It was close to 10 when Teru finally made it home from cram school. The apartment was dark, so Riko still wasn't home, which made her groan. That meant she'd have to cook herself something, which being tired to the bone, she reaaally didn't want to do.

She was picking up her purse to go to the 7/11 when her phone beeped with a message.

'Heard your elephant steps in the hall. Riko will be late. I have food. Come on over.'She sighed in heartfelt relief and kissed her phone. "If I didn't already love you, this would have done it."

Kurosaki jumped at the knock on his door and wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans. "Come in!"Teru literally bounced into the room. "Hi! I got your message." She came and stood beside him in the kitchen, leaning against him as he dished rice out of the cooker. "I am so hungry right now." She confessed, leaning her head against his arm. "You saved me a trip to the convenience store. Thanks."

He laughed as her stomach growled to back up her words. "My pleasure. Hello to you too, by the way." He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "How was the cram session?" He asked, speaking of her extra classes for the university exam.

"Intense," she said around a yawn. "Like always. I'm glad the test is just two weeks away and then this craziness will end."

"Nah." He held up a spoon for her to taste the curry. "You'll just have a different craziness."

"Shut up or go bald." She gave his hair a threatening tug with one hand while the other stole the spoon from him.

They chatted about their day while they gathered the plates and brought the food over to the table. Kurosaki was obviously tense and a little nervous, but Teru decided to let it lie while they ate. It was so rare for both of them to be free at this time of night that she didn't want to interrupt this brief, peaceful interlude.

She'd wait until after dinner before she grilled him.

Kurosaki watched as Teru cleared the dishes and headed into the kitchen. He took a gulp of beer and tried to look nonchalant as she came back in to sit beside him. "So...did you talk to Rena today?"

Teru slid him a look as she picked up her tea. "I ate lunch with her at school. Why?" She poked him in the chest when he paused too long. "What happened? Were you teasing her and Kiyoshi again about dating?"

"Geez, no. Nothing happened." He rubbed the spot where her sharp little finger had drilled into his chest. "It's just that Rena had an idea." He took another sip of his beer and stared straight ahead. "About you and me."

Her whispered, 'Oh lord', had him looking over to see a brilliantly blushing Teru bury her face in her hands.

"Um, Teru..."

She raised a hand stop him, but kept the other over her face. "I can't believe this! I told her not to show you that magazine! This is so embarrassing," she finished on a whisper.

Deciding this was a short (and interesting) reprieve, even though he had no idea what she was talking about, Kurosaki asked, "Why is it embarrassing?"

"Are you kidding!" Teru threw her arms up. "Because you don't show your best friend's boyfriend sex tip articles! Even if you don't agree with the whole 'waiting' thing! God," She said tiredly, dropping her face back into her hands. "I'm going to kill her tomorrow." No wonder Kurosaki was acting all nervous tonight.

"Pffft."

Teru raised her head to find Kurosaki with his back turned to her, shoulders shaking as he tried to still his laughter. She closed her eyes in mortification as realization took hold.

"That isn't what you were talking about, was it?"

He shook his head emphatically, his back still turned.

"So you didn't talk about...magazines," she squeaked.

He turned around, wiping his eyes as he swallowed the last of his chuckles. "Ah, no. Magazines, you say?" He smiled hugely as she turned the color of the sun on the flag. "Did you think she still has them?" He teased. "These articles sound interesting. Though, I'm not sure I need any 'tips'."

He grabbed her wrist as she bolted from the couch, laughing uproariously. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry." He pulled her back down, handing her her tea when she still wouldn't look at him. "I have to tease you when you just hand it to me like that. Ah." He wiped his eyes one more time and sat quietly while she regained her composure. "That was great."

When drowning herself in her tea didn't work, Teru took some deep breaths, appreciating that Kurosaki wasn't ribbing her (or asking her about her and Rena's conversation). That reminded her. She finally looked over at Kurosaki to find him grinning at her. "So, um, you said Rena had an idea about you and me?"

That wiped the smile off of his face. Suddenly he was he one who wouldn't meet her eyes.

Kurosaki nervously rubbed his hands together. "Ah, you remember when she first told you about Morizono?"

Teru wrinkled her nose in distaste at the memory of the man. "Yeah. Her family had her attend a marriage interview which is where she met him." She gasped and grabbed his arm. "Are her parents making attend another one of those? What about Kiyoshi? Oh my god," she all but bounced up and down. "Does she have a marriage interview Kiyoshi!?"

"Will you calm down?" Kurosaki rolled his eyes and took her hand before she could reach for her phone. "This isn't about them. It's about us."

He winced when she went completely still. He had meant to segue into it more smoothly than this. He kept a hold of her hand as she stared at him with huge eyes.

He cleared his throat. "Um, so anyway, Rena knows all about how careful we are at school amd out in public, and how we haven't gotten to spend much time together lately." He fiddled with her fingers and kept going. "She suggested that we could do an official o-miai," speaking of the marriage interview, "and that that would get rid of the social stigma about our ages, allow us to be lovey-dovey at school (kind of), and have some built in time together." He raised a hand and gently pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "What do you think?"

Teru opened and closed her mouth a few times before any words would emerge. "You want to attend an official marriage interview so we can date?"

Kurosaki held up a clarifying finger. "So I can date you. Now." He smirked and wiggled his eyebrows. "And so I can kiss you at school."

This time she rolled her eyes, despite the fact that she couldn't seem to breath. "Are you catching flack from the Ministry?" She asked, her voice raising I pitch as she went on. "You want to do this as an act so people won't talk about us and you won't have to worry about losing your job?"

"No," he said simply, his voice cracking a little at the end. "I want to do this so I can marry you."

They stared at each other for what felt like several long minutes. Kurosaki watched her nervously and had just opened his mouth to speak when Teru suddenly slapped her cheeks hard, making him jump and leaving her cheeks bright red.

"I'm sorry. I know I'm tired tonight," she said lightly. "Could you say that again just to make sure my ears are working?"

He felt the knot in his chest loosen at her goofiness and smiled at her. He reached out to tug on her earlobe. "They're working just fine."

She watched his face, soft with an emotion she now couldn't live without. "Kurosaki." Teru could feel the tears coming and sniffed to hold them back. "Are you asking me to marry you?"

He took her hand and leaned forward to give her a soft kiss. "Nope."

The hand he held suddenly curled up into a fist. "What!"

Kurosaki raised the fist to his lips. "I'm asking you to attend a marriage interview with me." He brought the other hand up for a kiss. "So that I can date you in front of God and everybody." He let go of her hands so he could cup her face in his big hands. "So we can get engaged." He leaned forward and kissed away one of the tears that were falling down her cheeks. "So that then I can marry you."

Teru closed her fingers over his wrists, where she felt him trembling. "Oh," she whispered as he slowly dropped kiss after kiss over her tears face. "Is that all?"

He rested his forehead against hers for a moment and felt her let go of his wrists to wrap her arms around him. "So? What do you think?" He asked, pressing a kiss to her brow. "Do we thank Rena for the idea or do we tell her to shove it?"

She gave him a quick squeeze then leaned back in order to look him in the eye. Her eyes were still watery, but her smile could light up the sky. "I'll bring her the 'thank you' gift tomorr...mphh," she finished incoherently as Kurosaki hauled her against him for a joyful, and thorough kiss.

Next - friends, family, and how to act at a marriage interview