Hello everyone! MisakiShishido here.
For whoever is reading this fanfiction of mine, thank you very much It's my first time writing a one-shot this long, so I really hope that you all will enjoy it. I specially dedicate this fanfic to an awesome fanfic author in this community whom you guys may know as Zhen for her birthday so happy belated birthday, Boss Better late than never right?
Of course not only to her but this was also written for well, Matsui Rena-san's graduation >< 卒業おめでとうございます、玲奈さん! And again I say, better late than never.
The story may seem a bit rushed to push the pacing faster (as I was working somewhat on a deadline back when this was being written) but still despite that, hope everything else is enjoyable and to everyone's liking if plots like these are up your alley
Anyways enough of my blabbering. Sit back, relax and enjoy the ride? Fated Meeting of Two Bored Individuals
“Hraaaaaah!!!”
A teenage girl waited for the young men in front of her to act first and one by one they charged at her, only to be swept off their feet by a few strong punches and kicks because they were just that lame compared to her.
*WHACK!* *WHAM!* *POW!*“W-We’ll be back for your head, MATSUI RENA!!!”
As the beaten up men scrambled away, a lone ‘ranger’ by the name of Matsui Rena calmly walked away with both hands in her blazer’s pocket, letting out a sigh of boredom as she kicked a stone or two while walking away from the scene.
And then there is another individual, currently on the other side of the world……
“Catch that blasted Phantom Thief no matter what it takes, men!!!” A woman official yelled commandingly into her headset as sirens went off around her surroundings and officers on motorbikes and in cars set off to chase after said 'Phantom Thief'.
“Daaaang. Loud as ever, Miyazawa Sae-chan of Interpol,” The figure in a black long cape with orange linings at the end, accompanied by a black top hat with similar orange linings with a black tuxedo mask on the person’s face, discarded the headset they had on and swiftly made their way towards the other end of the building and literally jumping, or I could say, flying, across to the other side with ease and and a pleased grin.
It was then another earpiece on the person’s other ear made a soft beeping sound and he or she clicked a button to receive the ‘call’.
"Can you hurry it up?! Security is crazy down here!!"
"You're so impatient, Milady. Don't worry," the figure looked at how frantic the police force was trying to chase after a flying decoy they put with a chuckle, “... While those boneheads are busy chasing after my flying friend, seems like we can vanish into the darkness as always.”
“Sounds like someone had wayyy too much fun huh, Matsui Jurina-san? Or should I say, Phantom Thief Nobunaga.”
The figure, who was revealed to be a young woman by the name of Jurina, approached the edge of the building where she saw her ride waiting for her, “Yes yes, of course I had fun. This world bores me. Hence, I need something to spice my life.”
Her partner in crime looked upwards to where Jurina was standing, rolling her eyes, “Just get down here. I don’t have any interest in getting caught by Interpol unlike you.”
“Yes ma’am~.”
She leapt down with her cape acting like a parachute and landed perfectly next to the motorbike where her partner in a black skin suit was waiting for her. She swiftly took off her cape which revealed a tuxedo and her hat which was mysteriously able to be shrunk and let her hair down.
“You done with your fashion show yet?”
“Patience, Nao-chan,” She heard sirens approaching the area they were in, “A few rogue losers who didn’t take the bait huh? Let’s wait a bit,” Jurina got up to the back seat of her partner’s bike and placed her cape and other random equipments into a bag that was attached to the side of the motorbike.
Furuhata Nao or Nao-chan as Jurina fondly calls her, sighed as she observed the blinking lights of cars and bikes with sirens passing through the road right outside of the alleyway they were waiting in. She looked backwards to her partner who was humming away, “So…” She caught the latter’s attention, “... you told me yesterday you’re leaving to Japan tomorrow to start work as a teacher or something?”
Jurina leaned backwards with a smile, “That’s right… of course, being a highly qualified teacher isn’t my main purpose… I’ll leave in a month after I pay a visit to a certain famous gem exhibition there and--”
“Let me guess,” Nao massaged her forehead, “You’re going to steal a gem or two as a souvenir?”
Jurina chuckled, “You know me well.”
“In both a bad and a good way,” Nao pouted, “I wonder what I’ll be doing for a month when you aren’t here~...”
“We’ll be in contact since I need your support but thank you for all the help especially coming out to the field to pick me up all the time,” Jurina hugged her from behind, “I’m happy to hear that you’ll miss me, Na-o-cha-n~.”
“I-I never said that you narcissist!” Nao felt the heat rising to her cheeks and started the engine, “The coast is clear, w-we’re going!!!”
“E-Eh?!” Jurina tightened her grip on the latter’s waist as they set off into the night, with luck that the police have cleared the area after their short dialogue with each other.
Matsui Rena.
A delinquent who loves to fight and play pranks.
Matsui Jurina.
A Phantom Thief wanted by Interpol who will be posing as a teacher.
How would the fate of these two intertwine with each other? And what will happen once the two meet?
FIND OUT NEXT-- *ahem*... I mean, do read on.
- x - x - x –
Rena’s POV I rolled my eyes with crossed arms as I continued to listen to the constant yapping of my Sensei.
“Are you even listening to me, Matsui Rena-san?!”
“Mmhmm~ of course I am.”
I knew that the Sensei sitting right in front of me was already fuming but hey, I just loved seeing teachers getting ticked off by my fabulousness.
Oh yeah. I guess I should introduce myself yes?
The name’s Matsui Rena. And I’m a healthy student in my third year of a co-ed high school in Nagoya called Sakae High. As you probably realized it by now, I get into a lot of trouble with my teachers that I just shrug off as if nothing has really happened. School bores me. No actually, life in general bores the ‘life’ out of me. Get it? HAHAHA… Nevermind.
Anyways, the ironic thing is that my face says otherwise.
I have always been told that I looked like an elegant and poised high school student, with my background of top grades and all that shazz. Some even think that I look weak and frail… or as fragile as a flower petal.
That’s DEFINITELY not it!!!
I may LOOK that way but I certainly am not! I love playing around with my peeps in class, to their surprise in the beginning obviously when I approached them with a wide grin on my face and an openly crude manner. They even help me out with pranking both students and teachers alike, though I always take the blame for them, since… I’m that much of a good person of course.
And not forgetting my repertoire of fighting for fun. I help the weak by knocking some senses into the strong like a hero of justice! So far, no one has really attempted to put me down yet so fighting is like a side-hobby I do when I’m just bored with pranking.
School bores me. It really does. I achieve amazing grades without breaking a sweat because I’m born a genius!
That’s why… I just can’t help but stir up trouble. I had enough of people looking at me as if I was some ice queen. Sure, I was a pretty darn anti-social creep who was just sitting quietly at the corner back in the days BUT IT HAS ALL CHANGED ever since I’ve entered high school! It was a huge leap of faith I took but definitely a rewarding one.
After all, it does feel nice being the infamous kid around the block. I understand how delinquents feel now.
“Write me a 1000 words apology note that will explain to me how you’ll change and—”
“Here you go, Sensei~” I handed him an opened-up folded up piece of paper that was in my side pocket nonchalantly, “1000 words essay, serving right~ up.”
“Why you…” Sensei gritted his teeth as he roughly snatched the piece of paper from me, speechless at my beautiful handwriting. He glanced at me for a moment before motioning for me to leave his sight with his head. I gave him a brief wave with a playful smirk on my face before leaving.
- x - x - x –
Right outside of his office, my best friend since forever, Takayanagi Akane, was waiting for me and tossed me my bag which I successfully caught. Gosh I realised how much of a mouthful her family name is. TA-KA-YA-NA-GI. Ugh.
“Aww, you packed my things for me again? Thanks Churi, I love you.”
Oh yes, Churi is her nickname because she’s quite the birdbrain. She has this obsessive love of birds that you’ll probably feel like you’re in a torture center if you’re afraid of them when you go to her house.
“Says the troublemaker,” she lets out a deep sigh, “Come on Rena-san. You know it isn’t nice to spray a teacher’s butt with a water gun that was loaded with lemon juice during class of all times. And then getting into a fight right after school yesterday...”
I swung an arm over her shoulders with a grin, “Hey now, the whole class laughed like heck! If it weren’t for me, everyone could have fallen asleep like any other day! Plus! The teacher didn’t complain about me fighting so that~ doesn’t~ count~!”
“Any other day like what… the days you don’t prank any of our teachers?” Churi shook her head, “I won’t comment about the fighting.”
I pouted, “You’re such a boring person today Churi~ what happened to you huh?”
She shook her head, “If one of us doesn’t play the mature one of the two, we’d probably end up in detention, suspended, expelled or even worse, in jail Rena-san.”
I unattached my arms around her and swung both arms behind my head before beginning to walk ahead of her, “Mmhmm~ whatever you say Churi~”
“Oi oi, aren’t you supposed to go to Kendo practice, supposed-now-wannabe Ace of the Kendo Club-san?”
I stopped momentarily to contemplate my decision. To go or not to go. That’s the question huh~ haha! I sound like Shakespeare!
“Nahh I’m gonna pass for today. I don’t know why but I’m really exhausted today,” I faked a yawn after stating my excuse without turning back to look at Churi and started to walk off again, “Enjoy taking care of them little ones, Captain-san~”
I heard Churi’s groan and mumbling as she walked off towards the opposite direction of me. I’m not heartless okay? I just don’t feel like it today. It’s like those days where… you just don’t feel like eating ice-cream! Yeah…
To be frank, I was just plain lazy. HAHA!
“Hmm~” I let my arms down while walking and paused my steps to check on the time on my watch, “Cool! It’s still early! I can still get that delicious Melon Pan at that famous stall and play games right after I get home! Time to finish that RPG I’ve been holding off for so long~” I smiled to myself before stopping at the shoe lockers area to swap my shoes before exiting the school.
Guess I’m pulling an all-nighter to play this game!
- x - x - x –
Right after Rena had left her Sensei’s office, the adjacent door at the other end of the room slid open softly and a smartly-dressed young woman who had black-rimmed glasses over her eyes stepped into the office, looking around blankly.
“Yes…? Who might you be looking for?” The teacher who was confronting Rena a while ago got out of his seat after he noticed the unfamiliar presence.
“Greetings,” the woman bowed, “My name is Matsui Jurina. I’m a new teacher from the UK. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“New teacher?” He adjusted his glasses until the other door swung open and a somewhat elderly man stepped in in a hurry, approaching the two individuals.
“M-Matsui-sensei! I’m sorry to have not greeted you at the entrance!” The elderly man said apologetically but Jurina gestured it was alright.
“You shouldn’t exert yourself too much umm… Principal Hiroshi?” She smiled at him.
“Thank you for the consideration,” the principal finally caught his breath, “Ariyoshi-sensei,” he looked at the other teacher, “She will be taking over your class effective tomorrow.”
“Oh…! She’s my replacement. I see!” Ariyoshi-sensei looked as if a beam of happiness shot directly at him. He quickly shook both of Jurina’s hands, looking chipper, “Thank you very much for taking over! I hope you’ll… you’ll survive.”
“Ariyoshi!”
Ariyoshi-sensei gulped and let go of Jurina’s hands. Jurina looked confusedly at the Principal.
“What did he mean?”
The Principal sighed and massaged his forehead in frustration before folding his arms, “You see… I noted that you have a counseling degree with of course a PhD in lecturing and your various awards to boot and well… I was thinking you could help this school correct a certain problem student who excels in her academics.”
“A problem student huh. What’s this student’s name?”
“Matsui Rena,” Ariyoshi-sensei gritted his teeth and turned around, pointing at his butt that still had evident stains of the lemon juice on it despite drying his backside near a heater in the office, “She squirted at me with a water gun during class!”
She couldn’t help but smirk in amusement, “Another Matsui like me? That’s interesting.”
“Here’s the brat’s file,” Ariyoshi-sensei grabbed a file from the small file rack on his desk and handed it to Jurina, “Do read up on her before you face her wrath.”
“I doubt it’d be me facing her wrath though,” Jurina laughed for a moment before changing into a serious, darkened expression, “... I’d love to see her facing mine.”
“M-Matsui-sensei?” The principal called out, snapping Jurina out of her darkened look.
She responded with a smile, “I will have a thorough reading of this file then. Thank you.”
“Oh, do take this piece of paper and file it in too,” he handed her the letter of apology that Rena had just given to him.
“What is this?”
“A letter of apology for today. Sincerely from the notorious student,” he rolled his eyes and turned back to his desk to take his belongings.
“Matsui… Rena…” She said to herself as her voice trailed off.
“I look forward to having you as one of our staff for a month from tomorrow then, Matsui Jurina-sensei. And I hope you will be able to help change even a bit of that girl’s attitude during your time here,” the principal bowed at her and she did so too in return.
“Likewise, Principal Hiroshi Yuasa. You will not be disappointed.”
- x - x - x –
Rena’s POV Another boring day at school. Ugh, I really wonder why I even bother coming here everyday. It’s such a chore! Plus… I’m darn sleepy…
“Morning, Rena-san!”
