A brown haired boy with navy blue eyes comes up to the school gates on the first day of the second week of school. His school uniform was very neat and he was holding a school issue soft cover briefcase in his left hand. 'That's me, Junichi Nagase, second year student at Aoryu High School. I am 17 years old, and five feet seven inches tall. My grades are average, and I am not the best nor worst at sports.'

A boy about Junichi's age comes running up from behind him yelling out. "Hey Junichi-kun, wait up for me," this other boy was not as neat with his uniform as Junichi. This boy sung his arm around Junichi's neck cause him to slightly stumble forward. This boy had black hair a little shorter than Junichi and brown eyes.

'That's my friend Choji. Along with my other two friends this guy get's me into many situations that have gotten me pegged as a pervert by the other students. I may hate their pervy antics but we have been together for a long time and are best of friends.'

"Choji-kun, don't tell me your going to drag me off to another peeking session with Toga-kun and Ramune-kun."

'Toga-kun and Ramune-kun are simply nicknames they quickly gained among the four friends. Keath-kun's family has strong Roman decent thus being called Toga-kun; how exactly that nickname came up is now unclear to us. Kinjirou-kun was called Ramune-kun for always having three of those drinks a day and it never really seemed to bother him, so it just stuck ever since third grade.'

"No need to worry about that; Toga-kun and Ramune-chin are going to be a little late today." Choji gave a slight snicker that gave Junichi reason to worry.

"Putting aside that worrisome chuckle, I must ask why you are still using '-chin' and haven't moved to '-kun' for Ramune-kun yet."

"Because Ramune-chin has yet to grow up." This was true since Ramune-kun was only four foot eleven inches tall and seemed like a middle schooler if it were not for his high intelligence.

"That is mean," Junichi said as he pulled from Choji and gave him a light chop on the head and walked into the school. Luckily Choji had to go to the opposite side of the school to start off this morning so Junichi would be alone walking to class unless someone decided to join him.

"I'll see you in Gym!"

A girl with brown hair pulled into a ponytail with a red, silk ribbon tying it waved goodbye to another girl. Her green eyes were vibrant and her smile was bright, school uniform neat and tidy and perfectly pressed out. She began walking to the school entrance with a slight grin as her briefcase swung in her left hand.

'That girl is me. Hi, I'm Chieko Kaneko and I'm 16 years old now. I'm 5 feet 5 inches tall and a second year student at high school. I guess you can call me a model student but all I do is try my best and strive to achieve. That girl was my friend, Kokoro Ami. She's a little short but with long, long black hair and a baby face. She's training to be a geisha and is at meiko rank as of now.'

As the girl walked, she greeted a few new students from last week and said hello to others- respectful and kind to all. They all greeted her warmly and a few hugged her but they were her close friends. One was a girl that had a slightly messy appearance with her bright red hair and choppy bangs (not to mention her bright red socks and a mochi pin attached to her shirt) though she looked clean and nice.

'I'm well known around school because of my two positions there. The girl just now was Akira Zeletz. She's from Tokyo and really into the pop culture scene, hence the mochi and her socks. She's a real sweetheart and doesn't talk very much. Her nickname is Shizukana- for quiet'.

As the students began thinning out, she found herself next to a boy. No, THE boy. Looking up at him, the brown-eyed girl smiled a bit. "Hello Nagase-Sempai," she greeted kindly.

"Oh hey Kaneko-chan, how are you this morning?" Junichi said with a smile to the school's president whom Junichi had a secret crush on. Not even his friends knew how he liked so for Chieko to know would be impossible; after all he didn't tell anyone other than his family. (Even then they only knew he had a crush and not the name.) "I am going to be starting some martial arts training at the dojo I moved next to yesterday. I haven't met the Sensei but I hear that it is a really good school." Even though he didn't really talk about unless asked the knowledge that his home was broken into last week spread through the school quickly. In addition so did the fact that he moved to a safer area, even though it wasn't know as to where he moved to. "Maybe you could join me there sometime after school," Junichi was joking with this since he thought Chieko wouldn't be into that type of thing.

