Chapter 4

Eriol woke up,ignoring the wave of nausea washing over him.He looked around and saw Fr.Ayashi reading the Bible. "F-Fa.." He didn't finish his words.His throat felt too dry!

"Good,you're awake." He took his glasses off and sat beside him. "That was stupid of you!You know your immune system is not up to the challenge yet you still braved the rain."

"D-Don't..f-feel..good." he stuttered weakly.

"Of course you wouldn't!You have a fever!" the fat priest exclaimed.

Eriol pointed to his watch.

"It's three in the afternoon.I didn't bother to wake you up because your temperature is still high.But it's nothing compared to last night.You were lucky because Sis.Tomoyo stayed up overnight to give you sponge bath." he replied.

"T-To..mo..yo..where?"

"That's Sis.Tomoyo.I ordered her to go home and rest." he replied. "By the way,here's a Get Well Soon basket for you." The priest looked puzzled. "From your students."

Eriol was surprised too.His students sent him a gift?He struggled to sit up as Fr.Ayashi gave him the basket.He found fruits and small love notes taped on them.The first one came from Stephen,saying he reviewed his lessons very well and is looking forward to the next graded recitation.Paul wrote that he must get well soon so he could hear him already play the piano.

As the priest pared the fruits for him,Eriol continued to read the letters,feeling better every minute.
~*~*~*~*~*~

"Surprise!!" Tomoyo and her students burst into the room where Eriol had just finished reading all the letters.

"Hey,he read our letters!" cried Ryane excitedly.

"Did you like it?" Stephen asked eagerly.

Eriol looked at the expectant faces of his students.A smile crept up his mouth. "Y-Yes.I like it very much."

Everyone cheered while Stephen and Paul gave each other high fives.

Grinning,Fr.Atashi stood up. "Sis.Tomoyo,I'm sure you could handle everything from her.I'm in the chapel when you need me." But actually,the priest was just excited to tell Mr.Burns about what happened.

She beamed. "Yes,Father."

He looked at the nun. "This happened when she arrived,which means,she's either a lucky charm or she's the reason itself." he thought.
~*~*~*~*~*~

"So how do you feel now?" asked Tomoyo as she fed him with seedless grapes.The children were busy tying colorful balloons around the room to cheer their teacher up.

"I feel better already.In fact,I'm going back to school tomorrow." he replied.

Her eyes twinkled mischievously. "I don't know if that's good news or not." She became serious again. "Sir Eriol,I want to tell you something about teaching.Number one,it's not the grades that matter but what lessons in life were you able to impart to your young learners.Number two,you as the teacher,you must not impose on your students the knowledge but you must help them gain it using their own wisdom.Number three,more than giving out quizzes,you must be able to build bonds with your students.If you do not,you just missed more than half of the essence of being a teacher."

Eriol felt her words were etched in his heart.He smiled. "Shame on me.I may be an intelligent teacher but you know far more about real teaching than me."

She smiled as she popped another fruit in his mouth.She then accidentally touched his lips.Both of them paused,staring at each other intensely.

Tomoyo blushed. "S-Sorry.I didn't mean to-"

Eriol looked away as he fought the urge to pull her hands and kiss each of her soft fingertips.For pete's sake,she was a nun!

"Sir Eriol?" Cara called out.The teacher turned to his amber-eyed student. "Yes,Cara?"

"We should go home now.It's almost dinnertime." she explained.

He patted her hair. "Sure thing." He turned to everyone. "Thanks for visiting me again.Be careful on your way home!"

"Yes,Sir Eriol!" everyone chorused.

Paul leaned to his ear,whispering. "Actually ,you must not thank us.It was her idea." he pointed to the nun who was talking with the girls.

"Thanks for telling me." he replied. "I'll thank her later."

"So are you going to marry her?" the boy asked eagerly.

Eriol's face became red as a tomato. "Are you kidding?She's a nun!" he whispered back.

"A nun-in-training." corrected Stephen,who overheard the conversation.

"Are you talking about me?" asked Tomoyo.

Eriol shook his head vigorously. "Paul just asked me what a novice nun is and Stephen answered it for me."

"Oh."
~*~*~*~*~*~

The next day,Eriol was back in class.The rest of the lessons flowed smoothly.

"For your assignment,write your thoughts on the significance of Columbus' discovery." he told the class.

"No dates?" asked Mia Walters.

He rubbed his cheek. "Not when unnnecessary.Someone told me that the important thing in History is not just the facts but what lessons you have learned from them."

At the corner of his eye,he saw Tomoyo watching him happily.

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