***Josuke's POV***

A few days passed after the Yuki Agawa incident. Jotaro took her to the police station and she was taken to juvenile prison for the involvement with the robbery in S city a week ago. Although she tried to kill the three of us, Kuro found it in her heart to forgive her.

Our lives had to go back to normal once I remembered that I had a math exam the day after tomorrow, which led to me asking Kuro to help me study calculus over my house. When it came to her grades, Kuro excelled compared to me. Probably because she's trying to study to become a successful doctor like her mother. She always had that shining look in her eyes when she talked about Dr. Izumi. Hopefully she can help me at least pass the test.

It was getting late as my mom cut up chicken for the curry she was making for dinner while I pulled out the kotatsu* from the closet. It was getting pretty cold in Morioh early. I wouldn't be surprised if it snowed late this fall as well.

Just as I placed a bowl of tangerines on the table for the two of us to snack on, the doorbell rang. "Josuke!" My mom yelled out from the kitchen. "That must be Kuroko!"

"I'm coming!" I yelled back. I ran up and answered the door.

In the pitch black night stood my red haired friend in her school uniform carrying her school bag and a large calculus book. "Hey Josuke!"

"Hey Kuro!" I responded as I welcomed her in.

As she walked into the house, my mom peeked her head out the kitchen door "Hi Kuroko," she welcomed. "Thanks for coming over to help Josuke study. You can also stay for dinner if you want to. We're having curry tonight."

"I'd love to stay Ms. Higashikata." She said as she took her shoes off. As she entered the living room her eyes glowed up once she spotted the kotatsu in the middle of the floor. "You already have the Kotatsu out?"

"Well it is getting cold early," I said as I put my legs under the table, she followed my lead and sat on the opposite side of the table as well with her legs under the blanket.

"It is getting cold early," Kuro placed her calculus book on top of the kotatsu. "I heard that it's going to start snowing soon."

"This early?"

"Yup. I can't wait!" She smiled. "Snow days are great! Especially under a kotatsu. It reminds me of when I used to live all the way up in Hokkaido before I lived in Morioh."

"Your mom is in Hokkaido right now right?" I asked as Kuro started to peel open a tangerine.

"Yea. She's giving medical lectures for a few more weeks up there. So in the meantime I have the house to myself."

"Then maybe…" I could feel my cheeks getting warm as I struggled to maintain eye contact with her. "I can go over your house more often over the next few weeks. Just the two of us. To study, that is."

Kuro gave me a soft, genuine smile. "Of course Josuke. That sounds nice."

She's so cute.

"Now," Kuro opened her heavy calculus book to one of its hundreds of pages and took out a pencil from her bag. "Let's start, shall we?"

"Sure."

The two of us studied for what it felt like to be an hour, with Kuro giving me pointers on how to solve specific equations and problems. As time past, my redhead friend's eyes started to stay closed for longer whenever she blinked.

"Kuro, you know we can stop here if you want," I offered.

"No it's fine," Kuro denied while rubbing her eyes with her hands. "Besides, I want you to ace the test."

"Josuke, Kuroko," my mom peeped into the living room wearing a coat and boots. "I'm going to go out and get some more ingredients for the curry. I'll be back in about an hour." My mom glared at me, "And Josuke, take off your uniform while you're at home." She scolded as she shut the front door, leaving the two of us alone.

We worked for a few more minutes until I started to feel a bit tired myself. "Hey Kuro."

"Hm?" She looked at me, taking her eyes away from the paper.

"Do you mind if I take a shower and get changed?"

"Not at all," she said, as she got back to her notes.

I got up from the warm kotatsu, headed to my room, grabbed a towel, and headed into the bathroom to shower. It was silent as I showered, as I washed my hair and body. When I got out of the shower, it hit me.

I forgot my clothes.

I have to go through the living room to get to my bedroom.

That's where my crush is.

Damnit.

I facepalmed myself. Of all the days I've forgotten my clothes, why does it have to be today?!

I peeped out a crack I made in the bathroom door. I wasn't able to see where Kuro was when I looked into the living room. "Um Kuro?" I called out.

No response.

"Kuro can you hear me?"

Nothing.

I made the risky decision to wrap the towel around my waist and to sneak into the living room, hoping that Kuro doesn't notice me.

But Kuro wasn't sitting at the kotatsu. Instead, she was laying with her side against the floor, curled up in a ball, sleeping. I moved closer to her. Her chest moved up and down with each breath she took. Her ruby hair was sprawled out across the floor around her. I'm almost tempted to twirl a few strands of her hair between my fingers.

Right before I made my way into my room, Kuro started to mumble something.

"Josuke… don't…kiss..."

I could feel the heat go to my head. She's dreaming about me? What could she be dreaming about?

Kuro then turned onto her back. In fear of waking her up, I rushed back to my room. I put on a white long sleeved shirt and black sweatpants. I also brushed my hair in my usual pompadour. When I walked back into the living room, Kuro was still snoozing on her back. Her chest moved with each breath she took. I tipped toed into the kitchen to make two cups of coffee, both with cream and sugar.

As I got back under the kotatsu and placed the two cups of coffee on the table, my leg accidentally nudged Kuro's, causing her to wake up. As she sat up, she rubbed her right eye with her palm. "Morning sleepyhead." I teased. I passed her the cup of coffee across the table.

"How long was I out for?" She asked.

"Around 20 minutes."

"Huh," she looked at the cup of coffee on the table and took a sip. "Thank you."

"No problem."

We then continued our work for about 20 minutes. It was between her explaining each question and walking me through it I noticed something. She would bite the nail or her thumb and play with a strand of hair that was next to her ear. Something was wrong.

"Kuro, is something on your mind?" I asked.

I looked into her eyes as Kuro struggled to keep eye contact "No."

"Kuro, you're terrible at lying."

Kuroko let out a sigh of defeat and laid her head on the table. She then raised it, used her arm and palm to hold up her head. She kept her eyes on the wall as her cheeks started to turn pink. "Josuke?"

"Yea?"

"Remember the fight we had with Yuki we had a few days ago?"

"What about it"

"Well, remember when she…she…" she struggled to get the words out of her mouth as her cheeks started to get redder and redder "she kissed you?"

My face started to get hot. Since we were in the heat of the moment, I've almost forgotten that the two of us kissed. "Yea?"

"Was…that your first kiss?"

I rubbed my mouth with my sleeve and looked away. "…it was."

"…what did it feel like?" She mumbled, just enough for me to hear her. Her face was still red.

A risky idea came through my head. I smirked. "Do you want to find out?"

"Josuke! Kuroko! I'm back!" My mom opened the door and walked into the house carrying grocery bags.

Kuro shot up from the kotatsu and rushed towards my mom. "Welcome back Ms. Higashikata! We just started taking a break!" She quickly said as she grabbed the grocery bags from her and placed them on the kitchen counter. "Do you need help preparing the vegetables you just bought? I can help!"

"Actually I do need some help," my mom smiled. "Thank you. Say, why is your face so red?"

"My face is red? Maybe I've just been under the kotatsu for too long! Haha!"

Kuro then helped my mom with cutting up the produce she bought from the store and helped her cook. We ended up eating late that night. The curry was delicious, but every time Kuro made eye contact with me, she would look away. Maybe I teased her a little too much this time.

I got a B on the calculus test.

*Kotatsu: a Japanese table surrounded with a blanket on all sides. Underneath is usually an electric heating unit. Basically an electric blanket and a coffee table combined.