Nerima is not a place known being predictable. On any given day, you might see a pig and a duck fighting, a withered old troll hopping on a stick, a schoolgirl being kidnapped by a pickle-obsessed prince in a flying ship, or a wizened martial-arts master with a thing for women's undergarments. And just when you think you've seen it all, a sumo pig comes stomping across your skull to remind you that no, you have NOT seen it all. It has been said that the universe tends towards greater entropy, or greater disorder. If that's the case, then the universe tends towards Nerima. Nontheless, there are *some* predictable things about Nerima. Take Shiro Smith, for instance. Shiro Smith dreams. Not in the existential sense, mind you. Rather, every night, Shiro Smith has a dream. The content of the dream varies from day to day; one night, he might dream of a Hawaii-obsessed superior doing improper things to a pinapple. Another night, he could perhaps dream of a relative and a co- worker doing improper things (not to a pinapple, hopefully.) On yet another night, Shiro might meet the various aspects of his personality in a dream, where they would talk, argue, and perform a carefully- staged rendition of "The Real Smith Shiro." Regardless, it can be safely stated that Shiro Smith dreams every night. Well, except tonight. On this particualar night, Shiro sat awake in bed, staring off into the darkness. It was 3 AM, and he'd spent the last four hours trying to fall asleep, to no avail. He'd known it was a futile effort from the start. Sleep was, after all, nature's way of allowing your mind to rest. And how could his mind possibly rest, given all that had just happened? Shiro still couldn't quite figure out the whole situation with Mariko. Nabiki had told him earlier in the day that Mariko didn't like him romantically, which seemed rather odd at the time. He hadn't thought Mariko was interested in him that way in the first place; why would Nabiki tell him that? Shiro paused in mid-thought. Why *would* Nabiki tell him that? Nabiki, based on experience and the stories he'd heard around the school, never did anything if there wasn't some reward involved. Which meant that someone paid her (or otherwise made it worth her while) to tell Shiro that. But who would want to do that? The obvious answer would have been Mariko, if not for the fact that she had later asked Shiro out on a date. The young teacher was still rather confused about that particular conversation. When Mariko approached him about going out, he thought she just meant for coffee. It didn't even enter his mind that she was going to ask him out on a date. Resolving to ask Mariko about it at some point (since asking Nabiki would probably be an exercise in futility), he focused on the main issue: Mariko asked him on a date. Which meant, of course, that Mariko *was* romantically interested in him. And he had absolutely no clue how to deal with this. This wasn't to say he'd never pondered becoming involved with Mariko; the concept had floated through his head a few times. Mariko, despite her outwardly flighty/klutzy demeanor, was an intelligent, funny, kind, beautiful woman. Despite that, he'd never seriously sat down and thought about going out with her. For whatever reason, though the idea of getting involved with her had bounced around his subconcious, he had never even imagined that she would be interested in him like that. And speaking of "never even imagined"... If Mariko asking him on a date was a surprise, Tonomi kissing him was Pearl Harbor. Sure, he knew that she had a crush on him, but he'd made it clear that, as her teacher, there was no way he could get involved with her. *You're not gonna be her teacher for long,* noted a little voice in the back of the teacher's mind. *She graduates in two weeks. What're you gonna do then?* Shiro shook his head. Hearing voices might be unhealthy, but the voice did have a point. He'd basically squashed all thoughts of the Tonomi situation, refusing to even consider becoming involved with her. She was, after all, his student. But once she graduated... well, what then? He wouldn't be able to use the "teacher/student" thing to ignore the subject; sooner or later, he'd have to confront the issue. Of course, the issue had already confronted him head-on. Or lip- on, as the case would be. Shiro would've never imagined Tonomi would be so bold as to just grab him and apply a greco-roman lip lock. She was usually so shy about things, especially around him... *She's desperate, genius,* the voice chimed in again. *Think about it. After graduation, there's a real possibility you might never come back to Nerima. If that happens, she loses you. Of COURSE she's gonna try something drastic! She's trying to give you a reason to stay!* Again, the voice was making a heck of a lot of sense. Amazing the kinds of insights sleep deprivation give a man. He could see why Tonomi did it; assuming she was serious about persuing him after graduation (which, at this point, was a pretty safe bet), grabbing him and kissing him was a pretty good way of getting his attention. Shiro clutched his head and collapsed back into his pillow. He had way too many things to deal with now. He had to continue preparing his students for finals, catch up on grading papers, figure out what he was going to do next year, deal with the Mariko situation, deal with the Tonomi situation, figure out how to keep Nabiki from making a mess of the aforementioned two situations... and oh yeah, he hadn't spoken to Sakura in days. Idly, Shiro looked over at the clock. Only three and a half hours until he had to wake up for school. "Why me?" *************** Ranma 1/2: Lack Of Common Sensei Chapter 29: Bridge on the River Kawai LoCS created by Winston Smith This chapter by Jesse Ellman Sole Member, Insane Cod Productions "Where Logic Gets Drunk and Insanity is the Designated Driver." NOTE: < > denote speech in English. *************** Shiro shuffled slowly, zombie-like, as he made his way through his apartment. He'd finally managed to fall asleep, but had gotten only two and a half hours of sleep. At this point, he was functioning on adrenaline, willpower, and the promise of coffee soon to be flowing through his veins, courtesy of the mug in his hand. With a contented sigh, he sat down with his caffeinated goodness. While no stranger to long nights, that experience didn't make getting up in the morning any easier. The coffee helped tremendously. It might not keep him going all day, but it would give him the boost he needed to get going. Once he was up for a while, he'd be able to do what he needed to do during the day. Hopefully. Looking at his watch as he sipped the coffee, he noted that Kira seemed to be running a little late. Usually, she was already getting something to eat by now. "Hey, Kira, hurry it up. We've gotta get going soon," he called out, taking another sip of his coffee. No answer. Shiro blinked. That was odd. He didn't hear her drying her hair or anything else that might drown out his voice. Maybe she had fallen back asleep? "Hey, Kira, come on," Shiro called again, getting up and walking towards her door. "I'm running on almost no sleep, and the last thing I need is to be late and have Ms. Hinako drain me." Still no answer came. Shaking his head, Shiro started knocking on Kira's door. He was about the reach for the doorknob when the door flew open, revealing a slightly disheveled, rather annoyed looking Kira. she replied angrily, glaring at Shiro. barked the young woman, stepping forward to get right up into Shiro's face. Shiro groaned. Kira narrowed her eyes. Kira blinked, then started giggling, much to Shiro's confusion. Shiro, still not very awake, paused as he tried to figure out Kira's sudden emotional shift. Shiro stammered, trying to figure out what was going on. Kira said apologetically. Kira raised an eyebrow as Shiro failed to respond. Shiro said, shrugging his shoulders. Shiro winced at the voume of Kira's scream. Kira opened her mouth to speak, but stopped before any sound could come out. Had Shiro been more awake, he might have noticed a slightly panicked look on her face. Shiro scowled. Shiro said forcefully. Kira paused for a moment before speaking. Shiro rubbed his temples. Shiro replied. Shiro paused, a look of intense concentration on his face, before continuing. Kira asked, her voice flat. Kira yelled. This couldn't be happening. Shiro was supposed to end up with Sakura. Kira clapped a hand over her mouth, but it was too late. Shiro's eyes went wide, and his normally calm demeanor was relaced with a mask of anger. Kira stammered, before Shiro cut her off. he yelled, throwing his hands into the air. Shiro just turned around, grabbed his jacket and bag, and walked towards the door. "I'm gonna head to school now," he said, switching over to Japanese. "Do me a favor and don't talk to me today. I might say something I won't regret." Kira winced as Shiro walked out the door and slammed it shut. She had just screwed up royally, and she knew it. Shiro very rarely got angry, but was still extremely