Chapter 69 Troubles with cooking again

Meanwhile, back in Takamagahara, a few hours later, around 21:19 pm in Tatsurou apartment, in Shirayuki and Marie's room to be precise...

"I can't believe, that I screwed up again, Shirayuki..." Marie, that was wearing her usual tank top and shorts, said with a very depressed tone, as she laid face down on the bed, with her face buried away in a pillow.

"Come on, Marie, it could be worse...right?" Shirayuki, that was wearing her usual shrine maiden clothes, said with a reassuring tone, as she stood close to Marie and head patted her, but Marie just kept silent for a brief moment.

"You just don't get it Shirayuki...how come that I haven't got better at all..." Marie said again with a depressed tone, and now we were going witness, what brought up this rather weird situation...

So, a few hours ago, around 19:06 pm in Tatsurou's room...

"So, Frida-san, I just need to place the gauntlet in the center of the magic circle to activate it, is that right?" Tatsurou, that was wearing his gakuran with a hoodie under it and sitting at his desk, asked as he looked at Frida's symbol that was, in the back of his right hand.

"Yes, just a finger or the palm will be more than enough to activate it!" Frida said with an informative tone, as the symbol lit up a bit.

"Hmm...ok then, let's do it!" Tatsurou said with a determined tone, that had a faint hint of nervousness, as he looked at the notebook on top of his desk, that had the magic circle with a lock, in its middle, that Tatsurou finished drawing yesterday night.

"Alright then...come to me, Frida!" As Tatsurou said this, his black gauntlet appeared on his right hand and Tatsurou looked at it for a second, before guiding it towards the magic circle.

"Please work..." Tatsurou thought as he briefly hesitated to place his index finger on the circle, but it didn't last long, as he finally placed his finger on its middle and the gauntlet lighted up briefly, before returning to normal again.

"I-Is it, done?" Tatsurou asked both curious and nervous, while he moved his hand away from the circle and looked at it for a bit.

"It is done! The magic circle you've drawn was accepted, Lord Kurokami!" Frida said with a very happy tone, while Tatsurou made the gauntlet vanish.

"R-Really? Feels a bit weird...I was expecting something more, out there, to happen if I had to be honest with you Frida-san..." Tatsurou said as he scratched the back of his head while he laughed a bit.

"Well, when it comes to activating magic circles, they mostly act the way, you just saw...only the more complex and large-scale magic circles are the ones, that create the more "out there" effects, that you are referring to..." Frida said with an informative and reassuring tone.

"I see...but did it really work?" Tatsurou asked a bit curious, as he got up from his chair and looked at his right hand for a bit.

"Why don't you try it out, Lord Kurokami?" Frida said both happy and curious.

"Well...I can do that, let's see then..."Restriction on Level one, release!" " As Tatsurou said this, his eyes turned blue and a light blue aura covered his body.

"So far so good...now then..."Restriction on Level two, release!" As Tatsurou said this, his blue eyes turned red and his light blue aura began to get darker.

"It's...working! No way!?" Tatsurou thought very impressed as he looked at the faint dark aura that covered his body.

"Ok...this is more than enough, for now..."Lock, all restrictions!" "As Tatsurou said this, both his red eyes and aura dark aura vanished, turning his eyes back to normal again.

"This was very impressive, Lord Kurokami! But I have to ask...why didn't you go any further?" Frida asked a bit curious.

"Well, I just wanted to see if it works...but if I had to be honest with you, Frida-san...even with this limiter...I'm still afraid to go further than level two and I already relied on level 3, more than once...when I shouldn't have...and it was a miracle that I didn't go to...level 4..." Tatsurou said with a faint worried and depressed tone, as he remembered his fight between, Wilma and Kay.

"Honestly, if I can only rely on level one to fight and occasionally on level two, it would be more than enough for me..." Tatsurou said as he briefly looked at his right hand and clenched it hard.

"I understand, Lord Kurokami...but if you would allow me, those fights were rather "Do or Die" situations, where you didn't have much of a choice...so please, do not feel so down about it, now that you have the means to control your powers!" Frida said with a happy and reassuring tone.

