Surprise visit

	Okay, this is it. All that planning, all the worrying and preparation was for this. It’s taken some time, but she was finally here. God, why is this so nerve-wracking?! It’s just a nice, simple visit, right? Then why does she feel like she’s making some kind of monumental leap of faith? Would he be mad, or disapprove of her? Would he pretend to not know her, or worse: that she was only a passing presence in his life? That would devastate her.
	Gathering her courage, she stepped off the bus and set foot in the small town, taking in all the quaint and sleepy air of the place. Certainly a different atmosphere to the busy and chaotic Tokyo. Sadayo took a deep breath, admiring how pure the air felt like here and took her first steps forward, toward her objective. Looking around she could see the way people moved, unhurried and simply minding their own business, as if there was no wrong in the world; she hoped that it would remain like that when she met him, too.
	Looking at the directions on her phone, she followed the narrow streets, arriving at a park. His house was on the other side of it. This really was it. Her legs shook, her breathing quickened, she felt ill. Spotting a bench, she collapsed onto it, hand on her chest to try and calm her beating heart.
	‘This is ridiculous. Pull yourself together, Sadayo!’ She berated herself for getting so flustered without haven’t even done anything. ‘You can’t see him in this state.’
	Taking a few slow, deep breaths, she wrestled back some modicum of control, sighing and leaning her head back. This was going to be a disaster, wasn’t it? Here she was, hyperventilating before even getting to see him. Geez, she was pathetic. Maybe it’d be better if she just turned around and went back home. Maybe then she wouldn’t ruin everything with her stupid ide-
	She’s broken out of her self-chastising by a group of youths loudly talking and laughing, without a care in the world. They seem to be high-schoolers, or maybe young college students. Walking around the park as a pack, they don’t seem to notice anything happening around them, too joyous to care. She spends a few moments analyzing them, trying to picture her own student among them. There’s a boy that looks a lot like him, and she could see him amongst the group: hands in his pockets, a small, content smirk on his face, walking in front of them like a leader…Wait.
	It IS him. How?! Why is he here right now?! She’s not ready yet! Her breathing picks up speed again, and she’s panicking. One of the guys in the group sweeps his eyes over the park, says something to the group. It must’ve been about her, because a few of them look at her as well, including him. He spots her, eyes wide, making him stop walking. The same guy from before calls out to him, but he just turns his head, eyes still locked on her, and says something that must’ve been a dismissal, because he immediately detaches from the group and starts walking in her direction.
	She tries her best to look composed and stands up, failing immediately. It feels like an eternity until he’s standing in front of her, hands still put away while he stares into her eyes with a mix of surprise and delight.
	“Sadayo, what are you doing here?” He asks, a small smile sprouting on his lips.
	“W-What? Am I not allowed to visit?” She pouts.
	“Of course. I just wasn’t expecting to see you here, is all.” He answered, still with that seemingly innocent smile on his face.
	“W-Well, I’m here now.” She turned her head to the side, flaming.
	“I can see that.” His tone was one of mock and amusement both. “Why don’t we go back to my place?”
	“W-W-What?! How can you just say that all of a sudden!” She was looking around as if she was about to get arrested.
	“I just meant that we can talk more comfortably at home.” Just then a smirk appeared on his face. “Was that the first thing that came to your mind?”
	Is she wasn’t mortified before, she sure as hell was now. Who did he think he was, to get away with talking to her like that?
	“Besides, what would the problem be? We’re both adults, friends that might be interested in each other. Isn’t that right, Sensei?”
	“You’re lucky I don’t want to ruin that handsome face of yours…” She mumbled, even redder than before.
	“C’mon, follow me.”
	The two walked slowly, taking comfort in each other’s presence. The woman looked around, absorbing the place while memorizing the way, you know, for next time. Soon enough they were on his street, when he stopped abruptly.
	“Shit.” He grumbled quietly.
	“What’s wrong? Don’t tell me, your parents are home.” She guessed.
	“Worse; I forgot my team was coming to visit.” She put a hand on his shoulder.
	“So what? Unless you do something like cheerleading, I can handle a few club kids.” He shook his head.
	“No, my *other* team; the one from Tokyo.”
	“Oh! Oh…damnit.” The Thieves, here? Why now? Did someone up there just outright hate her?
	“We can go somewhere else, if you want.” He offered, an apology already on his expression.
	“No. I’m not gonna run from a bunch of brats. It’s time I faced the music, anyway.” She said, her face betraying her hesitation.
	“I won’t force you if you don’t want to.” His calm voice gave her a tiny bit of courage.
	“Ugh, let’s just get this over with…” Resignation crushed her.
	Walking up to the modest house, she could see how much his family took care of the place. Well-watered plants, clean walls and garden, well-kept wood, even a few cat toys around, no doubt for that cat her boyfriend was seldom seen without. She could hear the voices inside, from Sakamoto’s boisterous laughter to Takamaki’s girlish squeals. A couple other voices were familiar to her, but they all blended together quickly. Oh man, this might be harder than she thought.
	They get to the front door and he signals her to wait for her cue to come in. There was a lot of celebration when he entered the house, a rowdy welcome only good friends could do. Soon It went quiet and she heard a few whispers. What could he possibly be saying about her. That she decided to check in on her former pupil? That he helped her during his Tokyo stay? This waiting was killing her!
	He ducked his head out and motioned for her to enter. Her legs shook, but she soldiered on. He pointed at her with both arms, as if introducing royalty. When she got to the living room, they all stared at her, eyes wide and jaws slack. Sakamoto and Takamaki were there, like she had heard. She was surprised to see Niijima there, as well as Okumura. This didn’t seem like their sort of crowd. Among them was a tall boy, vaguely familiar. Surely involved in one of the scandals of the Phantom Thieves. A small girl with big glasses, which she was almost sure was a first year recovered first, a sly grin on her face. Sakura-san’s daughter, right? She remembered him accompanying her as she enrolled.
