In honor of Valentine's Day, here is an extra bonus chapter...

This chapter is dedicated to JCKang for his humor, his encouragement, his support and his knowledge of Japan/Japanese. This story is already much better from your input.

Chapter 7

"Ah! Jack-kun's birthday!" Miko looked distraught. "When is it? I don't know when it is."

"Middle of March," Jack said.

"I missed it!"

"Everyone misses it. It's right at the end of the school year."

Miko looked at the others eating lunch around them. "We have to do something."

"Why?" Takashi asked.

"But we missed Jack-kun's birthday."

"So?"

"So, we should do something."

"And we have mid-terms coming up week after next," Junko said.

"But we have the following day off!" Miko said. "We should all go out for karaoke afterward."

"There's a good karaoke place across from my family's ramen shop," Tsukiko said.

"That's it! Ramen and karaoke, in a week and a half, the day after finals. Everyone has to be there."

"Oh, I can't," Ume said. "My family has something planned that day, but I could probably do it that evening after finals.

Takashi nodded. "There's no school the next day so we can stay out late. It's more fun to go out at night anyway."

The others shrugged and nodded. As they discussed their preparations or lack thereof for the mid-terms, Miko leaned close to Jack. "What are you doing after school today?"

"Just clubs, as usual."

"Want to skip?"

"Why? What do you have in mind?"

"Want to come over to my house and study for the midterms? Mom and dad are not going to be home until late and I might get lonely."

A strange nervous thrill rose up in Jack. He didn't know what she had in mind, but he knew he wanted to find out. "Sure."

永 遠

Jack's anxiety grew with each step toward Miko's bedroom. This is where she lives, he thought, stepping inside. This is where she sleeps and changes her clothes. Jack closed his eyes and tried not to think too much about that. He inhaled and thought he caught the natural perfume of her scent.

It was a large room by Japanese standards and Miko had a low table and some cushions set up at the foot of a large four-poster princess style bed. An enormous flat-screen TV hung dark and silent on the wall across from it above a series of shelves and cubbyholes containing books, movies, stuffed animals and other assorted collectables. Everywhere he looked, he saw surprising little touches of her personality.

Miko started some classical music playing at low volume and sat on one of the cushions next to the table. Jack dropped his book bag and sat across the table from her. He took another deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. Miko smiled at him. "We'll have to wait a few moments for the cook."

They broke out their math books and began studying. The math seemed to settle him, though he couldn't focus on the numbers. A few minutes later, the cook arrived at Miko's door with a tray. "I have some tea and snacks."

"Thank you, Koizumi-san." Miko poured them both tea and Koizumi left. Miko paused, listening, then turned a smile on Jack. "We're alone now."

"Now what?" Jack asked.

Miko sat up and leaned over the table on her elbows. "Now I begin to collect some of your debt. Kiss me."

Jack leaned across the table and met her with a long slow soft kiss. His heart raced.

Miko sighed happily. Opening her eyes, she got up, walked around the table and sat in Jack's lap. She draped her arms around Jack's shoulders and began kissing him more insistently.

The blood pounded in Jack's head so fiercely that his vision jumped with each heartbeat.

She was real. She was solid. The unattainable girl. Until a few days ago, nothing more than a figment of Atarachi High's males' fantasies, and now Jack could feel the weight of her in his lap, her warmth and softness pressing against him as she gently stroked his lips with kisses. She loved him. She desired him. His thoughts stuttered to a halt as he tried to process the reality of this.

Jack had to surreptitiously adjust his pants, which had grown uncomfortable. He didn't know what to do with his hands. He folded his arms around her, amazed at how precisely her narrow waist fit them. Miko sighed happily and leaned into him. It felt like she had been specially made just for him. Overwhelmed by her warmth and her taste and the perfume of her hair, Jack grew dizzy. He turned aside to catch his breath, while Miko left a ticklish train of kisses down his neck.

"We have to be careful," Jack whispered.

Miko's soft hair brushed across his face as she started a trail of kisses up the other side of his neck. "Why?"

"I- I don't know what I'll do."

Miko pulled back just far enough to look him in the eye without crossing her own. She gave him a shy smile. "I trust you."

"I love you," he gasped.

"I love you too." Miko sat up straight and plunged toward him like a high diver. She thrashed his lips with her own and slipped her tongue into his mouth as if she wanted to crawl completely inside him.

For the next two hours, time moved in strange blinks and skips, but every moment was filled with Miko.

Too soon, an annoying beeping began on the table beside them.

Miko pulled back, gasping through glistening lips, her hair in disarray. She stared at him with hooded eyes that seem to peer deep inside him and Jack felt momentarily helpless like small prey under the gaze of a hungry predator.