"I'm doing well, thank you," Chieko replied with a grin as she walked next to Junichi. She herself had a crush on the student, however no one knew about this infatuation with the student. Hell- her friends had their suspicions but didn't have the slightest clue of who she really liked. At the mention of the boy entering a dojo, the girl perked a bit.

But then again she could be getting her hopes up. Maybe he wasn't moving to where she was- what a sad thought.

Chieko chuckled. "That sounds wonderful. I hope you enjoy it, too- No reason in doing something you don't enjoy." The green-eyed girl smiled and laughed quietly. "Maybe I could. Oh! I'm sorry, I'm going to have to go. The principal wanted to see me a little before classes start so I should be on my way." The girl ruffled Junichi's hair playfully before running off to get to the building and all the way upstairs. True, the principal did want to see her but the fact that her cheeks were beginning to burn red.

And then that would be embarrassing- if the boy noticed her burning cheeks.

"I guess being the student council president is a tough duty," Junichi said to himself after the president had left. That was something Junichi knew he could never do, especial with how hectic things tended to get both at school and at home. "I guess I might as well head off to class," Junichi said as he was fixing his hair, not wanting anyone to get the wrong idea from his ruffled hair. As he got into class his friends were no where to be seen, lucky for him, and for a little bit he could relax and hope that he could get through the day without a problem.

It was the 4th Period and the males in Gym were looking at Chieko. In her shorts and white shirt, you could see that she did work out- especially when she was climbing the rope. It was sort of like this: She knew she could do it but it was still a bit of a challenge. She'd blocked out the stares and looks from her fellow students minutes before and focused solely on that rope.

She slipped only once but quickly readjusted her grip and grunted- sweating beading on her brow as she bunched up the rope like a professional climber. Or maybe a caterpillar.

Junichi wasn't sure if it was a form of torture from an unknown force or not but he had the same period for gym as Chieko did. The goal for today's gym class was climbing, at right now they were climbing ropes. Junichi's friends were staring at Chieko as she climbed the rope and this wasn't something Junichi was going to tolerate. With a quick hit to each of their heads Junichi left his friends gripping their heads in slight pain. "Keep staring and you'll get a worse pain than that."

"Nagase Junichi, your up next for the rope. Do you want to use one or two?" The teacher asked as Junichi came up as he was called for the next climb for the boy's group.

"I'll take two ropes," he said as he went over to the ropes near the teacher. Although Junichi wasn't going to climb the two ropes as most would expect using both at the same time. He was going to work on something he saw his dad do in a video showing him practice for his final test to join the Japanese special forces. He started on one rope and went up about ten feet without using his legs. From there he swung back and forth a couples times before releasing the rope he was currently climbing. For a brief moment he was holding onto nothing before he grabbed the other rope and went up another ten feet, again without using his legs. He repeated this until he reached the top, making it look like a simple task that anyone could do.

Somehow he reached the top the same time as Chieko and looked over as he got there. "Hey Chieko, did you see my climb? It was something I saw my dad do in a video of him. Now I see it is harder than it looks with my arms aching like this." Junichi said as he took a short rest on the rafters above, hoping going down wouldn't be as hard as the climb up.

Chieko grunted and looked to her side from the corner of her eye. Junichi? She didn't stop her climbing of course but she did seem to have a moment of flustered activity and climbing. But enough of that. Climbing would be rather easy and it kinda was- but the boy climbing next to her on the two other ropes proved to be quite a distraction.

When she reached the top, she gripped the rope in one hand and supported herself with that as she twisted to look up at Junichi- not too long after she was resting on the rafters as well. "It was quite impressive," the girl complimented him with a nod of her head.

It took all her mental strength not to blush and not to stumble over her words. The sight of Junichi.. was quite a nice one.

A quite chuckle left her lips and she shrugged. "I would imagine you would be tired after something like that. C'mon, let's get down. You'll get to rest afterward." Leaning over, the green-eyed girl patted Junichi's shoulder with a tinge of a blush on her cheeks before beginning to make her way down the rope again. Going down was just as hard as going up but it did go along pretty smoothly for Chieko. In about 5 minutes or so, her feet touched the ground below and she stood with a wince.