"I know...but I'm still scared that the limiter won't keep up, Frida-san...I'm scared that if one day I'm pushed to the limit, that if have to cross the line...and they see it...I don't know what I would do..." Tatsurou said with a scared tone, as he grabbed his left arm with his right hand, while a long silence filled the room for a bit.

"Lord Kurokami, I shall never let that happen! I'll teach you all the abilities your gauntlet possesses so that you can always protect Lady Shirayuki and Lady Marie with all the strength and confidence you need...I promise!" Frida said with a very determined and reassuring tone, as the symbol lighted up brightly.

"Thank you, Frida-san...and sorry...for saying that the limiter couldn't keep up..." Tatsurou said with a happy tone that turned into an embarrassed one, as he looked at the back of his right hand.

"It's alright...I'm not angry about it, as I believe, that it's only normal to have doubts about everything we do, but it is leaving those doubts unresolved and ignoring them, that is the wrong thing to do in my eyes!" Frida said with an honest tone as her symbol lighted up, which made Tatsurou look at it for a bit with an impressed face on, but it didn't last long...

"And with this, Lord Kurokami, I mean that you should work on those doubts you have, both about your powers and about both Lady Shirayuki and Lady Marie..." Frida said with an innocent tone, that made Tatsurou jolt and blush from head to toe.

"W-Well I...I mean...that's easier said than done and..." Tatsurou said with a very embarrassed tone as he flailed his left arm around a bit, but it didn't last long, as he was suddenly interrupted by the sound of knocking, which made Tatsurou jolt a bit again.

"Tatsurou, can I?" Shirayuki asked from the other side of the door.

"S-Saved..." Tatsurou thought as he looked at the door and let out a sigh.

"S-Sure, come on in, Shirayuki!" As Tatsurou said this the symbol vanished and Shirayuki, opened the door of his room.

"Say, Tatsurou...are you busy now?" Shirayuki asked a bit curious, as she entered the room and got close to Tatsurou, that slowly regained his composure.

"N-Not really..." Tatsurou said with a very faint embarrassed tone, as he scratched his cheek a bit.

"Then please come quick! Marie made something to eat and she wants you and me, to have a taste!" Shirayuki said with a happy tone as she placed her hands together, while her ahoge wiggled around.

"Really, Marie did? Then let's have a look!" Tatsurou said also with a happy tone, as both he and Shirayuki, made their way towards the kitchen...

Then a few seconds later, Tatsurou and Shirayuki arrived at the kitchen, where Marie was close to a stove, gently stirring a pot that was on top of it, with a wooden spoon.

"Were here, Marie!" Shirayuki said as she and Tatsurou entered the kitchen.

"Oh, that was fast, Shirayuki! Now, take a seat you two, it's almost done!" Marie, that was wearing her usual sailor fuku with an apron over it and a nun's habit on her head, said with a happy and excited tone, as she glanced at Tatsurou and Shirayuki.

"So tell me, Marie, what did you make for us?" Tatsurou asked with a curious tone, as he took a seat at the table, that already had plates for all three of them on top of it.

"Well, today I tried to make something a bit simpler, as by Shirayuki's recommendation...so get ready to taste some meat and potato curry! But unfortunately, I didn't have time to make rice..." Marie said with a happy tone, as she turned off the stove and grabbed the pot, that she placed on the table.

"Whoa! It's been ages since I ate curry, I can't wait to try it!" Tatsurou said with a happy tone, as he looked at Marie grabbing the plate that was in front of Tatsurou.

"Me too! And don't worry about the rice, Marie, curry is good with or without it!" Shirayuki said with a happy and reassuring tone, as she looked at Marie pouring some curry on Tatsurou's plate.

"Here you go, Tatsurou!" Marie said with a happy tone as she placed the plate in front of Tatsurou, that looked at it with a very surprised expression, as his eyes opened wide.

"Color me impressed, Marie! Did Shirayuki help you with this?" Tatsurou asked with an impressed and curious tone, as he kept looking at his plate that had, a very good-looking and well-done curry, that was in all honesty a far cry, from what Marie made the first time around.

