Dino Cavallone proceeded to erase all of the numbers that he had written on the blackboard seeing that class was over now. Though he could feel someone stare at him, or more specifically, at his butt, he ignored it and put it down to his imagination. That was what he did every day now since he had started work here as a teacher a few months ago. Every time he sensed someone stare at him and looked back, he saw that it was always the same person, and that person would always smirk at him in return.

Oh, how he wished he could smack that person upside the head.

Dino tried his best to resist the temptation to throw a piece of chalk in that person's general direction and turned around to face the class.

"Class, as you all know, tomorrow will be the beginning of your tests," the blonde stated, plainly ignoring a certain blue-haired student. "Your exams are coming soon, and you'll be having another round of tests to do after this. Now, you've all been studying hard, so I expect all of you to do well."

"Oh? And if we don't do well?" said the person that Dino had been ignoring for the past hour, his usual annoying smile on his lips. "Mr. Cavallone?"

Dino's eye twitched, but he answered the question, nonetheless, and even pulled on a smile. It was a forced smile, though, not his usual sunny one. "Well, if you any of you fail, I will personally tutor you until you pass," Dino said tersely, locking eyes with the other. "Does that answer your question, Mukuro?"

"Hmm." Mukuro's smile widened, and there was a glint in his eye. The look that he gave Dino sent chills up and down his spine. Dino did not like that look. "I understand, Sensei," Mukuro responded, his voice smooth. "I will do my best."

The school bell rang.

"Class dismissed," Dino said, without missing a beat.

On the day that Dino was supposed to hand out everyone's results, he was in a rush to get to class. He had gotten stuck in traffic and was nearly late to arrive at school because of it. He cursed under his breath. Why did he forget to set the alarm clock last night? If he had remembered, none of this would have happened.

What was worse was the fact that after marking all of the test papers, he found that one of his students had actually failed. Dino could not believe it. Rokudo Mukuro had actually turned in a paper where all of his answers were wrong when he had been doing perfectly fine before this. Why, he had even left most of the questions blank. What was more was that he was the only one who failed. Even Tsunayoshi did better than him! Useless Tsuna did better than him, can you imagine? Dino shook his head. He needed to have a talk with Mukuro later.

Rounding a corner, Dino nearly tripped over his shoelaces when he felt someone catch him by grabbing onto his shoulders.

"Ah, sorry, sorry," Dino apologised profusely. "It's my fault, I wasn't looking where I was going-" And the words just died on his lips when he caught sight of who it was that had caught him. Speak of the devil.

"Hello, Beautiful," said Rokudo Mukuro, making Dino want to die on the spot. "You should be more careful next time."

"You...! Don't call me that!" Dino said, flustered. He flushed. What made the entire situation even worse was the fact that he had the palms of his hands pressed against his blue-haired student's chest. It was a good thing that there was no one else here in the hallway or they would have mistaken their current situation for something entirely different. "Let go of me!" He struggled.

Mukuro chuckled. "If you wish, Mr. Cavallone." He let go of Dino.

"Thank you," Dino breathed, relieved that his student had let go of him. "Now, class has already started. We should get going, Mukuro. I'm handing in the results today."

"Really?" Mukuro seemed pleased to hear this. "Of course."

Dino bit the inside of his cheek, wondering why on Earth was Mukuro so pleased about receiving the results today. Even he must have known that he failed; there was no way he could have passed when he had left so many questions unanswered on the paper. But Dino chose not to make a comment on it and walked to class briskly, careful not to trip over his feet again.

Back in class, after lessons were over, Dino started to call out the names of the students for them to take back their test paper. When he was down to the last four students, Dino saw that there were five minutes left till class was over. Time to speed things up.

"For those who have received their paper, you may leave," Dino said, before going back to calling out the students' names that have yet to receive their paper. "Gokudera Hayato," he called. "Well done. Top mark once again."

A silver-haired teen sauntered over, took one look at his paper, snorted, and took it.

