Since some people wondered why they weren't caught passing notes in class... My buddy's one of them, and if you're reading this then you know who you are! OuO)/ /waves

I guess this would be a continuation of Chapter 2? XD To all my awesome reviewers, I have recieved your prompts! /nods sagely. I'll get to work on as many of them as I can (I might combine some!) ASAP, but this'll be all from me for today cos I've gotta tidy up my room. Unfortunately.

4. Detention

Misaki resists the urge to yawn as he huddles over his textbooks. He fails miserably. Beside him Saruhiko's scribbling away at a worksheet, half of the questions already done. Misaki hasn't even started.

"Saruuuuuu, I'm boreeeeed," he grumbles.

The younger male frowns. "Whose idea was it to start passing notes in class then? And the one who got us both caught was you too. It's pretty much your fault that we're both in detention now, you know."

Misaki pouts as he twirls his pencil between his fingers. "What, do you regret it or something?"

"… No, not really." At least I'm able to be with you right now were his unspoken thoughts.

Misaki grins at this and Saruhiko can't help but to smile as well. "Then don't go pushing all the blame on me, Saru!" his tone of voice is accusatory, but both of them know that he's really only just joking.

After a few minutes of casual bantering they both pick up their pencils again to start work. Fifteen minutes pass, then half an hour, then an hour. All throughout, Saruhiko can tell that Misaki's growing increasingly frustrated. All he's been doing is flipping through pages after pages of his math textbook, writing down a few lines of equations, then clicking his tongue and erasing everything; he repeats this cycle several times. At this point of time, his worksheet is practically grey with faded pencil markings.

Saruhiko knows what's coming next. As he predicted, it only takes Misaki a few seconds more before he throws down his stationery, crumples up the worksheet and lobs it at the wastepaper basket. It goes in neatly without so much as a second bounce.

"I give up with that shit!" he yells. "I don't care anymore. Who needs maths when we become adults anyway?! As long as we know how to count that's all that matters! Who gives a hoot about x and y?!" Saruhiko doesn't miss how Misaki's knuckles have turned white from clenching his fists too hard.

"Misaki…"

Misaki laughs dryly. "You can do it, right, Saru? You're actually smart, not like me. I bet you're done already."

"… Almost." He's not lying; Only the last question's left.

"Well, good for you." The shorter boy sighs. "I'm just not cut out for this. Guess I'll just kill some time until detention's over." True to his words, he immediately pushes all his stationery out of the way and places his head down on the table to take a nap, using his arms as a pillow. "Wake me up when it's time to go home," he mumbles.

Ten minutes later, he's being poked out of his stupor by Saruhiko. "What? Is it time to go already?" he asks, speech slurred by sleep.

"No." Saruhiko shakes his head. "The last question is too difficult. I wanted to ask if you had any idea how to do it." Without waiting for a reply, he pushes the sheet of paper towards his friend, along with a mechanical pencil.

"Huh? Saru, wait. If you can't do it, there's no way I can, you know? You're way smarter than me."

"Just take a look."

And so Misaki does. He reads it once, then picks up the pencil and writes three lines experimentally. When what he's doing appears to be correct, his face brightens considerably and he begins writing more lines. After two minutes, he's done.

"Saruhiko, I did it! Are you sure that was difficult? I found it quite easy, actually."

"It was really hard," Saruhiko insists. "I didn't know how to start the equation at all. Teach me, Misaki."

The boy flushes with pride. "Hehehe! Since you're asking for my help, of course I will! Okay, first you substitute x into here, then…"

Saruhiko doesn't listen to what Misaki's saying, only just his voice alone. Afterall, he already knows how to do the entire question. He's just glad that Misaki has cheered up. When he's done explaining how to do the question, Saruhiko nods his head. "Ah, so the entire paper is all about substituting x into something else in order to work out the equation. Thanks, Misaki."

Judging my Misaki's slightly widened eyes, he seems to have gotten the hint. Quickly, he closes his gaping mouth, pretending to cough. "O-Of course! I knew that all along, Saru!" He grins sheepishly and gets up from his seat, crossing over to the wastepaper basket. He fishes his crumpled worksheet out of it.

"I think I'll give it another try," he says. "I-I mean, at least I can fill in the answer for the last question." Saruhiko nods, giving a simple reply of 'You can do it.' Misaki seems encouraged by his words.

A companionable silence falls over them as Misaki flattens out the paper and resumes his homework while Saruhiko starts on the next assignment. All the while, they're both glad that they're able to spend time together, even if it's in detention. To them, the where and when doesn't matter.

A/N: Headcanon dictates Misaki's a total dunce at maths and science and the like. (o3o)

... ... I HATE MATHS AND SCIENCE AMG AGSHAGDSJKAHKLDJWIOHSANMZ I'M GLAD I'M AN ART STUDENT. I DON'T HAVE TO TAKE THEM ANYMORE FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE WHOO HOO!

RnR~~