Chapter 11 – Changes

The last day went by quickly. Kisa honestly expected his last day at Mitsuhashi University to be slow and awful, but it really wasn't. His students said goodbye to him one by one, most of them even told him that he was the coolest lecturer and he shouldn't leave.

But they didn't know. They had no idea about why he was leaving.

In the office, Professor Yukimura gave Kisa a little gift, saying how much she would miss Kisa. Yokozawa wasn't furious anymore. Rather, he looked kind of sad, and Kisa had never seen him like that.

"Make sure you take care of yourself," he said.

"I will."

"You did a damn good job here, professor," Miyagi added.

Kisa bowed in front of him, and then in front of Yokozawa as well.

"Thank you for everything. I'll leave now. Take care of yourselves."

He grabbed his briefcase, and left the office. He was walking in that corridor for the last time. He walked past those student for the last time. And as he left the building, he turned around to take one last glance. He sighed, and headed to the bus stop. Why were changes so hard?

Until the interview, Kisa spent his days nervously pacing in his living room. The last time he was so nervous about an interview, it was back when he applied for the lecturer role at Mitsuhashi. And that was years ago. When Yukina was around, he would hold him until he was calm again, but he couldn't be at his place very often lately.

He tried to tell himself that it would be alright since he had a lot of experience in this field, and it would calm him for an hour or so. But then, anxiety would crawl back into his chest. No matter how he looked at it, it was a new place with new people, and it made him a tiny bit scared. But Yukina told him that he will be alright. And he even sent him messages every day about what a great teacher he is, and he's going to be super great at the interview.

And then the day had finally come, and there Kisa was, standing in front of NN High School in suits. This morning, Yukina called him to wish him good luck, and just for the sake of that, Kisa knew he needed to get this job. Also, Yukina was dying to see him in suits, but Kisa obviously refused to send him a picture. It was way too embarrassing.

He entered the school, and told the receptionist who he was and why he was there. She was a very young lady, maybe Kisa's age. She smiled, and led him to the office where the interview was held. There was only two people – probably the dean and the vice dean. And Kisa assumed the dean was the older one. He was also tall and strict looking, but once he smiled at Kisa, he didn't seem that bad anymore. The vice dean was a middle-aged, short woman.

"Good morning," Kisa greeted them, and bowed.

"Good morning," they greeted him back with a smile.

And the interview started. They asked Kisa about his studies, what university he went to. Then they asked him about his previous experience, and some routine questions. Kisa answered them to the best of his knowledge, and he just hoped that they wouldn't notices his anxiety. He smiled at them, and tried to make the best first impression he could. The vice dean was smiling back at him all along, as if she could tell that Kisa was scared and tried to let him know that it was all okay. However, the dean looked serious, and didn't smile once during the interview.

Despise his fear, Kisa was almost certain that he did good. And the way the vice dean talked to him, the way she smiled was kind of promising, too. He had hopes, he had this positive feeling inside of him.

Before he left, the dean put his hand on Kisa's shoulder, and smiled a little.

"Thank you for coming."

Kisa smiled back, and nodded. After he said bye, he left the school, and on his way back home, his mind was all around this new environment. He knew that high school students were different from university students, but still, he didn't have the slightest idea of how to handle them.

Well, he would find out, he figured.

As he got home, he fell onto his bed, and for a long time, all he did was staring at the ceiling. Now that he wasn't working, it was weird to be home on a weekday. But it was about to change. He didn't know where this sudden positivity came from, but it filled his mind and body. It was a nice feeling.

A day later, he got a call. They called him back from NN High School. He had gotten hired. For long minutes, he was just sitting in the living room, smiling like an idiot. When Yukina came over that night, Kisa told him everything about how the interview went and that he got hired. Yukina seemed so proud of him, and he even suggested to celebrate it, but Kisa turned it down.

"You don't like celebrating?" Yukina asked, a little surprised.

"It's not like that," Kisa replied. "It's just… not as much a big deal."

"Well, as you wish. Do you know when you start?"

Kisa nodded and showed his schedule the school just sent him through fax.

"Next Monday. They said they'd show me around and stuff."

They went quiet for a second. Then Yukina pulled Kisa closer for a hug. Kisa hugged him back, but he was a little bit surprised as to why Yukina did this suddenly.

