<span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;">He took the umbrella and held it; it really made the whole thing much easier all around. He got a lot less wet, though he did feel a little odd holding a girl's umbrella since Ryuu had grabbed Ayano's by mistake.<br/><br/>Why did he feel so crestfallen hearing about Ryuu's good scores? Ito wondered if that made him feel like a bad person. If Ryuu hadn't done as well, he might not go for one of the more prestigious places...and they would have had a better chance of going to the same place. Ito wasn't dumb by any means, but there was a world of difference in the requirements for business versus the requirements for other things. Ito was a student who hadn't needed to go to cram school for one; his scores were good, and business was more than just academic achievement. Ito had focused instead on extracurricular activities coupled with studying at home. <br/><br/>He shared his own scores. "I did really well in math--I had to for my major. Top 5%! I...didn't do as good in sciences. I'm almost embarrassed to tell you--it's not horrible but...it's not something that I think I can brag about. Thankfully it's not important for my intended career. Still....I really should have studied harder for my sciences with you; you've always been good at those. Oh! I did really well on my scores related to literature and foreign languages!" That was one thing Ito had to focus on--learning more than one language was important for anyone going into business if that business was to have a chance at expanding. He'd opted to learn English and Chinese, in that order. His school had offered English--he had to get Chinese from an extracurricular. <br/><br/>The school was now in sight. A lot of people were hurrying in from the rain; homeroom would start in about five minutes. <br/><br/>"I'm glad you're going to the party with me--thanks. I know you hate them, but I appreciate it. And yeah, Akagi's the one in the too-tight swimwear. He's really intent on being as smooth in the water as possible and says they help. I mean I tried to humor him once and wear one too, but I think I'd rather lose at a swim competition than wear one of those again. I genuinely worry about his ability to find a date if he keeps wearing that thing." Ito said that with a conspiratory grin; he sometimes liked hearing Ryuu cast about a little mockery. He got to see a side of his friend that other people didn't get to see. Ryuu had some bite to him sometimes. <br/><br/>Once they got to the school, he ducked under the nearest awning, folding up the umbrella and handing it to Ryuu.<br/><br/>"Yeah, I'm still going for business administration. My father expects it of me; I'm not sure he'd accept me doing anything else."<br/><br/>Iro didn't talk a lot about his parents to Ryuu. Ito's parents were very kind to Ryuu when the friends were visiting, as befitting etiquette, but they were very different to Ito when his friend went home. His father hated that Ito didn't go to cram school. He hated that Ito had opted for Chinese instead of Spanish. He hated that Ito was too thin and had insisted that an 'insufficiently' masculine look would fail to impress fellow businessmen. Ito's mother, on the other hand, had noticed Ito not bringing any girls home for his entire time at school, and as such she had constantly badgered him to meet the daughter or niece or whatever of some of her friends. The more he didn't want to, the more upset his mother became, though she didn't like to show it. The only quiet indicator of her displeasure was a threat about helping to support him financially in college--she had put her foot down and insisted that he have a 'sufficient social life' outside of clubs, and Ito knew that meant she expected him to find a nice woman to date.<br/><br/>He was pretty sure she'd disown him if he told her he wanted to date Ryuu. <br/><br/>"Race you to homeroom?" Ito suggested to his long-time friend, not letting any of those thoughts get him down. He was going to make the most of this last year; he had to. </span>