sensitive about the whole Keiko fiasco. Not that she blamed him; what happened to him had to leave all sorts of psychological scars. Cursing as she gathered up her things, Kira opened the door and headed off for Furinkan. She needed to track down Sakura and tell her what had happened, and see what they could do to salvage things. *************** Shiro stomped through the halls of Furinkan, barely paying attention to his surroundings.Random students, surprised to see the normally placid teacher in such a black mood, stood clear,not wanting to be the first one to talk to him and end up the target of his anger. Yes, if there was one thing the students of Furinkan were known for, it was for having a highly developed sense of self-preservation. It was completely possible that Smith-sensei wouldn't blow up at them, and might even appreciate an attempt to cheer him up... but that was a chance nobody particularly wanted to take. Not in a place with people like Ms. Hinako. "C'mon, Hiroshi, what's the worst that could happen?" asked Daisuke, as they saw Shiro walking down the hall in their direction. "Smith-sensei's too nice a guy to just bite our headsoff for no good reason, and I, for one, would be interested in knowing what could possibly get him this upset." "What's the worst that could happen, you ask?" Hiroshi replied, eyeing his friend. "He could turn out to be some sort of ridiculous martial artist, and could chuck us out the window!" Daisuke sweatdropped. "Dude... it's Smith-sensei. Look at him. As normal as could be. Does *that* look like a martial artist to you?" "Does Ms. Hinako? Does Principal Kuno? You never know, Dai," Hiroshi warned, glancing over to see Shiro fast approaching. "For all we know, he could be a master of Martial Arts English Grammar or something." "Martial Arts English Grammar?" Daisuke said slowly, eyebrow raised. "That's ridiculous." "That's what we all said about Martial Arts Tea Ceremony, remember?" "... point." "Well, anyway, it's a moot point." "Huh?" Daisuke said, confused. "Why?" "Smith-sensei just passed by us," Hiroshi noted, pointing at the rapidly moving Shiro, already several yards past them. Daisuke blinked. "Hey, look, there's Nabiki... and she's stopping Smith-sensei." "100 yen says he yells out 'Comma Splice!' and knocks her out the window." "You're on." *************** "So, Smith-sensei, how are you? You're looking a little run down." Shiro groaned inwardly. The absolute *last* thing he needed right then was another talk with Nabiki. He was feeling lousy enough as it was; another round of being manipulated, blackmailed, and threatened by the young woman ranked just above being sat on by a sumo wrestler, and just below a frontal-lobe lobotomy, on his 'things I want to do' list. "What is it this time?" Shiro asked wearily. "I have to get to my office and grade papers before my first class." "Why, Smith-sensei! If I didn't know better, I'd say you weren't happy to see me," Nabiki said, a sarcastic grin on her face. "That's because I'm not," Shiro replied flatly. "Listen, you want to talk to me again, right?" When Nabiki nodded, Shiro continued. "If I have to do this, let's at least do so in my office." The two started walking down the hall, but after a moment Shiro stopped in mid-stride. Turning back towards the crowd of students in the hall, he narrowed his eyes. "Nabiki and I are going to my office to discuss schoolwork! If I hear *any* ridiculous rumors regarding this, I'm going to personally tell Principal Kuno that students wearing buzz cuts is VERY popular in Hawaii!" The students paled as one, and the rumor mill, already churning out theories on what Nabiki and Shiro were off to talk about, quickly ground to a halt. "Thank you for your cooperation!" Shiro said, nodding approvingly. Turing back around, he continued walking towards his office, not noticing a loud "Damn!" and the sound of someone ruffling through their pockets somewhere behind him. Nabiki raised an eyebrow. "You're rather surly this morning, Smith-sensei." "Especially surprising, considering my wonderful company at the moment," Shiro said dryly. Nabiki chuckled lightly. "Regardless, I'm highly impressed. Not even I have ever been able to shut down the rumor mill that quickly." "You'll forgive me if I don't blush at the compliment," he said, scowling as he opened the door to his office. With a grunt, he slumped down into his chair and turned back to Nabiki. "So what now?" "No need to be so hostile, Smith-sensei," Nabiki said smoothly as she took a seat directlyacross the desk from Shiro. "I just want to ask you a few questions. Nothing more." "I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Nabiki. My private life is none of your businesss," he said, taking a sip from the coffee he had grabbed on his way in. "I'm afraid I've made it my business," Nabiki replied. "So is it true that Kawai-sensei asked you on a date?" Shiro frowned. "Yes." "And you accepted?" "Sort of." Nabiki narrowed her eyes. "'Sort of'? What does that mean?" "Long story." "But you are going out with her tonight, correct?" "Yes." "So you've made your choice, then?" "Nope." Nabiki blinked. "But you just said..." "I just said I was going out with her tonight," Shiro said, leaning forward in his chair."I never said I 'chose' her." "I thought I made it clear that you needed to make your choice already. Which one of them is it going to be?" "And I thought I made it clear that I didn't particularly care about your demands," Shiro said, annoyance evident in his voice. For a moment, he pondered asking who exactly Nabiki was referring to when she said 'them', but decided it wasn't worth the effort. Nabiki shook her head in mock-sadness. "Smith-sensei, I don't see why you have to be so difficult about this. You're only making things more difficult. I already arranged for Sakura-sensei to receive some photos of your last date with Kawai-sensei; do you really want me to conti-" Shiro's jaw went slack. "You... you did *what*?!" "I did tell you there would be consequences if you didn't make a choice," said Nabiki calmly. "And there'll be more if you don-" "NO!" Shiro interrupted, shooting up from his chair. "I've had enough of this! I will *not* have you interfering in my private life! You will cease any involvement in my personal affairs IMMEDIATELY!" Nabiki smirked. "Or what, Smith-sensei?" she said, getting up as well. "You'll go to the principal? He already forbid you from getting involved with anyone in the school, remember? I doubt he'll look kindly on your date with Kawai-sensei." Shiro gave Nabiki a look that would've made most people wet their pants in fright. Nabiki didn't even flinch. "So how, praytell, are you going to make me stop?" "Why are you doing this?" "I already told you," Nabiki said, her expression hardening. "I made a deal, and I have a reputation to uphold. I don't take any personal pleasure in this, but I'll be damned if I don't do what I promised to do." Shiro's mind raced as he tried to think of a way to stop Nabiki before she did any more damage. He wasn't quite sure why his throat had clenched up like that when Nabiki had revealed what she'd done with the photos; what would Sakura care what he was doing on his own time? It wasn't like the two of them were going out or anything... "Well, Smith-sensei? What's it going to be?" Nabiki said, tapping her foot impatiently. "I don't want to keep you from your grading, after all." Shiro didn't even pay attention to what Nabiki was saying. He had to think of something quick. What could he do to get her to stop? *Hit her where it hurts,* the voice from the night before chimed in helpfully. Shiro blinked. Hit her where it hurts? What did that mean... Shiro paused for a moment, and then a very large grin spread over his face as he looked directly into Nabiki's eyes. It was a vicious, nasty, and thoroughly inappropriate idea... but with the morning he was having, Shiro really didn't give a damn. Nabiki, despite herself, began to feel a little nervous. That wasn't a healthy smile. Had he snapped or something? "What's with the smile?" she asked hesitantly. "Oh, I'm just happy that you're going to stop interfering in my life, both in and out of school, right this moment." Nabiki shook her head. "And why would I do that?" Shiro winked at Nabiki (which made her even more nervous), and sat back down in his chair, never breaking eye contact. "Because if you don't, I'm going to hit you where it hurts: your wallet." "Huh?" "It's simple. Everyone in school knows you make a lot of money running various betting pools. Everyone but Principal Kuno and Ms. Hinako, that is. For some reason, they've never quite caught on..." Shiro leaned forward in his chair, grinning viciously. "Now, I'd imagine that, if they were to find out about your little business, both of them would be *very* displeased. Ms. Hinako would most assuredly drain you for that, and the principal would probably shave your head while you were out cold. You'd also probably get suspended, which the prestigious universities you're undoubtably planning to apply to would frown