"A life I can't see, hm?" Emily muttered as she watched Jiro sleeping at his desk from her own. So far, she hadn't seen any other 'good' side of Jiro over the past few days. In the morning periods, he'd usually sleep and then was as energetic as a jumping bean in the afternoon. Oh, and he still annoyed her whenever he found the chance, though he was better than the day they had met. 

"Where?" she muttered in addition to her first sentence, "His laziness is probably what made him fail high school in the first place," she mumbled before picking up a pen. "Jiro Wang!" she yelled, throwing it at him to wake him up. The pen hit him right on the head and the sound of the connection was so loud that the rest of the class winced. However, Jiro remained asleep. "Jiro!" she called him again, "Wake up!" she exclaimed, beginning to get annoyed, "How dare he sleep through my lessons!" she hissed under her breath, marching over to him.

She knocked on his desk loudly, "Jiro!" she yelled again, now shaking him. 
Sylvia sweat dropped as she watched her teacher take this opportunity to abuse their new classmate. "Miss Cai, you shouldn't do that. After all, he is still a student," she spoke, making her teacher finally give up. 

Emily looked down at Jiro's head slumped over his arms, facing down at the table. Was he okay? Usually, he'd wake up by now. Quickly, she placed her hand over his forehead and then retraced it within milliseconds, "He doesn't seem to have a fever or anything..." she muttered quietly, "Maybe he's just really tired."

In fact, Jiro was tired - he was more than tired that morning. He had to work over time the previous night as some of his cleaner colleagues had taken the day off suddenly. As a result, Jiro had to stay later than usual and ended up pulling an all nighter. He had already been tired from school and the night before's  of work so his tiredness was just building up until he dropped. So now, he was fast asleep.

Emily folded her arms and looked at him as she clicked her tongue in disapproval, "Constantly sleeping like this will never get you that diploma," she muttered, "And I don't want to have to teach you next year."

She sighed and then walked back to the front of the classroom to continue with her lesson.

When Jiro woke up, it was around the end of the school day - surprisingly, he had slept for so long. At first, he blinked in confusion before noticing the empty classroom. "Where is everyone?" he mumbled before sitting up and craning his neck, before feeling something slide off his shoulders and onto the floor. He saw a small red blanket hanging off his chair and guessed someone had draped it over him as he slept. Slowly, he bent over to pick it up while the door opened.

Emily walked in holding a mug of coffee and a banana, "Oh, you're finally awake," she spoke, walking over to him, "Finally," she emphasised with a small glare. 
"King Kong Jie Jie? What time is it?" Jiro asked, standing up.
"It's the last period of the day - everyone's doing PE now but you've slept the whole day," she replied, placing the mug and banana down onto his desk, "And don't call me King Kong Jie Jie you stupid golden monkey."
As Jiro stretched, he looked down at the coffee and then shifted his gaze back to Emily, puzzled. "It's for you," she informed before sitting down at the desk in front of his and turning around to face him.

Jiro thanked her as he began drinking the coffee, "I didn't know you could be so kind, Emily," he remarked with a smile.
"Don't expect me to treat you like this often," she retorted, "I don't expect you to sleep in my class ever again - you won't pass like that."
Jiro sighed, "I know," he replied, "But I'm trying."
"Trying to fail high school again?" Emily spat, "That's what it looks like to me."
"I didn't fail the first time," Jiro answered as he peeled the banana.
"Then why are you here?" she questioned rather aggressively, "Why did you leave school the first time? If you didn't fail then were you expelled?"

Jiro looked at her, "That's none of your business," he answered, "What's important is getting my diploma now."
Emily stared at him, growing suspicious of why he returned to school. If he wasn't expelled or failed the first time, then why was he here now? Was he up to something? She didn't really trust him either. She bit her lip in thought as Jiro watched her, drinking his coffee.

"What?" he asked.
"I'm giving you a test tomorrow to see where you are in terms of abilities," she said before standing up, "Make sure you study tonight."
"A test?" Jiro repeated before chuckling nervously, "Hey King-" she glared at him, "- Okay Miss Cai, isn't it a bit too early for a test?"
She smirked at him, before walking out of the door.
Jiro groaned, "I don't even have time for studying," he muttered before bringing out a textbook from his bag and flicking through it.

