That took rather long, didn't it? I'm so sorry!
I made a mistake somewhere while writing so it didn't work out anymore and I got a little demotivated (for uhm...ten months? I was still at my internship I remember).
Either way, I am planning to continue again since there's not enough love for this couple around here!
I've figured out how to continue now and started with chapter six. (But, sorry to disappoint, midterms are coming up! Don't expect it soon, but I assume most of you have already given up on this story anyway).
Spoken of that; thank you so much that you guys kept reviewing and tried to motivate me to continue! I hope you're still there and might even leave a review again! It really helps me to get back to writing this story! (I got lots of unfinished fics out there I am writing too haha).
Enough author's notes here, please enjoy!
The summer break may have ended but the temperature outside isn't decreasing yet, therefore the girls decided to have their lunch outside. Murao closes her eyes and leans back on the wooden bench from the picnic table, enjoying the warmth of the sun on her face. Yuuri and Futaba are talking about their favourite subject again: Mabuchi Kou.
Yuuri is a little upset that Futaba seems to be holding back, even though they talk a lot about Mabuchi, it still seems to be difficult for Yuuri. She got rejected after all. She wonders how she'd feel if Tanaka-sensei would actually reject her. Yes, he always reminds her that they can't be more than teacher and student but that's just rational thinking of him. Murao never heard what's in Tanaka-sensei's heart. He never spoke of his true feelings towards her and that's why she refuses to believe that he has turned her down, until she hears his feelings out loud nothing has been decided yet.
"Talking about Mabuchi-kun isn't just for your sake, Futaba-chan. It's for my sake as well." Murao looks at her friend; is this the face of a heartbroken girl? "When I talk about Mabuchi-kun with you I get to have that feeling that I have a 'big heart', and it makes me feel good about myself. It's pretty hard of course, but please let me look good as well, okay?"
Murao can see Yuuri's pain on her face, even though she's smiling. She can hear the pain in her voice when she is talking about Mabuchi. She admires the short girl, she's so brave and strong. Suddenly she feels a strong desire to hold her, and after a brief moment of hesitation she does. She reaches her arms out and wraps them around Yuuri. She feels warm and soft this close, she smells like a sweet perfume, something with flowers. The scent suits her. "Ah, Shuu-chan?" Yuuri is surprised, but soon after Futaba too holds her in a tight embrace. "Me too, me too!"
This feels nice, being in an embrace with her two best friends. Murao has never done something like this before. She always saw friends hugging each other and she couldn't understand why they'd do that, but now she does. She understands this feeling of affection they have for each other and sometimes you want to show them something that goes further than just words of comfort. At moments like this someone could really use a hug.
"It's like... I can never understand what Kou is thinking." Futaba sighs. "what about Tanaka-sensei?" The girls look at Murao. She still hasn't told them about what happened between her and Tanaka-sensei. It's just the three of them and they still have time, this could be her chance. She wants to share her feelings with her friends too. If she understands what they are going through, they will understand her too. "He's the same, even though he won't take me seriously in that way, he acts sly sometimes."
"Sly?'
"Un, the day we went to the summer festival he called me." Yuuri and Futaba jolt up. "Eh?! Sensei called you?"
Murao nods. "By accident, he didn't mean to. But he saved my number after what happened at the camp. That's not all though," unconsciously, Murao started playing with her hair again. It's a habit Tanaka-sensei quickly noticed, but she can't help it. Whenever she is telling a story she can feel other people's eyes on her and the nerves cause her to toy with her hair. When she remembers that she quickly lets go and rests both of her hands on her lap. "We ran into each other later that night, when Futaba and Yuuri were with Mabuchi-kun. He was a little tipsy and I think... I think he was trying to kiss me."
"What? Why didn't you tell us this before!" The girls are attentively listening to what their friend has to say. This is something no-one would like to miss.
"At least, I think he did. He had his hand on my cheek and he was so close." Murao can feel her face heathen up again when she thinks back about what happened that night. They did it quite some times over in her dreams; and they didn't always get interrupted. "And then?" Futaba asks curiously, maybe a little impatient even. Neither of them can wait to hear about what happened between their friend and teacher. "What happened then?"
"Then nothing," Murao sighs. "one of his friends called for him. He did kiss my forehead and he gave me a kind of confusing look, but that's all that happened."
"Have you asked him about what he meant yet?" Murao shakes her head. "No, but I don't have to ask him, it is always the same answer. He'll say that it was a mistake, that I should forget that it happened and that we will never be more than just a student and a teacher."
"I'm sorry Shuu-chan." Yuuri rubs over her shoulder. Murao smiles, she feels glad that she entrusted them with this. Sharing her feelings and thoughts about Tanaka-sensei feel like a huge relief. She's not the only one who thinks that his actions are sly, that it's strange for a teacher to save his student's cell phone number, that he shouldn't mislead her with vague, contradicting actions. "The only one easy to understand seems to be Kominato-kun, huh" Futaba exhales a deep sigh.
