Hey everyone! I actually got around to writing and finished chapter four! Just to let you guys know this story isn't dead, i'm just really busy with school and clubs and all of those wonderful time consuming activities...(Total sarcasm.)

Anyway, hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 4

Natsuki gave another stroke of her pen, making a large red 'D' on the paper. She felt her hand cramp from the repetition of her task. It had taken a whole week for Youko to give the ok for Natsuki to return to school. The young teacher had been driven crazy being alone in her apartment all day. She had been living off of instant ramen and take-out for the whole time and just wanted to get back to class. Now that she was everything was falling into a nice routine. She had even given her classes their first test of the term. Many did well, a few poorly and, of coarse, Natsuki couldn't help noticing that Shizuru had gotten an 'A'.

"Kuga-sensei." Natsuki looked up, already knowing who it was.

Despite her best attempts, Shizuru Fujino was still taking an unusual interest in her. She wasn't blind; Natsuki knew the girl's behaviors were peculiar. It wasn't abnormal for a student to come in during lunch to ask for help from their teachers, but every day? She knew Shizuru was a good student and that she understood everything she taught them, but it really didn't matter. Even if Shizuru didn't need help, which she most defiantly didn't, it's not like Natsuki could turn her away.

Shizuru sat down opposite of Natsuki, pulling up a chair before taking out a canteen. "Tea?"

Natsuki eyed the container wearily. "What kind is it?" Natsuki asked, leaning her head in her hand.

"Jade." Shizuru replied, pouring some into a cup before handing it to Natsuki.

"What do you need help with now?" Natsuki asked as she sniffed the tea questioningly. Shizuru poured herself a cup of tea before opening her book.

"I'm afraid I've had trouble understanding chapter seven."

"We just went over it today. Why didn't you just ask then?" Natsuki asked, setting the tea cup on the desk.

"Kuga-sensei just looked so enthralled by her lecture I didn't want to interrupt." Shizuru responded casually, causing Natsuki to roll her eyes. Of course she has an excuse ready.

"Besides, if I remember correctly, didn't Kuga-sensei tell the entire class that help was available during lunches and after school?"

"Yeah, I'm starting to regret that." Natsuki said, rubbing her forehead.

"Ara, am I really such a nuisance?" Natsuki looked up to see Shizuru's head turned, her hand covering her mouth as she shook slightly. Wait, was she crying!

"What! I never said that!" Natsuki yelled. How the hell did she make Shizuru cry!? Was this girl bipolar or something!

"But Kuga-sensei said…"

"I didn't say anything!"

"But you haven't even touched your tea…" Shizuru continued, a soft sniffle escaping passed her hand.

"Okay! Okay already!" Natsuki grabbed the tea cup and chugged the tea down but soon regretted it, feeling the liquid burn her mouth.

"Crap!" She yelled, slamming the cup onto the desk.

"There, happy?! I drank your freaking tea and burned my mouth to hell!"

"Well, Kuga-sensei could have blown on the tea to cool it down before drinking." Shizuru said, suddenly returning to normal as she set her elbows on Natsuki's desk, leaning toward the young teacher.

"Or I would have been happy to cool it for you." Shizuru finished, giving Natsuki a pleasantly deceiving smile. The young teacher felt her eye twitch as she realized she had fallen into the third year's trap. How often did Shizuru feel the urge to cause her face to change different shades of red!

Natsuki started to feel that the student merely did this for amusement but before she could find the rage to yell she paused. Shizuru was merely looking in her history book for something to question Natsuki about, but something was wrong. The young teacher didn't know how to describe it, but something in Shizuru's eyes just told her she was hiding something. Did Natsuki's comment really hurt her?

Now feeling real guilt Natsuki buried her head into her arm, leaning on the desk as she slouched in her chair. "Kuga-sensei? Are you alright?" Natsuki paused before sitting up. She slowly grabbed the abandoned tea cup and sighed before placing it in front of Shizuru.