"I'm missing you from university, Kisa-san."

Kisa blushed deeply, and he felt a little sad.

"Come on, don't be silly," he stuttered in embarrassment. "You'll get used to it."

Yukina sighed, and pushed Kisa away gently, looking him in the eyes.

"I know, but… That's the place where I met you, and where I've fallen in love with you. And now you're not there anymore, and it feels… I don't know, it feels empty."

Kisa shook his head with a soft smile, and then leaned to kiss Yukina.

"You should focus on your studies," he whispered. "Understood?"

And with a quirky smile, Yukina nodded.

"Understood."

Kisa was walking towards the office in NN High next Monday. He felt excited and nervous. He knocked on the door, and opened it.

"Good morning."

All the teachers in there turned towards him, and greeted him one by one. They seemed to be nice people, and it made Kisa ease up a bit.

"So, you're the new teacher," a young woman walked up to him to shake hands. She didn't look any older than Kisa himself. She seemed fresh and energetic. "Kawashima Yoko. It's nice to meet you."

"Kisa Shouta," Kisa introduced himself.

"Oh, you're already here," a voice behind him said, and as Kisa turned around, he faced the smiley vice dean.

"Oh, yes, good morning."

"Good morning, Kisa-san. Are you ready for your first day?"

Kisa nodded with a small smile.

"Alright. Then Kawashima-sensei is going to show you around. She's going to take you with her to her first class." Now the vice dead patted Kisa on the shoulder. "It's alright, if you could handle a university, high school is going to be a piece of cake."

When the bell rang, Kawashima left the office with Kisa on her side.

"So why the sudden change?" she asked while they were walking in the quiet corridor.

"It's a complicated story," Kisa shrugged. "Kind of personal."

Kawashima nodded.

"It's fine. Everybody needs some change, I guess."

They finally reached the classroom, and Kawashima opened the door. The whole class went silent as they walked in, all the students were watching Kisa with frowns. Kisa smiled at them, and stopped beside Kawashima as she turned towards the class.

"Class rep!"

The class representative stood up, and said:

"Stand!"

The whole class stood up.

"Bow!"

It kind of made Kisa feel nostalgic. Kawashima smiled at them. The students seemed to like her, judging by their behaviour.

"Good morning, everyone," Kawashima greeted them.

"Good morning, Kawashima-sensei."

"Sit!" the class rep said now, and everyone took their seat, their eyes still on Kisa.

"Alright, as you can see," Kawashima began, "there's someone new standing beside me. This is Kisa Shouta, a new English teacher."

The class greeted Kisa with a loud 'good morning'. Kisa greeted them back. Now Kawashima turned towards Kisa, and asked him to tell some things about himself to the class. Kisa did his best. The class listened to him without a noise. Kisa assumed that it was because they respected Kawashima-sensei a lot.

During the class, Kawashima would sometimes step aside and let Kisa teach. And Kisa found it fun. After class, Kawashima led him back to the office.

"I'm not very sure which classes you're going to be taking," she said. "It was the three of us before, and one of our English teachers left. I'm glad you're here."

Kisa smiled, but he wasn't very sure what to say. He didn't need to say anything, though, as Kawashima continued.

"You did great. You really have experience."

"Yeah," Kisa nodded.

"I'll give you all the notes and files, so you can catch up on the lessons. And I think you'll be fine from tomorrow."

"Thank you."

In the office, Kawashima grabbed a bunch of documents, and began to copy them. She handed all of them to Kisa alongside with a textbook afterwards.

"I've put sticky notes to the lessons that are finished. It's quite a lot, but you seem like someone who can handle it."

Kisa laughed softly as he put the documents into his briefcase. Kawashima took him with her to some more classes, and around noon, she thought Kisa was fine to go home.

"Thank you for today," Kisa said as he bowed.

Before he could leave, Kawashima gently grabbed her arm.

"Kisa-san, can I have a question?"

Kisa nodded a little uncertainly. Kawashima was still grabbing his arm, and honestly, it made Kisa feel a slightly bit concerned.

"Do we know each other?"

Kisa frowned, and Kawashima finally let go of him.

"I'm not very sure. Why?"

