You're kidding me, right?

Knocking on the door of the faculty room, Benjiro saw that various teachers and other staff were entering the day's data into computers and grading papers. One of them asked his business and when he explained, he was taken to the principal's office.

The teacher knocked on the door, "Principal Handa, there's a student here to see you."

"Let him in", Handa called back

Reentering the office, it still felt imposing but, less so than yesterday.

The principal gave Benjiro her full attention, "So, Mr. Nojiri, do you have an answer?"

Benjiro clasped his hands together, "Y-yes, I l-looked over the th-things I have to d-do, and I th-think I'm free enough to t-teach."

"Principal Handa removed her glasses, "That's excellent to hear, young man."

"As l-long as they're w-willing to l-learn, I'm willing to t-teach."

Handa nodded, "I assure you, she is very much willing to learn."

Benjiro's eyebrows shot up and a few unrealistic fantasies played out in the boy's head. Handa, not one to miss this, "Yes, you will be teaching a girl. She's in your grade and needs to get her English grade up before she is no longer eligible to participate in extracurricular activities."

Her face remained the same but Handa's voice definitely sounded much lower and businesslike than before. The lanky boy felt a small shiver run down his back.

Handa stood up and massaged her lower back, "Anyway, I suppose it's time for you to meet your pupil now."

In the forbidden realm, also known as the girl's locker room, the school's soccer team was changing for daily practice. Just as they were about to bound over to the field, once more the intercom bonged and announced, "Will Ms. Daitan Haruoka report to the principals' office, immediately."

Outside the principal's office sat a girl who was thumping her muscular leg. She wasn't anxious about seeing the principal, but rather that she was missing practice.

"Ms. Haruoka you may come in", a voice invited

The girl jumped up from the seat, anxious to get this meeting over with. Entering the principal's office she was offered a seat. Looking over, she saw that there was a boy already sitting in the office. She was surprised to see it was the creepy boy she had to educate a few weeks back.

'He must've done something inappropriate again. Maybe this time something more effective is being done.' Daitan figured

'Why is the crazy chick that physically assaulted me in the office right now?' Benjiro silently panicked, 'Maybe she beat someone up again and she just got shuffled in here ahead of the girl I'm teaching. Yeah, that has to be it.'

He kept his face impassive but Benjiro was squeezing his hands together in prayer so hard, he could've crushed rocks, 'Please let that be it!'

The middle-aged woman sitting behind the desk looked pleasant yet serious.

"Ms. Haruoka, do you know why I called you here today?"

"I honestly have no clue, Principal Handa."

The woman removed her glasses and straightened some papers on her desk.

"In front of me right now, are some copies of your recent homework and tests, and frankly Ms Haruoka, your performance is in a bit of trouble."

The principal handed the small stack of papers to Daitan and she started rifling through them. The red marker had never looked so condemning before.

Daitan immediately leaned forward with her eyes widened, "That can't be!" she exclaimed, "I made sure to study for at least a half hour for each subject after I get done with soccer practice."

'Why isn't this guy being dismissed yet?' she wondered

"I'm sure you've been putting in the work", the principal said regretfully, "but your performance has been slowly slipping as the semester has continued."

Daitan started putting puzzle pieces together hoping that she wouldn't be able to finish it.

"Do you remember how your teacher told you that if your grades didn't improve within a certain timespan, your extracurriculars would have to take a back seat?"

The well-built girl's face slowly turned pale.

"So, as of this moment, your time as a soccer player is going to be put on hold until you can show a certain proficiency in the English language."

A feeling of impending doom began to seize both Daitan and Benjiro's hearts. Principal Handa raised an open hand pointing at the boy sitting beside her, "And as for who will be aiding you in getting to this point: I'd like to introduce you to Benjiro Nojiri, your tutor."

The pair snapped their heads to exchange looks disbelief before whipping them back to protest to the principal.

"Oh, hell no!" escaped from Benjiro's lips before mumbling out an apology when Principal Handa slowly turned her narrowed eyes on him.

"Wait, this guy is going to be tutoring me?"

Benjiro hesitantly lifted a hand with his eyes bugged out.

"Mr. Nojiri, while I do appreciate the gesture, you don't have to raise your hand"

The muddy-haired boy snapped his hand shut and opened his mouth but no sound came out for a few seconds, "Um... I, uh."

He gave himself a quick jab to the leg, "Um, I-I'm not s-sure I w-want to t-teach this girl. Sh-she has the t-tendency to g-get aggres-sive."

"Don't speak to me about aggression when you were being such a creep." Daitain ridiculed

Benjiro slowly sat his hands down and rotate his head to stare at the girl. Principal Handa lightly coughed into her hand, grudgingly bringing the sniping student's attention back to her.

"Is there an issue with the person that I have selected to tutor you, Ms. Haruoka?"

"Well... it's just that... Couldn't a teacher help me instead?" Daitan asked

"Ordinarily yes, but this year's students seem to be having an especially difficult time, so at present the teachers who would oversee tutoring have their hands full." Principal Handa explained, "But I assure you, being taught by Mr. Nojiri will be an invaluable service. He speaks English just as fluently as a native speaker, and he has the grades to back that up."

The young soccer player shifted her gaze to the side.

'Either I get lessons from a creep who apparently knows enough that the principal would offer his help before a teacher's.' She thought, weighing her options, 'Or I wait until a spot opens up with a normal tutor that doesn't make my skin crawl. Either way I'm off the team before I can pick my grades back up. Damn, why is this happening?'

Principal Handa lightly cleared her throat, "Ms. Haruoka, is there a reason why you have an issue with Mr. Nojiri?"

Daitan brought herself to attention, "No! It's just..." She threw a pointed finger in Benjiro's direction, "I caught this guy acting like a creep outside of the girls' locker room."

The principals' face remained professional while Benjiro began to feel nauseous.

"No, I wasn't!" Benjiro protested, "I was just trying to find a quiet spot to defuse after I learned that I won a contest in my class."

"So that was you, huh?" Daitan drawled

Benjiro knit his eyebrows in confusion.

"Some of the Domon Battalion is on my team, as much as I'm ashamed to admit that." she mildly shuddered.

"Ms. Haruoka, if I may", Principal Handa interjected, "It sounds as though you and Mr. Nojiri have had a... complicated first encounter. But all I ask is that you two can find enough common ground to get through at least a few weeks. I can't allow you back on the soccer team until such time as you've improved your grade."

The athletic girls shoulders took a noticeable slump.

"All that I ask at present is that you would allow for a trial period to let Mr. Nojiri to at least get you started before one of our other tutors is free." Handa offered

Daitan turned her head and gave Benjiro a once-over, and just let out a sigh of defeat. Benjiro didn't appreciate being looked at with an expression that essentially said "Why me?"