Hello readers! Guess what? The new chapter is here! Before that, let me respond to the reviews.

[To Gak237]

When you said other void mage, I suppose you meant Tiffa or maybe some OC. I think I already said this like a few times already that I want to focus solely on Saito and Louise plus the Hiraga family. That means no one from Halkeginia will come to Japan and that's final. Thanks for the idea, anyway.

[To Kotano]

A stretcher was brought across the corridor by a group of panic nurses.

"Get out-of-the-way! Get out-of-the-way!"

"Somebody get the doctor!"

They went into a ward where a doctor was waiting.

"What's the problem here?"

"She fainted after reading a fanfic."

"Fanfic? What fanfic!?"

Showed doctor the patient's phone.

"OH MY GOD! This is serious! Prepare her for-"

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

"Doctor, vital signs are dropping fast! We're losing her!"

"Dammit! Prepare the defibrillator!"

"Defibrillator ready!"

"1,2,3 Shock!"

BZZZ!

"It's not working! Vital signs still dropping!"

"Again! 1,2,3 Shock!"

BZZZ!

"Doctor it's still dropping!"

"No, no, no..." the doctor fell to his knees. "It's too late... we can't save her anymore."

"Doctor, what are you saying!? You can't give up!"

"It's no use... I'm a failure as a doctor..."

A hooded man appeared out of nowhere.

"Step aside doc. Let me handle this."

"Wait, you are... It can be..."

The hooded man stood next to the patient. He spread his legs apart and slowly clasped his hands.

"HYAAAAA!"

The hooded man released a tremendous aura creating strong winds around the room. He then formed a triangle shape with both his hands and pointed it towards the patient.

"T-that pose! Have you lost your mind!? One wrong move and the entire world would be destroyed!" said the doctor.

"This is the only way to save her!"

The hooded man continued to focus his power in order to save the patient's life. He then began chanting the enchantment that had been passed down upon him from generation to generation.

"I the holder of the absolute control of the world, called upon the amazingness of the anime, the awesomeness of the manga, the greatness of light novels, the pervertness of hentai and the wisdom of the Otakus! Grant me the power to give life to the one in front of me."

The hooded man took a deep breath and yelled to the top of his lungs, "RESURRECTION!"

A faint light appeared in front of his hand and grew brighter each passing second. Meanwhile, his aura had created a strong turbulence in the room, causing windows to shatter, equipment been blown away and the walls and floors to crack. When the light dies down and the aura had stopped, the whole room was in a total mess with only the patient's bed was unscathed. Still shaken with what just happened, the doctor willingly makes his way to the patient's bed only to be surprised with the patient's condition.

"She's- she's ALIVE!"

Please, don't even ask why I wrote that. It just came out of nowhere when I read your review about your condition. I can't even explain why I did it. Anyway, I'm glad you survived your 'condition'. It is a steamy chapter after all and I'm happy you like it and don't worry, more will come in the future.

About what you said about the interview fanfic and quiz, go ahead and post them. I would love to see it.

[To Tsunderefan]

Yes, you really need tissues when reading a lemon. I suggest buying a whole pack of them, trust me you need them.

[To MasterxMaster]

You're welcome and prepare for more updates in the future.

[To daydreamer269]

I will write more and I won't stop writing. Prepare for more!

Okay, this is the longest author notes I ever wrote so let's not make it any longer.

Oh, one last thing, HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! Hopefully this new year would be an amazing one as well

[MAY PEACE BE WITH YOU]

[READ, ENJOY, REVIEW]

CHAPTER 37: SCHOOL DAYS

"That's the place Louise, where I once went to study years ago. It feels like ages since I been here."

"That big building over there? It's a lot bigger than I thought."

While on their way home from a date, they accidentally passed by Saito's old high school. Saito himself had forgotten that his school was in the area until he saw the building, but since they were already there he decided to show her his school. However, since he's no longer a student, he can only show her the building from afar.

"It looks like a nice place," Louise watched over the building, excited to know more about his school.

"It's a pretty well-known school in the area. The entrance exam was a little hard, but I managed to get in somehow. If you want to know, Asuna also went here for her studies." he explained.

"Really?" she looks at him, then back to the building. "Oh... if only we could enter. I really want to see inside."

Saito suddenly made a sly smirk, hinting that he has a bad idea in mind.

"Who says we can't?"