"No! After all the classes Shirayuki gave me, for the past few weeks, I decided to give it a go, at making it all by myself today!" Marie said with a happy tone, as she now grabbed Shirayuki's plate and poured some curry for her too.

"I see... and I have to admit, you're a pretty good teacher, Shirayuki!" Tatsurou said as he looked at Shirayuki and briefly head patted her.

"C-Come on...I'm not that good, you two..." Shirayuki said with an embarrassed tone, while she blushed and her ahoge wiggled a bit.

"Don't say that Shirayuki! You really are a good teacher, just look at how different it looks from last time!" Marie said with a happy tone, as she placed the plate she was holding in front of Shirayuki, that blushed again.

"Well, then you two...please enjoy it!" Marie said with a very happy tone, as she opened her arms a bit.

"Sure...thanks for the food!" Tatsurou and Shirayuki said at the same time as they grabbed their respective spoons and placed a bit of meat and potato from the curry in said spoons and placed them in their mouths, but as they did, Tatsurou and Shirayuki felt as if they were struck by lightning.

"T-This is...so bad..." Tatsurou and Shirayuki thought as they kept their respective spoons in their mouths and became as pale as ghosts.

"The potatoes aren't well cut, the meat is hard as a rock, and it's extremely salty...but more impressive than all of that together is how Marie made it look so good and taste so bad?" Tatsurou and Shirayuki thought as they looked at their plates, while they became even paler, with the fact that the food looked edible at all.

"S-So...how is it?" Marie asked with a very curious tone while she clasped her hands and looked at both Tatsurou and Shirayuki with great expectations, and for a moment silence reigned in the kitchen until both Tatsurou and Shirayuki took the spoon out of their mouths and swallowed what was in their mouths, after a bit of chewing.

"W-Well...how do we put this..." Tatsurou said with a very nervous tone as he looked at Marie, then at Shirayuki, that didn't know what to say to Marie either.

"Please, do not hold back! I want you two to be honest with me!" Marie said while she placed her hands on the table as she leaned a bit forward and for a moment Tatsurou and Shirayuki kept silent, as they looked at each other, then at Marie.

"Were sorry about this Marie...but it's bad..." Tatsurou and Shirayuki said with very embarrassing tones as they looked away, from a very shocked Marie that froze in place upon hearing them.

"Eh, it's bad?! No way..." Marie said both shocked and disappointed, as she looked at the plates and the pot.

"Come on, Marie...it's not the end of the world and you improved quite a lot from last time! Right, Shirayuki?" Tatsurou said with a reassuring tone while he got up from his chair and head patted Marie.

"Yes, it really is an improvement, taking into account the skills you started with!" Shirayuki said also with a reassuring tone, as she got up from her chair.

"No you two...this isn't an improvement at all..." Marie said with a depressed tone as she looked down.

"Marie...please don't..." As Tatsurou said this, he stooped head patting Marie, but she interrupted him.

"I'm sorry...for wasting ingredients and your time again Tatsurou...Shirayuki...I'll just take a bath and go to bed now..." Marie said still with a depressed tone, as she began to walk out of the kitchen.

"M-Marie, wait!" Tatsurou and Shirayuki called Marie at the same time, but it was mostly useless, as Marie began to walk faster and in the blink of an eye she was gone.

"God, I feel so bad now...perhaps we shouldn't have been too honest..." Tatsurou said with a depressed tone, as he scratched his head a bit.

"Well, my mother used to say that, "The most important step, to get better at anything we do, is hearing our mistakes and accepting them with stride and use them as stepping stones, to get better, and not repeat them..." but even so, I still feel really bad! Marie spent the whole afternoon making it, ever since you got home from school..." Shirayuki said also with a depressed tone, as she looked at the pot with curry, while her ahoge drooped down.

"What should we do, Tatsurou?" Shirayuki asked both curious and worried as she looked at Tatsurou.

"I don't know, perhaps when Marie comes out of the bath, we could talk with her...so while she does that, I'll go get us some Bentos from the convenience store, then we'll talk with her, afterward...what do you think, Shirayuki?" Tatsurou asked as he looked at Shirayuki and rubbed his chin a bit.

