16 Partners

"You?!" What the hell are you doing here?!" "I want answers and you have them!"

These were just some of the phrases that came to mind as Natsuki locked eyes with Akuma. Of course, there was no way she could actually say that. After all, he was still a teacher and for all her bluster she still had to respect her authority figures.

"Ah, it's nice to see another first-year interested in literature," he said, awkwardly waving at the two club members.

"F-First…!" Being mistaken for a first-year student again was like a punch in the gut for Natsuki. To constantly be mistaken to be as young as she appeared was one of the most infuriating situations she had to deal with.

Natsuki was clearly unable to speak without possibly losing her temper, so Sayori decided to take it upon herself to converse with him.

"Can we help you?" Sayori asked.

"Maybe," Akuma replied, scratching his left cheek. "This being a literature club, I figured an old student of mine would be here. Has she already gone home? She has long purple hair, with eyes that match, and has a habit of playing with her hair when she gets nervous."

Sayori blankly stared at the young teacher before answering his question.

"I can't tell you that," she said.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Because she's terrified of you," Sayori answered in a rather matter-of-fact manner.

Hearing Sayori answer caused the wound on Akuma's forehead to ache, causing the memories of the past to resurface.

"I… I understand," Akuma weakly smiled. "I'll be on my way now. If you see her, could you tell that I'm sorry for how things turned out last year and that I'll try my best to stay away from her?"

"Okay," Sayori nodded her head. She quietly watched the saddened Akuma leave the classroom, before turning to Natsuki wearing a big grin on her face.

"I think we learned something here today," she beamed.

"We did?" the confused Natsuki replied. "What did we learn?"

"We learned what we learned," Sayori giggled.

"Can't you just tell me?" Natsuki asked.

"Huh? But I just did," Sayori answered, perplexed.

It was at that point Natsuki realized that she would not be able to get a straight answer from Sayori.

And despite the fact that the events of that day happened a couple of days ago, Natsuki was still a bit annoyed that she was unable to get a straight answer from her. Something else that still bothered her was if Akuma was really going to keep his promise of staying away from Yuri. She didn't know him well enough to trust him and he could easily change his mind. Add the fact that the other club members seemed skeptical and…

"Attention, class, we have a special guest here to give an announcement," her teacher announced.

The train of thought that was travelling in Natsuki's head came to an unexpected end as her teacher demanded the attention of her students. She looked up and couldn't believe who the guest was.

"Good afternoon, class," Fuyu greeted, adjusting her glasses in the process.

"What's she doing here?" Natsuki wondered.

That wasn't the only thing on her mind though. Fuyu only spoke a single sentence, but her tone was very professional and strict. That wasn't the only thing that was different; her overall posture and expression made it clear that she was an absolute authority figure. Overall, the Fuyu that was standing in front of her class today was very different from the one from the week before, something that surprised Natsuki.

"I'm here to inform you all of a contest that our school decided to take up," Fuyu started to explain. "I'm sure you're all aware of the Kitsune Spa Resort?"

Natsuki watched her class nervously nod their heads before Fuyu continued.

"The owner is offering the 2nd years of all the local schools a chance at a free trip if a pair of students is able to construct a poster that impresses them," Fuyu explained.

She then walked out of the classroom and returned with a bag filled with tiny slips of paper.

"If each of you will reach into this bag, you can be assigned your partner and the two of you can begin planning how you two will plan. I would also like to add that only every other class is drawing from his bag so it is your responsibility to seek out your partner," Fuyu instructed. "To make it easy, we added all the information needed to track them down on the slip. Now please… draw."

Later that day…

"This contest sounds fun," smiled Monika.

Shujinkou nodded his head in agreement. It was rare for something school related to actually pique his interest and he couldn't wait to start drawing up a design for the poster.

"Speaking of which, who are you guys partnered with?" he asked.

"I'm partnered with Yuri," Sayori grinned. "You should have seen how happy she was when I appeared told her that."

"It was very relieving to find out I was partnered with someone I knew," Yuri said.

"What about you Monika?" asked Shujinkou.

"I'm partnered with Fuyu," she answered. "She seems really eager to win this contest. But then again, so am I."

Even though this was a competition between schools, every pair of students still treated the contest as it was a competition between each other. Shujinkou could understand why though: the competitive edge will help fuel the students desire to win and design the best poster they can.

"So who are you partnered with, Shujinkou?" Sayori asked.

"Actually, I don't really know," he replied. "No one approached me today."

"No one?" Monika repeated.

"I'm starting to think that maybe I don't have a partner," Shujinkou added, scratching his right cheek. He honestly couldn't tell if he should feel relieved or disappointed.

"That's weird. Fuyu said that everyone should have a partner…" From the corner of her eye, Monika noticed the sun continuing its descent towards the horizon and decided it was time to end the club meeting.

The four gathered their things and walked towards the door. Only three of them made it through the exit, as Natsuki stopped Shujinkou from going any farther.

"Wait a minute, you're going home without even knowing who your partner is?" she asked.

"Well, it's not like I can do anything about it," Shujinkou replied. "No one approached me so I guess I'm going to have to work on my own."

"Jeez, you must be crazy if you think I'm going to let you handle everything," Natsuki said.

"Eh?" Shujinkou eyes widened with surprise. "You're my partner. But then why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"Because…!" Natsuki gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. She then quickly turned away from him with a flustered expression on her face. "Because I just wanted to tell you at the end of the day! It's not like I was nervous or anything ridiculous like that, dummy!"

"Okay…" Shujinkou was surprised by her surprisingly specific denial, but decided not to press her further. "Well, it's not like it's a big deal. What matters is that I now know who my partner is."

"Exactly!" Natsuki agreed. Her tense body was finally able to relax again and she turned her gaze back to Shujinkou. "Anyway, you're free Sunday right?"

"Yeah," Shujinkou nodded his head.

"Good, then I'll come over your house then so we can work on the poster," Natsuki said.

"Huh? My house?!" Shujinkou exclaimed.

"That a problem?" Natsuki asked.

"Well… I guess not," Shujinkou replied as he scratched his right cheek.

In the end, he knew that it didn't really matter whose house they worked at. Still, that fact couldn't keep Shujinkou from feeling nervous about a girl coming over his house even if it was just for school work.

With nothing more to discuss, the two exchanged phone numbers and walked out of the club room together. As they walked through the hallway, one very important question made itself known within Shujinkou's head.

"I wonder how mom's gonna react to me having a girl that isn't Sayori come over…" the nervous student dreaded.