Chapter 14: 6.2

Chapter 6 : She’s Starting to Babysit – Part 2

As Shoichi had predicted, the two of them headed for the nursery school, surrounded by Shirokawa-sensei and the children.

The school had a capacity of about twelve hundred children. Reminiscent of the kindergarten he and his friends had attended, Shoichi walked into the room with a ‘squirrel’ plaque hanging from it, feeling nostalgic.

Immediately, the school children surrounded Amiru.

“Onee-chan, let’s play, let’s play.”

“Ah, okay. Let’s do that. I’ll read you a picture book!”

“Wahh, books, books!”

With that, the children gathered in front of Amiru, excited. Some of the more pampered children even hugged Amiru.

“Okay, well, I guess this is the book for today. ‘The African Elephant and the Indian Elephant.’ Does everyone like elephants?”

“”Yes, I like elephants!””

“Good, I’ll read it then. ‘In war-torn Afghanistan, two elephants stare at each other…'”

All the children were listening intently to Amiru’s voice. It seemed that she was quite popular in this nursery. Seeing this, Shoichi scratched his head and mumbled.

“…But we’ve got some studying to do.”

“I’m sorry the children pushed you to come along.”

“No, don’t worry about it. It’s fine,” Shoichi replied, then remembered and added a question. “Ah, can I borrow your refrigerator?”

It would be a shame if the sashimi they had bought got spoiled. Fortunately, the teacher nodded and willingly showed him to the kitchen.

As he put the shopping bags in the large refrigerator, Shoichi suddenly had a question. “Um, how does Amiru know the children here?”

“Ahh, you haven’t heard, have you? Some time ago, Ko-kun–Kotaro-kun ran away from the nursery school as a prank.”

“Ran away? Isn’t that pretty ba–“

“Yes, so I searched frantically. Then, Amiru-chan brought Ko-kun to me. He had run away, but he got lost, and apparently, she saw him and took him in.”

“Heh~…”

“And that’s how Amiru-chan came to visit us at the nursery school from time to time. The children like her, and she said she likes taking care of them too. She also started taking care of the children in other classes. We took her up on her offer and asked her to do things for us.”

“She’d do something like that.”

Suddenly, the image of Amiru’s face as she read a book to the children came to his mind. She looked so happy and, most importantly, so compassionate towards the children.

Certainly, Amiru did say she likes to take care of people. I’ve never seen her face like that before, Shoichi thought. He wondered if she would have such a compassionate expression if she was taking care of a smaller child instead of himself.

It was like a mother treating her own child.

And then, from outside the kitchen, he could hear the joyful shouts of children. They sounded happy.

I didn’t know Amiru was doing this kind of volunteer work.

Shoichi was deeply impressed by her hobby, which seemed unlikely from her usual cerebral, light-hearted nature.

At that moment, Shirokawa-sensei poked Shoichi on the shoulder and asked him. “So, Shoichi-kun. What kind of relationship do you really have with Amiru-chan?”

“Eh? No, we’re just regular classmates.”

“Really? But you and Amiru-chan seem to be getting along very well, is there really nothing to it? Well, Amiru-chan hasn’t been coming around lately, so we’ve been kind of lonely. I thought she had a boyfriend and was enjoying her youth and I didn’t even know.”

“Huh?”

“When I first saw you, I was hoping Shoichi-kun was her boyfriend… If you’re not really together, how about it? Would you like to go out with Amiru-chan?”

“No, um…”

Shoichi was stunned by the teacher’s insistence. She seemed to be quite fond of gossip. Half of it was probably for Amiru’s sake, though.

With a sigh, Shoichi was about to open his mouth to argue when the door opened and Amiru came in.

“Shirokawa-sensei, do you have a minute?”

“Ara, what’s wrong, Amiru-chan?”

“The children are…”

“I want to eat Amiru-chan’s snacks!”

“Amiru Nee-chan’s sweets are delicious!”

“Please, Sensei. Can you have her make it?”

The children surrounded Amiru in a huddle, desperately begging. They seemed to want Amiru to make sweets for them. So that’s why you came to the kitchen, Shoichi thought to himself.

“Oh, no, everyone. You’ve already had your snack earlier, right? Besides, it’s not nice to ask that of Amiru Onee-san.”

“Ah, I’m fine with it. It’s easy enough to make, and I’ll adjust the amount to make it less. So please, Shirokawa-sensei, will you let me make it?”

Amiru clasped her hands together and begged. The children were hugging her legs tightly. Shoichi thought it was as if they were hugging their real mothers.

The teacher, “Well, if it’s okay with you, Amiru-chan,” agreed.

“Yatta! I can make sweets for everyone if they’re simple enough.”

“”Yatta!””

“Just promise me this. You’ll go home and eat your mother’s dinner. Okay?”