"Hibari Kyoya. Good work, I'd-" The raven-haired teen simply snatched the paper out of his hands and walked away, not even bothering to look back. Dino sweatdropped. He really should have expected that. He looked down at the last three papers that he held. "Takeshi Yamamoto."

Yamamoto walked up to Dino's desk and took his paper. Apparently, the mark that he received was to his satisfaction because he immediately smiled after seeing it. "Ha ha, thanks!"

And finally, Dino came to Mukuro's paper. By now, the class was empty save for him and Mukuro. "Rokudo Mukuro," he called out.

"Yes, Mr. Cavallone?"

Dino gave him back his paper. "You failed the test when you've been doing so well before," he said sternly. "How do you explain this?"

Mukuro took back his paper and looked at it. It was practically filled with red marks. "Oh, dear. So I have."

"Yes, you have," Dino said, feeling a sense of satisfaction that at last this annoying student was finally getting what he deserved. Served him right for being so perverted and smug all the time. Perhaps this would take him down a few notches and also wipe that annoying smile off of his face. "You didn't get any of the questions right. You're the only one who received a zero for this, Mukuro. Did you even study?"

Mukuro placed a hand over where his heart was supposed to be, pretending to look hurt. "I did. Believe me, Mr. Cavallone, I have studied for this."

Dino shook his head. He did not seem to notice the smile that had been present on Mukuro's face ever since he told him that he had failed. "I'm surprised at you, Mukuro. You used to do so well."

"So am I. But," Mukuro sighed. "The paper was just so difficult. I really could not understand any of it."

"You're a smart student, Mukuro. You need to work harder."

"I understand, sir."

"You can do better than this."

"I will try, sir."

Dino frowned. "You do know what this means?"

"Oh, no, sir, I do not. Can you please tell me?"

"It means I will have to tutor you."

"Really, now?" Mukuro seemed amused.

Dino gave him a look. "Yes," he said, annoyed. "Didn't I say that before?" He began gathering his books. "I expect to see you at my house this afternoon at 5 for your first lesson."

"At 5?"

"Yes, at 5. You do know where my house is, right?"

Mukuro smiled, not upset at all at the fact that he had just failed a paper. If anything, he looked a little too pleased about it. "I look forward to it, Mr. Cavallone," he said pleasantly. He gave Dino a small wave before leaving the class, leaving his teacher gaping at him in bewilderment. "Kufufu. I will see you later then, Beautiful."

Dino stared at Mukuro's retreating back. Why did he suddenly feel incredibly stupid?

Dino slammed his fist against the wall. He swore, Mukuro must have failed on purpose. That was the only explanation for it! Why else was he so eager to being tutored? And indifferent about failing? That lying, sneaky, manipulative little bastard.

If it was not his job to teach, he would have long wrapped his fingers around Mukuro's neck and strangled him.

"Damn." Dino ran a hand through his hair hurriedly. Looking in the mirror, he tried to make sure that he did not look messy. Somehow, the idea of having Mukuro over at his house was making him nervous and he had taken extra care in dressing himself.

He really hoped that Mukuro would not pull anything funny. Like that one time Mukuro had suddenly decided that it would be appropriate to suddenly come up to him and give him a bouquet of roses. And that time he had given Dino a box of chocolates. And some of those other times when he had given Dino different types of cakes. As nice as those little gifts were, they never failed to leave Dino feeling exasperated. Really now. It made him feel like melting into a puddle of embarrassment. Especially whenever Mukuro called him one of the nicknames that he had given him.

The nicknames. Oh, those blasted nicknames.

Mukuro's favourite seemed to be "Beautiful". And occasionally, "Cute Dino". He had told Mukuro many times not to call him those accursed names, but it seemed that Mukuro was deaf because he kept on calling Dino those names regardless of what the blonde said. It happened so often that Dino just gave up and let the boy do what he wanted.

At first, when he first started teaching, Dino had thought that this kind of behaviour from Mukuro was normal and that he did that to just about every male that caught his fancy.

