The next morning Eizan was kneeling next to his bed. Staring at the cute girl laying in his bed with her hair still half put up in a bun from last night. “Wake up sleepy head.” She slowly sat up rubbing her eyes. She was smearing eyeshadow all around her eyes. He giggled to himself “She looks like a sleepy tanuki.” She looked at him wearily with her eyes barely open. “Good morning.” Her eyes shot open and she looked around the room.

“Where am I?”

“Isn’t it obvious you’re in bed?”

She looked down at herself and realized she was still wearing her dress from last night. “What I’m wondering is how I got here.”

He laughed and then began to explain. “You fell asleep in the car. I tried to wake you but you wouldn’t wake up.”

He thought back to last night. She was asleep on his shoulder. “Mio wake up.” He lifted her off of him with her shoulders. “Come on. Wake up will you.” Her eyes were barely open. “Just five more minutes.” He sighed “No it’s time to wake up.” She nodded and he let go of her shoulders. As he was about turn, she fell forward and her head landed on his lap. He looked down at her and smiled. “What the hell am I supposed to do now. I guess I’ll just have to carry her.” He rolled down the partition separating them from the driver. “Can I trouble you for a favor?” The driver took his house keys from him and opened the car door. He slid out from underneath her head and stared at her for a few seconds. He then slowly lifted her out of the car and carried her up the stairs towards his apartment. The driver opened the apartment door for him and he thanked him. He slowly lowered her onto the bed. He carefully removed her shoes noticing how red her feet are. “I’m sure that hurt. She should have said something.” He put her shoes on the ground next to him and looked at the beautiful girl lying on his bed. He thought to himself “A lesser man would take advantage of a situation like this.” He gently covered her with the blanket. “So defenseless.”

“I had to carry you.”

“You carried me up a flight of stairs. Aren’t you hurt.”

“You are very light. It wasn’t difficult.”

She blushed. “That’s still not the point.” She looked at him closer. “Why aren’t you wearing a shirt?” She covered her eyes with her hands.

“You told me to wake you up before I got ready.”

“I did but.”

“Did you forget I never wear a shirt to bed?”

She nodded. He stood up and walked towards the closet and grabbed a shirt. She was peeking at him through her fingers. “Thank you.”

He smiled “Were you peeking?”

She shook her head.

He approached her and sat down next to the bed. “Don’t worry about last night. I was a perfect gentleman. I simply carried you to bed and took your shoes off. Nothing else happened.”

“Ok.” Eizan was sitting on the floor with his hair in a mess, a pair of gym shorts, and a stained white T-shirt. She stared at him with a blank look.

“What’s that look for?”

“It’s just weird. Looking at you being such a slob now. It’s hard to picture you as the same person, you were last night.”

“What’s that about? Besides, I’m not the one going around looking like a Tanuki.”

“Tanuki?”

“Just go get ready. I’ll start breakfast. We woke up late today so you’ll have to help tomorrow.”

She nodded and stood up. She walked into the bathroom and shut the door. She looked at her messy appearance in the mirror and burst out laughing. “I really do look like a tanuki.” She looked at the dress she was still wearing. She couldn’t help but think back to last night. To Eizan the whole thing was a nightmare. To her it was a magical night even if it was nerve-wracking. She thought back to them dancing in a fancy dining hall. “He may be hard to deal with but he sure cleans up nice. I didn’t think any man could be that handsome.” She was unintentionally fingering the necklace he had bought for her. “It really was an amazing night.” She looked down at the dress she was wearing. “What the hell am I supposed to do with this dress? It’s so beautiful and expensive, will I ever have another chance to wear such a thing?” She stopped staring at herself and started to get ready.

Eizan was busy making breakfast and lunch in the kitchen. He was humming the song they had danced to last night. He thought to himself. “Maybe last night wasn’t so bad. It was kind of like a date, wasn’t it?” He kept humming the song as he cooked. He finished cooking and was sitting watching the news as she left the restroom. She sat down next to him and he could smell shampoo and perfume. His heart started to beat faster as he looked over at her. He noticed the slight pink tinge of her skin. “She must have taken a shower?” He buried his bad thoughts deep in his mind as he smiled at her. “How is it?”

She looked at him and smiled brightly “It’s delicious. I can’t believe you made blueberry croissants first thing in the morning like this.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

He smiled “They’re not hard to make.”

“Easy for you to say.”

They both continued to eat and watch the news for a bit. He eventually stood up and went to get ready himself. She was fiddling with her necklace the whole time she watched the news after he left. They walked to school normally, casually chatting the whole way. She talked mainly about the dinner they went to last night. Eizan couldn’t help but think she only remembered the good parts. He thought to himself “Maybe, I’m too pessimistic about things.” They made it to the school gate and were in wonder at the amount of people who seemed to be looking at something. Everyone was staring at Ren and Ome who were chatting in the courtyard in front of school. Eizan couldn’t help but notice Ome was holding a small red bento box that didn’t seem to quite fit him. He smiled at the odd couple. Mio tapped him on the shoulder and whispered to him. “What’s going on with those two?”

He laughed and said “I thought I told you? They’re the perfect match.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Ren is inherently distrusting of men and he’s honest to a fault. They fit together perfectly.”