A familiar voice called out to me from behind followed by a hard but friendly smack on my back. I let out a yawn before she walked to my side, glancing at my tired face.
“Whoa you look tired, Rena-san,” she stared at my obvious eye bags, “You pulled an all-nighter studying or something?”
“Are you kidding me?” I let out a weak laugh, “I was busy playing a certain RPG where the main characters are trying to find the murderer of a chain of serial murder cases which leads them to entering a world in the TV and--”
Churi gave me a few pats on my shoulder, signalling for me to stop, “Okay okay, I get where you’re going, that’s enough.”
“But I was just getting to the good part…” I pouted.
“Games aside,” She looked at me with sparkling eyes, “You gonna pull off a prank today as usual?”
“I thought you disliked me pranking on our teachers…”
“Yeah well that was yesterday!” She puffed out her chest confidently, “Today’s a new day, and I’m interested in seeing what you do!” She winked, “Plus~ it’d be nice if you spiced up English class anyways. That subject is seriously boring. The fact it’s the first subject we’re having today too…”
I squinted my eyes, pouting even more, “So it’s because you just don’t want to sit through a boring class that’s why you want to see things happen is that it?”
“Pretty much, yes,” Churi stated bluntly.
“Well then, I’m not going to do much today but play a simple but efficient prank instead of the stuff I would usually do during class time because you just want to use me~” I lamely said before beginning to skip away without my ‘beloved’ best friend.
“H-Hey!!! You’re so mean!”
I twirled back momentarily, sticking out my tongue before running off into the classroom building, “Serves you right, Churi!”
Oh yes, for my prank… let’s just say, it’s pretty much the oldest trick in the book.
I’m tired today anyways, so I’ll just cut my Sensei some slack with something light.
- x - x - x –
Rena’s POV Right after arriving in class, I quickly scanned around the classroom to ensure that all my classmates were already in class, knowing that they’re always punctual, and went up to the blackboard, taking the duster with me.
Churi came in shortly after and gave me an unimpressed look, “You serious, Rena-san? That’s just… lame.”
I grinned, “Hey, there are times where pranksters have to return back to basics instead of doing elaborate stuff you know.”
She lets out a sigh and went to her seat, slouching immediately after sitting down, eyeing me as I planted the duster between a gap I made with the front door, “Suit yourself.”
I checked if it was secure enough before heading to my seat with a smirk on my face. Pretty much all the teachers who teach us will never ever expect a prank in advance, which is just stupid of them. I can’t believe they haven’t gotten used to what I may or may not do by now! It’s been what, two years? Now I’m in my third and final year!!!
“Let’s see if a miracle occurs and Ariyoshi-sensei actually gets in without getting a duster on his head,” I giggled mischievously to myself before hearing the chime that signalled for homeroom to commence.
Everyone in class settled down rather quickly and about a minute later, the door slid open. Only… something was amiss.
“W-Wha…” My eyes widened, mouth agape.
The duster fell onto the floor and an extended hand picked it up before entering the classroom.
It wasn’t Ariyoshi-sensei! Who… Who the heck is this person?!
She coolly walked to the teacher’s desk in the front-center of our classroom, setting down her materials for our class with the duster on top of the pile of materials and eyed us with piercing eyes. She was smartly-dressed, with the whole casual suit-style going on and the black-rimmed glasses. Short but tidy, parted hair…
One thing’s for sure.
I have never encountered this menacing-looking Sensei before.
“… Class… 3-A. The elite class of the whole third year…” She took the duster in her hand, looking at it coldly, “… And yet, someone in this class enjoys pranking teachers I heard…”
I gulped. This was the first time I actually felt afraid and remorse after doing a prank… A MINOR ONE AT THAT!!!
“… Nevertheless… I’ll let this slip aside, after all…” She looked directly at me with her cold, piercing eyes that was behind the frame of her glasses, “… It seems like I managed to break your success streak… Matsui… Rena-san.”
I felt that all eyes were on me now. Glancing slightly beside me, I saw Churi panicking for my sake and I calmly shifted my gaze towards this irritatingly cool-acting Sensei.
“… I-I…” I cleared my throat, my hands slowly curling themselves up into balls of fists, “… D-Don’t you think you’re a bit rude, Sensei? Immediately accusing me of doing such a thing… not to mention, you haven’t even introduced yourself!” I stood up in frustration, “Just who the heck do you think you are?!”
Eventhough our gazes were locked on to each other momentarily as I yelled at her, she shifted her gaze to look at the rest of the students around me before turning around to write her name on the blackboard behind her, placing the duster back to the railing, “… I am Matsui Jurina. Your temporary homeroom teacher and English teacher for a month before a proper replacement takes over. And it is all thanks to a certain student in this classroom that I had to fly all the way from the UK to give that certain student…” She turned around again and glared at me as she paused, “… close observation.”
I could already hear whispering about me getting into serious trouble around me but I’m just going to play it cool. You think I’m afraid of a teacher who thinks she can scare the heck out of her students?!
“Heh…”I sat down and crossed my arms and legs in one swift motion, leaning back on my seat emitting a purposely lax attitude towards her, “Sure, go ahead, Matsui-sensei—no—Jurina-sensei. Observe me all you want.”
No matter how intimidating she sounds, I’m not going to be fazed by a Sensei like her! Especially when she shares my family name! Aaaargh!!! That really ticks me off!!!
We exchanged ferocious looks at each other before she began homeroom and the whole roll call thing. What I can say for now is that she definitely lacks emotions… gosh… she sounds like a robot for crying out loud! I kind of miss Ariyoshi-sensei’s wacky-sounding voice and gestures… no matter… she may have broken my precious record of pulling off successful pranks but… I’m sure she’s going to get pranked, no matter what!
The game is ON, Matsui Jurina-sensei!!!
- x - x - x –
During class, Rena noticed that nearly half of her classmates were either dozing off or had already started losing their concentration by passing letters around and looking out the window. Rena instinctively knew that the whole situation of the class was her cue to stir up some trouble to… let’s just say… get rid of the boring aura currently residing in the class.
She rummaged through her bag as quietly as she could, taking out the water pistol she had used yesterday against Ariyoshi-sensei that still had ample amounts of lemon juice to spray the heck out of the new Sensei before her. To be honest, she would have decided to sleep through the day instead of attempting more pranks IF and only IF it had been Ariyoshi-sensei and not Matsui Jurina-sensei who immediately got on her nerves and also, tarnished her pride as the infamous prankster of the class of elites.
She placed the water pistol on her lap with a tight grip on the handle, analysing every move that Jurina was making and finding a perfect opening for her to squirt directly at her slim fit pants-cladded buttocks. She found it amusing how the teachers just never thought of changing the position of her seat, as sitting in front means, to her, the best position to pull off any kind of pranks.
She smirked to herself when she found the perfect timing and when she was about to aim, as if Jurina knew what was coming at her, she called out to the mischief maker.
“Matsui Rena.”
She immediately shoved the water pistol into the drawer of her desk which made a loud cranky noise and responded with a shaky voice, “Y-Yes?”
Jurina turned back to face Rena properly with a stern look on her face, “If you were trying to pull off a prank, you’re clearly underestimating my perception.”
Rena gulped but tried to stay as calm as she could despite feeling heat accumulating on her cheeks when she heard soft laughter here and there around her from her peers. This teacher had just humiliated her again!
“... H-Heh. W-What makes you even think that way, you jerk of a Sensei?!” Rena exclaimed, not even looking into Jurina’s eyes, which made the latter shrug a bit and placed the book she was using onto her desk before walking towards her desk, hovering over seat.
Rena, realising the prominent shadow over her, just crossed her arms, looking downwards.
Jurina, daringly, forced Rena to look straight into her eyes by cupping her chin with a hand of hers and that made Rena’s heart skip a beat. No, not in the ‘in love’ way, but more of the ‘someone save me, I’m scared!’ way. She could not help but gaze into the Sensei’s intimidating and fierce orbs… and found that she was slowly getting mesmerised by them instead of completely succumbing to absolute fear as she thought.
“A student should not talk back at a teacher like that. Please learn how to respect others, Matsui-san.”
Rena could feel Jurina’s breath in her face as she spoke with authority and blushed. As much as she hated this Sensei of hers that will be teaching them for a month, her body is just reacting otherwise, and that made her mentally curse herself.
Jurina let go of Rena’s chin immediately after she spoke and proceeded to resume with her lecture until suddenly, the school bell rang, signalling for the change of class.
“Well then. I hope you all have understood today’s lecture. Please do not be afraid to question me if you have any doubts on a specific part of today’s topic. That is all.”
The class representative called for everyone to bow and greet Jurina before she did the same briefly and left the classroom with her materials. That was when, right after she left…
Almost the whole class went berserk around Rena, some were fangirling about what they had just witnessed, some were worried about their class’ personal entertainer and some studious types just couldn't bother. Churi had also joined in by pushing through the small crowd that had gathered around Rena to ask if she was alright. However, all she saw was Rena’s face being buried in her palms, arching slightly on her desk, obviously embarrassed over her failure and humiliation.
“R-Rena-san! You alright?”
Rena lifted her face from her hands and looked towards the source of Akane’s voice with an animated teary-eyed face, “C-Churi~…….”
Akane had a half-lidded look on her face that showed how speechless she was with how Rena was currently acting, “She really got you good huh.”
“Rena-san! How was it when she cupped your chin just now?!” A student asked in a fangirl voice.
“Was she as ikemen as she looked like up close?!” Another quickly followed.
Rena had that scene flash through her mind and lightly kicked her desk in frustration, pouting and felt the heat rise to her cheeks again. She then looked towards the two students who were right beside her with their sparkly fangirl-like eyes, “... It was a horrible feeling and no, she’s just an ugly woman who thinks she’s cool.”
“Ehhhhhh………” One of the fangirls said before leaving the crowd in disbelief.
The rest of the students dispersed shortly after Rena had insisted she was alright, despite feeling the pain of her pride getting ripped right out of her today. Akane was hesitant on returning to her seat but that changed when the next teacher had entered the class and another period of boring Maths begun.
Rena, frustrated at herself, decided to redeem her pride by squirting at the unknowing Sensei before her with perfect succession and that brought a smile back to her face when she heard the Sensei grumbling at her, asking her to meet her at her office later during break and the rest of the class were laughing as they should. Yes! This was how the prank was supposed to work! Prank > Teacher ends up getting laughed at and then immediately points at Rena to grumble at her > Friends laugh > Ends up getting called to the teacher’s office.
Rena enjoyed the thrill of being a mischief maker. And she definitely won’t stop even if that temporary Sensei knows how to stop her.
- x - x - x –
As always, Rena has ended up in the teacher’s office with the teacher telling her to act more mature, reminding her she’s the Ace of the elites and yapping away on morals. However, it was different today when she realised a certain Sensei coming their way.
Oh gosh how she wanted to escape the office now.
“Is there a matter with my student, mm..." Jurina made a quick glance at the nameplate of her colleague, "Okubo-sensei?”
“Oh hello, Matsui-sensei,” The Maths teacher greeted before standing up and showing her wet bum to her, “Look at what this student here has done!”
“... It’s a replay of yesterday’s event with Ariyoshi-sensei I see,” Jurina sighed and glanced at Rena who met her eyes momentarily before looking away in frustration, “Please let me handle her. I am her temporary homeroom teacher after all.”
“Oh… yes yes… I understand,” Okubo-sensei looked at Rena for a while before leaving the two be as she went out of the office, probably to dry her skirt in the washroom.
Now it was just both Matsui. A student and a teacher.
“... Go ahead. Chew on me like all the teachers do,” Rena bluntly said.
“I have no intention of handling you like how all the teachers have. I have my own ways,” Jurina replied without any sense of expression in her voice. The teacher looked at the clock before returning to look at Rena, “Are you free at the moment, Matsui-san?”
Rena stood up, trying to overcome the difficulty of looking at Jurina’s fierce eyes, “... Yeah. I’m free. What is it?”
“Come with me.”
Jurina walked off towards the door which made Rena grit her teeth, getting more and more impatient at how this Sensei was acting towards her. She had not much of a choice but to follow her and on the way, she made a few new discoveries too. Firstly, Jurina-sensei was popular amongst the students, seeing how swarm and swarm of girls and guys would come up to her to see her up close after the news of her being the only teacher to have successfully flaunted one of Rena’s pranks; Secondly, she would actually smile at the other students, but Rena could feel something was off with that smile, as if it was a fake smile; Thirdly, she walked rather fast, which Rena thought was to avoid the students from following her as if she was some kind of chick magnet.
Rena hated her, yet… she could not help but feel intrigued by Jurina’s existence.
They stopped behind the school building, which was quite the quiet area that seemed inappropriate for a teacher to bring a student to just ‘have a talk’. Rena had her guard up in case Jurina were to pull anything funny on her.
“... Jurina-sensei, I’m having classes soon, so let’s make this choppy, alright?” Rena expressed her impatience of being around Jurina, crossing her arms as she looked at the slender back of her Sensei.
“I doubt you’d actually want to sit through a class yes?”