upon severely." "And, on top of all that, you'd lose all the money you make from running the betting pools," he said, shaking his head in mock-sorrow just like Nabiki had done earlier. "Now wouldn't that be a shame?" Nabiki, for perhaps the first time in her life, found herself stunned beyond words. Who the hell was this guy, and what had he done with the placid, kind, bleeding-heart Shiro Smith that she was used to dealing with? Closing her eyes, Nabiki forced herself to calm down. She couldn't let him shake her like that. She was in control; no way she was gonna let this guy push her around. "You do that, and I tell the principal about your date." Shiro shrugged. "If you want to end up drained, broke, and bald, go right ahead." Nabiki snorted. "You're bluffing. I consider myself a good judge of character, and you're way too kind, compassionate, and caring to do something like this." "You're exactly right. I am a kind, compassionate, caring person. And this is way out of character for me," he said. "But I'm having a really, really bad day, and I'm in a foul mood like you couldn't imagine." Shiro stood up slightly and leaned across the table so his face was a few inches from Nabiki. "So if you really think I'm bluffing, all I have to say is two words..." he said, eyes blazing. "Try me." Nabiki's breath caught in her throat as Shiro stared her dead in the eyes for a few agonizing seconds. She exhaled audibly as Shiro finally leaned back into his seat. Damn it, he had her backed into a corner. She'd have never though Smith-sensei was capable of being this... well, ruthless. But there had to be a way to get out of this, to turn it around to her advant- "Hello, can I speak to Ms. Hinako, please?" Nabiki's eyes went wide when she saw Shiro holding the telephone. "Yes, yes, I'll hold," he said. Putting a hand over the reciever, he looked at Nabiki with a stern expression. "Last chance. Swear that you'll stay out of my life for good, or I tell Ms. Hinako right now." Nabiki stared at Shiro, looking for any sign to indicate that he was lying. She found none. "You win," she said, making a face like she had just swallowed one of Akanes' culinary masterpieces. Shiro nodded, and turned his attention back to the phone. "Yes, Ms. Hinako? I thought I saw some students smoking by the baseball field outside. You might want to check that out... my pleasure to help. Good luck," he said, before hanging up the phone. Looking back to Nabiki, Shiro grinned slightly. "Will there be anything else?" Nabiki scowled, got up from her seat, and walked out the door without saying a word. Shiro watched as the door swung shut, and leaned back in his chair, putting his feet up on the desk. Well, that was one problem out of the way. "*Damn* that felt good." *************** Tonomi felt a mix of emotions going through her mind as she walked through the halls. The class she would've normally been in had been cancelled due to massive property damage (apparently a fight between Ranma and Ryouga), which, quite frankly, she was rather happy about. It gave some time to think, and, more importantly, it gave her time to go talk to Shiro. She almost couldn't believe that she'd kissed him. And not even a little quick peck on the lips; that had been a long, deep, passionate, 'If I were a succubus, this is how I'd suck out your soul' kiss. If that didn't get his attention, nothing would. Her face turned red and her heart sped up as she thought back to that moment. She'd been afraid he'd push her away or something, but he didn't. He had his arms around her, he made no effort to stop her, and didn't seem to be horribly repulsed afterwards. Granted, he didn't really kiss back, but that was easily explained by how surprised he was. But after he broke the kiss, he didn't start ranting about how inappropriate it was for a student to kiss a teacher or anything. He just stood there, his arms around her, looking deep into her eyes as she looked deep into his. Of course, in retrospect, running away afterwards, while stammering something barely comprehensible, probably wasn't the best way to end the encounter. She couldn't help herself; despite the fact that she'd dreamed of doing that since she first met Shiro, actually kissing him... it was pathetic, but she was too embarassed to talk to him right afterwards. The moment had been perfect; she didn't want to ruin it by saying something stupid. But this was a new day. She'd had a chance to settle down after the kiss sent her heart racing, her mind aflutter, and her spleen... pretty much normal, though certainly in a better mood. *Now* she was ready to finally have a real talk with Shiro. She was cool. She was calm. She was collected. She was nervous as all hell. Tonomi couldn't help it. This was it. This would, most likely, be her best and only chance to convince Shiro to take her seriously as a romantic interest. If, as she hoped, the kiss had penetrated through the mental barrier he had erected in refusing to see her as more than a student, she had to follow up quickly, and she couldn't afford a mistake. Tonomi's train of thought was interrupted as she saw Nabiki walking in her direction. Perfect; she could talk to Nabiki, and work out exactly what she needed to say to Shiro. "Nabiki! Can I talk to you?" Nabiki scowled. "What?" "Well," Tonomi started, "I need to talk to Shiro, and..." "Forget it," Nabiki replied, waving her hand dismissively. "I'm done getting involved in all this. All it's brought me is one headache after another." "But we had a deal..." "And I lived up to my end of the bargain. I arrainged for you to be alone with Shiro by the English Club tent," Nabiki said flatly. "And who was it that suggested kissing him to knock some sense into him?" Tonomi nodded. "I know, but..." "But you want more help. Yeah, yeah," Nabiki said, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Tell you what. You did a good job helping out at the carnival, so I'll offer you one last piece of advice. No charge." Tonomi smiled warmly. "Thank you!" she said, beaming. "What's the advice?" Nabiki shook her head and sighed. "If you want to talk to Shiro, I suggest you wait a few hours." "Huh? Why?" Nabiki laughed bitterly. "Just trust me on this one. Wait until later." Tonomi blinked. "Well... I don't see the harm in waiting, if you really think I should. Thanks." "Whatever. Pleasure doing business with you." Nabiki turned to walk away, but she paused and turned back towards Tonomi, the faintist hint of a grin on her face. "Oh, Tonomi, have you heard the latest rumor about Smith-sensei? Apparently, he's going out on a date with Kawai-sensei tonight." Tonomi went pale. "H- he is?" she croaked out. "That's what I heard. You might want to ask him about it." Tonomi nodded slowly, eyes looking down at her feet, as Nabiki walked away, the hint of a grin from before turning into a full-fedged smirk. Shiro may have won the war, but that didn't mean she had to take the loss lying down. Sure, it was petty and vendictive, but... well, Nabiki didn't much care. If nothing else, that little tidbit would be another headache for him to deal with. *************** Shiro sighed as he walked out of his afternoon math class. Whatever emotional lift he'd gotten from outmaneuvering Nabiki had just been thoroughly and utterly smashed. Finals were coming up soon, and it was painfully obvious that most of the class was woefully unprepared. He was an English teacher, not a math teacher! History, he could have handled. Literature, he could have handled. Heck, he probably could've managed gym class without this much difficulty. As he once again made his way towards his office for happy fun paper grading, someone called out his name from behind him. He turned around, and saw Mariko running up to him, arms full of papers. "Shiro! I'm so glad I found you!" she panted, catching her breath. "Why, what's going on?" Shiro asked, a bit concerned. "Is something wrong?" "I heard a rumor that you had thrown Nabiki out a window and gotten arrested," the brown-haired teacher said, sounding relieved. "I thought it sounded silly, but I just wanted to make sure you were okay, in case something actually had happened to you." Shiro scowled. Yup, buzz cuts for all. "Aside from a lack of sleep and some problems with my math class, I'm fine." "Good!" Mariko replied, smiling brightly. "So we're still on for tonight?" Shiro nodded. "Tia Maria's at seven. I'll be there... by the way, I wanted to ask you abo-" "No time to talk! I have to get to my next class!" Mariko said hurriedly, already walking away. "See you tonight!" Shiro blinked at Mariko's retreating form. He'd wanted to clear a few things up before the date started, but it looked like that would have to wait. Shaking his head, he turned to continue towards his office... And saw Tonomi standing ramrod straight, on the verge of tears. Before Shiro could get a word out, she turned and started to walk away, sobbing softly. Shiro inwardly groaned, and started after her. What the heck else could go wrong today? "Tonomi, wait!" Shiro yelled, jogging up beside her