Soon enough, I got acquainted with the mysterious Suzuki Mayumi-san.
She was everything that is expected of a young lady: refined, graceful, composed. After exchanging pleasantries, she just stood like a silent, unmoving statue at Marie-sensei's side. Her eyes were unusually sharp for an ordinary eight year old, and they surveyed the room in silent perusal. Nothing seemed to spark her interest, and as Marie-sensei summarized the contents of today's lessons, I couldn't help but watch Mayumi-san. When her eyes unexpectedly glittered in pure, unadulterated excitement, I followed her gaze to the small coffee table on the adjacent corner where a stack of horror manga I bought behind Okaa-sama's back could be seen.
I curled my lips, trying to keep them from outright grinning. I seem to have discovered something…
Throughout the duration of the lesson, I didn't have any chance to speak with Mayumi-san personally. However, as Marie-sensei droned on about French hierarchy, I carefully observed her reactions. Many times, I saw her sneaking a glance towards the coffee table, before promptly retracting her gaze when she noticed that I was watching her. I finally found my chance when Marie-sensei left the room, under the pretense of taking a short bathroom break. No doubt she did that so we could make friends with each other without the added pressure that comes with her presence. She even winked at me before she went out the door, which more or less confirmed my suspicions.
Surprisingly, it wasn't me but her who struck first.
I was writing notes about today's lesson, inwardly pondering on how to approach her to finally confirm my newfound discovery. The silence went on for a few more minutes, and only the scratching of pen across paper could be heard.
This is awkward…
What should I do? Should I ask her directly? No, that would be too rude. Should I just continue writing and wait for Marie-sensei to come back and diffuse this awkward silence? Ugh. Crucial times like these makes me hate being an introvert…
Seconds after the grandfather clock chimed, signaling the end of our afternoon's lessons, she slammed her pen on the desk, the sound reverberating throughout the entire room and effectively breaking the silence.
"Mifune-san." Her voice was quiet, and lacked the usual high pitch tone kids our age do. "Am I correct to assume you're also a reader of..." Here, she hesitated a bit, her cheeks turning red like a pair of ripe apples. I suddenly have the urge to pinch them. She's sooo cute! Having found the courage to continue after a moment's silence, she said, tone level and composed, in contrast to the fierce blush adorning her face, "Hidden Eye?"
She finally addressed the elephant in the room!
I responded eagerly in return, and soon the both of us engaged in an animated discussion about our favourite characters in the horror manga I've been keeping updates on – behind Okaa-sama's back of course. She's under the impression that I only ever read textbooks. I do love reading books of any kind, even thick, purely educational books, but to read them for several hours is just. Pure. Torture.
Thus, she doesn't know I'm a closet otaku. I'm more than certain she'll have my ass if she did. Or more likely, she'll whack my head with that fan of hers. I swear, Okaa-sama's just like my mother in my past life (that one brandishes a frying pan out of nowhere whenever I did something to arouse her displeasure – most of them concerning my otaku habits). It's scary how they resemble each other so well...
I instinctively shivered.
Mayumi-san was still speaking, appearing not to notice my sudden weird behaviour, "I developed a fascination for Takeo's character. He's the type who easily fades in the background, unnoticed."
"Which makes him the perfect criminal! The way he blended almost effortlessly among the crowd–"
"That, and his clever yet unorthodox ways to hide a body. The way he killed his victims was also…artful, in a way."
"He's such a well written character. He was what actually kept me reading until the end."
"I know what you mean. The story was way too confusing at first. I actually considered dropping the manga, but the art style was so good, that it made me pause."
"Kotou-sensei's art skills are superb. No wonder almost all of her works sold fairly well in the market."
"Indeed. I even purchased the first volume of Red, Blue Paper, the manga she's currently working on."
Mayumi-san's eyes practically sparkled. "Is it any good?"
As I opened my mouth to reply, Marie-sensei chose that moment to walk in. After seeing that we're huddled close to each other, obviously on much better terms than we were before, she beamed.
"It's nice to see that you two are getting along quite well," she commented, walking towards us. She eyed the manga which had somehow found its way in Mayumi-san's grasp, the front cover pressed to her chest so only the back cover could be seen.
"Oh?" She tilted her head, a smile playing on her lips. "Are you girls talking about fairy tales?"
"Yeah…" We looked at each at other and intoned, "fairy tales."