MHG-V1-2 (Initial Draft)

Chapter 7 - I'm here for you, always

A.7

"Ken! I love it!"

Teruko's voice blasted in hia ear as he sat in the classroom, waiting for class to begin.

"Shh. I'm at school." He said, covering his mouth and speaking as quietly as he could.

"So? You're not the only person who speaks to his friends with an earpiece."

"But not during class-"

"Anyway, I love it," Teruko cooed, "if I could kiss you right now I would."

"Dont tease me." Ken said, turning red.

Teruko giggled in his ear.

"Alright! All earpieces off and in front of you on the desk face down. Any cheating will result in immediate disqualification." Ken's teacher's voice boomed as he entered the door and made his way to the front of the room, slapping down a pile of paper on the desk in front of him.

Ken and all the other students obligingly removed the small electronic devices fron their ears, pressed a tiny power button, and then placed them on the desk.

Ken held his breath as the teacher started walking down the aisles, handing out the test papers face down. He had never been particularly good at school but Teruko had been drilling him every night for the past few weeks. Now was the time to put all that hard effort to the test.

Ken thought back to Teruko's words earlier that morning.

"If you get good grades I'll dance for you." She said. "To any song you like. But if you don't.. you have to dance for me. Got it?"

Ken smirked. It was small things like this that made him glad she was his girlfriend, even though at the time he'd acted as if he didnt care. In a sense she was very cute and even pure.. and she was wholy his.

"Ready, start."

Ken put his thoughts away, turned over the paper and began concentrating on the test. He could do this.

Ken felt smug as he walked down the stairs toward the subway station. For the first time in his life he had done well in a test. Not just well, but exceptionally well. There was no doubt about it, Teruko's study method worked. With her help, perhaps getting through middle school wouldn't be so bad. Perhaps his father might even recognise his hard work and praise him?

"Really?" Teruko blasted in his ear suddenly, her voice full of excitement. "Did you really get 94% on your test?"

"Yeah." Ken said softly. "But where have you been? You're voice is normally the first thing I hear when i leave the school gates.."

"You make it sound like a bad thing!" Teruko pouted. "But anyway, I've been enjoying the thing you made for me."

"Still?" Ken said as his cheeks turned red. He had spent the evenings of the past few weeks meticulously creating a 3d one-piece dress for her.

"Mm. Its really nice. I really like the colours."

"I hope it suits you." Ken said as he stepped on a train and sat down at a seat.

"It does." Teruko said. "But.. was that what you were working on all that time?"

Ken had spent every night for the past few weeks working on his present for Teruko. He'd deliberately turned off the holopad and his ear device so she couldnt see what he had been doing.

"You didnt know?" He asked.

"I thought you just wanted to get some time away from me." She pouted.