Alex's Pov
To be honest going to a tutor is a very new experience for me, in all my life I have never had a tutor and I rarely spent time studying. I got by just fine by simply listening to classes and paying attention to what the teachers said. I knew a South Korean kid in my middle school who would study for hours everyday and would still fall behind from me academically, in my opinion the best way to learn is to be present in class and digest all the information said so you don't have to go back and try to learn it later.
In the past the only studying I really have done is looking over old worksheets or quizzes, that makes me feel a little uneasy about this entire school experience in general. From what I understand in some Asian cultures schooling is held as much more important then it is in western culture.
From the way the light novels talk about it a normal student would have to study for hours a day for multiple weeks to be ready for an exam, and personally I cannot do that. When I have studied for things like the SAT in the past I would get so bored I'd fall asleep after like an hour, I will really have to rely on Chabashira-sensei to succeed.
Since the time slot she gave me was 5-7 I arrived at the door to her office at 4:50, unfortunately I still had to wear my school uniform since you have to wear it whenever you enter the school building. I don't mind the idea of a uniform but out of every uniform I think this one might be one of the ugliest, I am a guy that usually wear black, grey, and dark blue; red and green are not really my colors.
After I knocked I heard sensei's voice telling me to come in, in anime people say something like "pardon the intrusion" but since I do not know those customs I will just walk in like normal. Since she didn't seem to mind I just went and sat in the chair I sat in yesterday and took out my notebook, I don't usually take many notes but in this case I will need to write the broad points down.
"Since you are here early we can discuss some things first."
When sensei said that I was a little surprised, what do we have to talk about? This is giving me a strange sense of foreboding, is she going to try to blackmail me? To be honest I kind of like Chabashira-sensei, I guess I just like her personality, well not to mention her "personality" but that's a different topic.
"Sure sensei, would do you want to talk about? I don't know what we need to discuss so I assume you have something to talk about?"
I could see a small smirk on her face, I am getting a bad feeling about this.
"Alex-kun, why did you decide to come to this school?"
I can't really say I woke up one day on a bus headed here and I know a lot about this world because a light novel and anime are made about it.
"Why else would a student come to a school sensei? I of course came here to learn and grow as a person. I am sure you know why I was assigned to your class; I have severe social anxiety whenever I talk to people my age, specifically girls my age. That combined with my not impressive physical capabilities sounds like a class D student to me."
It seems she doesn't fully believe my response; I wonder what she imagined I would say?
"The way I see it you speak perfectly fine to me, are you sure you are not just trying to hide? You seem to know much more than you should so you definitely are very smart, I looked at your entrance exam yesterday and you got in the 90's for every subject except Japanese history. Somehow you managed to get a 0% in it, when I looked at the test you didn't answer a single question, isn't that peculiar?"
I had no clue I never answered a single question for that part of the entrance exam but it doesn't really matter I guess. I decided to only answer half of her question.
"I can assure you sensei that I am not faking my social issues, I have only spoken to one of my classmates so far and one senpai. I generally just get along with adults much better than people my age, I'm sure you will see my problems as they appear soon enough."
After a brief silence sensei spoke again, and the idea of what she said visibly made me shiver.
"Would you be the class leader to get to class A, you already know about the class race so there is no point hiding it. With some as smart as you leading perhaps even class D can rise."
I immediately bolted upright and declined.
"Sensei what you are saying is crazy, I can't talk to girls properly and I hate attention. I would pick being bullied over being the class leader any day of the week, I plan to try my best academically and in the near future I plan to start improving physically but leading is not possible. This might sound like a bluff but I would rather drop out then be the center of attention, I highly suggest you find someone else. Someone like me with no self-confidence and no resolve would not be a good leader to begin with."
It seems like my honest fear of being the center of attention is visible on my face and since I am shaking, I really have problems socially. Thankfully it seems sensei understands, if she tried to draw attention to me it would be a disaster.
"I see, I believe you, if you can create good results then that is all I can ask for. It seems leading is not in the cards for you. Very well, lets get started with Japanese history then."
Thankful to start what I came here for and slightly scared of what sensei said earlier I quickly nodded and we began our first tutoring session.
