Fairies do Exist!

by Tatsuhiko Hiroki

While being late for her first day at work, Mai had chanced upon a good looking fairy and a student with the exact same face. The very next day, she finds out that the same student is going to be one of her student! What happens when the genius student, Oliver, clashes with the bubbly new and surprisingly popular instructor, Mai? (Monthly Update)

The series have finally begun! Do pardon most of my grammar/ language errors x Hopefully you will enjoy the first chapter of "Fairies do Exist!". (Continuation of the one-shot version.) Editted on 10Jan2018

1st Fruit Tartlets

Itsutsu Hoshi Gakuen is a specialised school for those aiming to be a top pâtissière. Its admission is open to public every three years for students ranging from age fifteen to twenty-five and they are put into classes based on their entrance scores (includes both practical, written test and an interview). Itsutsu Hoshi is said to have taught 90% of the renowned Japanese pâtissière around the world and the instructors are usually those from the top 1%, who are usually old. So, it is understandable when a no-name and young instructor steps into the picture, the students are in an uproar.

Naru takes his time getting to his classroom, which is a larger version of the practice room. Opening the door to his classroom, Naru walks with a bored look and Eugene (/Gene) – a small fairylike being, yawns while on his shoulder. Even if some of the girls squealing over him, he ignores them and took a seat at his station.

Minutes past before the teacher enters and makes an announcement.

"Today, we have someone new joining us."

Guess she's in my class.

A rather young instructor with short brown hair and hazel eyes walks in and introduces herself in front of everyone. Some of the guys in the class were eyeing her like a wolf would to a rabbit. It was a no brainer that the class, packed with only male students, were excited.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Taniyama Mai," Mai bows to the class.

Mai…

"It's that cute girl from yesterday. Even her name sounds cute!" Eugene excitedly say, faintly remembering their first encounter.

The teacher continues to say, "I hope all of you will get along with your new teacher, Ms Taniyama, for the next three months."

…

The sound of someone falling off their chair can be heard. Everyone turns to look at who it was.

Naru!? He's in my class!?

She's a teacher!?

"What an adorable teacher you've got, Noll," Gene says with a smile.

For a moment, the two's eye met each other and they remembered everything that had happened the previous day before the sound of laughter could be heard. Most of the students in class were snickering at Naru but the laughter died instantly when the black haired straightens himself and glared in their directions.

The previous teacher had left the classroom seconds before and Mai had no idea how to start the class, so she greeted her students and introduced herself again. Then she tried to get to know her students, "Um… how about a short introduction from every one of you?"

At this moment, Naru was thinking of all the self-praising words he would use in his introduction – not that he will make it obvious. However, that flew out of the window when a 'horny' student (as depicted by Naru,) asks a question.

"Sensei should answer our question first~ Do you have a boyfriend?"

At the world 'boyfriend', Mai became flustered. She didn't know if saying 'yes', to keep the students from trying to flirt with her, or 'no', which is the truth was better. Before she could say anything, Naru said, "There is no need to try and get to know us. Just start the lesson."

The student that asked the question was going to retort something back but Mai claps her hand together and says cheerfully, "It's SUMMER! Since it is your first class with me, how about we make tartlets? Fruit Tartlets to be exact!"

While the rest of the class was cheering enthusiastically, Naru inserts a snide remark, "It is already November, which means winter, in case your brain have yet to catch up."

Mai had unfortunately heard his remark about her brain and was going to give him a good whack on the head but decided against it. Instead, she slowly began to walk to the instructors' counter (which is placed at the front of the classroom, in the centre). She started taking out the ingredients needed to make a Summer Fruit Tartlet and began to list out the measurements for each ingredient.

