Hello, I am back with another chapter. A little more of Mafuyu's past is revealed in this one. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Oresama Teacher! This is only a fanfiction.

Chapter Three: The Stuffed Rabbit

Long ago…

The little girl ran behind the squire, the squire who used to live next door to her when she was small. I won the duel, I won!

She heard him laugh and pat her head. Wonderful. You'll be a knight in no time.

The little girl reached out to him…the boy who lived next door to her…but he was fading. No! The girl, now sixteen and dressed in a Lady's dress chased after him. Don't go! Ah, call out to him! What's his name again? Gorou? No, Yuusuke? Daiki! Kentama…Kanade! Yuuto! Tarou!

'Takaomi!' Mafuyu gasped, sitting up in her bed. Eh, Takaomi? No, Takaomi is… an image of that rotten tutor flashed in her mind. Advisor Takaomi Saeki!

The poor girl spent the next few minutes in frenzy, fishing through the trunk full of mementos collected over the years that she kept under her bed. She took out an old notepad she used as a kid, where she doodled whenever she got bored. Flipping through it, she came to the drawing she was looking for. It was a crudely drawn love heart with Mafuyu Kurosaki + Takaomi Gojou written in it. He had moved away because of his mother, she recalled. She sighed in relief seeing his last name, but stopped herself. Wait…just how common is the name Takaomi? I need to investigate further!

She walked in through the palace gates, her eyes scanning the grounds. She didn't know her way around the place yet so she had to find someone…. A familiar blonde boy walked past her. Her face lighting up, she lifted her skirts and scurried up to him. 'Hayasaka, my good companion!'

His eyes widened. 'I'm not your companion!'

'Don't be shy,' she winked. Ignoring his disapproval, she said, 'I need to know more about Advisor Saeki. Mostly his birthplace, family, basic history and such.'

'Ask him yourself,' he huffed, but his heart jumped in his throat when she glared at him threateningly. Mafuyu was completely oblivious to how she looked, merely looking at him and deep in thought.

That would be the fastest way…but the first time I met him, I boasted about the kind boy who was my neighbour. It would seem awkward for me to bring it up again with him. I should find everything in secret first. Yes…like a Palace spy…in secret…

Hayasaka blinked. Is she going to find Saeki's weakness and extort him? He is a pretty scary tutor and he probably deserves it. How smart…and unladylike! 'I would advise against it,' he said. 'Saeki is strong and fearsome. You should aim for a weaker tutor first…'

'No! It has to be him, otherwise there's no point!'

Hayasaka smiled. Wow, aiming for the top already? Amazing. THIS is the kind of squire we need in the Palace! But she's a Lady…oh, whatever!

Mafuyu bit her lip. Does Hayasaka have a tutor he wants to investigate first? Then I'll let him go first, being the knight…I mean, the LADY I am! 'I don't mind if you want to…'

'No!' he grabbed her shoulders. 'We're in this together. Let's do this!'

Hayasaka, Mafuyu nearly cried. You are so wonderful! You will become an amazing knight!

'Ok,' she took out a dagger. 'This is the plan. I bought this enchanted dagger from a gypsy stall on my way to the Palace. Anyone it stabs will spill out the truth for three questions.'

'Hey,' Hayasaka let her go. 'Isn't that illegal?'

She shrugged, eyes glinting. 'There he is!' she said, pointing to the black haired man as he glided down the cobblestone path, his dark red robes brushing the ground. She spun on her heel, throwing the dagger. It sailed through the air, too fast for anyone to stop it. As the two watched, one with delight and the other with horror, the dagger went straight for his back. With one swift movement, Advisor Saeki snapped his right arm and deflected the knife as easy as blinking. It sailed through the air and landed in a bush. He continued walking as if nothing had happened.

'What…what in Hell was that?' Mafuyu screeched. Both of them ran to the bush.

'Now, a lady must watch her tongue,' Hayasaka droned. Clearly both of them had underestimated Advisor Saeki. He felt pitiful as Mafuyu rummaged through the bush, pulling out the dagger. The hilt had come loose from the sheer force of the block. 'She also shouldn't dirty her clothes or play with daggers.'

