“Welcome to my humble abode.”

Sophia-san grumbled as she took off her shoes. Granted the style wasn’t like my home, it didn’t have that eastern feel to it. It reminded me of a home I’d see in a western sitcom. Despite that fact, it appeared as though they still took off their shoes at the front of the house like ours.

“Thank you for allowing us in.”

I called out as I respectfully entered the home. We all removed our shoes also as we made our way into the first main room. A hall stretched out into a wide living room. On the far right, the large entryway led to the kitchen near the back. Along the walls were photos of what appeared to be Sophia-san and her family.

“Well Sophia, I’m going to get dinner ready. But first…I’m going to take my medication and warm up the bath.”

“Sure thing, Eleanor…and thank you for picking me and my friends up.”

With a brief nod, her guardian made her way up the steps across the other side of the room.

“So, where’s your room, Sophia-san?”

Mae-chan wondered as she put her finger to her lips.

“It’s upstairs, across the way from Eleanor’s. It’s a pretty roomy place…but like I mentioned, it would be nice if you guys don’t judge it.”

With a shrug, she led the way up the steps. The staircase was wider than mine. Now that I looked closely, this entire house just felt bigger in places I figured wouldn’t need it. The steps were wider, the hallways were larger. The amount of space used for the sake of comfort was apparent. That alone showed me that Sophia-san’s family made this home because they had the money for it. It didn’t need to be extravagant to be nice.

“Wow, this place is so nice.”

 

Sora-san cried out as she sprang around the most. She had a thing for having sleepovers, I suppose. So, the experience of being in a new place that she’d be able to sleep in might have added to her excitement.

“S-Sora-san! Behave yourself!”

Hana-chan cried in frustration.

As if the home was hers, the rowdy teenager bounced in front of Sophia-san. I take it she realized the door we were approaching was hers.  To my surprise, Sophia-san didn’t say a word, she just continued to guide the group as the redhead went about the hall like a madwoman.

“Alright…”

Sophia-san hesitated as she opened the door. There lied a bedroom fit for a…regular teenager. With games and even mountains of manga. There was a television the size of the wall, mounted on the other side of the room though. It was so massive that it made the room feel more like a theatre. Her bed sat neatly on the opposite end. But there was a unique flair that caught my attention.

Mae-chan's mouth hung open as she looked about.

“What a nice place, Sophia-san.”

Mae spoke.

 

 

Once I walked inside, the wall behind me took on a nature of its own. Teapots, cups, dishes, and more, likely from England, were mounted on the wall. The cups were hung with small white hooks, while the teapots and dishes were neatly placed on wooden docking pads mounted on the wall. They were skillfully placed around the room. It was like the room was split in two.  Despite being in Hiroshima Japan, Sophia-san’s room reminded me of a specialty gift store one would see in England. To me…it felt less like a room and more like a portal to her dream of living back in Europe.

“This is a nice room, Conway-san.”

Hana-chan complimented her, hands behind her back.

Even my little sister was in awe as she set her belongings down on the floor. In the middle of the room was a round table, and seemed to be perfect for us to sit on the floor and work. So, like my little sister, I decided to place my stuff around there too. Everyone followed along as we made ourselves comfortable.

“Thanks for the praise, but I don’t see why I’m getting it.”

Sophia-san shrugged. I don’t think she was being shy either. It just felt like she didn’t see the picture like we did. So, I explained my reasoning to the best of my abilities…

“It definitely shows me that you love your country, Sophia-san.”

I tried to explain but it came out a tad condescending. The shark looked at me a tad warily as she explained…

“I’ll admit I designed it this way because I…”

She held her tongue before shaking her head from side to side. Giving into the eyes fixated on her I take it, she continued…

“I get homesick…so, lately I’ve been asking Eleanor to send things from England back here. Thanks to her, it's gotten this way so far.”

The shark shrugged once more as she set her belongings down beside the table too. She then walked around and pointed at particular things like a professor giving a lecture.

“Many of these plates are only found in specialty shops from England.”

She pointed to one mounted on the wall. It was cute because she had to stand on her tippy toes to reach it.