Ingredients:

200g of plain floor (with extra for dusting)

85g of icing sugar (sifted)

55g of ground almonds

110g of butter

1 egg yolk

1 tablespoon of milk

[Filling]

225g of cream cheese

Icing sugar for dusting

350g of fresh berries (e.g. Strawberries, Blueberries)

Mai checked if the baking equipment were clean before putting on an apron and cleaning her hands. Once she was done, she took the big empty bowl and began sifting the floor and icing sugar together before stirring in the ground almonds. The next step was to add the butter, rubbing it in until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Then add in the egg yolk and milk, mix them till the dough binds together and wrapping it with clingfilm while allowing it to chill.

As the dough was left to chill, some of the students were getting their preparations ready while some stood near Mai's counter and began making small talks. Where else, a certain dark-haired student was measuring the ingredients while muttering things to himself.

"Are you jealous that those students are getting close to the cute instructor?" Gene asks while hovering around the empty bowl on Naru's counter, with a sheepish smile.

Naru stopped moving before turning to glare at his look-a-like. Gene did not faze at all and instead continued, "She's rather young to be called an instructor. I wonder how old she is to be working here. Maybe I should ask her some questions when those guys aren't around."

Naru continued measuring the ingredients, looking uninterested but he was secretly taking note of everything he could pick up from the conversation going on at Mai's counter. Just as he cracked the egg and tried to separate the yolk from the whites, a high pitch shriek, causing Naru to end up bursting the yolk. Someone happened to pass by his work station and wondered why he was being so out of character.

Mai took out the chilled dough and set it on her counter. The sound had come from her phone timer which she had set. Despite the embarrassing moment, Mai continues with her lesson. She preheats the oven to 200 Degrees Celsius (/400 Degrees Fahrenheit) and began to roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface. She lined the dough out evenly for a dozen (12) deep tartlet tins. Next, she pricked the bases and presses a piece of aluminium foil into each.

As she placed the tray into the oven, she instructs the students to start on their own tartlets.

"Remember to bake the dough with the foil for only fifteen minutes before removing it and letting it bake further for a few minutes to turn brown. In the case of making a pie, where the filling is baked with the crust, bake it on the bottom rack to ensure that the bottom crust gets nice and is golden brown. It is best to use a glass pie tray if you are making one. They readily absorb heat," Mai pointed out as the students were doing their tasks.

While waiting for the fifteen minutes to be up, Mai walked around –intending to supervise her students– when she saw Gene sitting on top of an overturned bowl. She made her way to him and sensing her presence, Gene flashes a smile at her. At first, Mai talked to Gene as though he was a normal person before he told her that no one else can see him besides Naru and her in the classroom. She began whispering as she nonchalantly took a seat at the corner of Naru's working space. Initially, Naru was disturbed by her presence but he eventually let it be. The main reason for it was because the conversation between his instructor and the fairy contained all the questions he had in mind.

"How did you end up working here?" Gene asks as he swings his legs in the air.

Mai pondered before answering, "By… bribing?"

Bribing!?

Naru was going to question her about it when the weird sound started playing again. Mai waved bye to Gene before hurrying to her oven. Naru's eye furrowed a little, causing Gene to snicker. He knew that Naru could not stand having his questions unanswered, but it was amusing to see him like that. Holding back his feeling of annoyance, he placed his dough in the refrigerator and took a seat with a rather blank look on his face. Gene took this as a sign to not be near him, so he flew over to Mai.

Mai was cutting the strawberries into quarters when the oven sounded, signalling that the tart crust was done. As she took out the crusts and began to put in the filling, students began crowding around her counter. She placed a spoonful of cream cheese on each of the tart crusts, spreading it out evenly before lining up the strawberries neatly on top. As a final step, she dusted the tartlets with some sifted sugar powder.

"Hehe, if you want to taste some, you'll have to take only half a piece each," Mai said.

While the students were busy trying to get a taste of her tartlets, Mai took one with her and cut a small portion out of it for Gene. After that, she walked towards Naru's counter.

"Here's your portion," she offered.

Mai stood there, expecting at least a word of compliment but as expected, there was none. Naru took a glance at the tartlet before snorting. He looks at her right in the eye and commented about how there is no balance in the appearance since Mai only placed strawberries in her tartlet. Then he continued about there was too much icing.