'No,' she trembled. 'This cost me 30 gold coins…that's most of my allowance! Now I have to wait another month…'

Hayasaka pursed his lips. 30 gold coins? Isn't that too much? The gypsy tricked her, obviously. What an idiot…no wait, she gets over 30 gold coins per month? Just who is her mother?

'Okay, second plan. I will call out to him but he won't know it's me, because I will hide myself. Then, I will ask him the questions I have!'

'What makes you think he won't recognise your voice…?' Hayasaka asked, but Mafuyu had already left. He sighed, following her. She hid herself behind a wall just as Advisor Saeki walked past on the other side.

'Advisor Saeki!' she called. The footsteps stopped.

'Yes?'

'This is Mafuyu. Tell me where you were born!'

'Lady Kurosaki, don't stop me to ask something so trivial,' he muttered, and the footsteps started again.

'He knew who I was!' she turned to Hayasaka. He banged his head against the wall.

'Of course, you stupid woman! You said your name!'

She looked at him. 'You know, he and you are the only two people I know here.'

He shook his head. 'You really have no companions, do you?'

'I have you!' she jumped to hug him but he stepped out of the way.

'A lady shouldn't embrace a squire like that!' he snapped. 'If you want to find out more about him, why don't we go deeper into the Palace? His office must be in there somewhere.'

'D…deeper into the Palace?' she gulped, recalling the days when she became a knight and walked in the smaller castle of Higashi. Everyone had shied away from her, their faces stricken with fear. 'I mean, I'm a Lady! Nobody will avoid me! But how do we find his office?'

'Of course they won't avoid you,' Hayasaka raised an eyebrow. 'And about finding his office, see that window over there?' he pointed. 'I've seen Advisor Saeki through it once. Maybe that's his office. We can go and check.'

'Great idea,' Mafuyu nodded, rolling up her dress and placing a foot on the wall. She found a grip and hoisted herself up, right foot, left foot, right hand, left hand…

'Hey, Kurosaki! What are you doing?' Hayasaka yelled, waving his arms. 'Oy, get down right now! Aren't you a lady? What are you doing, scaling the Palace walls like a village boy? Isn't it hard? Wait while I go get a ladder!'

She was about to yell back that this was easy and that she had even done it while wearing knight's armour, but she stopped herself just in time. She was halfway there when another familiar voice drifted up to her.

'Lady Mafuyu Kurosaki.'

She gulped. Advisor Saeki! Without looking down, she slowly descended. She felt his hand place on her head, and he began squeezing. She winced, but didn't back down, looking up at him. Is he mad that I tried to break into his office?

'What time is it?' he growled, eyes shining menacingly. She stared. Could it be…class has started? 'How dare someone like you miss one of my sessions,' he continued, his grip hardening. 'You can snoop around, be unladylike and cclimb as many castles as you want, but don't you DARE skip my lessons.'

'I didn't do it on purpose! I was focused on something else…so I…'

He released his grip, smiling. 'Well, I guess I'll let you go this time. After all, I intended to be a bit nicer to you, since it's been nearly ten years since we last met. But, on second thought, I don't want to be nicer to you.'

Wait…it's been nearly ten years? Oh god, no…

'If you want to investigate me, why don't I just tell you?'

'Wait!' Mafuyu held up her hands. 'No, don't say anything-'

'That kind boy who lived next to you,' his eyes shone with sadistic pleasure. 'That was me. The "Takaomi" you looked up to? Me. Understand?'

Mafuyu was speechless. 'No way in Hell!' she yelled, refusing the idea. The Takaomi I knew was much gentler than this evil man! 'You stupid liar! Takaomi was never this mean!'

He grabbed her shoulder and pulled her closer. 'Hey, your rowdy side is showing,' he grinned. 'Stubborn, aren't you? Now that's the Mafuyu I know.'

Why is he acting so familiar? She gasped. 'No, Takaomi's family name was Gojou! You liar!'

