Chapter 9B: A Husband's Profession

"...Wait, what are you doing here?" Of all the things that's happened in my life:

My parents and my baby sister leaving me for years on end, a bunch of idols appearing in my house, my wife bringing her cosplay coworkers to my house and then taking care of goddesses. My baby girl finally calling me "Dada", which I want to hear again.

"Hello, Neptune." A familiar square box wrapped in a purple cloth was in Noire's hands. "You forgot your lunch."

I hoped my wife wouldn't ever have an excuse to visit me. And… Did she bring tiny me and tiny Blanc!?

"Thanks, but you really didn't have too." I glanced at my students… good they haven't gotten curious yet. I mean, they're good, hard-working students. But…

"I just wanted to make sure you didn't get hungry." Aw, no. Don't frown. Not the sad eyes. Please Noire.

"Oh, I'm not mad. It's just…"

"Wait is that…?" Oh no.

"Noire. Girls. Cover your ears."

"Eh."

"Do it now." The girls hesitantly put their hands over their ears. I looked to my students.

Yup, all of them were staring at Noire.

Here it comes…

3…

2…

1…

And…

"Oh my god! It's Noire!"

"Noire!? Noire, the idol!?"

Ugh… Even though Noire retired almost a decade ago, she still has a large fan base, most of which followed her when she debuted as a voice actor… where her fan base grew.

No, I'm not jealous. Maybe.

But in any case…

"Class, what do you think you're doing?" Obviously, many of the students turned to Noire or pointed.

"How do you know Noire!?"

"Why is she here!?"

"Why is she bringing you food!?" Noire blinked her eyes as she still had her hands over her ears.

Well, looks like I have to take the metaphorical cat out of the metaphorical bag, do I?

Scratching my cheek, I walked over to Noire, wrapped my arm around her shoulder and pulled her close.

"Ooooh, you're so bold Oth- Nepu!" Good job, Tiny-Blanc. I'll buy you a new book later.

"Alright class, I can answer all- well, most- of your answers." Patting Noire's shoulder, I pressed my cheek against hers, causing my wife to giggle a bit. "This former idol. This woman, Noire, is my wife."

Huh, silence. I expected more of a riot. Or an uprising, maybe even a-

"Wow, really!?" Oh, here it is.

"No way!"

"I never would have expected that!"

"But it makes sense since she brought him his lunch!" Alright, that's enough.

"Okay, okay. Everyone get back to work…" I glanced at Noire and winked at her. "Or else I'm going to give your test right away." My students began to complain and whine, saying that I was lying. "Really?" I reached into my bag, pulled out a folder and leaned onto my desk, which was in the front of the room with a camera that's connected to a projector alongside a stack of blank printer paper, a pile of pencils along with two pens and a pile of homework for absent students. Placing the folder under the camera, I opened it up to reveal that I had written out the test for them and there were enough copies for them and the other classes. "Okay class. Let's start th-"

Ha! They're begging me to stop.

"Kidding. But… now that you know the test, and I'm too lazy to change it. So you all better get 80 points or more." Everyone nodded and returned to work. Gesturing Noire to move closer, I leaned forward and whispered. "I'm changing it when I get home."

Nodding, Noire handed me my lunch and patted me on the cheek.

"We'll go now." Noire turned to get Tiny Blanc and Tiny Me, who were staring at the formulas and random drawings that were taped all over the room.

"Hold on." I turned to one of my students and had him help me grab three empty chairs from the back, placing them near my desk. "I don't want you to end up being caught by some creeps." Raising an eyebrow at my students and winked. Better say this loud enough. "And I'm pretty sure that if the majority of the class finishes their work early, they might have a chance to talk to you." Heh, they're getting excited. "For now, just sit down here."

Happily, Tiny Blanc and Tiny Neptune plopped onto two of the empty chairs while Noire glanced at the students as they worked on integrals and remembering other formulas that they needed to find the area of a 3-D object. Eventually, Noire sat down and began looking at the walls as well.

Alright, I know that some of them will have some trouble since this is a college level class. So, let's work on the homework with them.

Reaching for one of my trusty pencils, I grabbed an extra sheet of homework from the pile and began scratching in answers. As I was working, some students would call me for help and I would get up and look over their work, reminding them of the formulas they can use to find the answer or pointing out steps that they missed while doing the work. Not that I wasn't throwing in some sarcasm to have a little fun.

"Hey, hey!" I turned around to see the smaller me reaching over my desk and tapping work that I've done. "What's this?" I left the student I was assisting and walked over to the Mini Me.

I leaned over Mini Me to stare at my work for a minute before turning to the purple haired girl.

"This?" I pointed to the problem above the one she was looking at. Pouting, the smaller Neptune, who curiously had the name Neptuna written on her Visitor's Pass, pointed to the integral that was given plenty of room, as this assignment did not allow a calculator to be used.

"Oh! This one." I could hear snickers as I began to explain how an integral was applied to a function.

