The Snowy Dilemma

by Ben Firebird

A one shot trapped alone together story. Nariyuki Yuiga, ends up trapped at Mafuyu Kirisu's apartment, certain feelings comes to light during the time they spend together, and dreams for the future is revealed.

1. Chapter 1

Hey boys and girls. I do not own rights to We Never Learn/Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai, this story goes on pretty far in the manga and contents a lot of spoilers, especially from the Mafuyu focused chapters, so if you have not read all of those, do NOT read this story. One thing to note, there are no spoilers from The Ice Queen story line, so you can safely read this story without worrying about me ruining that for you. Now then, I do hope you guys enjoy this story, and do let me know what you think, once you are done.

The Snowy Dilemma

It had been a little over three hours, since Nariyuki Yuiga, had arrived at his teacher Mafuyu Kirisu's place. He had been asked by the principal to deliver some important papers the pink haired woman had forgotten at school. Not really all that surprising, her place looked like a tornado had rampage through it, more than once. So it had been with a roll of his brown eyes and a witty comment, that he had started helping her clean the place up.

Once that task was over and done with, Kirisu sensei had gone to make some fresh coffee, while he had gotten his books out and started studying, with the pink haired teacher joining him not long after, explaining with great detail what the Shinsengumis role had been during the Edo-Perioden.

A little over two hours had gone by with that, until they finally reached a point, where they could stop for the evening.

"Thank you for always helping me study, sensei, I always learn so much here. It really is impressive how much you know about history" Nariyuki said, with a greatful smile, as he took a sip of his new cup of coffee.

Blushing slightly at the compliment. "Well, I do teach world history. So it is perfectly natural Yuiga-kun, that I know all of this stuff" Mafuyu said back in a highly confident tone.

"I know sensei, I'm just kinda amazed, that you remember all these major things about the Shinsengumi, from just off the top of your head" the boy continued.

Since it so rarely happened these days that people, beside Miharu, praised her for anything, Mafuyu felt her embarrassment growing even deeper. Yet, despite how happy her student's words made her feel, Mafuyu still steadfastly believed that it was her responsibility to scold the young man for talking that way to a teacher.

However before the teacher had a chance to actually do that, the power suddenly went out in the apartment, which instantly served to make a small frightened scream leave Mafuyu's mouth, as she swiftly grabbed tightly onto the young man's arm, looking around, like she was expecting all the world's cockroaches to invade her apartment now that the power was out.

"Umm wha... What happened, Yuiga-kun?" She worryingly asked, still clinging tightly onto him.

"I don't know sensei, you have to let go of me first, before I can try to figure that out" Nariyuki answered, struggling to ignore the feeling of his gorgeous teacher's soft round breasts pressing against his arm.

Reluctantly releasing her hold on him, Mafuyu was barely able to keep herself from telling the boy to hurry back, as he slowly stood up, both of knees making a bit of a cracking sound, from kneeling on the floor for such a long time without him moving. Ignoring the bit of soreness in his legs, Nariyuki stepped over to the window, looking outside to see if the power was out anywhere else.

What he saw out there, instantly served to make Nariyuki mumble a few short curses under his breath. All the young man could see through the window was snow, there was so much snow out there, blowing around all over the place, he could not even see the streets below them.

"Where in the world did all of this come from in such a short amount of time, I did not know that it was going to snow today" the boy said, trying his utmost to see anything else other than snow.

"What are you talking about, Yuiga-kun?" Mafuyu asked, obviously still quite a bit worried about what was going on.

Fishing his good old cell phone out from his pocket, Nariyuki frown slightly, as he struggled a bit to find the right button, to turn on the small flashlight in the phone. Finally, after about a minute, he succeeded in doing that, shining the light over on the anxious teacher, who had not moved even an inch from the spot on the floor, where he had left her.

"I think it's better that you come take a look yourself, sensei. Please don't worry, there are no dangerous creatures around, and if there are, I'll take care of them" Nariyuki confidently promised her, knowing full well why the pink haired woman was so scared and on edge, the sudden darkness along with her intense angst and fear of cockroaches suddenly appearing in the darkness, was likely running rampage through Kirisu sensei's mind and body.

While Nariyuki's soothing words about taking care of those most hideous monster of the world, did help calm Mafuyu down a bit. A part of her was still somewhat frightened to move, but after thinking about it for a brief moment or two, the pink haired teacher realized that she would likely be a whole safer over beside her student. And with that in mind, she hastily got up from the floor, and moved over beside Nariyuki. Where she had to mentally remind herself not to grab onto his arm, even though there was nothing she wanted to do more.

Looking out through the window, Mafuyu's green eyes widen, as she let out a small surprise gasp. "Oh my! It's snowing so much outside, what do we do, Yuiga-kun!?" She asked in a bit of a panic.

Not sure how he was supposed to answer that question, Nariyuki slowly reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. "Umm I... Ohh man, I have no idea sensei... Umm maybe, since I can not stay here tonight, perhaps if I am careful, I can somehow make it back home".

Unsure if she had actually heard the boy correctly, Mafuyu immediately swirled around and looked at her student, like he had lost his mind. "Are you crazy?! You can't go out there in that, Yuiga-kun! If you do, you will die! Your mother would never, NEVER forgive me if anything happened to you, and I do not want to lose yo... It would break my hea... Umm, no you can not leave Yuiga-kun, and that's final!" Mafuyu yelled, sounding very much like she was about to start crying.

"But sensei, that means that I have to spend the night here, is that really alright?" The boy nervously asked, momentarily forgetting that he had already done that a few times.

Crossing her arms and frowning slightly, Mafuyu was a bit annoyed by how eager and willing the boy was to put himself in serious danger, to get out of there. For some inexplicable it kinda made her heart ache a bit that he had not immediately agreed to stay there with her, it was for his own good after all. It had nothing to do with the fact that Mafuyu really didn't want to be by herself right now, with the power out and a major snowstorm outside.

"Probably not, but we got no other choice Yuiga-kun, there is no way I am letting you leave until it stops snowing so fiercely outside. You, are my student, and as your teacher, it is my job and responsibility to look after you and keep you safe!" The pink haired woman said loudly, clearly more than ready to continue arguing with him, if he kept on insisting that he should leave and try to get home in weather rough as this. But despite how determined Mafuyu was to keep Yuiga-kun from leaving, there were a small part of her that was a bit freaked out over the prospect of having a man spend the night at her place, while Yuiga-kun had already done that before, it was a lot different this time, without him having to help put her cousin Natsumi to sleep, or Miharu forcing him to stay over, so she could help him study, for twenty-four hours straight, it was just going to be the two of them, all alone together.

Again looking out of the window, Nariyuki let out a small sigh, he knew that Kirisu sensei was right, there was no way he would be able to make it safely back home in this weather, he might only live a short walk from there, but without being able to see all that far ahead, he could very easily get lost out there, then end up freezing to death, or get run over by a truck or car, whose driver could not see any further than him.

And the simple knowledge of how much that would hurt his mother, little sisters and bother, along with his friends and Kirisu sensei, was enough to make Nariyuki to relinquish the idea of getting home that evening. "I am sorry for being so stubborn sensei, I'll stay over, thank you very much for having me, and looking out for me" the young man said, bowing slightly to her, to show her, just how grateful he was.

Sincerely relieved that the young man who she cared so much about, was finally done being stubborn and was not going to jeopardize his own safety, by trying to get home. Mafuyu let out a deep relieved breath that made the pink hair, covering her forehead, fly around a bit. "Good, that's good, Yuiga-kun. So, umm, what are we going to do now? It's too dark to study. Do you want to get something to eat, I think I got a few boxes of crackers a little age, when I was out shopping, they should be somewhere in the kitchen, and maybe I got some butter in the refrigerator" the teacher said, glancing up at the lamp above her and Yuiga-kun, wondering how long it was going to take before the power returned?.

"I think I saw those crackers in one of your cabinets, when I was cleaning the kitchen, as for the butter sensei, I threw that out, it was WAY past it's expiration date and was starting to smell a bit. Eating that would not have been healthy. But you do have some good strawberry jam, we could eat that with crackers" Nariyuki said with narrowed eyes, slightly concerned about the limited amount of food Kirisu sensei had stashed away, while it was true that Kirisu sensei's somewhat meager skills in the kitchen was slowly but surely improving, she could make hamburgers now that was mostly eatable now. The young man knew, that his teacher still very much preferred ordering take out for dinner, either Ogata udon or pizza from the small restaurant located just across the street from her apartment complex, Nariyuki could not even remember how many empty pizza boxes he would need to throw out, whenever he cleaned Kirisu sensei's apartment.

'Oh man, if we end up being trapped here for a long time, we are going to starve to death. Hopefully the water is still running, so we can at least get something to drink' the boy thought concerned.

It was at that very moment, that Kirisu sensei's calm voice, interrupt his worrisome thoughts. "Why don't you get comfortable, Yuiga-kun?. I'll go get the food" Mafuyu said, as she walked slowly towards the kitchen.

Moving back to the table, Nariyuki sat back down on the floor. "Do you have any candles' sensei? If I keep using the flashlight like this, my phone will soon run out of power, I need to try and call my mom to tell her what happened" he said, wondering if it was even possible to get a signal with all this snow, it was not like the mobile coverage was all that great back at his house.

"Hmm, I do believe that I got a bunch of candles, from a store that was having discontinuation sale, but umm well you see Yuiga-kun, the thing is I got nothing to light them with" Mafuyu said in a low tone, squirming slightly in embarrassment over forgetting something so utterly important when, she had bought those candles, it was just that they had been so cheap, that they had been a real bargain in her mind.

The fact that his teacher had candles, but neither a lighter nor matches, did not really come as an overly huge surprise to, Nariyuki. She was just so adorably forgetful at times, and seeing the way the pink haired woman kept on fidgeting around in slight unease over her silly mistake, was just so unbelievable cute. So, all the young man really could do was chuckle a bit in amusement, an action that instantly earned him a displeased glare from Mafuyu Kirisu.

"Please don't worry sensei, I should have some matches in my schoolbag" Nariyuki said, while opening his bag, then started rummaging around inside until he pulled out three red and blue boxes of matches.

Somewhat bewildered over what need, the young man would have for so many matches, Mafuyu tilted her head slightly to the side. "Why do you have so many?" She softly asked.

"Kobayashi, Omori and I were at the mall yesterday, there was an insurance guy giving away free boxes of matches, if you took one of his brochures. And I am telling you sensei, free matches is nothing to scoff at. Kobayashi and Omori kindly gave me theirs, saying that they did not need them" the boy cheerfully explained.

A bit sadden over the fact, that her student was so happy over receiving a few boxes of matches, the teacher looked intensely down at the floor for a few short seconds. Mafuyu kinda wanted to say something about it, but she knew, that no matter what she said, it would sound like she felt sorry for him, and that was not something Yuiga-kun wouldn't like, she knew how much he hated being treated differently, simply because his family was poor. Yet upon hearing his stomach rumbling loudly, she felt a small smile run across her lips, as she quickly turned and entered the kitchen to find the food and the candles.

Finishing up the phone call with his mother, who had instantly gone into full-blown romance mode, once she heard where he was, and who he was alone together with. Talking happily about what he and Mafuyu could do together and wishing him good luck for the night ahead. Which had been when his sister Mizuki, had taken the phone from their mother, loudly warning him about how dangerous a single woman Mafuyu's age could be, and that he needed to be careful. It had been then that he ended up talking with both of his youngest siblings, who had both happily told him that he should hurry up and marry, Mafuyu-chan. Those words instantly made a small blush appear on his face, as he had asked to talk with mom again, who much to his slight irritation was still prattling loudly on about romance, which had led to him hastily telling her, that he would be back home once it stopped snowing outside, then for her and his siblings to be careful, before finally saying goodbye.