“”Yes!””

The children raised their hands in pledge to Amiru, who held up a finger and asked them to promise.

After that, Amiru took out the ingredients from the refrigerator and put one of the bags on the desk.

“I’m glad I bought some wheat gluten. Sho-chan, I’ll be using this.”

“That’s fine, but what are you going to make with wheat gluten?”

“I’m going to make a rusk-like snack out of this. It will be crispy, sweet and flavorful. It’s light, healthy, and delicious.”

“Heh~, you can do that?”

While he was impressed, Amiru took out some sugar and margarine and proceeded to prepare them quickly.

The children crowded around her, asking, “Not yet?” “Wow, what are you making?” while peering at her curiously. It looked a little difficult to move.

“Everyone, wait here quiet–“

“Ei!”

“Kyaa!?”

Suddenly, one of the children flipped up Amiru’s skirt, and Shoichi nearly spewed out. He may have meant it as a trivial prank, but it was too stimulating to watch from the side.

Sure enough, Amiru looked at Shoichi with teary eyes and embarrassment.

“…Sho-chan, did you see?”

“Ah, um…”

If he tried to cover it up, she would find out. Shoichi decided to live his life honestly and sincerely.

“It was white.”

“I’m going to punish you with green pepper stir-fry for the next side dish.”

“Wait a minute, that’s not fair!”

Shoichi was not a fan of green peppers.

In the meantime, the children were gathering around Amiru. Finally troubled, Amiru sent an SOS to Shoichi.

“Sho-chan, please take care of these children for a while.”

“Me?!”

While Shoichi was surprised, Amiru asked the children, “Can you play with this Onii-chan?” The children nodded, although their standpoints were different. If that’s what Amiru Onee-chan wants, then so be it.

“Now, go play in the room. I’ll be right with you.”

“Alright…” After reluctantly nodding, Shoichi took the children back to the classroom.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○

“That said, what am I supposed to do, play with the children?”

In the classroom. When Shoichi was troubled in front of the school children, Shirokawa-sensei waved one hand lightly and smiled.

“You don’t have to be so uptight. I’ll follow up with you, whether you want to read or draw.”

“Then, I’ll tell a story. The story of ‘Mayohiga’ from ‘Tono Monogatari’ by Kunio Yanagida, my mentor, with my own interpretation of the customs of the time…”

“Um, please lower the hurdle a bit. Also, there’s something odd about the way your eyes are sparkling, and it’s scary…”

Seeing the teacher with cold sweat on her forehead, Shoichi scratched his head. It seemed that his blood had gone wild.

“I see. Then…” He looked around the classroom and found a colorful piece of paper in the corner. “How about origami? I remember doing it when I was younger.”

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“I like origami!”

“Me too, I’ll make frogs!”

“I want to make a piano!”

“Okay, so it’s settled… Sensei, do you have books about origami?”

“Yes, I’ll go get it.”

While the teacher moved to a shelf at the back of the classroom, everyone picked up a sheet of origami. Shoichi was relieved to see that the children’s enthusiasm was not waning as they fussed over each other, “What should I make?” “Maybe a yakko-san,” “Baka, you can’t make a yakko-san with just one sheet,” “I don’t need to make the hakama.”

Then, he saw a boy standing alone outside the circle of children and raised an eyebrow.

“Um, Kotaro, was it? You don’t want to do origami?”

“Huh, I’m not childish like them.”

“Ko-chan prefers to play outside.”

“Yeah, he’s into jumping off swings now!”

Isn’t that childish enough? I mean, he likes to do dangerous things, like running away, doesn’t he?

Shoichi made a note in the corner of his mind to be careful, and pulled Kotaro’s arm and brought him to the others.

“Hey, what are you doing? You’re being rough with a child!”

“If you don’t like playing like a child, don’t pretend to have the privilege of being a child. Also, I don’t like uncooperative people. I’m sorry, but I don’t care if you’re a child.”

“O-Oohh.”

“Here should be good. Anyway, fold whatever origami you want,” Shoichi said, and then added with a smug look on his face, “Besides, calling origami ‘childish’ is something an uneducated man would say. Origami was originally created by the ancient people for the purpose of rituals.”

“Rituals?”

“That’s right. The folded paper is where the gods reside. For this reason, paper was often folded into shapes that would be easy to be inhabited by Gods, such as the shape of a person. It has evolved and is now folded into all sorts of things. Originally, they were just like Hina dolls.”

“Hina dolls!? Amazing, origami is just like Hina dolls!” 

While the girl was screaming with joy, Kotaro widened his eyes as if he had been poisoned. The words ‘rituals’ and ‘inhabited by Gods’ must have tweaked his childish mind.