Apparently not.

As far as he knew, Dino was the only one that Mukuro showered his attention to. He groaned inwardly.

Why him?

Ding dong.

It must be Mukuro, arriving just in time for this first tutoring session. Inhaling and exhaling softly, Dino tried to still his fast beating heart, and even ran his hand through his hair a few times to make sure that it was not messy. Relax, Dino. This is just Mukuro, a student that you teach every day. And with that, he reached out and twisted the doorknob open, revealing his blue-haired hair student.

"Why, hello, Mr. Cavallone," Mukuro greeted. He looked at Dino. "Might I say that you look lovely today?"

Dino smiled. A strained one. "Hello, Mukuro," he said stiffly, ignoring Mukuro's last sentence. And though it killed him to do it, he stepped aside and gestured at Mukuro to come in. "Come on in."

When Mukuro entered, Dino closed the door behind him carefully and heaved out a breath. Well, so far so good.

"So, Mukuro," Dino said slowly, making the teen turn to look at him, those mismatched eyes giving the blonde their full attention. He cleared his throat. "What is it about this subject that you don't understand?"

Nothing, I bet, Dino thought viciously. The little liar.

Mukuro knitted his eyebrows together and feigned confusion. "Why, Mr. Cavallone," he responded with remorse. "I do believe that I don't understand anything at all about the subject."

You understand everything perfectly well, Dino wanted to scream at him.

Nonetheless, Dino smiled and led him the way to the living room. "Well, then. Let's get started, shall we?"

"Do you still not understand this question?"

"No, sir."

"How about this one?"

"No."

"This one?"

"No."

"This?"

"No."

Beginning to feel exasperated, Dino pointed at the most simple question he could find in the book and asked, "What about this one?"

Mukuro looked at the question, read it, and then looked back at Dino, a smile stretching upon his lips.

"No," he said, allowing the word to roll off of his tongue.

Dino felt like crying.

He had a feeling that this was going to be a long day.

Upon exiting the kitchen, Mukuro stopped when he caught sight of his blonde teacher. Dino had already fallen asleep, his head placed on top of his arms on the table. He glanced at the clock. It was already 10:00 PM. Dino must have felt tired and yet taught Mukuro regardless of how he felt at the time. Knowing this made Mukuro feel a slight twinge of guilt in his heart. He supposed he should spare Dino for now and go back home without waking him up. Besides, Dino looked so cute sleeping that it would be a shame to wake him.

Mukuro gathered his books quietly and was about to leave when he noticed Dino shiver. He stopped. Placing his books back on the table, Mukuro went to look for a blanket. He had been here enough times to know where most of the things were kept.

Once he had a blanket in hand, he neared the sleeping Dino and placed the blanket up till his shoulders, careful not to wake him. Dino continued to sleep peacefully.

"This bed is much too hard for you," Mukuro said, referring to the table, brushing golden hair away from closed hazel eyes. He thought for a moment and chuckled. "Goldilocks."

Satisfied that his teacher was now comfortable, Mukuro straightened up and turned to leave when he felt a hand hold onto his. Surprised, he looked back.

And saw that Dino Cavallone was still fast asleep.

Dino must be having a dream because he murmured, "Stay," as he held onto Mukuro's hand.

Mukuro smiled. How adorable.

"Good night, Dino," Mukuro said softly, gently removing Dino's hand from his. "I'll see you tomorrow."

He left then, closing and locking the door with a soft click.

"Ahh... Mukuro... don't..."

Mukuro made no answer and instead pushed back sweat-dampened hair from Dino's forehead, and kissed it. Dino closed his eyes and relaxed at this. This felt right. Pulling the blue-haired male closer to him, Dino sighed when Mukuro pressed his lips against his. When he felt Mukuro lick his bottom lip, asking for entrance, Dino granted it, allowing the other to explore his wet cavern.

It did not take long for their clothes to fall to the floor and for Dino to be pushed down onto the bed with his back against the mattress.

