Author's Notes

OLD: I always used to do this in junior high school. Actually took me a while to get caught. I find it is easier to focus (in science classes in high school especially) when half my mind is on something else.

NEW: I know I'm behind on my updates. I'm working on them; nearly done with the next chapter of Mirror Distortions. Updates are going to be a little skewy until things are back on track, so please just bear with me for a couple of weeks or so.

Enjoy and tell me what you think.

Book of the Bookworm

Apparently he wasn't the goody-two shoes student everyone thought he was, but he definitely was that bookworm.

Kouichi K/Koichi

'Kimura-kun, perhaps you'd like to tell the class what I just said.'

The brunette teacher frowned down at one of her best pupils, having looked at him for some reason only to find he was paying more attention to whatever was on his lap than her words.

Kouichi probably did hear her, but as he wasn't entirely focusing on her words, it didn't process until the boy sitting behind him kicked his chair. When he registered that, he started a little, and the book on his lap slid to the floor as he stared at his teacher's disapproving face.

'Nice to see you're paying attention,' she said, eyeing the book in the shadow of his desk as the student blushed. 'Can you repeat what I just said?'

Kouichi had to think for a moment. He normally listened to lectures with half an attentive ear, finding he absorbed information far better than actually thinking about the words being said. He tended to get side-tracked on some nitty-gritty thing and lose the knowledge altogether when he gave a string of words its full attention, so he used something, typically a book he'd read before enough times not to get entirely absorbed into its plot, to distract him enough to take the information at face value and question to his heart's content at a later and more opportune time.

Of course, trying to remember something that just went through your ears was a little trickier, and a lot more awkward.

'The atmosphere consists mostly of gases: about 80% nitrogen, 20% oxygen and 1% argon-'

Considering the fact that if he hadn't been listening, he'd most likely have thrown carbon dioxide into the mix (and probably not noticed the argon), the teacher had no choice but to admit he had been paying some degree of attention after all.

Still, she knelt down and picked up the book that had fallen, raising an eyebrow to the library novel before eyeing the blushing boy.

'Doing things not related to class during class is not permitted,' she said, turning around and placing the novel on her desk. 'Don't let me catch you again.'

'Hai Sensei,' he mumbled to his lap, amidst a few giggles from neighbouring students, particularly from the boy behind him that had kicked his chair.

'And here I thought you went for the rules,' he hissed quietly.

'Quiet,' the teacher ordered in general, before turning back to her speech.

It was still rather amusing from the point of view of the students, seeing as Kouichi wasn't the type of guy to get into trouble with his teachers. In fact, he was one of those A/A- average students. And now they'd found out he didn't quite go by the book.

Even if he was every bit the bookworm they had thought he was.