Gen sat at his desk two days later, leaning back in his seat, stretched out with his hands in his hoodie, the hood up over his head to cover the bluetooth earbud in his ear that was blasting another J-Rock band. He wasn’t paying much attention to who it was, though. His mind was elsewhere, staring at the graded homework assignment from the other day on the desktop in front of him, a note in the corner reading See me after class, the circled “D-” right under it.

Algebra 102 was a class required for his gen-ed and he was failing it. He was doing just fine in his required major classes, but this one damn “must complete because the scholarship said so” class was one he just could not get. Kana was going to let him have it once he told her. His only saving grace from his father was that he was out in Texas at some national forensics conference for detectives and he wouldn’t be back for another two or three days. Maybe he could just drop the class…He was failing it anyway, what difference did it make.

He folded himself up and put his head in his arms on the desk. Why don’t I just hurry up and kill myself instead…it would be less painful.

Over the music, he could hear friendly chatter and laughter a few desks ahead. He turned his head just enough to expose one eye, focusing on Mika and his friends through a thick lock of hair as they arrived and settled in. He didn’t know what they were talking about and he didn’t care. What held his attention was Mika’s smile, the way his eyes seemed to close the wider it got. 

So cute…

He felt his cheeks flush and he turned away, his face directed back at the offending grade. He stared at it, a faint strip of light creeping through his personal cave, illuminating his failure. What was he going to do? If he didn’t get his grade up, he was sure to fail the class and his GPA would drop. He couldn’t afford that since he was there on scholarship. If his GPA fell below a certain average, he would lose it and have to either find the money to pay for the last two years of college himself, or drop out entirely. 

A painless suicide really did seem like a viable option at that point.

He heard Professor Ybarra’s voice call the class to order. Gen turned the volume down on his music but didn’t remove the earbud. He lifted his head enough to give the appearance of paying attention, all the while letting his mind wander aimlessly out the window; a completely counterintuitive act if he wanted to raise his grade.

By break, he had managed to take down a few notes, but the page was mostly covered in doodles and drawings of anime characters and bridges. He was so lost in the sketch of a face in profile that he barely even noticed when the room emptied. He was at least aware enough to know it wasn’t the end of class so he didn’t make any attempt to get up. Besides, even if it was, he was not eager to talk to Ybarra about his grades.

He turned his gaze out the window, watching as some leaves fluttered to the ground from a nearby tree, spinning his pencil absently in his hand. A cold spring wind was blowing leaves and other debris on the ground along the walkways and around the buildings, the trees swaying gently as their leaves were torn from their branches. He hated the cold…hated Spring especially. This was a shit time of year for him.

A sudden presence drew his eyes away from the window and up into the face of Mika Torino. His eyes widened slightly and the pencil stopped moving. What did Mika want? Why was he looking at him like that? 

“Hey,” Gen said after a minute.

Mika smiled. That smile…so cute… “Hey,” he said. “Got a sec?”

Gen raised an eyebrow. “For what?”

“Well, my group is a bit uneven today and I need a partner for the practice problems after the break.”

“Why don’t you just work as an uneven group, then? Or just do them yourself?” It wasn’t a snide suggestion; he was genuinely curious why this was even an issue. He always worked alone.

Mika tilted his head slightly. “Didn’t you hear Professor Ybarra? We have to work in pairs on this one.”

Gen straightened. He hadn’t heard…or rather, he hadn’t been listening. He reached into his hood and tapped the bluetooth, pausing the music in his ear. He pulled it out and pocketed it. He tried not to let Mika see the embarrassment in his eyes. “Guess not,” he mumbled.

“So, can I partner with you? Please?” Those strange, beautiful blue eyes shone down into his face, like a clear spring sky.

Gen looked around the class, noticing how some students had decided to remain inside and out of the cold wind, but others had left, including Mika’s friends. Not one of them paid them any attention. No surprise there. If they were interested, it was only because the cute boy in class was talking to the scary looking guy in the corner who everyone actively ignored.

He glanced back at his notebook and the graded assignment that lay underneath it, a corner of the paper sticking out with Ybarra’s writing slightly visible. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to work with Mika just this once.

“Sure, I guess,” he said quietly. Besides, he knew that if Mika hadn’t asked, no one else would have and he’d get hit with that by Ybarra as well.

“Great! See you after break!” He waved as he walked away to join his friends outside, flipping his hood up over his beautiful long hair. 

Gen was left to stare after him in bewilderment. Why was this boy so insistent on engaging with him…him, of all people? And what made him think Mika’s hair was beautiful? It was always in his face…