Dino woke up with a start, breathing hard and sweating.

Good God.

Did he just dream about having sex with Mukuro?

I'm not gay.

I'm not gay.

I'm not gay.

It was just a dream. Just because I had a dream about him doesn't mean I'm gay. Far from it! It's just a stupid dream. It's meaningless.

And the fact that I look forward to spending time with him every day does NOT mean anything as well.

Blushing and getting nervous around your student is perfectly normal.

It's also perfectly normal for a man my age to have fantasies, right? Even if the fantasies involved another man?

... I'm NOT gay.

Two weeks. It had been two weeks since he had started tutoring Rokudo Mukuro every day after school.

And almost a week since he had that blasted dream.

Dino buried his face in his hands. He gripped at his golden locks, trying his best to maintain his composure.

Relax, relax. It's only a dream. It's not real. I'm not gay. I'm not gay. I'm not gay. Or at least- Dino glanced at Mukuro. I'm NOT gay for Mukuro.

He was teaching Mukuro about Logarithms today, and he had practically lost count of the number of times that he had dropped or knocked something over, much to Mukuro's amusement.

And the fact that images from the dream kept popping up in his mind whenever he looked at Mukuro did not help matters either.

Tomorrow was the beginning of the last round of tests before exams started, so he hoped that Mukuro would do well. He really did not know how much more of this he could take. He let out a shuddering breath, letting his hands fall from his face. He could feel the skin on his cheeks tingle slightly at the thought of Mukuro.

"Ahh... Mukuro... don't..."

"Are you blushing, Mr. Cavallone?" Mukuro asked, placing his chin on the palm of his hand. "Your cheeks. They look awfully pink." He raised an eyebrow. "Is there something wrong?"

Jumpy as he was, Dino nearly fell out of his chair. "What? No!" Dino spluttered, his face now red. "I'm just... just tired, yeah. That's it. I'm just tired. Hehe. Now let's go back to studying, shall we?" In his nervousness, Dino accidentally knocked over his glass of water when he reached out to take a pencil.

The water spilled all over the paper Mukuro had been working on.

"I'm sorry, Mukuro!" Dino said, panicked, trying to clean up the mess.

"Wait, let me help." Mukuro placed his hand over Dino's in an attempt to calm him, but Dino only slapped it away, surprising the other.

"No, no. I can do it by myself." What was wrong with him? He stood up. "I'll clean that up. Wait here."

Not even waiting for an answer from Mukuro, Dino left the table as quickly as he could and entered the kitchen where he leaned against the counter. He closed his eyes, breathing fast. Damn it. He did not like this one bit. Maybe drinking some water would help calm himself down. Pouring himself a glass of water, Dino drank it, careful not to spill any of it.

Outside, Mukuro was playing with his pen between his fingers, bored. He glanced at the kitchen. What was his teacher doing in there? Surely getting a cloth would not take this long. He was beginning to feel a little worried. Dino had been acting quite strange lately. He knitted his eyebrows together. Mr. Cavallone was more jumpy than usual and he would not even look Mukuro in the eye. Sometimes, he could sense that Dino was looking at him but whenever Mukuro looked back, Dino would always avert his gaze. His teacher was also breaking and spilling things, and tripping over his feet more often than usual.

What was wrong with him?

He dropped his pen onto the table surface and stood up. Well, he was not going to wait any longer. He was going to check on him. He would not be surprised if Dino managed to trip over his feet again.

"Mr. Cavallone?" Mukuro called upon entering the kitchen. "Are you alright?"

Dino had his back on him. He did not seem to have heard him. Raising an eyebrow, Mukuro reached out, and tapped him on the shoulder.

Only to have Cavallone cry out in surprise and spill the glass of water he was holding.

"Mukuro!" Dino said, eyes widening. "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to check up on you," Mukuro said slowly. "You were taking awhile so..."

Was it just him or did Dino catch just see concern flash through Mukuro's eyes?

