A/N: So we're picking up a little while before Kuki goes to talk to Wally's bitchy English teacher. I'm introducing yet ANOTHER OC named David. DON'T HATE HIM! He's not meant to be hated... and no I have no intention of killing him off. haha Also, we see how much Kuki has actually grown up and how similar she is to her mother. It's a longer chapter, but that's because I decided not to cut this chapter in half. I think you guys deserve to fangirl/boy in anticipation for what is to come. x)

The next chapter is going to revolve around Abby and her delicate situation. And I MAY write a short story on Joey later on. Or just give him a chapter in his story.

About the editor position, I haven't looked at anyone since I had finals this week. ^_^; The only reason this is even up is because I had written it before... but it was somehow deleted. I didn't upload it because it had a few minor problems with the fight between Kuki and Ms. Thomas. It just seemed... awkward. Which is why I need an editor. These little issues have a tendency to hold up a story for a looong time... if you guys were less loving, I probably wouldn't have updated until Christmas.

Chapter 14

"Hey, Kuki! Where are you going?" a voice called behind her. Kuki turned around and found a boy named David jogging to catch up with her. He stopped in front of her and smirked playfully. "You know, your bio class is that way," he said smartly.

Kuki smiled at him and rolled her eyes. "Oh shut up," Kuki shot back, shoving his shoulder before walking again. "I need to go talk to Ms. Thomas about something."

David was a nice guy. Kuki's known him for three years now. He shared most of her classes except English. They even had the same tutoring period, but they usually didn't talk during their tutoring period. Sometimes they'll talk after, but both of them prefer to give their students their full attention. David was Japanese, but more Americanized than Kuki. He had his black hair cut short and usually dressed semiformal, although you could catch him in shorts and a sweatshirt when he's in the mood.

David cocked his head in confusion. "Thomas?" He probably hadn't heard about her. Kuki had to admit, she hadn't either.

"She's a normal" –normal as in not honors or AP– "tenth grade English teacher. I need to go talk to her about not accepting Wally's homework today."

"You mean Beatles? Yeah I noticed you were working with him now. Isn't he a Junior though?"

Kuki shrugged nonchalantly. "I guess he needed to retake the class. He isn't the best student ever," Kuki admitted, feeling a bit guilty for voicing her opinion behind Wally's back.

David breathed a laugh. "Yeah, no kidding. I had him in my art class last year…" David scratched the back of his head, "he really gave the teacher some grief. I mean, the guy has no sense of self control or drive. I don't know why you–" David stopped when he caught Kuki's disapproving scowl. Sure, she didn't hold Wally's academic record to the highest regard, but David didn't need to start ranting about it. "I'm just saying. You can't completely blame the teacher for doubting his work habits."

Kuki sighed, holding her book against her lap. "Yeah… I know. But, I'm his tutor now. And he actually did do the homework. I mean, it's not fair for him to finally put in the work into things and then not get credit."

"Yeah… I know. But hey if anyone could whip that kid into shape it's you," David encouraged, gently nudging Kuki's shoulder.

Kuki smiled at him and gave him a quick hug. "Thanks David… but you should probably get going. The Bell is probably gonna ring pretty soon."

David –possibly blushing –nodded and started walking away. "Anytime… and hey!" Kuki turned around again. "If your way doesn't work or he does anything funny," David punched his palm.

Kuki –knowing David's gentle nature –couldn't help but giggle as she waved goodbye. Satisfied by her reaction, David smiled and turned around. Kuki rounded the corner, shaking her head with a smile, thinking about how ridiculous that boy could be, when she ran into an orange wall.

"Enjoy your romantic stroll with puppy love?" Wally teased with a mean smirk.

Kuki's blush deepened. "His name is David," she corrected coldly, stepping past Wally, "and it wasn't a romantic stroll. He was just curious about why I was coming here."

