Little miss tutor (2)

It took them three hours to realize they never really took any breaks. Tomoya was the one to suggest it. For a moment Onitsuka was worried that their tutor won’t agree, but once again she surprised him with how considerate she could be. She probably needed a break herself to be fair.

“But for real,” the vice-captain of the Yokai gang started, wanting to have a small talk during their break, “the old lady here has some real baking talent, I need to ask her for a recipe if she’s willing to share!”

“You and your obsession with cooking, leave the poor granny alone,” Makoto chuckled at his best friend.

“And what? Let her take her amazing recipes to the grave? No way, it would be a shame!”

“Is it the profession you want to follow? A cook or a baker?” Mami who was only observing the boys while sipping on her tea decided to join in.

“Me? Oh no, no!” Tomoya answered. “My real dream is to become-”

“He wants to be a househusband once he finishes high school,” Makoto finished before his friend could.

“How could you?” the vice-captain whined, “You know it’s my favorite part to shock people!”

But Mami didn’t look surprised at all. Quite on the contrary, for Makoto, it looked like she took it as if it was the most expected piece of information.

“You’re not surprised at all?” Tomoya asked shocked at the lack of action from the girl.

“Should I have been?” she tilted her head in confusion. “Isn’t it to be expected for each and every individual to have different goals in life?”

“Well, I guess so, but most teens our age don’t think of becoming househusbands usually…” Makoto tried to reason.

“Hum… Well then, Red Oni, what do you want your future to hold?”

“Well, for now, the plan is to be a stuntman like my old man,” he admitted.

“Do most teens our age think about becoming a stuntman?”

“I… I don’t think so,” Makoto answered uncertainly.

“Damn, Mami-chan, you really do think outside of the box,” Tomoya chuckled.

“Anyhow, that is a truly adventurous choice, Red Oni! It suits your current fascination with martial arts!”

The red-haired delinquent wasn’t sure why those words made him a bit embarrassed. To cover his slight blush, he turned his head away and scratched his cheek. “Thanks, I guess.” To move the conversation away from him, he decided to challenge the girl, returning the question “And what about you? Who do you want to be in the future?”

The boy would never admit but he was genuinely curious. Will she say something ridiculous about becoming a great mage or will she actually take the question seriously? Somehow, learning more about true Watanabe Mami was exciting.

“Hah, I knew the day would come for you to pique an interest in my persona,” the girl smirked triumphantly. “I shall satisfy your curiosity and I will uncover slightly the veil of my secrets!”

The girl got up from the chair, stood she stood with her legs apart, and placed her right hand on her chest right where her heart was. “I, Watanabe Mami, am destined to be the one who shall charm humankind with incredible story-writing skills!”

“Oh, so you want to become an author,” Tomoya summarized her overly complicated description. “Makes sense. I never heard someone using so many words to communicate the simplest things, haha~”

“Are you amazed by what my future holds, Red Oni?” Mami asked focusing all of her attention on the gang leader.

“Well, I expected something like wanting to become the greatest mage or another bizarre answer of this sort, to be honest.

“Foolish Oni! One cannot become someone of the status that they already hold! Now excuse me, as I have to refresh myself before we continue to transfer my knowledge into your minds!”

And with that, Watanabe turned away from the boys and started heading towards the bathroom.

“You know, maybe that’s why she’s following you around,” Tomoya started, “maybe that’s giving her inspiration to write or something. Can you imagine? The priestess and the demon, the forbidden romance… Just like Romeo and Juliet!”

“You done living your delusions?” Makoto asked trying his best not to show his embarrassment. Being a part of a love story didn’t fit his lifestyle. Also he and Watanabe? They weren’t in any way similar to Romeo and Juliet! 

“Better open our books again and start on solving the next exercises so Watanabe could have something to check when she comes back.”

“Ugh~” the blond-haired boy groaned not hiding how much he didn’t want to go back to studying.

“At least it feels like we are getting somewhere,” Makoto smiled lightly. “I don’t feel as dumb as I did three hours ago.”

“She is a nice girl, isn’t she, that Mami-chan,” a third voice cut in which most definitely wasn’t one of the girls who was a tutor for today.

Makoto raised his head to face the direction from which he has heard it coming and it was no one else but the old lady, the most probable owner of the cozy little cafe that Watanabe deemed as the perfect spot to study.

“O-oh, yeah. She’s a bit eccentric but I don’t think we can complain about it anymore,” the Red Oni chuckled. “After all, she is helping us pass our exams.”

The old lady smiled at Onitsuka, “She really loves to help people out, even for me she decided to rename all the pastries and drinks in this cafe. You see, I didn’t have that many customers lately, but those silly little names caught the attention of teens like you,” she continued telling her story while taking the empty plates and glasses from their table.

Well, the mystery of the weird names has been solved. Makoto was naive to think that Watanabe didn’t have a part in this charade. For a moment he was considering if the girl really helped this old lady or if was she just adjusting everything here to her preferences. If he had just met Mami, he would think it was the latter option. But the more he learned about her, the easier he could see her good traits so it was actually easy for him to believe that Watanabe truly wanted to help this place to not get closed down.

“I’m just glad that she didn’t come alone this time. She comes here almost every day but is always alone, writing or reading something.” Once the woman had all the empty dishes on her tray, she turned around one last time, making a motion of shushing by putting her index finger in front of her lips, “Just don’t tell her I told you all of that, okay?” And with that, she went back to the counter.

Not longer after the conversation with the cafe owner, Mami returned from the bathroom and so the study session continued for one more hour. When everyone decided that it would be overkill to learn more, they decided to call it a day and packed their things saying their goodbyes to the older lady.

“Not gonna lie, I am surprised with you, Watanabe,” although mentally drained from studying, Makoto decided to strike up a short conversation before they all parted ways.

“Oh, was my academic excellence impressing you that much?”

“Oh no, not that. I knew you were smart. What I meant was that I expected you to start saying something like ‘Now that I helped you with studying, you have to become my familiar!’, or something like that,” the red-haired delinquent said jokingly but when he turned his head to take a look at the girl, he realized that he had made a mistake.

It was clear that Mami was upset at those words and what she said next didn’t help him to get rid of the sudden guilt he had felt, “Is my impression that bad you would think so lowly of me?”

Onitsuka Makoto despised men who made women and children upset and right now he hated himself for opening his big mouth. Tomoya wasn’t helping his case seeing how he also gave him a look of disappointment. He had to fix this situation quickly.

“I was joking, just joking!” he started waving his hands defensively, “You know, just a friendly banter, I do that with Nakano and Tomoya all the time, right, Tomoya?”

Thankfully this time his friend decided to help him out and agreed.

It seemed that this was enough for the girl to brighten up. “I see, silly me, I have not considered you to categorize me as your companion already,” she put her hands on her waist, “Well then, my friends. Till we meet again. Tomorrow that is, to continue our knowledge transfer. Farewell!”

And with that just like every other day, the girl has left to go back home.

“Officially friends, huh?” Tomoya smirked.

“Oh shush it.”