The Japanese Tutor (PART I-II) [ONGOING]

XIV: Somewhere in Her Heart

It was a rough winding evening as the carriage took a sharp turn in Buckinghamshire to Steinfeld's residence. Aya didn't expect this kind of route to take her way longer to arrive on the residence, leading her to grasp the edge of the seat. As she looked outside, there were naked trees that had fallen leaves on the ground and saw abandoned places that she never saw before. She claimed that they were cemeteries that hid at night, sweating her skin but not evident thanks to the cold air. As the carriage crossed the stone bridge, the rocky ride ended. She managed to take deep breaths and the driver in front apologized.

"I'm sorry about that, madam. The fastest road to the manor was closed for construction," the driver pulled the reins and the carriage stopped when they were already at the front of the private door to the manor. Aya nodded in reply and picked her messenger bag before she left the carriage. As she stepped down, she knocked on the door and heard quick footsteps by the housemaid to open it.

"Good evening, Ms. Yamaguchi," the maid greeted, "I'm glad you are here. Lady Jeanne is worried about you."

Aya walked to the living room and saw the French lady reading her book. Jeanne folded the corner of the page and closed the book before she spoke, "what brings you here this late?"

"I'm sorry, Lady Jeanne. I'll never do it again," Aya bowed down to apologize, "I was caught on an urgent meeting that made me arrive this late—"

"It's fine, Aya, but you must change that horrendous attitude. Luckily, my old friend is not around this residence to scold you. She'll be mad once she notices your motives," Jeanne forgave her, but her voice remained indignant. She stood up from a red high-back chair, "your dinner is getting cold, so go to the dining area and feed yourself. Hiroto is inside your room waiting for you."

Aya nodded and watched Jeanne go away. She went to the dining room to eat her cold dinner and went to her room, where she saw Hiroto attempting to learn Japanese by himself. When she knocked on the door, Hiroto was stunned and stopped what he did to greet her by standing up and bow.

"Good evening Aya-sensei," Hiroto greeted her in Japanese. He sat down afterward and watch her picked the wooden chair to move it closer to him.

"I'm sorry that I arrive late," Aya apologized as she got her notebook from her bag and placed it on the table, "just stumbled into a frivolous conversation by a sappy man. Never thought he will turn to be that way—taking advantage of my friendship to him for his gains."

"Is that your friend who always goes with you?" Hiroto eventually asked, "Diego Cruz, am I right?"

"Yes, he is, but I don't want to discuss that foolish talk," Aya protested as she looked at the content on Hiroto's side. Hiroto noticed the stoic attitude that made him slightly shift himself away from her as she picked a finished paper that Hiroto already made. She picked her reading glasses from its case hidden in her bag and read the words written carefully. Her flattened mouth twitched into laughter and pointed a part of the paper to Hiroto.

"I think you chose the wrong noun for this one. I bet that you are talking about students, not the school. I read this as 'schools danced in the ballroom,' which is very ridiculous to hear," Aya explained to him after she stopped laughing, "I bet you forgot to add another kanji, which is this one."

Aya wrote the missing character on a blank sheet of paper and Hiroto nodded. "Now this one means student. I think you are confused between gakku and gakkusei."

"I think I start to understand now," Hiroto commented, "these two confused me for days. Thank you so much, Ms. Yamaguchi."

Aya gave him a deep smile, "you're welcome. I am always here to answer questions in mind." Then, she watched Hiroto read and write. It was unusual for a certain person to learn that quick in the language they felt unfamiliar with.