Wally swaggered next to her with his hands in his sweatshirt's pocket. "Uh-huh. You might want to tell that to loverboy over there. That hug almost turned him into a puddle." Wally stopped and started snickering under one hand.

Kuki sent a sharp glare towards Wally. "It's not nice to laugh at people…"

Wally sneered and opened the door to B15 for her and gave her a mocking bow. "Yes ma'am."

Kuki shot him a dirty look, but once she saw the teacher she wiped her annoyance away from her face. She was here for a job, and she was dealing with a superior. Calm, cool, professional.

"Excuse me?" Kuki said softly, keeping her voice light. Not too high pitched that it was unappealing, but enough that she had that friendly edge; not too much force to put the teacher on the defensive, but enough to let her know she was serious.

Ms. Thomas looked up and smiled kindly at Kuki. "Hello, how may I help-" Kuki noticed her eyes flicker towards Wally, "you…"

All politeness dropped out of her voice. Kuki widened her smile a bit. "Hi, I'm Kuki Sanban," Kuki offered her hand which Ms. Thomas grudgingly accepted. "I'm in Mr. Foster's class."

"Oh…" Ms. Thomas sat back in her chair. "Yes I think he's mentioned you a few times. He says it's a shame that I didn't get you in ninth grade at least."

Good. She knows Mr. Foster and knows I'm an AP student. "I guess so. Heh… well, actually I'm here for Wallabee. I'm his student tutor and he told me that you wouldn't accept his homework today." Kuki held her breath a little. She gave the teacher some wiggle room, but if the teacher felt she was being backed into a corner she would pull rank and shut her out easy.

"I did. He copied his homework from the girl next to him. He does it all the time. I decided that I wasn't going to let him get away with it this time."

Kuki felt Wally tense up behind her, but she made sure she kept her composure. "Well, did you check the paper? To see if they were different?" Kuki asked, assuming the answer.

"No, I did not. I didn't need to. I saw her offer and he doubtlessly accepted it. She's a very bright girl… but very naïve."

Kuki couldn't keep her eyebrow from going up. "…are you implying that I'm trying to cover for Mr. Beatles?"

Ms. Thomas looked upwards, then slowly began to nod. "Yes… yes I believe so."

Kuki bit her lip, trying keep up her businesslike persona. "Ms. Thomas, I don't think I appreciate that."

"And I don't like students making other students lie to my face," Ms. Thomas retorted, shooting a look towards Wally.

Before Wally could make a sound, Kuki slammed her palm down on the table, pulling the teacher's attention back to her… like a disobedient dog. "Let me see the girl's paper."

"Excuse me?"

"Let me. See. The girl's. Paper," Kuki said slowly, her impatience finally seeping through her mask.

Ms. Thomas looked past her, and Kuki finally became aware of the Sophomores filling the room, waiting for their second period to start, watching a Junior argue with their teacher. Perfect. Just what she needed. An audience to make the teacher fight Kuki off just to keep authority. "I don't think I like your tone miss Sanban."

"And I don't like your attitude Miss Thomas. You could end this by letting me see the girl's paper. Or I could go to the counselor and ask him about this. I think he would love to hear about our pleasant conversation," Kuki threatened. She could feel all the amazed eyes on her. She was standing up to a teacher. It was probably the most exciting thing these sophomores had seen all year.

Ms. Thomas stared Kuki down for a few seconds… before shuffling through a pile of papers on her desk and pulling one out. Kuki smiled sarcastically before taking the paper from the teacher and holding her hand out towards Wally. Wally immediately rummaged through his backpack and pulled out a piece of slightly wrinkled paper.

Kuki put them next to each other and started comparing them aloud. "Wally's answers are much longer, but… Lisa's answers are more concise. Wally took a bit of time to figure out what he actually wanted to say. He also wrote down evidence while Lisa just answered the questions with short summaries. Wally's analyses are longer than Lisa's. You can't even suggest that these two papers are plagiarized," concluded Kuki, handing the papers back to the teacher.

