The next morning, I woke up and got dressed. I went into the kitchen to make breakfast. I put some coffee on, wondering if he would even like coffee. Then I put some bread in the toaster and got out some Nutella, cheese, peanut butter, and jam. I was going to show him my childhood favorite breakfast.

As I was washing off a knife that fell on the ground, Hiratsuka appeared in the doorway.
"Good morning, Michiru-sama," he said contently.

"Good morning! Did you sleep well?"

"Yes I did, for a first night somewhere."

"That's good," I smiled. "I'm making some breakfast foods that I want you to try."

"It smells delicious!"

When the slices of toast popped up, I put them on a couple of plates and put Nutella and cheese on two slices and peanut butter and jam on the other two. Then I poured my coffee and asked Hiratsuka if he wanted some or not.

"May I have a sip of yours first? That way I won't waste any if I don't like it," he asked me.

I blushed unintentionally again and tried to hide it. I didn't know why I was getting so flustered by my student's request. It was practical and there was no connection between us except an academic one.

"Sure. Good idea," I replied.

I sat down at the dining table and he followed my example.

"Try this one. Tell me what you think." I handed him the peanut butter and jam toast. He bit into it and chewed it with a perplexed expression.

"It's not bad. I usually prefer meats but I like this, surprisingly. Maybe because you made it, Michiru-sama," he looked at me and smiled.

"Thank you, Hiratsuka-san."

"I was also thinking," he paused and put down the toast. "Maybe you should refer to me more familiarly. We are living together, after all. We're like family in a way."

"Oh okay," I said, a little surprised at how frank it was put. "Hiratsuka-kun," I said, trying out the new honorific. I looked at him and he smiled and bit into the toast again.

"Do you want to try the other one?" I asked.

"I'd love to!" he said as I gave him the Nutella and cheese one. He bit into it and chewed again with the same analytic face expression.

"I don't know why I like it, but I do. I'm a little surprised to be honest," he said with a laugh.

"Maybe because your taste buds changed when you became human. Now they find other things pleasant that they didn't before."

We finished our toast and continued sitting and talking. I had completely forgotten about letting him try my coffee until he said something.

"Can I try your coffee now?"

"Oh yes! Of course." I handed him my mug and he took a little sip. Watching his lips touch the rip where mine had just been sent a tingly sensation throughout my body. It surprised me so I looked away and out the window in front of me. When he set the coffee mug back down, I looked back to him. His face looked a little put off.

"I don't think I like this," he said looking disgusted at the coffee.

"Oh! That's right! I forgot. I drink my coffee black. Maybe you'd like it with a little sugar and cream. Or maybe some cocoa."

He breathed out a laugh and looked up at me. "I think I'm okay for now."

"Sorry about that." I looked down, feeling a little bad. I hoped he would try it again later instead of deciding he didn't like coffee at all.

"The toast was very good though!" he said.

"Thank you," I smiled at him. "When do you want to start your studies?"

"Once breakfast is finished," he replied. Our plates were both empty so I got up to get a new book out for him to read.

"Try this," I said as I gave him a large volume titled Flower Arranging and It's Practical Uses.

He took it back to his room to study for a few hours. I decided to clean my flat while he read. Once I was done, I turned on the TV. Later, Hiratsuka came out from his room and joined me. Around four o'clock, I started getting tired. We were watching an old sitcom as I fell asleep.

I woke up and noticed Hiratsuka was flipping around the channels. Then I realized that I was lying with my body across his shoulder and resting my head on his chest. My eyes widened and I sat up right away.

"Oh you're awake!" Hiratsuka smiled cheerfully.

"Sorry, I must have fallen asleep."

"Yeah you fell asleep awhile ago."

"Sorry. You can always push me off if I accidently fall asleep on you."

He smiled and laughed. "I didn't mind." Then he looked at me with calculating eyes and a wry smile.

I stood up right away from the couch, feeling a little shocked. "I'm going to make some coffee to wake up. Do you want anything?" I asked.

"No I'm fine. But I really don't mind if you just want to take a nap."

I smiled a little uncomfortably. "No I shouldn't." I made up an excuse. "It will throw off my sleep schedule. I'll end up staying up the whole night." I forced a little laugh.