Staring silently at his phone, Nariyuki slowly rolled his eyes and let out a long, tired sigh. "Why does my family have to be so weird at times?" He mumbled softly to himself. While it was true, that he loved and cherished his entire family, there were times when he kinda thought that they were all a bit crazy, he really wished that his mom would slow down with the whole romance thing, that Mizuki would stop acting so peculiar around him at times, along with Hazuki and Kazuki stopping with the whole marriage thing, they had going on. But on the other hand, if they really did change too much, he guessed that he would end up missing the way they were now.

Nariyuki, was still somewhat preoccupied with all those thoughts of his mother and siblings, when Kirisu sensei reentered the living room, kindly informing him that dinner was ready, in a sweet tone of voice, that quite frankly for the briefest moments, served to reminded him of a wife, who had just finished making dinner for her husband, which instantly lead the young man to remember, what Hazuki and Kazuki had said about how he should hurry up and marry Mafuyu Kirisu. Following that, his exhausted mind, immediately started imaging his gorgeous pink haired teacher, in a wedding dress.

Then, as she started walking down the aisle in his head, he rapidly shook his head. 'Knock it off, Nariyuki! You know very well, that if sensei ever realized what you are presently thinking, she will definitely send me that dark freezing cold glare, she sent me those two times, when I accidentally told her to get undressed, the fewer times I have to see that expression on her face, the better, it kinda creeps me out. But still, even with that expression, she still looks so beautif... Ahh, stop it you, dumb idiot' the boy mentally scolded himself, just as the teacher called out to him in a sweet tone of voice.

"Yuiga-kun, would you please turn on the light in your phone again? So I can see my way to the table".

Upon hearing the woman make that request, Nariyuki immediately turned the small flashlight back on, pointing it in the direction he had heard her voice come from, seeing her even with the limited light, standing there near the entrance with a tray, that had a bunch of different stuff on it, and a green plastic bag under her arm, instantly made Nariyuki flinch slightly in concerned, he knew better than anyone else, how unbelievable clumsy Kirisu sensei could be at times. Amazingly enough, much to his small astonishment, she managed to get to the table, without stumbling over or dropping anything, kneeling down, she while humming softly, placed the tray on the table, then pulled out two thick candles from the bag.

Picking up one of the boxes of matches, Mafuyu got out a matche then lit up the two candles. Once they had a new light source, the teacher looked over at her student. "Go right ahead and dig in, Yuiga-kun. You much be hungry".

Tearing his gaze away from the two candles, that had immediately caught his attention, simply because they had the words 'Happy Birthday 5' written on them. Wisely choosing not to comment on that, Nariyuki reached for the crackers and jam.

The two of them, eat their meager dinner in relative silence, listening to the sound of the intense snowstorm outside. Yet as the window made a bit of a cracking noise, like it was about to break apart, from the strong winds, Mafuyu instantly moved a bit close to Nariyuki, again struggling to keep herself from grabbing onto his arm. At least, being close to him like this, made her feel somewhat safe.

"Umm, Yuiga-kun, I... I don't like this, the sounds the window is making, kinda reminds me of the sounds from that one time, I visited a haunted house at a carnival. It's just so creepy" the teacher said, knowing that the only reason why that experience was so clear in her mind, was because when she and the unknown boy, she had been together with, had exited the haunted house, a bug had scared the living daylight out of her, and she had ended up tightly hugging the boy, which was the first times she had done that, with anyone who was not a part of her family, which made it even weirder, that no matter how hard she tried, Mafuyu still could not remember who that boy was, but still he was kinda familiar.

Of course, knowing what haunted house she was referring to, but having no way to explain to her how he had been together with her back then, since he himself did not fully understand how in the world it had happened, the way it seemed in Nariyuki's mind, he had somehow traveled back in time by hitting his head, then gone on a date to an amusement park together with Mafuyu Kirisu. The boy had tried so many times to make sense of what had happened back then, but had been unsuccessful, and it was not like he could tell anybody about it, without them thinking he was totally nuts. So, all he could really do was nod slowly in agreement.

"Yeah you are right, it really is scary sensei, I wonder how Ogata is handling this" the boy said, seriously considering putting something in front of the window, should it suddenly break.

At the mentioning of Ogata's name and hearing how worried her student sound about the orange haired girl, Mafuyu for some inexplicable reason felt a small twist run through her body and a bit of pain in her chest, she just didn't like the fact that her... Um, that Yuiga-kun, was thinking about another girl.

"Why are you suddenly worried about her?".

"Hmm, well because Ogata can be a bit of a scaredy-cat at times, so I can not help but worry about her, hopefully she is either at home with her father or together with Furuhashi, who doesn't seem to be scared of anything" Nariyuki quietly said, thinking back to that time during that major typhoon, when Furuhashi and him had ended up at a movie theater, watching a horror film, he had been totally freaked out, while the blue haired star loving girl, had shown no fear, whatsoever.

Grateful for the limited lighting in there, so Yuiga-kun could not see the displeased frown on her face. Mafuyu simply didn't understand why, but listening to Yuiga-kun speak in such an affectionate tone, about Ichinose Academy's two geniuses, had instantly made the at first bit of aching in her chest, increase tenfold. The pink haired woman, just did not understand these strange feelings, why did it bother her, that he cared so much about other girls, she knew that Yuiga-kun's caring nature, was one of the many reasons why, she lov... Believing, that it was totally inappropriate for her to ever finish that thought, Mafuyu rapidly shook her head, an action that immediately got her Nariyuki's attention.

Having, been totally preoccupied with his deep nagging thoughts about how Ogata, Furuhashi and the rest of his many friends were handling this rough crazy weather, it somewhat caught Nariyuki of guard, when Kirisu sensei's long pink hair, suddenly started flying wildly around, hitting his head a few times, not that he really minded, it was not like it hurt. No, he was far more worried about her. "Wow, careful there, sensei!" The young man yelled in surprise, hastily reaching out and moving the two burning candles out of the way, before she could accidentally set her own hair on fire. Nariyuki did not, under any circumstances, want her to go through something so unbelievable painful and ruin her well taken care of hair.

Upon realizing what she had almost done, Mafuyu immediately stopped moving, staying as still as a statue, her anxious green eyes looking nervously back and forth, to make certain that her hair was truly alright, but since she was scared to move, it was impossible for her to tell for sure. "Umm, Yuiga-kun, my... My hair, it's alright, right?" She asked, in a bit of a panic, barely able to stop herself from grabbing the can of water and pour it's entire content over herself.

"Yes, your hair is perfectly fine, sensei. It looks as nice and beautiful, as it has always been" Nariyuki gently reassured her, struggling a bit to keep himself from reaching over and running his fingers through her long pink locks, it just looked so unbelievable soft and smooth.

Sincerely relieved to know, that her hair was just fine, and not in any kind of danger from the candles, Mafuyu combed her fingers through it, gently stroked the edges, barely able to ignore the deep intense pounding she felt in her heart, from Yuiga-kun praising her pink hair so sincerely and calling it beautiful, she knew she shouldn't, but Mafuyu just couldn't help but feel flattered by her student's words, it especially made her feel happy inside, that his attention was now fully back on her.

However, those generally happy feelings and her rapid beating heart, soon made a small frown appear on the teacher's forehead. 'Ahh, no, no! What in the world is the matter with you, Mafuyu Kirisu? I just finished telling myself, that it was inappropriate for me to have these feelings! He is your student, for Pete's sake! But... But still, ever since he helped me figure out, if I should go back to figure skating or remain a teacher, it's been so difficult to keep him out of my mind' Mafuyu thought, just as his words about wanting to make her happy echoed through her mind, which had been when, her former student Hino Otoko had started loudly playing the wedding march, in the background, an action that had served to thoroughly embarrass both her and Yuiga-kun.

Mafuyu was still arguing mentally over the righteousness of her feelings for the young man sitting beside her, when he apparently took notice of her somewhat distant behavior, which lead him to start talking to her in his usual kind tone of voice, thereby for at least a brief moment, bring an end to her conflicting thoughts.

"What's the matter, sensei, something is clearly bothering you?".

Quickly stuffing a whole cracker into her mouth, chewing it loudly while trying to come up with a believable answer to his question. "Um, I... I am thinking about our sleeping arrangements Yuiga-kun, it is getting kind of chilly in here, which means that the heat is most likely out too, I want to hurry up and get comfortable under my nice thick duvet, so I can at least try to stay a little warm" Mafuyu said, hoping that the boy would buy that excuse.

Glancing around the apartment, Nariyuki knew that she was right, it was getting quite a bit cold in there. So, Kirisu sensei's idea of getting under something thick, soft and warm, was one that was starting to sound very appealing to him.

"If I can borrow one of your pillows and a blanket, I will be alright on the floor, sensei" Nariyuki said, while he would never be as good at it, as Furuhashi, The Sleeping Beauty of the Literary Forest, who could drift off to sleep just about everywhere imaginable, even during one of Kirisu sensei's classes. He was still pretty skilled at falling asleep awarded places, like on the bus, the train, or with his twin siblings sleeping on top of him. So, the young man figured it should be relatively easy for him, in his exhausted state, to fall asleep on the hard wooden floor.

Yuiga-kun's willingness to sleep on the wooden floor, was met with a bit of a glare from the teacher, before she took a thorough look around her apartment, for somewhere else the boy could sleep. "I really don't like the notion of you sleeping on the floor Yuiga-kun, it's going to be so uncomfortable for you and considering how chilly it is, you might just end up catching a cold down there, and with graduations coming up, that would be bad" she stated firmly still looking around, her green eyes having gotten use to the darkness, stopping briefly on the kitchen counter, however the thought of how injured he would get falling down from up there, immediately made Mafuyu shake that idea out of her head.

"It's either that or the bathtub sensei, and I think that would be even more uncomfortable, then your floor" Nariyuki said, not even wanting to imagine how stiff and sore he would be, from spending a whole night sleeping in an empty bathtub of all things.

Still not pleased with the idea, Mafuyu sat there sulking angrily for about a minute. "Fiiinne, you win Yuiga-kun. I'll go find you a blanket, you can take one of the pillows from my bed" she grumbled, then pushed herself up from the floor, making her way over to her closet, not entirely sure if she even had a blanket, but she seemed to remember her aunt forgetting one, when she had been by to pick up Natsumi, that one time Mafuyu had taken care of her cute little cousin.

Mafuyu kept on noisily rummaging through the closet for a good long while, resulting in quite a few different things like clothes and books falling out in the process. Finally, the teacher was able to locate the object she was looking for, turning back around, she upon spotting a few more embarrassing things at her feet, hurried kneeled down, picking up one of her bras and a red pair of bunny girl ears, she had not the foggiest idea where she had gotten from in the first place, throwing both of these items back into the closet, then send Yuiga-kun a displeased look, that was meant to tell the boy, that he better forget he saw those things.

"Here you are, Yuiga-kun" She said, stepping back over to him.

While Nariyuki was honestly quite intrigued, over why Kirisu sensei had those bunny girl ears lying around and even more so how she would look wearing them. The boy was absolutely certain, that it would make her look so unbelievable cute and adorable, but he did not dare to even think about asking his sensei to put them on. Nariyuki, could very easily figure out how much that would piss her off.

