A Teacher in a Highschool Romance Novel?!

Chapter Nine

THE NEXT DAY, SHIMIZU YUU, THE PERSONAL ASSISTANT OF THE MALE LEAD, contacted Julia once again after the exams of the quarter were finally finished and released. He called her over to the same exact cafe as last time as well. 

"Ah, thank you for coming out all the way here, Miss Okano Julia." Shimizu Yuu smiled and guided her to a seat.

"What is it that, Shimizu-sama wanted to discuss?" Julia got straight to the point without hesitating. Shimizu's smile broadened after hearing her straightforward question. 

"Ah, yes, I wanted us to discuss the studies and progress that are going on in my Young Master, Mr. Yoshida's class."

"Oh..." Julia was disappointed and frustrated. 'I came all the way over here for a progress report huh?' 

"Perhaps, you want to order something and relax as we talk?" Shimizu asked as he offered her a menu of treats and snacks. Julia raised her hand to stop him. She came here to talk, not to eat. She didn't want to be easily brought over by some lame sweets. 

"N-no, I'm completely fine, Shimizu-sama." 

"Really, last time I saw that you were enjoying the dark black coffee, so I assumed you would want to go with richer desserts like brownies or a chocolate parfait." 

'Huh, he sure is smart.' Julia couldn't help but think that his analysis was straight on point. How did he find out about her preferences from only seeing her once?! 

Was he a super-secret spy agent from one of those wealthy families, like a CIA officer for the male lead's family or something? Julia started matching his handsome face, with a black suit and tie with matching pants going along with the stereotypical image of a Spy agent of a wealthy family. 

He'd match with dark-rimmed spectacles on his eyes...His devilish looks would stand out more than enough. 

While Julia was thinking whether his face would look better with glasses or not, Shimizu smiled and said: "Miss Okano Julia is a really good teacher." 

"A-ah, thank you," Julia said, not expecting a compliment to come out of the blue. 

"Mr. Yoshida, my young master, is learning faster than before. He is even getting better at writing Japanese and right now than by England's finest tutors." 

'Welp, that's because he is a genius. The other students in my class did even worse than first years in middle school.'

"Ah." Julia nodded to the compliment, "it's because he might be getting along with his Japanese peers who speak in the language more around him." 

"Yes, and when I was looking through the homework each night, I was fascinated by the types of difficult math problems that were being thought in class each day. You also showed wonderful steps on how to approach the problems." 

'Welp, those actually aren't my steps or guide, I just looked them up on the internet (lol).' 

"I didn't really prepare any of the worksheet or the problems though, I just made sure they followed step by step on what's written in the textbook," Julia answered. 

"But still, I was fascinated by the English essay that you've written as an example about Fascination vs. Interest." 

'Welp...That was a textbook example too...' 

"Y-you are truly giving me too much c-credit, Sir," Julia said. 

"Even the science looked tough, are you sure that it was a high school curriculum? As a high school teacher, you truly have received the finest education than I have myself." 

'Are you sure the Male lead studied at the finest schools in England?'

"..."Julia couldn't even say anything anymore. Suddenly the progress report was turning into an Appreciation Ceremony. It wasn't that bad though. 

At school where she only received negative comments and advice, at home where she received silent treatment and neglect, Julia couldn't help but feel warmer? 

'It's not that bad?' 

"When Mr. Yoshida comes back from home, he has this elated face that I've never seen before. He seems that he's enjoying your class, Miss Okano Julia. Thank you for bringing a smile to his face." 

'Are you sure he isn't happy or excited because of the female lead, the heroine?' 

"I-I didn't do anything at all, though I'm glad he's enjoying around himself-!" Julia threw a flustered look. She truly did nothing for the Male lead, Yoshida Toshiro at all. So she started feeling guilty. 

Truly, being appreciated as a teacher wasn't at all. 

"Anyhow, it has been a month, do you know how Mr. Yoshida does or acts around the clock?" 

"...well, he usually pays attention to his classes and does what he needs to do. He completes his assignments and homework on time with a good amount of effort. But he struggles with getting along with others." 

"Ah... perhaps something like Social Interaction?" Shimizu Yuu clarified. 

"Yes, Yoshida-san most of the time hangs around with his closest friends but is really closed off to the other wonderful students who want to meet him." Julia added extra adjectives, but most of it was true. 

The Male lead had a lot of fan clubs without even realizing himself. He created more popularity for himself after the Athletic Competition. But he truly didn't even care. So once the female lead, Hanna gets closer to him, his fan clubs did horrible tortures to her. 

"...Ah, the Young master was like that ever since he was a child. He was more closed off and quiet since no one around him could show him any warmth. A pitiful child, yearning for affections could only grow cold an aloof-" 

'Ah... here we go, with a long pitiful background story.' 

For some reason, Julia couldn't help but connect the Male lead to herself slowly and slowly. Like a patch of strings that were connecting her student and her teacher. 

Neglect. Devoid of Familial Love. Silent Treatment. Julia was used to it herself. As Shimizu Yuu went along, Julia couldn't help but feel nolgastic against her chest. Nausea was climbing her.

"Can I ask you one more favor, Miss Julia?" Shimizu Yuu whispered softly as he smiled at Julia. "I want you to help that child with social interactions." 

'Hah? Am the male lead's caretaker now?!' 

"I know, it must be so burdensome to Miss Okano Julia, who is just a homeroom teacher. But just a little bit of attention towards Mr. Yoshida can help him open up. Just a final request, Miss Okano Julia." 

'Attention? Are you kidding me?! He has fan clubs! I'm sure they'll gladly help-!' 

"A-ah, I'll see what I can do..." Julia agreed in contradiction. "If I can not, that's too bad." 

***

***