Without saying anything more, Saito led her around the school's fence away from the main entrance. Louise was curious, but she still followed him without any complain. They soon found themselves at a side of the fence directly behind the school building. The area was a little isolated with bushes all around and no nearby buildings except the school itself.

"What are we doing here?" she finally asked as she was getting more curious.

"What else? We're breaking in," he calmly answered with a mischievous smile.

Saito spread the bushes apart revealing a small hole in the fence which seems enough for a person to pass through. He accidentally found the hole during his high school days when he went to fetch a baseball that landed over there. The hole was properly hidden by the bushes, making it difficult to find unless if you look really carefully for it. He never told anyone about this, figuring the hole might come in handy someday.

"Here, if we crawl through we will be inside. I will go first."

"W-wait Saito! Isn't this considered trespassing?"

"It is, now are you coming or not?"

Before she could give a reply, Saito already makes his way through to the other side and was now waiting for her, "Come on Louise, get in."

Louise let out a sigh and put up a faint smile before kneeling to the ground and slowly went through the fence. As soon as she passes, Saito took her hand and lead her into the school building. The main entrance was obviously not a choice since the guard post was nearby, but the school has an entrance which was only usable to the staff. It was always left unlocked in the past and he assumed it will be no different after 2 years and he was right. They slipped through the door and went into the building.

"Saito, is it okay to be here? she asked as she was concerned if they were caught trespassing."

"Don't worry, it's sunday. Only the school guard will be in school at this time and they usually only guard the entrance. Come on, I show you my class."

After a short walk through the silent corridor, they eventually came to a stop in front of a classroom. Saito slides the door open and invited Louise in. It was an ordinary classroom with nothing special to it, but for Saito, this was the place where he once spend time to study, worrying about exams, making friends and various other stuff. He only spends half a year in this class before he was summoned by Louise, but being in the class after so long still makes him feel a little nostalgic.

"This is my classroom. Sorry, was my classroom."

Saito went to a table by the edge of the class, next to the window which used to be his seat 2 years ago. He pulled the chair and took a seat while Louise takes the seat next to him.

"Your classroom is so small. Is this the only one?" she asked as her eyes wander around the class.

"Nah... there are others. This is class 1-1. In this school they have till class 1-5. So they are 5 classrooms, but if you include the second and third years, there's a total of 15 classrooms in this school."

"I see...," she look forward to the blackboard in front of the class. "What do they teach here?"

"Hmm... there's Japanese language, English, mathematics, science, economies, you know various of stuff. Before you ask, there's no magic education here, but there is a magic club."

"Magic... club?"

"Yeah, one of my friend made that club. They do rituals, read ancient books, try to summon a magical creature and all those magical things. They even had a magic circle in the middle of their clubroom, but they were all fakes. No need to take serious of them."

After making small talk about the boring stuff which was about the education system in Japan and how different they are from education in Halkeginia, Saito starts telling Louise of the experience he had back in his school days and how they spend time in schools. He didn't really have much to say about his high school days since his time here was cut short, but he has a lot of stories from his earlier education. Returning the favor, Louise told him some stories from the time before she summoned him. Laughters occasionally filled the room as they continued sharing their stories. After a few more amazing stories, Saito suddenly thought about something.

"Ne Louise, now that we are talking about school, what about your academy? I know we are on a honeymoon, but don't you think we have been here too long? The principal might get mad about this."

Louise suddenly made a surprised expression to his question. She then looks down to the floor as if she was deep in thought before raising her eyes again.

"Umm... Saito, there's something I need to tell you about the academy."

"Huh? What's wrong with the academy?" he stared at her, confused by her sudden seriousness.

Louise took a few deep breath, preparing to reveal a secret which she had long kept from his knowledge.

"Actually, a day before our marriage I...," she hesitated for a second before continuing. "I quit the academy."

Saito was caught by surprise by her confession, "W-what? Why? I thought you like the academy".

"I do.. but, to be honest, I don't think there's any point in staying there."

"What do you mean?"

"I told you before, right? For a mage to learn a new affinity, they must master the affinity they are born with. That means if I want to become a stronger mage and more than a dot mage, I must first master void. But, nobody in the academy knows anything about it. Maybe there's no one the entire world who can teach me anything about void. Me and Tiffa are the only void mage left and she didn't know much about void either."

Saito listened to her without saying anything as he listened patiently to every word she said. Meanwhile, Louise stood from her chair and went to the window, gazing at the scenery outside before looking back at him.