But the woman just shrugged with a laugh.

"You just look familiar. But you know why, though? You totally look like my little brother."

Kisa couldn't help but laugh with her.

"I guess so."

Soon, Kisa said bye to everyone, and headed home. The anxiety he had been feeling for the past one week seemed to fade. He had a lot of fun during the day. Now he was sure he would enjoy this new job, and he couldn't wait to be there tomorrow.

When he got home, he found Yukina sitting in front of his door, with his headphone on. Kisa waved his hand in front of Yukina's face to draw his attention.

"Oh, Kisa-san, you're back!"

"Yeah, but what are you doing here?"

He stood up, and hugged Kisa tight.

"I just wanted to see you. How was your day?"

"How was yours? You're not supposed to finish this early," Kisa frowned.

"I know, but… I guess skipping a few classes won't hurt."

Kisa gently punched him in the arm as he opened the front door.

"Yes, it is going to hurt."

Yukina sighed, and invited himself in.

"So? How was it?"

"It was more than fine," Kisa replied while taking his shoes off. "It's not gonna be any different than teaching at a uni, I guess."

Now Yukina squatted, and hugged Kisa from behind, which, for a strange reason, made Kisa blush.

"I'm glad you had fun."

Kisa leaned into his hug, inhaling Yukina's nice scent deeply. Yukina held him a little bit tighter, and planted a kiss on his neck.

"Kisa-san, did you realise…?"

"Realise what?" Kisa frowned a little.

"It's out first month anniversary in a few days."

Kisa turned around, a little taken aback.

"Really?"

Yukina's mouth curled upwards as he nodded. Kisa thought for a moment. One month wasn't too much time, was it? He didn't know if he should suggest a little celebration or not. Maybe it's better if they don't celebrate it just yet. It would be too soon in his opinion.

"What should we do on that day, Kisa-san?"

"I'll probably work, so maybe let's just do what we usually do."

For some reason, Kisa expected Yukina to be somewhat disappointed about it. But instead, Yukina nodded in agreement.

"I'm up to whatever you want to do."

But when the day of their first month anniversary came, despise of what Kisa said or thought, he was still nervous about it. Maybe he should have suggested a little celebration after all. It had been so long since he had a relationship that now that he actually had one again, he felt confused. Should he buy a gift for Yukina? Should he not?

What if Yukina bought something for him, and he didn't? Or vice versa?

Too many questions.

Come on, get yourself together, Kisa scolded himself. He was an adult, he should be able to handle something like a one month anniversary.

As he predicted, he was at work on that day. Kawashima was glad that Kisa had adjusted to the new school and environment this quick. In a few days, Kisa got to see every class, and in every teacher's opinion, he was ready to teach on his own.

"Good morning!" he greeted the first class as he walked in. "Class rep!"

The morning routine started. Kisa was surprised how good the students behaved, even though he was a new teacher. He had heard from several teachers that students sometimes tend to show zero respect to freshly started teachers.

Kisa had began the class. And he had a lot of fun teaching high school students. They were all interactive, they didn't interrupt him while he was talking to them, and it was comforting. When the class was over, some of them walked up to Kisa, and asked him funny questions, like, why he looked so young, or if he was married at all. Kisa answered them all, then left to the office.

"How is your first real day going?" the vice dean asked with a grin.

"Great so far, thank you," Kisa replied as he took a seat.

"He's doing just fine," Kawashima commented from across the office room. Kisa just noticed her. "Besides, while I was with him during classes, it seemed like students liked him from the start. Well, of course, he's cute."

"H-Hey…" Kisa blushed.

Kawashima rolled her eyes, and laughed.

"I'm not trying to hit on you. I'm just stating facts."

Some female teachers nodded in agreement, and Kisa blushed even more. He found it a good idea to bury himself into his notes and get ready for the next class. But Kisa couldn't shake off the feeling that Kawashima was watching him non-stop. It made him feel uncomfortable for a lot of reasons. Mainly because it felt like Kawashima set her eyes on him. But Kisa was already taken, not to mention that he had never been into women. Should he… say something? Maybe he was just overreacting. Kawashima said something like Kisa was familiar to her.

Well, god knew what was going on in her mind. Kisa sighed, and left to his next class.