"Are you trying to turn us into diabetics?" he chides.

That was the last straw of patience she had for this particular student and just as she was about to blow her top off, the other students called out for her. She took a deep breath and let out a huge sigh before turning around, putting on a smile and spoke in an overly sweet voice to them, "It should almost be time for the rest of you to bake your tartlets~"

Mai head back to her counter and began to chat animatedly with some of her students again. Meanwhile, Naru glared at the innocent piece of tartlet sitting on his counter before taking a seat and sighing.

"It's rare for you to sigh," Gene pointed out as he takes small bites off his own share of tartlet that Mai had given to him.

Naru looks at Gene blankly before letting out another sigh and thought to himself, "Why am I even bothered by that woman?"

Ignoring everything else, Naru took out a clean fork and began to taste Mai's sample. Even though he had insulted Mai minutes before regarding the amount of icing sugar, the tartlet was certainly tasty. The crust was evenly baked and the strawberries were not overly sour, in fact, it tasted a little sweet. It was definitely not the taste of icing sugar. Naru wondered what else she had added in without the others noticing.

Though, there is too much strawberries as well. In fact, she only put strawberries.

Nearly half an hour later, everyone was done with their tartlets and gave one to Mai for tasting. There were some students that had forgotten to put the foil on which made their tartlets' crust turn overly brown. Whereas there are some students that overbaked their tartlets. Despite that, Mai gave each of them a positive feedback. Probably – or mainly, because of the amount of strawberries they had put. Lastly, Naru placed his at the corner of his counter, not intending to go over to her counter to give it to her personally. Reluctantly, Mai walks over to his counter and saw the contrasting difference between his tartlet and hers – blueberries.

When Mai scolded him jokingly about putting only blueberries, Naru retorts, "Blueberries contain catechins that activates fat-burning genes in abdominal fat cells which assists in weight loss. You probably need it, considering the amount of icing sugar you use on your pastries."

Everyone was left speechless as Naru cleans his counter before walking out of the class. While the students were complaining about how Naru was being rude to their instructor, Mai was more amazed at how Naru had dusted the perfect amount of icing sugar and knew the secret ingredient she had placed inside her tartlets.

Guess he really is a genius like the rest said.

Omake/Extra:

Hm? He left the rest of his tartlets behind.

Mai quickly packed Naru's tartlets into a box and rushed out. Just as she was about to call out to him, Gene was trailing behind him and called him out first. As they continue to walk, Mai followed them without saying anything. For some reasons, she was curious about what they are going to talk about.

"Noll, don't you think you forgot something?" Gene asks with a playful smile.

Naru stops in his tracks and so did Mai. He was about to turn around, which nearly made Mai scream, but decided against it.

"I left it there on purpose," was his excuse before he began to walk away.

Gene snorted at the lame excuse Naru had just given.

He probably didn't want to look uncool going back when he said those things to her.

As for Mai, she pulls the box closer to her and wonders if Naru is just clumsy in interacting with others. She turns around and heads back to the classroom. She purposely shared Naru's tartlets and noticed that despite everything, the students do look up to Naru in terms of skills. Somehow that made her smile.

I guess this is what people call a 'gap'.

Wohooooooooo

I am finally starting this series after so many MONTHS of slacking. :,)

As much as I hate it, Naru is so OOC gahahahaha. Anyways, hopefully you like the first chapter of Fairies do Exist! This series is pretty much a rip off from Yumeiro Patissiere XD I really liked that series because of the food since I love pastries A LOT. The whole romance and stuff were a bonus for me :3

Do leave a review/favourite/follow this story if you like it and it will make me more motivated to finish each chapter

Oh, and regarding the whole baking procedures, please take whatever I say with a pinch of salt because I am actually REALLY bad at baking even with instructions. Though, the ingredients listed for the Summer Fruit Tartlet is based on a real reference. :

See you next time~