## Chapter 2: The Boy Who Didn't Bring Textbooks

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The next day arrived with hesitant sunshine.
Airi woke up earlier than usual, though she couldn't quite explain why. Her alarm hadn't gone off yet, but her eyes had opened on their own, her mind already alert. She lay in bed for a moment, staring at the ceiling, thinking about yesterday. About the tutoring session. About Ren's grin and his strange deal.
*I'll help you smile more.*
What an odd thing to say. What an odd thing to promise.
She got ready with her usual precision — uniform pressed and perfect, hair brushed exactly one hundred strokes, breakfast eaten at the same time as always. But when she caught herself checking her reflection one extra time before leaving, she paused.
Why did she care?
She shook her head and grabbed her bag. It didn't matter. This was just a tutoring arrangement. Nothing more.
---
## 🏫 Morning Observations
Airi arrived at school earlier than most students. The courtyard was still quiet, puddles from yesterday's rain reflecting the pale morning sky. She liked this time of day — before the chaos, before the noise, when the world felt like it belonged to her alone.
But as she walked toward the main building, she noticed something unusual.
Ren was already there.
He sat on the edge of the courtyard fountain, legs stretched out, head tilted back to catch the weak sunlight. His eyes were closed, expression peaceful. In his lap sat a scruffy gray cat, purring loudly as he scratched behind its ears.
Airi slowed her pace, watching from a distance.
This was the same boy who'd burst into class yesterday like a thunderstorm, loud and chaotic and impossible to ignore. But right now, in the quiet morning light, he looked... gentle. Almost vulnerable.
The cat meowed, and Ren smiled — not his usual teasing grin, but something softer, more genuine. He murmured something Airi couldn't hear, probably some nonsense directed at the cat.
She should walk past. Pretend she hadn't seen him. Go to class and maintain her routine.
But instead, she found herself approaching.
"You're here early."
Ren's eyes opened, and he turned to look at her. For just a second, she saw surprise flash across his face, quickly replaced by his familiar grin. "Sato. Didn't think you'd notice me."
"You're hard not to notice," she said, then immediately regretted how that sounded.
He laughed. "Is that a compliment?"
"It's an observation."
The cat in his lap stretched and yawned, showing tiny fangs. Airi noticed the animal was skinnier than it should be, fur a bit matted. A stray, probably.
"Is this the cat you saved yesterday?" she asked.
"Huh?" Ren looked confused for a moment, then laughed. "Oh, the tree excuse? Nah, I made that up. This is a different cat. Her name's Miso."
"You named a stray cat?"
"She deserves a name," he said simply, running his hand along the cat's spine. Miso purred even louder. "Everyone deserves to be called something. To be seen."
The way he said it made something twist in Airi's chest. Like there was a deeper meaning beneath the casual words.
"Do you feed her?" Airi asked.
"Sometimes. When I remember to bring food." He grinned sheepishly. "I'm not great at routines."
"I noticed."
"You, though? I bet you have a schedule for everything."
Airi felt oddly defensive. "Is that wrong?"
"Nah. Just different." He looked up at her, eyes warm in the morning light. "But maybe boring sometimes?"
"Boring is safe," she said quietly.
"Safe is boring," he countered.
They stared at each other for a moment, neither quite willing to back down. The cat meowed, breaking the tension.
Ren stood up carefully, letting Miso jump down. The cat wound around his legs once before darting off toward the school gardens. "See you in class, Sato. Try not to miss me too much."
"I won't," she said flatly.
"You will," he called over his shoulder, already walking away.
Airi watched him go, that strange warmth blooming in her chest again. She shook her head and hurried to class.
Boring is safe, she reminded herself.
But safe suddenly felt a little lonely.
---
## 📝 Classroom Dynamics
When Airi entered the classroom, a few early students were already there. Miki Tanaka and Yuki Hayashi sat near the front, their heads bent together in conversation. They looked up when Airi entered.
"Morning, Sato-san!" Miki said brightly.
"Good morning," Airi replied with her usual polite smile.
"Hey, is it true you're tutoring Kurosawa?" Yuki asked, eyes sparkling with curiosity.
Word traveled fast. Airi set her bag down at her desk. "Yes. Ms. Ito asked me to help him catch up."
