Extra: Grabiner-POV 1: A new semester, a new headache
I sigh, as I gaze down on the now empty yard. Just two hours ago, the yard was still filled with students, old and new, bustling around.
The sight was pure chaos, as the excited students looked for their dorm rooms, while catching up with old friends and making new ones.
I could swear, that it wasn't as chaotic last year. It's as if they would grow wilder by every year.
And with that, the headache they cause me, also grows. Especially the new students behave so carelessly, that ensuring their safety is a full-time job.
They don't seem to have any sense for danger whatsoever. And among the careless new students, the wild seeds stand out for lacking caution.
The amount of wild seeds has been increasing from year to year for unknown reasons, further adding to my headache.
Though I don't hate wild seeds, in contrast to some of these old sods, but they do seem to have a talent for getting themselves into perilous situations.
Just as I've been pondering about the various causes for my increasing headache, I notice a movement at the periphery of my vision. My sight is drawn to the female student wearing a green cape, who is walking across the yard in a weird way. Her movements remind me of an old grandma with a damaged hip. I truly understand students less and less with every passing year. I haven't seen the student before; she must be a new student. She seems to have problems with finding her dormitory. Since no one is around, who could help her, I teleport down to her.
I land in front of her, just as planned, but she doesn't seem to notice my arrival at all. While gazing to the side, she takes another step forward, and grandly crashes into me, before I even get the chance to draw her attention. I speechlessly stare down at the small body, that bumped into me, only to be met with accusing eyes. Daring to glare at a professor, furthermore one you bumped into on your own accord? What kind of attitude is that?!
"Sorry, Sir.", she apologizes, her eyes not showing any of the silent accusation they had a moment earlier. "A new student, I see. And what might your name be?", I ask her calmly. "Elise Ojousama.", she answers reluctantly. I'm certain, that she considered giving me a false name. Otherwise she wouldn't have hesitated for so long, before replying. I open my book with the list for the new students and immediately find her name. She's a wild seed. Of course.
"Miss… Ojousama, is it? Wild seed. How unsurprising. More than likely, a complete waste of my time. You have no idea what you have been giving, and you will throw it all away.", I comment. Given her attitude until now, in addition to her being a Horse, she probably will cause problems out of a lack of respect for the school rules, resulting in her being expelled. So many students get expelled each year, it's a pity, but their lives are even more important than their education after all. And airheaded behavior like hers could easily lead to her death in the world of magic. "Ten demerits. Not a promising start.", I scold her, as I write the demerits down. I close my book and directly look at her, while continuing scolding, "Pay more attention to your studies than you do to where you're walking, Miss Ojousama, or you'll find yourself expelled, before the New Year." My voice grows louder as I scold her, in the hope of knocking some sense into her. Having said my piece, I swiftly walk away towards my room. Coming to think of it, I forgot to show her the way to her dormitory. Well, she should be able to find it on her own…
I unexpectedly meet Miss Ojousama again on my first lesson of the new semester. It's one about red magic. In contrast to my expectations, she seriously attended my lesson and diligently started learning by herself, so I didn't pay her much attention. It would be desirable, if Mr. Danson payed the same amount of attention to his studies as Miss Ojousama does to hers. Mr. Danson seems to have a talent for red magic, just like his siblings, but he seems to care more about horsing around than about deepening his studies. He already received ten demerits from me, for swapping the textbook of his sister with a children's book. I have the feeling, that my chronic headache will significantly worsen, because of him.
Equally annoying as Mr. Danson's childish pranks is Petunia's attitude lately. I don't know, where that old lady got the idea from, that I would need a partner to share my troubles with, but I sure want to strangle whoever it is, who's responsible for this. Well, I have a hunch as to who could be responsible for this, but I hope that I'm wrong. Actually, Petunia started acting this way in the last year, but I had hoped, that she would give up over the holydays. That assumption was wrong, to my disappointment. On the contrary, her meddling increased by the start of the new school year. "Hieronymous?" Ugh, here we go again. "Hieronymous, you still didn't reply to my letter? The one about the magical matchmaking event?", Petunia chirps, as soon as I step into the entrance hall of the teacher's dorm. I frown and reply in annoyance, "How often do I have to tell you, Petunia, that I would never ever attend any kind of event with the word 'matchmaking' in it?" "Oh, but this time, the organizers are 'MageMatchers', this year's most successful matchmaking organization in magical society!", she tries to persuade me. "For the last time! I don't care, if it's 'MageMatchers', 'Elitewitch' or 'Mageship', I will not attend any of such dubious gatherings filled with pathetic people desperately looking for some meaningless intimacy. How you could ever expect me to participate in such demeaning endeavor is beyond me, but please stop with your delusions already.", I harshly retort. Hopefully harshly enough, to get through Petunia's thick skin and make her understand, that I'm truly not interested in entering into a relationship. "Oh, Hieronymous, no need to be so shy!", she chirps in a sickening sweet voice. Hopeless! This woman is absolutely hopeless! Since there is no use in talking to Petunia, I simply dash past her and towards my room, while showing my discontent with growl. Though I have secured my room to my utmost ability, the defenses pose no obstacle for her, but luckily, she has at least enough courtesy to stay out of it, unless I invite her in.
