Impromptu Rendezvous

Rean didn't bother to stifle his yawn as he padded his way downstairs. The slight slither of moonlight that drifted in through the windows of Class VII's dormitory was enough to see the steps by. He knew the dorm well enough to know where he was going without seeing the path anyway.

Normally he would be fast asleep at such an early hour, but he'd been unable to nod off all night. He wasn't all too sure if it was stress from his schoolwork, or worry about what the Imperial Liberation Front were up to, or something else entirely that was keeping him from sleeping, but it was playing havoc with his sleeping pattern.

Frustrated, he'd finally decided to forgo lying in bed to go get a drink. It was better than staring pointlessly at his room's blank ceiling in the dark at least.

Reaching the ground floor of the dorms, he meandered over towards the kitchen, moving more on autopilot than with any actual purpose. Were he fully awake, he might have noticed that the kitchen door was unusually ajar. Sharon was never one to leave anything out of place after all.

Rean entered the kitchen not thinking about such things, and he blinked a few times before finally registering that there was a figure in the room with him, leaning over the counter with their back to him. He saw the shade of hair that trailed down the back and when his brain finally caught up to his eyes, he knew immediately who it was.

"S- Sara?"

"Hmm?"

Sara turned around, cheeks full with what was presumably the chunk of sandwich that was missing from the one in her hands. A plate littered with crumbs stood next to her on the countertop. She swallowed in a lazy motion.

"Oh, hey Rean." Sara smiled, going for another bite. "What are you doing up so late?"

Rean blinked yet again. No, his eyes weren't deceiving him. Instructor Sara was there before him, bright cerise hair freed from the bun that was usually tied behind her head to fall freely past her shoulders. Her legs were covered by a pair of light teal baggy pyjama pants. Her upper body however, was completely bare save for the simple black bra that she wore. Her slender figure and all its wondrous curves shone like a beacon in the dark.

His mind was most definitely awake now.

"Just- Uh- Just getting a drink." Rean coughed roughly, doing his very best to keep his eyes anywhere but on her.

Sara jerked her elbow towards the sink as she took another mouthful of sandwich. "Help yourself then. You don't need to ask permission you know." She teased with that familiar twinkle in her eye.

"I, err- I don't think …"

Sara chuckled suddenly. "What, don't tell me you need Sharon to pour it for you? Didn't think you were that sheltered, Rean."

Rean would probably have frowned in annoyance were his mind not stuck on her. "No, no. I just- Instructor, you, err …"

"I'm definitely not doing it for you." Sara's eyes flashed with something both mischievous and hard. "I'm happy to help you however I can, Rean, you know that, but I draw the line at being your personal maid."

Now that brought a fresh wave of images to Rean's mind that he never knew he needed: Sara clad in all manner of monochrome, frilly maid uniforms.

Oh Aidios … As delightful as they were, they were most definitely unhelpful in that moment however, so he mentally swatted them away for the time being.

"No, I mean- Instructor, you … err …" Rean gestured vaguely in Sara's direction.

"Huh?" Sara cocked her head at him.

Then, she looked down at herself, seemingly only just realising her state of undress.

"Oh." She murmured. Then she shrugged. "Eh, whatever."

Rean wasn't sure what to say to that. "I- I'm sorry?"

Sara eyed him over her sandwich and chuckled. "What? Am I making you uncomfortable, Rean? You've already seen me in my swim suit, remember? There's not a whole lot more for you to see. Hell, other than my navel, you're probably seeing less of me right now than you have before."

He swallowed thickly, mouth dry. "I- It's still …"

"It's still what, Rean?" Sara put what little was left of her sandwich down on the plate. She leaned back on the counter leisurely as she regarded Rean carefully. Somehow that one motion turned what was but moments before her lazy night attire into something a lot more dangerous.

"I- I shouldn't be seeing you, like- like this." Rean stuttered out, as eloquently as he could manage.

"You're allowed to see me eat, Rean." Sara smirked. "It's not a secret that I do that you know."

"No, you- You know what I mean!" Rean scowled.

That teasing sheen to her eyes sharpened suddenly. "Well, if you shouldn't be looking at me 'like this', then why are you looking at me right now?"

Rean flushed even more, if that were physically possible. He shut his eyes tight and turned his face away in shame. "I- I'm sorry!"

Sara chuckled again. "It's alright, Rean, really. I was just teasing you. I'm not mad."

Rean still didn't dare open his eyes. "You're … You're not?"

"Of course not." Sara's voice sounded light and humoured still. Then she tutted. "Rean, open your damn eyes, will you? I could tell you weren't letting your gaze drop to anywhere below my chin. So keep up that gentlemanly behaviour, and we don't have anything to worry about."

Almost reluctantly, Rean slowly opened his eyes, making sure to aim his gaze away from Sara to start with, just to be safe. Like an iceberg, Rean gradually brought his gaze back around towards Sara, finding her smirking warmly at him with hands on her hips.

"Boo." Sara snickered when Rean finally laid eyes on her once more. "See? We're all good."

Rean swallowed thickly as he smiled thinly back. "Alright … thanks, Instructor."

Sara shook her head with a smile. She turned back to grab her sandwich again. "Honestly, it's kind of endearing really." She murmured softly.

Rean blinked. "Huh?"

"Don't worry about it." Sara rolled her eyes, mouth half full of sandwich again. She smirked at him. "It's cuter that way."

Rean didn't really know what was going on anymore. Maybe his sleep deprived mind was playing tricks on him.

"Ok … well, I'll just get my drink, then head back to bed then."

Sara nodded a couple of times, expression somehow grave. "That's probably for the best, because, well, you have had quite the hard-on the entire time we've been talking."

"What?!" Rean's eyes and hands shot down to his groin. He had no idea!

He blinked, confused. Neither his hands nor his eyes found anything that shouldn't be there. Had it already gone down so quickly? What?

A snigger brought Rean's eyes back up to find Sara laughing behind her sandwich. She recovered quickly with a sigh and padded over towards Rean, heading for the door. Rean was frozen still as a statue when she reached him.

"Gotcha." Sara whispered in his ear with a smirk.

Rean blinked many, many times. "In- Instructor, I-"

"Rean, you really need to learn when someone's pulling your leg."

Sara gave him a smile but her eyes held a pointed look, though her gaze soon softened. There was something else there as well that he didn't recognise, that he wasn't sure he ever could. Her eyes drifted down his torso but for a moment.

"Although … from a guy like you, a girl could be a little flattered."

Rean's mouth flapped wordlessly. A guy like me? 'What' from a guy like me? Huh?!

"Don't think on it too much." Sara winked at him. Then she chuckled once more. "Goodnight Rean, don't stay up too late now. You're with me first thing, remember?"

Rean's heartbeat surely skipped a few beats. "Wi- With you?"

"Uh huh." Sara smirked as she walked past him, taking another bite from her rapidly diminishing sandwich. "Homeroom, session one."

"Oh, r- right, of course."

"Don't be late."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

"Good boy." Sara threw him one last smirk as she reached the doorway. "Sweet dreams, Rean."

"Y- You too!"

Rean really wasn't sure whether or not he imagined the chuckle that he heard as the door closed behind her.

Despite her words, Rean couldn't help but think about everything she'd said to him for the rest of the night. He thought about it all for the rest of the week as well.