Oh sweet Lord FORGIVE ME FOR THE INSANELY LATE UPDATE QAQ

Its been what, three weeks? more? yeah. more. someone shoot me.

Busy schedule plus writer's block. NOT A PRETTY THING. I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT.

Again, I'm sorry for the late update, the oocness of everyone, and the fact that I actually hinted some ZaziexLag in this chapter despite planning to make this a GauchexLag fic OTL but just to make things clear before you guys come flaming me, I'm not planning to pair up Zazie and Lag, so rest assured GauchexLag supporters lol owo

Also, I apologize for the shortness of this chapter. As mentioned above, I was having a bloody writer's block. OTL

Excuse my mistakes. Tegami Bachi isn't mine.

"Oi Lag! Wake up!"

Lag stirred from his sleep, his eyes stinging from the tears he'd shed the night before. Yawning, he slowly brought his fist to his eyes in attempt to rub the drowsiness off. When he finally looked properly, Lag almost jumped with shock.

"Z-Zazie?" Lag had been stuttering a lot these days. The raven haired boy placed the stacks of books on the doctor's desk with a huff and turned to glare at him.

"Sup," he said.

"You're my roommate?" It was a stupid question and Lag knew it. Still, he couldn't exactly help himself.

"Apparently," Zazie grumbled. "That bastard Suede guy came knocking on my door friggin' early in the morning telling me that, anyway."

"Sorry."

Zazie harrumphed and crossed his arms. "Just don't go breaking anymore bones next time."

Lag nodded and proceeded to slowly get out of bed. Zazie helped by taking the pair of crutches over to him. Lag bent down first – using the bed as support – and picked his bag up. Then with his friend's assistance, he adjusted his arms over the walking aid and wobbled over to the desk. Zazie had – reluctantly – offered to hold his books for him, but Lag refused. He'd decided that everyone had already done enough for him. Lag didn't want to rely on anyone anymore.

It took a small while, but Lag soon got the hang of using his crutches. He was very careful as he moved, afraid that he might slip on the smooth flooring. Zazie brought him to the restrooms to let him clean up a little before they headed to class.

Lag splashed his face with the cool tap water, wishing he hadn't cried his hear out the night before as his eyes were dead tired in the morning. He then gargled some water and ran his hands through his hair to make himself look at least a little more decent. Lag wasn't' exactly planning to give off a bad impression of himself to the teachers (and everybody else, for that matter) on the actual first day.

The bell rang before the two could reach the main building. Lag winced – half from the piercing sound, half because he'd caused his companion to be late.

"I'm.. so sorry, Zazie.." Lag said behind the raven haired boy.

"Hah?" Zazie glanced over his shoulder to look at him. "Why?"

"Because.. you're late because of me.." Lag sniffled.

"Ehhh?" Zazie turned around completely this time. "Hey its fine! I don't mind being a little late so don't go crying!"

"Still.." Despite how dry his eyes were, Lag could still feel his tears welling up. He hated it. He hated himself for crying for even the smallest things.

Zazie stared at the younger boy, completely baffled. Finally, he made up his mind and walked over.

"There's no need to cry, Lag," he rested a hand lightly on the albino's shoulder, barely touched the fabric of his blazer. "I mean, look at me. Do I look like the kind of person who cares about the fact that he's late?"

Lag sniffled again, averting his single visible amber colored eye toward the senior. With his mussed up hair, feline-like eyes and uniquely sharp canines, Zazie certainly did not look like a model student. He would fit the delinquent image quite well though, Lag thought despite himself.

"..No," Lag answered, drying his eyes.

"And that's exactly why you shouldn't be so concerned about it," Zazie grinned. "Now let's keep going."

They arrived at Lag's classroom fifteen minutes later. The two boys stood outside, listening to the booming voice of the teacher inside and unsure what to do. Lag placed his hand on the handle of the door and paused.

"..Nee Zazie.." he said in a tone slightly louder than a whisper. "Maybe I should follow you back to your class first. To back you up when you explain."

"Not necessary," the older boy simply replied before clamping his fingers between the gap of the door and its frame. And before Lag could react, he slid the door open.

Approximately thirty pairs of eyes turned their direction. A single student was standing up, possibly in the middle of answering a question.

"What.. is the meaning of this?" A slender woman stood behind a desk, her eyebrows twitching with annoyance.

"He broke his leg. And he can't walk very fast," Zazie said from behind the albino boy. Lag could swear he had never felt so grateful towards someone in his life. Hearing the sophomore's statement, the teacher shifted her gaze onto Lag's bandaged ankle and crutches, and her expression softened.

"Because this is the first day," she sighed. "I'll forgive you." She turned towards Zazie. "You, on the other hand, better be getting back to your own class, young man. I'm afraid your teacher will not be as lenient."

"Tch.. whatever." Shoving his hands into the front pockets of his trousers, Zazie turned and marched off.

"..Umm.. Zazie!" Lag called after hesitating for a split second. "Thank you!"

Zazie merely waved it off without even looking back. He then turned and casually entered the classroom just right next to Lag's as if being late was the most normal thing in the world.

Lag inhaled deeply and nervously stepped inside. He kept his gaze on the ground, afraid to face the curious stares of the other students.

"Well, since you've already interrupted," the teacher sighed and said. "You might as well come over here and introduce yourself."