That moment ended as soon as it began, though, because after regarding Dino, Mukuro's expression turned to one of understanding. He smirked. He took a step forward, invading Dino's personal space as he did so. Dino backed away until the edge of the counter dug into his back. He gulped. The proximity of their bodies made him shift uncomfortably.

"My," Mukuro said. "You're blushing again."

"I am not!" Dino said immediately.

"You are." Mukuro touched the blonde's cheek. "They're a lovely shade of pink." He tilted his head. "Do you always blush when I'm near, Mr. Cavallone?"

It really was interesting to see the blush on Dino's face go from pink to red in a matter of seconds.

"You...!" Dino said, flustered.

"Yes, Beautiful?"

"Damn it, Mukuro! I am your teacher! Do not call me that!" Dino hissed. "And don't touch me!" He attempted to smack his hand away only to have Mukuro catch it by the wrist easily.

"Temper, temper," Mukuro said lightly.

"Don't lecture me!"

"I am not." The blue-haired male brushed blonde hair out of hazel eyes, much like he did two weeks before. "You actually like it when I do those things."

Dino glared, though his heart beat faster when he heard those words. It was almost as though he was anticipating something. "Don't put words into my mouth, Mukuro. You know that that is not true."

"Hmm." Mukuro regarded Dino with interest. "We shall see about that now, shall we?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Dino's eyes widened. "Whoa, hey what are you doing? Don't come any closer. Stop it, you pervert-"

"Why should I?" Mukuro asked, their lips mere inches apart.

"Because," Dino began, glaring. "I'm your teacher."

"Hmm."

"You're my student."

"Mmhmm."

"I'm older than you and you have to listen to me!"

"And?"

"This is against the law."

"A very good reason, but not good enough to stop me. I'm going to graduate soon."

Dino spluttered, his face red. "I'm still your teacher and you have to listen to what I say!"

"And if I don't?"

"Mukuro!"

"So you don't have any other reason?"

"..."

"..."

Finally, Dino said, "I don't like you, and I'm NOT gay."

"Now that, Mr. Cavallone, is a lie."

"What? You-!"

Before Dino could even finish his sentence, the blue-haired male pressed his lips against the blonde's, thoroughly surprising him. He struggled at first, and tried to push Mukuro away, but after awhile, he relaxed. He sighed against Mukuro's lips. He could hardly believe what was happening, but strangely enough, he did not feel angry or disgusted. It felt... nice.

When Mukuro was sure that Dino would not push him away, he placed the palm of his hand against Dino's cheek, caressing it. He trailed kisses along the blonde's jaw until he reached Dino's ear. Smiling mischievously, he licked the shell of Dino's ear, making the other shiver. As though on instinct, Dino reached up and clutched at the back of Mukuro's shirt, holding onto him.

"You like that, don't you, Mr. Cavallone?" Mukuro whispered into Dino's ear, allowing his warm breath to fan across his skin.

Dino snapped his eyes open, suddenly realising what they were doing. Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. This was not right. Not right at all.

"No, I don't. Will you please stop touching me?" Dino said, struggling to get away. It was happening again. He could feel the heat rush to his face. He could not let Mukuro see that again. "Go away, Mukuro. Or I'll-" And his words turned into a moan when Mukuro decided to close his mouth at the spot where his neck met his shoulder and sucked. Hard.

"Ahnn..."

Mukuro kissed the marred skin, as though apologising to it. "I love that sound you just made, Mr. Cavallone," he commented teasingly before returning to working on Dino's neck again. He continued kissing, sucking, licking and biting at the skin until more and more red marks surfaced on Dino's once flawless skin. He watched as lust began to cloud hazel eyes.

"K-keep q-quiet..." Dino managed between pants. The way Mukuro was touching him, it felt so good. Trying to speak coherently was hard, let alone trying to think properly. "You t-talk too much..."

Mukuro chuckled. "Understood."

Dino wrapped his arms around Mukuro's neck, pulling him closer. He wanted more.