Her poor hands. What a shame that she'd forgotten to wrap her hands or bring her fingerless gloves today.

"Right," Junichi said as he got himself ready to go down one of the ropes he had climbed. With the position just right he loosened his grip and quickly slide down the rope. Thanks to wearing long sleeves today for gym he didn't have a worry about a rope burn but his hands did get fairly warm from the ride down. The way he came down made it look like he was used to going down a rope from such a height. Truly he learned this by closely watching what his dad did on the video, and thanks to Junichi's talent for learning something that was physical from watching four or five times he easily gained the knowledge from his dad.

When he got down about in just about two minutes his friends were clearly surprised. "What? You never asked if I could do something like that so it is not like you could have known." Junichi spoke very matter-of-factly and quite bluntly; yet no one said a word about it.....for now.

Chieko looked at Junichi from her position near the coach, blushing just faintly. She looked away and talked to the coach about what tomorrow was- only to be informed it would be swimming. She'd almost forgotten about that.. The girl nodded and began making her way back to her two friends but stopped by Junichi just quickly.

"Hey," she said and grinned. "If you're as good at swimming as you are with climbing, I'm going to have to watch out for you this year, Nagase-sempai." Her smile was kind and the girl waved a small hello to the other two boys before finally going back to her little group. Kokoro quickly questioned her on why she talked to those 'perverts' so much, Akira nodding her agreement but Chieko waved them off. "I just talked to him for a bit."

They couldn't find out her secret. "It was nothing you two. Now go on! Kokoro, you're up next." That earned a groan from her friend and Junichi was forgotten, focus now on the pains of climbing the rope.

The green-eyed girl sighed in mental relief. She was in the clear- for now.

After gym class ended the rest of the day went by rather quickly, much to Junichi's surprise. After making a quick stop by his locker to change out his shoes and head on home.

Luckily it wasn't too far of a walk, less than the last place he lived at. Then just before he got to his first turn to go home he remembered that he needed to stop of to get some bread and milk. The store was in the opposite direction of home but they needed the milk for dinner tonight. It didn't take long for Junichi to reach the store and get what he needed, although by the time he was done and passing by the school once again it was empty other than the evening janitors. "I better hurry home so I can eat before heading to my first day of training." Junichi wondered what his Sensei would be like, would it be a male or femlae? An elderly master or someone closer to his age? He had no idea what the Sensei would be like other than they family was kind enough to give him a break on monthly dues in exchange for helping them out around their dojo and home every so often.

Junichi was lost in thought and it seemed as though his subconscious was walking him home. When he reached his front door he snapped back into reality and opened his front door. "Okaa-san! Nee-chan! I'm home and I remembered to get the milk and bread!"

Minato greeted him warmly with a smile as she popped her head from the living room. "Welcome home nii-san, how was your day?"

"Same ol' same ol'. In gym today we were doing climbing and I think I did best on the ropes." Junichi smiled as he headed into the kitchen to start dinner. It wasn't anything to major today as this was his first day he would start with training next door. Junichi swiftly made dinner as Minato set the table for everyone. "Okaa-san dinner is ready," Junichi said just loud enough to wake up his mom who slowly made her way to the table.

The three of them sat down and grabbed a pair of chopsticks as they said, "Idakimasu," making it seem like they practice since they did all of this in perfect unison. However, this simple action wasn't ever on purpose even though they did it for every meal.

After school was over, Chieko stayed for a little while longer to discuss some important matters with the teacher along with the new lunch menu they would set up. And after that she stayed longer to help out her English teacher help with everything. Afterward the girl went straight home with a stretch and a slight puff of air.

She opened the door and looked around with a raised eyebrow before shrugging. Seems her mother and father had gone off for one of their romantic walks, so she was left by herself. After getting settled into her room and making sure all was straightened out in the dojo, Chieko did her homework quickly- though struggled on Geometry- and began to make her own dinner. Stir Fried noodles with vegetables and some fruits, all thrown together into a wok and made skillfully.

