Sumire's Question

Hub World, Earth, Japan, Tokyo.

A few hours passed quickly at the Tsukamoto house. By now, everyone was gathered at the front door and Tatsuo, Chiho, Mikoto, Eri, and Akira were about to leave.

"We might have to call you over more often when we study, Soramoto-Kun." Mikoto said as she threw an arm over Tatsuo's shoulders. "To think, we offered to help you guys with what you didn't understand, but you ended up tutoring most of us instead."

"Yeah, you're really smart, Soramoto-Kun." Tenma said while bouncing in place. "I feel like I got a lot smarter."

'Not that the bar was all that high.' Tatsuo thought to himself while smiling at the compliments.

"But if you're so good with high school subjects, why are you still in middle school, Soramoto-Kun?" Eri asked skeptically. "I mean, you probably could have skipped quite a few grades if you wanted to, right?"

When Eri asked that question, everyone gazed at Tatsuo with curiosity in their eyes. Meanwhile, Tatsuo could not help twitching his upper lip.

"Let's just say that I didn't have the best childhood." Tatsuo said in a hard to describe tone. "And because of that, my mother wanted me to spend more time around people my age. That way, I would be more well-rounded socially."

Everyone could tell that this led back to the topic Tatsuo avoided when it came to how he learned the piano. And they thought, that perhaps he was not treated like a normal child when he was growing up.

'Just what kind of experiments were performed on him while he was kidnapped?' Akira thought to herself. 'It was probably pure torture to grow up like that.'

"Anyway, I think it's about time to head home." Tatsuo said with a smile. "but I guess I'll see you all tomorrow?"

"Definitely." Mikoto replied excitedly. "With your help , I'll have the best grades I've ever gotten."

"Ooh! Me, too! Me, too!" Tenma shouted.

"I suppose my grades will be slightly better, as well." Eri said while flicking one of her twin tails over her shoulder.

"Yes, I'm looking forward to working with you again, Soramoto-Kun." Akira said calmly.

"Then, I think I'll get going, too." Chiho added. "I've gotta go to the subway station."

Hearing that, Tatsuo stopped to think for a moment.

"I'll walk you to the station, Sasaki-San." Tatsuo said.

"Are you sure?" Chiho asked. "You really don't have to go out of your way."

"It's okay." Tatsuo said while waving dismissively. "I can stop at MgRonald's while I'm over there. I have a craving for an apple pie."

"If you say so." Chiho said. Then, she smiled as she continued. "Then, I'll thank you."

'This will be a good opportunity to see Maou-San.' Tatsuo thought to himself. 'I wanna feel the difference between his magic power and Yusa-San's holy power. But that's only if he's working tonight.'

"You'll probably run into Maou-San if you go the MgRonald's." Chiho said as if she could read Tatsuo's mind. "He usually works Monday nights."

"Oh, I haven't seen him since my birthday party." Tatsuo said. "Well then, let's go."

After saying that, he turned to Yakumo and smiled.

"Thanks for having us over, Tsukamoto-San." Tatsuo said in a friendly tone.

"Don't worry about it." Tenma said without even thinking.

"He wasn't talking to you, Tenma." Eri said sharply. "He was talking to Yakumo."

"Oh! Oops!" Tenma exclaimed as she covered her mouth and blushed embarrassedly.

"Actually, since you know both my Nee-San and I, you can just call me Yakumo from now on, Soramoto-Kun." Yakumo said, sounding completely unbothered that Tenma answered in her stead.

"Now that I think about it, you were supposed to call me Tatsuo, too." Tatsuo said with a smile. "Or were you supposed to call my mom, Sumire? Now that I think about I, I can't remember."

Tatsuo could not be bothered for forgetting something like that. He had been away for more than five months, after all. So, to remember a short conversation like that was a bit much for someone without eidetic memory.

Seeing the two telling each other to call them by their given names, the other five girls looked at them with gossip loving glints in their eyes. Well, everyone other than Tenma, that is.

"Tenma, is spring time finally coming for Yakumo?" Mikoto asked in a whisper.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Tenma asked in a confused tone.

Immediately, Mikoto, Eri, and Akira felt like face palming. Meanwhile, Chiho only smiled awkwardly, not sure how to react to that.

"Anyway, let's get going, Sasaki-San." Tatsuo said after giving up on thinking about the conversation from a week ago. "See you at school tomorrow, Yakumo-San. And it was nice to meet you, Tsukamoto-San, Suou-San, Sawachika-San, and Takano-San."

