One week later...

Maki entered her living room, pen and notepad in hand. Waiting for her on a couch were Hanayo, and a currently sleeping Rin. Her head resting comfortably on Hanayo's lap. Maki invited the two over in order to complete their group assignment. The class was paired up, but due to an odd number of students, Maki, Rin, and Hanayo were made a group of three. Taking a seat on the chair across from Rin and Hanayo, she got ready to write.

"So, Hanayo, tell me a little about yourself."

"W-well, I.. uh.." Hanayo's voice was so quiet, that Maki almost didn't hear what she said.

Maki sighed internally. She thought back to the orientation on the first day. 'She didn't say anything then, and she didn't say anything on the way over. I got the feeling that she was shy but..'

"I'm sorry, that might have been too much of an open question," Maki said. "Do you have any hobbies?"

"W-well.." Before Hanayo could clam up again, she's saved by a voice coming from her lap.

"You're scaring her nya," Rin said, rising up from Hanayo's lap and stretching her limbs.

"I'm not scaring her," Maki retorted. "Am I?" A quick glance at Hanayo's face was all the answer Maki needed. She was a monster.

"You've got the pen and paper, and you're going to write down everything she says nya," Rin continued, "This is more of an interrogation than getting to know her."

Sighing, Maki put down her pen and notepad beside her. She had to concede that Rin had a point. The purpose of the assignment was to write a paper about the person, or in Maki's case, the people you were paired with. Not small things they could just tell you, like their favorite color. Things that you could only learn by spending time with them, and things that you've learned from them. After this attempt, it was clear that it was going to be more difficult than what she originally thought.

"Okay, well... we can forget about that for now, but we should get the rest of our homework done."

"Homework?! But I wanna do something fun nya..." Rin whined, "You're rich, aren't you Maki-chan? There's gotta be something fun we could do... Oh!" Rin clasped her hands together, "Do you have a private jet?"

"What? Of course I don't, what made you think I would have one?"

"Don't all rich people have private jets?"

Maki pinned the bridge of her nose and let out a breath. "No Rin, of course not. Even if I did, we wouldn't be taking a ride on it. Just because you want to slack off on homework doesn't mean I want to."

"Oh alright Maki-chan.." said Rin.

"Alright then, with the three of us, we shouldn't take too long." Maki said, and the three took out their books, and began to get to work.

Despite the three of them being in the same, and only first years class, Rin and Hanayo worked together, while Maki went on her own. Maki didn't particularly mind, she found it often better to be working alone. She always thought that things would be quicker without having to pause for the input of another person. Maki's theory wouldn't be proved wrong today either.

"Alright, I'm finished with English," said Maki. Gaining the attention of her study buddies.

"S-sorry Maki-chan, we're still a little bit behind," said Hanayo.

"You're fine, I'll wait for you two." Maki said, standing up. "I'm going to go get a drink, and maybe some fresh air."

After Maki left the living room, Rin sighed, and put her head on Hanayo's shoulder. "Kayochin..."

"I know, Rin-chan. Maybe you should ask Maki-chan? She's doing well."

"I don't want to nya," Rin said.

"Why not?"

"I said I didn't want to ask you for help in school anymore." Rin lifted her head up, "I don't want to lean on you Kayochin."

"But Rin-chan, Maki-chan is a really good student. She'd be able to help."

"Yeah but we're so early in the school year, and asking for help even though I said I wouldn't..." Rin's voice, began to waver, "It... it makes feel.." Rin doesn't get to finish her sentence, as Hanayo gently pulls her into a hug.

Meanwhile...

Walking into her kitchen, Maki is greeted by the sound of a hummed melody. It's a very familiar sound, one that Maki enjoyed, but it ends for her much too quickly, as her next step alerts the source to her presence.

"Oh! Welcome, Lady Nishkino." A middle aged woman, with long and dark hair wrapped up in a bun, wearing a long dressed maid outfit greeted Maki.

"Akari-san, I told you, feel free to just call me Maki."

"I know, but as the maid, it's important to keep up appearances when the house has guests," Akari says, resuming her mopping of the kitchen.

"Yeah, I guess. I'll be grabbing a drink," Maki says, walking to the refrigerator.

"Would you like some Sencha?"

"No thanks, I'll actually just be grabbing a bottle of water." Grabbing said bottle, Maki ponders the offer. Looking back to Akari, "Could I have a couple of cups made for my company?" Akari chuckled. "What's so funny?"

"Oh it's nothing," Akari says, making a smooth and stylish stride to the cupboards to prepare the tea. "It's just that I began to wonder if you'd ever grow out of your shell."

"Shell?"