"That's so cool!" Miki gushed. "He's really popular, you know. Like, mysterious popular. Half the girls think he's dangerous, the other half think he's romantic."
"Which half are you?" Yuki teased.
Miki blushed. "I didn't say I was in either!"
"He seems... complicated," Airi said carefully, pulling out her materials for first period.
"All the interesting ones are," Yuki said with a knowing smile. "You're lucky, Sato-san. You'll get to see what he's really like."
Airi wasn't sure "lucky" was the right word. But she didn't correct them.
More students filtered in as the first bell approached. The classroom filled with the usual morning energy — complaints about homework, discussion of weekend plans, laughter and life.
Then Ren arrived, exactly one minute before the late bell. He slid into his seat behind Airi with perfect timing, completely unbothered by how close he'd cut it.
"Morning, study buddy," he whispered, leaning forward.
Airi didn't turn around. "You're almost late."
"Almost doesn't count."
"It will when you actually are late."
"So serious," he said, but she could hear the smile in his voice.
Ms. Ito entered and began the lesson. Airi took notes with her usual focus, but she was acutely aware of Ren behind her. Not because he was disruptive — surprisingly, he was quiet during class. But she could feel his presence like a constant hum of energy.
Halfway through the lesson, she felt something poke her shoulder. She ignored it.
Another poke.
She turned slightly, annoyed.
Ren held up a small origami crane, carefully folded from notebook paper. He placed it on her desk with a grin, then turned his attention back to the front as if nothing had happened.
Airi stared at the paper bird. It was clumsily made, one wing slightly larger than the other, but there was something charming about its imperfection.
She should ignore it. Focus on the lesson.
Instead, she carefully tucked it into the corner of her notebook.
---
## 🍱 Lunchtime Revelations
Lunch break came with its usual chaos. Most students paired off into groups, pulling desks together to share food and conversation. Airi, as always, prepared to eat alone at her desk by the window.
But before she could even open her bento box, Ren appeared beside her, dragging his chair over.
"Mind if I join?" he asked, already sitting down.
"I mind," she said automatically.
"Too late." He grinned and pulled out his lunch — a convenience store sandwich and a carton of milk. Not exactly nutritious.
Several students were watching them now, whispering. Airi felt heat creep up her neck. "People are staring."
"Let them. We're not doing anything weird." He unwrapped his sandwich. "Unless you count eating together as weird. Which would be really sad for both of us."
"I usually eat alone," Airi said quietly.
"I know. I've noticed."
She looked at him, surprised. "You noticed?"
"You sit here every day, eat quietly, and then go back to studying. Like clockwork." He took a bite of his sandwich. "Doesn't that get lonely?"
"I'm used to it."
"Being used to something doesn't make it good."
Airi had no response to that. She opened her bento — rice, grilled fish, vegetables, everything prepared with her mother's meticulous care. Suddenly she felt self-conscious about how neat and organized it looked compared to his simple sandwich.
They ate in silence for a few minutes. Not the comfortable silence Airi usually wrapped herself in, but something different. Something that felt almost... companionable.
"Your lunch looks way better than mine," Ren said eventually.
"You could bring a proper lunch too."
"Not really good at the whole 'planning ahead' thing." He grinned sheepishly. "My mom works late shifts. I usually just grab whatever's easy."
Airi hesitated, then pushed her bento slightly toward him. "You can have some of mine. There's too much anyway."
"Really?" His eyes lit up.
"Don't make it weird."
"Too late for that too." But he carefully took a piece of her tamagoyaki with his chopsticks. "Thanks, Sato. You're nicer than you pretend to be."
"I'm not pretending anything."
"Sure you're not." He ate the egg and actually looked touched by the simple gesture. "This is really good."
They continued sharing her lunch, falling into an easy rhythm. Airi found herself relaxing despite the curious stares from their classmates. Ren had a way of making everything feel normal, like sitting together and sharing food was the most natural thing in the world.
"So," Ren said, "we still on for after school?"
"Of course. That's the arrangement."
"Did you actually think I'd show up?"
She considered lying, then decided on honesty. "No. Not really."
He laughed — loud and genuine. "At least you're honest. I like that about you."
"You don't know anything about me."
"Not yet," he said, meeting her eyes. "But I'm planning to change that."