At the beginning of the second week, Miss Ojousama approached me on her own, to my surprise, and asked me for book recommendations regarding the magical world, particularly its society. Most students, especially freshmen, are far too afraid of me, to approach me on their own. Learning the basics of magic is the top priority for freshmen, so I naturally didn't recommend her any books though. I must admit, that I am a little bit pleasantly surprised, that Miss Ojousama noticed her own ignorance, she seems to have some self-awareness at least. But then again, it's foolish of her to think that reading a few books could compensate the common sense all wild seeds lack.
A few days later, I find a letter in my desk, to my horror. I had hoped, that I would be spared this year from this stupid prank imbecile students like to pull on me annually for the initiation ceremony. Like every year, I read the 'love letter' loud in front of the students and ask for the perpetrator to raise eirs hand afterwards. Turns out the culprit was Miss Ojousama. I shouldn't have doubted my first impression of her, in the end she still lacks respect for authority, despite the diligent-student-act she pulled off during classes. How disappointing.
In the afternoon, I come across Mr. Ramsey. Contrary to what it seems like, I don't despise my students, though I do get annoyed at them from time to time. Mr. Ramsey however, is a different case. I don't care about his suspicious background, but he has been breaking hearts left and right since last year. I can't stand frivolous people like that. "Prof. Grabiner, I have something to confess. Please, will you listen to me?", he asks me, while putting on a guilty expression. His expression feels off. I'm sure that whatever it is that he has done, he doesn't feel guilty about it. Well, it wouldn't be the first time, that he commited a misdeed and acted as if it was all just an accident. He's a master at faking, the main reason as to why I despise him so much. "What is it?", I ask him nonetheless. "About the letter incident… Eli- Miss Ojousama is innocent. I was the one, who told her to write it, however she gave the letter to me. Someone must have stolen it from me, and placed it in your desk. So, please don't punish Miss Ojousama." Miss Ojousama is innocent? Well, apart from letting herself be forced to write some silly love letter for this idiotic initiation ceremony at least. However, I don't think Mr. Ramsey was not the one to put the letter in my desk. I have witnessed him pulling similar pranks onto his 'girlfriends' before, after all. "So, in other words, you would like to take responsibility for this incident?", I ask him, without hiding the coldness in my voice. "Of course.", he replies sweetly, unperturbed by my cold tone. Ugh, his sweet-talking is so disgusting. "Very well. Ten demerits and detention this weekend." I turn around and leave him, without another word. Come to think of it, Miss Ojousama tried to say something, after admitting to being the author. She probably wanted to explain herself, but I thought that she would just try to pull the usual excuses students give. I'm so sick and tired of the lame and uncreative excuses students try to pull off again and again. But I guess I should've listen to her nonetheless. Now I'll have to make it up for her. Ugh. I hate having to apologize.
The next morning, I'm contemplating on how to apologize to Miss Ojousama. I hate to admit it, but she has shown some courage by admitting to being the author of the letter. She certainly shouldn't have written the letter in the first place though, especially not for someone like Mr. Ramsay. This irritating initiation ceremony; how many freshmen foolishly feel themselves forced to follow their senior's every command and regrettably commit mistakes every year, because of it? But as it is tradition in this school, and tradition is very powerful in magical society, there's nothing I can do to abolish it.
Just as I was thinking this, I suddenly spot the person in question, Miss Ojousama, walking not far away from me. She has her back turned towards me, so she probably hasn't noticed me though. This is the perfect opportunity to apologize. I sigh, before catching up with her. Suddenly Miss Ojousama stops in her steps and turns around. I immediately come to a halt as well. "Good morning, Miss Ojousama.", I greet her politely. Strange, she doesn't seem surprised at all, to suddenly meet me. "Good morning, Sir.", she calmly returns my greeting. Afterwards, she patiently waits for me to speak again.