However, despite knowing that, the tired young man's was still struggling rigorously to keep himself from imagining Kirisu sensei, in a matching red bunny girl outfit, with sexy long stockings, cufflinks, and last but not least a cute little bow tie, that likewise matched the red and white ears, she had so hastily hidden away, inside her closet.

'Geez, get it together Nariyuki, why is it so difficult for me to stop imaging her in all those different outfits, this is almost as bad as that time during the practice interview, I still don't understand what happened back there, and where the hell that Chinese dress came from. I have never seen her in anything like that' he thought, almost afraid to look Mafuyu Kirisu in the eyes, as he took the offered blanket with a small grateful nod.

Of course not knowing what her student was presently thinking, Mafuyu declared after handing him the blanket, that she was going to go change into her pajamas, so they could hurry up and get to sleep. Afterwards she hurried marched over, and picked up some clothes that had fallen out of the closet, then quickly left the room, with Nariyuki looking after her, the entire time.

"Ohhh man, I think it's going to be a long night" he mumbled tiredly to himself, moving over next to the radiator that not surprisingly had gone cold a long time ago, but in case the power returned during the night, he was at least pretty close to the nearest heat source.

At the same time, in the bathroom, Mafuyu had just finished brushing her teeth, and was now just standing there looking into the mirror. "Okay, I got this, no need to be nervous Mafuyu, it's... It's Yuiga-kun, and he will be sleeping on the floor, while I sleep in the bed... But still he is... is" she stopped, then just stood there staring at her own image, in the mirror. The pink haired teacher just couldn't comprehend, the many feelings presently racing through her, she felt happiness about not being along, but also a bit nervous for some reason, which didn't make sense, he had already stayed there before, last she felt a bit annoyed, that Yuiga-kun had to spend the whole night sleeping on the floor.

'I really hope he will be alright, I do not want him to get sick' she thought with a deep anxious frown, that she was only able to get rid of by lightly slapping both of her cheeks a couple of times, afterwards Mafuyu again left the bathroom.

Not sure what he had expected, but seeing Kirisu sensei reenter the living room, Nariyuki was slightly astonished by her choice of pajamas, it was made of dark purple silk, with yellow moons and stars all over it, each one of them with eyes and smiling faces, it looked kinda childish. But knowing his teacher as well as he did, the young man could not help but think, that immature pajamas suited her so well.

'And yet another reminder of how cute and girly, Ichinose Academy's Ice Queen, truly is' Nariyuki thought, as he stood up and made his way to the bathroom to take care of what business he had in there.

Stepping into the living room again, Nariyuki saw Kirisu sensei already laying comfortably in her bed talking into her phone, with whom he could only assume, judging from what he could hear, only be Miharu.

"No, no... Yes, I'll be fine on my own... No, you do not have to try to get here... Yes, I got plenty of food... Ok goodbye" Mafuyu said, quickly hanging up the phone before her perfectionist of a sister had a chance to continue the conversation or discover that Nariyuki was there, if she did that, Mafuyu knew her sister well enough to know that she would try to make her way there, despite the danger she might put herself in.

"Jeez, what am I going to do with that girl?" Mafuyu sighed, turning the sound off on her phone in case Miharu decide to call again, in the middle of the night for some bizarre reason.

Chuckling slightly at that. "She is just worried about you, sensei" the boy said, blowing out the two candles, then picked up his pillow, shaking it a bit before laying it back down on the floor.

"I know Yuiga-kun. She just overreacts, I did not even dare to tell her that you were here, since the first thing she asked, when I answered the phone was if she should try to figure out, if she could rent a helicopter, to take her here. It's those crazy ideas of hers, that makes it so frustrating to deal with her at times" Mafuyu growled through a long sigh, even though deep inside she still loved her little sister.

Not really all that surprised by how far Miharu was willing to go to check up on her big sister, Nariyuki wondered slightly just how expensive it was to rent a helicopter, especially in this weather. Not that the boy was entirely sure, if it cost more because of rough weather or not, that was just an assumption he made.

Still thinking about that, Nariyuki got comfortable on the floor, or at least as comfortable as he could get, closing his tired brown eyes, the teenager hoped that it would not take him long to fall asleep. That however proved to be easier said than done. It was cold, so God damn cold, curling up into a ball, he pulled the thin blanket tightly around himself, in an attempt to keep warm. Not that he had much luck with that, as a freezing cold shiver ran through his body.

Laying, completely still in her bed, Mafuyu tightly squeezed the top edge of her duvet, as she listened intensely to each and every sound Yuiga-kun was making, as he kept on tossing and turning on the floor, obviously having a difficult time, finding the right position to fall asleep. The pink haired teacher felt sincerely sorry for her student, but despite that, Mafuyu was still totally unsure about how she could best help him out. Then upon hearing his teeth chattering briefly throughout the room and him forcing back a sneeze, she was once more remind of how cold, Yuiga-kun had to be down there. Again taking a thorough look around the dark room, for a solution to the predicament, her light green eyes finally found their way to her hand, still holding onto the cover.

It could work, it might very well be the only solution she could come up with, but... But still, did she actually dare to go through with it?. She, of course, realized how inappropriate this was, her student was not supposed to sleep in the same bed as her. But Mafuyu's deep sincere concern about Yuiga-kun getting seriously ill down there, made the pink haired teacher decide to ignore, whatever issues she had about the righteousness of him spending the entire night, sleeping right there beside her.

But even with that decision made, another couple of issues immediately popped up in Mafuyu's mind. She was so unbelievable nervous, how was she supposed to get him up there, and why was her heart again beating so crazily hard?. However, she hastily forced all of those thoughts to the very back of her mind, when she heard her student's teeth chattering a bit again.

Sitting halfway up in her bed, Mafuyu gave her lower lips a light bite, as she called out to the young man. "Umm, Yuiga-kun, get up here and take the blanket with you, that will help keep us warm"

Not entirely certain if he actually heard her correctly, Nariyuki flew up into a sitting position. "Wh... What!?" He gasped out in surprise.

Nariyuki was almost certain, that the words Kirisu sensei had spoken to him just now, were nothing more than the strong winds blowing outside, or perhaps his tired mind was playing tricks on him, it could also just be a dream, he had occasionally been dreaming about that night when sensei and him had drifted slowly off to sleep beside each other. Both of them exhausted from taking care of the energetic Natsumi-chan, that even with him and her aunt sound asleep, had still been wide awake and able to move around enough, to get a hold on sensei's phone. Then miraculously video called Miharu of all people, who upon seeing him and her beloved big sister resting so closely beside each other, had immediately rushed all the way home from America, behaving pretty much like a total nutcase about what had happened

She had showed up at Nariyuki's house a few days later, thankfully on a day when he had been home by himself. Asking a ton of highly awkward questions, like how such a thing could have happened, why exactly it had happened, which Nariyuki had done his best to answer, trying his utmost to make it sound as harmless and innocent as possible. However, it had been Miharu's final question that had frankly been the most awkward one of all, she had asked if he had enjoyed it.

That one question was one Nariyuki really didn't want to answer, since he had thought it was kinda nice being so close to Mafuyu Kirisu, and waking up beside her the next day, with Natsumi sleeping quietly on sensei's stomach. Fortunately, before Miharu had a chance to force an answer out of him, Mizuki had returned home, who upon seeing the pink haired girl, had flipped out for some reason, demanding to know who she was and if she was after her big brother, being accused of something like that, had been more than enough reason for Miharu to make a strategic withdrawal, proclaiming loudly that she would return for answers, another day. Thankfully, that had never happened.

"Umm, I am sorry sensei, but could you please repeat that? I don't think I heard you right" the boy requested softly.

A bit annoyed that she had to repeat herself, since telling him to get into the bed together with her just once, had made her feel like crawling into the tiniest hole she could find, to hide her deep embarrassment. But in the end, Mafuyu guessed that it was not really all that shocking, that Yuiga-kun was having a bit of trouble believing, that he actually heard her correctly. So, it was with a slight irritable mumble, that she forced her dry lips apart again.

"I told you to get into the bed and take the blanket with you" she said in a slightly harsh tone of voice.

Realizing that he hadn't been mistaken, that it was not just something his totally exhaust mind had made up, Nariyuki blinked rapidly a half dozen times, Kirisu sensei actually had told him to... To...

"But sensei is that really alri..."

That was all the bewildered boy manage to get out, before Mafuyu's loud, booming voice cut him off. "Jus...! Just be quiet, Yuiga-kun, and get into the bed already. This... This is already embarrassing enough, without you stalling like that, you big dummy" the woman hissed.

Swallowing loudly, Nariyuki hesitantly got up from the floor, taking both the blanket and the borrowed pillow along with him, stepping slowly over next to the bed, he saw Kirisu sensei raise the cover as a sign for him to get in. Laying down beside the pink haired woman with his back towards her, Nariyuki much to his mildly surprise felt his teacher roughly tucking the thick duvet and the blanket around him, clearly determined to make certain that he would stay warm for the rest of the night.

"Goodnight, Yuiga-kun" she mumbled, once that task was over and done with, then hurried turned her back towards him, making no other sound than a small squeal, when her warm legs brushed against his almost stone-cold feet. Despite the whole awkwardness of the station, Nariyuki could not help but think sound just a tiny bit cute. It did, however, only served to lessen the uneasiness and awkwardness for a brief moment.

"Goodnight, sensei" Nariyuki said back, after a short minute.

'Ohhh man, this is so nerve-wracking. This is going to be a long night for a different reason, then I thought. Mmm, her scent is so strong here, she smells so nice... Is that her shampoo?' Nariyuki thought, forcing himself not to press his face to deeply into the soft pillow. Her strawberry like scent, was almost intoxicating to him, it made him feel like his heart, was about to leap out of his chest. Nariyuki, had known for a while now, that he was head over heels in-love with Mafuyu Kirisu, his teacher. The young man was not entirely sure when exactly he had fallen for her, it might have been that time, she had helped him up during the school festival, or maybe it was when he had realized how much she actually cared about her students, even though she was so bad at showing it. Yet no matter when it had happened, he was finding it more and more difficult keeping his eyes of her, when she was nearby, and even when she wasn't there, he could not get her out of his mind.

However, despite how fidgety Nariyuki was about sharing a bed with his teacher, being under the same duvet together with her. Once, the heat began ever so slowly to return to his cold body, especially his feet. The intense exhaustion he had felt the last couple of weeks took over, and he slowly drifted off to sleep.

Struggling with her own nervousness over the situation, the pink haired woman, upon noticing the subtle changes in Yuiga-kun's breathing, felt a small vein appear on her forehead. Mafuyu could not believe that in spite of laying right there beside her like this, he had still been able to fall asleep, so easily, was he not nervous about this, at all? She felt somewhat insulted by that.

Turning carefully over, so she could at least glare at him, even if he was asleep. Yet with Yuiga-kun's back still turned towards her, Mafuyu, was somewhat uncertain about what her next move should be. She, briefly considered lightly kicking him, so she could show him just how anxious she was. However, the teacher quickly decide, that doing something like that, was a little too mean, she knew how unbelievable hard Yuiga-kun had been studying and working recently. Her dear student, deserved as much rest as he could possibly get.

It was at that point, he suddenly, without warning turned over, making it so Mafuyu could finally see his sleeping face.

'He... He looks so cute! Yuiga-kun...'.