Ms. Thomas snatched the papers back and looked at them both. Kuki crossed her arms and waited. She looked back at Wally for a second and saw him smiling, clearly enjoying her defeated expression.

After a few seconds, the teacher put the two papers in the pile on her desk. "I guess I was wrong… my apologies Mr. Beatles. It seems I falsely accused you of plagiarism."

Wally scoffed. "Yeah you did. And you know what?"

Kuki elbowed him before he could finish, creating a ripple of giggles throughout the room. "Thank you Ms. Thomas. I appreciate your understandings. Now if you excuse us, we have to get to class."

"Would you like a note?"

Kuki forced a polite smile. "No thank you, we have time. Have a nice day Ms. Thomas."

"You too, Miss Sanban. Mister Beatles."

Wally gave her a mocking salute and basically strut out of the room, a complete contrast to Kuki's controlled, apathetic walk.

Once they rounded the corner, Wally out his excitement while Kuki kept up her mask. "Did you see her face?! It was priceless!"

"…I can't believe she said that to me…" Kuki said. Wally couldn't help but hear the tension in her voice.

He nonchalantly crossed his arms behind his head. "Eh. She's jus' pissy with me. That's all. She's not mad at me, not you. Don' take it personally Sanban."

But Wally could tell she was taking it personally. He couldn't see her expression because of her bangs, but everything else shouted resentment. He knew that form… he'd walked out of that damn class with the same body language plenty of times.

"She called me a liar…" Kuki grumbled. "She thinks that I would lie… for you of all people…" Wally grimaced a bit, but Kuki's comment seemed to snap her out of it. "Oh… I didn't mean…"

Wally shrugged carelessly and put his hands in his pockets. "Don' worry about it. You're just irritated. It's OK. She gets under my skin too. Bit of a natural bitch, I think. Sheila should try having sex every now and again."

Kuki looked at him shocked, and Wally wondered if his attempt at humor to calm her nerves had slid right past some rule of decency she had against talking about teachers and sex. But then, rather than arguing against his vulgar thoughts, she laughed. "Yeah, maybe you're right."

Wally smiled, glad he had cheered her up. She had a nice smile, he had to admit. And a laugh too. He felt a blush creeping up to his cheeks, but fortunately Sanban wasn't focusing on and analyzing every movement he made. She looked forward, making sure she didn't bump into the passing-period-stragglers running around.

"Hey… Kuki?" Wally started once he got his blood under control. Kuki looked up at him with the same deer-eye look she had given her when he had left their session the day before. The memory, her expression, and his intended statement forced the blood back into his cheek. "I- uh… just wan'ed to say that it was…" Wally struggled a bit… thinking that some physical contact was needed for his statement to have full effect… but what did you do to a girl when you appreciated them? He settled on a soft punch to the shoulder, "really cool what you did for me… thank you."

Kuki seemed to accept the punch as appropriate and smiled up at him. "Anytime Wally. I didn't mind…" she looked back towards the classroom, "that much."

Wally chuckled. "What can I say? The woman's a pill."

Kuki laughed again and nodded in agreement. Then her smile became a little less kind. "But you're still not forgiven for making fun of David."

Wally rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Fine. I'm sorry about insulting loverboy."

Kuki looked like she was about to say something back, but the minute bell finally rang, so she ran for it. Wally laughed aloud, and Kuki turned around. "We're going to talk about this during sixth period."

Wally beckoned her with both hands. "Bring it Sanban!" he challenged playfully.

Kuki smiled and continued running. Wally chuckled and couldn't help but noticed Kuki's green shirt lifted up a bit when she ran… showing how her black tights wrapped around her bottom. Wally chuckled as he wondered if David would have looked away.

As a friend watched him walk towards his health class, Wally started to think that Kuki really wasn't as bad as he'd thought she'd be. Maybe school could be sufferable for at least one period.