The next morning when Dino arrived in school, he had a scarf wrapped around his neck. During summer time. Because of that, he kept getting strange looks from people around him. On top of that, he was having difficulty just walking. His hips hurt from where Mukuro had gripped him the night before and he felt sore... down there. He cursed under his breath once more. He could not believe himself. How could he have given in to temptation so easily?

"Good morning, Beautiful."

"Don't you "Beautiful" me." Dino glared at him, yet a blush spread across his cheeks all the same. "Get in class. Class is about to start." He winced when he took another step forward. The pain started at his tailbone and rose up his spine.

Damn you, Mukuro.

The entire day dragged on for Mukuro and when it was finally time for him to sit for the test, he was thinking about anything but the test. He sighed, and looked at Dino who sat at his desk. The blonde shifted in his seat and winced.

Dino had been avoiding him since after what had happened yesterday. When it was all over and done with, Dino did not even look him in the eye. Mukuro looked at his test paper, unhappy. He frowned. All of these questions were far too easy. He could answer all of them in a span of five minutes.

"Well, if you any of you fail, I will personally tutor you until you pass."

Mukuro smiled, bent over his paper and began to answer the questions, humming to himself.

Dino stared at Mukuro's result for the umpteenth time that day. He could not believe it. He just could not believe it. Even though he was the one that had marked Mukuro's paper, he still could not believe it. Was Mukuro trying to kill him or something? Mukuro failed. Again. And the fact that Dino still felt a bit sore did not help matters either. How could Mukuro fail? He did not understand. Was Mukuro really having trouble with the subject after all, and was not pretending like he had initially suspected? He was so shocked and frustrated that he actually forgot that he was still trying to avoid Mukuro.

"Rokudo Mukuro," Dino said, when the last student filed out of the classroom. He placed the paper on his desk and slid it towards Mukuro. "You failed. Again. Can you please explain this?"

Mukuro took a look at the paper that Dino had presented to him. "Oh," he said. "So I have."

Seeing that Dino seemed to expect a bit more of an answer than that from him, Mukuro added, "It's such a pity."

"Pity? Is that really all you have to say for yourself, Mukuro?" Dino said in disbelief.

"..."

"Mukuro, what are you going to do?" Dino sighed. "Your exams are less than two weeks away. Do you think that you can catch up in class?"

"Perhaps."

Dino narrowed his eyes. "How?"

Mukuro leaned forward, pulling on Dino's tie. "With your help, of course," he said, his voice smooth. "I think I need to be tutored by you more in order for me to improve." He smiled. "You are, after all, the best teacher," he added suggestively.

Dino flushed. He swatted Mukuro's hand away. "That night did not happen," he breathed.

"Oh? I had an impression that it did," Mukuro said as he walked towards him.

Dino backed away instinctively.

"It didn't!"

"It most certainly did."

"Damn it, Mukuro," Dino said, frustrated. "It did not!"

"And I suppose that this-" Mukuro parted Dino's scarf, revealing a faded hickey "-did not happen either?"

"You...!" Dino felt the heat rush to his face.

"Tutor me."

"Mukuro..."

"If you don't give me a straight answer, I will bring colour back to this hickey right now."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Do you really think so?"

"..."

"Well, Mr. Cavallone?"

Mukuro was still smiling at him and it was quite apparent that he would not stop until Dino gave in. Narrowing his eyes, Dino finally said, "Fine. My house at 5. Tutoring starts then." He pushed Mukuro away from him, his cheeks still flaming. "And don't try to pull any funny business."

Mukuro feigned looking hurt. "I would never do anything of the sort."

Dino snorted.

Mukuro slipped a hand into his pocket as he watched Dino walk out of class. He chuckled to himself.

If you want to play hard to get, we'll play hard to get, Mr. Cavallone. But in the end, I will catch you.

DIOR: Written for thPeekaBoo's birthday, as requested by her. Happy birthday, Ahboo! XD I hope you like your present. Have a good one! You know I love you~