The Kalemomo Anthology - Kalemomo Week 2024

Chapter 5: First approach (Alternate Universe)

"Good afternoon Kalego." She said as she sat down.

Her voice made Kalego snap out of his trance and jump slightly from his seat, but he was able to compose himself quickly.

"G-good afternoon, teacher M-Momonoki."

"I see you've had a tired day. But your look says a lot of things, is there something you need to tell me?"

"D-don't worry. I was just w-watching you getting to your seat."

Kalego blushed slightly, making Momonoki confused. However, she thought it was because he was tired or didn't know what to say at that moment. Still, she was open to answering him anything whenever he was ready.

"Alright." She said before looking at the papers on her table and checking her last tasks.

Kalego couldn't speak to her again during that entire moment. He wanted to just have a conversation with her about things in life, ask her about how she was doing, but he was a little afraid of her reaction. Normally she had a good relationship with him, but Kalego still doubted if that was true. He had so many doubts in his head, that an hour flew by instantly. There she realized that Momonoki had finished her tasks before him, even though she had arrived after all the teachers. He hadn't made much progress, but luckily, he didn't have much to review, and he could stay a little longer to finish what he had to do.

Momonoki was ready to leave the staff room and take a break until tomorrow. She stood up from her seat, grabbing some papers and focusing her gaze on the exit, however, she realized that Kalego was nervous again. She paused and looked at Kalego before leaving.

"Hey Kalego. I recommend you drink some tea to relax. You don't want to show nerves to your students and your colleagues."

"O-ok professor." Kalego responded, knowing that she noticed his nervousness again.

Momonoki smiled ever so slightly, something only Kalego was privileged to see.

"See you Kalego. Remember not to show weakness, because we are the guides of our treasures in Babyls."

Some might think that last sentence sounded somewhat demotivating or even like a negative message. But Kalego didn't see it that way. Momonoki had always seen potential in him since he had started his job in teaching, and she wanted him to overcome the nervousness and anxiety that he could sometimes have. She was able to write a small book about him and gave him some points to consider when teaching in the classrooms; and that last phrase was something that she had highlighted in the book, a phrase that Kalego had engraved in his mind until now.

Kalego knew that her personality could make anyone see her as antagonistic and cruel, but Momonoki was a great person when you got to know her better. After all, she was his mentor, and even though she was a little strict, she did care about him.

It was there that Kalego turned his gaze from her to pick up a pencil that he dropped, and he saw Balam that was fixing his gaze on him in a very curious way.

"What happened?"

"That look doesn't fool me Kalego."

"What do you mean?"

"You are in love man. And it's nice to see you like this."

Kalego hadn't noticed that he was blushing and smiling slightly, but Balam noticed it quickly. When he told him what he had, he couldn't help but blush more and turn red like a tomato, in addition to getting more nervous than normal. Kalego covered himself with his hands because of his friend's comment.

"And I see that I was right, huh?" Balam said.

"C-come on, that's not true. Maybe I'm just stressed like she says." Kalego tried to contradict him.