Shaking her head slightly at that thought. "Why does...? Does these weird thoughts keep appearing in my head? I'm not supposed to feel this way. What have you done to me, Yuiga-kun?" She asked the boy in a low whisper.

Hearing Mafuyu's voice even in his sleep, Nariyuki moved a bit closer to her, wrapping his right arm loosely around her waist. Mafuyu, was barely able to keep herself from crying out in surprise, the only reason why she didn't, was because she was quick to mentally remind herself, that she did not want to wake the sleeping young man up. Staring silently at his face for a short moment, the astonished teacher tried hard to figure out, what she should do now.

Finally, she reached slowly up, taking a gentle hold on his arm, to move it away from her waist. However, before Mafuyu could accomplish that minor yet delicate task, Yuiga-kun tighen his grib around her and snuggled in a bit closer in towards her.

"Mmm, sensei, don't go... Umm, Sensei Kirisu... so cute you... I love you, Mafuyu... Umm..." Mafuyu heard mumbled softly, into her ear.

Those words, those sweet words, while only barely understandable. They still echoed so, so unbelievable clearly through Mafuyu's head. Gasping loudly, she hastily backed away, in a fruitless attempt to get just a little distance between her and the boy, banging her head against the wall, her bed was standing against, making her yelp out in pain.

"What's wrong sensei?" She heard a scarcely conscious voice ask.

"Umm, it's... It's nothing Yuiga-kun... Go back to sleep" She quietly told him, hoping that in his half asleep state, he would not notice the hint of panic in her voice, seeing him nod a bit as he slowly drifted off again, his hand still firmly wrapped around her waist.

Trapped between him and the wall, all Mafuyu could do, as she carefully reached back to rub the small bump on her head, was stare at the sleeping boy, who meant so much to her.

'He loves me...! Yuiga-kun loves me... But he is... is my student...! I can not date him, can I...?' She asked, only at that very moment realizing that she was actually crying a bit.

Using her hand and the sleeve of her purple pajamas, to try and rub away the tears presently running down her face. 'Yuiga-kun you... You are the most dear person in the whole world to me... But you are... Are my student, there is noway the two of us could be together! It would ruin your entire future, if anyone found out you were dating your teacher. But still I... I... Ohh Yuiga-kun I...'.

So many, conflicting thoughts and feelings were running rampage through Mafuyu's heart and mind through a huge part of the night, she felt happy Yuiga-kun felt that way about her, but also lingering sadness over it being impossible for them to be together. She thought about the many things they had experienced together, like him assisting her cooking hamburgers that one time, him going with her to look at a new apartment where they had met the ghost of a playful little girl. But, she especially thought about the school festival, where he had found her practicing different poses up on the roof, in that weird superhero costume, that had originally been for, Takemoto. Yuiga-kun's, totally dumbfounded reaction to seeing her in that costume, had been kinda insulting, but now it was one of those things, Mafuyu would think somewhat fondly about, except for the crazy way she had gotten out of the costume, she really hoped that Yuiga-kun had deleted that memory from his mind, like she had told him to.

However, what Mafuyu thought mostly about during those long hours of the night, was how she had helped him up, when he had tripped near the end of the festival, it had been when the first fireworks had been set off. Back then, the pink haired teacher had never believed the school legend about a boy and a girl destined to be intertwined, from simply touching during fireworks, in her mind, it was absolutely ridiculous. But now, now it was one of those special little moments, with Yuiga-kun, she cherished so dearly.

Yet now as Mafuyu laid there looking up at the ceiling, she found herself sincerely wishing, hoping that the legend was tru... 'No, NO...! Mafuyu you can not think about such things' she angrily reminded herself, rapidly shaking her head against the pillow, which again made her dear student mumble a bit in his sleep. But other than that, there were no movements on his part.

More time went by, with Mafuyu trying her utmost to force herself to not think about, how happy the boy laying beside her made her feel. More memories would appear, like that one time, when he had bought her ice cream, and they had pretend to kiss, to keep Furuhashi and Ogata from discovering her, dressed in her old school uniform. Frowning a bit, when she reached the point, when Yuiga-kun and her had encountered Kominami Asumi, of all people. With the purple haired girl's tendency to tease her whenever they met, she had of course not let a given chance like that go to waste.

'Oh, that girl, she is such a troublemaker' the tired teacher thought, as she turned slowly over, looking into the wall, then with her mind even briefly distract by something else, Mafuyu finally manage to drift off to sleep, a little past four am.

Of course, not knowing anything about, having confessed his innermost feelings for his teacher, at some point during the night. Nariyuki, slowly opened his eyes brown eyes, about three hours later. Laying there looking quietly out into the room, he had slept like a rock, despite how incredibly nervous he had been, about sleeping in the same bed as Kirisu sensei. He could vividly remember, being briefly awake once during the night, but he did not know why, just that there were a bit of loud noise. Turning his head slightly, Nariyuki saw Kirisu sensei, sleeping with her back towards him, which kinda disappointed him a bit, he found himself wanting to see her sleeping adorable face.

'Ohh man, why is it that the first thing I want to do in the morning, is see my teacher's face, I wonder how many others students feels that way' the boy thought, just as the power suddenly returned, which meant that since neither one of them, had bothered to turn off the light switches, before heading to bed. The whole room was bathed in a bright, irritating light.

"Ahh, too bright, so annoying! Yuiga-kun, please turn off the light. Want to sleep more..." Mafuyu cried out in despair, roughly pulling the cover, up over her head, to shield her eyes from the bothersome evil light.

Chuckling slightly in amusement, over how childish she had sounded just now, Nariyuki reluctantly got up from the bed, since he was relatively certain that the entire room still felt like an icebox, from being without heat the entire night, quickly getting over to the light switches, he turned off the lights so Kirisu sensei would be able to fall asleep again, then he hurried went over to the radiator, increasing its temperature, hoping that it would not take too long, for the room to warm up again. However, afterwards Nariyuki was at a bit of a loss for what to do, it was impossible to study or do anything else, because of the darkness.

"Umm, sensei, is it alright if I get back into the bed? It's still so cold in here" he requested softly, already shivering a bit.

"I guess so Yuiga-kun, just hurry up, I am just so sleepy" the pink haired woman mumbled, clearly close to falling right back to sleep.

Swallowing loudly a single time, Nariyuki hurried went back over to the bed, hesitantly getting back under the thick still warm duvet, not entirely sure why exactly he felt nervous about it, since he had already spent the whole night sleeping right there beside his beautiful teacher.

Having slept so thoroughly through most of the night, Nariyuki believed that it would be impossible for him to fall asleep again, so he ended up just laying there, quietly listening to the intense snowstorm, that was still going on outside, and Kirisu sensei's calm breathing.

'I know the two of us went to bed about the same time, but she still seems pretty tired, I wonder how much sleep she has gotten tonight. Better lay still and try not to disturb her, I know she has been kinda busy these last few weeks' the boy thought, knowing from personal experience, just how cranky Kirisu sensei would get, if she did not get plenty of sleep.

Close to an hour went by with Nariyuki not really doing anything, he just laid there enjoying one of those rare days, when he did not have to rush out of bed to prepare for school or start studying.

'This snowstorm doesn't seem to let up at all, I wonder how much longer it's going to last. Good thing, I got my gym clothes in my bag, so I at least have something to change into should I end up being trapped here for more than just one night. Perhaps, I should wash them later, I am sure they are a bit smelly, from being stuffed into my bag since yesterday' the boy thought, just as he heard a bit of mumbling behind him.

"Mmm, Perro you... umm you do not need to learn how to fly... Stay here and be a good dog" Mafuyu whispered in her sleep, as she embraced him from behind, then continued sleeping.

Feeling his heart pound rapidly in his chest, from being this close to the woman he loved, Nariyuki carefully glanced back at her, seeing a slightly pained expression on her face. 'Guess, she really misses that dog, I wish I could help her, but I have no idea where Perro might have gone, or even if he is still alive' he thought, still totally bewildered over how Miharu in hers and Kirisu sensei's childhood, had thought she could teach their dog how to fly, so it could chase a bird.

"Perro, good dog, you get food... for being a good dog... Just don't leave" she mumbled next.

"Woof, I am not going to go anywhere sensei, I'll be right here when you wake up, woof" he said, hoping that by pretending to be Perro for just a moment, would help her calm down.

However, all that resulted in was her mumbling a bit angrily now. "Perro, no bad dog, don't call me sensei... Uhm, call me Mafuyu like you use to. Mmm... Nariyuki-kun... Good dog... Perro" she said, tightening her grip on her on him.

Pleasantly surprised by Mafuyu actually calling him by his first name, for the very first time, even in her sleep, Nariyuki felt his heart skip a beat, as a deep blush appeared on his face. "I... I, Maf... Mafuyu, I'm sorry about calling you sensei, I guess, I forget what I use to call you" the young man barked apologetically, not entirely certain if Kirisu sensei still thought he was Perro, or if she actually realized, who she was really talking to in her sleep.

Yet, Mafuyu did seem sincerely happy about him using her name. Which she showed, by sighing contently, while snuggling even closer in towards him, again calling out to him by his first name, then softly scolding Perro for digging holes, and writing in the backyard. Afterwards, there were no other movement or sounds from her, as she kept on sleeping the morning away, both arms still wrapped securely around him, and her head resting against his upper back.

'Being this close to her is really nice. I wonder if there will ever come a day, where it will be possible for me to refer to Kirisu sensei by just her first name, when she is awake, I really hope so. God, I do remember mom saying during one of her usual talks about romance, how wonderful an experience it is to fall in-love, I agree with you mom, I really do, but I do kinda wish you had warned me about how complicated it can be, when the one you fall in-love with, is your teacher. I wish dad was still here, so I could ask him for advice' Nariyuki thought, knowing that since Mafuyu had been one of his old students, he would likely find it funny as hell and playfully tease him about it, but despite that, he would still give it a lot of thought, trying his best to come up with a helpful answer.

But however much the young man would have liked to know what kind of advice his father would have given him. With Kirisu sensei's soothing breath against his neck, functioning a bit like a lullaby, it did not take long before Nariyuki doze slowly off to sleep again, wrapped in the pink haired woman's arms.

Waking up a couple of hours later, Mafuyu was slightly confused about why her bothersome alarm clock had yet to say anything, only realizing half a second later, that she had the day off, which meant that she did not have to hurry out of bed, she could stay there for as long as she liked. Yet for some strange reason, the bed felt kinda narrow, and she was pressed up against something warm, that had a rather nice scent. It was a scent that she liked, one that helped her relax and feel safe.

However, once her still drowsy mind remembered, who exactly that scent belonged to, she also remembered that she was not alone in the bed, there was someone else in there. Immediately, upon realizing that, Mafuyu's light green eyes flew open, discovering that she had been hugging Yuiga-kun in her sleep, she had to force herself not to scream at the boy and demand to know what he was doing.

'Yuiga-kun, he... he's not doing anything wrong, Mafuyu. You're the one hugging him' she quickly reminded herself, carefully pulling her arms away from him, then sat slowly up on the bed. The pink haired woman was not really sure what she was supposed to do now, she highly doubted that it would be possible for her to get out of the bed, without waking her student in the process, she briefly considered laying back down, but she had barely finished that thought, before Yuiga-kun's voice echoed loudly through her mind.

