A/N: I should preface this by saying that this will not be as good as Cosmic Sky's fantastic rendition (Which I absolutely recommend you go read) but I will try my best!
Akira Kurusu felt an indescribable pull towards Sadayo Kawakami when he first met her in the office of Shujin Academy's principal. Of course Akira simply dismissed it as teenage hormones getting the better of him, at the time anyway… but on the 24th of May 2016 Akira realised due to a multitude of factors that the pull he felt might have been something more- possibly fate. Akira had never believed in fate before, in fact he never particularly believed in anything that could not be observed, or proven scientifically. Thanks to a series of strange events though, Akira found himself not only believing in fate, but also truly meeting the woman he would grow to love more than anything else.
After their first… unconventional meeting and subsequent discovery of Kawakami moonlighting as a maid on the 24th, Akira simply couldn't bring himself to leave his messy-haired teacher alone. When Akira witnessed Kawakami being harassed by a fellow educator, his first instinct normally would have been to ignore it and leave the adults to their most likely banal bureaucratic argument. That was the plan anyway, but then he felt that pull again, towards Kawakami-sensei, and he felt like he had to help, and help he did by lying through his teeth and going along with the lie that Kawakami-sensei was tutoring him after school.
That same pull led Akira to call over Kawakami every Friday and Saturday to clean his room, and to talk with her every one of those days. The subject of conversation ranged from small things like schoolwork or politics, to later on more personal matters, like Akira's past and Kawakami's family.
The 12th of August was special though; after the pull had rightfully coerced Akira into changing the hearts of the two parents emotionally manipulating Kawakami-sensei out of her hard-earned money, Akira confessed to Kawakami-sensei that he liked her, to which she promptly sped out the door, causing Akira's brain to break.
Akira sat on his bed simply staring at the shabby brown couch on which his teacher had just been sitting a few moments ago. Akira's speciality was remaining calm and under control, but when you've just poured your heart out to someone, and they run away… it tests one's emotional tolerance quite a bit; Akira wasn't even sure how he felt, it was just a nondescript conglomeration of emotions. So Akira sat there for a while longer, until he recognised the fact that he had been sitting there for literal hours staring at the stairwell that led out of his room and into Café LeBlanc. When it hit 10:00 he realised he should probably actually lay down and sleep, as sleep deprivation on top of… whatever he was feeling, would not be good.
Light streamed through the window above Akira's bed directly into his closed eyelids. Akira prided himself on his ability to wake up on time every day, even without an alarm; though today was a Saturday, a half day, and Akira was not looking forward to Japanese class.
The trip from Yongen-Jaya to Aoyama-Itchome was repetitive to say the least, and it didn't help that someone accidentally slammed the back of their head right into his nose on the train; on top of that though, it started raining on his way to school. This day is off to a really brilliant start Akira thought, then realising there was no value to his internal monologue being sarcastic. As Akira had suspected Japanese was tear-inducingly uncomfortable to sit through; Kawakami-sensei kept stuttering throughout class and made every attempt possible to not come even a little close to eye contact with Akira. After school was no better, as he had to find some way to spend time until he could call Kawakami-sensei that night without having a nervous breakdown.
Akira decided it best to just wait it out at home, so he took the train back to Yongen-Jaya and sat in his room watching a terrible anime he had rented hoping it would take his mind off of the terror-inducing situation he was in. It didn't work. Akira paced around his attic/room as the anxiety closed in on him; he wanted to scream or break something as the anxiety tightened in his chest and he began to feel claustrophobic. Dammit it's still only seven?! Akira frantically eyed the analogue clock he had hung in his room. Kawakami-sensei didn't start working until 8:00… Wait a minute… Akira then remembered she said she was quitting yesterday shit… there was nothing he could do, really, he'd have to try and to catch her after school tomorrow. His slow descent into madness was halted when he heard Sojiro calling for him from downstairs.
"Hey Akira! You've got a visitor; it's your teacher, Kawakami-san" At those words Akira's anxiety quadrupled, he had to calm down or else he'd throw up; Akira took a few deep breaths, told himself some reassuring platitudes, and got ready to face his biggest fear… his high school Japanese teacher… Realising just how ridiculous that sounded gave Akira the courage to walk downstairs.
When Akira reached the bottom of the steps he was greeted by two things, first and foremost, his teacher sitting in one of Café LeBlanc's booths, looking down at the table her arms were resting on, her face slightly flushed. Second he saw Sojiro closing up shop, which was strange considering it was now only about 7:25. As Sojiro noticed Akira he gave a knowing grin.
