The faint odor of warm milk filled the dining room as Shion looked slightly sheepish. Hirokichi swirled a glass of whiskey as he felt another small smile start forming. It was happening a lot more lately, and it was a strange feeling, but not unwelcome.

“I take it you miss your box?” (Harukichi)

Shion gave a shy nod. Although it was dirty and old, it was one of the few remnants of her old world that somehow managed to make it across with her. Even if she no longer needed to use it as shelter anymore, it gave her a sense of nostalgia and appreciation for her new situation.

“Shion, you really are a cat huh~ it’s cute” (Ayano)

“Hmph” (Shion)

“...If you like it, do you want a new one?” (Hirokichi)

Shion shook her head. An awkward atmosphere could be felt in the room.

“Ahem, so Japan has compulsory education until you turn 15, and then most people have the choice of going to High School and College afterwards. Hideki – the doctor who checked you over at the hospital the other day – let me know that going to school is essential to your mental development.”

Hirokichi paused and took a sip of his whiskey.

“I won’t force you to go to school if you don’t want to – in any case you are lacking in knowledge of many subjects, so I’ll hire some teachers; they’ll tutor you on all the required subjects you need to pass the mandatory exams to graduate from Middle School.”

“I want to go! I mean… I’ve never gone to school before…” Shion’s voice peters out.

Hirokichi let out a low chuckle,

“Okay, sure then. We’ll take the time to help you adjust and prepare for the entrance exams of Kisshoin High School. But it’ll be rough you know; you only have a single year before you turn 15 and can enter high school.” (Hirokichi)

“Even still… I want to go. I promise I won’t disappoint you, so I’ll do my best and catch up before then.”

Shion then thinks for a second.

“Wait… 15?”

“Yes, the high school will accept you as a first year student when you turn 15 if you pass the entrance exams. I took the opportunity to register your birthday as the day you arrived, March 31st.” (Hirokichi)

“Thank you…” (Shion)

Shion fell into deep thought. Although schools and academies existed back in her previous world, she was too busy just trying to survive to think about the possibility of ever going. Not that they would let a homeless street orphan go anyways. Her head was struck by a sudden, sharp pain. She had never gone to school before… right?

“Shion, are you okay?” (Ayano)

Shion looked up to see Ayano’s head beside her. Her normally bright face was instead showing worry. The pain had disappeared by this point, so she rapidly shook her head side to side to clear it.

“I’m fine” (Shion)

“You sure? You looked like you were in a lotta pain there.” (Ayano)

“It’s okay, I’m used to it” (Shion)

Ending the conversation there, Shion turned to the dinner that had been served. It was more of a traditional japanese fare, with simmered fish, pickles, rice and some sort of vegetable. Shion had been given a pair of chopsticks, but the maids had also kindly left a knife, fork and spoon for her to use as well.

Shion picked up the chopsticks, trying to mimic Hirokichi, but failing to do so; she gave up and picked up the knife and fork to start eating. Ayano was kindly picking out the bones of the fish before dropping pieces in Shion’s rice bowl. Shion started eating gratefully, appreciative of all the new delicious food she had never gotten to eat before.

—

It was slightly strange. Since she was the one taking care of Shion, Ayano was given all the details about her. From being suspected of coming from another world, to being previously homeless. But the Shion she saw in front of her was using the knife and fork properly and elegantly. It was still a little jerky, as if Shion was out of practice, but it didn’t look like the actions of someone who grew up homeless.

Later in the night, Ayano knocked on Hirokichi’s door.

“Enter” (Hirokichi)

Ayano opened the door and walked in and saw the tall alpha standing by his bed, preparing to go to sleep. He had clearly just showered, as he had a towel around his neck and was only wearing pajama pants. Ayano swallowed as a bead of water rolled down his collarbone, past his eight pack abs and vanished into his pants. She slapped her cheeks to compose herself,

“Hirokichi-sama, I-i remember you saying that Shion was previously homeless, right?” (Ayano)

“Are you talking about her skill with the cutlery?” (Hirokichi)

“Yes, it won’t change my perception of her in any way, but I found it interesting that someone of her background had those skills…” (Ayano)

“Then there’s no need to worry. Shion didn’t seem to be lying when she told us that she had lost all her memories, so you should just accept her for what she is now. Memories or not, Shion is Shion.” (Hirokichi)

“Yes… I’ll always make sure to treasure her dearly. She’s already captured the hearts of all the servants here you know,” Ayano let out a little giggle.

“Was there anything else you needed?” (Hirokichi)

“No, have a good night Hirokichi-sama” (Ayano)

“Thank you, you too… Oh and by the way,” Hirokichi let out a small smirk.

 “My eyes are up here” (Hirokichi)t

Ayano’s face instantly lit up like a lamp as she dashed from the room, hearing a low chuckle from behind her. Hirokichi-sama really was changing; if it was in the past he would’ve simply ignored the maids even if they looked upon his body while he was changing. It was unfair for the previously cool and stoic alpha to suddenly start teasing her.