"Mr. Planeptune, she's just a kid. She won't understand!" I glanced at the student to my right, who also happened to be one of the more vocal students in the class, usually through bothering other students or by screeching.

"Well, if you worked as much as you talked, you might understand this module as well." I'm kidding, the kid's smart. But, he and other students would get bored if I didn't have any form of character besides Teacher.

As always, everyone in the class laughed, including the one I just made fun of. I nodded my head and returned to teaching Mini Neptune the ways of Calc-

She's not getting anywhere, is she?

"Neptune?" I turned around to see Noire leaning close. Looking side to side, my wife leaned even further, covering the area between my ear and her mouth with the palm of her hand. "Should we be going now?" I turned around to look at clock above the whiteboard. Ten minutes til lunch time.

"Hm…" I looked over my class, most of them were still working on the assignment I gave them and chatting at the same time… or just chatting. That's fine too. I clapped a little bit and stood up straight. "Okay, since everyone's made some progress one the homework..." Looks like some people didn't get far, judging by some of their nervous reactions. "You all have five minutes to ask Noire whatever you want." Immediately, the class stood up and was about to scream questions at Noire. "But… no personal questions that Noire deems uncomfortable to answer, no asking for cellphone numbers, autographs are okay." I turned to Noire. "Are they okay?" Smiling, Noire nodded and pulled a sharp pointed pen from her purse. "They're okay. And no screaming." I turned to the loudmouth of the class. "Especially you."

The class agreed to all my requirements and I moved Mini Me off my chair and replaced her with Noire, while the smaller Neptune and I sat at the sides.

"Alright, Noire. The floor's all yours." As Noire began to ask questions from multiple people, something she's experienced at, judging from her quick responses.

Tuning out Noire's answers since most of them relate to questions about being an idol or autographs, I looked over Mini Me and Mini Blanc.

Since her book had a bite mark embedded into the cover, Mini Blanc was staring at the students with a sad look on her face. I gently removed the book out of the girl's hands and smiled.

"Thanks for doing what you did, I'll make it up to you later." As silent as ever, Mini Blanc nodded.

"Hey, Hey!" I looked past the smaller Blanc and made eye contact with Mini Me. "Do you have a snack? I'm starving…" Snack… Hm… if it'll keep her quiet for a little while.

"Why, of course. Hold on, let me get it for you." Leaving my seat, I noticed that there were two minutes left until the bell rings. Reaching my backpack, I opened one of the outer pockets and pulled out the pudding I bought at the school store.

This was a special pudding that the school sold once a month, it a CoffeeVanillaCaramelHazelnutsAlmondWithChocoloateSauceandCaramelSauce flavored pudding... that came with a free sandwich. Leaving the sandwich inside my bag for later, I returned to Mini Me and handed her the snack.

"Now, class is almost over. So, eat it when you get home. Okay?" The smaller me nodded happily as she took the treat, holding it close.

"Thank you!" I patted her head and turned to Noire.

My wife was done with autographs and had turned to taking group photos with my students. Once the last picture was taken, I placed my hands over Noire's shoulders and moved her away from the blob of teens.

"Alright… class is over. You should get ready for lunch." More whining. "You can talk to each other until the bell rings." Almost immediately, the students grabbed their things and left, waving goodbye to Noire and the Mini Goddesses. Had I not been nearby, I'm pretty sure that some of them would have hugged Noire or something along those lines. Picking up my lunch, I held Noire's hand with my free hand. "Come on, I'll see you to the your car." Before I left the classroom, I locked it from the inside so that no one can get in after I closed the door. Gotta make sure that no one breaks in and takes my math tests… It's happened before.

Herding Noire and the little ones was one thing, but hearing the whispers of gossiping students was another. I guess I have a lot of questions to answer… but at least it's better than having them troubling Noire.

Once the four of us reached Noire's car, Mini Me and Mini Blanc piled into the back, buckling themselves in an- Huh, I'm surprised they can do that so easily. As Noire started up the engine, I tapped on the window. Curious, my wife tilted her head as I pointed at the window and downwards. Opening her mouth in realization, she lowered her window all the way down.

"What is it, Neptune?" Well… I got no words except for this.

I reached into the car and placed my hand on the side of Noire's face. Pulling her head forwards, I planted a kiss on her forehead, lingering for a second.

A gasp could be heard from behind Noire while a faint clapping went along with it.

Taking my head out of the car, I put the sincerest smile I could muster.

"Thanks, Noire." Ow, that smile is bright. Hey, wa- Okay, A kiss on the cheek is fine. I guess Noire one upped me there.

"It's what a wife does." Closing her window, I waved goodbye as Noire pulled out of the parking lot and headed back home. Watching the car disappear around the corner, I looked at my watch. Hmm, forty minutes. Plenty of time.

Turning around to stare at my alma mater, I clutched my lunch box tightly and headed back inside.

"Time to find a nice quiet place to eat this." ...Or I could just go to the teacher's lounge, whatever works.

"Hey, Mr. Planeptune. Those kids that were with you and your wife, were they yours?" Ugh... I don't think forty minutes will be enough anymore...