The classroom felt unusually quiet the next morning.
The excitement from yesterday had disappeared.
Everyone had already found a study partner.
Everyone…
except one.
I placed my bag beside my desk and instinctively glanced toward the window.
Takoru was already there.
Just like every morning.
His head rested against the glass while soft sunlight illuminated the side of his face.
His notebook lay closed on the desk, untouched.
Nothing about him looked different.
Yet…
Everything felt different.
For the first time, I couldn’t stop remembering yesterday’s empty classroom.
Everyone had left with someone.
He had left alone.
“…Morning.”
Emmi’s cheerful voice pulled me back.
She dropped into her chair with her usual energy before immediately turning toward Yuri.
“I made a study timetable.”
Yuri adjusted his glasses.
“You actually followed my advice?”
“I even used different colored pens.”
“…I’m impressed.”
Emmi grinned proudly.
“Don’t praise me too much.”
“I might become responsible.”
Yuri laughed quietly.
“I wouldn’t mind.”
Watching them somehow made the classroom feel warmer.
A few rows ahead…
Nesmin dramatically threw himself across Stevan’s desk.
“I’ve made a terrible discovery.”
Stevan didn’t even look up.
“What now?”
“I actually have to study.”
“…Congratulations.”
“This is a tragedy.”
Stevan calmly turned another page of his book.
“You’ll survive.”
“I won’t.”
“You will.”
“I definitely won’t.”
“You talk too much to fail.”
Several students nearby laughed.
Even I smiled.
Their friendship always filled the room with life.
Then…
The classroom door opened.
Mrs.
Sharma walked inside carrying a thin blue file.
Unlike yesterday…
She didn’t smile.
She placed the file on the teacher’s desk before quietly looking around the room.
“I checked everyone’s partner forms last night.”
The room immediately became silent.
“I have only one problem.”
Her eyes slowly moved toward the last row.
“One student still doesn’t have a partner.”
Without lifting his head…
Takoru answered.
“I’m fine studying alone.”
Mrs.
Sharma folded her arms.
“No.”
He slowly opened one eye.
“…No?”
“No student in my class studies alone.”
Silence.
Several classmates exchanged nervous glances.
A girl near the front whispered,
“I told you nobody would choose him…”
Another student quietly replied,
“Would you?”
She immediately looked away.
“I…”
“…No.”
Not because they hated him.
Because they were afraid.
Afraid he wouldn’t attend.
Afraid he wouldn’t help.
Afraid they’d fail with him.
Mrs.
Sharma sighed softly.
“I expected this.”
She picked up the blue file.
“Which is why…”
“I’ve already made the final decision myself.”
The classroom became completely still.
Even Nesmin stopped fidgeting.
Stevan finally looked up from his book.
Takoru remained expressionless.
Mrs.
Sharma looked down at the paper in her hands.
Then…
She spoke one name.
“Rubi Aster.”
My heart skipped.
“…Yes, Ma’am?”
“I want you to stay after school today.”
Confusion spread across the room.
Then Mrs.
Sharma calmly continued.
“From today onward…”
“You will be Takoru Ryuzaki’s official study partner.”
The classroom froze.
Even the sound of the ceiling fan suddenly felt loud.
I stared at Mrs.
Sharma.
Surely…
I had heard wrong.
Slowly…
Almost against my own will…
I turned toward the window.
Takoru had finally lifted his head.
Our eyes met.
Neither of us spoke.
Neither of us smiled.
For one silent moment…
It felt as though the entire classroom had disappeared.
Only two people remained.
The girl who understood loneliness…
And the boy everyone had forgotten to choose.
For a long moment…
No one spoke.
Then the classroom exploded.
“What?!”
“Rubi and Ryuzaki?!”
“Seriously?”
“I thought she would choose Yuri!”
“I can’t believe the teacher actually paired them!”
The whispers spread across the room like wildfire.
Emmi’s eyes became as wide as saucers.
She immediately grabbed Rubi’s arm.
“Rubi…
are you okay?”
“I…”
Rubi looked completely frozen.
“I don’t know.”
Yuri quietly adjusted his glasses before looking toward Mrs.
Sharma.
“Ma’am…”
Mrs.
Sharma nodded.
“I know what you’re about to ask.”
“This decision wasn’t random.”
She slowly walked toward the last row.
“Takoru has the ability.”
“He simply lacks direction.”
Then she looked at Rubi.
“And Rubi has patience.”
