Two boys walked in casually as though they hadn't just barged into the class. Amu was only recovering from her surprise when she glared up at the intruders.
"What do we have here? So it is just you who everyone was so excitedly talking about," one of the two boys voiced. He had fawn worthy hair, drowned in a lovely shade of amethyst. His amber eyes implored on her figure boldly. A smirk tugged at his lips when he basically eye-raped her. "You're not bad, I'd give you only that."
While his comment had the ability to keep her flustered for days, her attention was fixed elsewhere to even care. Her shock at the discovery that 'Seiyo Academy' was male-dominated area was long forgotten and thrown at the back of her mind when her own honeyed eyes met surprised looking jade eyes. Her memories resurfaced, hitting her like tons of iron on the head.
"You... It is you," he breathed out as if in a daze.
"Y-You!" Amu pointed her finger at the brunette. Her gold eyes, wide in recognition and surprise, mirrored his own.
The events of that fated night played over and over inside her head, especially the climax part. A flush appeared on her cheeks, deepening when cinnamon haired boy caught the sight of her blush. Without meaning to, the boy found himself smiling evasively at the older women.
"You know each other?" The long-haired male cocked a brow in mild surprise, but otherwise, he was leering at the duo. Brunette only spared him a glance, before retiring his gaze fixedly at the red-faced rosette.
"N-No, we don't. I have just met him somewhere, only once." Amu reasoned, her hard-as-nails eyes zeroed on the smirking boy. It didn't affect him in the least if anything, his amber eyes laughed at her. How irritating.
"Is that so?" His voice teased her.
"That is so." Amu gritted her teeth as she answered him. He's being difficult.
"Uh...you're the new chemistry teacher?" The brunette arched a brow in question. His jade eyes boring into hers, gleaming in curiosity. He will not admit but he was thrilled. He never thought he'll be meeting the women he interacted with at the bar, again, and definitely not appear before him, claiming she will be teaching him from then onwards.
"Yes, why? Do you have any problem?" Amu shot back coldly. The brunette flinched back, slightly, in surprise. He didn't expect her to react harshly. Out of the corner of her eye, Amu noticed the lavender-haired boy giving her a look of offense.
Amu bit back a sigh. She needed to keep her emotion in check. Everyone often tells her that she was very moody. Only her husband, love of her life, Ikuto, handles her awful mood swings well. She gets easily affected by everything.
"I...I mean yes...I am." Amu sounded really sorry which both the boys noticed. Their eyes didn't soften though. The Rosette didn't expect them to. She shouldn't have done that, she sounded very hurtful even to her owns. She knew everything yet she lost her grip.
"I'm your chemistry teacher, for two months at most. My name is Amu. Amu Tsukiyomi." Amu nodded at them. Their history aside (there wasn't much anyway), the brunette was now her student. The least she could do is introduce herself properly. Golden eyes watched them expectantly.
They nodded back, one more hesitant than another.
"...Nagihiko Fujisaki." The amber eyed boy hesitated, his gaze softening ever so slightly. Amu was glad that he didn't look hostile towards her anymore.
"I'm Kukai Souma. Do you mind if I call you just Amu? I'm not good with surnames." The brunette began, his tone laced with nonchalance. Amu eyed him suspiciously. Is that the only reason? She needed to be sure. His emerald eyes seemed to gleam with interest when Amu nodded, albeit hesitantly.
"You may all just as well call me Amu. I'm only few years older than you anyway." Amu turned to the class when she said this. It wasn't the only reason but honorifics and surnames makes her feel older than she was, so it was for the best. Plus, she doesn't want to appear like she was only giving Kukai the privilege of calling her by her first name.
They were only strangers.
"And you two, go and take your seats." Amu pointed her thumb over to the empty seats at the back of the class. Nagihiko didn't even wait for her to get done with her order, he was already on his seat by the time Amu finished. He only gave her an even stare when she glared at him.
He was just as moody as her. One moment he's a flirt, and next, he's a grumpy boy.
Amu then turned to Kukai and motioned him to do the same. His eyes met her like magnets. She was forced to look away when the contact seemed to prolong. He shrugged at her and stalked off to take the seat beside the cold-eyed boy.
Maybe she was reading too much but he looked more solemn than she had expected in person. That night, she couldn't explain well, but he was rather...playful. Maybe mysterious too. He wasn't so much anymore.
Amu sighed, why was she feeling so disappointed?
"Today we'll just hold an introductory session..." Amu said, leaning against the desk with her arms crossed over her chest. "Is anyone willing to take lead? Come on, just name is fine y'know..."
No one dared to raise their hand.
"Fine. I'll choose if no one is volunteering..." Amu decided. Groans and complaints reached her ears, it was overwhelming her. She was never very good with handling crowd. Gold-eyes wandered off to search for a willing participant.
When she found herself in an eye lock with the blonde haired boy — one with bowl-cut, and glacial blue eyes — she swallowed a lump in her throat. Right... She was in a boy's school turned coeducational. The boy was generous when he left the conversation as it was, sparing her of inevitable embarrassment. It wasn't like she had a smart answer to contribute anyway.
"...how about you?" She regarded the stoic boy with a warm looking eyes. Something was off about the boy, her gut was telling her that this guy didn't particularly like her.