'So cute you... I love you, Mafuyu. Oh God, I have to get out of here' she panically told herself, then hurried started wiggling towards the foot of the bed, figuring that was her only means of escape. Once Mafuyu finally reached her goal without disturbing Yuiga-kun too much, she practically stumbled out of the bed, hastily moving a few steps away from it. Standing there with an absent-minded look on her face, squeezing the edge of her purple pyjamas, while looking at the still sleeping boy.

'Good, good he is still asleep, I made it! Now all I have to do is keep my distance, then I'm sure all of these feelings will go away. But still, when he is sleeping like that, he looks so cute and adorab... NO, I can not think such THINGS!' The pink haired teacher screamed in her mind, then swirled around and hastily made her way to the bathroom.

Hearing the bathroom door being slammed shut, Nariyuki slowly opened his eyes, laying there silently for a few short seconds, before sitting up on the bed letting the cover slid away from his body, stretching and yawning loudly. He was kinda relieved to discover that the room was relatively warm now, which meant that the power was likely still there.

'Better get up and start making some breakfast, I do hope that sensei has more than just crackers hidden away' he thought, then after locating his glasses, which he had left on top of Kirisu sensei's hidden display case of her figure skating trophies, Nariyuki got up from the bed, where he spent a moment stretching again, then began heading towards the kitchen.

Finishing what business she had in the bathroom, like changing into one of her tracksuits, Mafuyu stepped back outside, immediately letting out a small squeal of surprise, upon finding Yuiga-kun in the kitchen, cooking what could only be, judging from the smell of fried eggs, which was all it took to make Mafuyu's stomach growl loudly, she was always hungry in the morning.

Hearing the short bit of noise behind him, Nariyuki glanced away from what he was presently doing, seeing Kirisu sensei standing behind him in a yellow tracksuit he had never seen before, made him smile slightly.

"Good morning, Maf... Kirisu sensei, hope you are hungry, breakfast will be ready soon" Nariyuki informed her, hoping that she hadn't noticed the small slip of the tongue, he really wasn't in the mood to be reprimanded by her, for almost calling her Mafuyu, it was after all what she had told him to call her during the night. Fortunately, she seemed to be completely lost in her own thoughts, which lead him to wonder just what in the world she could be thinking so hard about, Nariyuki cleared his throat a bit, then called out to her one more time, kindly asking her if she was still tired, if she wanted to go back to sleep for a little while.

Finally snapping out of her thoughts, Mafuyu almost violently shook her head. "Ohhh no, no, that should not be necessary Yuiga-kun, I was just kinda surprised to see you up and about already. And yes I am quite hungry, it's not like those crackers yesterday, made the most nourishing dinner. I'll go set the table, while you finish cooking the food" the pink haired woman said, quickly finding some chopsticks and glasses, before hastily leaving the kitchen again.

Once alone in the living room, the teacher stopped and hesitantly glanced back in the direction of the kitchen. She could see Yuiga-kun's broad back turned towards her, as he pulled out two pieces of bread from her good old toaster, placing them, on the two plates he had ready.

'This is... The way Yuiga-kun and I are helping each other out, making breakfast like this, him cooking and me setting the table is nice. It almost feels a bit like, we are husband and wif... Ahhgghh NOO, denied...! You are denied from finishing that thought!' Mafuyu again strongly reminded herself, just as she once again heard Yuiga-kun's voice declared his love for her, in his sleep. Biting her lower lips hard, the teacher kneeled down, placing the glasses and chopsticks on the table, then sat there staring off into space, her mind, despite her best effort, still going a mild a minute.

Mafuyu was still totally caught up in her own thoughts, when Nariyuki entered the living room, carrying a plate of food in each hand. "Breakfast is served sensei, bon appétit" he said, placing one of the plates directly in front of her, then got comfortable across from her.

The delicious smell of the fried eggs and toasts, brought Mafuyu back to reality. Delightfully looking her breakfast over, the fried egg was cooked to perfection, and her piece of toast was just how she wanted it. It was far from the most interesting meal, but it still made Mafuyu happy, she could not even remember the last time someone had cooked her breakfast, it might have been before, she left her parent's house.

"Thank you for the food" both the teacher and the student said at exactly the same time, then started digging in.

The food taste amazing, precisely like Mafuyu had expected. It was still a somewhat awkward meal for her, she was almost afraid to even glance in Yuiga-kun's direction, she was fairly certain that if she did that, all those weird thoughts would instantly return, like his love confession, which the pink haired woman, had already heard in her head countless times, along with the thought of the two of them being husband and wife. Shaking her head slightly, Mafuyu reached over and picked up the TV remote, hoping that the noise from the television, would help keep her at least somewhat distracted.

Of course noticing how distant Kirisu sensei seemed at the moment, but figuring it was because she was still sleepy and need a little time to wake up, properly, Nariyuki listened to what the black haired woman on the TV was saying, who was strongly advising everyone to stay indoors, unless it was absolutely necessary for them to go outside.

"Guess neither one of us are getting out of here anytime soon, sensei" the young man said, adding a bit of salt to his fried egg.

Nodding ever so slightly in agreement, Mafuyu wondered if she could really be able to handle this, how in the world was she supposed to carry out her plan, to keep her distance from Yuiga-kun, when the two of them were trapped all alone together, in her tiny apartment. Reaching over, she absentmindedly took a hold on her hot cup of coffee, using it to warm her slightly cold fingers, before slowly bring it to her lips, taking a long sip of the brown refreshing liquid, feeling it warm her body and help wake her up just a bit more.

"Yes, it does seem that way, Yuiga-kun. We simply need to be patient and try to come up with something to do, once we are done eating. I believe I should have a few board games, that I won during the festival, where you helped tend to my injured knee, after I accidentally tripped" the pink haired teacher informed her student, hoping by keeping her eyes firmly fixated on the TV, she could keep Yuiga-kun from noticing the major worldwind of different emotions presently rushing through her. Mafuyu, was almost certain that if she happened to get eye contact with Yuiga-kun, he would instantly know everything, that was going on in her heart and mind.

Unfortunately the news did not serve as much of a distraction, they pretty much bored Mafuyu to tears, it did not help much that she thought that the black haired news anchor was one of the most dull people on TV. Even back when the woman had been doing the sports, and would occasionally talk about figure skating, listening to her downright felt like a chore, she was just so unbelievable tedious, it always sounded like she would rather be doing anything else.

Even that one time, Mafuyu had been interviewed by her after a win, she had showed no excitement about being there whatsoever. But despite that, she had still somehow manage to cause Mafuyu a great deal of trouble, by asking her if she had a boyfriend, which Miharu for some bizarre reason, had taken almost as a personal insult. She had been very quick to loudly demand, that their parents sued the entire news station for allowing one of their stupid employees, to ask her sister such a ridiculous question.

'Hmm, a boyfriend, I never actually had one of those, I wonder, what is it like? What exactly does a boyfriend and girlfriend do together. I know they hold hands, kiss and maybe other stuff, like go on dates'.

The pink haired teacher had very limited knowledge about what a couple actually did when they were together, even at the age of twenty-four she had only been on one data in her entire life, to the amusement park, and while that had been fun, having to dodge the following Miharu had kinda put a damper on things, especially when she had found them just as they finished ridding the ferris wheel. It was times like these, Mafuyu really wished that she could remember who that boy was, she hoped that he was doing well, wherever he was.

Yet as Mafuyu sat there thinking fondly about her one date, she found herself wondering, what it might be like going to the movies with a man, according to her best friend Chiyoko that was a really fun and great type of date, it was something she was quite a bit curious about, and someday wished to try, especially if it was together with... It was only then, at that very moment that Mafuyu realized, that she was no longer watching the television, instead her eyes were firmly locked onto Yuiga-kun.

Mentally scolding herself for letting her eyes and thoughts wander to her student so easily, Mafuyu picked up the remote beside her, then started zapping rapidly through the canals, hoping to find something a lot more interesting to watch, that would keep her attention from drifting back to the boy, stopping when she reached a nature show, that was talking about Mount Fuji. With that being educational, Mafuyu figure that it might do Yuiga-kun some good to watch that, it was possible that he could learn something, he would find useful at some point in the future.

However, with the things presently told being pretty common knowledge for most people living anywhere near the giant mountain, and with a soft female voice talking about the many animals living on, and near Mount Fuji, it was abundantly clear, that this was a program, made with children in mind.

Sighing begrudgingly in utter frustration over another failed attempt to find something interesting on the TV, that she could focus her attention on, at least for a little while. The pink haired teacher, wanted to keep on changing the canal, to find something at least a bit more entertaining, but Mafuyu was not entirely certain, if Yuiga-kun was actually watching the kid's show, if he was, she did not want to ruin it for him.

So despite understanding perfectly how 'dangerous' her next move could prove to be. She had already been brought into an almost trance like state twice now by Yuiga-kun, Mafuyu was terrified over the prospect, that she might start daydreaming about the different types of dates, she deep inside longed to experience, with the most important person in the world to her, she was especially fearful of the husband and wife fantasy appearing again.

So it was, with a great amount of hesitation, that Mafuyu glanced over at her student. Presently, Yuiga-kun's concentrated gaze was focused firmly on what was happening outside the window, most particularly on the still massive amount of snow flying around outside. If the teacher had to guess, she would say that he was likely wondering, how much longer this storm was going to last.

Yet, with him distract, Mafuyu hurried pressed one of the buttons on the remote. The next canal just so happened to be playing a pretty catchy anime intro. The dancing characters on the screen, looked kinda familiar to Mafuyu, she had most definitely seen them before. But at the moment she simply could not place, where she knew them from, it was only when she saw the title screen, that it dawned on her what this show was.

'Ohh no...! NO, this is the anime adaptation of He's My Student. I can not watch this with Yuiga-kun, it's... It's way too embarrassing. Why couldn't they have been showing a horror anime, that was something I could deal with, not this...' the teacher desperately thought, as she watched Kurisu sensei scold her student Yuto for getting into fights. Mafuyu knew, that if she had been alone in her apartment, she would very much have loved to watch this, but with Yuiga-kun there, all she felt was embarrassment over the fact that she liked an anime depicting a love story between a teacher and her student. The pink haired woman wanted so barely to just turn off the TV and pretend the show had never been on. Unfortunately, one cautious glance over at Yuiga-kun told her, that this was something he was paying attention to. So, left with little other choice, Mafuyu just sat there staring mostly down into her lap, occasionally glancing up at the screen.

Of course not noticing how fidgety and tense Kirisu sensei was at the moment, Nariyuki tilted his head a bit, as he watched the main character Yuto get into a fight against five other people, as he was making his way home from school. Thinking that it was a bit of an unfair fight, Nariyuki was kinda relieved to discover, that Yuto seemed pretty adept at martial arts, Aikido if he had to guess. So despite all odds, Yuto was still able to claim victory, against his not so friendly opponents. But Nariyuki figured that the guy was likely in for another scolding by his teacher, who just so happened to show up at that very moment.

"This is a nice peaceful anime, just perfect for a day trapped at home like this, I hope more episodes are coming up, once this one if finished. While it's true, that Yuto guy seems like a bit of a blockhead, I do not think he is a bad person, he seems pretty dependable, he was after all trying to save that poor cat from those five bullies, he seems far more interesting in getting a good education, than actually fighting" Nariyuki said in a low thoughtful tone.