'My mother left my father and remarried. That's how I became a Saeki. Hey, if I was so nice to you when you were young, how did you forget me?'

'You weren't nice to me at all!' she yelled, then clamped her mouth shut. Wait…

'See?' he leered. 'You're finally remembering.'

'No, I…'

'GO!' he suddenly ordered.

'Yes sir!' Mafuyu instinctively began running. Wait…why am I running? She skidded to a halt.

'The memory is gone, but it's been integrated into your instincts,' said Advisor Saeki…no, Takaomi?

Mafuyu swallowed. I don't like the way he put that. If he really is Takaomi from the past, then where are my memories of him…?

'Mafuyu, go!' the boy yelled, and the little girl ran at full speed.

Mafuyu gasped. Those images…those memories…

'You remember that stuffed rabbit, don't you?' Takaomi asked.

Stuffed…rabbit…an evil grin, fighting, blood, broken bones, a hand patting her head… It all came back to her. There indeed was an older boy who was her neighbour, but he wasn't kind and gentle. Oh no. he was quite the opposite.

He was a knight, just like her, but he was the kind of knight people called a pretender. He had the armour, he had the skills, but he didn't have the seal and he certainly didn't have the honour. He had never been knighted, unlike Mafuyu. But everyone treated him like he was amazing, which he was indeed. He was a knight everyone feared to have as an enemy, whom everyone dreamed would be their leader. In fact, he would force her – a six year old – to observe his fights. But one day, it went further.

'Takaomi!' the little girl ran up to him. 'Squire Aki took my rabbit!'

He glared at her. 'So? Take it back.' Yes, he was a demon. And when she argued that there were too many people, that he should come to save her, he reached out a hand…and grabbed her head with a clenching grip. 'You coward!' he screeched. 'You weak excuse for a human being! Complain any more, and I'll beat you till you're unrecognisable!'

And so she ran like the wind and beat five people to get back her beloved toy. Sure, the five people were strong, and scary, and they could kill her. But Takaomi was stronger, scarier and he would kill her. So using her fear as her strength, the seven-year-old won against her seniors.

'Twenty five minutes,' Takaomi said. 'Try harder next time.'

Next time…?

Mafuyu fell to her knees.

'So you finally remember,' Takaomi chuckled.

'Why did I forget something like this?' she mumbled.

'Probably because you were climbing a watchtower to retrieve a bird's nest for me when you slipped and fell down, suffering a concussion, just a few days before I left town. The doctor said you lost a few of your memories or something.'

'I've never heard of such a thing!' she squealed. 'Wait…why was I retrieving a bird's nest for you? No, so it's your fault this happened to me?'

'The mother bird had died and I wanted eggs for breakfast,' he shrugged. 'But I kept quiet about it because I didn't want any more bad things to happen. As in, I didn't want you to tell them I was the one who sent you up there in the first place.' He placed a finger on her chin and tilted her face up. 'I decided to pretend not to recognise you if you had changed,' he whispered, 'but you're still the same brat I knew back then.'

Mafuyu's heartbeat quickened. His eyes crinkled up as he smiled.

'It's been nearly a decade, Mafuyu.'

'Hey…what are you guys doing?' Hayasaka said, a ladder in his arms. He was staring at the two. Takaomi straightened.

'I was reminding Lady Kurosaki that skipping classes is wrong for a lady, and so is climbing the Palace walls. The same could be said for you, Squire Hayasaka.'

Hayasaka gulped, not making eye contact. 'Yes, Advisor. Let's go Kuro…uh, Lady Kurosaki.'

Mafuyu nodded absently, walking over to Hayasaka. She was still in shock.

Hayasaka looked at her. 'Hey, are you okay? He didn't…threaten you or anything, did he? I wouldn't be surprised.'

'Huh?' she blinked, looking back at Takaomi. 'Ah, no. It's just…I've realised life here is going to be a lot tougher than I imagined!'

Chapter Four will be up soon. Please, if you have the time, review so I can improve! Thank you for reading.