"I… believe I owe you something of an apology.", I hesitatingly begin. I truly don't want to do this, but I will naturally apologize, when an apology is due. Miss Ojousama stays silent and simply waits for me to continue. Oddly enough, her expression isn't revealing any emotion, neither glee nor awkwardness or embarrassment. "I did not give you the chance to explain your actions, because I believed that I already knew the reasons behind them. You may not be aware, Miss Ojousama, but it is considered a traditional Initiation 'prank' to order freshmen to proclaim their 'love' for me. The very thought of which fills them with horror.", I explain. "That must be terribly annoying.", Miss Ojousama suddenly comments. It is indeed so, however I never expected a student to empathize with me. Such maturity is after all not to be expected of students, especially freshmen, according to my experience. I'd usually be suspicious, if a student were to try and sympathize with me, however I could clearly see the honesty in Miss Ojousama's eyes. Miss Ojousama is more mature than I thought, it seems. I clear my throat and continue with my apology, "Since it was not your intent to disrupt my lessons, I will cancel your detention and return the ten merits I took from you. And another ten, for having the courage to admit that you had written the letter, and in apology for the lesson you missed out on."
Her emotionless expression changes into a happy one, and she courteously thanks me.
Hopefully, this apology won't make her become cocky.
"Please do not feel, that this makes us 'friends', Miss Ojousama. It is simply a matter of redressing the balance.", I remind her just in case. I hate it, when students suddenly try to act chummy with me. To my relief, Miss Ojousama seems to understand this. I suddenly imagine her running towards me, with a big smile on her face and greeting me with a 'What's up, Hiero?'. The very thought of that happening gives me a chill.
Of course, this fear doesn't come true. When I see her in my next class about blue magic, she's acting as usual. After class, I see her walking towards the gym with the other freshmen. Oh yes, today is the ending ceremony for that damned initiation. Hopefully, that means she won't be interacting with that Mr. Ramsay anymore. I have to admit, that she's a good and diligent student, which is why I don't want that bad influence to be around her. I don't want that bad influence to be around any other students as well, of course, at least not until Mr. Ramsay has learned some manners and morals.
"Hieronymous! Who are you looking at?" The chirping voice of Petunia suddenly interrupts my thoughts. "No one in particular. What is it, Petunia? I swear, if it is about another matchmaking event, I will quit right here and now!", I threaten her. Petunia laughs coyly. "Hieronymous, we both know, that you can't quit. Where else would you work? Your father's arms are long, and he wants you to succeed him." I gnash my teeth, before snapping back, "No need to remind me." "Anyways, this time I'm not here for some matchmaking event. You don't seem to be interested in them after all.", she explains. "Oh?", I suspiciously raise an eyebrow. Is it true? Did that old lady finally give up? "So, instead, how about a blind date? I coincidentally know a witch, that would be perfect for you! I'm sure you two will get along.", Petunia suggests. "I decline.", I growl and angrily stomp away. Petunia sure knows how to ruin my good mood.
The next day, I witness by coincidence Mr. Ramsay coldly ignoring Miss Ojousama, when I was on my way to the library. I do not know, what happened between the two of them, nor do I care, but it's good, if Mr. Ramsay won't bother Miss Ojousama anymore. It would be even better of course, if Mr. Ramsay would stop bothering witches altogether. I would punish Mr. Ramsay for his indecent behavior, if I could, but with Petunia's 'free love' agenda, it's impossible. He is not breaking school rules by breaking hearts after all.
When I arrive at the library, it's more crowded than usual. This is always the case, on the weekend before an exam. As expected, the students gathering here to learn are either zealous students, who often come here, or those, who performed poorly till now and are now panicking because of it. I sigh and head to the section about magical history. If only they would realize their inadequacy sooner. Well, this is the reason as to why we have exams after all. I grab the book "The pentagrams of the Philean ruins – An analysis' and head back to my room to read.
