The following day Ryu had the joy of sitting through another of Livia’s lessons, and, unsurprisingly, she always found something to pester him with. At the moment he was sitting, waiting, for her to bring something up.

“Ryu,” said Livia, from her desk at the front of class

The rest of the class was currently occupied with their workbooks. From any viewpoint but Ryu’s Livia was an exceptionally structured and well prepared teacher. Her lessons always had a plan, the students knew exactly what they needed to do, and, best of all, her position on the beauty scale was just right - attractive enough that people wanted to impress to her.

So why did she always pick on him of all people? If there was a reason, Ryu couldn’t see it.

“Yes?” said Ryu, yawning afterwards. He’d been up late applying for jobs.

“Is there a problem?” said Livia, referring to the fact Ryu, unlike the rest of class, didn’t have his head down working.

“No,” said Ryu. There was something entertaining to him about giving Livia one word replies.

Ryu always sat towards the back of class with Livia’s desk in the corner farthest from him, but, even so, he could still see her eyes tighten.

“Then get back to-”

“I’m done.”

Livia didn’t like being interrupted, and Ryu knew, which was precisely why he did it. It was petty revenge, but little things could add up. Livia stood up from her seat and headed to Ryu’s desk, stopping once she was close enough to grab his book and inspect it.

“There’s no working,” said Livia, flipping through pages. “As far as I know you could have copied these answers from the back.”

Around the room pencils and pens stopped as people listened in. There was a certain joy in listening to someone else get reprimanded, especially so when it was another student.

“I didn’t cheat,” said Ryu.

Livia put Ryu’s book down.

“I’m not saying you did, but without working how do you expect me to believe you?” said Livia.

Ryu opened his mouth, but Livia wasn’t done.

“It’s been…” Livia looked at the clock at the front of the classroom. “Approximately eight minutes, and you’ve answered every question in this chapter with what seems to be the correct answer. Considering the number of questions, to even write all the answers in that time frame meant you would’ve been left with very little time to actually work out the answers.”

“I write fast.”

Livia leaned down and placed her hands on Ryu’s desk. Ryu’s eyes linked with Livia’s for a split second, before they were lured away, down towards her chest as his eyes began scouting beneath her blouse. Ryu gulped, and Livia smirked, scoffing as she straightened her back.

Clearing his throat, he watched as Livia strolled back to her desk, hips swaying, as he wondered what the hell had just happened.

***

Back at home, Ryu’s head was still in a turmoil. Livia had never done that- used that, against him. Was this a change in strategy? A sign he was winning? He wasn’t sure, but things were going in a direction he hadn’t foreseen.

Ruri wasn’t home when he got back, so he assumed she was either with her friends or at swimming club, possibly both. He grabbed a glass of water as he passed by the kitchen before shutting himself in his room.

He took a look at his computer and then his headset. Shaking his head, he grabbed the headset.