“Uncle!” Kouji left his room to go scold Yokakura about the situation. “Why is she sleeping in my bed?”

“I don’t know. Must’ve just stumbled onto it, I guess.” That answer did little to calm him down about what was going on here. Figures that something stupid happened tonight as well. “Don’t worry about it, you can just sleep on the floor or the couch. It’s just for one night, so could you please bear with it?”

“Fine.” It wasn’t like he had much choice. At least all that was going to happen was that he had to delay sleeping in his real bed one more night. That wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

And so, he relocated himself to the living room space and headed for the couch. There was only a simple pillow and small blanket that he had to himself, since his own principal took all better things for herself.

“At least this will still be better than sleeping on the ground.” He muttered himself as he set things up. Once he got into the sheets, it turned out that was a true statement. Even something now built for sleeping provided him with some comfort. This was sorely needed for him, after spending months with less than ideal circumstances.

There were always plenty on his mind these days before he went to sleep. So it wasn’t like he could just drift off so easily. Those girls, they really were the cause of a lot of his troubles. Still though, he was glad that they were around to be his friends. Who knew how things would’ve turned out had he never accepted the offer Isako gave him.

Funny how that turned out. To think that he’d let a woman he only knew in passing into his house. Funnier now that despite living at a new place, she was now sleeping in his own bed. Things really were always odd for him.

To that, he finally was able to bring himself to sleep. It was a peaceful sleep, as he dreamed about relaxing outside on the beach. Something that he was going to miss with the Winter approaching. At least in his dreams, he could find some quiet away from his hectic life.

At least, until something stirred him in real life. A door closed, which caused the boy to awaken. It was still dark, so it must’ve been still nighttime. Since he had gotten used to sleeping all alone in a house, more of a single room, noises were able to get him to wake up. The boy sat up to see where it had come from. The light coming from the crack beneath the bathroom door informed him that Isako had woke up to relieve herself.

Getting up from the couch, he saw that it was going to be five soon. A testament to the fact that they were heading to colder weather considering it was still dark out. Though the sun should be rising pretty soon here. It’s earlier than he normally would’ve liked to get up, but it wasn’t really bad enough that he’d fall back asleep here.

So he went over back to his room to grab some clothes. It was a long day yesterday with all that moving stuff around. Therefore, a shower was in order for him once she was out of the bathroom. Kouji grabbed some simple things to wear for the day, then waited outside the bathroom for her.

“Hope you had a nice sleep.” He greeted her once the door was open. Honestly, he wasn’t expecting her to be such a mess. Her hair was all over the place, her clothes were disheveled, and those eyes were barely able to be opened.

“Oh my head.” She responded with holding a hand to her head. Even if she didn’t drink all that much last night, the woman was never good with alcohol. So all the effects were a bit more harsh on her body. “Now I remember why I haven’t touched the stuff in years.”

“…” She walked by him towards the kitchen. Presumably to get a drink of water to try and treat her headache. Kouji sighed, even if he could easily go and take a shower. His headmistress seemed to be unsteady, so he couldn’t just ignore her. It would be a shame if she stumbled and hurt herself here. “Here, I’ll help you.” He said, as he took one of her arms to help her walk.

Leading her to the kitchen, he sat her down at one of the stools. “You just want water? We got some tea, or perhaps you’d like some coffee?”

“Coffee would be nice.” She thought it over, and considered the options while trying to ignore the pain in her head. “Get some of that brewing, but a glass of water first.” He obliged with her request, getting a pot ready for her. Surely his uncle would be fine with some coffee ready for him by the time he woke up.

As he was getting it started, he poured out a glass of water from the tap. Kouji handed it to her, as he got the bean out to brew.

“Tsk.” As he was working, she let out disappointing sound. The woman still had yet to get her bearings straight. While trying to drink, she ended up tipping it up a bit too high over her mouth. A fair bit split out down to her white blouse. A rather unfortunate color of choice from Kouji’s perspective.

The woman probably wasn’t really concerned about what she was wearing under her shirt. After all, this was an impromptu party and she was originally here to help one of her students moving to a new house. Anyway, the point here being that she was wearing some simple bra that barely contained the chest she had.

The boy felt a little bad that he couldn’t help but check her out. It was a little shameful, but it was too hard to resist a good glance at his own headmistress. That woman was much more developed than her students, as would be expected. Unfortunately, she’s with a boy that’s in the middle of his own growing phase. Well, it’s unfortunate for him at least.

“I swear, I can be so clumsy sometimes.” She commented, looking for a napkin for a futile attempt at cleaning herself. “Sorry about that, I’ll make sure to clean it up.” She said, as if that was the problem for him. Well, it wasn’t that big of a problem, but he hoped that she wouldn’t notice.

“It’s fine.” He said. “I guess that should be everything, right?” The coffee was brewing along, so it wasn’t hard for her to just wait and pour one out when it was time. “I’ll just go take a shower now.”

“Actually, you should wait just a little longer.” She grabbed his arm to pull him towards the window. “Your old place never had such a view like this, correct?” That was a very true statement. Sure, the front of the looked over the road wasn’t that bad. However, the other windows gave him the amazing view of the walls to the buildings around him.

“I guess it’s nice.” He responded to her. “But it’s not like I can see much right now. The sun’s not up yet.”

“Yet.” She simply replied. “But just hang on a moment.” She pulled him close, pointing out the window. As if she knew what the time was, the brim of the sun began to make its way up from the horizon. Slowly, the darkness faded away to the light illuminating streets.

The color was brought out to the land. From the grays of the roads, to the greenery of trees planted around. Kouji was beginning see his new world in a different light.

“Wow.” He uttered out in amazement.

“It’s beautiful isn’t it?” She responded. “Whenever I’m feeling overwhelmed with work, I just look to and appreciate what I have.” He figured that being in her position wasn’t easy. Not only would running an entire school be difficult, but that the specific school would bring about a lot of expectations. A lot of powerful people want to ensure that she ensured the students were able to meet the high standards.

“I can see why you do that.” He said after putting her life into thought.

“I just wanted to make sure you remember that. You’re still young, and I’m sure there’s plenty of things that are hard on you. So sometime you need a moment to yourself, never forget that.”

“Thank you, that really means a lot.” He couldn’t prevent the smile creeping up on his face. Something that was a little embarrassing, so he immediately reminded her of what he was originally going to do. “I was going to pop into the shower, so I’ll get going on that.”

“Go ahead, I’ll have some breakfast ready for both you and your uncle. As thanks for letting me sleep here.”

“Right.” He turned his back to her, heading towards the bathroom. “And um, thanks for showing me the sunrise. I’m… Glad that we did that together.”

“Of course, it’s was nice.” She laughed at his inability to properly express his feelings. That boy still had a lot of growing to do.