"No," Murao says. "even Kominato-kun has never told me that he likes me to my face. With the way he acts, I have no way of telling how serious he actually is. Basically boys are surprisingly complicated, I guess?"
To this the girls heavily protest but they end up laughing and talking like they always do until their next period starts and they have to head back to their classes for the day.
"Welcome ... home... master!"
Today is the day of the culture festival and their class has a gender reversed butler and maid cafe. It won over the planetarium and the game centre. While the girls are walking around in neat, specially made butler clothes, the boys are wearing maid dresses.
"Kominato, you should wear leggings." Kou remarks dryly.
"No way!" Kominato, who was just practicing his greeting again for their upcoming guests tugs on the hem of his dress. "I shaved my leg hair and it's super smooth, so it's fine!"
"It's disgusting."
Kominato childishly puffs his cheeks. The decoration of the classroom looks well done, their class worked to get this result. It's almost a real cafe. He lets his eyes slide over the room to find Murao between the other students. "Murao looks really cool, doesn't she?"
Across the classroom is Murao practicing with holding a tray full of drinks. She never served tables before and holding a have tray is more difficult than she thought, and these clothes aren't that easy to move in either. She's wearing a white shirt with a vest and blazer over it and a tie. She has her hair in a tight ponytail so it's not in the way while she's working. They look like real butlers and maids. Maybe the maids look a little less like real maids, but the guys are trying their bests.
More students come in rather than leave, their reversed butler and maid cafe is a huge success. They're running from table to table, repeating their embarrassing lines, but Murao is having the time of her life.
"Murao looks really handsome in a suit!"
She abruptly turns around. "T-Tanaka-sensei!" She's looking up at the taller man with his green hoodie, at the first sight it looks rather plain for Tanaka-sensei's doing, but if you look closer you can see the little, yellow bells attached to his sleeve on the height of his shoulder, and on the hood there's a bigger bell. He kind of reminds her of a cat. "What are you doing here?"
"Out of curiosity, I'm visiting all the classes, although mainly because I'd like to show too-san a picture of Kou in a maids dress!" Tanaka-sensei's voice is cheerful as usual, but it has a sly undertone in it, and in this case it's not about her but his little brother. Maybe he's more aware of his actions with her than she thought at first. Murao chuckles softly. "That's kind of mean, sensei."
"Mean?" He chuckles along with her and shrugs his shoulders. "Maybe, but that's what I'm his older brother for!" Murao quirks a brow. "I don't think that's what being a sibling is about, Sensei."
"Oh no?" He playfully tilts his head to the side. "then what does Murao think it is about?"
His light, brown eyes are almost piercing through her and it makes her uncomfortably nervous. "Murao! We need more glasses, could you get some from the first floor?"
"Duty is calling." She says quickly, she's relieved she doesn't have to face him anymore. She wants to be with him, but when he's actually around all she can think of is how she can escape from his gaze. He smiles at her, but when she turns around he calls her back. "It's true that I enjoy seeing my little brother in a dress," He says jokingly before he leans in closer to her ear. "but I would have preferred seeing Murao wearing one!"
"S-Sensei!" Murao takes a step back with a red face and a fast beating heart. She's not sure if he's either flirting with her or honestly trying to seduce her but her common sense says leave and that's exactly what she's going to do. He's aware of what he's doing, he must be. If he would have thought of it as innocent he would have said it out loud, for everyone to hear. She's certain now; Tanaka-sensei is not that oblivious as he appears to be.
Youichi watches the girl leave the classroom after getting her instructions. He might have crossed the line a little. Murao is a sensitive girl and he has been confusing her for quite some time now, but he can't help it. Her reactions are so cute, but after what happened the day of the festival he told himself to keep his distance for a while. He made two enormous mistakes on the same day and he can't afford another one. He can't imagine what would happen if anyone would have seen that. He's risking too much, he's risking her school life, as long as they are teacher and student they should not get this close. It's dangerous.
The teacher looks around if he sees his brother; he is busy serving for their restaurant. Now might not be the time to interrupt, he'll get another chance to speak with him. Youichi leaves the classroom to see what the other classes have done with theirs, but so far he likes the creative idea of his brother's class the most. He's wandering through the corridor, deep in thoughts about Murao. He is not too childish to admit that he is the cause of the previous mistakes, he took a risk when he added her number to his contacts after the camp but he did it with a reason. At least, that's what he has been telling himself, deep down he even doubts his own intentions sometimes.
Because he had not been paying much attention to his surroundings a student bumps in to him and the noise of the bells from his vest bring him back to reality. He apologises to the girl, and then his eyes fall on a figure outside, it's Murao. She is having trouble carrying the box with glasses one of her classmates just asked her to get. It may be a reversed maid cafe but it's unfair to let a girl struggle with such a heavy task. Then Tanaka-sensei realises he hasn't been playing fair either. He put Kominato on a huge disadvantage because of his actions. It's time to fix his mistakes and put them on the same level again. Kominato too deserves a fair chance to win Murao's heart.