	“See, Panther? I told you I was right! I’ve seen them in his room before!” She whispered (too loudly) to Takamaki, whose expression shifted to a mix of horror and disbelief.
	Mostly red faced, no one seemed to know what to say, herself included. Just then, Sakamoto opened his mouth, closed, then opened again.
	“Dude, are you together with Ka-“ He started, getting cut off by the tall boy.
	“Oh! Is this perhaps your mother?” A twinkle of satisfied understanding shone in his eyes, while the others looked at him with pity.
	“Inari…just…just stay quiet on this one.” Sakura-san’s daughter elbowed his ribs, making him glare at her.
	“How rude! It’s not polite to do that in someone’s house and-“ Soon they were bickering in the background while the remaining youths stared at the two of them.
	“Meow.” The cat, up on the low table, made itself known.
	“Ugh, Morgana! Gross!” Takamaki threw her hands up, exasperated.
	“You shouldn’t say such things, Mona-chan!” Okumura exclaimed, looking between the cat and her. Seriously, did they ALL talk to the cat?
	“U-Um…Hello, Kawakami-sensei.” Niijima bowed, clearly uncomfortable with the whole situation.
	“Jeez… I knew this’d be awkward, but I didn’t expect this much…” Rubbing the back of her neck, she gave a small, polite bow. “Good evening everyone.”
	“Let’s sit down; no sense in standing here talking.” Her former student put an arm around her shoulders, startling them all.
	“O-Oh! U-um…right.” Okumura said, meekly, turning to the couches while the rest followed.
	“Dude, this is so weird…” Sakamoto sighed to himself.
	The evening was, for lack of a better term, uncomfortable. They had gotten over him and her quickly, though she suspected it was a front for her sake. The odd boy, Kitagawa-kun, on the other hand didn’t seem to see any problem with it. Sakura-san’s daughter, Futaba-san, was collecting a few yens from her friends, and the less she knew about that, the better.
	Over time, they seemed to relax about her, especially after her lover casually mentioned one of their codenames and, following their horrified reaction, explained that she knew about the Phantom Thieves. That seemed to appease some of the suspicion they were casting her, though her status as his girlfriend still made them uneasy. It even got to a point when Kitagawa-kun marveled at the artistic beauty of some of the tools they used in the past; tool that she remember making herself when her then-student gave the ridiculous excuse that he was going to “make an assault on Togo Kingdom with his new 8-point Valiant Slash move” or something along those lines.
	As the hour got late, the group decided to break for the night, with all of them going to stay at a residence Okumura had apparently recently bought from when they came to visit. She herself started gathering her things to leave and find a cheap hotel when he grabbed her wrist.
	“What are you doing?” He asked her, tone neutral.
	“It’s getting late and I need to find a hotel nearby. I know I got an address here. Let me look for it.” She said, motioning for her bag.
	“Stay here.” No change in his voice whatsoever.
	“Are you crazy? Your parents will probably be here at any moment. Nevermind explaining to them why is your former teacher in their home, it’s way too late for anyone to be here.” She said as if it should’ve been obvious.
	“My parents are traveling, I have the house to myself for the next few days. Besides, even if they were to show up, I’d just tell them they were interrupting my date.” Now she showed her that irritating smug smirk.
	“Are you crazy?! Do you have any idea what they would say or, or do if they heard that?” She stuttered, flustered.
	“I don’t care; I’ve had enough of hiding. I’m proud to be the one that stole your heart.” Did her heart just skip a beat? “Are you ashamed of me?”
	“No! Of course not! It’s just that… It’s not normal for a boy your age to get involved with a woman like me… I don’t want you being misunderstood again. You’ve suffered enough.” He had the decency to blush at that; God he was adorable!
	“Now I’m definitely not letting you leave. You don’t get to say something like that and away out that door.” He pulled her, gently, upstairs until they got to his room.
	Finally alone. As soon as she walked through the doorframe, he spun around and caught her lips in a kiss. Surprisingly chaste, he pulled her into a hug, leaving it to her to intensify the lip lock. It didn’t take long until they were making out, pouring all their affection and loneliness into it. They had missed each other so much, there was a lot to make up for. Sitting on his soft bed, they kept kissing each other, only stopping by that annoying need to breathe. Hey, they wouldn’t be able to kiss more if they died, right?
	He looked into her eyes, his stare intense and his mouth set into a firm line. She had rarely seen him so focused, so serious. He seemed so much wiser than his age would lead you to believe.
	“Sadayo… I need to ask you something.” He said, and she couldn’t help gulping her nervousness down.
	“…Yes?” She tried her best to keep her composure. Was he going to…?
	“Will you… let me lay on your lap”? He said, finishing it with another smirk. Ugh, that bastard did it on purpose!
	“Ugh! You’re the worst, you know that?” She growled at him.
	“Is that a no?” He almost sang.
	“…Get over here.” She patted her lap, and he smiled before laying his head down. He looked like a kitty, so content.
	She couldn’t stay mad with him, even if she wanted to. The way he looked so comfortable and satisfied laying down on her, as if he’d finally returned to his rightful place. She slowly pet his head, running her fingers through his silky yet messy hair, earning a sigh of satisfaction from him. She also couldn’t help the warm smile that took over her face seeing him so happy. She spent a long time like that, stroking his head like one would a child, feeling him nuzzle in her lap until his breathing evened out. He had fallen asleep. Looking down, the sight of him like that finally convinced her. She would be proud and happy to have him by her side. He may have stolen her heart, but she stole his.