"For now that's a good idea! And while you do that, I'll quickly wash the pots and then I'm going to talk to Marie after she gets out of the bath before you come home!" Shirayuki said with a determined tone, as she clenched her hands.

"Ok, Shirayuki, sounds like a plan...well then, the faster I go, the faster I come back!" Tatsurou said as he briefly head patted Shirayuki, before making his way towards the apartment door, while Shirayuki made her way towards the kitchen...

And with that, we would now return to the present and back to Shirayuki and Marie's room, where they were still in the same positions, on top of the bed.

"I'm such a useless idiot, Shirayuki...falling again like this..." Marie said with a depressed tone, while she got into a sitting position and hugged the pillow, she had her face buried in.

"Don't say that Marie, you improved a lot, especially in the visual department!" Shirayuki said with a happy tone, that didn't help Marie get or feel any better.

"But I didn't want just that one improvement, Shirayuki...I wanted it to taste good too..." Marie said with a depressed tone, while she fell on her side and began sulking as she hugged the pillow tighter.

"Honestly, when it comes to cooking, you get awfully depressed Marie...but it's just like I said last time, ignore what your classmates back in France said about you and that a girl should know how to cook! There's a lot of other things that, your good and better at! And besides, you improved a lot in just two weeks, which is impressive! So raise your head!" Shirayuki said with a very encouraging tone, as she placed her hands on the bed and her ahoge wiggled around.

"Thanks, Shirayuki...but it's not just about what my classmates said, that I'm sad..." Marie said as she made a small pause while she glanced at Shirayuki, that looked at her a bit confused.

"I didn't tell you, but back when I was little...I made an omelet for my dad and he ate it with a big smile on his face...but then whenever I made something else, my dad wouldn't eat it...he always said that he was full, that my mom had already made something for us or that I was already too good and we should only eat what I make on special occasions...but now that I think about it...I probably traumatized him..." Marie said while she smiled briefly and kept hugging her pillow tight.

"I didn't know that! But I believe that your dad didn't do it with bad intentions in mind, Marie..." Shirayuki said with a reassuring tone, as she smiled

"I know that...but that's one of the reasons, I want to get better and fast...I'm afraid of traumatizing Tatsurou with my never improving cooking and that he would do the same and avoid eating it, even if I got better..." Marie said with a depressed tone, as she now buried her face on the pillow.

"Marie...Tatsurou would never do that and you know that!" Shirayuki said with a reassuring tone as she head patted Marie a bit.

"I doubt that after this screw-up and after ignoring Tatsurou the way I did, after getting out of the bath and hiding in our room...I doubt that he wants to talk...at all..." Marie said with a very sad tone, as she sighed.

"Marie...come on, don't..." As Shirayuki tried to say something, she was interrupted.

"It's ok, Shirayuki, don't worry...just...leave me a bit alone for the time being...please..." Marie said as she glanced at Shirayuki, that hesitated a bit before getting off the bed and making her way towards the door.

"Alright...I'll leave you alone for a bit...but once I'm finished with my bath, you're going to eat something and we're going to solve this issue, you hear me, Marie?" Shirayuki said with a determined tone, as she got out of the room, but as soon as she stepped out and closed the door behind her, Shirayuki let out a big and worried sigh.

"Marie's really down and it's even worse than last time...and judging by the way she's acting, I highly doubt that she'll talk to Tatsurou anytime soon..." Shirayuki thought a bit depressed, as she placed her back against the door.

"I have to find a way to lift Marie's spirits! She's is always helping me when it comes to Tatsurou and this is the least I can do for her...but this begs the question of, just what can I do to help her?" Shirayuki thought as she stooped leaning on the door and made her way towards the kitchen and when she got there, Shirayuki saw Tatsurou, that was now wearing his usual black T-shirt and shorts, sitting at the table with two notebooks open, a pencil case, and various school books on top of it.

"Hmm? What are you doing, Tatsurou?" Shirayuki asked with a curious tone, as she got close to the kitchen table and looked at Tatsurou scratching his head but make no mistake, he wasn't studying because he wanted to, Tatsurou was actually thinking of ways to speak with Marie.

"Oh, Shirayuki...I was just studying a bit since our exams are coming up...but more important than this, how's Marie doing?" Tatsurou asked more worried than curious as he looked at Shirayuki.

