I Hate Mistakes, Cause I'm A Genius

Nishi and Minami strode alongside each other, quietly discussing everything and nothing. Second-year students flooded into class 2-B, taking their seats while mindlessly preparing for the next lesson to begin. Unfortunately for Nishi, he would have to endure the boring after-lunch history lectures from the school's decrepit old geezer of a teacher, Ninagawa-sensei.

Minami skillfully placed a textbook standing upright on her desk. She began working on applying screen tone to Nishi's manuscript, feeling guilty about neglecting that duty during her lunch period. Nishi noticed her stealthy actions, shocked to see Minami was brave enough to focus on anything but Ninagawa's lesson. He frantically whispered from his desk.
"Minami! What are you doing?!"

Minami bit her tongue in concentration, gently using the sharp end of her utility knife to cut snippets of screen tone from the paper.
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm finishing the task that you assigned me. The manga club never misses an opportunity!"

Nishi brought his palm to his face. He couldn't believe she had just said something so foolish.
"Except you had the entire lunch period to do that. Instead, you and Tan-Tan wouldn't shut up about Azurbön! Put it away before Ninagawa-sensei sees you and goes on one of her rants!"

"Relax, Nishi. I'll be so stealthy that old hag won't ever notice!"
Minami hummed a quiet tune to herself, unaware of the approaching villain. Nishi could do nothing but watch as Ninagawa walked right up to Minami's desk; stopping inches from the aloof redhead.

"Yamaguchi-san!"
Ninagawa shouted at Minami like a barking dog.

Minami jolted from her seat, standing up and dropping screen tone all over the floor like confetti.
"Yes!?"

The class burst into laughter; they were all too familiar with Minami's antics at this point in the school year.

"Classic Yamaguchi!"

"As if Minami could escape Ninagawa-sensei's wrath."

"I swear, she's never paying attention in class."

Ninagawa retorted with a harsh warning.
"That's enough, class! As for you, Yamaguchi-san. Go stand in the hallway!"

"Aw, what?! No fair, Nishi was eating his bento during the lesson!"
Minami immediately pointed at her friend, singling him out in front of everyone. Nishi's eyes went wide with shock, causing him to choke on a mouthful of rice.

"Minami, why the hell are you snitching on me?!"

The mischievous redhead stuck her tongue out, putting both hands on her hips.
"Because I don't wanna stand outside alone!"

"Kuromoto! Outside, now!"
Ninagawa slapped the boy's desk with the edge of her ruler, ultimately scaring him into submission.
The class let out a unanimous snicker, doing their best to keep their laughter in check so that they wouldn't be joining the duo in the hallway.

Nishi dragged Minami by her ear to the hallway; her sounds of whining were soon muffled by the closing of Class 2-B's wooden door.

"Why did you have to grab my ear?!"
Minami gently rubbed her earlobe, looking surprisingly cute for someone who just pulled a wicked maneuver.

"You're always causing trouble for me, I swear. Just wait until I tell Aki about this, he's going to scold you."
Nishi crossed his arms, secretly excited to be out of Ninagawa's lecture. The two stood side by side, watching as the cloudy sky outside the windows turned into a gentle drizzle of rain.

"This is hell. Why do schools force us girls to wear skirts year round?! My thighs feel like ice!"
Minami rubbed her exposed legs rapidly, trying her best to generate some heat. Nishi respectfully looked away, not wanting to make Minami uncomfortable by staring at her legs; though, if it were Tan-Tan, he wouldn't hesitate to ogle her.

"You should really consider wearing tights during the winter season, like Tan-Tan does. Plus, I'm sure Aki would be thrilled to see his cute girlfriend in a pair of black tights, right?"
Nishi smirked to himself, knowing that his friend could never resist something as sexy as a pair of tights on Minami's legs. Then again, he didn't want to excite him too much during the school day, since the two already had a PDA problem as is.

"No way! High school is all about showing off your legs while they're still young and plump!"
Minami teasingly lifted her skirt, just enough to fluster Nishi into looking away once again.

"If you like showing off your legs, then you have no right to be complaining about the weather!"
Nishi yanked her by her hair, forcing her to stop her risky teasing.

"Ow, ow! You're so mean, Nishi!"

Ninagawa peeked her head from the classroom, angrily scowling at the two teenagers arguing in the hallway.
"Water buckets, now!"

Minami gasped in horror, she felt a chill run up her spine.
"Water buckets?! Like, as punishment?! What year is this, 1960?!"

"Yeah, that's a pretty old school punishment, Ninagawa-sensei."
Nishi nodded his head in agreement, not too fond of the idea of subjecting himself to such a primitive form of discipline; it would wound his pride too much.