That was the last thing Lag wanted to do, but he obliged. He hobbled over towards the centre of the classroom, swallowing his anxiety. Steeling his nerves, he lifted his gaze towards his fellow classmates.

"N-Nice to meet you all!" he said. "My name is Lag Seeing and I'm thirteen years old. I hope we'll have a great time together." He turned towards the adult and bowed as low as his crutches would allow him. "I'm so sorry for being late, sensei!"

"I already told you its fine, didn't I?" the teacher said, a ghost of a smile across her features. Lag straightened up, his eyes shining with gratitude.

"Anyway, I'm Sarah, your homeroom teacher," the lady said. "I'll also be teaching you guys some normal subjects. If you got anything troubling you, feel free to find me. Now go take your seat, Lag Seeing. We don't have much time left before the next lesson starts."

Lag nodded and turned to look for an empty seat. Almost every chair was occupied, except for one at the very back corner of the classroom just right next to the second sliding door. Lag headed towards it, feeling the now familiar sensation of being watched by dozens of eyes. He sat down slowly on the empty chair, careful not to strain his bad ankle. He placed his worn-out bag on his lap and set his crutches against the wall next to him. Now that he'd settled down, Lag felt a sense of excitement wash over him. Lessons were starting! He's finally – seriously studying in his dream school!

He could barely concentrate throughout homeroom, but Lag did his best to force himself to pay attention. He remembered hearing something about their schedules for the week. He remembered jotting down some notes on his notebook. But everything was a blur after that.

The bell rang. A male student stood up as Miss Sarah gathered her books and whatnot. The only thing Lag could make out about the boy from where he stood was that he had bright cyan colored eyes and a scar running vertically from his right eyebrow to his cheek. It might just be his imagination, but Lag thought the boy gave out a sort of calm aura around him.

"Stand!" he commanded without much emotion. To Lag's surprise, everyone did stand up, and he followed suit.

"Bow!" the boy said.

Simultaneously, every student bowed. Miss Sarah left the room. Lag slumped down on his chair and sighed – something he rarely did. He then let his gaze wander around. He noticed the girl sitting on the row to his left flash him a shy smile. Still slightly confused, Lag returned the gesture.

"Umm.. hello there," the girl said in a voice so soft Lag could barely hear her. She had dark brown eyes and straight black hair that spilled a little past her shoulders. Though they were both sitting down, Lag guessed she had to be at least half a head taller than himself.

"Hello," Lag answered in similar tone. A short awkward silence formed between them after that.

"A-Ah.. my name's Lily Confort," the girl finally said. "Nice to meet you."

Lag shook her outstretched hand. "Same here."

"..You must be wondering what just went on, huh?'

Lag blinked at her, feeling himself blush slightly from embarrassment. "E-Eh?"

"I couldn't help but notice just how confused you look since you're sitting right next to me," she explained. "The boy with the scar is Alraune Reinhold*. Our class representative."

"Class.. representative?"

"Something like.. the head of the class. He's in charge of helping the teachers and stuff… I think."

"Oh."

Before anything else could be said, the door slid open. Silence fell upon the murmuring students as a familiar man walked in. He set his stack of books onto the table and turned to glower at the students.

"I am Professor Thunderland," he said without even glancing at Lag. "And I'll be in charge of teaching you kids about the jobs of being Bees and all that. Practical classes like Shindan practice and physical training will be taught separately. Now let's start." He pulled out a book from the stack he'd brought along. "Open your books to page 5."

Lag had barely done that when the professor started babbling about Letter Bee policies, rules, etc. Lag pulled his notebook from the building pile of books on his table and started taking down points as fast as he could catch up. Halfway through, Lag noticed that he'd already knew most of the things being taught thanks to his countless hours of self study sessions for the exams. Hearing it all again somehow made him feel slightly nostalgic.

Professor Thunderland kept on talking, making brief explanations every once in a while. Some students could only stare blankly at him, failing – and eventually not even bothering – to understand what he was saying. Lag couldn't help but smile faintly to himself, despite how arrogant it made him seem.

Maybe being a scholarship student in some cases isn't so bad after all.

xXx

Lag staggered out of his classroom, his brain on the verge of exploding from the overload of information. Professor Thunderland had showed no mercy in the last four periods of lessons, and Lag could see that everyone was half dead. Even Alraune Reinhold – Lag noticed – looked exhausted. Lily Confort, on the other hand, was making her confusion and tiredness very obvious thanks to her habit of scratching her head with her pencil everytime she fails to understand something – which, was what she'd spent majority of her time doing.

Lag sighed. He walked over to the class next door and peeked in curiously. A teacher was feverishly scribbling something on the board. Lag's gaze wandered across the sophomores, coming to a rest on a slumped figure at the far end right next to the corner window. Zazie had his head buried in his arms on his desk, sleeping soundly as if he did not have a care in the world.

Though, it wouldn't really surprise Lag if he really did not have a care in the world.

Sighing to himself once more for no apparent reason, Lag turned and headed to the cafeteria to clear his mind and fill his growling stomach.

*Alraune Reinhold is an OC belonging to ruri-chu of deviantart (http: / ruri-chu. deviantart. com/). remove the bracket and spaces. used with permission. join us in our Tegami Bachi roleplay group at http : / letterbee-rp. deviantart. com / remove the spaces.