I think it was better if it's Shin I put in the first person rather than Yankumi. Anyway, too late.

This is my last chapter and the longest one. I hope you enjoyed reading this fic. If not, it's still ok. :D

Feel free to tell me your comments, suggestions, and violent reactions.

I'll be glad to hear from you. :))

And yeah. Thanks to midnite-silver for his/her review.

Chapter 7

The day of the ball came.

Noda, Minami, Kuma , Uchi, and their dates were sitting on one of the school benches when Shin arrived.

"Shin?! Where is your sister?", they asked him.

"She can't come.", he replied.

"So you mean you don't have a date?!", Kuma asked.

"Exactly."

"Tsk. You really are Shin Sawada. The guy who doesn't bother with girls.", Uchi said.

"Anyway, Shin, meet our dates…", Noda told him and they introduced their dates to him.

It was past six when I arrived with Mr. Shinohara. I was really glad he was my date that night. I remembered very well how he ended up being my date for the ball.

flashback

I was at a bar that time with him, Shizuka-sensei, and Miss Kawashima, the school nurse. The two women were very enthusiastic in finding a date for the ball. They told me that they wanted Mr. Shinohara to be their date so badly. I also told them that I, too, wanted him as my date. We considered it as a competition between the three of us.

"Hey, Mr. Shinohara?", Shizuka-sensei got his attention first.

"Yes?", he replied.

"Can you be my date at the ball?", she asked him while batting her eyelashes.

"Uh, Mr. Shinohara?", Ms. Kawashima got his attention second.

"Yes?", he replied.

"Didn't you know that Ms. Shizuka already have a date at the school ball?", she lied.

"What did you say?!", Shizuka-sensei asked Ms. Kawashima angrily.

They were so angry at each other that they didn't even notice that I already took my move.

"Mr. Shinohara?"

"Yes, Yamaguchi-sensei?"

"Can you be my date at the ball?"

"Sure.", he answered without second thought.

The two of them stopped quarreling after hearing Mr. Shinohara's reply.

"What?!", they asked as their eyes went big.

"Didn't you hear that? Mr. Shinohara will be my date at the ball!", I told them.

"Bu – but – Mr. Shinohara –", the two of them said.

I flashed them my biggest grin as they looked at me with jealousy.

And that was the story. Mr. Shinohara and I entered the school hall. It was very well decorated.

"Wow.", I can't help but be amazed.

"Wonderful.", Mr. Shinohara told me with a smile.

I looked for Shizuka-sensei and Ms. Kawashima around the hall to teased them but I couldn't see the two. I saw Shin and his peers instead.

"Mr. Shinohara, do you mind if we go there?", I said, pointing at Shin and his friends' direction.

"It's ok Yamaguchi-sensei. Let's go there.", he said.

We walked to where they were.

"Hey, Yankumi! You look so pretty with your dress, huh?", my students teased me.

I answered it with a small laugh. "Enjoying the night?", I asked.

"Yes, we are.", they replied.

"Very well. See you around!", I told my students.

I could see that all the people were having fun that night. I left Mr. Shinohara for a while to go to the bathroom. After, I saw Shin sitting on a bench alone.

"Hey. Why are you here? Don't you wanna have fun inside?", I asked as I approached him.

"I'm more enjoying the night here outside.", he said to me.

"Mind if I join you for a while?", I said to him.

"Sure. Take a seat.", he told me.

Then suddenly, I saw the lights inside the school hall dimmed and a love song was played.

"Yankumi?", he asked.

"What?", I replied.

"May I dance with you?"

I blushed. If I said yes, this will be my very first dance. Yes. First dance.

"May I?", he asked once again.

"Su – sure.", I said.

He stood up, reached for my hands and I stood up also.

We started to dance.

We were silent for about a couple of minutes when suddenly, he asked something to me.

"Yankumi?"

"Yes?"

"Remember last month? When we walked on our way home together? When I told you that my pals were on a date? And then you asked me if I had a girlfriend before and I told you I never had any? Then you asked me why and I answered I'm not interested with those things?"

I laughed softly and answered, "Yes. I remember it very well."

"And then I said that I'll tell you when I already found the girl?"

"Have you found her?", I asked happily.

"Uh. I think so.", he said.

"You think so? Are you not sure about it?"

"Well… I had this different feeling when she taught me how to dance."

"Different feeling? How different?"

"I was happy then."

"Oh! Then you must be in love!"

"And when I was married to her on a marriage booth thing before, I didn't even bother to say anything against it."

"Come again? Did you say marriage booth?!"

"Yes. Marriage booth."

"Oh. Like what happened to ours?"

He didn't answer. He continued what he is saying instead.

"When I saw her with someone else, I can't help but be jealous."

"Jealousy! A sign of being in love!", I said.

"And when I asked her to dance with me just a while ago, something inside me jumped with joy."

"Oh. So you mean she's here?"

"Yes. She's here. She's very near in fact."

I looked around.

"Where?"

He looked at my eyes.

"You don't have to look very far…

…She is just in front of me." :)

---THE END---