Rena remained quiet, realising that was a stupid excuse to leave her sensei’s presence.
“Do you like felines, Matsui-san?”
“H-Huh? Cats?” Rena jerked at the sudden random question that was asked in a low voice, “Yeah I do like ‘em. Why?”
"I found out about this place when I paid a visit here yesterday. It's a hotspot for hungry cats."
Jurina took something from her skirt’s pocket that seemed like a flat tin of sardines and turned back to face Rena, tossing her the tin.
“Open it for me.”
“H-Huh?!” Rena exclaimed at the tin of sardines tossed at her out of the blue which she thankfully managed to catch but when she met Jurina’s eyes that transcribed itself to ‘do it’, she sighed and did as asked of her, without another word.
Nyaa~~~ Nyaa~~~ Nyaa~~~
“U-Uwaa!” Rena was surprised at the sudden litter of about six cats coming their way from a shrub of bushes near the fence and jumped close to Jurina who just gave her a reassuring pat on her shoulder.
“Go on, feed them.”
Rena looked at how close they were standing to each other and quickly widened the gap by stepping away from Jurina and knelt down to feed the incoming litter. The tin was small but it was as if the cats knew how to take turns as they fed on the sardines given to them.
“They’re so adorable…!” Rena giggled happily when one of the cats decided to nuzzle itself around Rena’s hand with her caressing its fur affectionately.
Jurina knelt down beside her and cradled one of them in her arms, smiling at the cat that was in a comfortable position and let out a muted yawn, “... Yes. I agree.”
Rena looked over at Jurina’s face, noticing how suave she actually did look like and her current facial expression that literally expressed ‘warmth’ and felt her heart pounding at an abnormally rapid rate, as if she was beginning to feel nervous all of a sudden.
Jurina looked into Rena’s dazed orbs with the same smile of sincerity that suddenly turned into a look of surprise when she noticed Rena’s cheeks with an obvious hue of red on it, “Matsui-san?”
- x - x - x –
Rena’s POV Oh no… oh gosh no…
What is this feeling? Please… don’t tell me…
“Matsui-san?”
Jurina-sensei’s voice snapped me out of my reverie and I noticed her confused look.
“A-Ah… u-umm…” I tried to speak, but my mind wasn’t thinking at all until I finally arranged the words in my head as fast as I could to convey it coherently, “Y-You… why… why bring me here? Why… make me feed these cats?”
“Hmm… I wonder…” Jurina-sensei’s voice trailed off but her eyes never left mine, “... Maybe because… you’re a special student of mine that needs my keen supervision for this whole month, that I want to let you in on my secret.”
I swear, my heart skipped a beat once more when she said that. W-What the heck did she mean by special?! I-Is this screwed up Sensei hitting on me?!
“Cats… have two faces. Did you realise that?” She let the cat leap off her arms.
“E-Eh…?”
“A face they would show you when they want affection and love and a face of territorial dominance and independence… us humans too. We all have a face that we show the world and another face hidden deep inside our own hearts that we would only show to someone we could trust completely... “ Jurina-sensei took off her glasses , “... And then there are some people who have more than two faces…”
I really couldn’t understand why she’s telling me all this. One face, two faces… aaargh! So confusing! Even for a smart aleck like me she’s driving me haywire!
“... We’re similar in a lot of ways, Matsui-san.”
“W-What do you mean?”
She stood up suddenly and dusted her pants, smirking at me, “Maybe you’ll understand when we get to know each other more in the month I’m here. I’m personally supposed to look out for you after all.”
That smirk sent shivers down my spine, “... I kind of not want to know you any more than this…”
“Thank you for accompanying me, Matsui-san. I wonder if you'll be able to unravel more of my many mysteries."
With that, she left with both hands in her pockets after waving with one briefly.
What's with this Sensei? She's gave me the cold shoulder and annoyed the heck out of me in class, she showed me her little secret cat-feeding spot the next and NOW she's challenging me to "unravel more of her many mysteries"?!
She has some screw loose. I just know it.
Or is she putting up a farce? I mean, she did talk about people having many faces or something... Is that what she meant?
Does she want to see if I could find--
The school bell suddenly rang at that point as I was trying to piece together everything that had just transpired.
“Ugh crap. It’s Shinobu-sensei’s class… better get going.”
Though it's just a few hours of knowing that Sensei who shares my family name, she had really got me on the ropes and... piqued my interest...
Just who IS this Matsui Jurina?
Ugh, Rena. Stop. Just. Stop. Enough about her. You’re probably at your limit and need sleep by now.
- x - x - x –
“One moment you act like a jerk and the next you act like a semi-nice teacher? Seriously?"
Jurina was now having a short phone call with her long-time partner in crime who was still in the UK.
"It's tiring being the Master of a Thousand Faces, Nao-chan. You should have fully understood how I live my life now," Jurina sighed, leaning against the wall of the currently empty toilet.
"I still don't get why you had to give the kid a hint about your many faces in the first place," Nao shook her head.
"She's an interesting individual. Are you jealous?" Jurina teased.
"If I said "kind of", I'd be allowing your ego to go over your head now wouldn't I?" Nao pouted.
"So you are," Jurina chuckled, "Luckily I had my glasses off when I gave her a long, loving kiss on her lips. She tasted like strawberries."
"YOU WHAT?!!!"
"Take a joke, Nao-chan," Jurina laughed but stopped immediately when she felt the presence of someone approaching the toilet, "We'll chat later. Till then you can enjoy viewing my life as a Japanese teacher through my glasses other than... loo breaks of course."
"WHO WOULD WANT TO SEE YOU DOING YOUR BUSINESS IN THE TOILET ANYWAYS?! GOOD RIDDENS!"
Nao hung up immediately and Jurina put her glasses back on with a chuckle, a mechanism turning on unnoticeably as a student entered. Jurina stepped out without a word and returned to the teacher's lounge to relax till it was time for her next class.
- x - x - x –
Rena’s POV Classes have finally ended… gosh, I feel so drained.
“Yo. Time to head home?”
“Oh… Churi… hey,” I rested my head on my folded arms, not budging from my seat and felt like my eyelids were getting heavier and heavier.
“Oi oi,” she shook me, “Don’t go drift off to sleep now! If you wanna sleep, go home!”
“... Mm…” I answered and closed my eyes.
“Ugh, you’re hopeless--”
“Akane-san!” I heard a voice call out to Churi and I weakly opened my eyes.
She waved at the person near the door with a bright smile, “Hey Minarun, what’s up?”
“Airi and the others are organising a karaoke meetup! You interested?”
“Oh I--”
I gestured weakly with one of my hands that expressed I’d be fine without her.
“You sure?”
Again, I gave her an ‘okay’ gesture.
“Alright then… if you say so, don’t oversleep here, alright?” I heard Churi’s footsteps skipping towards the door in glee and left the classroom with her friend Minarun as I slowly drifted off to sleep.
Guess a short nap wouldn’t hurt…
- x - x - x –
Jurina had finished sorting her documents and decided to call it a day after realising that all of her peers had left the office already. She lets out a deep sigh and stood up from her seat, gathering her belongings before stepping out of the office.
Walking through the empty hallway, she noticed there was one classroom with the door slightly opened. She looked upwards at the name panel-- Class 3-A. She wondered if someone was staying back to study and stepped in promptly after sliding the door softly, only to affirm one student in front sleeping soundly on her desk.
“... Matsui Rena?” She said under her breath as she stepped towards her slowly.
The teacher had the privilege of seeing the Ace of the third year’s sleeping face and noticed her pale, but beautiful complexion as the orange rays of the sun setting shone through the windows. Her long, smooth-looking brownish-coloured hair… she had the urge of actually wanting to feel a strand of her hair with her fingers and cursed herself when she did thought so.
She probably missed Nao who would often allow her to have skinship despite her tendencies to act tsundere. Yes, she convinced herself it was because of Nao absence.
Approaching her, the girl before her, as if she felt the presence of the latter, let out a sleepy groan and slowly opened her eyes, groggily readjusting to her surroundings and shot up when she saw a figure right beside her.
“W-Waah!!!” She yelled, almost falling down sideways when Jurina caught her by the arm, retaining the balance of the chair.
“Please don’t be frightened. I have no intention of hurting you.”
“Well duh…” Rena pouted, shaking off Jurina’s hand off her arm with a faint blush appearing on her cheeks, “... What are you doing here?”
Jurina pointed at the door behind her, “The door was open and I just had to check if anyone was still here. It’s after-school hours, most students would have gone home by now.”
“... Ah…” Rena facepalmed herself, seeing where her teacher was getting to. She really must have fallen into a deep sleep until her body sensed the presence of someone else near her that jerked her up.
“I am returning home now. So if you’d like, we can walk together till we split up?” Jurina said with indifference.
“As much as I hate you,” Rena slung her bag on her shoulder and stood up from her seat, “I don’t mind,” Rena gave Jurina a playful grin, “It gives me brownie points right? I can expect extra marks or something if I walked home with you today?”
“No.”
“Figures~...” Rena expressed after Jurina’s deadpan answer.
Jurina went on ahead towards the door without waiting for Rena, causing the younger Matsui to click her tongue in annoyance before following right behind once again after locking up.
- x - x - x –
Of course, there was an awkward silence between the two on the road home.
Rena wanted to return home as soon as possible to continue her game from last night after being completely energized by her nap. She could easily dash forward ahead of her Sensei with the pace they're walking with now but she knew it was rather disrespectful to do so.
Until she could not stand it.
“Hey Purina, we're walking way too slow. You don't look old,” she complained crudely, earning herself a glare from her Sensei which made her look away immediately.
Jurina's face lightened up after the brief glare and spoke, "Did you call me 'Purina' on purpose?"
"Cats purr right? So 'Purina' fits you fine. It's after school hours so I don't have any intention of calling you a Sensei," Rena explained plainly, hoping she'd get yelled at like most teachers would have done so but no, it didn't happen. And that completely convinced her that Jurina was definitely not an ordinary teacher who just happened to take over temporarily.
“I appreciate the nickname but I don't think we're at that level of 'friendship' yet, Rena-chan," Jurina responded expressionlessly, side-glancing at Rena who was rattled up by what her teacher had just called her. She tried to hide her blushing cheeks by slapping herself a few times, to the amusement of her teacher.
Jurina's phone rang then and there.
"W-Who's that?" Rena blurt out unconsciously and placed a hand on her mouth hard when she asked such a stupid question. She just met the teacher today what rights does she have to dwell into her private life?
Jurina went ahead of her slightly and looked back over her shoulders with a playful teasing expression, "My girlfriend."
"H-Huh... H-HUH?!!!!!!"
"See you tomorrow, Matsui Rena-san. It was nice meeting you today," Jurina said as she walked faster than the pace she was using and all Rena could do was just stand dumbfoundedly at her current position, doubting what she had just heard.
D-Did she just say... D-Does that jerk swing that way?! Rena was flustered at the thought and quickly shook her head to disperse any further imagination.
N-No way. Must have heard it wrongly... p-plus... No one would want such a weirdo...! But... it's legal in the UK isn't it? UWAAAAAAAA!!! STOOOOOPPP!!!!!!And~ she ran off towards her home, trying her best to keep her mind off that peculiar teacher.
- x - x - x –
"Who the heck were you calling your girlfriend huh?!"
"You, my precious Furuhata Nao-chan of course."
"AS IF I'D EVER WANT TO BE IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU!!!"
"Ouch~" Jurina held her chest, acting like she was in pain, "That really hurts, Nao-chan~"
"Shut up and listen,” Nao cleared her throat, “The heist is tonight yes?"
Jurina's playful outlook completely darkened at Nao's statement, "Supposed to be... I just realised how hard it is without a partner over here so I'm probably just going to survey the area first before planning my move. I’ll definitely get the deed done before I leave Japan."
"I apologize…” Nao felt a bit guilty for not being by Jurina’s side this time after all, “But I'll be able to help you on the technical side from here disregarding the time difference.”
“You’d stay up for my sake?” Jurina grinned, “You’re so sweet, Nao-chan~”
“Enough with your sweet talks already!” Nao exclaimed, blushing uncontrollably, “... Y-You’d better find a temporary partner for the month, okay?!”
"If I could find someone like you who I accidentally stumbled onto with talent during one fateful day of a failed attempt of a heist, sure... But that would probably have to be a one in a million chance," Jurina smiled bitterly.
Nao flipped through a book of contacts, "I think I still have the contacts of my Japanese friends but they'll probably turn me down if they knew Interpol was involved."
"Thanks for the thought. I'll just have to bet on a miracle for someone trustworthy enough with both the brains and brawns to pop up," Jurina was already in the front of the door of her apartment without realizing it, her free hand scurried through her pocket to find her keys.
Nao nodded, "I'll talk to you later before you execute your recon operation."
"Laters."
