Priorities

Yuta waited a few minutes for Shiori to finish her phone call. While he sat there, he started preparing the next lesson plan.

Shiori hung up and placed her phone on the floor next to her. “Sorry, that was my doctor… I have to go in for a checkup… on Friday…” She bowed her head in apology.

“Okay, we can meet on Saturday, then. I want to meet with you as often as possible, but I understand that we both have busy schedules occasionally.”

“I can’t meet on Saturday, either… My mom is bringing me to Kyoto…”

“Oh. When will you be back?”

“Sunday night… Could we meet tomorrow?”

“I have to help at the restaurant tomorrow, unfortunately.”

“Oh…”

Yuta scratched his head. “I guess we can schedule our next meeting over text. Right now, we should get to the lesson.”

Shiori nodded and opened her notebook, ready to learn.

…

Fingers drummed against the desk as Yuta read through his history textbook. A shadow falling over his desk made him look up.

Hitomura stood over his desk. “Yuta, would you like to come to my place this weekend?”

“No thanks.” He returned his attention to his textbook.

“Don’t tell me…” Hitomura gasped. “You already have plans with Ozaki!?”

“She’s going out of town this weekend. As for me, I’ll spend the entire time studying.”

“I could let you play School Spirit II. It’s an excellent tool to study.” He pushed up his glasses. “My class rank is a testament to that.”

“Again, no thanks. I don’t drool over fictional characters.”

Hitomura ran a hand through his hair. “I’ll have you know I don’t drool over them.”

Yuta searched up a picture of one of the girls from School Spirit II on the internet and showed it to Hitomura.

He grabbed Yuta’s phone and spun around. “Marie…”

Following a sigh, Yuta tapped Hitomura’s shoulder. “Can I have my phone back?”

Hitomura straightened and wiped his mouth before turning toward him. “Oh, sorry about that, heh…”

“Looks like you drooled over her.”

Mr. Sawajima entered the classroom just before the bell sounded. “To your seats, students.” Every student that was not sitting in their assigned seat, Hitomura included, ran to their desks. “I don’t have much to discuss with you today, so keep studying, even if it is only for the sake of the beach trip.”

…

When the lunch bell sounded, Yuta picked up his bag and headed for the library.

Kurosawa hurriedly caught up to him. “Could we go over science today? That’s what I struggled with most on the mock exam.”

“Sure.” After several seconds, Yuta continued. “Were your grades even worse than what you got on the exam, or have you not improved since you started studying with me?”

She flinched. “My grades used to be pretty average, but they started slipping this past year. I was on the verge of being kicked out of sports. The grade I just received is a lot better than what I got on last term’s exams.” She glared at him through the corner of her eye. “Don’t tell anyone what I just said.”

“You don’t have anything to worry about there. I don’t talk to many people, nor do I care for gossip.”

Once they reached the library, Yuta set his bag next to his usual seat and sat down. Kurosawa sat across from him, digging out her science textbook. “You never missed a single point on a test before. What happened?”

“You, Hitomura, Ozaki, and Kotori happened. I haven’t had as much time to study recently because of how much time you all take away from my day.” He reached for his own textbook and set it on the table in front of him.

“Obviously you don’t have to spend every minute of your day studying to get a perfect score. I hate to say it, but Hitomura is proof of that.”

“I don’t know how he got a perfect score, but I can’t afford to study any less than I already do.”

“You don’t have to get a hundred percent on every exam. No one expects that of anyone. Colleges won’t reject you just because you missed one point on a test or two.” Kurosawa leaned back in her chair with her arms crossed and sighed. “You’re wasting precious time.”

Yuta sat forward. “Studying is more important than you realize. The better you do in school, the better off your future will be.”

“Your future won’t look very bright if you never associate with anyone, you know. There are more things that matter than just academics.”

“Let’s just start studying, alright? I don’t want to waste any more time.”

Shiori entered the library and approached the table Yuta and Kurosawa were sitting at. She sat down in a chair, placing her book in front of her. Only a few pages were left for her to read.

Yuta looked at Shiori, then Kurosawa. ‘You know, I’m being paid to teach Ozaki, but I’m technically teaching Kurosawa for free.’

A few hours later, the students were released for the day. Yuta quickly used the bathroom after he left the classroom.

Outside of the bathroom, he overheard someone talking.

“Did you finish the book?”

“Yes…”

Yuta froze. ‘That’s Ozaki and… Ichinose!

“Good, then you won’t mind lending it to me, right?”

“A-Actually, I–”

“Come on, I just want to read it.”

Shiori’s response was preceded by a short pause. “G-Give it back… please…”

A look of determination appeared on Yuta’s face. He ran around the corner to see Ichinose holding Shiori’s book. Shiori stood in front of her with her head low.

“Hey! Give her back the book!” He stepped up to Ichinose and glared at her. “She doesn’t want you to have it.”

Ichinose narrowed her eyes and scoffed. “Fine. I was going to give it back when I was done with it.” She turned and stalked away after giving Shiori her book back.

Shiori held her book to her chest and shed a tear. “Thank you… for getting my book back…”

“Don’t worry about it.” He stared after Ichinose. “That girl is a piece of work…”

Behind him, Yuta heard an unfamiliar voice. “Hey, you!”

He turned around to see a couple girls staring daggers into him. “Can I help you?”