"Taishō-sensei, can you help me with this problem?"

"Taishō-sensei, I don't understand this part right here..."

Fluttering eyelashes and a flirtatious smile. "Taishō-sensei, would it be too much trouble for me to stay after class and get your advice on this assignment?"

"Taishō-sensei!"

"Taishō-sensei?"

Ugh, why on earth did I ever think that teaching was the right career choice? Students are a plague upon this planet sometimes!

But no, he did adore his students… So long as they were trying to learn instead of trying to flirt. Unfortunately, that was rather less frequent than he liked.

"You look like you could use some tea, Taishō-san."

Ugh, not agai-wait; Taishō-san? Toga turned around to see a young woman with a soft smile gracing her face, ebony hair flowing to her waist in gentle waves, and cerulean eyes watching him with seriousness and amusement lacing their depths. She was vaguely familiar… Ah! The Home Economics teacher's aide, and the Archery Club's sponsor.

"Tea sounds wonderful, but as I have none, I shall just deal with work and get home to where I can have some tea."

"Nonsense. Come with me and I'll fix you some tea. We have a kettle in the Home Ec room and Kaede-san allows me to keep all the ingredients I use in creating my own blends of tea in the classroom – which is just as well since I'll be replacing her when she retires in a couple of years. I'll make you a cup of tea."

Her tone brooked no argument, as implacable as it was gentle, so Toga followed her with some small amount of amusement. Well this was new – she wasn't flirting with him or sucking up to him either one, so he might as well take the offer for what it was; a break from grading papers with a fetching young woman offering him tea.

When they arrived at the Home Economics room, she bustled him into a chair and began pulling out tins of ingredients – this young lady hadn't been exaggerating then, about making her own blends. How delightfully unusual. Aromas filled the air as she hummed and opened the tins, fingers dancing about as she set the kettle on and filled a large tea strainer with ingredients. He wasn't sure what all was in the tea she was making – with dried ingredients it was hard to tell their nature – but so far the smells were delightful. She was picking and choosing with care, delicately measuring out certain amounts of each ingredient, until the water was heated up and she pulled out a tea pot, sliding the strainer into it and pouring the hot water in after adding several spoonfuls of rock sugar. She certainly knew what she was doing. And he really needed to get her name; he should have asked for it earlier, it was rude to just call her "her" or "she". "And what might your name be, Miss Home Economics teacher's aide and sponsor of the Archery Club?"

"Ah!"

She flushed deeply and bowed to him. "Higurashi Kagome. Please just call me Kagome, Taishō-san."

He tilted his head at her, "Kagome, then. Thank you for your offer. Students can be most trying, and paperwork hydras are immensely annoying."

She giggled, and it was a refreshing sound, sweet and innocent with a hint of a naughty edge to it, "I cheat. Ki can be put to some very frivolous uses, some of which can actually be quite useful and convenient. After the first three weeks of school I know which of my students are better or worse than the others and use my reiki to sort the papers according to name. The worst first, so that by the time I'm done I am only getting the easy papers."

What? Toga blinked and extended his senses – sure enough when they brushed against Kagome's ki there was a strange sort of purification energy there as well as very well-used reiki. He probed at this interesting information, "You are a miko?"

She nodded and poured the tea after stirring it up so the rock sugar which was dissolved into the liquid would not be settled at the bottom. "Yes. Kaede-san taught me until it became clear that because of my miko-ki – it isn't reiryoku like most miko have, you see – coming from an outside source, sort of, my channels weren't shaped the same way as a normal ningen's are. Then she had a yōkai acquaintance teach me the proper way to use my reiki and miko-ki. Here is your tea; I hope it satisfies."

He took a sip from the cup she handed him, and was astounded. Green tea with only a hint of its usual bitterness, mint, lime, and blackberries; it was like a blackberry mojito in a cup of tea. Delicious. "This is delightful, Kagome. And please, just call me Toga."

She smiled sweetly at him and he smiled back. This might just work out.

Kagome grinned to herself as Toga left to go back to his work. They were all going about it all wrong, those fans of his who wanted more from him. It was clear that to win his heart you had to become his friend first, and she liked to think she had made a good deal of headway into her endeavour. It helped that she had only been friendly and nice to him – no hero-worship or overt flirtations. Yes, this would work, she was certain of it. She just had to be herself, and if there was attraction, it would bloom. If there was none, well she could always use more friends, and Toga was a wonderful person to have as a friend.