"Well, Marie's still a bit down..." Shirayuki said a bit depressed, as she let out a sigh.

"I see...I wanted to talk with her right away, but judging by the way Marie's ignoring me, I doubt she wants to talk either..." Tatsurou said also a bit depressed and while he sighed.

"No, that's not the case at all, Tatsurou...you see, Marie...Marie wanted it to taste good and not just look good...especially, after all the lessons she went through...if only I had taught her better..." Shirayuki said still with a depressed tone as she clenched her hands a bit, upon seeing this, Tatsurou got up from his chair.

"Come on, Shirayuki, your a great teacher and Marie's still learning...it wasn't anyone's fault..." Tatsurou said with a reassuring tone, as he briefly head patted Shirayuki.

"But this does it! Once I solve this complicated math problem here, I'll go talk with Marie and that's final!" Tatsurou said with a determined tone as he smiled.

"Yes, please do that Tatsurou...wait! You're having problems studying?" Shirayuki asked a bit curious.

"Yeah, it's kind of embarrassing to admit...but I'm not the best student around and it's hard to study, even with these notes from a friend of mine..." Tatsurou said a bit embarrassed as he scratched his cheek a bit, but Shirayuki wasn't listening, as at that moment, she got hit, with a very sudden idea.

"T-Tatsurou! Stay right where you are, ok?" Shirayuki said as she briefly pointed at Tatsurou, before dashing out of the kitchen and not giving any time for Tatsurou to answer her.

"I got it! I got it!" Shirayuki thought as she ran towards her and Marie's room and when she got close to the door, she swung it open with such strength, that she made Marie jolt a bit as she quickly got into a sitting position.

"Marie!" Shirayuki called Marie, as she made her way towards the bed.

"S-Shirayuki, what's wrong?! Is there a spider in the bath, again?!" Marie asked with a worried tone, as she let go of her pillow and got up from the bed.

"Marie! Go to the kitchen! Right now!" Shirayuki said with an excited tone, as she got close to Marie.

"Eh? Why...!" As Marie said this, Shirayuki interrupted her by grabbing Marie's hand and pulling her out of the room and into the hallway.

"Shirayuki! Just what are you..." As Marie said this she got interrupted again.

"No time to explain, Marie! Just trust me and go to the kitchen, ok?" Shirayuki said with a happy and determined tone as she stooped holding Marie's hand and pointed in the direction of the kitchen.

"But..." As Marie tried to say something she was interrupted again.

"Please, Marie! Just this once!" Shirayuki said as she clenched her hands a bit, Marie just sighed as she looked at Shirayuki.

"Ok, I'll go..." Marie said as she turned towards the kitchen, while she briefly smiled.

"Have fun, Marie!" Shirayuki said while she smiled and her ahoge wiggled around.

"What does she mean with that?" Marie thought as she kept making her way towards the kitchen, but she would soon understand, as she entered the kitchen and saw Tatsurou, that was sitting at the table again, studying.

"T-Tatsurou?!" Marie said with a surprised and embarrassed tone, as she briefly flailed her arms and while she took a step back.

"Marie?" Tatsurou said as he stooped writing on his notebook and looked at Marie and what followed was a long silence between Tatsurou and Marie, that didn't know what to say to each other, after what happened earlier, but thankfully, this silence wouldn't last long...

"M-Marie...are you feeling better now?" Tatsurou asked with a worried and nervous tone, as he got up from his chair.

"Heh? I mean...yeah...I'm feeling a bit better now..." Marie said a bit embarrassed while she looked a bit away from Tatsurou.

"T-That's good to hear, Marie..." Tatsurou said as he smiled a bit, but once again, silence reigned, as they looked a bit away from each other, but this silence wouldn't last long and be broken again, but this time it was Marie's turn.

"S-Say Tatsurou...are you studying?" Marie asked a bit curious as she looked at the books and notebooks on the table, while she tried to change the subject a bit.

"Yeah...since we have our exams, at the end of the month..." Tatsurou said as he scratched the back of his head a bit.

