CHAPTER 48: SECOND PLACE, FIRST LOVE

The second week was almost over.

Which meant one more week before Celestia had to pack up and leave for home.

Not that I was counting, but... okay, yeah, I was counting.

We’d had sex six times in the past five days. Six. And she swore that was her version of "taking it easy so you don’t run away, Kai."

If that was taking it easy, then what the hell would "serious" Celestia be like? Because by now, my body was half convinced I’d signed up for some kind of military-grade endurance program disguised as a relationship.

Tonight was supposed to be normal. She had insisted on a "rest night." No chaos, no tricks, no dragging me into another marathon. Just Netflix, junk food, and her curled up in my hoodie.

But with Celestia, "normal" didn’t last long.

---

"Move over, husband."

I groaned. "Stop calling me that."

"Why? It suits you." She flopped against me, stretching like a cat. My hoodie slipped down her shoulder, and she smirked when she caught me staring. "See? You already look like one. Overworked, tired, still hopelessly in love with me."

"Hopeless is right," I muttered.

She gasped dramatically. "Rude."

"Truthful."

"Fine then." Her voice dipped, softening in that way that always meant trouble. "If you’re so tired... let me take care of you."

"...Val."

She straddled me before I could protest, hair falling forward as her grin widened. "Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle."

"That’s a lie if I’ve ever heard one."

She laughed, low and throaty. "Okay, maybe a little lie."

---

Her fingers tugged at the hem of my shirt. I caught her wrists, but she leaned down, brushing her lips across my ear.

"Let me?" she whispered.

My throat went dry. "...You’re not giving me much of a choice, are you?"

"That’s marriage for you, husband."

"Stop calling me—"

She kissed me before I could finish. Slow. Deliberate. The kind of kiss that made my head spin. By the time she pulled back, I’d already let go of her wrists.

Her smirk was victorious.

She peeled my shirt off inch by inch, watching every reaction. When it was finally tossed aside, she sat back on my thighs, gaze trailing down my chest.

"...Not bad," she murmured. "I like this view."

"You’re staring too much."

"I’m allowed." She tapped her finger against my stomach, then tilted her head innocently. "I’m your wife, remember?"

I groaned. "You’re impossible."

"And yet, you adore me."

---

She leaned down again, this time letting her hand wander lower. I shivered, my grip tightening on her hips.

"You’re nervous," she teased.

"Maybe because you’re staring like that."

Her smirk widened. "I can’t help it. It’s cute seeing you like this."

"Cute?" I muttered. "That’s what you’re going with?"

"Mhm." Her hand slid under the waistband of my sweats, slow and deliberate. "Very cute."

I sucked in a breath as she wrapped her hand around my... yeah that. My whole body tensed, but her touch stayed slow, unhurried.

"Relax, Kai," she whispered, kissing my jaw. "It’s just me."

"’Just you’ is exactly the problem."

She laughed softly, stroking me with a lazy rhythm. "You’re still so shy."

"And you’re still insane."

"Insanely in love with you, maybe."

I groaned. "...You really don’t let up, do you?"

"Nope." She bit her lip, eyes locked on mine. "But you love that about me."

---

Time blurred after that. Clothes disappeared—hers first, mine second. Her teasing smirks, my half-broken protests, the way she laughed whenever I lost control for even a second.

She always made it a game. And somehow, I always lost.

But when she finally sank down onto me, her grin faltered into a soft gasp, and for a moment, she looked almost vulnerable.

Almost.

Because then she leaned down, lips brushing mine, and whispered, "See? Told you you’d survive."

"Barely," I muttered, breathless.

She laughed and kissed me again.

---

When it was finally over, we lay tangled in each other, the room quiet except for our breathing. My arm was around her waist, her head on my chest, her fingers tracing lazy patterns against my skin.

For once, she wasn’t teasing. She wasn’t talking at all.

Just silence.

And I was okay with that.

---

The next morning I woke up to the smell of coffee and her voice.

"...Husband, wake up. Breakfast’s ready."

I groaned, burying my face in the pillow. "Stop calling me that..."

She leaned down, lips brushing my cheek. "Never."

The bed dipped as she crawled back over to me, straddling my back. "Come on, Kai. Don’t make me feed you in bed like a toddler."

"...You’d enjoy that too much."

"Maybe." She tugged on my ear until I rolled over with a sigh. She was smiling, but it wasn’t her usual smug grin. It was softer, sweeter. Almost... careful.

That should’ve been my first clue.

---

We were halfway through breakfast—her pancakes, my coffee—when both our phones buzzed on the table.

She froze with her fork halfway to her mouth.

I glanced at mine, chest tightening. Results.