and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Give me a chance to expl-" Tonomi didn't even turn around. "What's there to explain? You're going out with Kawai-sensei tonight," she said sadly, head bowed. Shiro saw a single tear run down the side of her face. "I may be young, but I know when I'm not wanted." "I never said that, Tonomi," Shiro said, walking around her so he was in front of her. "It's... complicated. Come to my office and let me explain, okay?" Tonomi looked up, staring into Shiro's eyes like she had the previous day. She could see the concern in her eyes. Maybe, just maybe, there *was* more to this than was readily apparent. "I... okay, I'll come with you." Shiro smiled slightly, and led the young woman into his office, closing the door, he offered her a seat before and moved to sit behind his desk. He paused halfway there, though, and simply grabbed the chair, pulling it out so he could sit directly across from Tonomi without the desk in the way. "So how is the situation 'complicated'?" Tonomi asked, her voice still sad. Shiro sighed. This wasn't going to be easy. "Mariko asked me out during the festival. I kind of said yes..." Tonomi narrowed her eyes. "How can you 'kind of' say yes?" Why did everyone ask that question with their eyes narrowed, Shiro wondered idly, before explaining the situation to Tonomi, who was listening intently, studying Shiro's face as he spoke. After Shiro finished speaking, Tonomi paused to think for a moment before speaking. "So you didn't actually say yes, but she thought you did... but you are going on the date, right?" "That's the complicated part." "How is it complicated?" Tonomi replied, a bit of bitterness creeping into her voice. "You're going on a date with Kawai-sensei, which means that you like her. Which means..." "Actually, I don't have a clue as to how I feel about her." "You don't?" stammered Tonomi, surprised. "But then why are you... I mean..." "Like I said, I really have no idea how I feel about her. I never expected her to ask me out. Heck, earlier in the day I was told specifically that she *didn't* like me that way." Shiro shrugged his shoulders. "But I started thinking about it last night, and I decided that going on the date was something I needed to do. It might turn out that I don't like Mariko the same way she apparently likes me. It might turn out that I do. But if I don't go on that date and find out... well, I'd be left wondering, for the rest of my life, what would have happened. And that's something I don't think I could deal with." Tonomi sat silently, looing down at her hands, as she digested that. She could hardly blame Shiro for thinking like that; part of the reason she'd taken the drastic measures she had to get Shiro's attention was that she knew, if she didn't at least make the effort, she'd always regret it. But still... "What about me, then?" she said softly, head still down. Shiro gulped. Now came to difficuly part. "Honestly? I'd done a pretty good job keeping myself from thinking of you as anything more than a student up until you went and laid one on me yesterday." Tonomi blushed severely. "That's why I did it, though," she said, looking up at Shiro. "I know you've said that nothing can happen between us because you're my teacher, but you're not going to be my teacher much longer. I graduate in two weeks; after that, I'm just another college student." Tonomi grew more excited as she continued, an powerful urgency in her voice. "I respect you for not wanting to date me while I'm you're student; that's one of the things I like most about you. You're a good person, and you always try to do the right thing." "But you have to understand..." Tonomi sighed, and lifted her eyes to Shiro's. "I love you, Shiro-san. I want to be with you after I graduate. That's why I kissed you. Somehow, I had to get you to open up, and at least consider thinking of me like I think of you." Shiro furrowed his brow slightly. "You do realize that I might not come back to Nerima next year, right?" "I thought about that," Tonomi said, a determined look on her face. "I even wrote it down in a letter that I was going to give to you after gradua-" "Letter?" Shiro interrupted. Getting out of his seat, he walked over to his desk, opened one of the drawers, and pulled out a pink envelope. "You mean this letter?" Tonomi's jaw dropped. "What... where'd you find that?" "I found it mixed in with my papers a couple of days ago," he said, examining the envelope. "I just hadn't gotten around to reading it." Tonomi blinked as Shiro started to open the envolope. "What're you doing?" "Reading it," Shiro replied, grinning slightly. Sitting down in his chair, he began to look over the carefully written note. Tonomi, for her part, was more nervous than she'd ever been in her life. She watched Shiro's face for any sort of reaction, positive or negative, desperately trying to figure out what he was thinking. All of her plans hinged on Shiro either staying at Furinkan or going to grad school nearby. If he didn't... Tonomi wasn't quite sure what she'd do then. After what felt like an eternity to Tonomi, Shiro looked up, his expression serious. Tonomi's heart sunk. He didn't like it. He was upset. He didn't want to be with her. He just started smiling. Tonomi blinked. He was smiling! Smile good! "So that's why you seemed to like the idea of my going to Sabishii so much," Shiro said, grinning as he broke the silence. It took everything Tonomi had to keep her composure. "So... you like the idea?" "Well, like I said yesterday, I had been considering Sabishii seriously, if I don't end up back here. So yeah, I like that idea." "Wh- what about the other part of it?" Tonomi said, heart beating like a drum. This was it. This was the moment of truth. Had the kiss broken down his mental barriers? Could he think of her as more than a student? Did... did he love her? "That's the question I've been avoiding all this time," Shiro said, closing his eyes as he spoke. "Just thinking of you as a student allowed me not to have to confront the issue, not to have to make a decision. It made things easier, because that was one less difficult issue I had to think about." "But that's unfair to you, and disrespectful to your feelings. Honestly, you've been exactly right all this time. Once you graduate, there's no reason my having been your teacher should make any difference. To think otherwise would be deceiving myself. Finding excuses to avoid making tough choices is no way to live your life." "The kiss was like a gigantic slap upside the head, telling me to stop being a wuss and to actually confront the issue. So I spent most of last night awake, thinking about it. And after a lot of pondering, I came upon the one key question in all of this: If I were never your teacher, and I met you, and got to know you like I do now... would I consider you someone I might want to be with?" Tonomi's breath caught in her throat as Shiro opened his eyes. She didn't dare blink, for fear that she might miss his answer to that oh- so-important question. "I thought about it... and I realized that I'd have to be a fool to *not* consider you somone I might want to be with." Tonomi's eyes went wide. She pinched herself, just to make sure she wasn't dreaming, and then threw herself at Shiro, wrapping her arms around him and nearly knocking him out of his chair. "Ack!" Shiro yelped, trying to keep his balance. Tonomi had her arms wrapped around his neck and had her head buried in his shoulder, sobbing loudly. "Tonomi... can't... oxygen..." Tonomi released Shiro with a start, tears still streaming down her face. "I'm sorry, Shiro-san! I'm- I'm just..." "It's no big deal, Tonomi," Shiro said, standing up and taking a deep breath. "I'm okay... why are you crying?" "I'm crying because I'm so happy!" Tonomi said, sniffling as she wiped her eyes with her sleeve. Shiro offered her a tissue, which she greatfully accepted. "I mean... I've thought about this, but I almost can't believe..." Shiro started to smile, the sight of Tonomi so happy lifting the depression from the days events, but then something occurred to him, and he adopted a more serious expression. "Tonomi, I don't want you to misunderst-" "I know, Shiro-san," Tonomi said, wiping her eyes. "You're still not sure how you feel about me. You're interested, but you haven't made a decision yet, right?" Shiro blinked. "Yes... yes, that's it exactly. How'd you know?" "I'm a woman, remember? We know these kinds of things," Tonomi replied, giggling. Shiro couldn't help but laugh. "Another aspect of the fabled 'woman's intuition', hmm?" he said, smiling widely. "Yup!" Tonomi replied. "Seriously, though... considering the circumstances, having you consider me a serious romantic possibility is everything I could possibly hope for." Well, that wasn't exactly true. The most she could possibly hope for was for him to get down on one knee, proclaim his undying love for her, sweep her into a passionate kiss, and then carry her off into the sunset. But seeing as how, a few minutes ago, she wasn't sure she'd even