The story takes place after the three dorm heads learned of Mizuki’s secret, and after Sano and Mizuki finally revealed everything to each other. However, it takes place before the girl rumor spreads around the whole school.

*******

“WHAT?!?!?”, a collective shout bursts from the room.

Nanba stands, arms crossed, in front of the shocked faces of dorm 2. He nods. “You heard me. The school thinks a virus contaminated the cafeterias’ food on Tuesday night. The virus stays dormant for the first few days, so no symptoms should show yet. But, the doctor says if you have been infected, you’ll start being sick in a few days and then it becomes highly contagious.”

Mizuki sits cross-legged on the floor, thinking that on Tuesday she didn’t eat at the cafeteria because she watched Sano’s high jump practice and then they went out for food. How lucky!

“AAAAAAARGH!!!!!!” cries Nakatsu. “I had three helpings on Tuesday because it was pork chops night and it was so delicious I couldn’t resist.” His eyes gush with tears as Mizuki pats him consolingly. “If I get sick, my plans to become Super-Nakatsu before the soccer championship are going to be ruined!!!”

“Just one slip from my diet, one slip!” weeps Nakao. “I don’t want to die when I haven’t had my first kiss from my beloved Nanba-sempai!”

“None of you are going to die.” Nanba states loudly. “Umeda-sensei is going to treat all you.”

[A cold shudder runs across the room]

Elsewhere, at the health office, a seething Umeda-sensei clenches his fists in anger. How careless they were, and now I have to work overtime to treat all these pre-pubescent boys!

“Anyways, as I was saying,” says Nanba as he raises a piece of paper into the air to get everyone's attention back, “I have the Tuesday cafeteria signup sheet here. If your name is here, you’ll be treated before the disease becomes contagious. However, just in case, the principal wants all infected students to be quarantined in their dorms. This means all classes are cancelled for the week. It also means, if you didn’t eat any food on Tuesday because you had a date like me…” Nanba-sempai grins, “then you get to go home because you can’t stay here.”

“Nooo!” Nakao exclaims. “How tragic! Now Nanba-senpai and I can't nurse each other back to health.” In his imagination, Nakao envisions himself dressed in a nurse’s uniform feeding soup to a feverish Nanba. “I would rather die than to be separated from Nanba-senpai for a whole week!”

[Noe, Sekime, Kayashima, Mizuki: sweatdrops]

Panic! Thinks Mizuki. I have to leave the dorms…but where will I go??? I can’t just suddenly go back to American tomorrow…I could pretend I ate food on Tuesday so that I can just stay here, but I don’t want to get sick if the flu becomes contagious…maybe I can beg Umeda-senpai to stay at his place if I promise to clean his house. Ah, what about Sano? He didn’t eat the food either, maybe we can figure it out, together.

“Ah, Sano?” Mizuki turns to her right. He was sitting beside her just now, but he had gotten up and walked into the hall.

“Ashiya. Ashiya?” asked Nanba, “So it’s a no right?”

“No?” She was so busy worrying she didn’t notice that Nanba was no longer at the front of the room but was standing in front of her with a piece of paper.

“Ashiya. You and Sano weren’t on the cafeteria sign-up sheet on Tuesday. I just need to confirm this with you, so you didn’t eat any cafeteria food on Tuesday night?”

Mizuki shakes her head. “I watched Sano’s high jump practice that day and we went out to eat dinner…so we probably weren’t infected.” Thinking back to that night, Mizuki remembers that when they were walking back to the dorm from dinner, they were holding hands in the dark. A blush creeps onto Mizuki’s face.

Nanba looks down at the blushing girl. “Hmmm…so you can’t stay in the dorms...and it’s probably too sudden to go back to American by tomorrow morning.”

Nanba leans down to the seated girl until his head was just inches away from Mizuki’s face. “Why don’t you stay with me?” He asks with a wide grin. “My grandparents' house is very nice this time of year. We have dinner under paper lanterns in the sakura gardens. It’ll be very romantic.”

“But Nanba-senpai,” seethes a red-faced Mizuki, “I’m a BOY, remember?!?”

[Background: Noe and Sekime are holding back a red-faced Nakao who is trying to claw at Mizuki with his hands. Kayashima is holding back Nakatsu who is trying to do the same to Nanba.]