"What's that?" Jack asked.

Miko turned a confused look to the table. "Ah! That's my phone. I set a reminder for when my parents come home." She gave Jack a teasing smile. "I knew you'd make me forget." She stretched across him to turn off the alarm, her large breasts pressing against his arm. She rose, gazing once more deeply into his eyes, then slowly brushed his lips with the softest and gentlest breath of a kiss.

Jack lunged forward and wrapped her in a rib-cracking hug. He wanted to squeeze her until every last ounce of his strength was gone. "I can't leave. I can't ever let you go."

"Ara ara ara." Miko sighed and put her hands on his shoulders and slowly pushed herself back. She peppered his forehead and cheeks with little kisses until he relaxed and released her. "It's time."

She rose and Jack began packing his school things, his hands suddenly seeming large and clumsy. She took his hand and pulled him up, hugging his arm as she led him to the front door. Jack opened it and paused. Miko kissed him, leaning on him until he was forced to step back through the door. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow," Jack echoed.

"Go." She grinned and waved him away.

Jack stumbled back to the gate, casting longing glances her way. Miko waited until he was through the gate, blew him a kiss and closed the door.

On the bus ride home, Jack nearly missed his stop. He got out and staggered to the corner of his street. His mouth felt almost bruised. He felt as if he had just been beaten all over with two warm pillows. How was it possible for a girl like that to love him? What could she see in a guy like him?

永 遠

"Did you hear?" Tsukiko asked Jack before first period the next day. "Did Miko-chan tell you that they won't let her run for president of the student council in the next elections?"

"No," Jack said. "I know she came to school early for the student council meeting, but I haven't seen her yet."

"Is it because she's a first year?" Takashi asked.

"No. One of the teachers rejected her nomination saying she wasn't modeling appropriate behavior for a student council president.

"Is it because she's dating a gaijin?" Jack asked.

"You've got to admit she's pretty much all over you in public all the time," Takashi said.

"I don't know," Tsukiko said. "My friend in the office didn't say. I don't think she knew why."

"How did Miyamoto-chan's homeroom teacher react? She's the one who pushed her to run for vice-president so she could run for president," Takashi said.

"Not well," Tsukiko said. "They weren't going to let her run for any position, but she convinced them to let her run for vice-president again."

"Not letting her run is pretty harsh," Jack said.

"That's what her homeroom teacher said," Tsukiko looked to Takashi. "Of course the fact that nobody has nominated themselves for the vice-president's position might also be a factor."

"What about Ishihara-kun?" Takashi asked.

Tsukiko shrugged. "He didn't even want to run the first time."

Jack played with his pencil, spinning it on his desk while thinking about Miko. "I hope they're not giving her a hard time because of me."

永 遠

At lunch time, Miko pranced into their room carrying her bento. Jack was amused to see all the boys' heads turn to follow her like sunflowers chasing the sun. "Are you ready to eat? Cook made something extra special for us today."

"Sure." Jack didn't ask what it was. Miko had insisted on sharing all her favorite foods with him. He didn't even bother to bring his own bento to school anymore, which made Takashi, Riku and most of the other boys supremely jealous.

"Ah, a bento of love," Takashi said teasingly.

Miko grinned back at him. "Yes."

The others grabbed their bentos and followed them out to the courtyard. Once they had settled, Miko opened their bento with a flourish. "Jian!"

The main part of it was fried rice with a big heart drawn in spicy ketchup and their initials MM + JP in katakana. The whole thing was bordered with various steamed vegetables cut in the shapes of hearts.

"Cute!" Rio and Ume leaned in close to see.

"Don't tell me your cook made this?" Jack asked.

"She may have cooked it, but I packed the bento and filled it with love." Miko picked up a heart-shaped piece of carrot with her chop-sticks and poked it in his mouth.

"So, Miyamoto-chan, is everything well with you?" Takashi asked after several minutes.

"Yes. Of course. Why wouldn't it be?"

"I heard there was some trouble in the student council meeting this morn—erk!"

Tsukiko gave Takashi a warning elbow in the ribs.

"Oh, that. The teachers couldn't decide if they should let me run for office or not."

"Are you OK with that?" Tsukiko asked. "Does it upset you?"

Miko shrugged. "As long as I can see Jack-kun, I don't care about anything else. I was even thinking of not running since it takes so much of my time away from him." Miko popped another heart-shaped vegetable in his mouth.

永 遠

The elections were held and Miko was re-elected as vice president and the first first-year to serve a full term on the student council. Jack only got to see her a couple of times for special "study sessions" at her home before the mid-terms and each time he left with an over-whelming desire to always be with her. This longing was only made tolerable by long nights on the computer where they would stay up late discussing everything from favorite books and movies to future hope and dreams. Neither of them mentioned marriage, but all of their plans for the future included each other.