have a chance with Shiro... all things considered, this was pretty darn good. "So where do we go from here?" she asked, moving a step closer to Shiro. "Well, you have to go to class," he replied, grinning as he dodged a thrown paperclip. "As for me... I have some thinking to do, obviously. I can't guarantee that, when all is said and done, you're going to be the one I pick... but just know that, right now, you've got as good a chance as anyone." Tonomi beamed with happiness, and embraced Shiro again, this time more gently. "Thank you, Shiro-san." Shiro uberblushed. "Don- don't worry about it," he stammered, making Tonomi giggle. "You're so shy!" she said, grinning widely. "It's a wonder you didn't pass out when I kissed you!" "For all you know, I did," he retorted, also grinning. "Which one of us was it that ran away after the kiss?" Now it was Tonomi's turn to blush, which got a chuckle out of Shiro. "That was mean!" she cried, mock-pouting with her hands on her hips. The two looked at each other, and simultaneously burst out laughing. Tonomi put a hand on Shiro's shoulder to steady herself as they both tried to catch their breaths and calm themselves down. As the laughter died down, a sly grin spread across her face as she looked at the still recovering form of Shiro. "Ah, I needed that," Shiro said, still chuckling lightly. He moved to speak again, but was interrupted when Tonomi leaned over and lightly kissed him on the lips. Shiro froze, cheeks burning red, as Tonomi stepped back, grinning, a slightly dreamy look in her eyes. "Next time, I promise I won't run away afterwards," she said with a wink, before spinning gracefully and walking out into the hall. Shiro stood still for a moment, stunned, until he shook his head. Things just kept getting more and more interesting. With a little more spring in his step than before, he walked out into the hall. "Well, that certainly went well. Maybe this is a sign that my luck is starting to change?" he said to nobody in particular. "Shiro-san!" Shiro jumped, and turned to see Ms. Hinako advancing on him, coin in hand. "There were no students smoking by the baseball field," she said, frowning. "Sending me out on a wild goose chase like that wasn't very nice." Shiro groaned. He just *had* to say it, didn't he? *ZAP* *************** Kira frowned as she wandered through the halls of Furinkan. She'd been trying to talk to Sakura all day, but every time she found the brilliant young teacher, she was in with a class. Pulling her out of a class to talk about Shiro just seemed kind of weird, anyway. Kira was now hoping to catch Sakura after her last class, but before she left for the day, so the two could discuss the latest developments on the Shiro front. Quickening her pace, she walked towards Sakura's lab, weaving her way through the students who lingered in the halls, not quite ready to go home. Finally, she reached the room and opened the door, poking her head in. "Sakura? You have a minute?" Kira blinked as she found Sakura within the room. She was sitting at the end of her lab bench, facing the window, head slumped down. "Sakura? You okay?" Silence. Kira was starting to get worried. "What happened? Did my idiot cousin do something else stupid?" she asked, taking a few slow steps towards Sakura. Sakura laughed bitterly. "Yeah, you could say that," she replied, still facing away from Kira. "Well, then we've got a lot to talk about," Kira said, sighing. "I've been having some problems with him too. I accidentally let it slip that I was getting involved in all this, and he absolutely snap-" "I don't care." "Huh?" Kira said, confused. "I said I don't care anymore." "What're you talking about, Sakura?" Kira said, now really starting to get worried. Walking forward, she put a hand on Sakura's shoulder. "What exactly did Shiro do?" Sakura spun around in the blink of an eye, eye alight with anger. "I don't want to talk about it!" she yelled, almost nose-to-nose with Kira. "I'm sick and tired of all this! All it's done is cause me pain and stress and heartache! No more!" Kira backed up, eyes wide. What the hell could have happened to get Sakura to react like this? "Just calm down, Sakura. Getting upset won't solve anything," she said slowly, arms extended in a placating manner. "Don't you get it?" she said, standing up fully and advancing on Kira. "I don't want to solve anything! I don't want to hear about him anymore! Just go away!" "Sakura..." "GO AWAY!" Kira froze, shocked by the force and anger in Sakura's voice. Regaining her wits, she nodded slowly, turned, and walked out of the room. She stopped at the doorway and looked back, hoping that Sakura would change her mind, but one look at the expression on her face told Kira that it wasn't going to happen. With a sigh, she stepped out the door, closing it behind her. Dammit dammit dammit. It was all going to hell, and there was nothing Kira could do about it. *************** Shiro stood in front of Tia Maria's, wearing essentially the same thing he had worn last time he'd been there. Once again, he had left the tie at home, wearing a black mock-turtleneck under his jacket. After regaining conciousness, he's somehow managed to drag himself home, where he'd promptly collapsed into bed. The nap had done wonders. He felt reasonably awake and alert, which was rather obviously a good thing. Shiro peered down the street, then looked at his watch. One minute to seven, and no sign of Mariko. Shiro mentally shrugged; no big deal. A few minutes late was perfectly acceptable. He wasn't at all worried that Mariko wasn't going to show up. Nope, not worried in the least. No sirree. Shiro paused, then chuckled. He was being ridiculous. There was no way Mariko was going to just stand him up. She'd never do something like that. The only way she'd not come was if something ridiculous happened, like being kidnapped by aliens, or getting accosted by Kodachi, or asking for directions from Ryouga again... Shiro bapped himself lightly on the head. This was just silly. Why was he so nervous? It's not like he'd never been on a date before... although, admittedly, it had been a while. That odd get-together with Sakura and Mariko didn't really count; that was just friends going out for a nice meal. This was a real date though. A date with an extremely attractive woman who apparently liked him enough to ask him out. Shiro thought back; how long had it been since he'd been on an actual date? It was back near the end of high school... 4 years ago, was it now? Back when he was still... Still with Keiko. Shiro frowned. Perfect. That was the absolute *last* thing he wanted to be thinking about now. Even after all these years, it still got him depressed as all hell whenever he thought about the subject. Taking a deep breath, he tried to clear his mind. He checked his watch again. 7:02. Still no Mariko. Shiro turned around, to check down the other way... And walked straight into someone. "Oof!" he said, stumbling a bit. "Are you okay? I'm sorry, I wasn't loo- Mariko?" Shiro's jaw dropped as he saw Mariko standing in front of him, a slightly embarassed expression on her face. She was wearing a full length black dress that, while not obscenely tight, seemed to cling to her in exactly the right places to accentuate her figure. Thin straps clung to her shoulders, attached to the square neckline of the dress, which was about two inches or so below her collarbone, showing off the skin and the faintest hint of cleavage. The dress was slit up the right side to approximately mid-thigh, showing off a decent amount of leg. She appeared to have just a bit of makeup on, but whatever she had done, the effect... "... wow." Shiro stammered, dumbstruck. Mariko giggled, and twirled around. "You like?" "... wow." "Is that all you have to say?" she said, a sly grin on her face. "N- no." Mariko took a couple of steps towards Shiro, and was now only two feet away. "Well?" "... wow." Mariko giggled again, a sweet sound that made Shiro's heart flutter. "You're silly, Shiro," she said, grabbing his hand. "Come on, let's go inside." Shiro nodded dumbly, and allowed himself to be led into the restaurant while his brain attempted to reboot. He'd always acknowledged in the back of his mind, that Mariko was rather attractive, and she'd certainly looked great the last time they'd been here, but... wow. Shiro finally managed to regain some measure of coherence as they waited to be shown to their table. "You look... absolutely amazing, Mariko," Shiro said. Mariko blushed. "Really? You mean that?" Shiro nodded. "Yeah, I do... I mean..." *Say '... wow' again and I'll smack you,* the voice in Shiro's head chimed in. Shiro sweatdropped slightly, then snapped back to reality right as the server approached them. "Seņor, seņorita, you're table is ready," the man said, smiling broadly. "It is a pleasure to have you back. I apologize profusely for last time; we still don't know why that plant caught fire." Shiro sweatdropped slightly as the man continued. "Only two this time, correct?" he said, winking knowingly. Both Shiro and Mariko blushed