"Can I have more?" She asked quietly, refusing to look at the girl out of embarrassment. There was a pause before Shizuru smiled.

"Of course." She said before taking the cup. Natsuki dared a glance in her direction, watching Shizuru pour her more tea…wait, was Shizuru blushing?!

Before Natsuki could finish her thoughts the door opened, causing both women to look up.

"Excuse the intrusion." The man said, blushing slightly as he observed the scene, stepping into the classroom. "But I need a quick word with you, Kuga-san."

Natsuki scowled at the man, recognizing him from her first day.

"H-how are you feeling?" He asked, looking around the room.

"What? You just came in here to chit-chat?" She responded agitatedly. "Look, unless you want my chopsticks in your stomach again I suggest you get to the point, Takeda." She really didn't care if Shizuru was in the room or not, all she knew was that she did not like this physical education teacher.

"Right. I'm here to talk about one of my runners that's in your class, Minagi Mikoto." He said, taking a few steps towards where Shizuru and Natsuki were sitting. "I heard she received a failing grade on the quiz you gave out the other day and I was wondering if she could get a make-up test."

Natsuki leaned back in her chair, crossing her legs as she stared at Takeda. "No."

The young teacher almost laughed at his baffled expression, like the man had just been slapped in the face. "Excuse me?"

"What? Need to clean out your ears? I said no." Natsuki said before picking up her refilled cup of tea, blowing on it before taking a sip, causing Shizuru to smile.

"I don't think you understand the situation." Takeda said, walking up to the desk. "Minagi is my best runner. We have a meet the day after tomorrow and she needs to be there. Can't she come in today and take a new test?"

"I told everyone a week in advance about the test, I told them what they needed to study and I told them they wouldn't be able to retake it. I'm not about to make a special exception just because you need her to run a few laps. If she does better on the next chapter test I'll bump her grade up, but for now she's failing."

"Be reasonable Kuga! Don't you have any pride in this school?! Minagi is our best runner, we need her to win!" The P.E. teacher said, grabbing the back of Shizuru's chair as he leaned over the young student and the desk.

Natsuki felt her eye twitch at this, her temper suddenly snapping. "She isn't a horse you can bet on Takeda! She's a student!" Natsuki yelled, standing up and walking towards Takeda. Grabbing the front of his jacket, Natsuki pushed him away from Shizuru's chair and towards the door. He stumbled before catching his balance. "Her first priority isn't to win you medals, it's to learn! Now get out of here before I kick your ass!"

"But Natsuki---" Before he could finish Natsuki grabbed the nearest heavy object she could find - a stapler - and threw it at her fleeing co-worker.

"Get out!" She huffed as he lunged for the door, barely avoiding the flying object. "And don't call me Natsuki!!!" She yelled at his retreating form, knowing well enough that he was probably on the other side of the building by now.

"Ara, Kuga-sensei certainly has a way with people." Shizuru giggled as she sipped her tea, causing Natsuki to blush.

The next few days proved uneventful, consisting of the usual routine for Natsuki: grading papers, giving lectures, trying to understand Suzushiro Haruka's mispronounced words and dealing with Fujino Shizuru's teases during lunch, which became a common rendezvous. She was just happy it was finally Friday and, after she got this lesson plan sorted out, she could go home for the weekend. This was one of the only peaceful moments she experienced during the day, mostly due to the fact that Shizuru had student council meeting after school. Before she could get to work however the door opened, causing her to look up.

"Sorry to interrupt sensei." The girl said as she stepped in, brushing back her messy black hair.

"Minagi Mikoto." Natsuki acknowledged, recognizing the athletic girl from class. "I already told your couch that you couldn't make up the test." Natsuki said, leaning back in her chair.

"No, that's no it." Mikoto said, looking down at the floor. "Actually, I'm glad you told Takeda-sensei I couldn't."

Natsuki raised an eyebrow at the second year student, confused by her sudden confession.

"It's just…" Mikoto started but paused as she looked out the window, looking much like a lost cat. Natsuki sighed, feeling that she should have known something like this would happen right when she was looking forward to the weekend.