...

Emily sweat dropped as she marked Jiro's paper the next evening. She was in her room with his paper in front of her, very unimpressed with his work. The test consisted of a range of subjects such as Mathematics, Science, comprehension and language skills yet Jiro wasn't excelling at even one of them. 

She sighed, writing '52%' in big red letters on the front of his paper. "He barely passed a lower grade exam," she muttered shaking her head slowly, "I guess this is where 10 years of no education gets you. Stupid golden monkey," she spat, "You're making my job harder for me." She sighed again and put the paper to the side, before walking over to a large glass tank in her room.

Inside was her pet crested lizard called Prince - named by her friend Wang Zi. She opened the lid and gently picked him up with a smile, "Prince~" she cooed, "Are you going to cheer Mama up? Yes you are, oh yes you are~!" she gushed, gently kissing her lizard on its head. Prince began to wriggle in her hands so she decided to put him back in his tank and sighed. 

"How do I push up Jiro's grade? Will simple tutoring do the trick?" she wondered aloud, "I can't believe I'm actually trying to help him out... but if I don't then I'll be stuck with him next year," she continued. 

...

"A tutor? No way," Jiro exclaimed, closing the door of his locker and turning away from Emily the next day. Emily followed after him.

"You need it," she insisted.
"I don't have time," Jiro replied, swinging his bag over his shoulder.
"Then make some time," Emily responded, "I'm sure Brent or Cosmos wouldn't mind tutoring you after school or on the weekends."
"I told you I don't have time, King Kong Jie Jie," Jiro groaned, not turning to look at her as he continued walking, "I'm busy."
"It's for your own good!" Emily lectured, becoming annoyed, "You don't even pay attention in my lessons half the time and you can't even get a decent score on a lower grade exam! If you don't work hard you'll fail!"

Abruptly, Jiro  his heel to face only to have her bump into him with her head bashing against his chin. He winced as he stumbled backwards. Emily, too, retreated back a few steps as she rubbed her head. "Who told you to suddenly turn around?!" she barked, watching him rub his chin.
"Who told you to have such a big head?!" he shot back, "If my chin is fractured, you're paying for the medical bills!"
"Come on, stop exaggerating!" she exclaimed, "If anything, your stupid chin gave me brain damage, golden monkey!"

Jiro stared at her before bursting out into a light chuckle. As he rubbed his own chin, he reached over to Emily and gently rubbed her head, "Sorry, you okay?" he chuckled, "We're both pathetic, huh?" he commented with a small smile.

Emily blinked in surprise as she watched Jiro's annoyed face suddenly brighten up. She felt her cheeks warm up as she felt his soft touch on her forehead, distracting her from her previous annoyed mood. 

"Stop changing the subject!" she burst out, "Getting tutored is the best thing for you, you won't get your diploma if you don't work for it!"
Jiro's face returned to his previous scowl at the tone of her voice and he began to walk away again, "Why do you care so much? I thought you didn't like me so why are you putting so much effort into me?" he questioned.
"It's because I don't like you! I don't want you in my class next year if you fail to get your diploma this year," she spat bitterly.

Jiro stopped again, but slower and this time he didn't turn around. "You're too cruel for a teacher, aren't you?" he scoffed in a low mutter, "I appreciate your help but I really don't have time after school - I have a life too, you know."
Emily narrowed her eyes as she glared at the back of his head, "You won't get anywhere with that attitude, Jiro," she warnd him, "Is your life outside of school more important than your education? Can you not sacrifice even a bit of time?" she questioned.

Work. Cyndi. Baby. Those were the three things that took over all his time after school and he couldn't give up any - if he were to improve his grade, he would have to stay awake in class and study by himself whenever he found time. He knew it'd be hard but he really couldn't make time after school to get tutored, by kids 10 years younger than him at that. Returning to school was embarassing enough, but being taught by a younger student would damage his pride further. 

A sigh escaped his lips, "I wish I could, Emily," he muttered in a low tone before walking off, leaving her alone in the hallway.

"What is more important than your education...?" she whispered, wanting to find out.

She was determined to find out.

She was going to.