slightly, and nodded. "Wonderful! Let me show you to your table." The two young teachers followed the man to a quiet, softly lit table near the corner of the room. Shiro stepped ahead and pulled Mariko's chair out for her, which earned Shiro another dazzling smile. Shiro smiled back dazidly, making his way into his own seat. "This place really is nice," Mariko said, looking around. "Yeah," Shrio said. "So... how're you doing?" It was a lame conversation starter, but if Mariko noticed, she apparently didn't much care. "I'm doing great," she said. "Things actually went pretty smoothly in school today." Mariko laughed softly. "With my luck, I was half-expecting to be kidnapped by aliens, grabbed by Kodachi, or led back to Easter Island by that boy with the bandanna," she said, not noticing Shiro's puzzled look. "But things were relatively quiet. How about you?" Quiet wasn't quite the term Shiro would've used to describe his day up till now. "Just another day at Furinkan," he responded, wisely not going into too much detail. Mariko nodded, and the two continued making small talk while looking at their menus. They paused for a moment to place their orders, and then picked up right where they left off. As time went on, Shiro started to relax. He was in a nice restaurant, having a pleasant conversation with a beautiful woman. What was there to be ill at ease about? "So you're going to be back at Furinkan next year?" Shiro asked. "I'd like to," Mariko said, taking a sip of wine. "I'm not sure if they'll want me back, though..." "Of course they'll want you back, Mariko," Shiro replied, shaking his head. "Why wouldn't they? You're a good teacher." Mariko blushed again. "You really think so?" she said, stammering slightly. "I do. You were an excellent teacher when you got here; you just lacked confidence in yourself. You're starting to gain that confidence, though, and it's allowing you talent to show through." Mariko smiled warmly. "That... that means a lot to me Shiro, especially coming from you. Thank you." "Ah, don't mention it," Shiro said, waving his hand dismissively. "You deserve the praise. Your only problem is that you still haven't realized how good a teacher you are." Mariko lowered her head slightly. "It's just... I've always been such a klutz at everything I do. I guess it's kind of hard for me to accept that I'm good at anything," she said softly. "And that's why it was so hard for me to get up the nerve to ask you out." "I'm not sure I understand..." "I was afraid to ask you out because I really thought you would say no," She said, still looking down. "Because I'm so clumsy, or because you thought I wasn't vert smart, or because I wasn't pretty enough... I didn't think I was good enough for you." "Stop right there," Shiro said, a serious expression on his face. "Don't say that. If anything, I'm not good enough for you." Mariko looked at Shiro, confused. "What? Why not?" "Don't put yourself down like you just did, Mariko. You're not really *that* clumsy, and even if you were I wouldn't care," he said, looking directly into her eyes. "I also happen to think you're extremely intelligent, much more so than you may even realize. And as for your being not pretty enough... well, that's just ridiculous. You're beautiful, and as when I look at you now, I can only wonder what a guy like me could possibly have done to deserve the attention of someone like you." Mariko's eyes went wide as her brain cast Blush3 on her cheeks. She stared at Shiro, who just shrugged his shoulders and smiled in a way that sent Mariko's hear racing. The two locked gazes, and for a moment, it seemed as if time was standing still just for the- "Your food, seņor and seņorita?" Both Shiro and Mariko snapped back to reality suddenly, looking rather flustered as they accepted their food from the waiter. They ate in silence for a few moments, occasionally stealing glances at one another. Shiro finally broke the silence. "Like I was saying... don't be so hard on yourself. You've get a heck of a lot going for you." Mariko nodded. "You always seem to be able to cheer me up when I'm donw, Shiro," she said, now smiling again. "That's one of the reasons I love you so much." Shiro nodded as he chewed on his food... then paused, thought about what Mariko had just said, and nearly choked swallowing. "Did you just say... that you... " he stammered, obviously surprised. "That I love you? Yes, I did," she said, giggling as he tried to catch his breath. "I'd known for a while that I liked you... that I liked you a lot, even. But it was just now that I realized that it was more than just 'like'." Shiro's head was spinning. "I mean... I never knew... heck, when you asked me out, I was under the impression that you specifically didn't like me." Mariko winced. "Nabiki, right?" "Yeah, how'd you know?" Mariko laughed nervously. "Well, you know how I said I was really scared about asking you out?" "Yeah?" "Well... I kind of asked Nabiki to tell you that I liked you, and to see what your reaction was," she said. "But she misunderstood me, and thought I meant for her to tell you that I didn't like you." Shiro thought about that for a moment, then started chuckling. "This seem to have a way of going wrong like that around here, don't they?" Mariko grinned widely. "I don't know. This has gone pretty well so far hasn't it?" As if joined by a psychic like, both teachers instinctively starting looking around them, expecting a herd of giant yaks to come charging through the restaurant. When it became apparent that no yaks were forthcoming, they turned back to each other, breathing sighs of relief that the other somehow missed. The rest of the dinner passed by relatively uneventfully, and soon the two found themselves ready to leave. "Did seņor and seņorita enjoy themselves?" the server asked as they made their way to the front of the restaurant. "Yes, we most certainly did," Mariko said, smiling radiantly. She paused to look at some of the paintings on the wall as the server looked over at Shiro. "You are indeed a lucky man, seņor," the man said, glancing over at Mariko. "My best wishes to you two." Shiro blushed slightly. "Thanks." "You are American, right?" "Yes, I am," Shiro replied. "Why?" "Just curious," the server replied. "If you'll excuse me, I must attend to something. Have a good evening." Shiro thanked the man again, and watched as he walked over towards the mariachi band that had been playing soft music throughout the evening. He turned back to Mariko, who was looking at him expectantly. "You ready to go?" Mariko nodded, and they walked out the open door into the warm night air. "Do you want me to walk you home?" he asked. Mariko shook her head. "No thanks. My place is in the opposite direction of yours, I think." She grinned, winking at Shiro. "Not that I don't appreciate the gesture." Shiro smiled, as the two continued to talk, Shiro could swear he heard a song he recognized playing from inside the restaurant. o/" When the night o/" has come o/" And the land is dark o/" And the moon is the only o/" Light we'll see "Mariko..." "Yes?" Shiro sighed. "I hate to say this now, but it has to be said. As wonderful as this evening was, and as wonderful as you are... I still don't know exactly how I feel about you. I have a better idea, but..." "I know," Mariko said softly. o/" No I won't be afraid o/" No I won't be afraid o/" Just as long as you stand o/" Stand by me "You do?" Shiro said, surprised. "I figured as much when you told me that you had no clue I liked you up until I asked you out," she said. "If you didn't know I liked you, how could you possibly have figured out how you feel about me?" o/" So darling darling o/" Stand by me o/" Oh, stand by me Shiro nodded. "I don't want you to think I'm not interested in you, because I am..." "I understand, Shiro," she said, smiling warmly. o/" Oh stand o/" Stand by me They stood silently for a moment, staring out at the stars, before Mariko put a hand on Shiro's shoulder. "Just don't take to long deciding, okay?" she said, winking. Shiro cheeks flushed lightly at the contact. "I'll try not to." o/" And if that sky o/" that we look upon o/" should tumble and fall o/" Or the mountains should crumble o/" Into the sea "It's a beautiful night, isn't it?" Mariko said, pointing out into the horizon with her other hand. "The sky's clear, full of stars..." Shiro nodded, looking not at the stars, but at the woman in front of him. "Yeah... beautiful..." o/" I won't cry o/" I won't cry o/" No I won't shed a tear "Shiro?" "Hmm?" Mariko, still looking out at the sky, hesitated for a moment. "If... if you don't pick me... we can still be friends, right?" Shiro nodded. "Of course." o/" Just as long o/" As you stand o/" Stand by me "That's good to know," Mariko said softly, right before she kissed him. Shiro's eyes went wide, but after a moment he settled into the kiss, closing his eyes and wrapping his arms tentatively around Mariko's waist as her arms encircled his neck. o/" And darling darling o/" Stand by me o/" Oh, stand by me Mariko finally broke the kiss, still holding Shiro in her arms. "I love you, Shiro," she whispered, before releasing her hold, turning, and walking off down the street. o/" Oh stand now o/" Stand by me o/" Stand by me Shiro stared blankly at the retreating form of Mariko, unable to put together a coherent thought. *It's okay to say '... wow' again."