In the afternoon, I attend a meeting of the professors regarding the first exams of the students. On Friday, the exam for the freshmen will commence, the exam for the seniors will be held on Saturday. And the exams for the Juniors and the Sophomores will proceed on the Friday and Saturday of the following week. Like last year, I will oversee the exams of the freshmen, together with Petunia. And like last year, Petunia couldn't stop herself from making a tasteless joke about us playing 'good cop, bad cop'. I don't mind being hated by the students, but I do mind Petunia's lack of seriousness, when it comes to the students' safety. I don't know, whether Petunia's attitude problem simply stems from being alive for so long, or if she always had this carefree attitude. Well, thinking about the stories about her life she told me, it's probably a mixture of both. Thinking back to her various love stories, it's a wonder, that she managed to survive for so long and yet, she still doesn't seem to have learned anything, when it comes to love. Anyways, about the exams, I should hold a study session for the freshmen again. Some of them looked quite desperate in the library after all.
As expected, quite a lot of students came to the study session, diligent and slacking students alike. Some of them I hadn't seen in my classes since the beginning of the school year. It seems their fear of failing the exam grew bigger than their fear of me. Most of the students attending are also regulars of my classes though, such as Miss Cochran, or Mr. Katsura. Those attending my classes have mostly no need for this study session though, since only diligent students tend to attend them, with very few exceptions. My lessons are usually emptier than those of my colleagues thus, but I don't mind that, since it makes lecturing easier. I also wouldn't mind more students attending my classes though. To be honest, contrary to my expectations, I'm quite satisfied with this year's batch of new students, since there are a lot of talented and diligent ones among them, such as Miss Cochran, or Mr. Blaising. Mr. Blaising seems to be a little too confident in his ability, but he is quite talented nonetheless. And I heard, that Miss Cochran even offers lessons to other freshmen. Such dedication is admirable. Another student, that stands out with her performance is Miss Middleton. She is one of the most zealous students I have met. I often see her studying in the library. While I let Miss Middleton explain how to reinforce the casting of a spell and why, I notice Mr. Danson trying to cast Breeze-magic on a paper plane. "Mr. Danson.", I interrupt Miss Middleton angrily. "Yes, Sir?", he replies lightly. "As you do not appear to need these revisions, you're excused. You may find more challenging material to occupy you this Saturday in detention.", I scold him. "Yes, Sir.", he replies seemingly obedient. Being born into a magical family, one would expect him to be more careful, but Mr. Danson is playing puerile pranks nearly every day. In most cases, the victim seems to be his sister. Normally, he could have already been expelled, but Petunia seems to help him gain merits for some reason. Well, I do remember a time, when she often also used to play harmless pranks on the staff and the students, so that might be a reason, as to why she sympathizes with him. Thankfully, she stopped doing that though. For the headmistress to behave so immature, she sure didn't care about this academy's reputation. Again, it's good that she stopped doing that. I really hated that phase of hers. Let's hope, that Mr. Danson will also end this phase soon and become more mature. I'm afraid, I will spend most weekends supervising detention till he graduates otherwise.
The exams on the next day proceed rather smoothly. Though there are a few students, who fail the exam, overall this year's batch is slightly above average. There are more talented witches among the freshmen than usual, which fills me with slight anticipation for the next exams to come.
Watching my students succeed always delights me. Just when I have been thinking this, the next participant, Miss Sato, tried to use White Magic to escape the Dungeon. I sigh and teleport her out. "Miss Sato, care to explain what the hell you have tried to do there?", I ask her annoyed. "I just wanted to ask Lorelei, whether she could help me find my way out.", retorts Miss Sato sulking. "I see.", I reply, while narrowing my eyes. "Ten demerits and detention." While I'm issuing Miss Sato's punishment, Petunia suddenly intercepts me telepathically, "Send her to me for her detention, Hieronymous. I will oversee this case." I sigh again, but obediently instruct Miss Sato to go to the headmistress' office for the detention tomorrow. It's rare, that Petunia wants to oversee a detention, usually she leaves that to me. I think it's because she doesn't want to be hated by the students.
After Miss Sato left, the next participant already arrived. It's Miss Ojousama. I'm curious to see, how Miss Ojousama will handle this exam. She starts weaving her magic in a typical blue magic pattern. I see. A good attempt, but it's too early for an attempt in teleportation magic, she will lose concentration, before she's able to fin- Eh? The next moment, Miss Ojousama finished her casting and disappeared. Oh shit. Hopefully, she didn't teleport herself into a wall or something. I immediately use white magic to scan the surrounding. Found her. She's in the park. Good. High above in the air. Dammit! I curse and teleport myself to her location. I immediately spot her and manage to catch her just in time. I use my arms to slow down her fall, before stopping it completely, so that she won't get hurt. My arms hurt a bit from braking her fall, but she doesn't seem to have sustained any injuries. What a relief. "Miss Ojousama, are you alright?", I ask her nonetheless, just in case. I look down on the pale, young witch in my arms, just to realize, how indecent it is, to be carrying my student this way. Well, it can't be helped, since it was an emergency. "I had not expected you to be capable of a full-body teleport at this stage. I should have given you better safety instructions. My apologies, Miss Ojousama.", I apologize to her, while carefully letting her down. While Miss Ojousama thanks me embarrassedly, the color is slowly returning to her cheeks. This incident must have frightened her quite a bit. This is also good, since it will teach her to be cautious with magic.