When he finished after four in the afternoon, he walked around the area to find something, at least a little something, to give Yukina. Just a while back, Kisa couldn't have been able to imagine himself being this weird about a first month anniversary. One month of being together wasn't even that long. But still, his mind made such a big fuss about it.

He found a small shop full of little gifts and presents. The cashier greeted him with a happy smile, and asked if she can help. Kisa shook his head, and went to look around. Small plush animals, keychains, bracelets and other jewellery for best friend and couples. Kisa cracked into a big smile which he thought might have looked weird if someone saw him randomly smiling, but he didn't really care at that moment.

He had chosen something. And he was a hundred percent sure that Yukina would like it. Moreover, he would go crazy about it. He paid, and left to catch the earliest bus possible. He was as excited as if he was a teenager. He couldn't wait to give it to Yukina.

As soon as he got home, he dialled Yukina's number, and the other picked up immediately.

"Kisa-san? Have you finished work?" he asked excitedly.

Kisa nodded to the phone, not beilng able to hold back his smile.

"I just wanted to ask if you… you know… if you can, by any chance, umm…"

Now that he had to invite Yukina over, he just couldn't say the words. His heart was racing in his chest, and he was so nervous that his body was slightly shaking. But on the other end, Yukina chuckled softly.

"Do you want me to come over?"

"I mean… I know you're busy studying and stuff…"

"I'm on my way!"

And Yukina hung up. Kisa felt like he could scream. He collapsed onto the couch, and for a solid five minutes, all he did was staring at the wall. He couldn't recall a day when he invited Yukina over. It was always just kind of… natural for them to be at each other's place. And it was always Yukina to ask if Kisa wanted to stay over at his apartment, or Kisa would just bring Yukina to his place. But to invite him directly, well, that never really happened.

The only time he had invited Yukina over was back when he wanted to tell him that they should stop getting this close to each other. But they weren't together at that time, so it didn't count, did it? Kisa sighed. Ever since he started dating Yukina, he kept realising that he was constantly being confused about everything.

Kisa snapped back to reality when he heard knocks on the door. It must have been Yukina. He nearly ran to open the door.

"Good afternoon, Kisa-san!" Yukina greeted with his usual cheerfulness. "How are you doing?"

Kisa let him in, and watched him taking off his coat and shoes.

"Good, just, uh- wanted to see you today."

It felt kind of embarrassing to say these words, but seemingly, it made Yukina happier than he already was. Was it even possible for him to get happier?

"Aww, Kisa-san!" He literally jumped up to hug Kisa. "I wanted to see you, too. I know you said we shouldn't make a big deal out of our first month anniversary, but still-"

"Oh, about that…"

Kisa walked into the living room to get his bag. Just a few seconds later, he pulled out a little paper bag. Yukina was standing right next to him, curiosity in his eyes.

"Kisa-san, by any chance…?"

Kisa opened the paper bag. There was two necklaces in it. Both with half a heart on the chain. Kisa's face was burning as he pulled the jewellery out of the bag, and handed one of them to Yukina.

"I wasn't gonna make a big deal out of it, indeed," he began, stuttering, "But… I ended up, anyway. And I figured that maybe a matching thing would be perfect for us."

Yukina reached for the necklace in Kisa's hand, his face just as red as Kisa's. His eyes were teary as he was staring at the necklace. On the other hand, Kisa couldn't bring himself to look up. He had never thought he could be this romantic.

"Kisa-san, this is perfect! Thank you. I'm so happy!"

"I thought you would like it," Kisa whispered, and he finally looked up. He watched Yukina putting on the necklace. He did the same.

"Also, Yukina…"

"Yes?"

Kisa gulped. Can he say this after only one month of being together? Maybe he can. Maybe he shouldn't. But he took a glance at Yukina, and said it anyway:

"Please… Don't leave me."

A/N:

Hello there. It's been quite a long time, hasn't it? I've been caught up with work, and been also working on my original novel as well. Also, I was kind of on the verge of dropping this story, but... I wanna finish it, even if it's just for the sake of... having it finished, I guess ^^ Anyway, it's wild how we're only a few chapters away from the end. But it's still gonna be one hell of a ride so if you're still following and reading this, stay tuned.

Ricchan