"I wouldn't mind that either," he said, smiling again. "Then you can keep me company."

I paused a moment, a little confused. "But I thought this morning you said you slept well."

His smile dropped and he looked a little embarrassed and ashamed. "Well, I said I slept well for a first night being somewhere new. It's almost impossible for me to fall asleep the first night."

"Oh," I said, surprised.

"I'm not too proud of this but I get a little afraid when I sleep alone in an unfamiliar place." He looked down, his face a little sad.

"I'm sorry." I sat down by him again.

I must have looked worried because when he looked at me he said, "But don't worry about it. It's not your fault. It's just something that happens to me."

"How long does it take until you can sleep well?"

"About a week."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

He looked at me again and his smile crept onto his face. "I know this is a little uncustomary but it may help if I can sleep nearer to you. Like maybe on the floor of your room or something."

I thought it over for a moment in my head. I guess there was nothing wrong with that.

"Sure. That's fine with me."

"Thank you, Michiru-sama." He smiled cheerfully again.

Later that night, we took our separate baths and got ready for bed. He took a blanket off his bed and brought it into my room. When he stepped onto the wood floor, his face scrunched a little. The ground was hard and cold.

I felt bad for him and didn't want him to have to sleep on the floor.

"Hiratsuka-kun, you can sleep in my bed if you want. I'll sleep on the floor."

His face widened in surprise. "Michiru-sama! I couldn't let you do that."

"But the floor doesn't look that comfortable," I started to explain.

"I'll just bring in some more blankets and pillows," he said, falsely cheery.

"No, Hiratsuka-kun. It's fine. We can both share my bed. It's a little small but I shared a bed this size with someone before and it works." I couldn't believe what I was saying, that I was offering this.

"Really, Michiru-sama? Thank you."

He dropped his blanket and crawled into the other side of the bed. His face looked relieved. I reassured myself of what I was doing by reminding myself that he was still a cat. Even though he was in a human boy's form, he was still a cat. It wasn't weird to share the bed with a cat, right?

When he was under the covers, he snuggled right up next to me.

"Goodnight, Michiru-sama," he said and closed his eyes.

My eyes, on the other hand, widened in shock. This perhaps was a mistake.

"Hiratsuka-kun, maybe we should keep our distance when we sleep."

He looked at me confused. "Why? As a cat, it's normal to sleep next to each other to keep the warmth."

"Yes but you're human now. It's not normal to do that unless you are especially close to the other person."

"We're not close to each other? We're practically family," he looked a little hurt.

"Well, not just any type of close. It's acceptable if the people are romantically close. Or if they're family members that have lived together for a long time," I tried to explain.

"How long? Is it too soon, then, for us?"

"Well, yes. I mean family members that have been a family for years."

"Oh," he said. He looked really disappointed. "This is going to take some getting used to."

I looked away, feeling a little awkward from the situation.

"Are you sure we can't just cuddle? Just for this night?"

I looked at him again, into his eyes. He looked very sad, almost upset.

"Well," I pondered. He looked at me hopefully. "I guess it's okay if it's for your sleeping problems."

He smiled gratefully, and relaxed his body.

"Good. I'm glad. That makes me feel much better." He snuggled up against the side of my body again and breathed deeply again in relief. His warmth seeped through his cotton button-down nightshirt. I became flustered again.

"Should I turn off the light?" he asked. I realized he was on the side of the bed closest to the nightstand with the bed lamp.

"Yes, please," I said.

He reached over and flipped the switch. I didn't realize how sleepy I was until the light was turned off. I turned on my side away from him when he was still reaching over to the nightstand. When he snuggled back into bed again, he hugged me from behind. I was startled for a moment and jolted when he did so.

I heard his voice in my ear from behind. "Does it make you nervous when I do that?" he asked. His voice was low and soft, like velvet. He moved his hand down my side. It sent shivers through my body. I was at a loss of words so I lied there silently.

"Michiru-sama," he said, "in both books you gave me to read, they mentioned something called 'love.' What exactly is that? I don't think cats have a concept of 'love.'"