After hanging up, Jurina stepped into her simple but comfortable 1DK after unlocking the door. Switching on the lights, she hurriedly entered her room and begun her preparation for the so-called ‘survey heist’. She was rather disappointed with herself for being unable to pull off the whole stunt solo and understood the importance of having a trustworthy support to back her up on the field and give her instructions that would safely lead her out without causing any trouble. Nao did just that, being a field and technical assistant in all of her heist whilst in UK, except for her very first one, which failed and got the whole police force after her but she managed to escape by the skin of her teeth.
“It’s showtime,” Jurina grinned, putting on a long-haired wig and wearing an attire reminiscent of a reporter before simply stuffing most of her equipment and Phantom Thief disguise, as well as her all important calling card, into her backpack without zipping her bag properly and leaving the house once again.
- x - x - x –
Rena’s POVGraaaaaaah!!! I can’t help it! That stupid Purina-sensei’s on my mind the whole day I can’t even play my game in peace, darn it!
“Yo, Imouto, keep it down will ya?”
I didn’t realise I had just thrown my controller onto the cold, hard floor if my older brother didn’t snap me out of it. Gosh, I can’t do this. I have to get out of here and breathe in some fresh air…
I got up from the sofa and grabbed my windbreaker hanging on the jacket rack near the entrance before calling out to my brother, “Hey I’m going out for a bit okay?”
He stuck his head out from the door leading to the kitchen, “Where are you going? It’s getting late. You know that--”
“--In this household, 7pm is late I get it, ugh,” Rena shrugged, “I just want to get some fresh air okay? I’ll be back before you know it. Oh and…” I gave my brother a death glare, “Don’t you dare report this to mom and dad okay?!”
“Yeah yeah. You helped me once I’ll help you too. Get outta here,” my brother said, shoo-ing me off before returning into the kitchen and I exited the house gleefully. I always wondered how it felt to be walking around alone at night. I never had the motivation to exit the house at night but tonight was that exception. No thanks to the new teacher.
You see… I was born into a fairly rich household which made me have to abide to strict rules which I honestly hated but did so anyways. I would only always felt like I had the freedom I deserved when my parents aren’t at home, which was thankfully most of the time since they had overseas businesses to tend to. Though, my sense of freedom would be acting like a tomboy at home, playing games till dawn and what not. My brother doesn't really bother with the stark contrast of my behaviour when our parents were around or whenever they had any special occasions because he understands my pain quite a bit.
“Hello Guard-san. Mind if I leave for a bit?” I gave the best smile I could to convince the security guard. This was basically the only night I had ever asked him for an opportunity to venture out to the streets of the neighbourhood.
The security guard himself looked very surprised and had to keep blinking his eyes over and over again to believe it was THE Matsui Rena asking him for permission to leave. Sheesh… am I some kind of rare species now for him to even keep staring at me now?
“I uh… The Master didn’t inform me about you leaving--”
“Puh~lea~ase~~~!” I tried acting cute this time, my desire to leave is too strong to even care about my pride!
The security guard sighed, conceding to his me at last, “Just this once… Please return as soon as you’re done with whatever you want.”
“Thank you~” I blew him a kiss in which he just shrugged and quickly left the compound of my house when the gate swung open automatically, actually feeling disgusted by whatever I had done to convince him. I paced myself to enjoy my walk around the neighbourhood, swinging my arms around as a form of stretching exercise while walking and humming onto a tune in my head cheerfully.
I turned absent-mindedly into an intersection that led me to the neighbourhood park when I bumped into a person who ran into me and the both of us fell backwards onto the ground.
“G-Geez…!” I rubbed her butt in pain, “Watch where you’re going--...?”
The person looked up into my eyes with a surprised expression before quickly scurrying away from the scene with their head down after picking up their backpack. I was left dumbfounded on the ground when I tried to process who that person looked like. I had only one person who matched the facial outlook but definitely not the hair, since it was long. It confused me.
... That wasn’t… Matsui Jurina now was it…?
I smacked myself hard. I CAME OUT HERE TO FORGET ABOUT HER NOT THINK OF HER AGAIN!!!
I got up and dusted my skirt in annoyance, before my eyes laid upon a card that was lying on the ground. Curious, I went up to it and picked it up, examining both the back and the front of the card. All it said was ‘STOLEN BY PHANTOM THIEF NOBUNAGA’ in the front with a drawing of a grinning ghost that had a stylish mask over its eyes and ‘CATCH ME IF YOU CAN’ in smaller writing at the corner of the back of the card.
The words made my whole body shiver involuntarily. These were obviously words by some kind of big-shot thief. I wasn’t sure if the young woman who reminded her of Jurina was the culprit or someone else had passed by here prior to our encounter. All I knew was that I needed to contact someone to talk about this… and fast!
I quickly tapped onto Churi’s contact and dialed her up. Thank goodness she picked up after a few beeps!
“Ya ho, Rena-san~! What’s up?”
“I-I need you to do a search for me. I’m too panicked to do anything right now,” I said as I approached the swings and sat on one of them, still trying to calm down.
Churi sounded worried, “W-Whoa are you okay?”
“I-I’ll explain later but…” I looked at the front of the creepy looking card, “Search for Phantom Thief Nobunaga for me please.”
“W-Wait a sec… I don’t even need to help you search on her! She’s currently one of the most nefarious criminals wanted by Interpol for stealing various valuable artifacts around the world, especially in the United Kingdom!”
“Y-You’ve… g-got to be kidding me…” I dropped the card when the hand that was holding onto it started shaking in fear, “... H-How… w-why… who then…?”
“Rena-san…?”
“... I-Identity… d-do you have the identity of the person?”
“If I had it, Interpol would’ve caught her by now. No one in the world knows who she is. She’s a master of disguise. She could be anyone!”
“A-Any… one…?” I had a brief flashback at the young woman who I bumped into a moment ago and the shaking suddenly stopped, and for some reasons, I had overflowing courage burning in me, “... So… if I were to be able to nab this crook… I’d be famous?”
“Your family is famous enough though?” Churi deadpanned me but I gritted my teeth excitedly, picking up the card and shoving it into my skirt’s pocket.
“Then at least it’ll get rid of my boredom towards life now won’t it?”
“You don’t even know who she might be!”
I started walking away from the park, “I have an idea who it could be, provided I can find that person in such a big place.”
“D-Don’t try to do anything crazy, Rena-san!”
“I won’t I won’t,” I reassured her with a smile, “... One last question Churi, is there some kind of exhibition around the city area?”
“Yes. A rare gem exhibition by the Yamanashi Gem Museum in Tokyo that’s being held here in Nagoya city centre.”
“What’s the highlight of the exhibition?” I needed more info to go on.
“Mmm… Ah! The Tanzanite of Kilmanjaro. It’s a really rare color-shifting gem and is the only one of its kind in the world now. Wow… it’s really pretty~ maybe we should--”
“Thanks Churi. I’ll see you tomorrow!” I quickly hung up before she could ask me any questions as I departed for the city centre.
If my instincts and hunches are right… that Purina-like woman IS the person I’m looking for!
This is going to be fun!
- x - x - x –
“Crap…” Jurina cursed to herself softly as she checked her backpack but couldn’t find the one thing she currently needed and found the nearest toilet she could use in the exhibition hall which seemed like a quiet spot to make a phone call.
“Hey.”
“Nao-chan… I think I’m screwed.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“I... “ She gulped, “... I lost my calling card. And I think a certain someone who knows me probably picked it up by now.”
Nao gasped, “You’ve got to be joking! How the heck did you drop something so darn important like that?!”
Jurina shook her head, wanting to deny the truth as well, “I was in a rush to the exhibition… and accidentally bumped into a person…”
“And who is that person exactly?”
“... Matsui Rena.”
Nao facepalmed, “Why am I not surprised…” She sighed, “Look, calm down. If anything, you probably can get her to help you? You believed in a one in a million chance and you’ve got it.”
“Not like this…” Jurina curled her fists, “... I don’t want to get a student of mine involved with my ‘sickness’...”
“That’s not what you told me when you made me your very first assistant,” Nao felt slightly offended, “Just get out of the museum now and reorganize later. Shutting Matsui Rena up is probably the thing you’re aiming to do if you don’t want her to help you.”
Jurina remained silent for a moment before answering, “... I’ll go take a look at the gem first before leaving,” she took her glasses out of her pocket and put it on, “You can help me analyse the security glass box around it.”
“Be careful okay? Your cover is somewhat blown after all.”
“I know.”
She got out of the empty toilet and proceeded towards the area where her main target was-- The Tanzanite of Kilmanjaro. It was encased in a glass case that was at least twice its size and shone brightly into Jurina’s eyes. She licked her lips briefly, excited to have the gem before her in her hands until suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. Her heart sunk at the feeling but maintained the best poker face she could ever display without turning around yet.
“... Yes?” Jurina said with a low voice, looking downwards so the glass wouldn’t reflect her face for the person standing right behind her to identify.
“I… I hope I’m wrong but… Are you Matsui Jurina?”
Matsui Rena huh… Jurina smirked, “No, I think you’ve got the wrong person.”
“Then… you can’t be…” She suddenly lowered her voice to a whisper, “Phantom Thief Nobunaga right?”
Jurina knew she will have had it if she didn’t attempt to shut Rena up at this point. Looking left and right to assure there weren’t anyone paying attention to their little world at the moment, she quickly grabbed her hand, turned around, and dragged her student out with her. Rena protested at first but Jurina would squeeze her wrist painfully hard when she complained and decided to stay silent until they got out of the exhibition hall that was currently filled with a minor crowd.
Outside, Jurina flinged Rena’s wrist away and wanted to make a break for it until the thought of a temporary partner overwhelmed the feeling of finally being caught none other by a problem student of hers. She took a deep breath and looked over her shoulder at Rena who was massaging her wrist while cringing whilst keeping an eye on Jurina.
“Of all~ people in the world to have caught me. What a blunder I have made,” Jurina shook her head, hands entering the side pockets of her pants.
“... So you’re really--”
Rena was cut off as Jurina turned back to look at her with a stern look, “Do you think that this world is boring as heck, Matsui Rena?”
Rena gasped, “W-What the he--”
“Mind answering my question?” Jurina voiced out once again, glaring like a killer at Rena who was taken aback. Sure Jurina was stern and all towards Rena at class today but the level of fierceness was off the charts right now that if Rena decided to play around, she’d probably end up in tomorrow’s newspaper as a dead person. Being smart, she had to act as serious as she could despite all the fear and anxiety within her currently.
“... Yes. It’s… It’s boring,” She looked away, “... Why else would I have wanted to prank on people for fun? Or even getting into fights? Spicing up my life with a dash of mischief and danger was the only thing I could think of out of the norm…”
Jurina smiled bitterly, “See…? This is what I meant by ‘we’re similar in lots of ways’,” she looked up towards the dark sky above them, ”I became sick and tired of living life in such a boring way and that boredom manifested into my infamous occupation that you know of.”
Rena remained silent until her focus fell on an outstretched hand from the teacher before her. She wondered what was going in the teacher’s mind at the moment and looked upwards, meeting her eyes and seeing that familiar warm smile she saw in the afternoon when they were relaxing with the cats. A genuine smile.
“Would you mind helping me, Matsui Rena-san?”
“Help… you…?” Rena was reluctant.
Jurina’s smile stayed unfazed, “Let me give you a thrilling experience of a lifetime for just this month. You’ll be safe. I promise.”
As much as she was skeptical about her teacher’s offer, something about that smile just drew her in and she hesitantly reached out for her, as the night winds blew, making the whole scenario look like some kind of confession scene in a drama. When their hands finally locked into each others’ in the form of a handshake, Jurina felt a sense of relief gushing into her.
“You’re not just making me accept your offer just to shut me up, right…?” Rena looked on suspiciously at the older Matsui.
“Of course not. You can go ahead and tell the police and I won’t stop you,” the sly teacher smirked, “But that would mean you’d lose out in a once in a lifetime experience.”
Rena definitely took the bait with her naiviety and blushed when she noticed their hands still holding onto each others’. She actually liked the feeling of Jurina’s warm hands but over her dead body will she ever tell her that. She swiftly let go of Jurina’s hand and flinged the latter’s hand away lightly before withdrawing her hand and placing it into her skirt’s pocket, clenching hardly as if she wanted her hand to remember the sensation.
Jurina turned away, her smile fading away as she had her back facing Rena, “Tomorrow after school.”
“... Huh?”
“Are you free to come over to my place?”
“Y-Your… p-place?!” Rena’s imagination went wild in a split second and her blushing got more and more evident.
Jurina looked over her shoulder again with seductive-looking eyes, “Yes my place. We can do all sorts of things if you’re… interested.”
“A-All… s-sorts… o-of…...” Rena was about to explode in embarrassment.
“Get your mind out of the gutter, Rena-chan,” Jurina chuckled, “All I want to do is have a talk with you to get to know you a bit more personally before I make you my partner, that’s it. I wouldn't want to have a brat who would eventually leak out my deepest darkest secrets to everyone on the streets now do I?”
She really felt like digging a hole somewhere to stop her heart from pounding like mad, especially when the teacher she supposedly hate was now flirting with her and calling her by her name fondly.
“S-Stupid double-faced Sensei…” Rena crossed her arms, fuming.