Akari nodded, and turned to face Maki, giving her full attention as the Sencha began to steam. "You've always kept to yourself, you've never had someone over until now. Instead of being outside and playing with the other kids, you'd much rather stay inside and play the piano. You never connected with the other kids around you, I worried for your social skills.."

"You sound like a mother." Maki said, taking a sip of from her bottle, "You'd be a good one, you should find a nice guy and settle down."

"I'm being serious, Lady Nishkino."

"So am I."

The two were quiet for a moment, but then burst into laughter. "So," Akari began, putting the finishing touches on the Sencha tea, pouring water from the cups into the teapot. "What's the catch?"

Maki immediately knew what she meant. "I brought them here because we're working on a class assignment. It hasn't started well though."

"What's the project about?"

"I don't want to get into it."

"Will I be seeing the two around here often?"

"I don't know yet."

"What happens after the assignment is complete?"

Maki raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Akari put her finger to her chin in a half mocking, half serious motion, tapping a couple of times. "Nothing at all."

"I need some fresh air." Maki says, turning on a heel and walking out of the kitchen.

"Oh that Maki." Akari giggled, putting the cups of Sencha tea on a tray, and headed towards the living room.

Maki took a deep breath, the cool spring air was nice. There was a particularly sweet fragrance in the air, but Maki couldn't quite pinpoint what it was. It didn't matter though, it smelled good, and that's what really mattered. She couldn't really enjoy it though, her mind was too preoccupied with what Akari told her earlier. There was truth to it, Maki could admit, but she never thought of keeping to herself to be a bad thing. 'What happens after...' Part of Maki wanted to go back and get a proper answer from Akari about what she meant, but she knew it would be a fruitless endeavor. 'She plays too many mind games with me'. The bottle of water was empty, and Maki figured she was away for long enough. It was time to head back to the living room and finish up.

Making her way back to the living room, Maki pauses as she steps back inside. Rin and Hanayo were both in the same spots on the couch, but they were sitting much closer together, and facing each other. Maki could see their lips move, but she couldn't hear anything. Whatever they were talking about, it was clear that they didn't want to be overheard. Maki glanced at the living room table, the cups that held the Sencha tea were still emitting smoke. Hopefully that meant they didn't like their tea to be too hot.

Maki simply stood there, waiting for them to finish their conversation, or for them to notice her presence. Whichever came first. It would've been a long wait, as Rin and Hanayo were stuck in their own little world. Maki would have waited longer, but she had homework to finish.

"Did you two enjoy the tea?" Maki interrupted, Rin and Hanayo turned to her quickly, startled by the sudden intervention. Not giving Rin and Hanayo a chance to answer, Maki continues, "I'm sorry." Maki said, sitting down at her previous spot in the chair. "I wanted to wait for you two to finish, but it looked like that would take awhile."

Rin bashfully rubbed the back of her head, "Heh, sorry about that Maki-chan."

Maki waved her hand, "It's fine. It's going to get late soon, we should probably finish up."

Hanayo nodded her agreement, while Rin just stayed quiet. Even though she talked about it with Hanayo, she wasn't fully on board with the idea of asking Maki for help. She's always struggled in her studies, and she's always leaned on Hanayo. She didn't want to do it anymore, especially now that she was in high school. However, because she was in high school now, she couldn't afford now to struggle like before. Even though it was early in the school year, it didn't take long for Rin and Hanayo, and the rest of Otonokizaka's first years for that matter, to realize that Maki was really, really smart.

"Hey, Maki-chan?" Rin mumbled, not quietly enough, as Maki pauses her work and looks up at Rin. Wordlessly heeding her call. "I'm uh..." Rin rubbed the back of her head much like before, "I'm having a little trouble with this part nya, could you help me out?"

Maki was taken back. Not by the question itself; Maki took fleeting looks around whenever she was bored, and whenever her eyes landed on Rin, Rin looked as bored as she was. But she knew they were bored for very different reasons. Maki was taken back by the question actually being asked to her. For a moment, Maki's eyes drifted to Hanayo, whom seemed to be immersed with her own work. 'Did she actually say no?' Maki thought, 'No, that's not it. Hmm..'

The sound of fingers snapping brings Maki back to reality, facing Rin, and now Hanayo, who was looking at her with concern. "Maki-chan?" Hanayo says, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine Hanayo." Maki then turns to Rin, if she needed help, then it couldn't be helped. "Show me what exactly you're having problems with."

Authors Note:

Myself, and therefore this story, aren't dead yet. Very close, but not quite. Anyways, this chapter likely going to be the single biggest deviation from Maki's Rules. Things should look more familiar from here on out. Thanks for reading (also for the patience), reviews always appreciated.