The morning after that came with my classes. Three classes in the morning. That meant I needed to take Hideyoshi with me, or leave him alone at home.

"Hideyoshi, would you like to go to school with me today?"

I asked him, looking up from the newspaper of the day. Hideyoshi was making breakfast in the kitchen. After the incident last night, he insisted to take care of the meals from now on. I taught him how to use the stove, the microwave, and everything else in the kitchen. He did catch on very quickly.

"To school? You mean, a place where people go there to learn?"

"Yes. I'm a student after all. I can't skip any class, and I cannot afford dropping my grades, either. The choice is up to you though. If you'd rather stay at home, I don't mind."

It didn't take him a second to hesitate.

"Sure, let's go then." He shrugged, and continued on with flipping the omelet.

"Eh? Are you sure?"

"Do you not want me to go?"

"That's not what I meant. There will be a lot of people, you know? From different countries, not just Japanese or Asian people. The university is big, too. Aren't you worried or anxious, even a little bit?"

"Why?" He turned his gaze to me, asking a question as if it was obvious. "I'm with you, right? Why would I be worried?"

The statement made me blush, so I looked down at the newspaper again, holding it up to hide my face. Damn, did he do that intentionally, or was it just his natural charm to say something so misleading like that?

"Didn't you say this is a world of peace? There is no one dying, isn't there? Then I don't have any reason to be afraid."

For a moment, I forgot that he came from the Sengoku time. He had been in many life and death situation, this was nothing compared to anything that he had gone through. Compared to him, all my worries felt ridiculously childish.

When we arrived at the university, the sun had not come out to greet us yet. The campus was dipped in a gloomy and hazy color of the early fog. Hideyoshi had gotten better with the bus, and said nothing out of ordinary on our way here.

My university had a big campus, and it usually took me half an hour to walk from north to south campus. He obviously looked baffled, but then told me that Azuchi had paddy fields as grand as this campus.

"Must be nice for Nobunaga then." I giggled. "All the rice would make a hefty profit, if the farmers manage to save some leftover for trading."

"You bet." He looked proud. "Lord Nobunaga calculated everything after all. We always have enough food for next season in store."

My first class was located at the other side of campus, so we took our time walking there, while chatting along the way. I explained to him what each building was, and he was certainly mesmerized by the European architecture.

"It's amazing to think that all these buildings are for education. Back in Azuchi, we only have private tutor for rich daimyo's family. Not many people had the opportunity to learn." He commented as we walked by the library. "What are all those machines inside?"

"They are computers, almost similar to the one I'm carrying right here." I pointed to my laptop bag. "Students use it to do their homework and research. They can contact the instructors and other faculty through emails, using these laptops as well."

"That's incredible. Speaking of which," he frowned. "Doesn't the bag look heavy? I didn't think we would walk this far. Let me carry it for you."

Oh, the kind side of Hideyoshi Toyotomi, which had become scarce in this modern world.

"No way." I shook my head. "This is my stuff, so I'm carrying it. I can't just let you carry all my notebooks and laptop. You've already made lunch!"

Yes, he did. He made bento for the both of us while he was making breakfast, after hearing I said my classes would end at 12pm. He said he didn't want me to starve.

"So? Making it was not that hard. I only made simple onigiri with some vegetables. Anyway, how could I let you carry that bag? It looks like it's weighing you down backward!"

Urgh, the epitome of being short.

"It's not as heavy as it looks."

"Really?" He tapped his fingers impatiently, raising his eyebrows at me. "Shall I examine your words? If it is the truth, I will let you carry it."

Why did I feel like I had just lost a gamble?

I took off my bag and gave it to him for examination. Hideyoshi held it up, then immediately shook his head.

"Nope. This bag is already half as heavy as you are. This would be bad for your back."

"How did you-"

It was then I remembered that he carried me to my bed yesterday afternoon. Thinking about that incident made me blush once again. In adjunction to that, the thought of him knowing how heavy I was only made me want to slam my head against the wall right here, right now.

"This argument is over. I'm taking this." He put my bag on his shoulder. The fluffy keychain hanging on the bag added an adorable look to his image somehow. Though my bag was indeed heavy, it was a girl's bag, with a girly design and a size too small for his back. He looked mismatched carrying my bag like that, but he was also cute.

"What are you standing there for?" He turned back to look at me, already a few steps ahead. "The class will start without you, you know?"

"Yes, sir!"