"Well, Kawakami-san has just told me that you were having a bit of trouble with classwork" Both Sojiro and Akira knew that wasn't even a little bit true; Akira was a straight-A student "So she was going to start tutoring you privately. I don't wanna bother you while you two are working so I figure I'll close up shop early and uh… leave you two to it." Akira had no idea what Sojiro thought was going on between Kawakami-sensei and him, but he knew Sojiro had it completely wrong, for now at least… hopefully just for now. Sojiro gave a quick goodbye and left. There were only two occupants in the entirety of Café Leblanc now, as Akira had pawned Morgana off on the blue haired starving-artist Yusuke for the night claiming Mona would help 'stimulate his artistic inner eye'.
Kawakami finally looked up to make eye contact with Akira for the first time today; she quietly motioned Akira to sit across from her in the booth, to which he complied. While Kawakami retained eye contact she opened and closed her mouth a few times, though nothing came out; finally she spoke.
"So… I thought about what you told me yesterday." Kawakami's soft voice made Akira's heart start to race; he'd had crushes before sure, but not only were they all unrequited, they didn't even begin to compare to the way he felt about the woman before him. "And I'm sorry…" It took a second for the words to process in Akira's mind; but when they did… oh boy. Akira couldn't blame her though; he wasn't anything special, well he was, but outside of the Phantom Thieves, he was just a kid with his eyes on a woman way out of his league.
"I… I understand. Sorry." Akira didn't know why he was apologising but it just felt like the natural thing to do.
"No! It's not you, it's just… I care about you, and the last thing I want is for you to get in trouble since, well you know…" Kawakami trailed off. Akira knew exactly what she meant, his probation record from when he knocked that creepy bastard over quite some time ago now; one slip up and he was on his way to another school.
"But, more importantly for you… you'd probably never work as a teacher again if we got found out…" At that exact moment Akira realised a romantic relationship between teacher and student would never work; the world simply didn't function that way. Several seconds after that exact moment however, Akira's newly formed belief was shattered by his teacher's next words.
"God-Dammit Akira-kun why are you so okay with this?!" Kawakami's words were quiet but there was the force of a nuclear bomb behind them. "I can't do this! Why are you so concerned about me? You should be worried about yourself! I have other options, I'm thirty after all. You have friends here, a whole second family; so once again: Why are you so concerned about me?" Akira was really hoping she wasn't looking for an honest answer right then and there; sadly though it became apparent she really did want a proper answer, and now.
"Are you sure you really wanna know?" Kawakami nodded, motioning for him to go on. Akira steeled himself for the worst. "Because… Sadayo Kawakami, I don't just 'like' you; I am madly in love with you, and would gladly sacrifice everything I hold dear for you." And at that revelation, Kawakami flushed quite an impressive shade of red.
"I-I Uh…" Kawakami stumbled over her words for almost a full minute before she manage to get out: "I f-feel the same about you, after you've helped me so much I…" Kawakami paused for a moment realisation apparent in her beautiful dark brown eyes. "Wait a minute… we were both holding back for the same reason!" The realisation soon dawned on Akira as well.
"So" Akira responded "The one thing keeping this" Akira motioned to Kawakami then back to himself "from happening was completely fictionalised by us… I guess that's kind of romantic, in a way" Akira let out a relieved chuckle, before returning to his previously serious state "So… is this really happening" Kawakami looked startled as if she had just realised she was actually having a conversation. She paused for a moment, before giving a warm, gentle smile.
"Considering how stupid we were, I suppose we're a perfect fit then" Sadayo responded. They both laughed at their own expense for a moment. Akira then looked around in confusion for a few seconds.
"Kind of a stupid question but… What happens now?" Sadayo gave his words a bit of thought before responding.
"I guess we're dating now? I dunno! I had a fling once in College, but never anything serious!" Akira chuckled again.
"No, I meant literally right now; I have no clue where to go from here." Sadayo prepared herself to say something, before pausing, and then locking her eyes with Akira.
"Well I for one, am very tired, and don't feel like walking home." She paused, letting her words sit for a second "So how big is your bed anyways?"
A/N: There will be a second chapter, and it will either be less than half as long or twice as long as this chapter depending on which direction I decide to go with it. Either way it will be FLUFF! I don't write smut, sorry.