As Miss Ojousama has succeeded in escaping the dungeon, while surpassing my expectations, I award her with ten merits.
I underestimated her, she is more capable than I thought. After I explained to Miss Ojousama, why she won't be able to use the same method for the next exam, Petunia appears and agitatedly enquires about Miss Ojousamas health. Too late, Petunia. Too late. I dismiss Miss Ojousama and head back. Petunia seems to want to ask me something, but I'm not in the mood for her nonsense, so I ignore her. While returning to my position, I use green magic to heal the light injury I received from catching Miss Ojousama. Fortunately, Miss Ojousama is relatively thin, otherwise I might have broken my arms. She was falling from a height of about 7 meters after all. Now that I think about it, it is strange that her fall didn't make more of an impact. Did Petunia…? No, that wouldn't make sense. I discard the thought, before I even finished it. Apart from this incident, the rest of the exam continues to proceed smoothly. However, due to what could have happened to Miss Ojousama, I'm more cautious while examining the following students, especially when they try to use blue magic. I would never forgive myself, if a student of mine gets hurt due to my lack of attention, just like I never forgave myself for… that incident. I'm quite relieved, when the last student finished his exam without another occurrence.
The following day, I'd like to stay in my room and relax, but instead I'm stuck administering detention to those students, who managed to fail epically. And Mr. Danson, of course, who attends detention again, despite having passed the exam grandly by blowing up the wall, just like his sister. Why did he even come to my study session in the first place, when he neither needed the revision, nor was interested in it? As always, Mr. Danson's thoughts are beyond me.
The election of the new student council is soon. I have mixed feelings about this event. On one hand, I don't like the annoying campaigns, that come with it, but on the other hand, I won't have to deliver the post of the freshmen anymore, once there is a treasurer. It's not like I'm delivering the post manually, I simply send the letters on their way using a combination of white and red magic, but it is a boring work nonetheless. After I received the list of candidates, I prepare the documents they'll need and head out to deliver them. I head to Miss Ojousama first. She's running for treasurer against Mr. Blaising.
Since Mr. Blaising's family is famous and well-integrated into magical society, while Miss Ojousama is a connectionless wild seed, her chances of winning are quite low. I arrive in front of her door and knock lightly. "Miss Ojousama, if you please?" I hear some rumble, and a moment later Miss Ojousama steps out and closes the door behind her. Half of her hair looks brushed, while the other half is unkempt. It's quite a weird sight.
"Good morning, Sir.", Miss Ojousama greets me politely, while fidgeting around suspiciously. "Is there a problem?", I inquire, slightly confused by her weird behavior. "…No?", she replies after a suspiciously long pause. Why is she acting so suspicious? Whatever. I sigh and give her the election protocol. "You will review these documents and meet me after class today to discuss your campaign strategy. Unless you'd prefer to forfeit now and save us both the trouble." Her rival is quite strong after all. "No, Sir.", she replies confidently. Too bad, but at least she's not lacking self-esteem. Who knows, she might win, despite having Mr. Blaising as a rival. That would chasten Mr. Blaising's overflowing self-confidence, so hopefully she'll win. I still don't expect her to win though. I bid her goodbye and continue my way. Next is Mr. Blaising. As expected, Mr. Blaising seems to think, that he would have already won the election. He's grinning arrogantly, while receiving the election protocol. Looks like this year's competition will be fierce, though I don't understand as to why someone would get so worked up for the duty to deliver letters early in the morning. The work of a treasurer isn't exactly a glorious one, nor is it a beneficial one. Once again, I have trouble understanding my students.
