A week passed, and Honoka was walking towards her school with her two close friends, Kasugano Sakura and Hyuuga Hinata. Those two were like night and day, one having a sunny and somewhat impulsive disposition, always ready to get into trouble, while the other was calm, collected and very polite, basically a modern day princess.

"Hey Hinata-chan, are you going to do anything this weekend? How about coming home to play some video games at my house? I finally managed to wrestle the console from my younger brother."

"He can actually play?" Said your friend with surprise, "isn't he six?"

Sakura looked deflated at that. "He's some kind of gaming prodigy I tell you. It's been a while since I won against him on fighting games, and my parents let him play with the console since he doesn't make a fuss when he's playing. I can only play those days when Tsukushi plays with his own friends."

This time it's Hinata who looks deflated. "I know how you feel. My sister is practically a genius when it comes to the family fighting style, being already much better than me when I was her age."

"Ah ~ ah, I feel so jealous of you two to be big sisters yourselves. Sometimes being the younger sibling is really annoying."

Both of Honoka's friends looked at each other before Sakura grabbed on her friend's neck. "Don't give me that! We know better than anyone that you love being spoiled by your family."

Hinata sighed at the antic at her two closest friends, but still held a smile of her own. Things were starting to get more tense on her house as time passed, something about inheritance, and she would welcome the distraction.

As the trio were walking, a white van with tinted glasses was parked at the side of the road. When Honoka managed to free her head from the hold, she swore she saw someone staring directly at her from those glasses, a shiver running down her spine.

She started to walk faster, to the protests of her friends.

~~O~~

She had to admit that even if her teacher was rude, he knew his stuff. He spent a good deal of the class with pronunciation, without skipping on syntax and grammar. He was also charismatic, well liked by the class and the other teachers in the school. Basically he became one of the most popular teachers in the school overnight.

Nothing about that would make Honoka have an issue with her teacher, far from it. It would make her reevaluate her previous position on him and probably become yet another one that thought he was a great teacher.

If it weren't for a single problem.

"Hey shorty, can you answer this question for the class?" He said with a grin, making a couple of Honoka's classmates chuckle at her new nickname.

In response Honoka ground her teeth, before standing up and very crisply answering the question. For the last few days he had keep calling her some iteration of either 'midget' or 'short', as if she was the shortest in the class (that honor fell on her female classmate Murakami-chan)! It was really annoying, and if he keep teasing her like that she felt like she would explode!

Some more energetic measures had to be taken, and with that in mind during lunch she went to the teachers lounge to talk with him about his attitude in class, but didn't found him there. "I heard him going to he rooftop", said one of the teachers, "but students aren't allowed... where did she go?"

It didn't take long to reach the rooftop, finding the door unlocked. She boldly opened the door, ready to meet with her rude and slightly goofy teacher.

Once the door was open, she saw him with his back turned. She was about to call him out when he turned, and somehow she knew something was wrong. Gone were the jovial, somewhat assholish demeanor in his posture. He had a serious look on his face, a cigar on his mouth while talking on the cellphone in a foreign language. When he noticed Honoka he said a few curt words before ending the call and taking a long drag from his cigar. He had a cold expression on his face that made Honoka uncomfortable, but she somehow managed to meet her gaze with him.

"I wanted to talk with you", she finally said after a moment of hesitation. "I want you to stop teasing me, calling short in front of the class all the time", she fidgeted a little before finding her next words and steeling her eyes, "it's mean, and I don't want people to mock me."

He just stared at her with a disinterested look before taking another drag from his cigar, and when Honoka was about to continue he interrupted her. "Sure, alright."

That nonchalant response confused her. "Hue? Really?"

He just shrugged. "The joke has run it's course already. No need to beat up a dead horse at this point, it would only be bullying the weak."

"Oh. Uh, ok then. If you're going to stop then that's fine."

He took few steps getting at Honoka's side, before ruffling her hair, his voice retaking some of the warmth that he became know on the class instead of the coldness from before when he were talking on the phone. "I will just call you squirt in private, shorty."

Buffing her cheeks, Honoka made to kick him in the shin but he graciously dodged her clumsy attack wih a laugh. "Try not to injure yourself shorty."

Honoka was fuming before going back to class, but true to his word he stopped calling her 'short' within hearing range of other people, and Honoka felt graceful for small mercies.

~~O~~

"ARGH! He's so infuriating!" Yelled Honoka as she were returning home with her friends. "What does he have against me?"

"I think he's just teasing you without malicious intent Honoka-chan". As usual, Hinata tried to be the voice of the reason, though he voiced the same opinion as Sakura.

"Not malicious? Can't you see how his eyes glean when he taunts me?"

"I see it more as light teasing between siblings myself", replied Sakura, "I do it with Tsukushi all the time."

Hinata nodded, since it was the same with her own sister.

"Onii-chan isn't that mean!" Protested Honoka, earning a sigh from Sakura.

"That's because your brother is too nice", said her friend.

"Well, he's the best!"

As the three friends were having their argument they passed a white van without noticing, and just as they were about to turn a corner, the three of them were caught from behind, a wet rag placed on their faces which quickly made them all pass out.

The trio where quickly placed inside the van, and it wouldn't be until at least an hour later until they would be missed.