"Then, I thought... Why bother? I already stayed in the academy for 3 years, but my magic hasn't seen much improvement. I used to think that if I work harder, I would get better, but with my void affinity, I don't think working harder would help. If I stayed in the academy, I would only waste everyone's time including mine. So I decided I should quit."

After Louise finished her explanation, Saito still remains expressionless as if he was waiting for her to say something.

"Saito... you're not angry, right? I'm sorry for not telling you about this. I really wanted to tell you before, but I didn't have the opportunity to." Louise looked sadly at him. It was never her intention to hide the matter from him, but she's not sure how to tell him.

Seeing how she was worried about his opinion, Saito raised his head and flashed his usual grin at her.

"Don't worry, I'm not mad. Why would I be angry? It's your decision to make, not mine. After all, I didn't finish my own education so I don't think I'm in the right position to judge," he grin sheepishly while scratching his chin. "Ah, but, what about your family, are they okay with it?"

"'Sigh~' They have long intended to pull me out of the academy and marry me off to someone especially Eleanore. Now I'm married to you, they don't really have much to say."

"I thought so. Then, what about you? It must be hard to leave after this long".

"It is, but I think it's for the best, for me and everyone else."

Louise said with a straight face and went to look back out the window. However, Saito knew she had her regrets. She had spent a long time in the academy and now she has to give up on magic, so it would be odd if she has no regrets at all. From the side, Saito can see tears forming in her eyes, like it was ready to run down her cheeks. Wanting to comfort her, Saito went and hug her from behind.

"Saito?"

"Don't worry, even if you are Zero Louise for the rest of your life, you will always be number one in my heart."

Louise's cheeks turned red from Saito's words. He really knows how to say the sweetest things to comfort her. She rests her back on his chest, letting herself be comforted by his warmth. She wipes the tears off her eyes before turning to face him.

"Thank you... Saito, I love you." She hugged him back tightly and buried her face into his shoulder. To be with him was also one of the reasons she decided to leave the academy. Rather than spending time to learn magic, she prefers to spend every second of her life with him as his one true lover.

"I love you too... My Zero Louise."

They both stood there, embracing each other in silence as they warmth comforted the other. After a while, they broke off and stared at each other with a bright smile.

"Ne Saito, can you show me around the school, I want to know more." she requested.

"Sure, that's why we broke in after all."

They exit the classroom and went to explore the school building with Saito acting as the guide. He himself hadn't seen the whole school so it was an adventure for him too. However, there's a problem. Since it was a holiday, most of the place was locked off. All they could do was to see the interior of the room that they passed by through the window.

"Seems like this one was locked too, not much we can do here," said Saito as he failed to open the door.

"Haah... too bad... I really want to see your school.

"Sorry, I didn't expect security would be this tight," he felt guilty for disappointing her. They had come this far so he at least wanted to show her one room before leaving, but with the current situation it might be impossible.

'Come on... think, think. There must be a place we can get into,' he thinks hard trying to figure a place that might not be locked. Suddenly a particular teacher came to his mind.

"Wait, I know a room we can get into!"

Not wasting any time, Saito pulled her again towards an unknown destination. As soon as they arrive at their supposed destination, he looks around the floor looking for something. When he spotted a flower vase, he immediately kneeled to the ground and search the vase.

"If she was still teaching, it should be here..."

"S-Saito... what are you doing?" Louise asked, confused by his actions.

Saito ignored her, and continued his search, He lightly digs the dirt in the vase with his finger. When he felt a hard object, he quickly picks it up. Turns out, there was a key buried in the vase.

"Yes! Seems like I was right!" Saito put the key into the door keyhole and it was a complete fit.

"H-how do you know there was a key there?" she asked, amazed by his feat.

"Hehe... you see, the art teacher was a really forgetful person. She always forgets things all the time and keep losing the key to the art studio. So she keeps the spare key in the vase near to the art room to make sure she didn't forget about it."

"Did it work?"

He chuckled, "Not at all, we always had to remind her about it all the time. Still, she's an amazing teacher and the fact the key was still there means that she's still around."

With the key, Saito unlocked the door and entered the room with Louise following close behind. The moment they went in, they were greeted by the sight of wonderfully made paintings that had been framed and hung around the room. There were also neatly made sculpture which was put on the shelves. All of this was the work of past students and the best were put into show for other student's to see.