“I gave you a short personal lecture about "faces" today didn’t I?” Jurina laughed, “I’m one of the people who has many faces and depending on how we get along… maybe… you’ll see even the true me?” She winked before proceeding to walk away coolly.
Rena was definitely intrigued by the existence of Matsui Jurina. The young woman was a ball of mystery. Never was she that interested in a person other than well… Akane as she’s her best friend since forever but her interest towards her teacher felt different as that of her best friend. She couldn’t put a finger on it but she knew deep down that the whole day was a life-changing day for her.
- x - x - x –
Rena’s POV What a beautiful morning~
The fresh morning air filled my lungs and I was overcome with a refreshing sensation as I made my way to class by walking once again. Why "once again"? Because my parents are paranoid and would hire a limo for me to and fro from school due to my safety and what not.
Hence I’m really glad my parents won’t be back until next month since security is more lenient to my brother and I for our freedom. Even though I got a scolding from my brother for returning home later than I should have last night, it was worth the price?
No actually… maybe it wasn’t. Since ‘she’ ended up on my mind THE WHOLE NIGHT!
… Even till now… ugh. I probably need counseling soon…
But… it’s because of her that I think school won’t be as boring as it once was--
“Gooooood mornin’, Rena-san!”
Oh it's Churi, chipper in the morning as always. I think she’s suited to be a rooster than a bird… oh wait, what the heck did I just say?
“Yo,” I returned the greeting plainly.
“About yesterday… umm… you didn’t do anything stupid right?” She raised a brow of suspicion at me in which I laughed.
“Nahh. I probably was kind of mental last night probably after having a glimpse of the news worldwide…” I lied, “Sorry for worrying ya.”
“It’s fine. But please do tell me if you’re about to do something crazy so I can stop you, alright?” I know she’s genuinely worried for my sake but… sorry Churi for keeping you in the dark… even though Purina didn’t tell me to keep her identity a secret to anyone, but… it feels like an obligatory thing to do now…
“That wouldn’t be fun now would it?” I laughed.
“Oh come on Rena-san--”
“Good morning, Matsui-san, Takayanagi-san.” Ah. That voice.
I turned back to see the teacher I hate approaching me with that blank expression plastered on her face as with yesterday. The face she shows all of the students… I suppose she is a master of disguise for a reason.
“Morning,” I said crossing my arms and giving her an unimpressed look.
“I hope you won’t be up to no good this fine morning?” She gave me a threatening look.
“Says the wanted cri--”
“Takayanagi-san, there seems to be some sort of rare bird species on top of that tree over there,” Jurina-sensei cut my sentence, diverted Churi’s attention to a tree quite a metre or two away from us and squeezed my arm hardly, eyes shooting daggers into mine before walking off into the school building. Dang that stupid teacher is violent… I suppose that was a warning for revealing her identity, shouldn’t have let that slip my tongue.
“Where is it???” Churi was still squinting at the tree Jurina-sensei pointed to her and I facepalmed. She’s just too gullible huh?
“Churi we’ll be late. Let’s head to class now,” I tugged on her sleeve and when she wouldn’t budge, I had to drag her off by force.
“Ehhhhhh Rena-san! But it’s a rare species--”
“I don’t care!”
“Rena-san you meanie!”
- x - x - x –
Rena’s POV Jurina-sensei’s class wasn’t till after lunch break and right before the end of today, so as usual, pulling pranks to let out some steam and for the entertainment of my classmates were the way to go. Stuck a piece of chewing gum on the holder of the blackboard duster on one, sprayed detergent on the teacher’s chair for the other and~ annoyed the heck out of another teacher by asking her permission for anything. Gosh, I’m on fire today! But the fact none of them asked me into the office came to me as strange…
When the chime for lunch break rang, I was ready to dash out to the cafeteria until a knock stopped me from leaving my seat and everyone else too and the door slid open, revealing a certain scary-looking teacher giving me the look of pure disgust while staying as cool as she can. And I have to say, it was rather nerve-wrecking…
“... Matsui… Rena-san. Please come with me. NOW.”
“I knew you were like them. The teachers who would give me talks after talks in the office!” I exclaimed, knowing I’m just throwing myself into the lion’s den right now but just to test the waters… I needed to be daring to take the plunge don’t I?
She did not answer but instead, turned around and walked away as she has done so quite a few times now, expecting I would follow her… what if I were to run away then or defy her? Does she trust me that much? Or… is it because she has the authority to suppress me so she knows I would obey her command…?
Nevertheless, with how eerily quiet the buzzling class was supposed to be, I had no choice but to puff my chest outwards and go after Jurina-sensei to obviously hear her yell at me on behalf of the teachers I had terrorised so far today. Churi gave me a pat on the shoulder before I set off, and the way she looked kind of made my heart feel a sharp pang. It wasn’t a nice feeling to have your best friend worried sick about you after all… was I that oblivious to just realise this?
We ended up at the same spot as yesterday. Yes, the cat hotspot. I clenched my fists, hoping this peaceful spot wouldn’t be tainted by angry shouting, only to have her asking me to sit down beside against the wall of the rear of the building. I could hear the rustling of the leaves as the wind blew and I knew I might accidentally fall asleep if neither of us start talking.
“Aren’t you… going to lecture me…?” I squeaked, gulping down a decent amount of accumulated saliva as I looked at her blank face.
“No. I’m not,” my eyes widened at her response and she side-glanced at me, “I just think you’re rather amazing.”
“W-Where did that come from?” I hugged my knees and buried half of my face onto them, trying to hide my heated cheeks from her.
“If I were your classmate, I’d love to have helped you with all the pranks… then we’d get into trouble together… it’d be one heck of a fun ride in this boring world, don’t you think?”
Sensei was acting weird… “That does sound interesting.”
“With your skills… you’re probably able to help me on the field, side by side, when I attempt to steal The Tanzanite of Kilmanjaro. You have good perception on timing… not to mention trap setting. You’d be the perfect decoy.”
I may be imagining it but her eyes were gleaming with excitement as she praised me. I definitely didn’t expect this but… is this another side of her that I’m seeing right now?
“So in that respect, as my partner for a month, I need you to do some work for me,” She handed me a watch-sized gadget that she took off from her right wrist, “That is a prototype security hacker. I have the actual thing at home which isn’t as small but since we’re at school, that would do for now.”
“... What do you want me to do with it?”
“There’s a mini game in there to test if you’ve got the skills to disrupt all of the security cameras. It works like a Pac-Man game if you’ve ever played that before. Eat all the Pac-dots and that would mean you’ve temporarily disrupted all of the security cameras. For this practice prototype, there would be Ghosts after you which in reality are the security bots that protect the security system in real life. There are five levels in there if I recall and I expect you to be able to beat the game by the end of today,” Jurina-sensei ended her explanation with a nod.
“W-What?! I-I haven’t played Pac-Man before!” I groaned.
“It’s fairly easy. Just give it a go. I’ll reward you upon completion,” she stood up and reached her hand out to me. I reached out to hers and she pulled me up squeezing my hand slightly before leaving.
“Oh gosh why…” I strapped on the hacking device onto my left wrist and headed back to my classroom to have some food I prepared before classes continued.
The first two levels of the game was easy and it got trickier on the third. I had to keep replaying it without bothering about the lecture that was going on. I felt a few pair of eyes from my peers looking at me from time to time but sorry guys, I have other business to take care of. I’m guessing the teachers are looking at me funny too, since I’ve been tapping my watch like an idiot since lunch time. but would rather keep their mouth shut than want unwanted nuisance bestowed upon them huh~ smart move.
By the time I got to the fourth level, it was already Jurina-sensei’s class. Crap! I’m running out of time!!!
But wait… she said ‘end of today’ right? And I’m stopping by her place later anyways… so doesn’t that mean I have a time extension?!
It was quite hilarious how I could hear some of my classmates holding in their breath or gasping whenever Jurina-sensei passed through my side while teaching but not once did she ever bother calling out to me-- or not.
“Matsui Rena-san, please continue reading on.”
I jerked at the call of my name and it was yet another game over at Level 4 for me when I was so close to winning the darn thing! I frantically flipped through my book while eyeing at Churi who was trying to assist me to find the page and paragraph to read and while reading, I noticed that Sensei had let out an evil smirk on her face while everyone was busy looking at their books! Why I oughta--!!!
“That’s enough. Thank you, Matsui-san. Next student… Takayanagi-san please.”
I JUST READ FOUR SENTENCES AND YOU WANT ME TO SIT DOWN AFTER I LOST THE DARN LEVEL?!!!
“Churi, don’t stand!” I exclaimed.
“H-Huh? B-But--”
“I’ll. Continue. For. Her. Sen. Sei,” I gritted my teeth at that annoyingly smirking sensei as she gestured to Churi to allow me to continue on her behalf, which again, made the whole class flabbergasted I can assume.
“You’re being very sporting today, Matsui-san,” she adjusted her glasses with the smirk still evident but more subtle than when everyone else was focused on their books.
“Yeah well, I have times like these.” No I obviously don’t. But I’d rather read the whole thing to cool off before starting the stupid level all over again NO THANKS TO A CERTAIN SOMEONE!
“Go on ahead then.”
She turned her back against the whole class and as I started reading with everyone looking at their books, I can see the frame of her upper body moving up and down a bit as if she was laughing… wait… SHE’S LAUGHING AT ME?!!! SHE REALLY CALLED OUT TO ME ON PURPOSE?!!!!
She had better give me a good reward for all this crap I’m putting up with! AARGH! This is so infuriating!!!
- x - x - x –
After class, most students left the classroom as soon as the bell rang. Jurina slowly cleaned the blackboard while greeting students who greeted her as they left. Akane naturally went by Rena’s side with a smile.
“Rena-san, you going to club today?”
“Err…” She looked at Jurina who was packing up her study materials and gave her brief glances when she felt the younger Matsui gazing at her. Rena smiled sheepishly at Akane, rubbing her nape apologetically, “... Sorry Churi… I have plans after this actually.”
“Don’t tell me…” Her best friend gave her the unimpressed look, “Another session of gaming?”
“N-No uh…”
“Matsui-san will be having private English tutoring with me from today onwards,” Jurina who was fully packed up approached the two schoolgirls, “I would like to apologise on her behalf for her upcoming absence in participating her extracurricular activities.”
"S-SHE WHAT?!!! I-I mean... Uh..." Akane exclaimed out of complete shock when she heard her best friend had decided to have tutoring by the teacher she dreaded so much. Her mind just couldn't process what Jurina had just told her.
"S-Sorry for not telling you Churi," Rena placed her hand together apologetically with both eyes tightly closed, "There was this scholarship for me to study in the UK you see... And I thought of taking it." Jurina nodded in agreement and when Rena gave her a brief annoyed look that pretty much said "I hate you for making me do this", the older Matsui was impressed that Rena actually went along with the idea and winged it to convince her best friend.
Of course, knowing how Rena truly was especially the fact she was a genius and never needed tutoring, Akane didn't buy her best friend's plan but just decided to believe her at that moment since a teacher affirmed it, "... Right... but... have you told our club advisor about it, Rena-san?”
“I have made the necessary arrangements for her already,” Jurina confidently replied, causing Akane to be at loss of words and just nodded.
Rena was rather bad at hiding her facial expressions here and there that made Akane constantly suspicious of Rena when Jurina handled the the talking but due to the teacher literally stepping hard on her shoes that inflicted to her feet, she didn’t voice out anything unnecessary. After the short conversation was over, the three of them split ways, except for both of the Matsui.
The walk to Jurina’s house was quiet as yesterday in the beginning but gradually felt more relaxed and definitely the tension was lifted with Jurina sharing to her about her life in UK and stories of some of the heists she had done. She realized that Jurina was actually a person that was easy to talk to despite the strict demeanor she puts up at school to everyone in general. That stark contrast of Jurina’s behaviour reminded Rena of herself. She acknowledged they were similar.
Unfortunately the peace and quiet time was stopped by the same group of hooligans who picked a fight with Rena just recently.
"MATSUIIIIII!!!!"
"You guys--"
Jurina stepped forward coolly with an arm extended in front of Rena as a motion to let her handle this predicament. She then gave the hooligans individually a menacing glare, "Sorry but I don't know who you young gentlemen are. I'm Matsui as you called."
The one who yelled a moment ago felt humiliated by his blunder and stomped the ground beneath him, fuming, "D-Don't try to act smart with me, you bastard Y-You aren't the one we want but her!!"
Jurina's phone vibrated immediately after the young man's intimidation, and she knew it was obviously Nao trying to stop her from fighting, so she ignored her phone and took off her glasses, hanging it on her collar in front after unbuttoning one of her buttons, revealing more of her masculine-looking collarbones.
She taunted the men with a finger gesture that said 'come at me' and they took the bait by charging at her individually. All she did was side step and knocked every incoming opponent off balance as if she was ice skating gracefully. Rena was astonished at the 'show' her teacher was putting on for her until they heard a loud whistle from quite a distance, but definitely approaching them. Rena recognized the sound of that whistle rather familiarly and went up to her teacher, pulling onto her sleeve from behind to urge her to get out of there.