 

 

“This one here with the flowers on it was mommy’s!”

Her voice peaked when she said this, making the rugged delinquent sound adorably childlike.

“Mommy?”

Yuko-chan parroted, causing Sophia-san to shutter.

“Eh…I mean mom. She sent a few of these plates and teacups over!”

As she walked the room, all of us eyed her as she explained various mugs, teapots, and more. I would have never expected that the girl who would easily break a few of my teeth collected things like this.

“I still have a different mattress coming too. It’s supposed to have blankets made like the ones back home.”

Now a tad into it, Sophia-san rushed over to her manga collection.

“Oh, and the spot for the manga and stuff will be pushed over there to make room for my white dresser. Daddy said he’s sending it soon!”

Yuko-chan perked up.

“I…never thought you’d have…s-such a nice room, C-Conway-san.”

“Oh, how rude!”

The shark’s face twisted like Yuko-chan just harpooned her with a sense of reality.

“Eh?! S-Sorry!”

I jumped in between them. It seemed Yuko-chan blurted out what was really on everyone’s mind. Thinking of the delinquent Conway Sophia-san, I guess most of us expected a rough-looking place with graffiti mirroring a Yukaza hideout but that wasn’t the case. This place showed us that Sophia-san was just a normal girl like everyone else.

“Yuko-chan didn’t mean it that way, Sophia-san.”

“Oh, I bet she didn’t. Whatever, let’s just get started.”

At her demand, we all brought out our books and got comfortable on the floor. The table was low to the floor, perfect for a study session. Sophia-san even offered us pillows to rest on.

“Alright, is everyone comfortable?”

 

I asked as I sat at the front, next to me was Sophia-san. Yuko-chan sat to the left of me. Mae-chan next to the ghost. Hana-chan was directly across from Mae-chan and Sora-san ended the circle right next to the shark again. With this setup, all the students in the same year would be able to help one another.

“What should we start with guys?”

The redhead middle schooler questioned, pulling out all her books at once. The mountain of study material for that poor child shocked me at first. So, I took charge like the mature woman I am.

 

“How about we look at everyone’s lowest grades and start with that. From there we can decide which subject to start with.”

With a harsh nod, Mae-chan agreed. 

“I like that idea, Mado-chan.”

“Y-Yeah, that does sound like a good idea, Onee-chan.”

The dirty blonde started first with a rugged groan...

“I’m struggling most with math right now. I’m going to fail that without help.”

“Oh, me too!”

Sora-san hopped up with a hand raised high in the air. She looked a tad proud about that with a grin on her face. With a slump of my shoulders, I jotted that down.

“Alright, that’s two for math right now. What the rest? Hana-chan, Mae-chan, Yuko-chan?”

Mae-chan slumped her body on the table.

“Surprisingly, I don’t think math is too bad for me, Mado-chan. I’m having more trouble in Japanese History. The dates and orders of events are a pain in the ass to remember…it’s boring the hell out of me!”

 

 

Tears started coming from her eyes. Now she was being overdramatic for sure. My little sister went out of her way to stand up, rush over, and pet her blue hair. Something told me she just wanted to touch it though.

“Poor, Mae-san.”

Hana-chan shrugged indifferently as she walked back to her spot.

“I’m not really having too much trouble with anything in particular. Maybe I could use a refresher with math too though.”

Hana-chan stated. Her grades were always high when I looked at them. I wasn’t too worried about Hana-chan, thankfully. If anything, she could act as a second teacher in this group.

“Yuko-chan?”

“Eh? Ah…I’m not doing the best in science. A-And math is pretty difficult too. B-But I’m doing great in Japanese History…S-So I can help, Watanabe-san.”

From the sound of it, everyone was having difficulties in places. But math seemed to be the dominating study.

“What about you, Madoka-san?”

Sophia-san questioned with a grin, knowing full well what my answer would be.

“Hm? Well…”

“We all know Mado-chan is struggling with English.”

Mae-chan blurted out causing me to shake in frustration.

“Yes…but I still have a high B in it. It’s just annoying how that’s my lowest grade!”