"I'm not sure if you're into art, but this art room is the only place we can get into," said Saito

"No, this is fine. Work of art always interest me."

Louise went to the wall where the best paintings by student's had been framed to the wall. They have the names of the painter below them along with their class and year of studies. Louise observed the painting one by one, admiring their artwork. She was always interested in art, even back at her family's villa, she kept a few valuable paintings in her room.

"Wow... this is really nice."

As she continued letting herself being impressed by the rows of amazing painting, her eyes stopped moving when he saw an odd-looking painting .

"Wait, what is this?"

Louise looked at the painting with confusion. The painting that was in front of her was terrible beyond doubt. It seems like a portrait of a person, but it seems like the work of a preschooler that was not even been given much effort to. For her, it was a true disgrace to art and should be erased from existence, but what makes her confused was the fact the painting was hanged along the other wonderful paintings. She observed closely, thinking she might have missed something and that's when she realized that the portrait seems familiar. She looks down to see the name and her suspicion was correct.

"Aha, Ahaha... Hahaha!" she burst out laughing when she knew whose painting it was.

"What's so funny Loui- Oh... "Saito's eye went wide when he saw the painting. He remembered the painting very well, since he's the one who made it. And his name on the bottom makes it clear to Louise

"Pfft... haha... Ahaha!"

"H-hey, don't laugh. I put a lot of effort into that." Saito was considered average in everything he does. However, in painting, he might possibly be the worst in the entire world. He remembered when he first made the self-portrait and the whole class laugh at him for that.

"Ahaha... hahaha... This is- this is so... terrible." she continued laughing.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm a terrible painter. I know that."

"Sorry, sorry," she slowly recovered before looking at the painting again. "But why do they hang your painting here?"

"I don't know, last I saw this painting it was put into the store-room. Maybe after I disappeared, they put it up to commemorate me."

"I see... but- pfft this is too bad."

"Hey, everybody has their weakness. Man, this is embarrassing, do they really need to framed it?"

She looks back at the painting and a thought suddenly came to her. "Ne Saito, can I paint you?"

"Eh? You can paint?" he was surprised by her sudden request.

"Yes, I can and I'm pretty proud of it. At least I can do better than you."

"Is that so... Okay, but won't that take a lot of time."

"If it's a painting, it would take hours. So I'm just going to do a rough sketch of you. I can do it in... half an hour, maybe?"

"Well, if you insist. There should be a sketchbook in the cabinet."

After Louise took all the utensils needed, she instructed Saito to take a seat while she sat in front of him.

"So what pose should I do?" he asked as Louise was preparing to draw him.

"None." she answered. "I'm only drawing your face so make an expressionless face."

"Expressionless? How to do an expressionless face?"

"Uhh... just stay still."

With that, time passes with Louise trying to sketch Saito's face and telling him to stay still since he wasn't the type who can stay still for a long time. Around 20 minutes or so, she was finally done. However, she doesn't seem impressed by her work.

"Um... no this is no good"

"Hey, are you done? Let me see."

Saito went to her and peeked over her shoulder to see the sketching she made. Seeing how she was quite reluctant to show it, Saito was sure she did it badly. However, when he saw the sketching she made, his eyes and mouth went wide open.

"Wow..."

Saito observed the sketch she made with astonishment. It was roughly made due to the restraint of time. However, it was perfect. All the edges and facial features were neatly drawn like the work of a pro. The sketch also seems like a more handsome version of him with sharper eyes and a dashing smile like a prince.

"So... what do you think? Is it good?" she timidly asked.

"G-good? This is a masterpiece! Why you never tell me you're this good?"

"You think so? But, I think I got the nose wrong. And the edges was off while the-" she continued explaining what she found wrong with her work while all of that just went over Saito's head. There was no doubt, she's an art genius. If he had to compare, even his art teacher couldn't compare to her.

"Louise with that level of skill, you should be a painter."

She look up at him with a smile then look back down to her sketching. "You know, you're the second person after Cattleya who says that to me."

"Then why don't you?"

Louise stared sadly at her sketching and let out a sigh. "Because my parents would never agree to that. In Halkeginia, Painters are not considered low-class, but a noble becoming a painter is still considered a disgrace to their family. Besides I'm a woman, that would be a lot harder to be accepted." She turned back at him. "I don't really mind though, painting is just one of my hobbies. I never intend to make a career out of it."