He remained unresponsive to her for a good minute. The penetrating blue of his eyes only making her think twice of her decision. Her smile wavered, his gaze unsettling her.
"...Hikaru. Hikaru Ichinomiya." He finally said, standing as he did. Amu bit her lip, hesitantly nodding at him.
"So? What are you going to do now? Leave the school? You blindly decided to become a teacher here after all." His eyes, as hard as nails, bored into hers, mocking her. Shadow passed over her eyes. She definitely needed to be careful around his kid!
"Oh that. I'm hardly bothered. Why would I care if there are more male students? Don't worry about me, you should worry about yourself." Amu chuckled. Her topaz eye held a challenging glint. Amu decided it was best to give the boy a piece of her mind, he was acting as though she had no knowledge about the subject whatsoever. So what if she was a bit careless about the school? She didn't really care, she was going to prove the boy that.
"I don't. I excel in chemistry, unlike certain idiots..." She blinked in surprise. She could have sworn that his eyes flickered to Kukai. She thought he looked particularly venomous towards Kukai when he did.
"Oh yeah?...I'm not the one who goes around stealing other's girlfriend..." The brunette scoffed without sparing the ginger-haired boy a glance. Amu shivered when she took notice of his voice. Was that ice? His voice dropped several octaves, he sounded like a stranger.
Wait, he was more or less a stranger.
"See It is as easy as this! C'mon," Amu encouraged cheerfully, looking back and forth between two males.
"Nagihiko Fujisaki. I'm also captain of the Basketball team," the amber-eyed boy didn't get up when he inserted hiseyes fixed on Amu who returned his once-over with an unimpressed look.
Several sighs and grumbles were heard but then a chair screeched in the back.
"My name is..."
Soon one by one everyone participated and the class ended with Kukai.
"Name's Kukai Souma, captain of the school's soccer team."
Amu smiled, it wasn't so hard after all. She was wrong in assuming they were the only bunch of bullies, what she overlooked was that, at the end of the day they were still students. Students who got to cooperate with their teacher regardless of their reluctance.
"See, it wasn't that hard. You guys did great," she clapped once to get their attention. Seriousness replaced the appreciative vibe in her when she looked at them in the eye. "Next class, it's work and nothing else. And I don't want people to barging in the class either. You guys are to be on time and seated when I come, no excuses accepted."
Last part was directed at the slouching brunette and inattentive indigo-haired male. They knew but they pretended otherwise. Amu's eyes fixed on Kukai who shrugged and passed her a weak smile. Sighing, she shook her head. This was so not the cool guy she met back in the bar.
Guess they are right, people do have three faces- one in public, one in their workplace, and last in the comfort of their home.
"This is it for today," with that, she picked her things and walked out of the class. The moment she had stood up, noisy chatter filled the air of the class. Loud and seeming constant. When she closed the door behind her back, her eyes caught the sight over her shoulder and she resisted to shiver. Biting her lips, she glanced back at the closed door. Her brows furrowed worriedly, she needed to avoid him at all cost.
Kukai watched her go. Their eyes briefly met when she was closing the door and probably he made her uneasy because he could have sworn she looked enticed. Heaving a deep sigh, he shook his head. There was no way she could be that affected as he was.
On her way, rosette rebuked herself for thinking inappropriate thoughts about the chestnut-haired boy. He was her student now and she was married, it was not only inappropriate but a blasphemy.
When Amu reached the staff room (after making so many twists and turns in finding it) and settled in what was now her chair, she relaxed her muscles. The school was too big and she had problems adjusting to its unique atmosphere. She met male crowd on her way, not a female presence on sight, and it bothered her to bones. The revelation that she was now in charge of thirty or so students- male students - was tiring her mentally but she needed to get a grip and do her best to bring up even those students who are weak in her subject.
Now, all she needed to do was look at the paperwork and she was good to go.
"Yoshi! Time to get the work started!" Stretching in her seat, she declared to herself enthusiastically. Gold-eyes had a fire in them when she pushed at her knuckles and heard satisfying 'pop'. "Alright...let's see what we got here..."
Attendance list, mark sheets, unchecked assignments and...what is that?
Amu picked the parchment and turned it back and forth. It looked like a note. Shrugging, she opened it and studied the content.
To the substitute teacher,
I hope you're doing fine with the students. Most of them have no problem in the subject, all except one. I was supposed to take a special class for this student but as I'm unable to, please look into the matter and guide him in passing the semester which is up in only 3 months.
Student's name: Kukai Souma
Roll number: 23
Sincerely,
Riza Darling
04/06/20xx
Amu clutched the paper between her trembling hands. How was she supposed to give private lessons to a guy who seduced her back in the bar?
...
A/N: TADA! I finally updated! Miracle, isn't it? Peeps, I'm really sorry. School had been hard, and college is much harder. Assignment after assignment, I was getting crushed under the weight of it all...
But worries not! I'm not abandoning this story, but My Love Letter To You [MLLTY] is gonna get a new makeover. I'm gonna turn that story into a short story (consisting of 2-3 chapters at most) which I'm gonna post shortly!
Anyway, check out my new original story- Four Seasons Of Love- in my latest update!
Stay tuned for next episode of When Love Lies that will be published in a week or two!