“Wow, Hana-chan, your Onee-san’s lowest grade is a high B?!”

Yuko-chan jolted as if someone turned on her batteries. She turned to the middle schooler with a finger in the air.

“M-Madoka-senpai was always good in academics.”

“E-Enough, Yuko-chan!”

I nearly pushed her over. Why was she so willing to defend me at times like these? Despite it still being a high grade…it could easily drop at any moment to a low C. Nothing made sense in that class.

Sophia-san latched on me like a leech. With a smug smile, she teased.

“Well, you don’t have to worry about that, Madoka-san. I’ll be able to help you with English…if you help me with Math.”

Like a master at the subject, Sophia-san crossed her arms and nodded with pleasure.

“Whatever…”

I complained before taking charge once again.

“How about we do it this way…We can all work on the same subjects at once. Since Mathematics was requested by most, we can start there.”

Without question, everyone took out their math books and notebooks. I was pretty confident in math, so I started helping Conchi-san immediately. As I moved closer to her, I looked over her work.

“Ehh….”

“I’m hopeless, aren’t I?”

Her last assignment was covered in so many red marks that I was beginning to think someone was murdered. It looked as though only one of the questions was correct, and the process she used to get there was crazy in its own right. That would be where we started.

“First off, it looks like you just don’t know when or how to use the equations in this, Sophia-san.”

“Well, that’s basically everything, isn’t it?”

Annoyed, she crossed her arms. We aren’t going to get anywhere with her being so uptight so, I looked her in the eye.

“Let’s figure this out together. Here, look at the notes I wrote just for you.”

I made my current notes super easy and detailed for Sophia-san. A gift from me to her for calling me “cute” this morning.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

For a moment, she stared at me before lowering her shoulders and accepting my help. After a bit of reluctance, she stopped looking at me as a fellow student and slowly began to see me as a teacher of some kind. After around half an hour, the pieces started falling into place for her.

“How did you do that?”

Sincerely, Sophia-san questioned with her pencil to her lip. She wasn’t reluctant anymore. The shark was curious to learn the processes.

“You see this step here…”

After a bit of reexplaining, she understood and bobbed her long hair.

“So, does that mean you put this here now?”

After what felt like a few minutes more, Sophia-san nodded with a beam.

“Oh, that’s way easier than I thought!”

Mae-chan jumped up suddenly.

“Oh, did you understand it, Sophia-san?”

My blue-haired flea got up and rushed around the table. Before Sophia-san could say anything, she ripped the paper away and scanned her work.

“Mae-san!”

Sophia-san cried, kicking her feet out like that would solve the problem.

“Hmm… oh, nice work! It’s all correct!”

…I forgot that Mae-chan and Yuko-chan would already be further than us in all subjects, with them being 2nd years. Curiously, I looked at Yuko-chan’s math homework on the side. The page was full of problems that seemed more complex to me.

“How are you doing with your homework, Yuko-chan?”

“O-Oh…ah…Watanabe-san actually knows a lot more than…I could have imagined. S-She’s…actually good at school.”

“Ehh, what’s that supposed to mean, Mihara-san?! I’m smart when I put my mind to it!”

Like a spear shot through her, Mae-chan flipped her ponytail back and forth in seeming pain. This earned a giggle from Sora-san and Hana-chan.

“Oh, how are you two doing in your work, Hana-chan, Sora-san?”

Hana-chan rubbed her nose and lifted her head a bit. It reminded me of what her mother, Mari-san, would do when she’s feeling proud of herself.

“I’m teaching Sora-san everything!”

“Eh, hey I’m not that dumb! I just don’t remember half of this stuff!”

Annoyed, the redhead slumped her shoulders. It was apparent that Hana-chan was the middle school teacher here. That made me the first-year teacher. And to everyone’s surprise, Mae-chan was the second-year teacher. Now with our spots in our minds, we continued our mathematical lectures.

“Hello everyone…”

As we were deep in studying, the sky outside was pure black as the wind and debris relentlessly hit about the window. However, as if to warm the cold night, Simpson-san came in holding a plate full of snacks.