The bell rang before Airi could respond, saving her from having to figure out what to say to that.
---
## 📚 The First Real Tutoring Session
After school, the classroom emptied quickly as it had the day before. But this time, Airi felt less apprehensive. Maybe it was because she'd talked to Ren throughout the day. Maybe it was because he'd actually seemed interested in learning during class.
Or maybe it was because she'd spent all day thinking about their after-school session, and that worried her more than she wanted to admit.
Ren appeared at her desk with his usual grin. "Ready to witness my terrible study skills?"
"Did you bring a notebook?" she asked.
He held up a brand new spiral notebook, still wrapped in plastic. "Told you I would. Probably."
"You haven't even opened it."
"I was saving it for a special occasion. Like this." He tore off the plastic and sat down across from her. "See? I'm full of surprises."
Airi couldn't help the small smile that tugged at her lips. "Let's start with math, since you complained about it yesterday."
"Still complaining."
"Noted."
She opened her textbook to the current unit and began explaining the concepts. At first, she wasn't sure if he was actually paying attention — he had his chin resting on his hand, expression neutral. But when she asked if he understood, he nodded and even asked relevant questions.
"So it's like... finding the pattern in the chaos?" he said, staring at the equations.
"That's... actually a good way to think about it."
"I'm not completely hopeless, you know." He grinned. "Just selectively motivated."
They worked through several problems together. Ren made mistakes, but he learned quickly once he actually focused. Airi found herself relaxing into the role of teacher, explaining concepts in different ways until something clicked for him.
"You're good at this," Ren said after successfully solving a problem on his own.
"At tutoring?"
"At understanding how people think. You explained that three different ways until you found one that made sense to me." He tapped his pencil against the notebook. "That's not just being smart. That's being perceptive."
Airi felt warmth spread through her chest. She wasn't used to compliments that felt so specific, so genuine.
"Thank you," she said quietly.
"You're welcome, study buddy."
They continued working as the afternoon light shifted across the classroom. Outside, the weather had cleared completely, leaving behind a bright blue sky. So different from yesterday's rain.
---
## 🌅 Breaking Point
An hour passed, then another. Airi was explaining a particularly complex problem when she noticed Ren had gone quiet. She looked up and found him staring at her instead of the textbook.
"What?" she asked, self-conscious.
"Nothing. Just... you look different when you're teaching."
"Different how?"
"More alive. Like you actually care about something." He tilted his head. "Most of the time you look like you're going through the motions. But right now? You look real."
Airi's breath caught. No one had ever said anything like that to her before. No one had looked at her closely enough to notice.
"I..." She didn't know how to respond.
"Sorry if that's weird to say." Ren stretched, cracking his neck. "I just think it's cool. Seeing you actually passionate about something."
"I'm passionate about education," she said, trying to sound normal.
"Nah, that's what you tell yourself. What you're really passionate about is understanding people. Figuring out how they think. Helping them see things clearly." He leaned back in his chair. "You'd make a good psychologist or something."
Airi froze. She'd never told anyone about that interest. It was just a vague idea she'd had, tucked away in the back of her mind. Something that felt too personal, too revealing to share.
"How did you—"
"Just a guess." He grinned. "Was I right?"
"...Maybe."
"Thought so. You have that vibe."
Airi looked down at her textbook, emotions swirling in her chest. Confusion, surprise, something that felt dangerously close to gratitude. This boy who'd only been back in class for two days had somehow seen something in her that she'd barely admitted to herself.
"We should get back to studying," she said, needing to change the subject.
"Or," Ren said, standing up suddenly, "we could take a break."
"We've been studying for two hours. That's barely—"
"Come on." He held out his hand. "Trust me."
Airi stared at his outstretched hand, just like yesterday. Except this time, she knew taking it meant something. Meant breaking her routine, her safety, her careful control.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"Does it matter?"
"Yes."
He laughed. "Then let's call it an educational field trip."
Airi looked at his hand, at his expectant expression, at the door leading out of the safe, controlled classroom.
Then, surprising herself more than him, she stood up and took his hand.
"Five minutes," she said.
"Deal."
They both knew it would be longer than that.
