed down at the view of the building below him, his back to Akira.
Akira was the one who spoke first. “You did it.”
“Yes, it’s all because of you.” Hikaru smiled a little.
“No, Shindou. It’s because you gave it your all and were serious about taking your exam.”
Silence.
Akira brushed strands of hair out of his eyes. “Then… about your present…”
“Forget it,” Hikaru said softly, turning his head towards Akira slightly, still not looking at him. “I realize now that I shouldn’t be motivated to study just because of a present.” He loosened his hold on the wire he clung to and raised his eyes to meet the other boy’s.
Akira was slightly surprised at Hikaru’s words, but he could see that there was knowledge or understanding in those eyes.
Hikaru stretched his arms over his head, stretching his tight muscles. “Let’s go, Touya. We should start our game.” He dropped his arms at his sides and began to walk. He passed a motionless and unresponsive Akira.
There was something weird in Akira’s heart; he could feel it. He turned around and stared at Hikaru’s back. “Shindou,” he whispered to himself. Without conscious thought, he walked up to Hikaru and grabbed his shoulder. Before Hikaru could turn around fully, Akira brushed his lips over Hikaru’s cheek gently.
“To…Touya?” Hikaru blushed as soon as he touched the place where Akira had kissed him. He not expected that at all - that Akira was going to give a chaste kiss as a present.
Realizing what he had done, Akira blushed as well, averting his gaze from Hikaru. “Sorry, it just crossed my mind so suddenly. I never planned to do that to you, really. Therefore, I apolo…”
“I liked it,” Hikaru mumbled, still not daring to look at him.
“Eh?” Akira raised his gaze to him slowly. Hikaru looked into his eyes as well. Both stared at each other for a few minutes before turning away again, too ashamed. <”3
After a few minutes, Akira said. “Shindou, do you want to go to the same university with me?”
“Huh? Same university with you, Touya?” Hikaru asked as he eyed the breathtaking visage in front of him, the wind making Akira’s dark blue tie flutter.
“Yes, we can learn together to achieve that goal. Are you willing?”
Hikaru looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, “I… I will.” He felt his heart swell when he saw the beautiful smile that Akira gave him.
Suddenly, Akira remembered something. “Um… Shindou, that invitation that you received from Waya a few weeks ago…may I know what is was about?”
“Uh? You really want to know?”
“Yes.”
“Really, really want to know?” Hikaru wanted to make sure.
“Yes, Shindou, I want to know,” Akira replied, impatient with Hikaru’s attitude.
“Okay.” Hikaru whispered something to him, which surprised him and made him blush fiercely.
“Re… really?”
Hikaru nodded eagerly. “Didn’t you already know about it before?” Hikaru raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, but… I’m not surprised? that they… eh, wait a moment, it was just about twelve past ten when you got a call from Waya. That means that they did it in the daytime. It’s so… ridiculous!”
“Yeah, maybe he drew the curtains closed before they started it. Truthfully, I’m not so sure, because I’ve never gone, not even once.” Hikaru’s tone was nonchalant, and he ignored the dreadful face that Akira made at him.
“No! I’m not allowing you to join that crazy party. Ever!”
“Huh?” Hikaru blinked innocently. “Why not?”
“Hikaruuu…” Akira whined.
Hikaru laughed at Akira’s unfathomable reaction, especially since he had called him by his given name. Suddenly, he wrapped his arms around Akira’s shoulders and whispered, “Don’t worry, I wouldn’t do that with anyone but you, my prince.” He leaned in slowly, bringing their lips closer together.
“Ah, you said you wanted to play, right? Come on.” Akira disentangled himself from Hikaru and started to walk away.
Hikaru was too stunned to move. Was that… a rejection? The smile grew slowly on his lips as he stared his rival’s back, reminding him that he had already given him something special. Not just a good point, but important than that. Now he really wanted to get a ahead of him, not only in Go but in everything in his future.
I like you, Akira. Can you feel it?
“Shindou!” Akira called him.
“I’m with you!” Hikaru ran towards him.
They would not wait for the future - the future would wait for them.
Surely.
Private Study
~The End~