—

“Hello, my name is Inoue Takanashi, and Kojou-sama has hired me to guide you through your studies. I am a female omega specialized in teaching chemistry, but I have credentials to teach every mandatory subject you need to learn. I look forward to working with you Kojou-san.”

Inoue Takanashi was a taller omega at about 1.7 meters with delicate and cool features. She had black hair, black eyes, and wore a pair of rectangular black rimmed glasses. Her bust was moderately sized and overall carried herself with an elegant and cool countenance.

“It’s okay to call me Shion, because there are two Kojous… I look forward to working with you as well Takanashi-sensei.” (Shion)

“Okay Shion-san, then because we only have a little less than a year to catch you up to every subject you will need to know for the Kisshoin High School examination, we shall get started right away. In order to find out your current level of academics, I have prepared exams for all the mandatory subjects. They start at an elementary level and increase in difficulty, so if the questions feel too hard for you, don’t feel pressured to continue on. Once you are finished with these exams, I can prepare an appropriate teaching plan for you. You may start as soon as you are ready.” (Takanashi-sensei)

Shion glanced at the exams before her, before grabbing the mathematics exam and starting. As she looked through the problems, she realized they were vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t put a finger as to why that was. As she started to work on the exams, she continued to realize that a few of the subjects were still familiar, as if she had studied them before…

Takanashi-sensei watched the cat girl omega as she worked, noticing that she seemed to write with a decent amount of confidence. Her ears occasionally twitched every once in a while, but Takanashi-sensei resisted her urge to pat Shion, not wanting to distract her. It was several hours later than Shion finally finished.

Shion nervously sipped on a mug of tea that Ayano had prepared as Takanashi-sensei checked over her answers. The scent of warm milk slowly filled the air as she watched. Takanashi-sensei looked up and gave an elegant smile,

“If you’re not careful with your pheromones, I’m sure your father will have to fight back all the alphas who will be going for you”

A light blush filled Shion’s face as she tried her best to restrain the pheromones she was emitting from the gland on her neck. Takanashi-sensei let out a light giggle,

“Yes, just like that. Now as for your test results…”

Takanashi shuffled through the papers.

“Surprisingly, you got a perfect score on your mathematics exam and a decently high score on the science portion. Your Japanese could use a little work, and you got 0 on social studies and English, but those at least are consistent with what Kojou-sama told me about you. What isn’t consistent are your scores on mathematics and science. Are you sure you’ve never had formal schooling before?” (Takanashi-sensei)

“Not that I remember…” (Shion)

“Well, at least it saves us some effort, we will have to do some minor review on your science, but this means that we can focus purely on preparing your Japanese, social studies, and English skills for the entrance exam. We’ll also cover a little bit of music and health so that you can take the middle school final exams; this means that you can actually graduate and properly enter high school.” (Takanashi-sensei)

Shion had a daunting amount of work ahead of her, but she resolved herself to do her best and study as well as she could so that she wouldn’t disappoint Kojou-sama.

“I will do my best to master all these subjects, so please do your best to teach me these things as fast as possible.” (Shion)

Takanashi-sensei gave a small smile to her.

“Of course, how could I possibly decline when a student of mine asks with such determination?” (Takanashi)

Takanashi-sensei finally folded to her whims and gave Shion a gentle pat on her head as she gathered her materials.

“I’ll be back early tomorrow morning so that we can get started on your studies. I was temporarily on leave from teaching at Kisshoin due to my pregnancy, but Kojou-sama kindly extended it so that I could teach you. I’ll be spending some number of hours every day with you so do your best and don’t complain if it feels too intense.” (Takanashi-sensei)

“Ummm… what about your baby?” (Shion)

“Thank you for asking Shion-san, but don’t worry; my husband is doing an excellent job of taking care of him, and I’ll be able to spend plenty of time with the two of them after I finish our tutoring sessions each day. Now be a good omega and get plenty of rest while you can, because I won’t be letting up when we start tomorrow. Have a nice rest of your evening.” (Takanashi-sensei)

“Mmm. Thank you.” (Shion)

Shion watched Takanashi-sensei elegantly walk away before her stomach suddenly grumbled.

“Just in time for dinner~” Ayano added with a teasing tone.

Shion, once again blushing slightly at the teasing, followed Ayano towards the dining hall as she suddenly felt thankful for everything that she was given recently. She whispered in a small voice,

“Thank you for everything Aya-chan”

“Hmm? Did you say something, Shion-chan?”

“Nope~”

Shion walked ahead of Ayano with a small smile on her face. The world felt bright and warm.

Tsubaki_X

I have a small amount of chapters saved up, so I will release probably around once a week (more if I write enough). Please let me know what you think of my writing!