Date A Live: A Spirit Awakens

Chapter 6

"You forgot to divide by x."

"Huh? Wait, where?"

"Right here."

The two girls, Aika and Ai, were sitting together in the library after school. Aika was helping Ai study, going over the math homework she had just finished and looking for mistakes in her work, and now she was showing her where she had gone wrong. Her purple hair was cascading down her back and the front of her shoulders; there was no light coming from the windows behind them, as it was raining quite heavily at the moment. Instead, the lights on the ceiling were lighting the room around them. She was looking at Ai's homework, a pen in her hand, scratching markings, and circling certain parts she was talking about. Ai wasn't paying attention. Not on purpose of course; the light red on her cheeks being obvious, she was distracted, thinking of Aika.

"Ai."

"Huh?"

"Pay attention."

"R-Right, sorry."

"...Sigh, I think we've done enough today. I'll lend you my work, and you can compare them tonight."

"Oh, thanks."

"Just make sure you actually look over them. I will quiz you on it tomorrow."

"Eck"

"Haha, come on, let's get going."

They packed up their work, with Aika passing her homework to Ai. When they got to the front of the school, Aika pulled her umbrella out of her bag and stepped into the rain. Luckily, it wasn't windy. Ai reached into her bag, but stopped.

"Ai? What are you doing?"

"Um... I forgot my umbrella."

"Haha, of course you did. Come on, get under."

Ai ran out, getting a little wet in the process, but quickly made it beside Aika.

"...I was gonna walk over so you didn't have to get wet."

"Oh, haha, right."

"Jeez, come on, I'll walk you home."

"Hehe, thanks."

Ai walked shoulder to shoulder with Aika, a small blush on her face, and the two talked as they moved.

"How are you doing?"

"Huh, what do you mean?"

"Your crush, silly."

"O-Oh, right. I think it's going okay."

"That's good, I hope it works out for you."

"Well, I don't know if it will, she already has a crush on someone else."

"Sorry... But I guess we're both in that situation."

"Yeah... Um, how's it going with Tobiichi-san?" She regretted asking as soon as the words came out of her mouth.

"Still trying to get over it, but she makes it so difficult."

"Uh huh..."

The two walked in silence for a bit, only the pitter-patter of the rain on the umbrella and the gentle splashes in the shallow puddles they walked through being the consistent noise. Both of their thoughts were elsewhere: Aika's on Tobiichi, and Ai's on Aika. As the two turned onto Ai's street, Aika was the one to break the silence.

"Make sure you actually study, alright?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"Ai, I'm serious. I don't want you to be held back a year and end up in a different class than me."