"Come on, sit down." Natsuki said, kicking a chair out to Mikoto. "What's bothering you?" Natsuki asked as the athlete took a seat, dropping her duffle bag at her feet. "Why are you glad, I though I heard Takeda boasting about your running ability through his screeching the other day."

Mikoto chuckled and scratched her cheek awkwardly. "Well, yeah. I am good, but…I don't think I would honestly be able to concentrate."

"What, is it teenage hormone anxiety or something? Got a secret crush that you can't get off your mind?" Natsuki joked with a sarcastic smile as she worked on her lesson plans, but soon stopped when she didn't hear Mikoto respond. Mikoto simply stared down at her feet, her face red with a guilty expression. "Oh crap." Natsuki said, resting her face on her palm. That was supposed to be a joke.

"Okay, who is it? Some guy on the team? Someone in class?" Mikoto looked up, her face still flushed.

"No, they don't go to school. I actually know…her through work." "Work? Where do you… Her?" Natsuki said, her mind working slower than usual due to the fact that it was Friday. TGIF… seemed so far away.

"Yeah… I needed the money for new equipment for kendo, so couch got me this job at a local restaurant as a waitress. I didn't mean to…well, you know, fall for her or anything. It just sort of happened." Mikoto paused as she looked out the window, watching the track runners sprinting down below.

"I didn't even think about her at first, but on my third day I dropped a bunch of plates. Before I knew it there was just this horrible crash and everyone was looking at me. I was so shocked I could barely move but then, out of no where, she came out and took care of it. She apologized to everyone and helped me clean, telling me that everyone dropped dishes once in a while. Turned out she owned the restaurant." Mikoto smiled as she continued, still looking out the window.

"I don't know when it happened, but I just started to notice her: I'd see her around town, I'd recognize her voice…but noticing her became looking for her and I began to listen for her voice - just on the off chance she was near." The young student ruffled her hair out of aggravation, the smile on her face vanishing. "I can't concentrate; I can't think straight; I just don't know what to do."

Natsuki merely nodded her head and rubbed her forehead. How the heck was she supposed to know what to tell this kid? She didn't take a psych course in college. "Well…have you tried talking to her about your feelings? How much older is she?" Natsuki asked, not entirely sure if she was being helpful.

"She's not that much older. She's 21, only three years older than me." Mikoto responded. It sounded like the teen was trying to convince herself of the fact rather than Natsuki, but the young teacher ignored it. "And there's no way she'd go out with me anyway."

"Why not? Are you not her type or something?"

"It's not that! Well, I don't know, but--" Mikoto began, a bit flustered. "She's already going out with someone." Mikoto finally looked up at Natsuki and rubbed the back of her head, embarrassed. "I'm sorry sensei; I didn't mean to unload my problems on you. I just wanted to come in and ask if I could get some help after school next week."

Natsuki frowned as she looked over her shoulder towards the calendar on the back wall. "Next week isn't going to be fun. Our homeroom class is going to be working on the cultural festival project the whole week. There won't be any time…" Natsuki paused, thinking for a moment. Mikoto needed to get help, the next chapter test was next week and Mikoto obviously needed assistance studying. The young teacher sighed, knowing what she had to do. There went her weekend.

"Look, why don't we meet over the weekend." Mikoto looked up at Natsuki, surprised at the proposition. "We'll meet somewhere and I'll help you with the chapter. Tomorrow okay?"

"Y-yes. Thank you sensei."

"Yeah yeah. I regret it already."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Okay, I know it's totally obvious who Mikoto likes. I usually don't go for Mai/Mikoto, but only because Mikoto is just to young for a relationship and acts like a kid. The aspect of an older and more mature Mikoto however is actually refreshing...though she still will have a few childish qualities - she just wouldn't be Mikoto without them!

Hope you enjoyed this chapter and i'll try to update as soon as possible. Have a great day,
- Kruger