One more push. Shoichi smirked at him. “Or are you not good at origami, Ko-chan? You don’t have the confidence to make something on the same level as everyone else?”

“Do-Don’t be ridiculous! I can make origami with just a little bit of effort. Watch me, I’ll make a God out of it!”

After saying that, Kotaro began to work with the origami.

Surprisingly easy to control. Shoichi stuck his tongue out inwardly and looked at the other children’s origami as well.

Most of the children seemed to be enjoying folding. They were all surprisingly handy, folding origami with ease, either from the books the teacher had brought or from memory.

Some of the children struggled to fold them properly. Then, Shoichi would lend a helping hand to them. However, he didn’t want to fold the whole thing. He believed that it would be meaningless unless they could accomplish it on their own. So, he only helped them with their weak points.

“Great, that’s it. Fold it over there… Yeah, well done. That’s impressive.” As Shoichi was teaching like this, Shirokawa-sensei called out to him from behind.

“Shoichi-kun, you’re good at teaching little children.”

“What? Ah, is that so?”

“Yes. Everyone’s on board. I think you’d make a good nursery school teacher.”

“Eh? Um… I don’t really think so.”

“Don’t be shy. When dealing with children, it’s not enough to just adore them. You have to think about what’s good for them and teach them things. That’s why you need to be strict with them sometimes. Of course, you can’t get angry blindly. I think Shoichi-kun has a good grasp of that.”

“Huh?”

As he listened to the teacher’s words, Shoichi wondered if it was due to the fact that he had been teaching Amiru how to study. She’s like a big kid in her own right–if she heard this, she’d be furious.

And then, Shirokawa-sensei mentioned Amiru’s name.

“Amiru-chan is also very good with children.”

“That girl… Certainly, she seems to have a soft spot for children.”

“Not only is she kind, but she’s full of enthusiasm for taking good care of the children. A determination not to abandon something halfway, maybe? That’s the sense I get from her… She really likes taking care of others, doesn’t she?”

“Hah~… Well, she said it herself too.”

“I knew it. Amiru-chan is very maternal… I think she will be a good mother in the future.”

“Mother? Amiru?”

Come to think of it, could such a future be possible?

Thinking again about the possibility of Amiru marrying someone and starting a family, Shoichi felt somewhat lonely. The reason why was not clear to him.

Well, whatever. It’s none of my business.

As he was thinking about this, he suddenly saw someone standing beside him. He looked over and saw that it was Kotaro, staring at him.

“What?”

“Your name, it’s Shoichi, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you Amiru’s boyfriend?”

“Huh?”

Shoichi’s eyebrows furrowed at the sudden question. This guy too?

He let out a sigh and then gave a small wave to Kotaro. “No, of course not.”

“I see… I’m glad. I’m taking Amiru as my wife.”

“Huh?”

“So don’t touch Amiru. Understand?”

Then he went back to his desk and resumed his origami work.

Shoichi groaned, “What the h**l is that guy?” and Shirokawa-sensei said, while trying not to laugh,

“Good for you, I think Ko-kun likes you.”

“What? But he just stared at me like crazy.”

“Because, Ko-kun loves Amiru-chan so much. He’s worried about his rival’s movements. But he said, ‘I’m glad,’ didn’t he? He was glad that he didn’t have to compete with you. I’m sure that after being scolded earlier, he realized that you are someone who can deal with him.”

“Hu-Huh…?”

Is that really the case? Shoichi was not sure and tilted his head.

Shirokawa-sensei looked at him while he was like that, and, “…Then, how about it? Is there any chance that you’re actually dating or something? Or maybe have you thought about going out with her? Or do you already have another girlfriend? Come on, tell me.”

“No, um…”

Shoichi let out a big sigh, annoyed by the squealing of the woman.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○

It wasn’t until Shoichi and the others had had enough of origami that Amiru showed up with baked wheat pastries that looked like rusks.

“Come on, it’s freshly made and delicious.”

“”Wow!””

“But go wash your hands properly first. Otherwise, I won’t allow you to eat.”

“”Yes!””

The children cheered, washed their hands as Amiru had suggested, and then picked up their snacks.

“Sweet, delicious!”

“Amiru Nee-chan, is this all you have?”

“I want some more!”

“No, you won’t be able to eat your mother’s food. I’ll make it again sometime.”

“Really? That’s a promise!”

“Yeah, I promise.”

The children squealed with delight at Amiru’s words.

Then, Shoichi and Amiru split up to take care of the children for a while until the parents of the children came to pick them up one by one, and the two of them left the nursery.

Kotaro waved to them along with Shirokawa-sensei.

“Amiru, come back again! …Shoichi too, you can come if you want.”

“Yeah, I’ll be back.”

“By the time I come back, you had better learn to listen more.”

The two of them then headed home.

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