"Ah, right! I also need to study for them...but say, are you having trouble with something in particular?" Marie asked a bit curious, as she noticed that one of the pages of the notebook had been erased several times and was a bit bent.

"Well...it's a bit embarrassing to admit, but I could need some help with math..." Tatsurou said a bit embarrassed, as he looked a bit away from Marie.

"That's nothing to be embarrassed about! Let me help you with that then!" Marie said as she quickly grabbed a chair and placed it next to Tatsurou's.

"Come on, let's start!" Marie said as she took her seat and patted the school books a bit.

"S-Sure..." Tatsurou said a bit nervous, as he took his seat again.

"So which problem, is giving you trouble?" Marie asked a bit curious, as she looked at the math book, then at Tatsurou.

"It's this one here...where we have to find the X..." Tatsurou said as he pointed at the question in the book.

"Hmm...I see, the answer is pretty easy, it's 14!" Marie said as she smiled and raised her index finger a bit.

"Heh? Really?" Tatsurou asked with a surprised tone, as he looked at the book then at Marie.

"Yes and this one here is...24! Then this one right here is 49...oh and this one is 26!" Marie said as she pointed at question after question in the book, with no signs of stopping, until she was interrupted by Tatsurou.

"Hold on a minute, Marie! I didn't know that you were good at math! Especially when you said, that it wasn't your favorite subject the other day..." Tatsurou said with a surprised tone, as he looked at the book, then at Marie.

"Well, it's true that it isn't my favorite subject, after all, when I was in Lourdes I always stayed in 3rd place right behind Elaina and Amélie in the exams..." Marie said as she let out a sigh, but Tatsurou just looked at her in shock.

"Marie...just asking, in what place did you stayed, when taking into account all of your exams, back in France?" Tatsurou asked both curious and nervous.

"Hmm? Around, second place, if it wasn't for maths and English, I would have beaten Suzette...but it's not something that impressive..." Marie said as she placed her right hand on her cheek and smiled.

"Marie, are you kidding me? That's really impressive!" Tatsurou said with a very surprised and impressed tone as he looked at Marie, that blushed upon hearing him.

"I-I mean, I'm not a good student, you know...I always score low on the exams...so I think it's pretty impressive that you're a top student! But who am I kidding just a quick glance and one can tell that you're super smart, Marie!" Tatsurou said with an honest tone as he smiled, this made Marie blush from ear to ear, upon hearing him, but of course, it didn't last long...

"It might be impressive...but that's all I got going for me, isn't it, Tatsurou?" Marie asked with a sad tone, as she looked a bit down.

"What's the point in being smart with school subjects...if I keep screwing up at cooking? Tatsurou...am I smart, when Shirayuki wasted so much time teaching me and I still fail in the end? Am I smart, for wasting ingredients like this, when we could be using them for something good? Let's be honest...I'm not smart when you look at all of this...and I won't improve, right?" Marie asked question upon question, as she kept looking down, but Tatsurou didn't let her do that for too long.

"Let me ask you something, Marie...how long, did it took you, to learn and mastering fencing?" Tatsurou asked a bit curious, while he looked at Marie and crossed his arms.

"Well, it took me 8 years to both learn everything there is about fencing and mastering it more or less the same way as my mom..." Marie said while she looked at Tatsurou and placed her hands on her lap.

"Now, did you become good at it and won matches, from the moment you started?" Tatsurou asked again.

"Of course not! I lost many times, especially to my mom, and did way too many mistakes, before I could do anything right...but I never gave up and when I turned 14 was I able to go against all the teachers in Lourdes and win!" Marie said with a happy tone as she held the tips of her shorts.

"But I just don't get it, why are you asking me this, Tatsurou? What does this have to do with cooking?" Marie asked a bit confused.

"Marie, you did hear what you just said, right? Fencing is something that requires time, patience, training, and passion to master..." Tatsurou said as he made a small pause and sighed.

"If you think about it, cooking isn't that different! It also requires all of those to get good at it, but the most important is to never give up when the first obstacle appears...and after what I heard, I believe that your not someone that gives up easily, at least, that's not the Marie I know..." Tatsurou said with a calm tone as he placed his right hand on top of Marie's head.