"It was nice to meet you all." Chiho said as she bowed her head politely. "and I'll see you at school tomorrow, Yakumo-Chan."

"Bye." Yakumo said softly. "So you at school tomorrow."

"You two be careful on the way back." Mikoto advised.

With that, Tatsuo and Chiho walked away from the Tsukamoto residence and headed towards the Sasazuka subway station. Chiho took the chance to ask a few more questions about things she did not understand while they walked.

Eventually, the two reached the train station and Tatsuo watched over Chiho until she walked through the turn styles. After that, he turned around and made his way towards the MgRonald's.

"Takano has been following me ever since I got a certain distance from Yakumo-San's house.' Tatsuo thought to himself. 'I know she's a secret agent, but why would she be following me? Is she here to capture me?'

As Tatsuo's thoughts reached that point, his eyes narrowed dangerously as he started circulating his [energy] around his body. However, he had no intention of acting first. But if Akira decided to attack, he would make her understand why that was such a bad idea.

Lucky for Akira, she was only following him to make sure he got home safely. Since Tatsuo had been rescued, she was sure that whoever kidnapped him in the first place would want him back. And if they tried to kidnap him again, she would makes sure they did not succeed.

Though, Akira was unaware that Tatsuo would not be taken down so easily.

Eventually, Tatsuo reached the MgRonald's. And he could see Sadao standing behind the counter when he looked through the front window. So, he smiled slightly as he pulled the store's door open.

"Hello and welcome." Sadao said as the bell on the door rang. Then, he noticed who the guest was. "Oh, it's Tatsuo-Kun. Haven't seen you since your birthday party. How have you been?"

"Not bad." Tatsuo replied. "How about you, Maou-San?"

"The same." Sadao replied with a shrug. "So, what can I get you?"

"Can I have three… NO, four apple pies?" Tatsuo asked. "I had a real craving for them after studying with Sasaki-San and Yakumo-San for the last few hours."

"Oh, Chi-Chan mentioned that she would be taking time off for midterms." Sadao replied while punching in Tatsuo's order. "Alright, that will be 896 yen. Would you like to pay with cash or card?"

"Um… I think I've got enough cash." Tatsuo muttered unsurely as he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket.

The reason for Tatsuo's tone was because he usually did not carry much cash on him. No more than a few thousand yen. And that was because his mother gave him a credit card to use for anything he might want to buy.

As Tatsuo thought, he had a 1,000 yen bill in his wallet. So, he pulled it out and handed it to Sadao.

"Alright, your change is 104 yen." Sadao said as he opened the register and placed the 1,000 yen bill inside. Then, he took out the correct change and handed it to Tatsuo as he continued. "Your order will be out shortly."

After receiving the change, Tatsuo waited to the side while Sadao went to prepare his order. After a few moments, Sadao returned with a bag holding four apple pies and handed it to Tatsuo.

"Here's your order." Sadao said while wearing a professional smile.

"Thanks." Tatsuo said with a smile of his own. "Well then, I'm sure Mom is waiting for me."

"Okay." Sadao replied with a nod. "Give your mother, as well as Tenshin-San and Shiranui-San, my regards. And please come again."

With that, Tatsuo left the MgRonald's and made his way back home.

"I'm home?!" Tatsuo shouted as soon as he walked out of the elevator.

"Tatsu-Chan~~~! Welcome back!" Sumire shouted.

After taking off his shoes and changing into a pair of slippers, Tatsuo made his way through the house and entered the living room where he found Sumire sitting on the couch and watching TV.

"So, how was the study session?" Sumire asked with a smile while she patted the couch cushion right next to her.

"It was fine.' Tatsuo replied nonchalantly. "I ended up teaching everyone. Oh, and I met Yakumo-San's Nee-San and her friends, too."

"Oh, were they girls?" Sumire asked with a smile.

"Yeah." Tatsuo replied.

*Clatter!*

As soon as Tatsuo answered Sumire's question, the sound of a tray falling to the floor could be heard. When Tatsuo and Sumire turned their attention to the source of the noise, they saw Mai entering the living room from the direction of the kitchen. And she was quickly catching what used to be on top of the tray, two teacups, which she was balancing on the fingers of her left hand, and a teapot, which she caught with her right.

"*Sigh* Made it." Mai said in a relieved tone.

After that, Mai quickly walked over to the coffee table in front of the couch and placed the teacups in front of Tatsuo and Sumire. Then, she placed the teapot on the table between them. After making sure everything was perfect, Mai looked at Tatsuo and tears instantly started flowing from her eyes.