* "... wow" Shiro blinked, and shook her head. Mariko had definitely made a powerful case for herself tonight. He was going to have a lot to think about tonight, after he finished grading some papers... Shiro facepalmed. Dammit, he left his bag in school. He'd have to go get it now; he really couldn't afford to get further behind with the papers. *************** Shiro stuffed the last of his papers into the bag with a grunt. It wasn't necessarily a bad night for a walk, but he was both mentally and physically exhausted at this point, and really, *really* wanted to go home. Grabbing the bag, he walked out of his office, closing the door behind him as he started to make his way out of the building. The halls were dark and quiet, which Shiro found to be just a bit unsettling, considering the way things normally were. It was almost too peaceful. As he walked, he noticed Sakura's lab room on the left. He sighed; he hadn't talked to her in days. He looked in the room, realizing how ridiculous it was to expect her to be here at night, sitting at the end of her lab bench, staring out the window. Wait a second. Shiro blinked. She *was* sitting at the end of her lab bench, staring out the window. What the heck was she doing here so late? "Sakura?" he called out, opening the door. "Sakura? Is that you?" Sakura whirled around at the sound of his voice, eyes wide in surprise. She looked like she'd been crying for hours; her eyes were red, her hair was all messed up, and her cheeks were streaked with tears. "Sakura... wha-" "You," Sakura growled. "What're you doing here?" Shiro blinked. "I left my bag in school, and I needed to grade papers tonight," he said, confused by her reaction. "What's wro-" "All dressed up, I see," she said, scowling. "Date with Mariko just ended, hmm?" Shiro blushed. "Err... yeah... you heard about that?" "Yes, yes I did," Sakura said, taking a few steps towards Shiro. "So how'd it go? You have fun?" "Uh... yeah, I suppose," Shiro said nervously. What was with Sakura? He'd never seen her like this. "Wonderful," she said, though there was no hint of happiness in her voice. She continued to walk towards Shiro. "End it off with a romantic kiss?" "Wha?" "I asked you if you kissed Mariko at the end of the date," Sakura said, now just a few steps away. "You know, like you kissed Tonomi?" *Ah crap.* "Yo- you saw that?" Shiro stammered, barely able to get the words out. "Yup, I saw it, you bastard," she said angrily, taking another step towards him. "How the hell could you do that!" "Let me explain..." *SLAP* "I don't want to hear it!" Sakura yelled, as Shiro looked back at her in complete and utter shock, a hand clutched to his cheek. "You kissed her!" Shiro fought to get control of himself. He had to get it together. "No! She kissed me!" he cried. "Well you sure didn't look like you were too unhappy!" "It's... complicated." "Oh really?" Sakura asked, eyebrow raised. "This should be interesting. How is it... 'complicated'?" Shiro sighed. "You know how Tonomi has a crush on me, right?" Sakura shot him a withering glare. "Okay, stupid question," he said, blanching a bit. "Well... she'd been trying to get me to think of her as more than a student without much luck. The schoolyear's about to end, and she was getting desperate. The kiss was intended as a smack upside the head, to get me thinking." "Then earlier today, she came to talk to me... and she made a good point. She's graduating in two weeks. After that, she's no longer my student. At that point, I have no reason to avoid going out with her." "So you're gonna start dating her?" Sakura said, voice rising. "No!" Shiro yelped, flinching "I mean... just hear me out, okay?" Sakura scowled, but remained silent, so Shiro continued. "What I meant was that I couldn't use her being my student as an excuse to avoid the issue anymore. It wasn't fair to her, or to me. So I thought about it, and... well, I don't know how I feel about her, but I realized that, if it weren't for the student/teacher issue, she'd be someone I might be interested in. And now... well, I'm thinking about it." "So what you're saying, then," Sakura started, "is that you didn't kiss her..." "Right!" Shiro said, feeling a bit relieved that Sakura understood. "Rather, you're now saying that not ONLY did you kiss her, but you're also making plans to get together with her after she graduates!" Sakura yelled, glaring daggers at Shiro. "And that's supposed to make me feel better?!" "It's not like that, Sakura!" he said. "I know I dissappointed you..." "Damn right you did!" "I mean, I know it was wrong. I'm still her teacher, and regardless of the situation, I shouldn't have let a student kiss me..." Sakura stopped in mid-word, the look of anger replaced with a look of confusion. "What'd you say?" Shiro blinked. "I said it was inappropriate to have kissed her, since she's still my student..." "*That's* what you think this is about?" Sakura said incredulously. "... it isn't?" "Of course not!" "Then why the heck are you so upset?" Shiro said, confused. Sakura moved forward so she was practically nose-to-nose with Shiro. "Why am I upset? Why am I upset?!" she screamed, eyes burning. "I'm upset because I LOVE YOU, YOU JACKASS!" Sakura collapsed against Shiro's chest, sobbing loudly, as the young man stood there, no clue how to react. "I... I never realized..." Sakura took a step back and looked at Shiro, tears still running down her face. "You didn't?" she asked, genuinely surprised. "No," Shiro said softly. "I mean... I just thought you were being friendly..." Sakura stared at Shiro for a moment, processing that. He never realized. He'd never even guessed... Sakura, much to Shiro's surprise, suddenly burst out laughing. Now Shiro was really confused. "What's so funny?" he asked, watching Sakura double over from the force fo her laughter. Sakura could barely speak between bursts of laughter. "Almost the entire school figured it out... and you didn't have a clue?" she choked out. "You are such a *man*!" Shiro scowled slightly. "Hey, how was I supposed to know?" Sakura calmed down slightly, her anger melted away with the declaration of love and the subsequent laughter. "Remember Tia Bella's? The dress?" "... yeah, at the time I thought it was kind of funny that you got all dressed up like that... but I figured you just wanted to look nice, since it was a nice restaurant..." Sakura raised an eyebrow, and Shiro sighed. "Okay, okay, I'm an thundering dolt. I'm sorry," he admitted, shaking his head. "That's better," Sakura replied, smiling. "But now you know. What're you gonna do about it?" "I don't have a clue." "... well that's reassuring," Sakura said flatly. Shiro rubbed his temples. "What do you want me to say? I'm still trying to figure out how I didn't realize this," he said helplessly. "Plus, I'm also trying to figure out how I ended up with three beautiful women apparently in love with me." Sakura was about to snap at Shiro for mentioning the other two when she realized something. 'Three beautiful women', he had said. Which meant... Sakura hyperblushed. "Yo- you think I'm beautiful?" "No, I *know* you're beautiful." Sakura turned ever redder, if that was possible, and struggled to get out a coherent sentence. The room was silent for a few moments before Sakura managed to regain higher brain functions. "Umm... you were saying before?" "I was talking about how all this has got me really confused," Shiro said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I mean, I've never even had one girl persuing me, let alone three." "I thought you had a girlfriend back in high school," Sakura blurted out, before catching herself. She wasn't supposed to know that; she'd heard it from Kira. If Shiro figured it out... Luckily, Shiro's brain was far too occupied with other matters to notice that little slip. "Yeah, I did... but I was doing the persuing. And it didn't end very well..." "What happened?" Sakura asked, curious. She didn't know much about Shiro's past, and finding out exactly what it was that Kira made such a big deal about was an opportunity she couldn't pass up... Then she saw the look in Shiro's eyes. She could see the pain and depression that the mention of the subject brought him. "If you don't want to talk about it, that's okay." "No, it's fine," he said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "After all this, the least I can do is answer your question. You might wanna sit down, though; this could take a while." Sakura did so, looking up at Shiro. After a moment, he started speaking. "You have to understand... back in high school, I was really shy. Even more so than I am now. There had been a couple of girls I liked, but I could never work up the nerve to ask them out." "Then Kira stepped in. She decided that it was