After making the dinner, the green-eyed girl ate by herself with a hum- watching TV on the couch and relaxing. After all of this a workout session would probably take place.

Chieko was a big girl and she could take care of herself. She did more than well when she was alone and always knew her parents would come home in less than an hour so there were no worries. Besides- her parents not being there wasn't a constant thing so she wasn't always left by her lonesome. And she always found new things to do in their absences so it was all good.

After he finished eating Junichi got ready for his martial arts class next door. Once he was ready he opened the door bidding farewell before heading next door.

When he got to the Dojo no one was there but it seemed as though things were tidied up for class to start. He was about 15 minutes early but that was how Junichi was if it wasn't morning. "I guess I'll just do a few basic stretches while I await for the Sensei to come in." With that Junichi started doing many different stretches with his back to the door. Although this didn't mean he wasn't aware of the sounds and other indications of someone entering the Dojo.

Chieko checked herself out in the mirror after she finished washing her face. Well, her uniform- of sorts- was all tidy and straightened. Her hair was tied back and away from her eyes and everything that she planned to teach today was all set. The girl gave a quick nod to her reflection and began making her way to the dojo- turning off the T.V. and washing up the dishes before entering the place.

The doors slid open and she walked in, eyes closed as she adjusted the sleeves of her uniform. "Kon'nichiwa, atarashii gakusei," she said evenly with a small yawn.

She opened her eyes and almost seemed to turn to statue when she saw Junichi.

(( OOC: I'm totally brain-dead right now, excuse me for the bad reply. I may be getting off soon so g'night~ ))

Junichi heard the door open up behind him and the voice of someone familiar. Junichi turned to see who it was, although assumed this person was the Sensei by what they had said. When Junichi saw who was there he froze in place in a similar way to how Chieko did. Then after a moment of thought he broke the short silence, "Hey Kaneko-chan, what are you doing here of all places?" Then after some more thought and putting together the pieces it dawned on him what was going on. His Kohai at school was not only his neighbor but was the Sensei for his martial arts class. "Kaneko-chan you are the Sensei for this this class?! Wait, this means.... We are neighbors now. Um, if you need anything don't hesitate to come over and ask." It was clear that Junichi was slightly confused by his Kohai being not only his neighbor but his Sensei for the martial arts class. "This must be a dream, there is no way this is real," Junichi pinches himself to try and force himself to 'wake up' from what he thought was a dream. No use, nothing changed except now he had a sore cheek. "Okay so this isn't a dream," Junichi said as he rubbed his cheek.

Chieko blinked and sighed with a deadpan look. "Take a good guess," she said with a sigh before seeing the dawning understanding coming into Junichi's face. 'Eh, took him long enough,' she thought to herself. When the male finally got it, Chieko nodded her head slowly and massaged her temples with a small blush.

Ho boy. This may be a challenging training session.

She finally let her eyes open to look up at her classmate- and her new 'Kohai'- and wanted to laugh from how ironic everything was. The girl chuckled quietly to herself and went over to Junichi and put her hands on her hips. "It's not a dream. And I'm sorry to burst your bubble here but as your Sensei, I still have to teach you."

"Hai Sensei!" Itsuki said as he went into an attention stance then gave a respectful bow. There was an obvious tinge of red on both his cheeks, although it was highly unlikely that they would be noticed due to being so slight. "I guess this means we will be spending a lot of our evenings together now."

"And as a heads up Semsei, being taught by my Kohai from school doesn't bother me." What Junichi decided to leav out was that he thought it would be nice since he could then spend time with Chieko when otherwise he wouldn't be able to. Then after a little bit of thought Junichi had an idea, but completely spaced the thought that he was the Kohai in this situation. "Hey Kaneko-chan want to walk to school tomorrow morning?"