"*Sigh* Here we go again.' Tatsuo muttered.

And just as he expected, Mai threw herself at Tatsuo and started crying loudly.

"Wahh~~~~~! Tatsu-Kun, why?" Mai asked in a heartbroken tone. "Aren't I good enough for you? What about our promise?"

"You mean the promise that doesn't actually exist?" Tatsuo asked dryly.

"Small details." Mai replied quickly as she buried her head in Tatsuo's chest.

"That's not small at all.' Tatsuo replied in a tired tone.

If the two male members of the [Dimensional Chat] heard what Tatsuo just said, they would undoubtedly have something to say about it.

"Mai-Chan, don't' you ever get tired of this?" Sumire asked as she reached over and stroked Mai's head.

"Nope!" Mai said vigorously. "I'm gonna be Tatsu-Kun's wife. That's a fact written in the stars."

"And what if Tatsu-Chan wants to marry someone else? Or even have more than one wife?" Sumire asked with a smile. "Because if he does, I could probably get that law passed in a week with my connections."

Hearing that, both Tatsuo and Mai froze. While Mai looked at Sumire with a horrified expression, because she knew that what Sumire said was true, Tatsuo looked at her with a dumbfounded expression. Though, he did not think it was such a bad idea.

'I was rather torn about that, myself.' Tatsuo thought to himself. 'I mean, once I've set my eyes on a woman, I don't think I could bearre to let her go. I'd never force them, though. But if they were willing, I wouldn't want to let them go just because I had to pick only one.'

That thought was proof that his draconic soul's awakening was changing Tatsuo's mindset. Though, he was completely unaware of that fact.

Meanwhile, after seeing Tatsuo's expression of deep contemplation, Sumire's smile widened. At the same time, Mai saw his expression and her own expression darkened rather quickly. Even so, she did not answer Sumire's question. Instead, she changed the subject because she needed more time to think of her answer.

"Tatsu-Kun, what's in the bag?" Mai asked while pointing to the MgRonald's bag on the coffee table.

"Oh, on my way home, I stopped by MgRonald's because I wanted an apple pie." Tatsuo said as he sat Mai next to him on the couch. "And while I was buying one for me, I bought one for everyone else, too."

"My Tatsu-Chan is so sweet." Sumire said happily. "You make mommy so happy."

In response, Tatsuo smiled as he reached into the bag before handing an apple pie to Sumire and Mai.

"By the way, where is Kasumi-Neesan?" Tatsuo asked. "I have one for her, too."

"She's in her room." Mai replied as she accepted the apple pie with a smile. "She's studying for midterms, too."

"I see." Tatsuo replied. "Well, I'll go give her a little snack, then."

With that said, Tatsuo stood up and picked up the bag with the remaining two apple pies.

"After that, I'll probably mess around in my room for a while before going to bed." Tatsuo said as he started moving towards the living room's entrance.

"Okay." Sumire said while gently waving her hand. "Have a good night."

"Sweet dreams, Tatsu-Kun." Mai said as she blew a kiss. "Make sure you dream about me, okay?"

Shaking his head with a smile on his face, Tatsuo left the living room and walked down the hall. Eventually, he reached Kasumi's room and knocked on the door.

*Knock!* *Knock!* *Knock!*

"Kasumi-Neesan, are you busy?" Tatsuo asked after knocking three times.

A moment later, the door opened and Kasumi poked her head out.

"Tatsuo-Kun, do you need me for something?" Kasumi asked curiously.

"No, not really." Tatsuo said as he reached into the MgRonald's bag. "but I bought some apple pies from Mg R's and I wondered if you wanted one."

Seeing the apple pie in Tatsuo's hand, Kasumi's eyes lit up. She had quite the sweet tooth, after all.

"Thank you, Tatsuo-Kun." Kasumi sad as she accepted the apple pie. "By the way, how was your study group? Are you making progress?"

"Yeah, everything was okay." Tatsuo replied with a shrug. "I'll tell you about it tomorrow on the way to school. I'm gonna go to my room and get some rest now."

"Oh, okay." Kasumi replied. "then, have a good night."

"You, too." Tatsuo replied as he turned around and headed to his own bedroom.

As soon as Tatsuo entered his bedroom, he ate the apple pie. Then, he went into his walk-in closet and took out all his forging tools to start working on the fans he planned to gift to Mai.

"If I really make all these fans and give them to Mai-nee, she's gonna be even worse." Tatsuo said with a smile.

Deciding not to think about it any further, Tatsuo got to work and worked deep into the night before going to bed.