Ninagawa narrowed her eyes in disapproval.
"Then, maybe you two shouldn't be causing such a ruckus!"
She slammed the door behind her, leaving the two alone once again.

"Way to go, Minami. Your teasing just got us sent back to post-war Japan."
Nishi filled two metal buckets with water, handing Minami the one with slightly less. The two stood idly by, avoiding eye contact with students passing by with curious gazes.

The final bell signaled the end of the school day, sending eager students rushing out of their classrooms to avoid getting caught in the rainstorm. The stoic faced second-year student, Sakai Akinari, gently pulled on his girlfriend's ear.
"Minami, what did I tell you about acting out during class?"

"Ah! Not you too, Aki!"
She tugged her head away from his forceful grip. The three senior members entered the manga club, shortly followed by the two first-years. Makoto and Tan-Tan were in the middle of a discussion about an upcoming album; not even bothering to say hello to their upperclassmen.

"This is their first release in two whole years. I'm a big fan of their opening song for that recent anime. Have you seen it, Makoto-kun?"
Tan-Tan took a seat beside Nishi, who was already handing her a page of the manuscript.

"I have not... though, I love the director's... previous work..."
Makoto tapped away on his cell phone.

"Are you guys talking about music?! I freaking love music!"
Minami hopped between the two, bouncing up and down with excitement. Tan-Tan eagerly faced the adrenaline-fueled girl; her own eyes lighting up with anticipation.

"Minami-chan! Who is your favorite band?!"
Tan-Tan scooted closer, interlocking her fingers with Minami's; a familiar, yet welcome sight.

"It's gotta be Muqq! They play so heavy, yet they also have an amazing visual kei aesthetic!"

"Muqq? They're way too extreme for me."
Tan-Tan hung her head, knowing that her taste in music was probably the complete opposite of Minami's.

"I'm a pretty big fan of Yoneshi Kenzu. His new song for the upcoming Gundo series hit Billboard's number one on its release day."
Akinari chimed in from his seat, silently judging if people would consider his favorite artist to be too basic.

"You're all wrong, the best band is obviously Soft Pillows. They have too many classics!"

Nishi adjusted his glasses, feeling confident that he clearly had the most experience with the J-rock genre.

"I like... Ajiko..." Makoto timidly raised his hand. The four other club members looked up from their manuscript papers, and couldn't help but agree that Makoto clearly had the best taste so far. They all silently nodded their heads, whispering their favorite tracks.

Tan-Tan shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She didn't want to be asked about her favorite artist, as it would make her feel out of place compared to all of these big names being thrown around. The usual suspect, Minami, broke the silence with a curious smile.
"What's your favorite band, Tan-Tan-chan?"

Tan-Tan froze. Her eyes flickered between the club members as she opened her mouth to speak; her voice barely above a whisper.
"Legal Rily..."

They all wore faint blushes. Unanimously, the four other club members whispered "cute."

"It's not cute! They're a really good indie pop group!"
Tan-Tan clenched her eyes shut in embarrassment.

"I think it fits her well. They're soft and cute, just like Tanaka-san."
Akinari nodded his head.

"I suppose... you have a point..."
Makoto studied the small girl, imagining one of their songs playing as a soundtrack in Tan-Tan's daily life.

"They have really deep lyrics, too!"
Minami poked Tan-Tan's cheek, her eyes free of judgment.

"Maybe, you can play me one of their albums on the train ride home, Tan-Tan."
Nishi smiled handsomely at his girlfriend.

The members of the manga club filed out of the school, everyone happily trotting along as they shared musical knowledge and preferences with each other. As the five parted ways, Nishi and Tan-Tan stepped onto the crowded train car, both of them holding hands as they took a seat. Tan-Tan popped an earbud into each of their ears, pressing play on her favorite album; she was happy to be sharing a piece of herself with her boyfriend. She could see Nishi tapping his finger to the beat from the corner of her eye, gently nodding her head along to the rhythmic drumming.

"Nishi-senpai?"
She rested her head against his shoulder.

"What's up, Tan-Tan?"
He wrapped his arm around her slim shoulder, firmly pulling her closer to warm her.

"If our manga ever becomes an anime... I want Legal Rily do to the opening."
She giggled quietly. Her mind raced as she imagined herself in the future. She would be holding a cup of tea, and Nishi would be cuddling her on the sofa of their own home. They would have a child, running around causing mayhem, and their very own anime series would be playing on the television in the background.

"That sounds pretty nice, actually. Let's promise to make it big, so that way we can make your dreams come true."
Nishi placed his hand over hers, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Not just my dream, Nishi-senpai. All of ours."