"Listen, Marie, you never waste Shirayuki's time, when she gives you cooking classes and I don't want you to get depressed over wasted food...your still learning and you never do it with ill intentions in mind...so please, don't feel so bad about it and don't give up...as I still want to eat something you cook! No matter, what it takes or how long it takes!" Tatsurou said with an honest and reassuring tone, as he head patted Marie, that began to sob and tear up a bit.

"Tatsurou...I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, for the way I acted earlier and for ignoring you like that...but I...I..." Marie said as tears began to slowly fall from her eyes.

"Don't cry, Marie...it's ok now..." As Tatsurou said this he moved the hand he was head patting Marie with, to her left cheek and cleaned the tears, something that surprised Marie a bit, as she briefly blushed.

"Thank you...Tatsurou..." Marie said as she rested her cheek against Tatsurou's palm and gave him a warm smile with her eyes closed, this made Tatsurou feel as if his heart skipped a bit, upon seeing Marie's smile and that he had his hand on her cheek.

"N-No, need to thank me..." Tatsurou said with an embarrassed tone, as he gently moved his hand away from Marie's cheek.

"Is it just me or has Marie's smile...become more beautiful than before..." Tatsurou thought as he looked at Marie and blushed upon remembering the first he saw her smile when they met back in May.

"W-What am I even thinking?! I just placed my hand on her cheek and cleaned her tears! Was it ok? Marie doesn't think that I'm a weirdo now does she?" Tatsurou thought as he looked away from Marie, that was still smiling.

"Tatsurou's hand was so warm and soft...I'm so happy!" Marie thought as she briefly placed her left hand on her cheek, as she smiled even more and once again silence followed, but it didn't last long this time...

"Say, how about we keep studying, Tatsurou?" Marie asked with a very happy tone, as she looked at Tatsurou, that jolted upon hearing Marie.

"Heh? Sure, let's do that..." Tatsurou said a bit embarrassed, as he laughed.

"Ok then! So do you have any other subjects your not good at?" Marie asked both happy and curious, as she tilted her head.

"Well, I'm bad at geography and a bit bad with history..." Tatsurou said a bit embarrassed, as he scratched his head a bit.

"I see, I see! Then let's finish up with math and then we'll go to geography, right away!" Marie said with a very happy tone as she placed her hands together and smiled...

And so, the hours would pass...

"And that wraps it up, for world war 2, now let have a small peak at the beginning of the cold war! You never know if they might put a question or two, about it in the exams...!" Marie said with a very happy tone, as she raised her index finger a bit, but she stooped when she looked to her side and saw Tatsurou with his arms crossed and placed on the table, while he rested his head on them and snored softly.

"Heh? He fell asleep?!" Marie thought a bit impressed.

"Well, I don't blame him...it's already late and we had gym classes today and perhaps I overdid it a bit with my explanations...good thing tomorrow is Saturday..." Marie thought again as she now looked at the watch in the kitchen that showed that it was 02:56 am and smiled a bit.

"There's nothing more that we can do, so I might as well wake Tatsurou up..." As Marie said this, she prepared to wake Tatsurou up, but then, she began to look at him for a bit in silence.

"I was an idiot, by acting the way I did...Shirayuki was right, Tatsurou would never do any of the things I thought he would, and even after all that happened he keeps encouraging me to become better and saying that he wants to eat my cooking no matter how..." Marie thought as she placed her hand on Tatsurou's head and began to gently head pat him, but after a bit, Marie stopped and began to fidget a bit, as she looked around.

"I shouldn't do this...I'm so sorry Shirayuki! I swear that I'll compensate you big time!" As Marie thought this, she tucked her hair behind her ear, she then leaned a bit forward and gently pressed her lips against Tatsurou's cheek and kissed him.

"I love you, Tatsurou..." Marie thought as she slowly moved her lips away from Tatsurou's cheek while she blushed and head patted him again, for a bit.

"Well then...Tatsurou, Tatsurou...time to wake up!" Marie said with a calm tone, as she placed her hand on Tatsurou's shoulder and gently shook him.