I giggled, keeping the thought to my own, and ran towards him. Maybe the idea of going to school with Hideyoshi would not be after all.

My first class went by without a problem. The lecturer's voice was nice and smooth, which had put half of the class into sleep. Hideyoshi was not an exception, but we did stay up the entire night, so that was understandable. His sleeping face was adorable as well. His mouth parted slightly as he breathed, and his bang fell over to the opposition.

I woke him up to move to my next class, feeling guilty like I'd just waken an angel up.

The first class was fine, but the second class would be a problem.

"Oh, look who's here." A high-pitched voice greeted me mockingly as soon as I entered the classroom. "It's the teacher's pet!"

It was Misa. She hated me from first year after taking a Calculus class with me, and I refused to show her my answers during the test. Ironically, we were in the same major, so most of my classes overlapped with hers.

I ignored the girl and proceeded to my usual seat. Hideyoshi followed suit, yawning from his sleep earlier.

"I've never had such a nice rest." He stretched his arms. "The chair in that classroom was really comfy."

"It's one of the newer one." I nodded. "They put high-quality chairs in there. I don't know why though, it only makes the students sleepier."

SLAM

Misa stood in front of me, her hand on my desk.

"You have the guts to ignore me huh, ugly? After everything that you've done?" She looked down on me with half an eye. I hated the fact that she did look pretty, from any angle. Too bad that was her only good point.

"It wasn't my fault that you failed the class." I shrugged.

"How shameless. Don't act like you're all high and mighty." She snorted. "You're only getting good grades because you don't have any friends to hang out with. No one wants to be friends with you, isn't that right? Even though you're a third year already."

Her friends burst into laughter behind my back. "What, third year? How does she spend her free time then? Cooping up in her room and fantasizing about cartoon characters? Hahaha!"

I looked away to ignore what she and her friends had just said. They were not wrong though, and that was where I found it hard to find a retaliation.

"Excuse me, I don't know who you are, but could you please settle down? Class is starting soon, and it was extremely rude of you to call others 'ugly'. I think she's the most beautiful woman I've ever met."

I blinked a few times, wondering if I'd heard wrong. That voice came from Hideyoshi, with lines as cliché as possibly could be in an otome game. Nonetheless, it put Misa in a speechless spot.

"What are you, her boyfriend?? Going so far as to call her 'beautiful', you should really get your eyes check." She turned to Hideyoshi and took a close look at him. Her gaze scanned him from head to toe, but she couldn't find any weakness to tease him about.

'Hah, take that. My cartoon-character-that-I-did-fantasize-about was perfect, okay? Even you can't deny that!' is what I'd like to say, but I just kept my mouth shut the whole time. After a few seconds, Misa huffed and returned to her friends.

"Let's go. My mood has turned sour. This class is boring anyway."

With that, she walked out. Her friends grabbed their stuffs and ran after her. Once again, peace had returned to my day.

No one said a thing. It was a daily sight anyway.

"Geez, what's up with them? She should be the one who should go for an eye-check." Hideyoshi sounded mad. He certainly didn't look sleepy anymore.

"Sorry you have to see that. And thank you for back there."

"Why are you the one apologizing?" Now there was a bit of annoyance in his voice. "They were the ones in the wrong. What's up with that girl calling you ugly anyway?"

"She wasn't wrong. Everything they said was the truth." I scrambled through my bag to get my notebook out. Tears didn't come out today, thanks to Hideyoshi ending the charade quickly. I was glad for at least that.

"They weren't the truth." He huffed. "At least not during the time I've met you. And what does she mean you don't have any friends? Am I not sitting right here, in front of her eyes?"

Was he saying he was my friend?

"Hideyoshi, you're not my friend." I turned to him and laughed. "You technically didn't appear until a few days ago, remember? You're like one of my imaginary friends, or my temporary friends who only stay for a moment."

That was also the truth. Best not to get too attached to him before he had to go home, or I would find myself in the same tragedy as every character in Ikemen series faced. Wouldn't I be the one who knew that too well?

Hideyoshi didn't answer my question. His face was facing the other direction, so I couldn't tell what kind of expression he was making, or whether he even heard me in the first place. I stopped pressing, because I was afraid of what kind of reply he would give me. Of course, he had to go back to Nobunaga, and to his duty as a warlord in his time. Keeping him here would be a selfish wish of mine.

After everything he had done to take care of me, finding a way for him to go back to Azuchi would be the only way I can repay him.

Foreshadowing