Humming to herself, she settled down and went about finishing up her paperwork. It would take time to get him to see her the way she saw him, but anything good was worth putting effort into.

"It seems the paperwork hydra is slaying you yet again, Toga. Would you like some tea?"

Toga sighed and pushed aside his work with a nod. Yes, he desperately wanted some of her tea. They had begun having tea together on a near daily basis once the first invitation was accepted, and it was a delightful break from work.

Imagine his surprise when, once they had arrived in her classroom, she pulled out a ceramic, traditional tea set, and treated him to a formal tea ceremony, handing him the koicha first in the ceramic chawan for him to taste. Ah, even her plain green tea was a delight to taste. "Delicious, Kagome."

She smiled at him and they chatted together as she served him the usucha and they drank together. Things were going quite well, they both thought, as they each went back to their paperwork.

Kagome sang softly to herself as she brewed the usual tea for Toga. She fancied a chai blend this time; she thought Toga might like the strong layer of cinnamon and vanilla in this particular blend. Making tea was a soothing part of her life, and making it for someone else to enjoy was a most delightful challenge. Toga had thus far enjoyed all of her blends, and enjoyed her company, and Kagome would never lie to herself about the enjoyment and pleasure she got from his company. She was falling even more in love with him than she had already been before with each meeting, each chat in the halls between classes, each lunch taken together. This had been the case even when his attentions had simply been friendly but those attentions had been subtly and slowly changing as of late.

His eyes lingered on her more frequently, tracing her movements, watching her lips, gazing at her fingers as they danced through ingredients. And Kagome was doing nothing but being herself, plain and simple. Of course, Kagome really was anything but simple, but the point still stood that she was not playing up her assets or emphasising the things about herself that she knew Toga would like. She was just being her natural self around him, and it was working. Soon he would really see her, would notice his own attentions, and she would have success in her endeavour. Success of a permanent kind, because once they had each other, Kagome did not think either of them would be willing to let go. Inu yōkai were possessive as all get out, and Kagome was more possessive than most people.

She hadn't come into this thinking that she'd fall for him even harder, but it was happening constantly, and she was glad of it.

"Tea?"

"Yes, please. Today has been the most frustrating day all year."

Three of his students had been flirting with him all damn day, and he had had to work hard to fend off their flirtations without letting them know he realised that they were acting in such a way with him. Even if he had been interested in people that much younger than him, he much preferred subtlety and honesty and humility. Kagome was a much better companion than any other female within an age range where flirtation made sense had been. Admittedly, part of that was because unlike most attractive women she was humble, subtle, and honest. He was certain she had something up her sleeve, but so far she had never once lied to him about anything, despite their varied and disparate conversation topics.

As she led the way to the Home Economics room, he wondered what blend of tea she would create for him today.

"You look like you could use some tea, Toga."

Toga immediately brightened as Kagome peeked into his classroom, and gamely followed her back to the classroom she used during the school days. Tea had become a daily thing with the lovely Kagome, even outside of school, and Toga had to admit that he was fascinated by the young woman. She was powerful, friendly, kind, sweet, intelligent, straightforwardly honest, and caring. She didn't give a damn about his status or getting into his good books or using him to further her own position, and was a wonderful friend. He was already feeling the stirrings of love brought about by her innate nature. As she served him tea today, he determined to see if she might – possibly – be interested in more than their teatime meetings. "How was school today, Toga?"

"Ah, the usual. Naïve schoolchildren, stupid schoolchildren, and intelligent schoolchildren who think their maturity merits more attention than they are deserving of."

She laughed at that – Kagome had her own fanclubs within the school, and knew what he dealt with on a daily basis. It was another reason he felt that they were so well-matched. "One wonders if students are a plague until one remembers that they are the future of our world. Then it just makes you feel completely hopeless."

He chuckled at that and took a sip of his tea – it was white tea today, with berries and orange blossoms in it, and it was quite delightful. And he was dawdling – he must be more interested in Kagome than he'd originally thought if he was this nervous about asking her out. "Say, Kagome… How would you feel about going to dinner with me tonight? As a thanks for your tea, if you are uncomfortable with anything else."

A truly beautiful, gentle smile lit up her face and she nodded shyly. "I would like nothing more, Toga."

Then she gave him a delectably wicked grin and looked at him from the side of her eyes as she took a sip of tea. "I knew that the only way to win you was to not pursue you."

Toga blinked. And again. And again, before bursting into laughter. Oh yes, Kagome was perfect for him!