"Huh!? We aren't even dating, that makes no sense." Steve replied, suddenly doubting his newfound Sensei's abilities.
"Also, even if we were dating, do you ever see me with women?" He continued, looking left and right as if to check if there were any around.
Ken stifled a laugh, finding his friend's plight rather amusing. "Well, aren't you close to a few girls at our school?"
Steve's expression morphed, "Well, I wouldn't say close. Stacey always asks if I want to borrow her notes or study together, but that's about it."
Now it was Ken's turn to be shocked. Even he who was absolutely clueless when it came to women, knew that this was a sign of something more.
"And has she seen you with this… Stacey?" Ken asked, trying to not sound accusatory.
"Well I mean, yeah. Of course she would have." Steve's innocent expression looked very punchable in that moment, yet Ken reeled himself in.
"So, do you think that maybe Stephanie might be jealous? Or maybe has a misunderstanding of your and Stacey's relationship?"
"Ah… I guess she could?" Steve looked unsure, "But wouldn't that be a little ridiculous?"
CLAP~
Ken clapped his hands together loudly, "Exactly! When things seem a little irrational, you know you must be close to the truth." He said mysteriously.
"Right…"
RING RING
The school bell suddenly rang, breaking the awkward moment.
"Ah crap, I didn't even get to eat my lunch." Ken complained, looking down at his stomach with pity.
"How about we skip class?"
"No way, my mom would kill me." Ken stated, feeling his body shudder at the mere thought of being caught.
"Yeah… You're probably right."
Since Steve was already in hot water with his parents thanks to his sub-par SAT results, being caught skipping class would only exacerbate the issue.
The two headed back to class and finished the day.
After practice, Ken invited Steve to his house so that he could begin their tutoring lessons. The idea would be that by September, his exam results should improve.
"Mom, I'm home. I've brought Steve with me." Ken called out from the door.
"Oi, take your shoes off." Ken muttered to his friend. Apparently it was not customary in America to do this.
"Ah, my bad."
"Welcome home Kenny. Nice to meet you Steve, I'm Yuki." Ken's mother introduced herself. She was in her usual cooking attire, wearing a clean white apron and had her hair tied up.
"T—Thank you for having me." He said politely.
"Are you staying for dinner?" She asked with a smile.
"Oh, I wouldn't want to impose."
"Don't be ridiculous, you're the only person Ken has invited over since we moved. I'll dish you up some food as well." Yuki insisted, heading back towards the kitchen.
Steve was about to refuse, but Ken nudged him and whispered, "You're fighting a losing battle man. No one leaves my mom's house without a full stomach."
Ken stifled a laugh after seeing the expression on his friends face before beckoning him to follow. "We're gonna do some studying for a while mom." He called, heading towards his room.
"Okay honey, your father will be home in about an hour."
With that, the two entered Ken's simple room. There was only a bed, a desk and a TV which didn't seem to have been used for quite some time.
Steve looked around, wearing a slightly disappointed expression. "Bro, your room is… bland." He said plainly.
Ken shrugged in response, "The only thing I do in here is sleep."
"But still. Where are your posters? The paint on your walls looks like its at least 30 years old." He walked around the simple space and scratched his head.
If he had to live in a room like this, he'd probably go crazy from boredom in no time flat. Of course, Steve wasn't aware that Ken used the Image Training every night, which was basically like owning an immersive VR headset.
"Wait here, I'll get another chair." Ken said, leaving the room.
Steve walked around the room while he waited, a mischievous expression appearing on his face. In a flash he got on the ground and looked under the bed, as if looking for something.
"What are you doing?" Ken returned rather quickly, holding one of the dining room chairs in his hand.
"Tch, I couldn't find them."
"Huh? Find what?"
Steve looked at him seriously, wearing a dead-pan expression. "Your magazines."
Seeing as how Ken seemed confused, he elaborated, "You know, the dirty magazines with women on them…" Then he hesitated, "Or men?"
Ken blinked a few times, letting the joke linger, "I have no such things."
After hearing this, Steve looked at Ken up and down, his eyes filled with something unreadable. "Mmm, it's no wonder you're so stiff all the time."
"What do you mean by that…?" Ken asked, his eyes narrowing.
Feeling a sense of danger, Steve quickly changed the subject, "Ah, we should probably start the tutoring session."
Ken's gaze was piercing as he looked at his friend, it was obvious that the guy had been making fun of him, but he quickly brushed it off.
"Alright, since your scores were so bad, we should probably start from the basics." He stated, pulling out some of his old notepads.
Hearing the true yet hurtful words, Steve did his best to not feel offended.
Ken flipped through his old notes, but quickly realized that they would be useless.
"Why are all these notes in Japanese?"
"Haaahh, this is going to be more annoying than I thought." Ken lamented.
Eventually, Ken got out his math textbook and began to go through some equations.
At first, Steve's mind was spinning, but he realized soon after that Ken was really good at explaining everything. From the Algebra to the equations, he managed to simplify them, even using real life examples to help him understand them better.
An hour seemed to pass by in a flash, yet it felt like he'd learned way more than he had in the past couple of months at school.