Lesson Learned

Mitsuko sat opposite Koro-sensei as she read through the notes he'd made on her draft letters for potential universities—he'd gone through all ten on them.

"Thanks for doing this, sir," she said, smiling up at him gratefully.

"Well it is part of my job," Koro-sensei sipped his tea. "I have to admit, you've definitely worked me hard with this career counselling." He chuckled. "I've really had to step up my game."

She smiled crookedly. "Good. You really need to earn that paycheck!"

He ducked his head to hide a scowl. "I would if you and your father stopped cutting my pay..."

Her smirk grew when she heard. "But it's fun."

"Mitsuko! Playing with my livelihood is not a game!" he said, flustered. "Honestly..." He sighed, shaking his head. "You're worse than Karma sometimes..." He wiped his eyes. "I'm still emotionally recovering from when he stole my purse."

"I could just steal your money outright if that would make you feel better," she offered pleasantly.

"NO!"

She grinned, filing the letters into her folder. "Sorry, but you're just too fun to tease." Her smile grew fond, resting the folder on her lap. "Thanks, again for doing this, it really is a big help."

Koro-sensei looked pleased. "Well, you did say you're less anxious about your future, that's something I want to continue as you enter high school."

"Things do seem less hopeless." She ran her hand over the glossy front of the folder. "And it's fun planning and learning stuff with my dad; he really believes I'll be great."

Koro-sensei nodded. "That's good to hear," he replied. "I'm glad things are better between you both...you did seem happier yesterday. Did you have fun at the movies?"

Her smile wavered. "Uh, yeah, we did." She hugged the folder tight to her chest. "It's nice hanging out together and doing stuff which is fun—dad was thinking of taking us bowling but Gakushuu doesn't like wearing stranger's shoes, and dad wanted us to see a meteor shower today but I have plans with Rio."

"Oh, you do?!" Koro-sensei's gaze lit up.

Her eyes narrowed when she saw the look in his eye. "Don't even think about following us!"

He blushed. "I-I wasn't going to!" He turned away suspiciously. "...And what's wrong with being curious in my student's love lives?"

"Because it's creepy!" she snapped, glaring. "It's already bad enough my dad will be tracking our date with his stupid app."

Koro-sensei perked up. "Oh, why is he tracking you?"

She sighed in exasperation. "He's worried things will turn out bad like on Valentine's day." She rolled her eyes. "He's being ridiculous but even mom is saying it's a good idea."

"Why, what happened on Valentine's day?"

Mitsuko gave a strained laugh. "Just some asshole being homophobic, so I...Pepper sprayed him."

"Oh, my." Koro-sensei looked like he was trying very hard not to laugh.

"Yeah, so we had to run, and then we ended up in this dodgy karaoke bar."

"What?!" He looked alarmed now.

"It's fine, we left quickly." She waved her hand dismissively. "But my parents are still freaking out about that part..."

"I see." Koro-sensei hummed as he sipped his tea. "I can understand why they're being so overprotective." He rubbed his head. "Your mother has been sending me a few emails of complaints..." He gave a strained chuckle. "She wasn't pleased about the space incident."