A Home Visit

"Please, I'm begging you. I need your help!”

It must have been quite the sight to anyone that passed us by. Nakamura was towering above me with an incredulous look in her eyes as I was groveling at her feet.

“You reap what you sow,” she replied stubbornly, “it's your own fault for acting so impulsively.”

The current mess had started the morning after I had agreed to join the light music club. I had gone to the teachers lounge to register my name for the club, but was immediately hit with disappointment.

“Your current grades are too low,” Hirasaka-sensei had told me, “typically students in your position aren't allowed to join any of the culture clubs. You should be spending your free time studying instead.”

“So, I can't join?”

“Sadly not.”

My reaction must have looked pitiable to her, as she followed up with a small groan before offering me one small ray of hope.

“The midterms are coming up soon. If you manage to pass those, I'll reconsider your application.”

I had rushed around the school trying to find Nakamura after that, and found her just as she was entering 2-C’s classroom. However, after I had explained the situation to her, she refused me outright.

“I’m already so busy with my own studying, I really don't have the time to play tutor for you as well.”

“Please, I don't have anyone else I can turn to.”

Nakamura sighed, but it seemed like my persistence was turning her around.

"Alright, fine. I'll do it.”

After school had ended, we walked back together while she grilled me over which subjects I had been falling behind on. As we made our way up the stairs to my apartment, I had a strange feeling that there was something I was overlooking. The moment I opened up the front door, I realised what was bothering me.

“Oh, Nii-san?”

Hikari took one look at me, then at Nakamura. A worrying grin spread across her face.

This could only go badly.

“Nii-san, is this your girlfriend?”

“No, nothing like that! She's just a friend from school and-”

“Daaaaaaaaad!” she yelled as she disappeared excitedly down the hall.

I glanced awkwardly at Nakamura, who forced a strained smile back at me.

A moment later, Hikari popped up once again, with Dad following closely behind her. She took no time at all before she began questioning Nakamura.

“You’re the first girl that Nii-san has ever brought home. You're so pretty too! How did you two meet? When did you start dating?”

I glanced over towards Dad, who hadn't said anything yet. He just grinned back and silently gave me a thumbs up.

Kill me now…

“Ah, no. We're not dating. I'm just helping your brother with his studying, he's useless without my help.”

Thanks a lot, Nakamura…

“Aww, is that really all it is? What a shame,” Hikari folded her arms and pouted.

I shooed the meddlesome pair away, and led Nakamura down the hall to my bedroom.

“Could you, um, wait outside a sec?”

She nodded and I rushed inside. I hadn't expected any guests when I left this morning, so it wasn't exactly tidy in there. I hastily picked up any clutter or loose clothes and shoved them away into any gaps I could find. After I was satisfied, I called out to Nakamura to enter.

“So, this is your room, huh?” she said, closing the door behind her.

“Yep.”

She curiously took a look around before settling down on the seat by my desk.

“Your family is quite entertaining,” she chuckled.

“Glad you think so,” I grumbled back.

“I haven't seen your mom yet, is she not here?”

“Oh. Er, no. She’s… not here anymore.”

Her eyes grew wide in surprise.

“Oh…oh I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…”

“No, it's okay. It happened a long time ago now.”

Despite my attempts to alleviate her concerns, she still seemed to be shuffling about in her seat, like she still wanted to ask me something.

“Is that … when you started closing yourself off to people?”

“Maybe,” I replied, tilting my head back in contemplation, “when she walked out on us, I was angry and upset. I took it out on my classmates at the time and none of them really knew how to deal with me, so they just started avoiding me instead.”

“...”

“Not all of them ignored me though, there was a group of jerks that thought it'd be fun to mess with me, that I was an easy target.”

“That's awful.”

“Yeah,” I nodded solemnly, “I felt trapped, and didn't know what to do. But that's when Iwasaki appeared.”

“Chizuru did?”

“Mhm. I guess she couldn't just ignore someone in trouble, and she jumped in to help. She told them off good and proper,” I smiled at the memory, “she stood up for someone like me even though she had no reason to. Just because it was the right thing to do. I think it was then that I fell in love with her. Even if she doesn't like me like I do, I still want to help her out like she did for me.”

In the silence that followed, I suddenly became aware of just how much I had let slip out.

“I'm sorry, this is stupid. I don't even know why I'm telling you all this…” I added, hastily trying to hide my reddening face.

“You've changed,” Nakamura noted with a smile, “when we first met, you could barely string two words together when talking to me. You're so much more confident now.”

“You think so?”

She nodded, “anyway, I think we should get on. Which subject should we start with?”

She flipped open one of the textbooks she had brought with her.

“Right, let's start with History.”

We worked through a couple sets of questions. Every so often, Nakamura would lean over me and point out my mistakes and how to fix them. After half an hour or so had passed, I heard a gentle tapping at my door. A moment later, and Hikari had slinked inside, carrying a tray of drinks.

“Dad asked me to bring you both these.”

Nakamura gladly took her glass from Hikari, but I glared at her. There was no way that she would be acting this nice unless she was up to something. As she was walking away, she turned and smiled.

“Oh, and by the way, I was listening in. If you like her, Nii-san, then you should just tell her!”

I almost choked on my drink as I jumped up to chase her out of the room.

***

The midterms were over. It had been a long, grueling week, but I had managed to pull through. All that was left was the moment of truth. The results were being posted today on the notice board by the school entrance. Nakamura was by my side, praying for my success. She was probably more apprehensive about this than I was. As I scrolled through the posted names, a feeling of relief flooded over me when I found mine.

I had passed!

Overjoyed, I couldn't resist pulling Nakamura into a hug, though I quickly caught myself and broke it off.

“Ah, sorry…”I said sheepishly.

“It's alright,” she laughed, “congratulations on passing!”

I gave Nakamura my thanks. I wouldn't have gotten this far if it wasn't for her help. But now with the exams behind me, my place in the light music club was secured. There was nothing else that could stand in the way of the band's performance at the school festival. I made a silent promise to myself that I would do everything I could to support Iwasaki and help her overcome her fears. I wanted to help her smile again, just like she had done for me so long ago.