Yuki's POV: 

"Nakajima-kun and Nakajima-san! Both of you wake up!" an irritating voice commanded.

“Five more minutes, Gumi,” I muttered, waving her away.

“Nakajima-kun, my name is not Gumi,” a voice hissed in my ear. “Please pull yourself out of whatever dream you are having.”

My eyes popped open and I found myself face-to-face with my teacher, Kiyoteru Hiyama.

“Ah ... Sensei.”

“Now wake up that girl, and I will see both of you after class!”

He walked back to the front of the room. Beside me, Gumi lifted her head and glared at me sleepily.

“Yuki, shut up,” she said.

“No, you wake up. We’re in the middle of class.”

That got her. She bolted upright. Laughter spread through the room. Gumi blushed.

Well, it was her fault. I could still remember our conversation last night.

---

(flashback)

“The first weekend, I barely got anything out of you. The second weekend, we went to karaoke and then Pocky came, and still nothing. The weekend after that, I went out with Miku and Kaito, and then with Kaede-chan and Nami-chan. The weekend after that, Kei-kun arrived. It’s already June, and I want more information.”

“I still can’t believe he’s living with us. Just because his parents want him to ‘experience city life’ ... I mean, this isn’t Tokyo or anything special. And since when did you and Kino-san and Komori-san become such great buddies?”

“Stop pouting and answer some questions.”

“Don’t call it pouting! Only girls pout; guys sulk.”

“And how is that better?”

“It just sounds nicer.”

“Ah ...”

“Besides, you’re the one who kept going to see other people while I was stuck at home!”

“Hey, you could’ve gone.”

“No, I couldn’t have! You told me to go play with the puppy!”

“By the way, she seems to have taken quite a liking to you, even though she can’t even see you. And you seem to like her just as much. Can cats and dogs get together?”

“That’s not the point! And NO!”  

---

So, thanks to Gumi’s stubborn resistance, we ended up sleeping past midnight. Admittedly, I could have answered the questions more clearly, but it really was fun watching her get mad. And she didn’t have to be so difficult!

Yes, it was definitely Gumi’s fault.

---

Megumi’s POV:

It was all Yuki’s fault.

Couldn’t he have given more than one-word answers? Thanks to his unexplainable need to annoy me, we slept after midnight last night.

We probably kept Kei-kun up too. I wondered if he was really doing okay in class. He was in the grade above us, but I still felt a bit protective of him. Some people could be harsh to country kids.

“We have to see the teacher after class,” Yuki mentioned.

Yes, that was right.... Wait, what?!

“Since when?!” I screeched.

“Um, just now when he woke us up.”

“He woke us up?!”

“Well, I guess technically he woke me up, and I woke you up. Either way, we still have to go see him after class.”

I was in shock. I’d never been sent to the teacher’s before. That only happened to delinquents and those lazy kids who looked down on everyone else.

“Nakajima-kun and Nakajima-san! Please be quiet and work on your workbooks like the rest of the class! Your names are becoming uncomfortably natural to pronounce!”

I blushed again, recalling that we were in the middle of class, and cursed Yuki. It was still his fault. His idiocy seemed to be contagious.

I bent my head over my notebook and started to work. If I was going to get in trouble, at least I had to keep my grades up.

After spending five minutes staring at the first page, I gave up. This is why people listen in class - to understand! Since I’d been sleeping, I didn’t understand.

This was bad.

---

Yuki’s POV:

This was not good.

I’d been in Gumi’s household long enough to know that her mother expected average, if not excellent, grades. And Gumi currently looked lost.

With a flick of my wrist, the answers appeared on her paper, written in her handwriting with all the steps shown. She jumped so hard that her knee hit her desk, and every head in the room turned towards her.

“A spider ...”

“Where?!” Sensei screamed. The heads turned towards him.

“Ah, I might have been sleepy still, because it’s not there now.”

He coughed and straightened his already-impeccable shirt sleeves.

“Sleeping and telling lies in class - Nakajima-san, I don’t know what’s gotten into you.”

Gumi’s eyes were burning holes through her desk. She turned the eyes on me.

“Make it go away!” She whispered.

In front of her, Miku asked, “Was there really a spider?”

“No, it’s something else.”

“Oh.”

“Why?” I asked Gumi.

“Because -”

“Nakajima-san and Nakajima-kun! Do I always have to remind you that you are in the middle of class?!”

---

As we slowly walked to the teachers’ lounge, Gumi insisted, “Make the answers go away.”

“Why? So you can get a failing grade?”

“No, but I don’t cheat! Have you ever seen me cheat?”

I realized that, no, I’d never seen her cheat, but I still retorted, “I find it hard to believe that a high school student has never once cheated in her life.”

“Well ...”

“Hah! So you have cheated before!”

We stopped in front of the teachers’ lounge entrance.

“I believe that as long as I understand, it’s okay. But even then, I have to show steps. This - this is the ultimate cheating! Even the steps are on it!”

“Fine then.” I paused, and then continued, “The steps are now gone.”

“But I still don’t understand it! So make the answers go away too!”

“It’s like you want to get into trouble! If you’re so obstinate, then I’ll teach you later!”

The door flew open. Sensei glowered at us. Behind him, I could see the rows of teachers’ cubbies and desks.

“Why do you two insist on causing disruption wherever you go?! Follow me.”

We meekly followed him to the school garden, where he sat us down on the grass.

He nervously cleared his throat and began, “Nakajima-san, from what I have heard from the junior high department, you were always a well-behaving and quiet student. But for some reason, this year you are disruptive and lazy. I’m inclined to blame Nakajima-kun.”

When I tried to protest, he said sharply, “Don’t interrupt. Nakajima-kun, you are friendly and well-liked, and your grades are perfect, but you two argue far too much. I’ve ... eeto ... heard rumors among the students that you are often seen together.”