Chieko nodded before backing away a bit and letting out a small sigh. This was going to be a bit embarrassing but she had to remember she was the sensei. She couldn't be thrown off that her crush was here- right in front of her- and was now hew Kohai. The last thing Junichi said did make a slight blush come to her cheeks but she forced it down.

Her eyes snapped up and she got a half-hearted scolding look on her face. "You can't refer to me as 'chan', Junichi-kohai," she reminded him quietly. "And e-eh, sure. I guess." Well look at her stumbling over her words. The green-eyed girl wasn't quite used to this and that made her slightly flustered. Put her in a loop.

Weren't they supposed to be training? That would be better than having to talk because she was sure to get off-track and make a fool of herself. Yes, yes, yes.

Training is better.

"That's right, I forgot about that there for a moment. So Sensei shall we begin training? What should we work on first?" Junichi seemed more than ready for his training to start, but he wasn't too sure how well he would be able to concentrate with the one he had a crush on being his instructor. 'I wonder how things will be at school tomorrow now that I know something that I highly doubt the rest of the school knows about.' Junichi thought as he awaited to hear what he would be taught on his first day of training.

Chieko snapped back to attention from staring at Junichi and gave a bobby little nod. "Oh yes. Right. Well first, we-" We what? The basic lesson plan she'd had from before had drifted off somewhere in her mind. She was struggling to remember and cursed herself- and hormones. Hormones had to do with this, too. Improvising was something she'd never done before but it seemed that she was going to have to do it now.

"Stretching!" she blurted out and forced a small grin. "You know- to prepare."

(( OOC: < u > -knows nothing about martial arts except for videogames and karate movies- ))

"Right sounds good," Junichi seemed excited to get started, "So what kind of stretches shall we do?" Junichi was putting Chieko on the spot, even though he clearly wasn't meaning to do so. He was new to the class and didn't know what type of things they would be doing. It was only natural that he would look up to his Sensei for guidance in this situation.

'Don't scream. Think.'

Chieko swallowed thickly and managed to look serious- professional. "Isometric stretching. Have you heard of that?" she asked quietly with a small, shaky smile. This was what she remembered from Kokoro having search up Martial Arts. The girl had found seven sorts of stretches and pressed Chieko to help her do them the next day.

The meiko had whined and begged her to stop doing the exercises after about 15 minutes.

She had no idea why this was happening to her. Her mind- it never went blank. She always remembered stuff and never had 'brain farts.' Such a thing did not happen to intelligent people such as herself. Right?

Maybe it was because she was with Junichi alone. ... Another wonderful thought: When were her parents going to get back?

Junichi looked at Chieko blankly for a moment before speaking, "You don't seem to be yourself this evening." Junichi started getting closer to the girl in front of him. When he was only a few inches away he stopped. "Did you catch a fever," Junichi asked as he put his forehead to Chieko's to see if she was running a fever. However, Junichi felt nothing out of the ordinary and moved his head away a bit. "Nope, it seems your okay as far as a fever goes. I know this may not be my place to suggest but how about we take it easy today? Rather than training why don't you show me around; after all I will be helping out around here for part of my payment. Unless the arrangements have changed that is." Junichi smiled softly, though he had no clue that Chieko's parents were not home yet.

'I am completely fine.' The statement sprang to her lips but didn't make it out, Chieko left only to purse her lips and look away. And in a typical and friendly gesture of concern- Junichi got closer. Looking at her with those eyes of his- it made her want to break down and crumble and have the wind blow her ashes away.

Alas, she could not stop him and soon-- Skin contact.

Her cheeks yearned to redden but she pushed the feelings back with a stern, steel determination. Once he pulled away, the girl let out a mental sigh of relief along with a subtle and real one.

"Yes, let's do that," she agreed to as she turned away to hide her embarrassment and now burning cheeks. She could only hold back for so long.

Even if her parents were not home they would be soon. She could, at the least, busy Junichi with the lower sections of the dojo as well as the small garden they had outside. And by then her mother and father should be home from their walk, if not sooner than that. Secretly, Chieko hoped it was sooner. Junichi plus her plus alone time equaled nerve wracking.