"Uh. Well, it's when you really care about someone so much that you put their happiness before your own." I thought a little more on the subject and added, "And you would do anything for them to unreasonable extents. And you can't stop thinking about them or wanting to be around them." I tried my best to describe what I thought love was. There were so many different interpretations of it.

"So giving someone a red rose bouquet means that you would do anything for them and you can't stop thinking about them?"

"Well, yeah, I guess people do that."

"And a gentleman must always make the one he loves feel special by holding open doors and pulling out chairs for them?"

"Uh, yes I guess. It's not as simple as that though."

"What do you mean?"

"Love is a concept that not even the oldest humans know how to describe or fathom. And it means different things to different people. And people show their love in different ways."

I was so caught up in trying to figure out how to explain a concept like love in simple terms that was easy to understand but also correct, that I didn't notice that his hands had left my body. In fact, I noticed that he wasn't right up behind me anymore. I flipped sides and saw that he had unbuttoned his nightshirt.

He sighed when he saw me staring.

"Sorry. It's just so hot in here right now."

I swallowed as I took in his body. He had a defined torso and strong yet slender arms. I lost my breath for a moment.

"What's wrong?" he asked. He noticed I was staring for a long time. "Does this make you uncomfortable?"

"No. It's alright," I said quickly and flipped sides again. I noticed right before I turned away from him that he smiled his wry smile again. I started to wonder if he was playing innocent every once in a while and that he actually knew the effects of what he was doing.

"Good," he said cheerfully. He slipped behind me again and wrapped his arms around my body, this time more completely and a bit tighter. My body released a tingly, yet pleasurable shiver throughout the inside of me. His bare, smooth chest was pressed up against my back and I could hear his soft breathing in my ear from behind.

"You're so slender, Michiru-sama," he whispered in his velvet voice. He ran his hand up my side from my hip to under my arm. It sent another wave a shivers through my body.

"Hiratsuka-kun," I said a little alarmed.

"Michiru-sama," he whispered again.

A few moments passed in silence as his hands traced and explored my side and stomach. It got to a point where I wanted it to stop. I sat up and looked at Hiratsuka. He looked up at me a little worried and disappointed.

"Is everything alright?" he asked.

I was speechless for a moment. When I didn't respond he said, "I'm sorry. Did I go too far?" He sat up as well and looked at me with serious, concerned eyes. "I'm really sorry, Michiru-sama. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable." He paused again waiting for me to say something. I was still at a loss for words. "I just got carried away. I'm sorry." He looked down, a little upset and disappointed in himself. "I'm so eager to try all the things humans do." He sighed and was about to push the covers off himself.

"Hiratsuka-kun," I said as I placed my hand on his arm. "It's okay. I understand. It just startled me because it happened so fast."

"Michiru," he said, dropping the honorifics and turning to me to look me in the eye. I wondered if he was playing innocent again and was pretending not to know that dropping honorifics was something that only lovers or close family members do. "I hope to have a relationship with you where something like that is a normal thing to do with each other." His look was serious.

I was taken aback a little. "Hiratsuka-kun!" I said, shocked. He looked into my eyes, longingly.

"Michiru-sama," he said as he stroked my cheek with one hand.

"We should go to sleep," I said, hastily. I turned to lie on my side facing away from him again. He slowly slipped back under the covers behind me again, but not nearly as close to me as before. I turned my head toward his face and said, "Things like that come with time." Then I smiled and he returned the smile contently. I turned my head back and got comfortable under the blankets and closed my eyes.

We laid in silence for a few minutes. Then I heard his voice from behind me again. "Michiru-sama," he said. Then he paused and didn't continue.

I prompted him and said, "What is it Hiratsuka-kun?"

"I was just going to ask," he started, and then paused again.

"What?"

"If you say 'no,' it's alright. I'll understand, but is it okay if I cuddle with you?"

I didn't respond right away, slightly shocked that he was asking right after what just happened.

"I won't do anything weird. I just want to sleep next to you."

"Well, I guess that's okay."

He scooted close behind me again until our bodies touched. He pulled the blanket up more and placed it in between his arm and the front of my body as he held me close to him.

"Thank you, Michiru-sama," he said, warmly.

"Goodnight, Hiratsuka-kun," I said, and we both fell asleep.