He finds his student in front of their classroom with a sign in his hands. "Oh, good timing!" He says cheerfully, as if he wasn't just looking for him. "Murao seems to be carrying something heavy below, so you should go and help her."
Kominato's expression changes the instant he sees the English teacher approach him. "Why are you making me go?" He says surly. "Is it really fine to do that, aren't we rivals?"
"Rivals?" Youichi laughs cordially. "To be rivals, shouldn't the people be at the same level to extend? As it is now, I won't lose anything to you." Even though he's smiling, Tanaka-sensei is sneaky as always, and he's sure that Kominato gets the message.
The boy dressed as a maid twitches. What he thought just got confirmed, it was Tanaka-sensei that night with Murao. So that means... that means his teacher as a huge advantage on him right now! He has to catch up with him again!
"M-My... my..." He stumbles over his words. "My skin is more supple than yours, old man!" He yells at him as he rushes away. Yeah, that's right! When Tanaka-sensei is old and wrinkled Murao is still a young lady, he can't let an old pervert like him get to her heart first!
First? He might have captivated Murao's heart already. He proceeds to run even faster. If that's so, then he might not be the first one to capture her heart, but he'll take it back from him for sure!
"Crap, it's really heavy." Murao puts the box with glasses down, she's been carrying it around for ten minutes already but she's not getting it up. Her classmates must wonder where she is right now, is she letting them down?
"Hand it over." Says a familiar voice. "I'll carry it. You can hold that instead." He gives her the sign with the promotion for their class he had been holding all this time. Murao, a little startled because he surprised her nods and follows her classmate. "You should ask a guy for help with something like this."
"Calling yourself a guy in that outfit" she thinks but doesn't say it, not after how kind he has been. "Everyone seemed really busy and I was available." She pauses, she's not sure how to put it. She has been avoiding Kominato all this time and suddenly talking to him again feels rather awkward. "Thanks. You really understood."
Kominato doesn't react, at least not right away. He stops and averts his gaze to the ground. "Tanaka-sensei told me to go and help you."
"T-Tanaka-sensei did?" Crap, her voice cracked just now and got higher when she said his name. She loudly clears her throat right after to cover for it. "Uh...somehow...my throat." She coughs softly but she understands how silly this must look.
"I know already."
Murao's heart skips a beat. "What?"
"That the person I like has someone she likes. I know, that's what I'm saying."
Murao can feel the panic taking over her body. Is her secret out? Are her feelings for Tanaka-sensei this obvious, is this why he asked Kominato to help her out? They're making a plan to make her get over her teacher? Moreover, unintentionally, from Kominato's mouth, it's the first time she ever heard him say the word like. This is the first time he ever admitted that he likes her. "I think that Kominato-kun is a good guy."
"Wait That's not it!" He quickly interrupts her. "It wasn't a confession just now. Don't misunderstand, okay?" Murao is confused, she is aware of his feelings for a long time now, more importantly, everyone knows, so why is he denying it now? Is every guy out to play with her heart and give her vague hints without actually acting to it?
"The me right now," he continues a lot softer. "I know it's no good, so I don't want to rush and confess and have it all end. That's not what this is. That's why I am going to show you more great things from now on. Please wait a little bit."
An advance notice of a confession, that's new to her. Actually, Kominato and Tanaka-sensei are exactly the same. "Kominato-kun's sneaky."
"But I'm not a bad guy." He smiles at her and she can feel that he means it. "Then, I'll go first." He nods at the box in his hands and heads towards their classroom. For the first time she can see the real Kominato, he has definitely changed, but in a good way. Before he could only hint at her that he might have feelings for her but today he finally admitted it to her face. Kominato is not as bad as she first thought he was last year.
When Kominato finally reached their floor he lets the heavy package fall right next to his best friend, who immediately flinches and mutters something about that he has to be careful. He only hears half of what Kou is saying, when he looks him in the eye he gets reminded of Tanaka-sensei again, why do his best friend and his rival have to look alike this much? "Also, didn't you go off to do advertising? Where's the sign?"
"Kou," He says while he stands up again, straightening his back to appear taller. "I'm going to try harder so you should try harder too, okay?" He definitely won't lose to Tanaka-sensei.
Aaah this chapter was short! I've gotten used to writing over 10k fanfiction so this one seems so unfinished to me...
But it's a bridge to the next chapter, and I thought I'd reward you guys with at least something! If you read the manga then you'll know what event is about to come! (THE BEST CHAPTER OF THE WHOLE FREAKING MANGA ALRIGHT!)
Please leave a review because it'd make my day c:
Angel