( This is part two of my 'Teacher' story. Hope you likey! )
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Before class started for the afternoon, a group of girls were sitting outside on a bench, eating lunch. Their topic for the day? The new teacher. Most of these girls were older students, and they were more than a little jealous of the new starters for having him to teach their class.
"Isn't he some kind of war hero?" asked one of the younger girls, taking a bite from her sandwich. One of the others nodded. "He fought at the Grimaldi Front in the first war and got his nickname there, 'Hawk of Endymion'. After that it gets a bit confusing. Official reports have him fighting with Archangel for a while, then being killed in Alaska. But Orb records have him coming here with that ship, and then being killed at Jachin Due. Nothing after that...until recently. It's like..he came back from the dead or something..."
The young women were silent for a while after that, wondering what kind of circumstances would conspire to make something like that happen.
"But...it is him, right?" asked the youngest, nervously. The others laughed. "Yeah. That's one thing everyone's sure about."
An older student grinned, and leaned back on the bench, face turned to the sunlight. "Another thing I'm sure about...he's cute.."
A flutter of girlish giggles flowed from the people on the bench as they whispered and wondered about the handsome blonde pilot.
"Do you think he's single?" That brought more laughter and chattering from the group of teenage girls, until one of the male students passed by and heard what they were talking about.
"You can keep dreaming, but you won't get anywhere. One of my buddies was a junior technician on Archangel on their mission to Copernicus, and he told me about the crew he served with. The Colonel was part of that crew, although he was called something else, because he'd lost his memories and been with the Earth Alliance for a while." The boy frowned. "Or something like that, anyway, I'm not too sure. But he ended up getting his memories back..and ended up back together with his girlfriend.."
The girls blinked. "His girlfriend?"
"Yep. Archangel's captain. You must have seen pictures, or at least heard of her. She's beautiful. By all accounts, they love each other a lot, and my buddy says everyone thinks they'll get married real soon.."
Before long, this news passed along the academy's grapevine, until it reached the new class. Like most of their schoolmates, the girls in the class were rather disappointed, and wondered what this girlfriend of their teacher's was like..
That afternoon, in class, Mwu ran into the room slightly late, breathless from getting lost in the academy's winding corridors. "Sorry, guys!" The students giggled as his cap fell off and rolled across the floor, and he picked it up and shoved it in his desk drawer. "Never liked those things much anyway.." He looked up at the class, and smiled. "So, what shall we do this afternoon?"
One of the girls in his class raised a hand. "Sensei? Can I ask you a question? Some of the people are saying that you date your captain..is that true?"
Taken aback by this, Mwu laughed nervously, running a hand through his long blonde hair. How do I answer this one?
"Uh..well, yeah. But she's not my captain anymore, and it was never a problem for either of us anyway..."
The girl smiled a little. "What's she like?"
"She's the most beautiful and kind person I've ever known, and I'm lucky to be loved by someone like her.." replied Mwu simply. Then he grinned again. "I might bring her in one day, she could teach you guys about battle procedures.."
Taking a ream of paper from the store cupboard, he walked around the room, handing each of the students a couple of sheets.
"Here's something we could do this afternoon. Why don't you guys show me just how much you know about flight? You can work alone, or in teams, but I'd like for you to build the best and most flight-capable aeroplane out of this paper that you can. Okay?"
"Do we get a prize?" yelled one of the kids at the back, making Mwu grin as though he wasn't much older than they were.
The rest of the afternoon was filled with laughing and shouting, some incredibly complicated and top-heavy paper creations flying (or attempting to fly) across the room, and cookies for the winner.
After class had let out, Mwu drove home along the busy roads, the sun setting in the sky. The traffic was pretty bad, as it was around the time most workplaces let out for the day, but he didn't mind. He wound down the window, letting the cool evening breeze blow over him as he whistled along to a tune on the radio. The traffic didn't bother him, as he was feeling happy about the way today had gone, and also the fact that she would be waiting for him when he reached home.
And she was. As he walked through the door, she turned to him from the stove, smile lighting up her beautiful face. "Welcome home! How was the rest of your day?" Setting his bag on the floor, he walked up to Murrue, embracing her and planting a kiss on her cheek. "It went great.." Peeking down, he sniffed the appetising smell coming from the pan on the stove, and smiled happily, nuzzling into her neck. "That smells good.."
Murrue laughed as his hair tickled her neck. "Yes, I know. Go make yourself useful, and get some plates and stuff ready, okay?" Giving her one last kiss, he did as he was told, laying the plates on the table as the dark-haired woman ladled the stew out, giving Mwu an extra helping.
"What's that for?" he asked, seeing how she hadn't left much for herself.
"Because you've been working.." she replied, smiling sweetly. He sighed. "But it's not like I did much. And your job is much harder than mine. I bet you had a lot to do today, am I right?" Murrue didn't answer, just focused marigold eyes on her plate, thus confirming his suspicions. "Well then, shouldn't it hold that you should have more than me, not the other way around?"
Carefully, Mwu spooned up some of the stew, and added it to her plate. She opened her mouth to protest, but he wouldn't hear of it.
"Come on now, eat up. I'm sure you must be hungry.."
Murrue sighed, but began eating quite quickly, which made him smile, knowing that she'd most likely have skipped lunch while she was working.
"Some of the kids were asking about you today.." She looked up from her plate in surprise. "And what did you tell them?"
"That my girlfriend was the most beautiful and kind person I'd ever met.." he replied cheerfully, watching her sudden blush in amusement. "I wish...you'd stop exaggerating, Mwu.." she murmured, staring back at her stew.
"Who's exaggerating? It's true!" He grinned mischievously. "And what about you? When people ask you if you have a boyfriend, what do you tell them?" Murrue's blush deepened, then she looked up, smiling innocently. "I tell them that he's an idiot." At his pout, she giggled, then reached across the table to take his hand. "But that he's very handsome, and that I love him very much"
Mwu smiled happily, and kissed her hand. "I'm glad. I told the kids that I was lucky to have you, and I am. The fact that you waited for me..I had no idea that you thought that much of me.." She looked down. "Neither did I...until you..."
Standing up, he walked around the table, and pulled her up gently into his arms. "Now, now..don't start that again. I'm here now, remember? And we're together, so don't be sad anymore. This time, I can always be here." Running his hand through her hair, he smiled as she hugged him close, resting her head on his shoulder. "Thank you.." she whispered, and he kissed the top of her head.
"You're welcome, sweetheart. Now, shall we finish dinner?"
The rest of the evening was filled with chatting and laughter, as the couple discussed their day, telling each other about everything they had done, and everything they planned to do the next day.
Work really wasn't so bad after all...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
( Heh. I meant to write this all as one story, but time only allowed for a two-parter (dammit) The part about the girls was fun to write, as I imagine a lot of students would act the same way if someone as hot as Mwu was their teacher XD. I know I would...
I hope you liked this, please read and review! )