"If you say so. But this sketch was amazing, I could never imagine how the painting would look like. Too bad I can't see it."

"Haa... yes. And I want to really paint you. But it's getting late now isn't it?"

"You're right," Saito look at the clock on the wall. "It's almost 6. Mom must be worried if we didn't come home soon. We should-"

As they were still talking in the room, they heard footsteps coming down from the hall. The footsteps sounded louder and louder every second as if it was heading towards them.

"Crap, someone's coming."

"W-what should we do!?"

"Look for a place to hide."

While panicking, their eyes wandered around the room, looking for a suitable place to hide. At that moment, only one hiding spot was visible. Taking no time to think, Saito pulled Louise into the art storage room. Luckily for them it was not locked. They entered the room and hide themselves from the approaching person.

From the store-room they could hear someone entering the class. The both of them clasped their mouth with their hand and stayed motionless, not making a single sound to avoid getting caught. Saito peeks through the small gap of the door and saw a male guard entering the room. The guard looked around the room, searching the area.

"Hmm... thought I heard someone here. Must be my imagination." The guard then went to observed the unlocked door. "Hah... Miss Miwako must have forgotten to lock again. I really need to give her a strict reminder this time."

After looking around a few more times, the guard leave the class and locked the door . Footsteps can then be heard leaving the area. When the sound of footsteps was gone, the two let out a sigh of relief.

"Saito, is he gone?" she asked.

"Seems so, but let's wait here for a while to make sure."

The storeroom was dark since it has no windows, but the light that came through the gap can make out each other figure as they were holding each other close. The storeroom was small and filled with various stuff making almost no room for them. They had no choice, but to cramped themselves in, resulting in them pressing on each other's bodies.

While in the room, Louise's face was slowly turning red as she was being in such close contact with him with their faces only inches apart. They had been this close plenty of times already, but it still makes her heart flutter every time.

"Saito... how long should we be here?" she asked while hiding her red face.

"Just a minute longer. Hold on okay," he looks at her, but she quickly diverts his gaze. That's when he realized that she was blushing.

'Wait, this feels like,' when he think about it, this situation was similar to those scene in romance novels about high school students. Two lovers stuck in a dark room and embraced each other before finally sharing a kiss in secret.

Saito looks back at her and this time their eyes met which makes Saito blush as well. Louise quickly diverted her gaze away with her cheeks getting redder. Her blushing expression makes her looks extremely cute. With their bodies pressed together, her cute face and her girl scent that already filled the room. Saito was losing control of himself.

"Hey, Louise," he called.

"Hmm?"

Letting his desire take control, he leans forward and presses his lips against her.

"Saito mmm... mph..." Louise was a little surprised, but she didn't fight back.

Saito slowly explored her mouth, indulging himself in her sweetness while Louise gladly accepted him. She starts kissing back, pushing his tongue back, but he's not backing away without a fight. They ended up creating a tongue battle with each other battling for dominance. In the small room, the sound of them kissing went back into their ears as they continued making out in the darkness.

After a while of making out, Saito finally pulled away from her while flashing his usual grin.

"Pervert. Even in this situation you can still think about kissing me," she said with a teasing smile.

"Well, I'm alone in a room with the cutest girl in the world with our bodies pressed together. How can I control myself?"

"Haa... you're hopeless. What would you do without me?" she giggled. "Do you think it's safe to go out now? I'm not sure I can stay like this any longer."

Saito slowly opened the door, peeking into the empty classroom before coming out. He then went to the front door only to find that it has been locked by the guard earlier.

"Thank god I still keep the spare key in my pocket," Saito unlocked the door and peeked his head outside making sure no one is around.

"Okay, coast is clear. Come on, let's leave this school."

"Hmm."

They exit the class and lock the door before leaving the building. They make sure they stayed vigilant as they walked through the school ground and went back through the hole in the fence.

"Well, that was fun."

"It really does."

After managing to get out of the school safely without getting caught, the two went back for their trip. After a few steps away, Saito glanced back at the building, knowing that he might not return there any more. Usually, he was not the type who like to go to school that much, but now he felt sad that he didn't manage to spend more time in high school. He missed those times even though it was cut short for him.

"Saito, is something wrong?" Louise called when she noticed him spacing out.

He slowly turned to her, "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go home."

He held her hand and continued their walk home, leaving the school and their school days behind them and onwards to a new future, together.