Neither of us moved for a second. The silence felt heavier than it should’ve.

"You first," she said quietly.

I swallowed hard, unlocked my phone, and tapped the notification.

The numbers hit me like a punch.

GPA: 4.82. Rank: 2nd. Kai Tanaka.

My jaw clenched. Second. Second. For the first time in my life, I wasn’t at the top.

"...Well?" Celestia’s voice was light, but I could hear the edge underneath.

I turned the screen toward her.

Her eyes flickered, then quickly darted back to her own phone. She unlocked it, opened hers, and... there it was.

GPA: 4.95. Rank: 1st. Celestia Valentina Moreau.

"...Wow." She set her fork down, voice small. "That’s... high."

I forced a laugh. "Yeah. No kidding."

---

The rest of breakfast was quiet. Too quiet.

Normally, she’d gloat. She’d smirk, call me "loser husband," shove her phone in my face just to rub it in.

But today? She barely touched her food. She kept fidgeting with the fork, eyes lowered, like a kid caught stealing cookies.

And I... blamed her.

Of course I did.

If she hadn’t dragged me into her chaos every night... If she hadn’t kept me distracted... If I hadn’t spent more time with her than with my notes—

I’d still be first.

The thought burned in my chest. And then, when I looked at her again—really looked at her—it almost made me feel guilty.

She wasn’t smirking. She wasn’t smug. She looked... nervous. Like she was waiting for me to snap.

---

"Not hungry?" I asked finally.

She blinked, startled, then forced a tiny smile. "No, I’m fine."

"You’ve barely eaten."

"I’m fine, really." She twirled the fork between her fingers. Her voice dropped, almost like she was talking to herself. "It’s my fault, isn’t it?"

I froze. "...What?"

She didn’t look at me. "You’re upset. Because of the ranking. Because of me."

I opened my mouth, closed it again. She wasn’t wrong. That was what I had been thinking. But hearing her say it out loud...

"I distracted you," she went on quietly. "All the nights I kept you busy. All the times I pulled you away from studying. You could’ve beaten me if I didn’t..." She trailed off, biting her lip.

I should’ve said something right then. But I didn’t. I just sat there, watching her fidget like a kid waiting for punishment.

She poked at her pancakes with her fork, voice still soft. "...I’ll stop, if you want. All the games. The teasing. The..." She flushed faintly. "...everything. I’ll stop, Kai. You can study. I’ll... behave."

The words hit me harder than I expected.

This was Celestia—the same girl who stormed into my life like a hurricane, who never backed down, never acted small, never apologized without teasing.

And now she was here, sitting across from me, acting like she’d broken something important.

I felt my chest tighten.

"Val."

She glanced up, wide-eyed, then quickly looked down again.

"I didn’t say it was your fault," I said slowly.

"But you thought it," she whispered.

I hesitated. "...Yeah. I did."

Her shoulders tensed.

"But then I realized something," I continued. "Even if I’d studied more, even if you hadn’t distracted me... I still wouldn’t have beaten you."

She blinked, finally looking up.

"You got a 4.95," I said, shaking my head. "Do you even realize how insane that is? I could’ve pulled every all-nighter in the world and I still wouldn’t have topped that."

Her lips parted slightly, like she didn’t know what to say.

"And besides," I added, softer now, "I don’t regret it. Any of it."

"...Liar."

"I mean it, Val."

---

She stared at me for a long time, eyes glistening in a way that made my chest ache. Then, slowly, she smiled. A small one. Tentative.

"...So you’re not mad?"

I sighed. "I was. But not anymore."

She tilted her head, childlike. "Promise?"

"Promise."

For the first time all morning, her usual spark flickered back into her eyes. She pushed her plate aside, leaned across the table, and pressed her forehead against mine.

"You’re stuck with me, husband," she whispered.

I chuckled. "Yeah. I know."

And just like that, the knot in my chest loosened.

---

The rest of the day passed differently.

She stayed glued to me like a shadow, but not in her usual bratty way. No smug remarks, no over-the-top dramatics. She clung to my arm like a little kid, asked random questions just to hear me talk, laughed at things that weren’t even funny.

She wasn’t trying to annoy me, she was trying to make me forget.

And honestly? It worked.

Every time I caught her sneaking glances at me, like she was checking if I was still upset, I couldn’t help but smile.

She didn’t even realize it but she’d already won.

Not just first place. But me.

---

That night, lying in bed with her curled against me, I finally admitted it to myself.

Yeah, she distracted me. Yeah, she pulled me away from my notes. Yeah, she was chaos wrapped in designer hoodies.

But she also made everything feel alive.

And even if I never got back to first place, I knew one thing for sure—

I wasn’t letting her go.

---

To be continued...