Immediately upon hearing those words leave Yuiga-kun's mouth, Mafuyu moved her gaze away from her lap, staring straight at her student for a few long seconds. 'Yeah, Yuto is pretty much you, if you were an anime character, he's reliable like you and cares so much about helping people with their troubles and difficulties, even though knowing it would be so much easier for him to just keep his nose out of it, but also like you, he is a complete dunderhead, who does not understand how... how special he makes his sensei feel' the pink haired teacher thought, quite a bit annoyed that both Yuiga-kun and Yuto had to be so dense at times. It had not been long since Mafuyu had read manga twelve of He's My Student, and even despite Yuto telling Kurisu sensei early on in the story, that she was the only one for him, things were still so complicated between the two of them, it had not helped much that Yuto's childhood friend Tsubaki had appeared in manga three, she too obviously had some deep-seated feelings for Yuto, and unlike Kurisu, she was not nearly as afraid to show them.

Yet as Mafuyu sat there quietly sulking over how Tsubaki kept on trying to get in between Kurisu and Yuto, she looked back at the television, just as Yuto picked up his embarrassed teacher, carrying her like a princess to her apartment, leading Mafuyu to instantly imagine Yuiga-kun carrying her like that, what made it even worse was that she was in a beautiful white wedding dress, long white gloves and a few light red flowers, in her long pink hair.

"No! No! NO! This is too much! I can not TAKE this anymore!" Mafuyu shouted at the top of her lungs, grabbing the remote and hastily turning off the TV before anything else could happen between Kurisu and Yuto, she knew what was coming next.

Somewhat startled by Mafuyu's sudden outburst, Nariyuki was not sure how to react, he was relatively certain that he had not made some sort of mistake, how could he, when he was just sitting there quietly watching anime. Next he thought that she might have seen a cockroach, but since she was not presently clinging onto him in pure and other horror, almost suffocating him in the process, it could not be that either. Pretty much the only thing that really indicate that something was wrong, was how tightly Kirisu sensei was clenching the remote. As far as he could tell, it looked dangerously close to snapping in two.

Swallowing nervously, Nariyuki needed a couple of seconds to gather his courage, even then he was still somewhat uncertain about how wise it was for him to interrupt Kirisu sensei's brooding thoughts, she seemed ready to blow her top, at any moment.

"Umm, sensei what's... What's wrong? If you are stressed about being cooped up in here, why don't you go take a nice relaxing bath, maybe that would help calm you down".

Immediately upon hearing Yuiga-kun, make that otherwise considerate suggestion, Mafuyu ever so slowly turned her darken gaze away from the blank TV screen, she had been staring so intensely at, looking straight at her student, her green eyes round and her upper face blue, in that spooky way, only Mafuyu Kirisu could glare at a person, who rightfully deserved her wrath and displeasure.

Flinching slightly and let out a small frightened squeal, from the gloomy look the pink haired woman was presently sending him, Nariyuki felt a bit of his courage leave him, Kirisu sensei really lived up to the name Ice Queen right now, but since he still did not have the foggiest idea about what he had done wrong, the young man forced himself to be brave, despite the danger. So it was, with a determined look in his eyes, that he offered to go make her some fresh coffee.

At Yuiga-kun's mere mentioning of the word coffee, the irritable absent-minded Mafuyu, reached slowly out picking up her still half full cup of coffee, taking a huge mouthful of the brown liquid. However, the taste of the now cold coffee entering her mouth, instantly served as a means to snap the grumpy teacher out of her vexing thoughts, hastily spitting the foul tasting liquid, back into the cup, then used the sleeve of her tracksuit to wipe her mouth.

"Ugh gross, so gross, why does cold coffee have to be so disgusting, why can't science invent a way to make it taste good, both hot and cold" the pink haired woman growled displeased, of course knowing full well that ice coffee existed, but she never really liked stuff. She wanted her coffee warm, especially on a cold day like this, not too overly bitter, those times she was served something like that, there had better be some sugar cubes nearby, or at least some milk.

Mafuyu kept on sulking almost childishly, about the horror of bad tasting coffee, when in her continuous ranting, she incidentally glanced over at Yuiga-kun, noticing the somewhat anxious expression on his face, which lead the teacher to realize, that she had behaved pretty mean and poorly towards her favorite student, for no apparent reason. Feeling a rush of guilt run through her, Mafuyu took a couple of deep breaths, then with a slight clearing of her throat, she straightened her back, trying to behave as prim and proper, as possible, hoping that by doing that, it would seem less like, she had not behaved like a bit of a nut, just a few short few seconds ago.

"Guess I lost my cold there for a moment Yuiga-kun, I do apologize for that, please delete my bit of rambling and what you saw just now from your memories, as for taking a bath I'll do that later, and I am in no mood for coffee, right now".

The wave of different emotions that ran over Kirisu sensei's face, as she told him those things, was something Nariyuki simply could not help but find a bit adorable. First she looked apologetic during the apology, next following that, somewhat pleading, then finally both grateful, with a hint of embarrassment, as she sat there fidgeting ever so slightly around in her spot.

'God, even when she acts all crazy like this, she is just so cute' the young man thought, simply unable to take his eyes off her, placing a hand on his chest to try and calm his rapid beating heart. However, when he saw her light green eyes hesitatingly glance over at him, and her face twitch ever so slightly, when they got eye contact, for the briefest of moments, it was enough. That one simple action from Mafuyu, was all Nariyuki needed to tell, that there was something on Kirisu sensei's mind, that was bothering her immensely, an issue, she no matter how hard she tried, couldn't figure out how to deal with.

Sincerely worried about her well-being, Nariyuki found himself reaching for his teacher's hand, only able to stop himself, when his little finger brushed against the side of her hand. Fortunately, Mafuyu did not seem to notice his actions she was too far away in her own thoughts, he wanted to help her, to comfort her, but he was not entirely certain that she would appreciate, him holding her hand, at the present moment. Even though Nariyuki had held Mafuyu's hand before, like when he had helped her get away from all those crazy fans, that had been chasing her, when all those videos of her figure skating, had started appearing online, or that much more intimate moment between the two of them, when she had given him a private ice skating lesson. That moment, with her, was one, the young man cherished deeply and thought very fondly about.

Despite Nariyuki, wrapping his fingers around his own empty cup, in the hopes that one simple action, would serve as enough of a distraction, to keep himself from unconsciously reaching out for Mafuyu's hand, the intense yearning the student felt to just hold his teacher's hand, and ever so gently stroke it with his thumb, until she felt better, did not diminish at all. It only grew deeper, the longer the tense somewhat awkward silence between him and Kirisu sensei continued, it was only when Nariyuki saw the hint of a frustrated frown, appearing briefly on her forehead, that he finally took a deep breath, then started talking ever so gently to her.

"Sensei, please tell me what's wrong? It's clear that you got something on your mind, that's bothering you. You know I'm always willing to listen, if you need a friendly ear".

The gentleness, along with the deep concerned in Yuiga-kun's voice, was enough to bring the pink haired woman out of the far away daze, she had been in, since she had finished talking to her student, a few short minutes ago. Slowly turning her gaze towards him, Mafuyu could easily tell, just how worried, the boy was about her. Fidgeting slightly with her hair, she again cleared her throat. "Please, do not worry about me Yuiga-kun, I am fine".

Arching his right eyebrow, Nariyuki send his teacher a highly skeptical look, not believing her reassurances even for a second.

"Sensei!".

That one single word, instantly made Mafuyu flinch slightly, as she had a brief flashback of Yuiga-kun scolding her for wasting ingredients, and not following a proper recipe, that one time she had made hamburger for him. The way he talked to her then and now, really made her feel like a small ill-behaved child, who was as being scolded by one of her parents for not behaving properly, even though Mafuyu knew deep inside, that it would always bother her a lot more that Yuiga-kun was displeased with her, than her mother and father ever would.

Staring silently at the cute red He's My Student themed socks on feet, the pink haired teacher, tried, tried so unbelievable hard to come up with a believable excuse for her odd behavior. But she was drawing a complete blank, all Mafuyu could really come up with, was to again tell Yuiga-kun that she was perfectly fine and that he shouldn't worry. But judging from his piercing brown eyes, he was NOT going to believe that overall pretty lousy excuse. He was more likely to believe it, if she were to tell him, that Kanade Omori was actually the hidden genius of Ichinose Academy, and that he was going to get a perfect grade, in all of his classes, along with the special VIP recommendation. What made the whole dilemma even more troubling for Mafuyu, was that the notion of lying to her student, was one that she found to greatly dislike, it actually made the teacher feel a little angry at herself.

"Umm I... I you, see last night Yuiga-kun you... You...I... the thing is you..."

Barely able to comprehend what she had just said, Nariyuki moved a bit closer to her, hoping that would make it easier to understand her. "What did I do, Kirisu sensei? I did not accidentally touch one of your breasts in my sleep? If that's the case, I am so, SO sorry sensei! I can not apologize enough! I knew, I should have kept on sleeping on the floor" the young man panically said, mumbling in a Furuhashi like fashion, about how he was even worse than a water flea, his face plastered with an unbelievable amount of shame and guilt.

Mafuyu had always disliked it a great deal, those few times she had heard Furuhashi Fumino criticizing herself in such a manner, it was such a painful thing to see, it just wasn't right. Fortunately it rarely happened these days, with the blue haired girl, having grown a lot more confident in her math skills, thanks to Yuiga-kun, yet hearing him now sitting there beside her, saying such demeaning things about himself, pained Mafuyu even more, especially knowing that she was the one responsible for it, because of her inability to give him a proper response.

"Please stop belittling yourself in such a manner, Yuiga-kun! You were a perfect gentleman through the entire night, you did nothing you need to be ashamed of. Why in the world would you even make such a ridiculous assumption?!" The woman asked the boy loudly.

Finally, releasing his tight, almost painful grip on the cup, Nariyuki leaned back a bit, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. "I... I don't know, I guess it's because sensei, you have been kinda distant and a bit cold towards me ever since we woke up this morning. So when you mentioned the night, I just kinda assumed that I did something idiotic, that I deserve a good slap or two for".

"Well you didn't! And you definitely don't deserve to get slapped! You just... just... Ahh!"

Immediately upon realizing what she was about to tell her student, Mafuyu let out a short surprise scream, slamming her mouth shut, almost biting her tongue in the process.

Absolutely determined to get an answer out of her now, Nariyuki took a hold on her wrist to prevent her from disappearing into her own thoughts again. "Sensei, please tell me what I did, I need to know" he softly told her, looking straight into her conflicting light green eyes.

"Umm, the thing is Yuiga-kun, that you sleep. No, I mean that you talk in your sleep, last night soon after you fell asleep, you called me by my first name, then you told... told me that you loved me...".

"Oh" that was it, that was all the stun completely dumbfound Nariyuki manage to utter, simply rendered speechless, as his bewildered mind tried to process what Mafuyu Kirisu had told him he had done during the night, shortly after drifting off to sleep his in his teacher's one-person bed, with her laying there, right beside him. His hand flew away from her arm, like her skin, had suddenly turned scalding hot and his fingers had actually been burned, by just lightly touching her wrist.

That hurt for some reason, Yuiga-kun's abrupt removal of his hand, made Mafuyu's heart, ache a bit, she had to force herself not to grasp onto his hand, before he could move it too far out of her reach. "So, so, did you mean it? Do... do you really love me, Yuiga-kun?" Mafuyu nervously asked, not sure what she was hoping his answer was going to be, she felt both greatly anxious, but also some anticipation, if he said no, then, then what? How was she supposed to look him in the eyes afterwards, but on the other hand, if he said yes, then what was that going to lead to? There was also that annoying little voice in her head, that kept on persistently telling her, that Yuiga-kun was her student, and she was his teacher, but it was being drowned out by the intense pounding of her heart.