Jurina didn't budge but instead, put her glasses back on as a familiar looking officer approached them. She clicked her tongue at the sight of the officer but put up her best poker face regardless.
"Someone sent a distress call to us a while ago..." The officer looked around at the men who were spreaded around like a perfect half-circle and let out an impressed whistle, "I assume you done this?"
"In self-defense, Officer-san," Jurina lied without batting an eye, though it was partially true, "They attempted to attack my student so it was the least I could do."
"Huh."
As they were continuing their exchange, the men hurriedly escaped from the scene, not wanting to get caught and the officer allowed them to, ruffling her already messy short-hair and adjusted her coat as she saw them take off.
"You aren't going after them?"
She shook her head, "Not interested with small fries like delinquents. I'm interested in a big fish called the Phantom Thief, Nobunaga. You heard of her?"
Jurina innocently shook her head and Rena followed suit.
"Gosh, read the news pals. The Japanese police department received a notice that she’ll strike the ongoing gem exhibition at the end of the month. The nerve of that brat... Plus, she's a young woman for crying out loud!" the officer shook her head unhappily before taking a name card out of her wallet and handing it to both Matsui, "The name's Miyazawa Sae, from Interpol. It'd be nice if you so happen to hear any strange rumors floating around this parts and informing them to me."
"Will do."
"Have a nice day, you two," Sae saluted before walking off.
"Phew... That was surprising," Jurina jumped up and down a bit and stretched her legs, shaking off the nerves that were tingling around her body.
“So a one whole month of preparation for your grand performance, huh, Purina-sensei.”
“A grand performance requires ample time to prepare so that it wouldn’t fail,” Jurina chuckled, spinning around to look at Rena behind her, “And you? Were those your friends? They seemed like ‘nice’ people.”
Rena crossed her arms, "Are you trying to be a jerk again? They're obviously just idiots picking a fight with me after I knocked down their boss in a "friendly match" one fine day," she shrugged, "That Interpol woman your friend? You seemed to really like her when you clicked your tongue."
Jurina smirked, "You humour me. She's been out for my head ever since my very first successful heist."
"Guess we’re on the same boat."
The both of them looked at each other with a grin forming on their lips before Jurina gave a friendly pat on Rena's shoulder, motioning for them to leave and continue the walk before they were interrupted. It wasn't long until they got to the apartment building.
“So, have you finished the game?” Jurina asked when they were already on her apartment’s floor.
“No thanks to a certain someone I still have a level left,” Rena pouted, “You called out to me on purpose didn’t you?!”
Jurina chuckled, “You think too much. I’m not that mean,” she unlocked the door of her 1DK and entered while leaning on the door to welcome Rena in with a princely bow.
“HA. HA. Sorry to disturb~” Rena rolled her eyes at the sight of Jurina trying to look suave and entered her 1DK, amazed at how neat and tidy it was. She didn’t expect the insides of a 1DK to look this comfortable to the point it felt like a room of a 5* hotel she once stayed at overseas. However, it did feel sort of lonely.
“You… live alone?” Rena looked back to her teacher who was just locking up.
“Yes,” she simply said before taking her shoes off and Rena did the same too. Jurina then asked her to have a seat in the living room while she made some light refreshments for her student which she prepared in advance that morning. Rena gazed around at the empty 1DK from her seat that had only the basics like a flat-screen TV, a balcony and sofas followed by two rooms with either of each being the bedroom and the toilet. She thought Jurina was leaving in a month and that’s why she didn’t bother with any decorations to make it more homely than it was.
The older Matsui joined the younger Matsui shortly after she was done in the kitchen, handing her student a glass of lemonade she made first with a plate of sandwiches placed on the coffee table in front of them. Jurina took off her glasses and placed it aside the plate of sandwiches next to her drink, not wanting her partner overseas to hear in on everything.
“Surprised that this is the hideout of the famous Phantom Thief Nobunaga in Japan?” Jurina leaned backwards extending both arms on the headrest of the sofa leisurely.
“Sort of,” Rena straightened herself from her leaning composure a moment ago when she felt Jurina’s arm right behind her head, “I expected more crazy high tech stuff placed around. Guess I was expecting too much,” she shrugged.
“The really cool equipment’s back at my place in London. If you’d pay a visit one day, I’d love to bring you around,” Jurina smiled.
“That sounds like a great idea,” Rena returned a smile which made her quickly look away from her teacher after her self-consciousness got to her head. Why in the world is she acting chummy with the teacher she hates now?
“The last level is really easy,” Jurina voiced out, seeing how Rena looked uncomfortable with the silent intervals between them, “If you want I can just give you the cheat code and--”
Rena put her unfinished glass of lemonade down on the coffee table before switching on the hacking device, “It’s alright. Let me finish this!”
Jurina was amused by the girl’s persistence to grab her own victory instead of relying on answers given freely by others and propped up of the sofa to enter her room. She checked her wardrobe to grab a black skin suit hung nicely inside the wardrobe and folded it and when she got out in mere seconds, she saw Rena jumping happily in circles. She assumed she had beaten the game.
“Looks like you’ve done it huh?”
“That’s right! That was even easier than Level 1!!!” Rena gestured a peace sign to Jurina with a wide grin on her face before thumping down onto the sofa with extended arms and opened legs, relaxing happily after her success. Jurina sat down beside her happy student and put the folded suit on her other side. Seeing that face of accomplishment on Rena’s face made her happy deep down for some reasons. She really reminded Jurina of herself, especially the first time she successfully pulled off her first heist after a crushing failure.
“So~ I get a gift right? Right???” Rena asked in eagerness and Jurina could imagine her as an excited pup wagging her tail, or a kitten that wants the full attention and affection of its master.
“Ah… yes… reward,” Jurina stood up suddenly and proceeded to hover over Rena with a knee supporting her balance in the gap Rena has allowed with her legs opened like that, smirking at the shocked student. She proceeded to cup Rena’s chin with a hand with the other acting as support right beside Rena’s head on the headrest and inched closer and closer to her, her dark orbs bewitching Rena’s and--
*PAK!*A slap went straight across Jurina’s face thanks to Rena who was tearing up with mixed emotions but just as she was about to escape like how it would’ve gone in dramas, Jurina laughed heartily at the progression of her actions. Rena stared at her teacher perplexed at why she’s laughing so hard.
“You really are a peculiar one, Rena-chan,” Jurina said in between laughs, and lifted herself up, her knee still resting on the sofa, “No one has attempted to slap me when I do that, whether they’re guys or girls… you’re the first one.”
“W-What?” She was completely lost.
“Hmm… one of them actually pushed me away really hard though but anyways,” Jurina broke her own trail of thoughts and faced Rena with a smile, “I just wanted to see if you’re a boring person or not. Usually boring people would want this kind of fake excitement to happen to them, so I’m glad you slapped me hard,” Jurina rubbed the cheek that had an evident red hand mark now.
“I can’t believe this,” Rena groaned and covered her face, feeling embarrassed at how everything turned out.
“At least you passed my test completely. I trust you,” Jurina flopped over to Rena’s side and sat up straight, putting the suit on her lap and searching for another item in her back pocket before nudging the embarrassed Rena.
“What do you want now huh?” Rena peeked through a gap she created with her fingers.
“Here. A small reward for you. You like Melon pans right?”
Rena quickly accepted the turtle-shaped Melon pan keychain that Jurina gave her, eyes sparkling in happiness.
“W-Wait… I never told you so…” Rena raised a brow, “How did you know?”
“A Phantom Thief has his or her own ways of knowing,” Jurina winked.
“I hate you after all,” Rena rolled her eyes, holding tightly onto the keychain, “... But thanks.”
Jurina smiled and handed her the black skin suit next, “And this is also for you…”
“N-Now you want me to wear such a revealing outfit?!” Rena exclaimed, flustered once again.
“No no, you’ll be wearing this for the grand heist.”
“E-Eh…” Rena eyed the outfit that would definitely reveal her body shape and outlines and was unimpressed.
“You’ll look breathtaking in it,” Jurina reassured, knowing from Rena’s facial expression that she’s concerned about her outlook which earned her a sofa pillow in her face and a rattled up Rena.
It was then Rena noticed Jurina wasn’t wearing her spectacles.
“Why aren’t you wearing your specs?”
“Oh, well… my eyes are actually alright and I’d prefer contact lenses but those glasses are specially made. My partner back in UK is able to see my every activity through those glasses when I put it on. It activates through skin detection and deactivates automatically when there’s none,” Jurina explained.
“That partner… i-is the girlfriend you mentioned yesterday…?” Rena looked around nervously, avoiding eye contact with her teacher on a touchy subject.
“She isn’t my girlfriend,” Jurina chuckled, “I was just joking around. I’m single unless…” Jurina leaned closer towards Rena with a low, seductive voice, causing the latter to face her, “... You’re willing to be mine?”
“In your dreams!” Rena stuffed Jurina with another pillow which caused her to lean backwards and set the other pillow aside with a sigh.
“You’re certainly not acting very sensei-like, Purina.”
“I wasn’t a teacher to begin with until the university I graduated from applied a job for me when your school contacted them without me approving… since our motif is “Be Spontaneous! Be Ready!” or whatever it was… otherwise I would be enjoying my thieving life till I ‘retire’,” Jurina’s animated storytelling made Rena giggle. Yet another side of her teacher has been revealed to her and she actually liked how cool and strict her teacher can be one second and how playful and easygoing she was the other.
“Looks like I’ve been playing around with you too much today. You’re really fun to be around with, Matsui--”
“Rena…” Said person twirled her hair around with a finger without looking into her teacher’s eyes, “... I don’t mind you using my first name… I mean… if we’re going to be working together for a whole month… and it's ridiculous to call me by my family name when we have the same family name...”
Jurina smiled warmly, “Then you can either stick to calling me by that ridiculous nickname or my first name without the teacher suffix. At least, when we’re alone.”
“That’s fine by me…” Rena finally decided to meet Jurina’s warm orbs and return a smile.
“Our briefing starts tomorrow and our on field rehearsal too. I’m sorry for taking up your time today, Rena-chan.”
“I-It was eventful so I didn’t mind…” Rena scratched her cheek, feeling slightly embarrassed at the way Jurina called her.
"I'm glad to hear that," Jurina reached out to Rena's head and paused momentarily before giving her a few pats of praises, "Good work today."
Though it was just their second day of meeting, they had already formed a connection irrespective of a teacher and a student but as peculiar individuals. It was a mysterious feeling, but the both of them took it in nonetheless despite their rocky start, especially for Rena.
Day after day passed by and the student-teacher pair, while maintaining their arch-enemy status (or that's what Rena thinks of her as strictly a student) towards each other at school, became closer and closer outside of the education circle since they understood each other in a way people in general wouldn’t and actually enjoyed the company of one another. It was a bond that definitely transcends the relationship of a student and a teacher. They were literally the best of friends (Rena didn’t expect this turn out) now and not to mention, a newly formed pair of confederates in crime. They had slowly started to share secrets and each others’ back stories only to find out they were like lost sisters at birth with how similar their minds worked eventhough they had a contrast in personalities.
Throughout the time together, Jurina had revealed to her a syndrome that she was facing was a syndrome similar to one known as the ‘Magpie Syndrome’, which is known as an irrational affinity for shiny objects. She didn’t know how that syndrome developed but it just happened one day when she started out as a petty thief on the streets when she was a kid who grew up in an orphanage, only aiming for jewellery or other shiny objects and she was so good at it that she became bored quickly until one day, as an adolescent, she read about a certain group of thieves known as Phantom Thieves. She admired them and decided to go big to ease her obsession that arises when she finds out about a rare, shiny item on display at museums. That was the birth of Phantom Thief Nobunaga, with the reason of her using the name ‘Nobunaga’ was that of the historical Nobunaga Oda who had interest in art, and she had heard from her caretaker at the orphanage that she had birthroots from Nagoya. To her, rare, shiny gems were like pieces of art she enjoys looking at and obtaining it after a heist would be the best feeling ever.
Back to the days of the two, Rena has also insisted on having Jurina visit her mansion since her parents weren’t around, much to the surprise of her brother but with the cover of ‘tutoring’, he believed them and didn’t bother to press on despite knowing Rena wasn’t the studious type but a naturally gifted person who was born smart. Jurina did actually teach her things that she would teach an apprentice and also, English, just for the heck of spending more time with the student she had grown to like a lot. She didn’t want their time together to end, and that questioned herself quite a number of times about what she thought of Rena. As a student who may be her successor in Japan? A temporary partner she just had to get along with till the month ends for her own personal gain? Or something more intimate? Her feelings towards Rena was entirely different from how she thought of her partner in UK, Nao. Sure she loved clinging to her and teasing her to see the funny and cute reactions of the older one but it was just not how she felt towards Rena who was like her other half.
The same has been going on in Rena’s head. She had consulted her best friend, Akane, a few times without mentioning about her teacher but drafted out scenarios how that one person would always be on her mind, how she would love it if they could just hung out like that forever and so on. Despite how desperate Akane would try to pry the name of the person out of Rena’s lips, she decided to not force her and would always simply tell her that she was in love.
