Ojamajo Doremi 16 Volume 2 Chapter 6.1

CHAPTER 6 – VALENTINE’S KNIGHT-SAMA

PART 01

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Today, Yada-kun attended school as per usual. He was being his normal aloof self, but something was slightly different.

It was the girls in our cla.s.s… No, it wasn’t just the girls in our cla.s.s.

“He’s really popular, and now, everyone’s curious to find out more about him,” Momo-chan managed to put my thoughts into words.

She was right. I wondered if it was because of his nice performance during the recent concert. He was truly very cool, and he even thanked us for our help with a shy, embarra.s.sed look. It was so rare to see him that way.

His after-school activities hadn’t changed as well; he would either head off to his part-time-job, or to GB-san’s place. Hazuki-chan informed us that he would be starting a part-time job at “Five Pennies” from spring vacation on. I hoped he’d managed to get Leon’s approval.

“Oh, I heard that Yada-kun and Kotake are ignoring Leon these days,” Ai-chan remarked.

“Ignoring Leon? Kotake?”

Wow, I can never understand Leon’s actions. I was shocked by his blunt choice of words when handling Yada-kun’s case. In my mind, a teacher should never do bad things, and would always stand by his students.

Leon’s way of doing things was totally different from any teacher I’d met in elementary and junior high school. I always thought people’s actions should be guided by our responsibilities, rules, and our place in society.

“I don’t know much, but I’m really curious. Doremi-chan, why don’t you ask Kotake about it?”

“Huh? Me?”

“I’ll be focusing on training from now on, the track meet’s coming up. And I won’t be able to work at the MAHO-do for the time being. Sorry.”

With that, Ai-chan picked up her bag and rushed off down the corridor.

“Good luck!” I shouted at Ai-chan’s retreating back, before making preparations to head home.

It was already February. Pop’s entrance exams were over, and she should be receiving the results anytime. She shared that even if she didn’t get accepted, she would attend Misora Junior High School instead, and continue to focus on her usual piano lessons. Judging by her calm demeanor, I guessed she must have done her very best, and was thus satisfied, no matter what the outcome might be.

The days were still cold, but the plum blossoms had already started blooming. The shops had also begun putting up decorations for the upcoming Doll Festival, so it felt like spring was almost upon us.

By the way, I heard from Pop that Seki-sensei had rushed over after the incident and given Yada-kun a stiff reprimanding. Seki-sensei and Leon’s wife were fellow alumni at Karen Girls’ Academy, so she must have heard about it from her.

It felt a little weird. Since my elementary school days, Seki-sensei had always been a kind and sometimes strict motherly figure, but it was slightly different now. Nowadays, seeing her come to the MAHO-do to purchase Momo-chan’s desserts, knowing how she was a Karen Girls’ Academy alumnus, and now, seeing her come to reprimand Yada-kun… I guess I was starting to see her as more of a big sister.

Of course, Seki-sensei was still an adult to us, but I somehow felt closer to her now. I hoped it wasn’t a sign that I was growing old.

I wondered if things would turn out differently if Seki-sensei had been there on the day of the incident. But that would have meant us losing out on the chance to learn more and solve the problem, so I was glad she wasn’t there.

Ah. But if Seki-sensei had been there together with Ms. Minako, Mrs. Tachibana and GB-san’s wife, they would have made a formidable team. It would be awesome to see that happen someday.

“Doremi-chan, stop standing there and smiling. Get to work!” Momo-chan scolded.

“That’s right, you’d better get Hazuki and Aiko’s work done too, or I won’t pay you,” Majorika threatened with a glare.

“Hazuki-chan must be busy now, with her exams coming up,” Lala mused.

Semestral exams at Karen Girls’ Academy were different from that in usual schools. Aside from the normal theory tests, those in the music faculty, like Hazuki-chan, had to sit for practical tests too. Those who did well would get the chance to perform at a full-fledged concert held in March.

As the curriculum extended all the way up to the university level, the stress to do well must be really high. With secure academics and confidence, Hazuki-chan must be working hard to achieve good results now. The fact that Karen Girls’ Academy had produced professional musicians in the past must be a great inspiration to her as well.

Onpu-chan was busy preparing for her debut in London, and I wondered if Hazuki-chan would get the chance to take part in overseas compet.i.tions this year too. With her being in the top cla.s.s, she must be one of the better players in the country. Despite the stress from that incident with Yada-kun, I was sure Hazuki-chan would be able to manage.

Compared to the piano students, those focusing on the violin had a higher chance of being picked. But it also meant that they would now be competing with the cream crop of chosen piano students. There must be lots of pressure.

Worried, I voiced such thoughts to everyone present in the MAHO-do.

“Don’t worry!” Momo-chan suddenly exclaimed with a thumbs-up.

“Hazuki-chan is much stronger than we think,” Lala added with a smile.

Yes, Hazuki-chan had a strong character. After gathering the truth about Yada-kun’s incident, she had solved the problem in such a calm manner.

“Eh? Momo-chan, what’s with those cakes?” I asked, finally noticing what Momo-chan was working on; three cakes designs which we had sold during the January period. Now that Valentine’s was approaching, we had stopped production on these and were focusing on gateau chocolat cakes instead.

“It’s a request from Seki-sensei. She missed out on them last month, so she put in a special order.”

I decided to help out and prepared some cake boxes. Momo-chan’s new cake creations were always really popular, and sold out almost immediately once we put them up on display. I’d gotten better at baking these days, but I still couldn’t bake them the way Momo-chan did, even though we followed the same recipe. That was why all of us, including Lala, could only help out with minor tasks like frosting, decorating and packaging. If only we were all as skilled as Momo-chan…

Well, at least I’d been training hard in my own way, and after a while more, I should become a charismatic soccer team manager, just like Kogure Maki-senpai. But…

“That’s a lot of stuff, Doremi. Are you bringing all that home?” Lala asked curiously as she stared at the pile of things before me.

As I was going to say, it was easier said than done. Kogure-senpai had pa.s.sed me a whole stack of information today. There were notes written in tiny handwriting, rule books, photos, data sheets… It was a long road to become a charismatic soccer team manager.

“By the way, Kogure-senpai made some Valentines chocolates for Leon,” I shared with everyone.

Kogure-senpai had shared that with me when I asked about the pack of chocolates, tied with a s.h.i.+ny ribbon, I’d spotted inside her tote bag. Valentine’s this year would coincide with her final exams, so she wanted to pa.s.s the chocolates to Leon early, as a show of her grat.i.tude to his teaching.

“Leon is her world history teacher, right? I wonder if he’s a serious man when teaching her cla.s.s,” Momo-chan mused.

“Well, senpai shared that he always talks about random things during lectures, and writes useless notes on the blackboard, in messy handwriting, no less. But his printouts and remedial cla.s.ses helped her lots in preparation for her exams,” I replied.

We would start learning about world history in our soph.o.m.ore year, and I wondered if Leon would be our teacher. We started calling him Leon because he looked like a chameleon, and I was interested to find out just how much the nickname suited his personality.