---
## 🌸 The Rooftop
Ren led her through the hallways, past confused janitors and lingering club members, up stairs she'd never climbed before. Finally, they reached a door marked "Roof Access - Authorized Personnel Only."
"We're not supposed to be up here," Airi said.
"I know." He pushed the door open anyway.
The rooftop was smaller than Airi expected, with a chain-link fence running along the perimeter. The view, though, was breathtaking. The entire town spread out before them, bathed in the warm gold of late afternoon sun. In the distance, mountains stood dark against the bright sky.
"How did you know about this?" Airi asked, walking to the fence.
"Used to come up here a lot. Before." His voice was quieter now, some of the playfulness gone.
"Before you were suspended?"
"Yeah."
Airi wanted to ask why he'd been suspended, what had happened, but something in his expression told her not to push. Not yet.
"It's beautiful," she said instead.
"Right? Way better than staring at equations." He joined her at the fence, his shoulder almost touching hers. "Sometimes you need to step away from the details to see the bigger picture."
"Is that your philosophy on life?"
"Maybe. What's yours?"
Airi thought about it. "Control. Routine. Perfection."
"Sounds exhausting."
"It's safe."
"You said that before." He turned to look at her. "What are you so afraid of?"
The question hit harder than it should have. Airi gripped the fence, the metal cool under her palms.
"I don't know," she admitted. "Failure, maybe. Making mistakes. Being... messy."
"Being human, you mean."
"Maybe."
They stood in silence, watching the sun sink lower. The sky was turning orange and pink, colors bleeding into each other like watercolor paint.
"You know what I was afraid of?" Ren said suddenly. "Caring too much. Feeling too much. It always got me in trouble."
"Is that why you left?"
"Partly." He paused. "I got into a fight. A bad one. Some seniors were bullying a first-year kid, and I... couldn't just walk away. Lost control. Broke some things. Broke some faces." He laughed, but it wasn't his usual happy sound. "Everyone said I was crazy. Dangerous. Maybe they were right."
Airi looked at him — really looked at him. Saw the tension in his shoulders, the way he gripped the fence like he needed something to hold onto.
"I don't think you're crazy," she said quietly.
He turned to her, surprised. "No?"
"No. I think you're honest. You feel things deeply and you act on them. That's not crazy. It's just... human."
Something shifted in his expression. Softened. "Thanks, Sato."
"Airi."
"Huh?"
"You can call me Airi. If we're going to spend time together anyway."
A slow smile spread across his face — not his teasing grin, but something warmer. More genuine. "Okay. Airi."
The way he said her name made her heart skip.
"Then you should call me Ren."
"Ren," she repeated, testing how it felt. It felt right. Natural.
They stayed on the rooftop until the sky turned deep purple and the first stars appeared. They talked about nothing important — favorite foods, annoying teachers, the stray cats around campus. But somehow, it all felt important. Every word, every shared laugh, every comfortable silence.
When they finally headed back down, Airi realized something had changed. The walls she'd built around herself had developed a crack. Small, barely noticeable.
But definitely there.
---
## 🌙 That Night
Airi sat at her desk that evening, textbooks open but ignored. She kept thinking about the rooftop, about Ren's confession, about the way the sunset had painted everything gold.
Her phone buzzed.
**Ren**: *did you get home safe?*
**Airi**: *Yes. Did you?*
**Ren**: *yeah. hey thanks for listening today*
**Airi**: *Thank you for showing me the rooftop.*
**Ren**: *anytime. its our spot now*
Our spot. The words made her smile.
**Airi**: *We still need to study properly tomorrow.*
**Ren**: *ugh fine. but only if you promise to smile at least once*
**Airi**: *I don't make promises I can't keep.*
**Ren**: *you smiled today. on the roof. i saw it*
**Airi**: *That doesn't count.*
**Ren**: *it definitely counts. goodnight airi*
**Airi**: *Goodnight, Ren.*
She set her phone down and looked out her window. The night was clear, stars bright and numerous. She thought about Ren's words — about being human, about feeling things deeply.
For so long, she'd tried to be perfect. Untouchable. Safe.
But maybe, she thought, maybe it was okay to let someone in. Just a little.
Just enough to remember what it felt like to be alive.
---
## 🌸 End of Chapter 2
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*To be continued in Chapter 3: Colors Start to Bleed Through*