‘Love’.
Both of them always thought that was just another boring way to live life. Jurina thought that it would bring too many serious responsibilities that would kill the freedom and fun out of her whereas Rena thought that being in love was just a waste of time and she would rather play pranks or fight or just anything else other than be playing with a momentary thing that causes your heart to flutter, only to be shattered when the boredom with your partner begins to kick in and that in return, is boredom as the core of the issue.
For a teacher and a student, it was pretty much taboo. Heck, being in a relationship with the same gender is a taboo according to religion. But peeling off that status and conventional thought away, they were just both just ‘innocent’ girls wanting to ease the boredom that would always surface at the back of their minds. If they were really ‘in love’ with each other, they wouldn’t mind giving it a shot, knowing that they had the same ideals opposed to anyone else.
Despite the swarm of feelings the both of them felt, they tried to not let it show. It was easy for Jurina who was the Master of Disguise but this is where Rena’s facade falls apart. She would be tense and clumsier around the teacher, just a glance of her during class hours when Jurina was putting on the whole teacher act would make her blush uncontrollably, and she hated how transparent she was after the feelings developed. It was around that time too that she had completely stopped pulling pranks, to the dismay of the anticipating students but it was the occurrence of a miracle towards the teacher and they thanked the stern-acting Jurina-sensei who knew something was up with her partner after all. She also told the hooligans who wanted to challenge her to just get lost and leave her alone whenever they approached her (which they surprisingly did obediently after just shooting them an exhausted-looking glare) and actually went for Kendo practice when Jurina didn’t have anything for her to do after school which shocked the life out of Akane due to the changes her best friend had been displaying ever since a certain teacher came, and didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing.
Finally, the grand day was upon them. Just when Jurina and Rena were about to head to Jurina’s place together again to prepare for tonight, their tracks stopped when Rena saw the car she wished she never wanted to see at the school gates, waiting for her.
Jurina whistled in an impressed tone, “That’s the first.”
“It’s mine…”
“Sorry?” Jurina tilted her head to look at Rena who had clenched her fists while biting her lips as if she was holding back her tears, “Rena-chan, what’s wrong?”
“... I… have to go,” and she dashed off towards the car, causing Jurina to reach out to her at her current position.
“Re-- M-Matsui-san?!”
The driver promptly exited his car and bowed at her, opening the door for her and she got in without a word, bangs shadowing her eyes and Jurina knew something was wrong. She remembered hearing about how strict the parents of the younger Matsui was and assumed this was one of those small acts of 'love' from them. And it hit her. Rena's parents were back and that's why a limousine picked her up instead.
Deep down, she knew what she had to 'steal' first to pull off her grand heist perfectly tonight.
She had to steal 'Matsui Rena'.
- x - x - x –
Rena’s POV“Hello Father… Mother…”
I softly greeted. Thankfully I had the time to adjust my attire so it looked prim and proper. Had my shirt tucked in and tied the annoying ribbon around my collar and buttoned up my blazer… which feels so darn suffocating. Had to untie my hair that was tied up to have my ponytail lying on a shoulder towards the front so I’d look more elegant when my hair flows behind me… but I wanted to have short-hair for crying out loud. My brother who would be wearing a vest with a pair of loose trousers was now wearing a long-sleeved white shirt with the hem tucked into the waistline of his beige-coloured long pants, and his hair combed backwards properly with gel as if he was ready for work anytime soon. It has hilarious at how formal-looking he was but I had to hold in a laughter in the presence of my no-joke parents, or at least my dad.
When did I ever sign up to put up this stupid facade anyways?! I hate this… I’d rather be with Jurina right now, doing fun things, talking about the randomest of things and go through how the heist would be done one last time tonight… darn it.
“We will be attending a gem exhibition tonight as were invited by the owner to pay a visit after closing hours,” My dad said with an authoritative voice. My eyes widened in shock at what I just heard… what kind of stupid coincidence is this?!
“I hear there will be an infamous Phantom Thief at the scene too. How exciting!” My mom clapped in joy, only to be stopped by an irritated look in her husband’s eye.
I felt that there were beads of sweat forming on my forehead and hoped they wouldn’t break my facade. This isn’t good… If Jurina brings me there and my cover is blown what then? Maybe I shouldn’t leave? But what about her? She needs me to succeed! I promised her too...
“... I would like you both to turn in early tonight. Right after we leave the house.”
Like heck I would!
“I… understand,” I looked downwards to the floor. My brother said the same thing in unison with me.
My tolerance to stay home had diminished after spending most of my time out with Jurina till a certain curfew in the evening I had set for myself to not let the guard feel too responsible for my safety when he has been helping me these recent days.
Jurina… I know you’re probably busy preparing right now but… I… I want to be by your side tonight, helping you…
So please come for me… to let me know that you really need me…
Please.
- x - x - x –
It was two hours before the grand heist and Rena’s parents was leaving in an hour from then. Jurina was on the roof of another person’s house a road across Rena’s, lying on her back while looking focusedly at a device in her palm and a toothpick in her mouth.
“Are you really thinking of kidnapping Matsui Rena, Nobunaga-kun?”
“Nao-chan, Nao-chan… don’t use such a crude word like ‘kidnapping’,” She sat up, gazing at the balcony leading to Rena’s room and the still-dark room that was reflected through the window panel, “... Call it a rescue mission. Or I'm thievery terms, 'stealing' her would be nice.” Gosh where are you Rena-chan?
“Rescue mission or 'stealing' my foot,” Nao rolled her eyes, “Plus, weren’t you interested in only shiny things?”
“Hmm… that’s a good question,” Jurina smiled warmly towards the room that just had its lights turned on, “... I guess she’s shining in my eyes.”
“You crazy smooth talker…” Nao shrugged but a bitter smile formed on her lips, “Anyways, there’s a guard right at her doorstep that I’ve located via thermal detection. There are a few dogs on the ground floor so it’s kind of risky to climb your way up. So the only option is--”
“Using this baby here?” She unhooked a gun-like equipment attached to her belt and held it tightly. It had a grappling hook loaded at the tip of the gun and she grinned when the gun seemed like it’s in perfect condition.
“Yes. The length of the grappling hook should be able to reach from where you are. Zipline your way there to and fro with the pulley mechanism on your watch. But be careful… one false move--”
“I don’t think there’s any room for failures tonight, Nao-chan. I’m returning home tomorrow with the gem smuggled in and so I have to make tonight the best night ever. But first, I need my temporary partner physically to be by my side.”
Nao knew Jurina’s Phantom Thief-switch was completely flipped on and she would do anything to get what she wanted no matter how dangerous it was. It was hopeless to remind her about safety when she’s like that and Nao allowed Jurina to do as she liked while providing her intel of her surroundings. Jurina stood up and leaned forward over the edge of the rooftop as much as she could and shot the grappling hook towards the wall which had the glass window panel mounted into it and attached herself onto the line of the hook with a specially made mechanism installed on her watch-like device which slowly but steadily got her there, irrespective of the security in Rena’s home. She leapt down to from the line and that made a noise that alerted the person in the room as she heard footsteps heading her way.
Jurina was confident enough to know that it was the person she came to rescue coming towards her.
As the damsel in distress pulled open her curtains only to see a suave-looking girl in her full Phantom Thief attire just without her top hat, she overflowed with happiness and that was demonstrated when she immediately unlocked and slid open the window panel, throwing herself into Jurina’s arms, bursting into tears of happiness.
“J-Jurina…”
“Shh…” Jurina hushed her student and caressed her head tenderly, hoping that they weren’t causing too much noise, especially after how roughly Rena slid open the window panel, “I’m happy to see how much you missed me.”
Hearing Jurina’s soft whisper into her ear made her heart feel like exploding from her chest. After she had undeniably fell in love with her, she realised how much more feminine she had turned. From the girl who would have had both legs opened widely while sitting or have a rude manner of speech especially towards her teachers to a more controlled, heck, lovestruck maiden who wants her feelings to be noticed by the one she had then hated, now loved, without her saying anything. Though in truth, she was afraid that she would end up being labelled as a stereotype to her teacher that finds most things in the world boring. She didn’t want to be known as boring to her teacher after so long, no way.
A few knocks on the door broke her out of her reverie and made Jurina jolt a little when the bodyguard outside checked on Rena, “Are you alright Miss? I heard a loud noise!”
“Y-Yes!” Rena pushed herself out of Jurina’s embrace and faced the door, “I uh… I just dropped my books!”
“Understood, Miss!”
Rena let out a sigh of relief.
“Hey, quickly get changed. We need to get there on time,” Jurina spoke softly, but demandingly at her student.
“E-Eh..?!” Rena looked around her surroundings before her face turned red at the look of her teacher, “W-With you here?”
Jurina checked her watch with a blank expression, “Yes. I mean you have a bathroom… you can change there unless…” she smirked teasingly, ”...you’re interested in showing me how your semi-naked body looks like?”
“S-Stupid Jurina…!” Rena threw her pillow from her bed directly at Jurina who simply deflected it and quickly placed an index finger on her lips, trying to gesture for Rena to be quiet. The latter obviously got the message and stormed to her wardrobe to get her suit and then to her bathroom to change.
Skipping a bit of the whole bickering with Jurina teasing how sexy Rena looked in a ponytail with her suit on and the latter acting tsundere as Jurina would expect, they set off towards their destination after more bickering when Rena didn’t like the fact of jumping on and off roofs or ziplining to another person’s house. She was forced to be obedient when Jurina knocked her off balance and carried her bridal style, hushing the younger Matsui when she struggled and told her to cover her mouth no matter what to prevent her from attracting unwanted attention. Everything was smooth-sailing on the way to the exhibition hall from building to building and Rena ended up enjoying the night scenery and breeze in Jurina’s arms.
- x - x - x –
“Good evening, Matsui Rena-san.”
Jurina had given Rena a spare earpiece she had so Rena could get intel from Nao, as long as a modified pair of glasses similar to the one Jurina had on.
“W-Wow…” Rena was amazed with the technology on her, “Hello… umm…”
“Furuhata Nao. It seems like a certain someone didn’t introduce me to you when she would always talk about y--”
“That’s about enough, Nao-chan. I apologize for not introducing you to her in advance,” Jurina looked calm but she ruffled her hair a bit, actually annoyed that Nao almost spilled the beans about her personal topics of Rena with her.
“Nice to umm… meet you, Nao-chan!” Rena greeted with a smile.
“I’m--” Nao sighed, “... Fine I don’t mind you calling me Nao-chan I suppose, Rena,” Nao smiled awkwardly to herself, “Anyways, you’ll be knocking out some of the security for Jurina to get in from the back door right?”
Rena nodded, “Yeah.”
“And Ju-- Nobunaga. Once Rena has cleared a secure path for you, you can make the magic happen as planned when you both are in position.”
“Let tonight be the night the world sees two Phantom Thieves before their eyes… WMatsui!”
“W-WMatsui…? What the heck?” Rena could imagine herself having an animated sweat drop on the side of her head.
“We both have the same family name, don’t we?” Jurina winked, “That team name would do for now.”
“That sounds ridiculous, Nobunaga.”
“You’re just jealous I haven’t thought of a better name than The Amazing NobuNao, right?”
“Y-You don’t have to tell her about that stupid-sounding team name!!! Geez~!!!” Nao pouted in a frustrated but cute manner.
Rena giggled before a thought came into her head and reminded her that there was something she had to absolutely do before they begun their heist.
“About half an hour left. It’s about time to move--”
“Umm…” Rena took off her glasses and switched off her earpiece, “... There’s something I need to tell you in private first…”
Jurina noticed the way Rena was fidgeting and respected her privacy by going offline from Nao as well. Nao of course, was annoyed as always when people, or at least Jurina, tended to cut her offline at random or crucial times but had always been considerate and didn't pry for an explanation whenever Jurina does that. Sure, she may be a bit more jealous than she thought when it came to Rena since 90% of Jurina's conversations with her had her mentioned in it but she didn't mind at all, and was in fact, happy, for her partner. Though she does unconsciously punch herself in the gut whenever she recalls herself rejecting Jurina's 'proposals'.
Back to the two Matsui, they had a short, private conversation before the grand heist.
“What is it?”
“I… I don’t know if this is a boring face I’m showing to you or you’ve really changed me in a way or another but I just want to thank you for showing me your world, Jurina.. s-sensei. The world that you have had hidden from everyone except Nao-chan and me.”
“Aren’t you thanking me too early? We haven’t even pulled off the heist yet,” Jurina raised a brow.
“And also…” Rena inhaled deeply before inching closer towards Jurina’s face and when her lips was about to touch Jurina’s, she moved her head towards the side and gave a peck on her teacher’s cheek instead, making Jurina speechless.
“T-That’s how I feel. A-About you now, as much as I hate to admit it,” Rena pulled herself back and looked away, nervously switching her earpiece back on and put her glasses back on too, “I-I’m not expecting anything like an answer or what not from you later, that’s just what I wanted to do in case anything goes wrong.”
