Ack, I think this chapter if too fluffy... Katarasan41 here waiting for constructive criticism. I won't update 'till I know my mistakes. XD

Chapter 2 - Smile

'Narumi, you do know that doing something like this can harm your status of being a teacher...'

'By doing this, are you sure you're ready to sacrifice your position here at the academy?'

I took many risks. I put my life in danger. But I know that everything I've done wasn't worthless.

All my actions were for my students, not just Mikan. No, it was for the whole academy. But, somehow, I can't help but feel that I should've acted in a smarter way, not just making it so obvious that I wanted to change the academy. I'm starting to doubt if it was the best decision to let the academy throw me out like this.

The risks I took were worth it.

"Good morning, class!" Narumi greeted Class B with his signature smile. "I'm really sorry, I'm late--" He noticed the decorations hung at the corners of the classroom and his name written in big cursive letters on a fancy birthday cake. He was surprised, and the students' expressions didn't differ.

"Narumi-sensei!! Happy Birthday!!" Class B finally greeted as Narumi still stood at the same spot scanning the room full of color.

"We were really worried that you wouldn't come, Narumi-sensei! We thought something happened to you and you wouldn't come!" Yuu explained for the whole class. Narumi was still surprised with what the class had done.

"Thank you. I really... appreciate all this." Narumi said as he made his way to the teacher's table. He smiled. But Mikan saw the smile, and noticed the hint of sadness in it. Mikan was always the person who knew how a person felt, but this confused her very much.

"Sakura!" Sumire whispered through the classroom. "Your speech!"

Mikan heard this and froze. When Narumi was already inside the classroom, she was supposed to give a speech on how important Narumi was to the class. She got the piece of paper she stuffed in her pocket and read it before talking.

"Umm... Narumi-sensei?"

"Yes, Mikan-chan?"

"Uhhm... Well... Uhh..." Mikan looks at Hotaru for moral support, but instead, Hotaru stares at her. 'If I don't do this correctly, I'll let everyone down!'

"Well... Narumi-sensei... Narumi-sensei is really special to our class. Even if he's busy, and even if he is stressed because of all the things he had to do, he always finds time and space for us because to him, we are his family." Narumi smiles pleasantly at the word family.

"But what's really important is that he always watched out for us. Even if we did hurtful things or wrong things to Narumi-sensei, he forgives us and tells us to move on." Mikan's way of speaking made her words shine with pride, as Narumi slightly blushed at the comments about him.

"Narumi-sensei wanted us to use our Alices properly. Like he said before, Alice is a... a..." Mikan couldn't read the words written on the piece of paper. She tried to read it, but hesitated to ask someone else what it said because it would embarrass her.

"An Alice is a double-edged sword." Narumi continued. "We could use it either to do good or evil. We can use Alice to help people, yet we can harm others..." He smiled at Mikan, trying to tell her that it was alright, and she didn't need to continue the speech, since the words spoken made him happy enough.

"Everyone, thank you." Narumi said. "Yes, it's true. I consider each and every one of you a part of my family, but I never expected all of you to prepare something like this for me. Thank you." Narumi gave the class a smile. To many, it seemed like a very happy, satisfied, and gratifying smile. That expression wasn't the same smile he always gave. It was priceless.

The students nearest to him stood up and went to him for a hug. In no time, almost everyone in class went to him for a class hug. Their birthday plan was a success. Their teacher was happy. There was no problem, and nothing could go wrong at a time like that, could there?

Natsume, who was expressionlessly watching the whole scene lit up the candle on the birthday cake.

"You better hurry up, you perverted teacher." Natsume said, avoiding any eye contact from anyone aside from Ruka.

"Ah yes, thank you too, Natsume."

A few moments later, they took a class picture for Class B. But, somehow, the smile Narumi flashed at the camera wasn't the same smile he gave everyone else. It was a smile which showed satisfaction and contentment, but not happiness.

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