Nanba pulls his smiling face closer to Mizuki until they were almost nose to nose. “Of course, of course! That is why it’ll be okay if we share my bed. With so many people in the house, we don’t have any spare rooms. You can stay with me on my king-sized bed. But it sometimes get cold at night, and I only have one blanket, so we might have to cuddle together for warmth ”.

“Nanba-senpai!!?!?” screeches Mizuki.

[sfx: ZZZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMS]

Nanba moves and ducks just in time as a shoe squarely hits the wall behind him.

“Ah Sano! You might want to be careful there,” says Nanba cheerfully with a widening grin. “Your shoe almost hit my head.”

A dark-faced Sano stands by the doorway to the hall.

“Sano…” said Kayashima, “Your aura…it is a murderous aura.”

Nanba smiles to himself. It’s so much fun teasing him.

Nanba walks towards the doorway, patting Mizuki’s head as he walks by. “Anyways, Ashiya. You think about it. We have to leave the dorm tomorrow morning. I’ll leave a space in my bed for you.” He turns and winks at the seething Sano then walks out the door.

A completely red faced Mizuki, who had clenched her hands into tight fists, finally lets go.

That Nanba-senpai! Just because he knows I’m a girl…what if his teasing gives me away! AAAARGHHHHH!!!!! I’d….

“Oh, Sano?”

Sano had come up behind Mizuki and pulled her out of her thoughts by ruffling her hair. “The meeting is done, let’s go back to the room.”

Mizuki nods and gets up to follow him out. As they left the room they could hear Nakatsu sobbing “I’m going to be separated from my Mizuki in my last days as I die in this dorm!!”

Closing the room 205 door behind them, Mizuki breathes a sigh of relief. Sano stands in the middle of the room with his back to her.

Sano was silent on the way back here. He probably saw Nanba-senpai and me just now…he couldn’t have mistaken anything could he?

“Sa…”

[sfx: Hug]

Sano had turned around and captured Mizuki in his arms.

“I don’t understand myself some time…”

Mizuki stands silently. She encircles her arms around Sano. Sano’s warm embrace…

Sano rests his chin on top of her head. He pulls her closer.

“I know he was just trying to tease us, but whenever I see another man close to you…I suddenly feel panic. Territorial. I don’t want to treat you as though you are my property, but when you are close to another man, something happens inside me, and I...”

“There is no one else.” Mizuki smiles and looks up to Sano. “There is only you in my heart." Always and always.

Sano smiles back. He brings her back closer to him. “I’m just glad that no others know about you. I don’t have enough shoes to fend off all the guys who will want to be close to you if they knew the truth.”

Mizuki giggles in spite of herself. She is quite good at being a boy normally [<-- only according to Mizuki], but since she and Sano have told each other the truth, she found herself behaving a lot more girlishly in front of him. Sometimes she wishes that she could be a complete girl around Sano, but then, she wouldn’t be able to stay at Ohsaka with him and everyone else. She sighs at the thought.

Sano looks down. “Ah, are you worried about where you will go for the week? Would you come to Hokkaido with me?”

“What?”

Sano walks over to the bunks and sits down on his bed.

“Yeah, since I knew we weren’t infected, I went into the hall during the meeting to call my parents to see if I can go back and for you to come as well. I’ve been meaning to go back to Hokkaido. After having started talking to my Dad again when he was here, it feels like I’m due for a trip home. Anyways, Dad seemed happy when I asked.” He pauses. “I’d really like you to go with me.”

Mizuki didn’t know what to say. She felt so…happy. She jumped into a shocked Sano’s arms and they both fall back on his bed. “YES!!!”

A whole week alone with Sano. Alone! Away from all the students, I can be girl Mizuki for him. We can go out on dates, I can hold his hand, hug him, kiss….

As thoughts of herself and Sano strolling happily as a normal couple in Hokkaido float in her head, she snuggles up close to Sano.

“And Shin is looking forward to seeing you again too.”

Mizuki is pulled out from her daydreaming. “Shin?”

“Yeah, I talked to him on the phone just now too. He says he really wants to see you again. He is looking forward to eating more of your cooking.”

Mizuki thinks back to the last time when she saw Shin. He was waiting for her outside the dorms and he hugged her, saying that he had something to tell her and would wait until he saw her again.

I wonder what he wanted to tell me, she wondered. But ah, I shouldn’t over think it. I will see him tomorrow and he will probably tell me then. All I want to think about is that Sano and I are going to be in Hokkaido together…just the two of us!!!!!