Jurina touched her cheek, smiling warmly without a word when she came back to her senses after being honestly surprised by the younger Matsui’s sudden act. She put her glasses back on and went online before reaching out to Rena’s hand and intertwining their hands with each others’, which made Rena turn slowly towards a smiling Jurina whose expression turned into a confident, grinning one when she suddenly spoke.
“It's showtime~!”
They both jumped down a platform that led straight into the rear area of the museum and that allowed Rena to strut her stealth and fighting abilities she had been training with Jurina after school when she could. All the security in the parameters were taken out without warning by the younger Matsui who was proud of her accomplishment though she had hoped for more of a challenge, not easy take downs with just a few chokeholds and whacks to the head. With the accurate intel Nao had been feeding the both of them, it was a breeze to break into the museum through the back door while Jurina made sure that all the security cameras were disabled and frozen with a special spray she had when it wasn’t able to be hacked into. As for a helicopter or two that was supposed to be guarding the building, Nao had hacked into the computer system within, causing a bit of disturbance for the pilot and the officers in them to focus completely on the site.
So anyways, let’s see what happens inside shall we?
- x - x - x –
“These are really magnificent works of art,” Rena's father’s voice resounded throughout the empty hall that only had a handful of officers on patrol.
The owner of the exhibition bowed briefly in gratitude, “Thank you, Sir.”
“But are you sure that the exhibition will be safe like this, umm… Interpol-san?”
“It’s Miyazawa, Matsui-san…” Sae scratched the back of her head after she introduced herself to Rena’s mother, “And yes. We have a full team guarding the outside this time. We have yet to try this pattern of security and I doubt the brat could’ve sneaked in--”
“Miyazawa-san!” A police officer whose cap was low enough that it shadowed her eyes approached Sayaka with a tired salute in which she held onto both knees without looking at her, “I-I apologize for the interruption but it seems like the Phantom Thief has broken through our security..”
“What did you say?!” Sae jolted in shock and that was when the police officer had a wide grin on her face when her head was still down and took a ball-like gadget from her pocket.
“Try again next time, lo~ser~”
*POOF*!A dust cloud slowly formed from the gadget that was thrown onto the floor by the supposed officer and the light went off, which caused panic immediately amongst the people in there except for our two Phantom Thieves. A few more of those explosives were also set off throughout the whole exhibition hall by Rena who was swiftly planting a few other devices and knocking out the distressed security officers as pinpointed by Nao while running around in a zigzag pattern thanks to her glasses that had night vision enabled. She felt bad when she had placed the device right behind her parents and when she was done, she escaped to the back of a pillar, waiting for the next move. She was huffing and puffing but she had never felt such a surge of excitement that easily outshines her pranks and random fights. The exhilaration made her smile.
The lights went on moments after as the dust clouds began to disperse. That was when, Rena flipped the switch on, inflating a few balloon-like figures of Phantom Thief Nobunaga that had a clown-like face from the devices she planted. The one right behind her parents scared the life out of her mother that she shrieked loudly and even her strict father jumped away at the sight of it. Sae cringed at the sight of her men being taken down but decided to dash to the podium that housed the Tanzanite of Kilmanjaro only to see it still there and let out a sigh of relief until the owner verified it with his own eyes, noticing that the gem had been swapped.
The owner opened the case when he noticed a white triangular thing right under the pillow of the gem and revealed it was the calling card that Phantom Thief Nobunaga would put every time she had successfully stolen something. Not only that, he noticed the whole security system around the case had been disabled since he was able to access the case just like that without triggering the alarm that was supposed to be attached to it. He also noticed that the back of the glass had actually been cut with a circular hole that would be easily missed no thanks to the visibility damage done by the bombs.
The lights were switched off once again and the spotlights that were supposed to be shot at the Tanzanite of Kilmanjaro were diverted towards a ledge at the end of the exhibition hall with a window right behind and that was switched on to show two figures in a cape but one had a notable top hat to the detest of a certain Interpol officer.
“It’s unfortunate you didn’t manage to catch me once again. Were you going easy on me this time? Because I didn’t even break a sweat!” The Phantom Thief taunted.
Sae angrily took a gun she had hidden within her coat from its holster and pointed it towards the thief, “Return that gem to me, NOW!!!!!!”
“Catch me if you can,” Nobunaga a.k.a. Jurina gave one last taunt and stuck her tongue out which earned her a gunshot that missed her due to the gun’s range before taking her masked partner in crime into a bridal carry again and jumped out of the window which had a few boxes that were high enough to enable her to land on both feet without any issues. The two of them grinned at each other before Jurina decided to go airborne with her jet-propelled shoes that she saved up for after the heist as it was still an unstable prototype with high fuel consumption. The journey back to Rena’s place was full of laughter and chatter about how well it had went, especially the fact she had done the ultimate prank-- scaring the heck out of her parents. Even Nao couldn’t help but laugh at how easy it had been.
When they arrived at the balcony of Rena’s room, they both thanked Nao for the support and went offline from her. The younger Matsui knew it was already time to say goodbye and her happy face turned into a quiet, frowning one. She had way too much fun that night and the fact it was the first and her last time having that much fun? She didn’t want to believe it.
“Well. I suppose this is goodbye,” Jurina took off her hat and bowed in a gentlemanly manner, “Thank you for your hard work tonight… you can keep the getup you’re wearing right now tucked away in a hidden drawer somewhere. You earned it,” Jurina chuckled.
“Don’t you need it?” Rena asked, feeling rather startled that her teacher would just give those precious equipment to her but the latter just nodded.
“Not especially… but if you were to give me yours,” Jurina scratched her cheek, eyes glancing sideways embarassedly, “... I may be tempted to do inappropriate things to it.”
Rena blushed, “W-What’s that supposed to mean, you perverted Sensei…”
Jurina laughed softly, “You’re still calling me a Sensei till now huh now that I think about it. I’m rather touched.”
“Don’t be too touched, Purina.”
“Ack, that nickname…” Jurina shrugged, “I’ll miss it.”
Rena frowned again, “... You’re really leaving…?”
“Yes…” Jurina looked sad as well, “... I actually wanted to get everything done and leave here as fast as I could but… after getting to know you, it’s like you’re the only thing that’s anchoring me here that’s making me hesitant to leave…”
“J-Jurina-sensei…”
“Rena. Is it okay if you close your eyes please?” Jurina said, removing the mask covering her eyes, “I want to give you my answer after all.”
Jurina would always have added a suffix when she called Rena by her name so it made her heart skip a beat when she just used her name. The younger Matsui closed her eyes tightly, hands clenched tightly not knowing what her answer from Jurina would be. It was then, she felt a pair of warm hands on both her cheeks and a pair of warm lips on hers. She held her breath at the contact and before it could’ve gotten more passionate, Jurina stopped herself and embraced the girl, whispering sweetly into her ear that Jurina tucked a few strands of hair behind it.
“I love you, Rena. Thank you for coming into my life.”
That sentence shot open Rena’s eyes as Jurina slowly stepped away, breaking the embrace.
“I wonder if that’s a favorable answer for you?” Rena, for the very first time, saw Jurina blush before her while smiling warmly, and that made her even more flustered.
“Jurina…”
“I’ll take my leave now,” Jurina turned her back against Rena, “... Let’s meet again in the near future. Okay, Rena?”
Rena felt that her tears were rolling down her cheeks, “... Yes… for sure we’ll… we’ll meet again.”
Jurina looked over her shoulder with a wry smile, “Idiot. Don’t cry. It’s a promise then.”
“H-Have a safe trip… Sensei.”
Jurina wiped away a tear that escaped an eye, “See ya.”
And that was the last night Jurina spent in Japan that was memorable in every way. She had a successful heist done perfectly and more importantly, she had stolen the heart of a precious person she had met at the beginning of the month. Or was it her whose heart got stolen? She didn’t know. But all she knew was that she couldn’t wait till the next time they meet.
- x - x - x –
A year later…..
Rena had graduated from high school with flying colours and she really worked hard for it like how an honours student would have done so ever since she had set her goal to studying in the UK.The whole school was shocked by how much the problem student changed and the Principal was pleased when his temporary teacher managed to do her job after all. Akane was probably the most shocked one of the whole student body since she was her best friend and still couldn’t comprehend to the great change in her own best friend. Rena had just simply blurted that she fell in love with Phantom Thief Nobunaga whom she saw on television that completely tricked Akane and worried her like mad, thinking her best friend had probably too high on drugs one day without saying anything about it and this is its aftereffects.
Rena wanted to see Jurina.
And she worked hard for it, earning a place in the most prestigious university in UK which made her parents proud. They expected for their daughter to have attended a prestigious university locally but when she egged on about wanting to go overseas instead, that surprised them and of course, they allowed her without a second thought.
And today was the day Rena had to leave for the UK.
- x - x - x –
Rena's POV“Wow, no bodyguards around you? That’s a surprise!” Churi looked around me animatedly.
“I asked my parents to not send anyone with me and made a request for them to allow me to live on my own.”
“Wow~ Rena-san’s leaving the nest to be independent eh~?” Churi smiled giddily, flapping her arms.
I laughed, “I’m not a bird like you Churi… and hey, you really won’t be following me over?”
“I’m not as smart as you are, Rena-san…” Churi pouted, “I wish but… this is where we part ways.”
“Aww…” I gave her a tight hug, “Don’t worry, we’ll still keep in touch okay?”
“You bet! I’ll kill you if you don’t call me…!” Churi’s voice was already beginning to crack and she was beginning to tear up.
“Churi… you promised not to cry…” I felt the tinge of sadness too, but forced a smile regardless.
“Sorry…” Her hold around my waist tightened too but I could feel her shaking, “... I-I can’t help it…… we’ve been together for so long I just can’t believe we’ll be separated from now on... A-And if you start pulling pranks again during lectures I won't be able to see it......!”
“Oh what the heck Churi," I laughed softly, "I put my prancing life aside and besides, we'll always be connected... And we’ll meet again physically someday. I promise."
“Don’t go, Rena-san…” She sniffed, “Don’t graduate like how those members in that famous all-girls idol group do…!!!!!!”
I broke the hug and gave her a pout, “Wait what? Girl, you spoiled one of the most touching moment in my life that could win a Grammy Award, you know. And I’m no idol who’s graduating. I’m just leaving home to study in another country.”
She wiped her tears that were continuously flowing down her eyes, “My favourite idol member left the group in hopes of being an actress! Do you know how sad this whole thing is but at the same time I’m happy for her?!”
I facepalmed, “Okay Churi, you’re losing me.”
In a split second, it was as if she had never cried and she placed a finger on her chin, pondering about something, “Wait… That idol I really liked who graduated recently reminds me of you--”
And out of the blue to break the weird topic that was going on in Churi’s head, the announcement of my flight resounded throughout the airport. Gosh, thank goodness. Otherwise this would’ve gone out of hand…
“Okay Churi. I’m off.”
“E-EH?!!!” Looks like that snapped her out of her idol world trance.
I grinned, “Enjoy yourself in your idol world while I take a nice, relaxing plane ride~ Thanks for everything and love ya~” I began to walk away with my luggage shortly after with Churi chasing after me and that made me accelerate for fun.
“R-Rena-san you’re so mean!!!”
“See ya when I see ya, Churi!!!” I exclaimed back as I entered the security check gate, looking back towards Churi and waving at her with a grin. She did the same, and I’m glad she didn’t send me off with tears at the very end.
I’m coming to see you Jurina… I just hope I can find you.
xxx
When the girl arrived, she was anxious to see Jurina after not being in contact with her for a year. Random thoughts arose in Rena’s head which ranged from how she looked like now to whether she had gotten into a relationship in the course of time.
Shaking her head to get the thoughts off, she pulled her luggage to the outside of the airport where she decided to get a taxi until a familiar-sounding voice stopped her in her tracks. A voice she had wanted to hear from for a year.
“Re… Rena?”
She slowly turned back only to see the handsome-looking girl with parted hair but her left ear showing with a bunch of hair tucked behind it in a black leather jacket accompanied by a white blouse and a simple pair of black pants and brown leather boots without her glasses, standing quite a distance from her until she slowly walked closer. Rena, unable to hold back on such an emotional moment, dived into Jurina’s arms as she once did and it was like de ja vu.
“W-Why… why are you here…?”
“I have ways to find where you are Rena… though, that makes me sound like a stalker huh?” Jurina chuckled.
“Pervert…” She lifted herself out of the embrace, “I’m… I’m happy to see you again, Jurina. I didn't expect we could meet so soon...”
“Me too… I missed you,” Jurina smiled with a fade of red on her cheeks, “We have a lot to catch up on don’t we? And a lot more memories to make.”
“Yes… yes we do.”
“Let’s go to my car now. I’ll send you to your accommodation or anywhere you want to pay a visit to.”
“Jurina?”
“Hmm?”
“I love you.”
Jurina chuckled, “I love you too.”
And so, the next chapter begins for two individuals joined by a twist of fate.
FIN.