The mid-terms were grueling. Though exhausted by the testing, the kids all seemed to catch a second wind when they realized they had the next day off. "I'm ready for some fun," Takashi told Riku as they left school. Nobody wanted to take the time to first go home since they lived scattered all over western Tokyo.

"Hey, Tsukino-chan, this ramen had better be good," Riku said. "I'm starving."

"Hmph! It's only the best in town."

The ramen was excellent and since Tsukiko was with them, they all got extra-large helpings. They shouted their thanks to Tsukiko's uncle Yasu and left for karaoke feeling stuffed.

Karaoke mostly consisted of Jack watching his friends shouting into microphones with so much reverb that any melody was lost. It had taken Jack several years to figure out that singing was the least important thing about karaoke. Laughing and having a good time with friends was all that was required.

"Hey! Jack-kun hasn't sung yet. We need to hear him," Takashi said after several rounds of pass-the-microphone.

"Yes, Jack-kun," Riku agreed.

"Sing us something." Miko chimed in and the others cheered him on.

"No. I'm happy just watching you."

"Come on, Jack-kun. I've never heard you sing and I really want to hear you sing." Miko gave him her best pout.

It was too much cuteness for him. He smiled. Jack knew the best way to survive such a potentially embarrassing situation was to act like he didn't care, the more over-the-top the performance, the better. Jack turned to Junko who was the only one to have figured out the remote. She helped him find a rock song he knew and turned off the reverb.

Jack rose and struck a dramatic pose as the first strains of guitar sounded. Everyone cheered. Then, with a dramatic gesture, he turned and sang. Opening his throat and dropping the back of his tongue, he was able to produce what he thought of as his "rock" voice. It was intended to be an overly dramatic—even sarcastic—full singing style, but as he sang everyone stopped and stared at him.

Growing worried, he plowed through the first verse and gestured for the others to join him in the chorus. Hearing the hook, they jumped up and began hopping up and down and singing the chorus with him, but they actually paused to listen as he sang the second verse. Jack sang the second chorus and air-guitared through the bridge. They all sang the final chorus. When he finished, they cheered again.

"Jack-kun that was really good!" Tsukiko said.

"Yeah! You sounded just like him. You could be a real singer," Daisuke said.

Miko looked at him with a pleading expression. "More?"

Takashi and Junko were already looking through the menus for another song.

They made him sing two more songs. He only escaped singing a fourth by begging to go to the bathroom.

Jack stepped out into the cool air of the hall, closing their box door behind him. He had to admit, despite his apprehensions, that he was having a lot of fun. Returning from the bathroom, he encountered a group of four guys coming down the hall from the other direction. They all looked like third-years and were each his size or bigger. The one swaggering in the middle, clearly the leader, had a patchy mustache and a bit of hair growing on his chin.

"Hey. Is that the gaijin over there?" one of the other guys said.

The tall one next to the leader, had swept back hair. He peered over the top of his sunglasses. "He's the one always hanging around Miyamoto-chan."

They walked up to Jack and their leader stood just inches away, staring in a most impolite manner. "Is that right? Are you the one harassing Miyamoto-chan?" the leader asked using a most familiar and insulting form of "you".

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Jack asked in English. He'd used the ignorant gaijin ploy to evade trouble in the past.

"Don't be stupid," the leader's wing man said. "You're wearing an Atarachi High uniform."

Jack took a breath and relaxed his arms and legs and centered himself. He widened his stance and shifted his hips to deny them a clear shot at his groin.

"We've seen you in the courtyard every day during lunch, embarrassing Miyamoto-chan," the number three guy added.

"What do you want from me?" Jack asked, lowering his voice's pitch and using a familiar register.

"We want you to leave Miyamoto-chan alone."

"That would be cruel. It would break her heart." Jack smiled. "Miko is hopelessly in love with me."

The leader's face reddened. Using her first name without the honorific indicated a level of familiarity on par with a husband and wife. "A yamato nadeshiko like Miyamoto-san could never love a filthy gaijin like you. She is merely being polite and you are taking advantage of her gracious nature."

Jack's grin broadened. The more they tried to intimidate him, the more contempt he showed them. "I sincerely suggest you ask her about her feelings, yanki-san, before you embarrass yourself further."

The big guy's eyes narrowed and his mouth tensed. Jack was certain the fight was about to start, but a loud group of half-drunk salarymen came down the hall opening random doors trying to find their box.

"If you'll excuse me," Jack said. "I've kept my girlfriend waiting long enough." He pushed through the boys and exhaled in relief as he returned to his box.