“Sometimes…”
“The best teacher isn’t the smartest student.”
“It’s the one who refuses to give up on someone.”
The classroom became quiet again.
Even the students who had been whispering lowered their heads.
Nesmin suddenly raised his hand.
“So…”
“Boss actually has to study now?”
Mrs.
Sharma smiled.
“Exactly.”
Nesmin dramatically placed both hands over his heart.
“This…”
“…is the greatest miracle Mirae Academy has ever witnessed.”
Several students laughed.
Even Stevan shook his head.
“I told you this day would come.”
“You never told me!”
“I assumed common sense would.”
“I stopped using common sense after meeting Boss.”
For the first time…
A tiny smile appeared on Takoru’s face.
Only for a second.
Then it disappeared again.
…
The final bell rang.
Students quickly packed their bags.
One by one…
The classroom emptied.
Emmi walked toward Rubi.
“I’ll wait outside.”
Rubi hesitated.
“No…”
“You should go.”
“What?”
“I’ll be okay.”
Emmi looked uncertain.
Then Yuri gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Let’s trust her.”
After a few seconds…
They finally left.
Soon…
Only three people remained.
Mrs.
Sharma.
Rubi.
Takoru.
Mrs.
Sharma placed two identical study schedules on the desk.
“You’ll meet three afternoons every week.”
“No excuses.”
She looked directly at Takoru.
“If either of you skips…”
“Both of you lose the program benefits.”
Takoru frowned slightly.
Mrs.
Sharma smiled.
“Life usually is.”
Without another word…
She walked out.
The classroom door quietly closed.
Silence.
An awkward…
Very awkward silence.
Rubi stared at the study schedule.
Takoru stared out the window.
Almost two whole minutes passed.
Finally…
Takoru stood up.
“You don’t have to do this.”
Rubi looked up.
“…What?”
“You can tell her no.”
“I won’t mind.”
His voice wasn’t cold.
It sounded…
Tired.
“As long as I’m your partner…”
“People will talk.”
“You’ll regret it.”
For a second…
Rubi remembered every rumor she had heard.
Street racer.
Gang leader.
Dangerous.
Troublemaker.
Then…
She remembered something else.
The leather jacket.
The rainy bus stop.
The tiny compliment about her handwriting.
The lonely workshop behind the school.
The blank answer sheet.
She slowly shook her head.
“I don’t regret helping people.”
Takoru looked at her.
Really looked at her.
His dark eyes searched her face as if trying to understand whether she was lying.
“…You’re strange.”
Rubi smiled awkwardly.
“I’ve been told that before.”
A small silence followed.
Then…
Something unexpected happened.
Takoru reached into his school bag.
He placed an old mathematics notebook on the desk.
“I…”
“…don’t understand where to start.”
Rubi blinked.
This wasn’t the proud leader everyone feared.
This wasn’t the untouchable boy from the rumors.
This…
Was simply someone asking for help.
She carefully pulled the notebook toward herself.
“We’ll start from Chapter One.”
Takoru sighed dramatically.
“…Chapter One?”
“You skipped everything after that?”
“…Maybe.”
Rubi couldn’t stop herself.
A tiny laugh escaped her lips.
Takoru looked genuinely offended.
“Don’t laugh.”
“I’m trying to become a responsible student.”
She covered her mouth.
“I’m sorry.”
“…It was just unexpected.”
For the first time…
The atmosphere between them felt light.
No fear.
No rumors.
No walls.
Just two classmates…
Sitting beside the window…
Trying to understand each other’s worlds.
Outside…
Nesmin secretly peeked through the classroom window.
His jaw slowly dropped.
He immediately grabbed Stevan’s arm.
“…Boss…”
“…is actually studying.”
Stevan folded his arms.
A small smile crossed his face.
“I told you.”
“This is only the beginning.”
Nesmin looked back through the window.
Then grinned.
“…Looks like Mirae Academy is about to become a lot more interesting.”
To Be Continued…
Welcome to Chapter 16!
Thank you so much for reading and supporting this story.
Your comments, votes, and reviews truly motivate me to write every single day!
Now tell me…
Do you think Rubi made the right decision by accepting Takoru as her study partner?
Will studying together bring them closer…
or create even more misunderstandings?
And what do you think Takoru is hiding behind those blank notebooks and quiet eyes?
I’d love to read your theories in the comments!
Thank you for staying with Rubi and Takoru on this journey.
See you soon in the next chapter!