"Ah, thank you, miss." Shou purred, eyes twinkling in the morning light that poured in through the windows of the Mochavine and him throwing another lazy half-smirk in the girl's direction before easing himself into the chair facing her and leaving two spots still open. He ran a hand through his hair as he continued, smiling over at her with a sheepish grin and half-lidded eyes,
"You sit where you sit, do you not? Had I gotten here earlier, I would not have given up my favourite seat-" Here he paused to gesture to a table by one of the tall windows, the second one from the bar. The sunlight fell in a particular way that Shou adored and bathed the spot in light, and 6 o'clock on spring or summer evenings when the sun was in the midst of setting, when warm, orange light flooded the Mochavine, the light fell particularly on that side of the little cafe, and anyone sitting in that particular seat, on either of the soft, cushiony couches, would be able to bathe in the sunlight and watch it set to their heart's desire. Call him eccentric, but he most definitely preferred that spot over any other.
"-over there, for anything in the world."At the mention of his title, his eyebrow quirked in that way it does and he glanced at the girl with puzzled eyes, before a tired mind began whirring quietly and putting pieces together slowly, but surely. Akane, her name was. Akane Takumi, a girl from Shou's General Biology course. He blinked twice, eyes widening for a split second, though not long before they fell back into their dreamy, half-lidded state and across his lips crawled another mischievous smile.
"Miss Takumi. I'm such a mess; I had trouble recognising you. Though shame on me; that scarf of yours is as good a giveaway as I've ever seen." he paused here, adding as an afterthought,
"It really brings out the colour of your eyes.""Why, my weekend's been..." his voice trailed off, the last night a whirlwind of memories of gaudy golds and leather, and roulette tables and card tables and winning and losing hands alike. He'd spent the night indulging in his worst sin, yet again: gambling. It would really catch up with him someday. Some days, he won quite heartily. Others, and the majority comprised these days, he did not.
"...ha, it's only just started though, wouldn't you agree, Miss Takumi?" he responded, deflecting the question with a serene smile and a mature grace that only he as one of few could probably pull off, looking the way he did.
"Oh, mornings really are the worst. I come to the academy hating everyone and everything for about the first three hours, and then the coffee kicks in slowly and I realise everyday that I actually very much enjoy teaching. It's quite the stress-relieving sort of career, and I didn't think I'd say that when I first got into it."Unlike Akane, Shou wasn't afraid to laugh here. It really was a truth he enjoyed making light of.
He leaned forward in his chair a little, placing both his elbows on the edge of the table and clasping his hands together, resting his chin on top of the clasp and giving Akane a grateful smile. At least
somebody appreciated his morning efforts, among other things...
And this way, he got a good look at the girl.
"I didn't expect to see my students out here this early, frankly." he chuckled as he went to check the time on the wristwatch wrapped snugly around his right wrist, but stopped midway and remained as he was. Who was he kidding, early? It was early for him...he didn't quite so much think the same for the rest of the world. A weekend day that did not begin at 11am was a day wasted, he always said.
"Likewise, hah. I'm glad you enjoy it, Miss Takumi. You definitely are a pleasure to have around, and I have no doubt you did excellently on your finals."And Shou was not wrong. He would have to ask Shizuka, but Akane was by no means a dumb girl. On the contrary, she was academically gifted, and had a pleasant demeanour to match. Not to mention, she was quite pretty, with the colours in her hair that, on closer inspection, reminded Shou of his own youth and a twinge of nostalgia gripped his stomach, twisting it into loosely tied knots. Or, the manner in which her brown eyes shone...they weren't exactly dark as night, or the coffee he so enjoyed itself, but reminded him of a lighter blend. Gentle, and innocent, and...
sweet.That was a flavour he had yet to enjoy.
...snap out of it.Shou caught himself absently marvelling at her innocence, before the sound of her voice, quiet and light, brought him back to the situation at hand.
"I...o-oh, yes. Saturdays are the wild card day in the deck of the weeks of my life, Miss Takumi." he smirked here again, his own half-lidded brown eyes curious behind the spectacles he wore.
"You're quite right. I'm here to kickstart my morning. I..." he paused, his cheeks taking on the tiniest shade in his embarrassment as he averted his eyes from hers, focusing on something, anywhere else really.
"...I cannot cook very well, and though I manage with mere sandwiches on every other day of the week, on some weekends, I do enjoy treating myself to something sugary in the morning to kickstart my system. Things don't quite work when you get to my age, hah."Here, he peered into her eyes again, leaning back as he yawned softly, stretching out his arms as well, before replacing them as they were on the table. His own scanned the area for any sign of his cheesecake, or even his coffee, but with a crowd like this, that was as likely as a meteor. No, in fact, maybe even less likely than that. Gazing up at Akane with both the mischievousness of a fox and the innocence of a puppy in the same expression, he smiled politely the whole while, in a way that indicated the professional relationship between them still. After all, she was his student and he was her teacher. If he didn't so much as retain that...
"You kids are usually better at this than I am. I'm convinced, since finals are over and a new term begins soon after Christmas, that you have a lot of free time you'd like to spend. Do you have any plans, Miss Takumi?"@OppositionJ 
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