“Could I offer you all a bit of hot chocolate and cookies as you study?”

“Eh, before dinner, Eleanor?”

Suspiciously, Sophia-san questioned as Simpson-san placed the plate to the side. Slowly she set down warm chocolate in front of each of us. The smell reminded me of a bakery if I had to be honest.

“I guess. Onee-san, can we take a break?”

Sora-san asked, pushing her ivy gaze at me. She leaned over the table, getting into my personal space.

“S-Sure, Sora-san.”

“Yay! Recess!”

Simpson-san joined us as she sat on the floor with us. She made room between Sophia-san and me.

 

 

“It’s a recipe from the Simpson family.”

The pink-haired woman brushed her bangs back before blowing on her cup. Tenderly, she took a sip before continuing.

“My mother and brother used to love this. Daddy was the one who made it. He’s a cook and works at a four-star restaurant right in the heart of London.”

Hana-chan tasted her chocolate before responding.

“Wow, it’s tasty, Simpson-san. I…think this is the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had.”

“Ohhh, I’m glad you like it, Koda-san. Please, everyone, enjoy.”

As we all took a sip, the wonderful flavors of vanilla bean and savory sugar took over my tastebuds. I felt as though I was walking on a cloud as fluffy as the new morning sky.

“This is wonderful, the vanilla is delicious too.”

I cried out, sipping away once more. The group was also entranced in the delicious meal as I heard sharp hmm’s and aah’s from their mouths. How warm it was didn’t reflect the raging storm outside.

“Here, taste the cookies too!”

Excited, I reached for one. At this rate, I was going to get fat on sweets, but I didn’t care. When I tasted the cookie…it was oddly familiar.

“These are sooo good!”

Mae-chan cried, holding her cheek as if she had a toothache.

“I-It really is…wonderful.”

Even Yuko-chan praised as she nibbled at her sweets.

 

The cookie was great…but I couldn’t piece it together where I tasted it before. That’s when I felt a pair of eyes on me. To my surprise, Simpson-san’s crystal blue eyes were watching me.

“Ah…”

 

 

My eyes widened as I watched her hand begin to shake. With haste, she put her cup down before it could spill.

“Oh, are you alright, Simpson-san?”

I cried out, warily. Curiously, the group looked at her too.

“Oh…no worries. I just can’t grip on things for too long right now. My hand starts to hurt, so I have to be gentle.”

Sophia-san set her cup down and bobbed her long hair.

 

“Eleanor suffered joint pains since she was little. Despite all of that, she’s such a hard worker. No matter how much I tell her, she keeps pushing herself though.”

With a giggle, she pets Sophia-san’s hair. That’s something I never had the chance to do without her fighting back. But here she was, showing a side to Sophia-san that none of us dared to be a part of.

“Stop, Sophia. You’re too nice.”

To show her my appreciation, I placed my hand on my chest and gathered her how I felt.

“No, we all appreciate you bringing us this treat. Thank you…Simpson-san.”

She turned to me…but her eyes glanced at my half-eaten cookie for a moment. I was confused until she looked back at me and beamed a mature smile my way.

“No, thank you, Nakagawa-san.”

With a huff, she blew hot hair and pridefully put her hand on her hips.

“I’m glad you all enjoyed it. I’ll tell daddy that a group of attractive girls loved his special drink and cookies. Now, dinner will be ready in about forty-five minutes.”

Taking this moment to stand up, she went to the door.

“Oh, and I’m getting the bathwater hot right now. So, after we eat, we can all settle down for around an hour before we hit the bath.”

Hana-chan leaped up.

“Oh, that’s so kind of you! T-Thank you again!”

I agreed. I was feeling a tad spoiled by this point. Was it like this every day for Sophia-san that someone would regularly feed her and get everything ready? Once Simpson left, Sora-san began laughing maniacally.

“Sora-chan, what are you laughing about?”

“Yeah, what’s gotten into you, kid?”

Sora-san turned around with a mischievous grin.

 

 

“Out of curiosity…has anyone here bathed together?”