When I meet Miss Ojousama in the afternoon, our meeting is immediately interrupted by the eldest Mr. Danson. Apparently, Miss Danson set her brother up to help Miss Ojousama with her campaign. However, it seems Miss Danson forgot to mention this to Miss Ojousama beforehand, as she declined Mr. Danson's help. Miss Danson naturally should have talked to Miss Ojousama, before even involving her brother, but it is also foolish of Miss Ojousama to decline the help offered to her. The older Mr. Danson is famous for being a model student after all, in addition he has the experience of a senior, who ran for various positions himself. When I advise Miss Ojousama to accept the offered help, she retorts, "Well, since I can only choose one resource, I'd rather go with the one which will aid me, instead of leading me. Otherwise I couldn't be called a leader, could I?" Witty. She has a point though, it was too overbearing of Miss Danson to call for help without notifying the person in question and it is quite probable, that she'll continue to meddle in such an overbearing way, if Miss Ojousama doesn't draw a line now. And I guess, Miss Ojousama truly wants to achieve victory on her own, which is also understandable.
After Mr. Danson leaves, we smoothly go through the proceedings. Turns out, that Miss Ojousama has a thought-out concept for her campaign, contrary to my expectations. Though Miss Ojousama's concept is somewhat weird, I do think that she has a chance against Mr. Blaising now. A few days later, the campaigning is in full swing and the campus gardens are packed to the brim with candidates, who desperately vie for attention. I spot Miss Ojousama among them, hugging various students. What the hell is she doing?
Thankfully, I didn't have to attend the election ceremony. I'm a bit curious, as to how Miss Ojousama's and Mr. Blaising's speeches went, but I couldn't care enough to attend this torturous long ceremony. When I go to the conference room to meet the new treasurer, I meet Miss Ojousama unexpectedly. Well, I did think, that she had a chance against Mr. Blaising. Nonetheless, it is surprising, that Mr. Blaising lost. Hopefully, this will dim his arrogance a bit. When I tell Miss Ojousama to report to the office at 5 am, she seems quite unfazed. I'm surprised yet again, as I didn't expect Miss Ojousama to be aware of this part of her duty. She is such a weird one, which makes her hard to read. After I return from instructing the new treasurer in her duties, I find a small letter pinned onto my door. It's from Petunia.
Please meet me in my office, I have something important to discuss with you.
- Petunia
I see. I immediately head to the headmistress' office and politely knock. After being invited in, I open the door and step inside. To my surprise, I don't seem to be the only one Petunia invited. Another person, who I'm unable to recognize, is sitting in front of her. I take a seat next to the stranger and questioningly gaze at Petunia. "Hieronymous, I'm glad you could make it. May I introduce you to Miss Silva?" I narrow my eyes upon listening to Petunia's introduction. Her voice sounds too sweet. It's suspicious. "Pleased to meet you, Miss Silva. I'm Hieronymous Grabiner.", I politely introduce myself nonetheless. Miss Silva has long, slightly curly, brown hair and green eyes. She's wearing one of these silk dresses with a leaves-corset, a traditional garb among dryads. "Petunia, could you please tell me, why you have summoned me?", I inquire. "About that, do you still remember our conversation about a blind date, Hiero- Hieronymous?", Petunia stops, when she sees me standing up. "Next time, please think twice before wasting my time again, Petunia. Goodbye.", I politely nod towards Miss Silva, while bidding the two of them goodbye and immediately leave. And here I thought, something might've happened. I'll make sure not to fall for the same trick again.
On Sunday, I had that old nightmare of mine again. The one, where I'm forced to live through my deepest regret again and again. Due to the nightmare, I repeatedly woke up in that night, with my body soaked in sweat. And as result of the sleep deprivation, that came with it, I overslept. I don't like eating in the cafeteria when it's crowded with students, which is why I usually wake up quite early. Therefore, I'm not going to be late, breakfast is simply going to be annoying. As expected, after getting my food, there were no empty tables available anymore. Damn it. I choose a seat close to the window at a table with relatively less people. Unfortunately, soon after I sat down, two students at the table suddenly start a pointless quarrel over which popstar is the better singer. Oh, how I loathe having to listen to intolerable teenie-talk so early in the morning. I'm close to interfering with their quarrel, to make them stop torturing my mood, when a third student suddenly interrupts their dispute for me. "Guys, please, stop it. Music is art, therefore its worth is in the eye of the beholder. You might compare the technical skills of musicians, but in the end all what matters is, whether you like their music. Therefore, stop arguing over who's better or not.", Miss Ojousama calmly lectures the two students. She delivered these lines in such a calm and matter-of-factly tone of voice, that she actually succeeded in conciliating the two with just these few words. I must admit, that sometimes, Miss Ojousama seems quite mature. More importantly, thank god those two shut up, I wouldn't have endured for much longer.