Silently in Love

Chapter 4

"Akari? What are you doing here so late?" She was sitting in the school library when she looked up with surprise and found Kiyoshi walking towards her. He took the chair beside her and studied what she was working on. She pulled her notebook out from under her textbook. The page was filled with scribbles.

"The academic schedule is more advanced than my old school. I have to study to catch up with everyone else." She wrote. Kiyoshi leaned towards her to get a better look at her notes. His action surprised her and she recoiled slightly. He flipped a page in her textbook.

"You're struggling with mathematics?" He asked her. Akari pulled a strand of hair behind her ear and nodded.

"Just a little bit. Mathematics was always tough for me." She smiled and gave him a slight shrug. Kiyoshi returned her smile with a grin of his own and rested his forehead on a fist.

"I'm president of the mathematics club." He said, pointing to himself. "I'll help you study." He offered. She raised her eyebrows. Before she could argue, he tapped her notes with his finger. "You got the right idea. You're just having a tough time with this problem because you mixed up the formula." He said and plucked her pencil from her fingers. She immediately paid close attention as he wrote out the correct formula. She snapped her fingers upon realizing her mistake and nodded. Kiyoshi proceeded to circle certain questions in the textbook. "If you work on these problems you should have no problem in class." He said and handed back her pencil. She concentrated on his notes and quickly went to work on the problems.

For the duration of the session, Akari completed all the problems while Kiyoshi guided her. In no time at all, she finished and understood everything. She set her pencil down and handed over her notes. He nodded his head in approval as he looked it over.

"Yeah, that's all it is. You got it!" He smiled and he flicked the paper with his other hand. She sighed in relief. She was stuck on one problem for so long and Kiyoshi explained it so clearly for her. Akari slightly bowed her head to thank him for helping her. "It's no problem." He said. "I like math." She almost grimaced at that comment, but from his expression she could clearly see that he was completely serious.

"How come you are still at school so late?" She asked him, glancing at the time. She felt a yawn coming on, but she held back.

"Our teacher stopped me after class to help him organize the class files." Kiyoshi glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "I accidentally saw your math test grade." He looked a bit ashamed and she blushed in embarrassment. He must have seen how terrible she was at math. "I also noticed you did not leave with Chiyo or Mao, so..." He trailed off. She tilted her head and did not understand that he purposely looked for her in the school library. He just awkwardly hesitated and shook his head. "It's nothing." He cleared his throat and stood up, pushing his chair back. She remained seated as he prepared to leave. She bowed to him again to thank him one last time and to say goodbye. "If you like..." He began. "...I can help you with school work whenever you need help." He offered. Akari raised her eyebrows at his kindness.

"You are so helpful to everyone. You really are a prince." She quickly jotted down in her notebook. He just gave her a short chuckle.

"I am no prince." He said, scratching the back of his neck.

"Thank you for your help. I would really appreciate it if you could help me." She wrote. Kiyoshi plucked her phone right out of her hands. He fooled around with it a bit and quickly handed it back to her. A second later, his phone received a message. He pulled it out and showed it to her.

"There. Now you have my number and I have yours." He said. She looked at her phone and saw his name and number listed in her contacts. "Message me when you need help and I'll come to you." Kiyoshi gave her another one of his boyish grins and she blushed. "See you tomorrow." He casually waved goodbye and she watched him leave the library. She did not wait any longer and also packed her things to go. On her way home, Akari was trying her best to ignore her fluttering heart.