"I watched the first episode, and I don't… see what's so great about it."
"Dude, you need to keep watching! It gets really good about halfway through the first season."
"That's lame, dude! I don't want to watch something that suc–"
"Umm… excuse me?"
One of them asked, "Yeah, do you need something?"
"Well… I have something to tell you about this student…"
"Oh my god! That sounds awful!"
***
"You seem to be doing better in Japanese and English than in your other subjects," Engeika said as she looked at Togo's papers.
Togo scratched his scalp, saying, "It kinda just comes to me, but umm… I'm never in class, so…"
"I think you're pretty smart. You just haven't been putting in the effort."
"Do-don't worry! I'm getting my act together and I will never skip class again!"
Engeika let out a soft laugh at Togo's panic. "The next exam will be in a few weeks. Our goal is to get your scores up by at least 50 points."
"Do you really think I can do it?" Togo asked with a nervous tone.
Engeika patted Togo on the shoulder, encouraging him, "I know you can do it!"
Blood rushed towards Togo's face, his heart racing in happiness. With a dopey smile, he said, "Tha-thanks!"
***
"She's so wonderful, Aishi-kun! She's been tutoring me for just a week and I feel like I've learned so much already," Togo said, letting out a dreamy sigh.
"How much progress have you made?"
Togo avoided Ayoshi's eyes, feeling awkward. "Well… uhhh not much."
Ayoshi tilted his head, asking, "Why not?"
"We've just been talking for a week! I'm not ready yet. I have to prepare!"
"My mother always says that if you like someone, you should tell them, and not waste time. Or else they might get away."
Togo shook his head vigorously, saying, "No! I want to make sure that there's some possibility that she might like me back."
"What are you going to do to win her over, then?"
"Uhh… I don't know, just spend time with her and just…"
"How do you not have a plan?"
Togo scowled, waving his hands around. "I've never done this before, ok!" Feeling Ayoshi's scrutinizing gaze, he yelled, "Don't look at me like that!"
"I will help you come up with a plan. My mother has taught me many ways to win someone's heart. I will share this knowledge with you."
Togo gave him a confused look. "Why would she do th–"
"Rule Number One: have topics to talk about. There is no point in being with someone if you both are always awkwardly trying to find something to talk about."
"Well, she likes gardening, nature, art, and she especially likes cats."
"What do you like?"
"Martial arts, cooking, anime," Togo's face turned red in embarrassment as he mumbled something.
"Can you repeat that?"
"C…"
"Huh?"
"Co…"
"Say that again?"
"I said cosplay!" After snapping Togo let out a tired sigh, "It's so shameful!"
"Rule Number Two: share something personal to grow closer."
"I can't share that with her. She'll think I'm some freak!"
Ayoshi leaned his chin on his hand, asking, "You think Uekiya-chan is that type of girl?"
Togo's eyes widened, slamming into the table, and started crying out, "You're right! I don't deserve her. How could I ever think such a thing?!"
Ayoshi looked around as people started to stare at them. He patted Togo on the shoulder. "We'll continue our conversation later."
Togo continued to cry, oblivious to Ayoshi walking away. "I'm so terrible! How could I ever be worthy of Uekiya-chan's love!?"
The next day, the two once again met up in the morning. Ayoshi set down a notebook on the table as he sat down. "Yesterday I wrote down a plan."
"Was it after you abandoned me?"
Ayoshi opened up the notebook, saying, "You were crying. I wanted to give you space."
Togo scoffed, "What's the plan?"
"Rule Number Three: give them gifts. My mother said when it comes to gifts, it doesn't matter how expensive it is. What matters is the meaning behind it. Such as something you created with your own hands or something related to their interests. So use the things you already know about her to come up with a gift."
"You don't think it's too soon for gifts?"
"We have exams coming up soon, so if you pass it will be a good moment to give her the gift as a thank you. It will also be a good moment to do Rule Number Five."
Togo crossed his arms, "And what's that?"
"Rule Number Five: spend quality time together and create moments you can share just between the two of you."
"We already do that."
"No, she tutors you. Personal time together is going out to do an activity you both can enjoy, a date."
Togo could feel his world go blurry, stuttering, "Da-date! I'm not ready!"
"Stop being such a coward. In the meantime, implement Rules One, Two, and Four. After you're done with tutoring, try to find a way to just sit and talk to get to know each other better. Remember to share something personal. You have to open up with each other to become closer."
"What about Rule Number Four?"
"Rule Number Four: give them compliments. My mother always said that people like getting compliments about their appearance, of course, but if that's all they hear from you, it may make them think that's all you like about them. Try to compliment her on her skills, talents, something she puts effort into, or her hobbies."
Togo let out a sigh, nodding, "Ok, I think I can do that."
"I know you can. Now go out there and win her heart."
Feeling his blood pumping, Togo became excited at the motivation. "Yeah! Yeah, I can," he yelled as he ran away. As he ran, he saw a beautiful girl waving at him with a bright smile. He stopped dead in his tracks. "He-hey, Uekiya-chan!"
"Hi, Atatsuma-kun. Are you ready for our tutoring session later?"
Togo ran his hand through his hair. "Ready as I'll ever be."
After class, Togo and Engeika were in the library. Engeika looked through Togo's practice papers. "Wow, you got a 65! A whole ten points higher, good job Atatsuma-Kun!"
"All thanks to your brilliance!"
Engeika tucked a hair behind her ear as she blushed. "Thank you, but it's also because of all your hard work." Soon after grading the papers, the bell rang, so they started packing up their things. "Looks like it's lunchtime, we'll continue this after school?"
Togo could feel his palms starting to sweat as his heart started to race. "Actually… I was wondering if maybe… we could have lunch together?"
Engeika let out a small giggle, nodding her head. "Sure, that would be nice." As they were walking, they overheard a conversation in front of a vending machine.
"Yeah. Watched it last night. I saw that twist coming from a mile away. It was obvious, dude. That doesn't even count as a twist."
"What?! How could you possibly see Emi betraying the rest of the magical girls?!"
Engeika's eyes widened, "No! I hadn't gotten to that part!"
Her yelling caused Togo and the two other boys to look at her in shock. "Uekiya-chan, are you ok?"
"I… I just can't believe it! I liked her so much. How could Emi betray the other girls? How could I have not noticed…"
"How did you not notice? It was so obvious. They were not subtle with the foreshadowing!"
"Yes, they were," Engeika and the other boy yelled.
They started a heated discussion as Togo watched awkwardly in shock. "Uekiya-chan?"
Hearing Togo's voice, Engeika's heart dropped. She bit her lip as her face turned red as a tomato. "Atatsuma-kun, this isn't what it looks like!"
"You like anime?"
Engeika's face fell in shame and she looked down at her feet as she nodded. "Yeah…"
"Oh my god, so do I!" The two bought strawberry milk and walked out to sit on the fountain. "I can't believe we both like anime."
"Ugh… I wish I hadn't heard that spoiler," Engeika said, taking a sip from her milk, dejected.
"What's it about?"
"So, there are these invisible monsters that feed off of negative emotions. If these monsters grow powerful enough, they can influence human behavior, which results in crimes like murder. There's a small number of people who have the ability to see and fight the monsters. Only females can have this power. Their power depends on how many admirers they have, so they're usually famous."
"Sounds pretty interesting, maybe I should watch it."
Engeika jumped up, she felt thrilled. "You totally should! I can recommend you other magical girl animes if you're interested after."
"I would love that."