How We Met Again

Chapter 30: You Say Run

"I don't think I understand... you want me to... shut up and let them do it themselves?"

Sighing resignedly, I nodded my head. "Yes."

It had been two days since we'd returned from the camping trip. Two days, and this was already the third time that Takeda had come to me seeking advice, despite the fact there hadn't been a single session yet. While I could understand his anxiety to a certain extent with his job being on the line, for my part it was deeply irritating -- I was willing to help, but it was starting to take up more time and mental energy than I'd bargained for.

I had agreed to be a resource, not a safety blanket.

That said, it certainly hadn't hurt his cause that Takeda had bought me lunch.

"Look," I elaborated, swallowing a bite of the grilled cheese sandwich which I'd never remotely been able to afford before now. "The goal of the exercise is to do what, exactly?"

"Um... get them to pass the exams...?"

"Ok, and in order to pass the exams, what do they need to do? I mean in a literal sense."

Takeda seemed stumped on that for a moment, before slowly raising an eyebrow, a skeptical tone entering his voice as he answered. "...Answer questions correctly?"

"Yep. So, that's what they need to be doing -- answering lots and lots of questions. Of course, they need to know the material in order to do that, but you need to be getting them into hands-on experience as quickly as you can."

He seemed to take a moment to process what I was saying, turning it over in his head. Then, slowly, he nodded.

"I suppose... in order to train a skill, one must practice that skill. I see... hmm, very astute, Uesugi-kun!"

Takeda seemed inordinately pleased by the realization he'd had, and pulled out a small notebook, in which he quickly wrote with a pen. I'd seen the notebook a number of times over the previous two sessions -- he'd claimed it was for "tutoring notes", whatever that meant. Being associated with the word, even tangentially, was off-putting in the extreme. I just hoped he would soon reach the point where he could get the sisters to pass without my advice.

Being within ten feet of the "tutor" title gives me hives.

Thinking about it for too long brought up uncomfortable memories -- and so I took another bite of my lunch, shaking my head to dispel the irritating association like a horse's tail knocking away flies.

In the absence of the ability to change the past, brooding did no good at all.

I suddenly heard footsteps behind us, and glanced up to see Yotsuba approaching our table, a hesitant look on her face.

"Uesugi-san...?" she asked, furrowing her brow. "And... Takeda-san? Why are you two...?"

"My dearest compatriot here, Uesugi-kun, is offering me simply splendid advice on the art of teaching and pedagogy!" Takeda cried, raising his arms. "I've taken so many notes already -- our session tomorrow shall be completely different, Nakano-san; I swear it!"

Yotsuba looked at Takeda for a long moment, then turned to me and raised an eyebrow. Taking another bite of my sandwich, I shrugged.

Sorry.

After a moment of her awkwardly standing there, tray-in-hand, Takeda suddenly looked at his watch, and dramatically shook his head. "Ah, alas, where has the time gone?! I must be off. Thank you again for all of the advice, Uesugi-kun. I hope that meal was an adequate form of restitution."