Lesson Learned

You Worry Too Much

Gakushuu half shrugged, narrowing his gaze. "Well you seem perfectly happy keeping his secrets," he replied lightly. "In fact, you seem comfortable with keeping all sorts of secrets from me lately."

Mitsuko's stomach lurched. "I..."

Fix this. Fix this! A voice kept screaming in her head.

He shook his head, giving her a look that made her cringe. "We're meant to be in this together, remember?"

"Then why is it every time you say 'us', you just mean yourself?" She shot back. "Because if you're going to give me shit for lying, then how about you actually admit that you just want to take dad down for yourself while I cheer you on!"

He looked slightly taken aback by the outburst, scowling. 

"Whether you want to believe it or not. I'm doing what's necessary for the both of us." Anger ticked across his face. "And your reaction is exactly why I didn't tell you; you've actually deluded yourself into thinking you owe those degenerates a thing."

Mitsuko swallowed a lump. "They're my friends, Gakushuu." Her voice wavered a little. "And you still did this behind my back, even after knowing how much Rio means to me."

Asano rolled his eyes. "Because E Class isn't your problem," he replied insistently, sparking her temper. "After finals, you're going to get back into A-Class."

She wanted to bash her head against the wall. "You don't know that for sure!"

His jaw tightened. "Well, maybe if you focussed less on Nakamura and more on—

"Yeah, well, maybe I don't want to go back!" she finally snapped.

Gakushuu froze, showing a crack in composer for just a second, but just long enough. 

"What...?" His voice was quiet and cold around the edges. "What are you talking about?"

Oh, shit.

Ice trailed down her spine when she realized what she'd done.

"I just feel..." She hardened her resolve and tried to explain herself. "That maybe, I...maybe I'm better in E Class."

"...Better in E Class?" he repeated slowly, staring at her incredulously. 

Mitsuko clenched her hands tightly. "I'm happy, Gaku-nii, more than I've been in a long time."

"Don't be ridiculous, you were happy in A-Class as well," he told her firmly. "Just because you like Nakamura doesn't mean you have to ruin the rest of your life," he continued on somewhat urgently. "She's one of many distractions that will come and go."

She winced. "She isn't a distraction..."

"Yes, she is," Gakushuu argued, looking at her pointedly. "They're all a distraction," he said bitterly, as he rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Have you even thought about the consequences? You're throwing away success for something which won't last past the year."

Mitsuko felt a chill, wrapping her arms around herself. "I could still be successful in E Class..."

"Not if you let them drag you down," he replied, stepping closer. 

"Gakushuu..."

"They are going to ruin everything, why can't you see that?" he stressed, getting more frustrated. "I'm trying to help you, Mitsuko, but I can't do that if you're going to ignore me and keep making these mistakes."

Her eyes watered, feeling a slither of doubt curl its way upwards.

She started to feel her resolve waver, feeling her eyes sting, as it became more tempting to just believe that everything he was saying was true and maybe was...