A rush of so many different emotions, raced through Nariyuki all at once, nervousness anxiety blended into one crazy mix of confusing emotions, but also joy, the young man did feel quite a bit of joy about this, he had finally revealed to Kirisu sensei how he felt about how her. Now he just needed to gather the courage to tell her, while he was awake. Swallowing loudly, he kept on staring at Mafuyu as he forced his dry lips apart.

"I... I, yes I love you so much Kirisu sensei, I was going to tell you after graduation, but... but I guess the cat is out of the bag now".

Indeed, like Yuiga-kun had put it, the cat was indeed out of the bag, but even though it was the response Mafuyu had expected, had longed-for, had, so sincerely wished for with all of her being. His sweet, caring words, still made her heart skip a beat. Sniffling slightly, as a couple of happy tears ran down her face. It was one thing, hearing Yuiga-kun proclaim his love for her while sleeping, it was completely different when he was awake, it was just so much more special and meaningful, it was like a dream came true. Then as her mind again flashed briefly to her helping him up at the school festival, the pink haired woman reached out and took a hold on his hand, just like she had done back then.

"I also have feelings for you Yuiga-kun, you are the most caring, wonderful man I know, but... but presently a relationship between the two of us just wouldn't work" Mafuyu said in a calm yet still stern tone of voice, barely able to keep her composure, she wanted nothing more, then embrace her cherished Nariyuki-kun, and just hold him in her arms, never letting him go.

Nariyuki, of course, knew full well that he was not the brightest person in the romance department, to put it mildly, he was a bit of a dimwit when it came to such things, he kinda wished that it was something he could study up on in a book. But he really didn't think that was possible, unless he started reading his mother's trashy romance novels, which was frankly not something he had much interest in, he kinda figured that such things needed to be experienced in person.

So hearing that Mafuyu reciprocate his feelings, filled the student with so much happiness, he saw himself spending even more time in his teacher's apartment, going out to dinner with her to a fancy restaurant, or perhaps she could give him a few more ice skating lessons, it had been so much fun and Mafuyu had looked so cute and beautiful in that costume, Miharu had chosen for her, during the first lesson. Yet the immense amount of happiness Nariyuki felt, from knowing that Mafuyu Kirisu felt the same way about him, was short-lived, with her rejecting words following just seconds afterwards, the boy felt completely lost and empty now, how was he supposed to react to this? He did not understand it, if Mafuyu and him both had feelings for each other, why wasn't it possible for them to have a relationship? To be together.

"Oh" was the only word out of Nariyuki's mouth, as he absent-mindedly pulled his hand out of his teacher's tight hold.

Mafuyu promptly felt a bit of annoyance from Nariyuki's lack of a proper response to what she had just said, and she wondered if, oh, was going to be a permanent part of his vocabulary now, hopefully not, since it was getting a bit on her nerves. Yet the teacher instantly forget all about that, when she caught the glimpse of sadness, in Nariyuki-kun's brown eyes. Why? Why was he so sad? She had, after all, just revealed to him, that she had feelings for him. Blinking rapidly in overall bewilderment, as her mind quickly went over everything that had happened between her and Nariyuki-kun, the last few minutes, realizing what precisely she had said to him, her green eyes widen in horror and disbelief, why in God's name? Did she have to screw up something so important, that was not what she had meant to say to him at all.

"Oh, oh no, no, that's not what I meant! That's not what I meant to say at all. I really do love you Nariyuki-kun, I love you with all my heart and being, but with you still being my student, and me being your teacher, we can not be together right now, if anyone found out, like the principal or any of the other teachers, you could get expelled from school, and I could end up losing my job, but if you want, I am willing to wait for you, until you graduate" Mafuyu panically promised him, sincerely hoping that her words would be enough to rid Nariyuki of his sadness, all the pink haired woman wanted to do right now, was see the man she loved smile gently at her, like he had done so many times, since he had first started visiting her apartment.

Mafuyu got her wish, the boy was now smiling happily at her, entangling their fingers, they just sat there looking quietly at each other, the woman felt Nariyuki's thumb affectionately caressing her hand, which was a sure sign that he liked how soft and smooth her sink felt, that kinda made her feel a bit proud, his eyes was firmly stuck on her face, her eyes, which made a hint of a red glow ever so slowly appear on her cheeks, following that the teacher hurried glanced away in embarrassment.

While it was true, that Mafuyu had said that the two of them should wait with the boyfriend, girlfriend stuff until after Nariyuki graduate, her mind kept on wandering to the many different types of movies the two of them could go watch whenever they went out on dates in the future, what kind of candy would they get? Would they share a box of popcorn or would they get one each, sharing seemed like a pretty intimate thing to do. After that, maybe they could go to the arcade again, the first time had been so much fun. Later on then after dating awhile, they could go to a hot spring resort, preferably one where they had their own room, where they could be alone and do stuff together, the... the kind of stuff that required them to remove their clothes. The mere thought of that, was almost enough to make Mafuyu feel like, her mind was about to short circuit, and as a large amount of steam, in one instant flew out of her ears, her face turned more red, than it had ever been before.

Even though, Mafuyu's embarrassed reaction just now, came as a bit of a surprise to Nariyuki, he still thought her shy behavior was kinda cute, but despite however much the boy found himself, wanting to ask his teacher what she was presently thinking, he could easily tell from the look in her eyes, that if he asked about it, it would only serve to piss her off.

Lightly squeezing her hand. "I'll hurry up and graduate sensei, and I will make absolutely certain to get good grades, so you would be embarrassed to be seen with me" Nariyuki softly promised her.

Smiling gently, Mafuyu squeezed the student's hand back. "Please, cease calling me sensei when we are alone together like this Nariyuki-kun, call me Mafuyu, and please understand, that I will never be embarrassed to be seen with you over your grades, it's... it's not like it's your grades I fell in-love with" she bashfully told him, her face still red as she glanced over at the wall.

Only then, at that precise moment did he realize, that the woman he loved and cherished so deeply, was referring to him, by his first name, Nariyuki felt his own face grow completely flushed, the first name thing, felt like such an enormous step, in his and Mafuyu's relationship. "Ma... Mafuyu! You know, I always like your name Mafuyu, I hope I can restrain myself from calling you that, while at school".

Sending him a slightly serious look. "I'm sure you can Nariyuki-kun, try to remember, that it is something special between the two of us, when we are by ourselves, it will be our little secret. And if you do mess up, I just have to pull you aside and 'scold' you later" Mafuyu said, doing a poor job of hiding that she was actually a bit excited about them sharing a secret like that, in her mind, having a few secrets, seemed like another one of those special things, girlfriends and boyfriends did together, even though Nariyuki and her, were not officially a couple yet, but once he graduate, then, then.

While the word scolding sounded just a bit flirtatious in Nariyuki's mind, or maybe, his imagination was just playing tricks on him, Mafuyu was after all far from the type of person who would flirt, those few times she had done it, it was clearly not intentionally on her part. Like that one time she had worked as a stand in maid at High Stage Café, when Machiko had accidentally injured her foot. His embarrassed teacher, dressed in a maid costume, calling him Master, had just been so unbelievable attractive and well sexy, but even calling him that, was clearly something she had been extremely uncomfortable with.

So despite how curious Nariyuki actually was about what this so-called scolding of Mafuyu's entailed, the young man quickly shook away the idea of deliberately calling her by her first name during class, while all of his classmates was listening in, he could easily image how crazy Oomori would act over him doing something like that, besides it might very well lead to some of his more smart and clever classmates, like Furuhashi suspecting, that there was something more going on between Mafuyu and him, and Nariyuki understood perfectly well, just how truly important it was, that they kept their relationship hidden, even though if it was not a real relationship, quite yet.

"I get it Mafuyu, I promise to make sure to call you either Kirisu sensei or just sensei while at school" the student said, making a small crossing motion across his heart with his free hand.

Pleased to know that her student, that her dear Nariyuki-kun, was taking this seriously, Mafuyu smiled softly at him. "Good, that's good, Nariyuki-kun" the pink haired woman said, finding herself looking forward to the day when she could tell Chiyoko about how she had finally gotten herself a boyfriend, a younger one at that. It had always annoyed Mafuyu a bit that her best friend would at times brag to her about how she had scored and gotten married to a man, younger than her. Nariyuki-kun was a year younger than, Akira, Chiyoko's husband, and in Mafuyu's eyes, he was much sweeter, more attentive, and he could cook. Not that Akira did not have his good sides, he was a pretty good dad, and he made an amazing cup of coffee, but just like Chiyoko, he was also a workaholic, that like to change careers all the times.

Shortly after finishing collage, Akira had bought a clothing store, that he had quickly grown bored with, after a few short months, he had then changed it into a hardware store, but that only last half a yeah, before he had made it into a coffee shop, and while that had lasted a bit longer, Mafuyu was relatively certain, that it would only be a matter of time, before he decided to change the whole thing again. Chiyoko had mentioned the last time they talked, that Akira thought that owning a gaming store would be fun. But despite Mafuyu wondering at times, how in the world the two of them could afford all the crazy endeavors they absolutely had to try, she sincerely hoped, that once she was able to tell Chiyoko about Nariyuki-kun, she and Akira would be willing to go out on a few double dates with the two of them, that was another thing Mafuyu wished to try. The pink haired woman, was pulled out of her happy daydream, by Nariyuki-kun's soft voice.

"...kiss you?"

Momentarily believing, that she was simply hallucinating, that there were no way the word kiss had actually left Nariyuki-kun's mouth. Tearing her bewildered green gaze away from their entangled fingers, Mafuyu looked straight up into her student's always caring brown eyes, seeing the hint of embarrassment there, lead her to realize, that while she had been caught up in daydreaming about going out on double dates, Nariyuki might very well have said something to her, about kissing, but she simply put had no idea what.

"Wha...? What did you say, Nariyuki-kun?"

Having been totally absorbed in watching Mafuyu's face, her round red cheeks, the cute short pink hair covering her forehead, her far away green eyes, that was practically shining in his mind, but most specific of all, he was watching her adorable red lips, Nariyuki was caught completely off guard by her sudden question, blinking rapidly, the boy need a second to comprehend the fact, that he had unintentionally voiced his desire about wanting to kiss her, but while that lead him to be sweating bullets for a brief instant, Nariyuki after a moment, decide that now that it was out in the open, it was best to tell her the truth.

"I... Umm, I did not mean to say that out loud Mafuyu, I was just kinda watching your lips, and could not help thinking about how much I truly want to kiss you, so it just slipped out. Umm, could you please turn on the TV? I think that would help keep me occupied" Nariyuki said, trying to look at anything else, but Mafuyu's face.

While Mafuyu did feel a quick rush of annoyance, and a displeased vein appear on her forehead, from Nariyuki-kun's request to turn on the stupid television now of all times, she could not BELIEVE that when she had tried to keep him distracted before, with all those different shows, he had not paid any attention to them, before they had started watching He's My Student, and now he wanted to watch TV after saying something so sweet to her about wanting to kiss her, there was simply no way she was going to permit him to do that. Quickly picking up the remote, the teacher threw it over onto her bed, to make certain, that Nariyuki-kun could not turn the device, on himself. Afterwards, Mafuyu gave the boy's hand a light, gentle squeezed.