Mio studied Ome and Ren as they approached. “I never thought of it that way. Honestly, I thought he was blackmailing her or something.” Eizan burst out laughing quite loudly. This caught the attention of Ren, who then started to yell at them.

“Good morning.” She ran up to Mio and gave her a big hug. “Did you have fun with the big bad wolf last night?” Eizan growled.

“Down boy.” Mio scolded.

Ome burst out laughing “Sakurai, you really know how to put a dog on a leash, don’t you?” Eizan started chasing him around barking at him like a dog. Ome was smiling and screaming bad dog over and over again, as he ran away. Mio and Ren were shaking they’re heads at their immature display. Eventually they made their way to class chatting and laughing the whole way. People were still staring but they just ignored it.

They eventually made their way to class and took their seats. Hattori approached Eizan and Ome first thing. “Can I bother you two for a moment?”

Eizan smiled and replied “Sure, just know more investigative journalism today.”

“Aww, that’s no fun.”

Sano shook his head at them “What do you want Hattori?”

“As you know we have exams next week. I’m trying to put together a study group. I’ve seen how smart Eizan is and I was wondering if he wanted to join us?”

“Sorry, I already told Mio I would help her study.”

“That’s perfect I’ll invite her too.” Hattori skittered off like a wild animal.

Eizan tried to protest “Wait. Damnit, she’s already gone.” He put his head on his desk and grumbled softly to himself. “There goes our alone time. I thought studying together would be a good chance for us to get closer.”

While Eizan was busy pouting to himself Ren stood up from her seat and ran over to Ome. “Were starting a study group so you have to join us.”

Sano looked at her with a surprised look. “I don’t have soccer practice for the next two weeks, so I’m free. I’m not very good at studying but sure I’d be happy to join.”

“Great. It’s going to be Hattori, Jiro, Mio, Eizan, and me so it should be fun. Were going to meet at the library after school.” She ran back to her seat and continued to talk to Hattori until the teacher showed up to start class.

Eizan laid there with his head on his desk thinking. “Our resident paparazzi is just doing this to get information. God help us. Wait who’s Jiro again?” He lifted his head off of the desk and looked over at Ome. “Who’s Jiro?”

Ome gave him a strange look “The class representative Koga Jiro. Don’t tell me you forgot?”

Eizan laughed “It’s hard to forget when you never paid attention in the first place.”

Ome shook his head “Sometimes I just don’t get you. Try staying awake in class every once in awhile and maybe you will know what’s going on.” He pointed to relatively plane looking black haired boy sitting at the front of the class. “That’s Koga, he sat directly behind you before the seat change.”

Eizan looked at Koga. “Oh, he’s the guy who would constantly try to wake me up. I never knew his name.”

“You really are impossible sometimes.”

Eizan laid his head down again and slept all the way till lunch. Again, like yesterday Mio approached him and knelt beside him “Wake up sleepy head.” Barely opening his eyes like yesterday. “Wow, I must be lucky. I got woke up by and angel two days in a row.”

She sighed “Wake up already I’m hungry.”

He slowly sat up and looked over at Ren and Ome glaring at him and whispering to themselves. “Alright, alright I’m coming.” They slowly made their way to the courtyard and sat at the same table they had the day before. Eizan grumbled “Why the courtyard again? The stares drive me crazy.”

Ren laughed “It’s better than it was yesterday.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Mio was staring at Ome’s bento. Eizan noticed her gaze and got an evil grin on his face. “That’s a nice-looking bento, Ome.”

He started blushing and scratched his cheek “T-thanks, it looks delicious.”

Ren was blushing at the same time. Eizan looked at her bento as well. “Wow, you two have matching bento’s what a coincidence.”

Ren started to look away innocently. Sano started to make an excuse. “Yeah, now that you mention it, they do look similar.”

“You’re a horrible liar.”

Ome replied angrily “Shut it.”

Eizan and Mio looked at each other and burst out laughing.

Ren looked at them angrily. Then she noticed something hanging around Mio’s neck. “Wow, what a pretty necklace. When did you get it?”

Mio immediately blushed. “Um, a little while ago.” She was looking down at her bento trying not to give any hints.

“Really, I’m surprised. I’ve never seen you wear it before. It must be relatively new.” Eizan and Mio were both blushing and currently looking in opposite directions of each other. Ren and Sano both started laughing.

Eizan finally chimed in to try to ease the tension. “Fine, I gave it to her yesterday are you happy now.” They both nodded. “It’s not like were ignorant of the fact that Ren made you that bento.” Ren and Ome both blushed. “So, let’s leave it at that.” He looked over at Mio. Her face was solid red.

“Baka.”

They all three burst out laughing at her response. She hit him in the shoulder over and over again until he apologized. “Alright, alright, I’m sorry I’ll keep my mouth shut next time.”

She puffed out her cheeks “For a man with so many secrets, you sure don’t know how to keep your mouth shut.”

Both Ome and Ren looked at each other and whispered “Secrets?”

Finally, they all calmed down and started to eat. Ome told Ren her cooking was delicious which made her blush. Ren also complimented Mio on her necklace and was admiring it. She kept giving Ome an expectant look. Eizan couldn’t help but think. “They’re not even dating yet and it looks like she wants him to buy her something too. Not that I have any room to talk.”