Gumi looked like she was going crazy. She stared at an ant pile.

“Now, what you do in your free time is none of my concern, but ...” His face turned pink. “Please try not to let it interfere with your studies. Don’t spend all your time together, and, um, staying up too late is ... ahem ... not advised, especially at your age and ... maturity ...”

He trailed off as Gumi’s blank expression turned horrified. “Are you insinuating -” she began, but I clapped a hand over .

“We understand, Sensei. We won’t let our private lives interfere with our studies.”

He nodded and, before leaving, added, “Ah, Nakajima-san, I’m sorry if I’ve offended you. Please work hard. You have potential. And Nakajima-kun, you know, men are supposed to spoil their women.”

Both Gumi’s and my face reddened. Sensei winked and sauntered away.

“I cannot believe what just happened!” Gumi whispered, looking back at the ant pile. “The teacher ... as if I would ever, and with Yuki ...”

I gently gripped her arm and said, “Let’s go home.” She didn’t argue, but she did pull away and walk far behind me the whole way back.

---

 “Want me to teach you now?”

Gumi kept her face buried in a pillow.

“You can’t pout all day.”

“I can if I want to,” she said in a muffled voice.

I pulled her hair.

“Ow, ow! Itai ...” She took her face away from the pillow. It was bright red.

“W-Were you embarrassed?” I asked.

Her face lowered. “Go away,” she ordered.

“But -”

“Just leave me alone for now.”

I went downstairs, played with Pocky, and mused over women and their moods.

---

Megumi’s POV:

My face felt like it was on fire. I couldn’t believe that Sensei would think ... did Yuki and I seem that close?

I to my back and stared at the ceiling. Yuki and I were the same as always. Three weeks had passed, and nothing was changing. I wasn’t even sure if I was in love anymore. Maybe it had just been my imagination, a passing fancy, or a small crush that was fading.

The doorbell rang. I wondered if it was Yuki pretending to be visiting so that I couldn’t kick him out of my room without seeming rude. He’d done it before.

I walked downstairs and opened the door. It was Kaede-chan. Behind me, an invisible Yuki gasped and flew back into the living room, forgetting that she couldn’t see him.

“Ah, Gumi, I wanted to see how you were doing after class ...”

“Thanks.”

She considered me for a second, and I wondered if my face still looked like a tomato.

“Want to go for a walk?”

“Sure.” I put on my shoes. “Bye!” I called into the house. Kei-kun was in his room, the guest room that he’d been given. Mama was gardening and Papa was still at work. Yuki would probably forge a fake note from me, telling them where I was.

Kaede-chan and I walked past my neighborhood in comfortable silence. As we passed by Josei Academy, she spoke up, “So, what did the teacher want?”

“He told us not to let our private lives interfere with our education.”

“That’s it?”

“Not exactly. But it bothered me.”

“I think I might know. Don’t worry about it. He’s a teacher. They’re silly.”

“But there’s something else ... you know Yuki? I’m not too sure about him anymore.”

Kaede-chan stopped walking and turned to me, her eyes serious.

“Are you saying ...”

“I might not be in love. I don’t know. It’s confusing.”

She smiled and asked, “Nakajima Megumi, are you saying that you’ll give him up to me?”

“Maybe ...”

“So after you tell him, you’ll let me take him? And never give him back?”

“I guess ...” For some reason, a lump in my throat started to form. I swallowed it.

Her voice dropped down to a whisper. “Would you mind it if you never saw him again?”

“I - I don’t know ...”

“You idiot!”

I glanced at her in surprise. Her face was twisted with fury.

“Do you think Yuki deserves a person like you?! Someone like you, who gives up the second things start to get difficult?! Because he doesn’t! No one does!"

She took a deep breath, and I prepared for more screaming, but instead she just mumbled, "I’m disappointed in you, Gumi.”

With that, she whirled around and walked off. I could only stare in shock.

Was I really giving up? I didn’t think so, but ... why else would I have wanted to cry?

“You should follow,” a cute female voice said.

“Yep,” chimed in another voice. This one was deeper but still feminine.  

“No one likes a giver-upper,” the voices said together.

My head spun around as I looked for their source. Were my headphones malfunctioning?

“Up here,” both voices said. I looked up.

“Turn around.” I turned around and saw that I was standing outside the school garden. Perched on top of the wooden gate were two children, both with beautiful golden hair and azure eyes. One was obviously a girl; I couldn’t tell what gender the other one was.

“I’m Rin,” the girl chirped.

“And I’m Len,” the other one said. This child was the owner of the deeper but still feminine voice. I realized that he was a boy, a real live bishonen.

For a moment, my mouth hung open like a cow’s.

“Nice to meet you,” they said in perfect sync.

“W-What are you doing on t-the fence?”

“We live here.”

“The school?”

“Just here. Are you going to follow her? Giving up isn’t fun.”

“Oh, yeah!” I saw Kaede-chan turn a corner. She was right. I was giving up because I was unsure. And the children were right too. No one likes a giver-upper.

“Thanks!” I said.

“No problem,” they replied. “Visit sometime.” Then they jumped off the fence and into the garden, where they disappeared into the shadows.

That was weird.

But first, I had to save my weakening friendship, and then return home and apologize to Yuki. I ran off, remembering that I hadn’t asked for the children’s last names.

I should be able to find them again. They were pretty unique. How could I miss them?

And how could I have not seen them before? 

sry, This chapter was kinda boring, but it did introduce Rin and Len, and they're important. So's the teacher. 

haha, I'm introducing so many new characters ... and a lot of them have names that start with K ... strange ...

Bold characters means that the twins are speaking at the same time. There's gonna be a lot of that. :)