"I am so flattered, happy, that just looking at my face makes you feel like that Nariyuki-kun, but like I told you, we have to wait with the romantic stuff, until you graduate" the pink haired woman softly told the man, she could not wait to call her boyfriend, someday in the near future. Yet even despite saying those things to him, Mafuyu found herself ever so slowly disappearing back into her own thoughts.

Feeling like his mind was practically going in circles, trying to process his actions and Mafuyu's words these last few minutes, Nariyuki took a quick glance in the direction of the TV remote, the boy kinda wished that he could get his hands on that. If the TV was on, the noise from it, could perhaps help drown out all those perplexing thoughts presently racing through his mind, of course fully realizing, that it was only a temporary solution, that would not really solve anything, quite the opposite as a matter of fact. It might very well serve to piss her off, or even worse hurt her feelings, which was truly the last thing Nariyuki wanted to do, like he had stated before, he wanted nothing more, than to make Mafuyu Kirisu happy. It was the one thing he most of all strived to do, in his life.

"I'm sorry Mafuyu, like I said before it just kinda slipped out. I'll be more careful from now on".

While Mafuyu, did know that she should be pleased with that answer, she was still not totally satisfied, it was true, that previously her mind had been almost completely filled with the many different types of dates, she so sincerely wished to experience with Nariyuki-kun, one day. Now her mind was completely jam packed with thoughts about kissing, the young woman knew that there were many different types of kisses, there were the kisses on the cheek, but wasn't that mostly something parents did to show affection to their children? She remembered both her mother and father doing that, but she wasn't sure if it was something couples did, Yuto had kissed Kurisu sensei there a few times. Next Mafuyu's mind wandered to the kiss on the hand thing, she was not entirely sure how normal that actually was, it seemed like something mostly royalty did, or people from fantasy novels to show devotion, so thoughts of that, did not linger for very long.

With all those different ways to kissing running continuously through her mind, it only took a few short seconds, before Mafuyu finally reached the kissing on the lips part. That was without a doubt, definitely something a woman and a man, who were in-love with each other, did together, she wondered what that was like, people in movies, books and mangas seemed to find a great deal of enjoyment in it, and it looked quite nice, it seemed like such a special thing, especially French kissing, not that the pink haired woman was entirely sure, how exactly that was supposed to work, just the mere thought of it, instantly made the blush on Mafuyu's face grow even deeper. Kissing truly was something she simply could not deny, that she was greatly curious about.

"Once"

Having been so caught up in his own thoughts and staring at the table like it was the most interesting thing in the world, that one word came as a total shock to Nariyuki, his head and gaze flew up so fast that he almost dropped his glasses in the process, straightening them a bit, he looked at his adorable teacher, that was nervously fidgeting around. Trying to get eye contact with her, which proved to be close to impossible, since she kept on hastily looking away. Eventually their eyes met for the briefest of moments, that was it, that was all Nariyuki needed to ask, the one crucial question on his mind.

"What did you say, sensei?" He asked.

Frowning slightly, along with feeling the upper part of her face turn dark blue for a short instant, in sheer frustration and annoyance over having to repeat that very word, but even more so, over the fact that Nariyuki-kun had apparently forgotten about using her first name. Mafuyu, guessed that the boy would need a little more time, to grow accustom to refer to by her by nothing but Mafuyu, or perhaps later on darling, honey, or something else like that.

"I said once, you can kiss me once".

Astonished, the complete utter astonishment Nariyuki felt, as he sat there staring with gaping mouth, at his squirming, overly embarrassed red face teacher, was indescribable. "Are... are you certain, Mafuyu, that it is really alri...?" That was all the almost totally dumbstruck student, manage to get out, before something amazing happened, something so incredible, that Nariyuki was absolutely certain, that he would be able to remember it for the rest of his life, Mafuyu moved in a bit closer, grabbing tightly onto his shoulders, then roughly pulled him towards her, pressing her soft red lips against his.

The kiss, in the beginning felt kinda awkward for the both of them, if not downright clumsy, this was Mafuyu's very first kiss, so she had no way of knowing, with absolute certainty if she was actually doing it right, and as far as Mafuyu knew, her sweet Nariyuki-kun had only kissed one other woman, Ogata Rizu, and that had been by accident, when the Clockwork Thumbelina had doing study camp, gotten lost in the forest and Nariyuki had gone out to find, her in the heavy rain. The orange haired math genius had taken shelter underneath a tree on a small hill, yet once Nariyuki had tried to help her down from up there, she had stumble, landing right on top of him, their lips meeting in the process.

Yet just the mere thought of that, made a tiny vein appear on the teacher's forehead, however before Mafuyu, in her brief moment of jealousy, could break the kiss. Nariyuki, finally got over his astonishment, wrapping his arms tenderly around her slim waist, then started kissing her back, which was enough to instantly banish each and every thought the woman had of Ogata from her mind, turning the increasingly passionate lip-lock, into a much more pleasant experience.

Giving her waist a light affectionate squeeze, Nariyuki slide his left hand up over Mafuyu's back, then ran his fingers gently through her long pink hair, utterly amazed by how unbelievable soft and silky smooth it felt, if it was actually possible to become addicted to touching another person's hair, Nariyuki could easily see that happening to him, if it was Mafuyu's hair, he wanted to feel it between his fingers again and again for the rest of eternity, finally his hand found its way to the back of her head, pulling her closer and deepening their heated kiss even further, putting all the love and affection he felt towards his teacher into the kiss, an action that made Mafuyu sigh deeply and moan contently, as she followed his example and started almost mischievously playing with the hair, at the back of his neck.

Mafuyu loved this with all of her heart and being, again moaning slightly as she slid her tongue cautiously over Nariyuki-kun's lips, not really sure if that was the right way, for her to deepen the kiss, but like her, her sweet student also let out a bit of a moan when she did that. Yet despite however much the teacher and the student were truly enjoying their first kiss, it was brought to an abrupt unwelcome end, when Mafuyu's phone suddenly started ringing loudly.

It was with an intense amount of reluctance that Mafuyu and Nariyuki broke their extremely passionate kiss, resting their foreheads against one another, while affectionately looking into each other eyes, each of them able to detect a small hint of disappointment in there, from having their first kiss, so rudely interrupted.

"Nariyuki-kun, that was amazing" Mafuyu whispered softly to the boy, as she slowly reached over and picked up her still noisy phone, upon seeing who it was, she mumbled softly in annoyance, while rolling her eyes a single time, being careful not to break the sweet tender contact between their foreheads, the pink haired woman did not want this moment to end.

Knowing that there were very few people that could frustrate Mafuyu to such a degree, Nariyuki could easily guess who it was, without looking at the call ID.

"Miharu?".

"Yes, that girl has this weird uncanny ability to interrupt, when things a most interesting" Mafuyu explained, sincerely hoping that her little sister would just give up already and leave her and Nariyuki-kun alone. Yet she of course, fully realized, that the chances of that actually happening, were slim to none, with her overall stubborn nature, Miharu was not really the giving up kind of girl, that was made all the more obvious, with the dumb phone's continuous ringing.

"Umm, shouldn't you answer it?" Nariyuki asked, also quite a bit annoyed by the younger Kirisu sister's interruption, Mafuyu had after all made it abundantly clear, that this one kiss, that this one sweet kiss, was the only one they would share, until after he graduate. Graduation, seemed further away now, then ever before.

"I guess so, why don't you get us a couple of sodas, Nariyuki-kun? While I talked with her" Mafuyu suggested, seriously considering the notion of getting a second phone, so she could simply turn her old phone off, those times her little sister called, and she did not feel like dealing with her.

Nodding ever so slowly against her, Nariyuki spend one last short tender moment, just gazing into his teacher's beautiful light green eyes, trying his all, to memories every single detail in them, before he, with a reluctant sigh, broke the contact between their warm foreheads, standing slowly up. An action, that immediately brought forth a tiny displeased frown, to Mafuyu's face. Then after sharing one last look, the boy turned away, and began heading towards the kitchen, the pink haired woman watching his back the entire time, while finally answering her noisy phone.

"Yes hello, Miharu... What, NO!... I said, NO!... I am not in the need of an ambulance!... It took so long for me to answer, because, because, I was in the bathroom, brushing my teeth... No, I am not bringing my phone with me in there, when I do that in the future... No, that's final Miharu, end of discussion..."

Nariyuki, who could of course not help but overhear everything, Mafuyu was saying, had a pretty vague idea about what Miharu was saying on the other end of the line. 'Jeez, I do like Miharu, she is a sweet girl. But I do think, that actually calling an ambulance for Mafuyu, simply because she did not answer her phone fast enough, is a bit of an overreaction. Hmm, I wonder, what is it going to be like, having Miharu, as a sister-in-law' the young man thought, now not bothering to even try, to shake away those pleasant thoughts of one day marrying, Mafuyu Kirisu, he had no trouble at all, imagining himself as her husband, he loved her, loved taking care of her, and just being with her, more than anything else.

Entering the kitchen, Nariyuki placed both his and Mafuyu's coffee cups and plates in the sink, in no mood to clean those things now, he would do it later, maybe once he was able to stop thinking about that kiss. Opening the fridge, he found a couple of sodas and candy bars, then after taking a deep breath, he stepped back into the living room, tiptoeing soundlessly over to the table, sitting quietly back down beside Mafuyu, doing his utmost, to minimize every sound he made. The young man was almost afraid to even breath, he knew that if Miharu discovered or even as much as suspect that he was there, it would take something a lot bigger, than a rampaging Godzilla and a couple of gundams fighting in the streets, to prevent the younger Kirisu sister, from trying to make her way there, to 'protect' her dear older sister, from him.

'Ohh man, when the time comes, it's going to be such a nightmare telling Mihare that Mafuyu and I are dating, knowing her it is not hard to imagine how unbelievable crazy she is going to act' Nariyuki thought, listening to Mafuyu's voice growing increasingly annoyed and frustrated, as she kept on talking with her sibling.

"No... that is not necessary... I already made it clear to you yesterday, that renting a helicopter to take you here is a bad idea... Because it's a waste of money... I am perfectly fine here by myself..." Mafuyu said into the phone, while sending Nariyuki-kun a meaningful look, one which he did not hesitate to return. Understanding, how easily she could become lost, in the young man's kind eyes, Mafuyu felt a blush appear on her face, as she forcefully tore her gaze away from him.

Seeing her behave all shy and embarrassed like that, four words immediately flew through Nariyuki's mind. 'So cute, so beautiful'. His eyes drifting to her lips, they looked soft, they had felt soft. Nariyuki's brown eyes were still firmly glued onto his teacher's red lips, when Mafuyu scooch quickly over to the bed, picking up the TV remote.

"I need to go now, Miharu... No, it's just that my phone is almost out of power and there is something on TV, I want to watch... Yes, I promise I will call you later, once my phone is recharged... Yes goodbye..." Mafuyu said, turning on the TV so Miharu could hear it, that way she figured her excuse for hanging up, seemed just a bit more believable. Seeing, that the third episode of He's My Student was just starting, made a pleased look run across the teacher's face.

Finishing her conversation with her perfectionist of a sister, Mafuyu let out a tired breath, as she slowly moved back over beside Nariyuki, taking a gentle hold on his strong hand, giving it a light loving squeeze, which he immediately returned.

Then, after asking her future boyfriend to hand her one of the sodas, they continued quietly watching the love story unfold between Kurisu sensei and Yuto.

Occasionally, Mafuyu and Nariyuki would glance ever so wishfully over at each other, both wondering if they would still be kissing, at that very moment, if Miharu had not interrupted them, when she did.

The End.