"Hmm? Marie? Eh?!" As Tatsurou said this he slowly opened his eyes and raised his head a bit as he looked at Marie, then at notebooks and school books on the table and that was when Tatsurou, opened his eyes wide.

"I-I'm so sorry for falling asleep, Marie!" Tatsurou said with an apologetic tone as he looked at Marie, that smiled.

"Fufu, don't worry! You weren't out, for too long..." Marie said as she placed her hand in front of her mouth and giggled.

"Please don't get the wrong idea, Marie! Your explanations, the examples you use, and the way you teach in general are really good and not boring at all! I was just a bit tired and..." Tatsurou said as flailed his hands a bit.

"You don't need to apologize, that much, we studied for a while and we had a bit of an exhausting day...so it's only normal that you would fall asleep!" Marie said again with a reassuring tone as she placed her hands together and smiled.

"I know that, but I still feel bad about it, Marie...oh, you don't mind to teach me more some other day...that is if your ok, with it?" Tatsurou asked a bit curious after he sighed.

"Come on, it's alright and I don't mind teaching you more! But for now, let's grab all the school books and go to bed, it is a bit late after all!" Marie said with a happy tone as she pointed at the watch on the wall and smiled.

"Yes, let's do that..." Tatsurou said as he also smiled and then, a few minutes later after Tatsurou and Marie closed all the notebooks and school books and tied up the kitchen, they were now in the hallway that led to the bedrooms.

"Thanks again for helping me study, Marie!" Tatsurou said as he held his notebooks and school books, in his hands.

"No need to thank me, I was happy to help! And if anything, I should be the one apologizing for the way I acted earlier..." Marie said as she looked a bit down.

"You don't have to worry about it Marie...but you have to promise me, that you won't let those failures in the kitchen, take you down again, alright?" Tatsurou asked, with a faint joking tone as he gave Marie a wink.

"I promise, next time around I won't let my failure get to me like that, so you just wait and I'll serve you the best dish there is!" Marie said with a determined tone as she gave Tatsurou a thumbs up.

"I can't wait for that! Good night Marie..." Tatsurou said with a happy tone as he smiled and made his way towards his room.

"Night, Tatsurou!" Marie said also with a happy tone as she turned towards her and Shirayuki's room and as Marie opened the door, she was greeted by Shirayuki, that was wearing her usual long pink nightgown and had her arms crossed.

"So, how did it go, Marie?" Shirayuki asked with a curious tone, while she smiled and placed her hands on her hips, but Marie didn't say anything for a moment until she suddenly hugged Shirayuki and lifted her a bit.

"M-Marie, what's wrong?" Shirayuki asked a bit worried, as she placed her hands on Marie's shoulders.

"Thank you for your help, Shirayuki..." Marie said with a happy tone, as she hugged Shirayuki tight.

"You don't have to thank me, Marie...you help me so much with Tatsurou, it's only normal that I would help you too, isn't it?" Shirayuki said as she warped her hands around Marie's neck and hugged her.

"But I'm so sorry that I couldn't make or come up with a more well-thought-out plan, like the ones you do..." Shirayuki said a bit embarrassed, as Marie placed Shirayuki on the ground and stooped hugging her.

"You don't need to say sorry, Shirayuki, even if it was made in a rush, I'm still really happy that you made this plan, I was able to make up with Tatsurou! Thank you so much!" Marie said with a very happy tone as she held Shirayuki's hands.

"I'm happy that I could help! Oh, and by the way, did you eat anything, Marie?" Shirayuki asked a bit curious, but her answer came in the form of Marie's stomach growling quite a bit.

"Well, I was so engrossed in teaching Tatsurou, that I completely forgot to eat..." Marie said a bit embarrassed, as she let go of Shirayuki's hands and placed them around her stomach, as she laughed a bit.

"If that the case, then we still have a bento from the convenience store left! Come, I'll heat it for you, Marie..." Shirayuki said with a happy tone, as she made her way out of the room.

"Thanks! Say, Shirayuki, how about you and I watch a few videos on the internet after I eat?" Marie asked a bit curious, as she followed Shirayuki.

"We'll see about that, but first it's time to eat!" Shirayuki said again with a happy tone, as Marie followed her to the kitchen...