her duty to help out her poor, pathetic cousin, so she started trying to set me up with her friends. At first, I resisted, partially because I didn't like the girls she was trying to hook me up with, and partially due to the shyness." "One day, though, she came to me and told me she wanted to get me together with Keiko. Keiko was one of the girls I'd liked but never asked out, so naturally I jumped at the chance. Kira did whatever it is she did, and when, with her help, I finally got up the nerve to ask Keiko out, she said yes." "I was ecstatic, because I was absolutely head over heels for Keiko. She didn't seem too enthusiastic at first, but I figured that I couldn't expect her to feel the same way I did so soon." Shiro sighed. "It was that blind love that made me ignore warning signs early in the relationship. She never really had time to see me. We went on four dates in the first two and a half months we were going out, and she was late a combined 170 minutes for the three." "That's... ridiculous," Sakura said, shocked. "Why'd you put up with that?" "Oh, she had excuses. In retrospect, I should've seen through them, but at the time... there were other things too. She didn't want me being physically affectionate in school, which I understood... but she also practically ignored me when her friends were around, and acted no different to me than to anyone else at other times." "Even then, at the beginning, it depressed me. But again, I just figured that it was still early in the relationship, and that I needed to give her some time before she felt like I did." "And over time, it did get better. We started talking on the phone practically every day. We lived pretty far apart, so seeing each other was an issue, but we usually went out on a date once every week or two. But still, it felt like I was the only one putting any effort into the relationship. She still treated me as if we weren't going out in school, she barely ever complimented me other than to call me 'sweet', and..." Shiro blushed. "From the beginning, I'd decided to let her dictate the pace of the relationship, in the physical sense. Except that her pace was no pace. We didn't kiss on the lips until like five months into the relationship, and didn't do anything beynd that until over a year in. Even then, she seemed completely uninterested in me. It was almost like I was just a good friend who she occasionally kissed." "Things went downhill from there. I remember this one time, we were playing bridge with two of our friends. Bridge is a team card game, and she was on the other team. Well, my team won. That night, when I called her, she went ballistic, demanding that I apologize for not letting her win." Sakura boggled. "You're kidding me." "I wish," muttered Shiro. "I couldn't believe it either. I spent an hour arguing with her, trying to get her to realize thow ridiculous this was. But she wouldn't give up. Finally, I ended up apologizing just so I could get off the phone." "Geez," said Sakura, shaking her head. "Oh, it gets better," said Shiro, a bit of bitterness creeping into her voice. "She was out of the country for both my birthdays. The first time, I understood; she had made the plans in advance. But the second time... she knew how much I wanted to spend time with her over the summer, and she still signed up for this program that kept her away the entire summer. Then there was our one year anniversary... I saved up money for months to take her to a nice restaurant and buy her a necklace... she gave me a Beatles CD. No card, either." "Is that it?" Sakura said. Kira hadn't been exaggerating about how bad this turned out. "Nah, I haven't gotten to the best part. You see, we went out for nearly two years, from the end of my sophmore year to the end of my senior year. Near the end, I was really depressed. I'd tried everything I could think of to get her to open up to me, to show some sort of affection, and it wasn't working. Several of my friends were openly telling me to end it, but I refused. I still loved her." "Then I found out she was cheating on me." Sakura gasped. "No!" "Yes," Shiro said, smiling sadly. "By the time I found out, it had apparently been going on for a month. I only found out because a mutual friend who Keiko had told broke her promise to keep silent and told me. I was *crushed*. More than that, I was angry. I'd put up with her shit for two years, day in and day out, and this was the thanks I got? The more I thought about it, the angrier I got." "After a couple of days, I confronted her about it. I gave her one last chance; admit it, and maybe we could work things out. She denied it, of course." "That was the last time I spoke to her," Shiro said quietly. "Two years down the toilet." Sakura shook her head. This was far worse than even Kira's graphic description had let on. "Shiro... I'm so sorry..." "Don't be," he said, smiling wanly. "It's in my past. But can you see why this whole situation has me so flustered. I go from having a girlfriend who didn't love me to having 3 women after me." Sakura grinned. "You know, most guys would kill to have 3 women chasing after them." "Not if they were as violent as you are," he said, smirking. "Hey!" Sakura protested. "I'm not violent!" Shiro pointed to his cheek, and Sakura blushed. "Oh yeah... eh heh heh... sorry about that." "Don't worry about it," Shiro said, chuckling. "I probably deserved that for being such an idiot." "That you did." "Hey!" said Shiro indignantly. Sakura giggled. "You may be an idiot, but you're a cute idiot," she said, sticking out her tongue at him. Shiro scowled in mock-anger and advanced on Sakura, who backpeddeled quickly, laughing. After a few moments, Shiro managed to back her into a corner, near one of the windows, and grinned evilly. "I've got you now." "Oh no you don't," Sakura said, and moved to dart away from him. As she did, though, she tripped, and ended up falling right into Shiro's chest. She looked up, and found herself looking straight into Shiro's green eyes. The moon was shining through the window, casting a soft light upon the two as they stood still, staring into each other eyes. "This is like something out of an American movie," Shiro said, still lost in Sakura's eyes. "Hmm?" "It's a classic setup in romantic movies," he said, voice almost a whisper. "The girl stumbles into the guy's arms, they look into each other's arms, and they end up kissing... it's almost like a tradition." "A tradition, you say?" asked Sakura, voice hushed. "Mmm-hmm." Sakura tilted her head slightly. "Well... if it's tradition..." Shiro wrapped his arms around Sakura's waist. "It is..." Sakura lifted her arms to wrap around Shiro's neck. "Then we should probably..." Shiro closed his eyes. "... follow the tradition..." Sakura closed her eyes. "Yeah..." And then they kissed. Sakura felt like someone had shot ten thousand volts through her. She melted into the kiss, leaning into Shiro, clearing her mind, and letting the sensation take over. Finally, they separated, faces flushed, hearts racing. "... wow." Said Sakura, smiling, eyes slightly glazed. "That's my line," Shiro said. "Wha?" "Nevermind," Shiro said quickly. Releasing his hold on her, he took a couple of steps back. "That was..." "Shh," Sakura said, shaking her head. "Don't ruin it by talking. Just let the moment be." Shiro nodded, watching as Sakura walked past him towards the door. "Goodnight Shiro." "Goodnight Sakura." And then she was gone. Shiro sighed. What a day. Three kisses from three beautiful women who all loved him. He should've been ecstatic; instead, he was concerned. How the heck was he going to choose? *Who* the heck was he going to choose? The voice in his head remained silent. Shiro groaned. What a time to go sane. *************** Authors Notes: It's 4 AM. I have an 8 AM orgo lab. I am SO going to die. ^_^;;; This thing is a freaking monster. 75k, not including authors notes. That's almost as long as my Ultra part was. @_@ I really hope y'all like this, 'cause I'm gonna be really depressed if I worked this hard and it ended up sucking. - Ard is a wonderful, wonderful human being. She gave me an emergency extension when RL, writers block, and the realization of just how much I had to do struck. Build a shrine to her. Buy her a penguin and some ice cream. Bow before her, for Ard is Good. - Many thanks to Nathan and Falc for pre-reading, catching my frequent spelling errors, and letting me bounce ideas off of them. You guys kick ass. - In case you're wondering... the Keiko stuff is based off of my experiences with my ex. Fun, ne? =P I'd write more, but I'm about to collape. You have any questions, e-mail me at je34@cornell.edu or talk to me on chat. C&C... well, I'm BEGGING for it. PLEASE. This is the most serious writing I've ever done, and I want to know if I did a good job or not. Please; if you read the series, let me know how you liked it. A two line e-mail, a long review, whatever; I just want to know someone's actually reading this. That's about it. Night folks. Jesse "I cannot sing the old songs, or dream those dreams again."