When Silence Roars

“Okay class. Please settle down.” Mr. Hitake said after marking his register. He was still smiling. Seriously, what could he have been so happy about today?

As the class session rolled on he explained to us about algebra and then gave us work to do. I found it fairly easy to do but when I looked around and saw Ujiteru clawing his hair I guess it wasn’t easy for him. I smiled to myself because he deserved it for treating me like his personal nerd. Wait, am I calling myself a nerd? Never mind that. Mr. Hitake got up from his desk and started walking around the classroom. He was checking to see if students were doing the problems correctly. He stopped between Takaya and I and continued walking when he saw us doing the correct thing. He stopped at Ujiteru’s desk. Ujiteru looked up at him with a distressed face and started saying something to him. Mr. Hitake took an empty chair and sat down beside him. He started explaining and Ujiteru began smiling and writing on his paper.

The bell rang. Everyone began packing up. Mr. Hitake walked to the front of the class while talking. “Please do page 45 in your text book and bring it the next time we have class.” It seemed no one heard that. “I hope you all heard that.” He said confidently.

Takaya and I decided that we would walk home together. We walked out of the classroom and started talking. “Sayuri! Hold on.” Ujiteru said walking towards us. “I wanted to talk to you.”

I wonder what this is about. “Does it have to be now? Takaya and I are walking home together.”

Takaya smiled. “It’s okay. We can talk later. Oh, give me your number.” Takaya and I exchanged numbers and he waved good-bye to both of us.

“Yes Ujiteru. What is it?” I said as we began walking to the exit.

“I’ll tell you when we get in the car.” He quickly said rushing to the parking lot.

I stopped. “What? Who said I agreed to get in your car?” He sighed and grabbed my arm while dragging me to the car. He ran towards a black car that had the driver standing behind the open door. Ujiteru gently pushed me inside and climbed in after me. The driver closed the door and went around to the driver’s seat. Correction, limousine.

“You’re riding in a limousine?!” I said shocked.

Ujiteru smirked at me. “I am rich.” I rolled my eyes and took off my back pack. He poured me some sparkling wine and handed the glass to me.

I looked at the glass and then stared at him, “Isn’t this a bit fancy.”

“Just enjoy yourself.” He poured himself a glass and hit his with mine. “Cheers.” After we finished our sparkling wine he set them down and turned towards me. “I need your help, Sayuri.”

“With what?” This was getting interesting. What does he seriously need my help for?

“I want you to be my tutor.”

Now what are the odds of that? Hm, first of all it’s Ujiteru Hojou – the rich, unruly maniac who toys with me every single day. Why is he asking me when he can hire a genius to tutor him; he’s rich enough to do that. “Why me?” I was confused.

“I’m not taking no for an answer.” He was determined about this. It was set on his face.

“Are you kidding me? You’re rich enough to hire a genius to tutor you. Why would you ask me Ujiteru, seriously?” I wanted my answer and I was going to be determined like him in order to get it.

He rolled his eyes at me and turned his body sideways to get a better look at me. “Because Sayuri, I’m always taking your homework. So instead of doing that all the time I can get some knowledge from you the right way.” That seemed like a valid reason, which means he wouldn’t be assaulting me anymore.

I like this idea. “Okay, I’ll do it. What do you want me to tutor you in?”

He smiled a knowing smile. “Everything.”

“You’re joking, right?!” I exclaimed in disbelief.

He kept that smile on his face while shaking his head. “No I’m not.”

“We’re here Mr. Hojou.” The driver said.

“Good. Come on Sayuri we can discuss this inside over some food.” The driver opened the door for us and Ujiteru stepped out before me. He held out his hand to help me out and guided me toward the restaurant ahead.

“Why are we here?” I asked a little confused.

“I said we can discuss it inside over some food. Don’t you want something to eat?” He laughed.

“Yes, I’d like something to eat.”

“Good girl. Now let’s go inside.” He opened the door for me and ordered what I chose as well as his. He even paid for my share. Something is seriously up with Ujiteru. We got our food and sat at a table near a window.

“Thank you.” It felt odd saying that to Ujiteru because he is always taking from me.

He smiled genuinely. “You’re welcome.”

“So let’s cut to it.” I was really curious to hear the plans he had for this tutoring thing.

He looked me in the eyes. “Okay first thing, you’ll definitely get paid. I’ll give you 20,000 yen per week.”

I was dumfounded. “20,000 yen! That’s quite a lot.”

He cocked his head to his right, “Yes and I’ll work with the time you give me as long as it’s after school. Once on the weekend will work with me.”

I can’t believe what I’m hearing. This is like having a job and attending school at the same time and getting really good pay. “Wow, I guess I can’t say no to that. Oh my gosh. I’m really shocked by all of this. This is big.”

He put down his drink and clasped his hands under his chin. “It’s a win win situation. So when is the best time for you?”

I pondered for a little on the time and the days. “Alright, we can meet Monday to Thursday afternoon from five to seven and on Sunday two to five.”

“Eleven hours for the week; that’s fine with me.” He said taking up his drink again. “Cheers?”

I smiled and raised my glass and hit his. “Cheers.”

After eating our delicious meal Ujiteru bought ice-cream for the both of us. That was delicious too and I still can’t believe I was enjoying myself. I hadn’t had this much fun with a friend in a while. Friend? It’s Ujiteru we’re talking about. I guess he could be my friend now since he’s being so nice, but, he still has more to prove for him to be my friend.

We were on the way to my house and Ujiteru rolled the screen up so the driver couldn’t hear nor see us. “I trust you had a good time?”

I smiled from ear to ear. “I sure did. I won’t be eating dinner when I get home. I’m full. Thank you again.”

“You’re welcome again.” He laughed. “When will the tutoring start?”

“Oh yeah. We can start tomorrow seeing that we have the math assignment to do.”

“Yeah that’s a good idea. We can do it at my house.” He said leaning back with his hands propped behind his head.

“Okay. I guess that means I’ll be riding to your house every day after school.” I’ve never seen not been to Ujiteru’s house before, but I’m guessing it’s really huge.

“Yep. So it’s settled then.” He said confidently.

The car stopped. I was home. “I’ll see you tomorrow Sayuri.” Ujiteru said. He looked at me and smiled and did something unexpected. He leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. I stared at him with my wide eyes and he smirked at me. The driver opened the door and held his hand out for me. I stepped out and Ujiteru handed me my back pack. “See you later Sayuri.” The smirk hadn’t left his face. The driver went into the vehicle, tooted the horn and drove off. I stood on my walkway still in shock staring at the limousine driving away in the distance. What the hell just happened?



Beep. My phone vibrated on my nightstand. I flipped it open and looked at the message. Hey Sayuri, how was the day?

I responded to Kumai, My day was okay and something shocking happened at the end.

What happened?

I’m still in shock. Ujiteru kissed me.

WHAT?!!! Meet outside NOW! Kumai is obviously surprised.

I walked down the stairs and passed the hallway. “Mom, I’m outside with Kumai.”

“Okay. Tell him I said hi.” Mom said while chewing some popcorn and watching a movie.

“Will do.” I stepped outside after putting on my slippers and saw Kumai panting with his hands on his hips. This should be interesting.