After 2 hours of learning it was time to call it for today, I have to admit sensei is a very good tutor. It is clear that see is actually passionate about Japanese history, compared to her cold attitude in class she seemed genuinely happy to answer any questions I had. Since history is one of my favorite subjects since it is similar to a story I was really enjoying what I was learning, in a month I have to learn all of the middle school curriculum so it was fast paced. I am honestly pretty excited to learn about a new area of history for me, as long as sensei doesn't try to pigeonhole me into anything I don't want to.
When I was packing up my stuff to leave sensei asked me another question.
"Since it is clear you can't be the leader, do you have any idea of who should be?"
I pretended to ponder before answering.
"Well, yesterday we left to talk about tutors to I missed the introductions, I only know 1 of my classmates name so and I can tell he shouldn't be a leader."
She seemed surprised that I literally knew 1 persons name and decided to ask me a question.
"Oh, and who is the lucky person you talked to?"
"Kanji Ike, we sat next to each other on the bus here. He is alright but not really the type of person I want to be seen with, he seems like the type of person who would say things like "Sensei are you starting mesopause?", I don't want to be hated."
When I said that I could see sensei chuckle, I guess I will say something though.
"If I had to say someone who I think would be able to be a leader it would be that black haired beauty in the back row, she has a dignified and arrogant aura but I wouldn't want to be lead by someone who wasn't superior to me."
My reason to say her is BS but I had to say something, and I am bad in tight situations where I have to come up with stuff on the spot.
"Oh, you must mean Horikita, she has good grades and seems smart but I am not convinced she is leader material. Do you really want to be led by someone looking down on you as inferior?"
I decided to take a page out of the Ayanokoji book of sidestepping questions.
"Who knows? Maybe I am secretly a masochist."
At that I managed to get a laugh out of sensei, I was baiting sensei to try to tease me back, I am ready to return fire, if I wasn't I would definitely be super embarrassed.
"Oh, you did call her a beauty? I guess teenage boys can be like that, well if you want her to step on you I won't stop you."
I wonder if I give off the impression of someone who wants to get stepped on? Kiryuin-senpai and sensei have both accused me of it, in all my life I have never wanted to be stepped on so I wonder why. Good thing I already had my response prepared though.
"Don't worry sensei, I prefer you to any of the girls in my grade! Maybe some of the senpais can give competition but so far sensei is my number 1 prospect."
What I said was really, really embarrassing, I pretty much just said that I was aiming for my teacher to her face. I am sure my face was red but it was worth it 100% to see sensei get flustered, I could see get face getting a little red but she didn't seem to be backing down.
"Oh, and why does your sensei take the top spot for you? You just said you don't know any girls names but then you say you prefer me to everyone else, isn't it that you just don't know any of them?"
She said it to tease me but I couldn't help but think she asked me in a way that sounded like she wanted me to say that I liked her more than them.
"Its really simple sensei, the girls in my year are just that, girls, I however am interested in women."
When I said that I was sure even my ears were bright red, I could not imagine myself doing this but for some reason I was. Chabashira-sensei on the other hand had smoke coming out of her ears, she was definitely one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. When I said I preferred her to my classmates I wasn't lying, I would feel strange to go after a 15- or 16-year-old girl when I am really 20. Plus, I always have kind of had a thing for older women..............
After that sensei started rapidly motioning me to the door to leave, it seemed this conversation got too hot for her to handle. I decided to leave her with a parting gift.
"See you tomorrow in class, I look forward to learn more from you Sae-sensei!"
With that I left and practically ran away, I didn't look back but I had a feeling sensei was even more red after I called her by her first name. To be honest I don't really get the entire last name thing in Japanese culture I just know it is polite to call someone by their last name unless given permission to call them by their first name. It also is used in anime to mean something when someone calls someone by their first name without permission. Hopefully I didn't do something super rude and it means what I think it means.
Satisfied with how today went I walked back to my dorm and realized I forgot to heat up the leftovers I brought. Well I can just eat it now, today my caloric intake was really low. I need to get better at eating enough food, I need to get stronger so eating right is really important.