Another Familiar Face?

Walking down one of the roads that led back towards the dorms, Erina and Yuiko were chatting when they walked past a person reading a book that seemed familiar.

"Wait for a second..." Erina interrupted, while turning around, "Yuiko isn't that Rinte?"

Turning around, Yuiko replied, "Wait, it is! Come on! We should go say hi!"

Running up to Rinte, Erina tapped Rinte on the shoulder while exclaiming, "Hi, Rinte! It's nice to see you again!"

"AH!" Rinte yelped before turning around to see the smiling faces of two of her previous students, "Oh, it's just you two! How are you two?"

Replying that she and Yuiko were fine, Erina asked, "Why didn't you tell us that you were teaching here?"

Chuckling, Rinte answered, "Well, because I'm starting this year! After teaching you two, I decided to stop tutoring for a while and just enjoy life for a bit. However, the higher-ups in this academy reached out, saying that their previous Magic Theory teacher had passed away, and wanted me to be the new teacher."

Stunned, Erina asked, "Wait... so you'll be our Magic Theory teacher?!"

Nodding with a wide smile, Rinte replied, "Yup! So have fun! I'll be your teacher again!"

Seeing a message from Krystina and the others asking if they were okay, Yuiko apologized, "I'm sorry Rinte, but our dorm mates are waiting for us... So we'll meet again in class..."

Patting Yuiko on the head, Rinte assured, "It's fine, I know it's getting a little late. See you in class you two!"

Giving both of the girls a piece of candy, Rinte walked off, continuing to read her book.

Holding her piece of candy, Erina exclaimed, "It must be my lucky day, Yuiko! I've gotten so much candy today!"

Sighing as she walked alongside Erina, Yuiko handed Erina her piece of candy while lamenting, "Here, have my piece of candy, I already ate a lot of candy earlier with Aunt Natsuki... If only I didn't gain fat like you. If I ate a quarter as much candy as you I would be fat as a pig!"

Taking back her piece of candy, Yuiko sighed, "You know, actually, for the sake of your health I'm going to take back this piece of candy... I'll just give it to Krystina..."

Making a grab at the piece of candy, Erina was blocked as Yuiko replied, "Nope~ I gotta make sure you still have room to eat dinner~"

Pouting, Erina mumbled, "Fine~"

Arriving back to their dorm, Erina opened the door only to see a classic scene playing out in front of her.

Having just lost a game of cards, Krystina was sprawled out on the couch while moaning, "It's unfair! How did I lose? I had such a great hand! Hiroshi, your luck is too good!"

Waving to Erina and Yuiko while dealing the next round of playing cards, Hiroshi replied, "Come on, those two are back so let's play!"

Turning over, Krystina asked, "Vlady~? Come on! Let's team up on Hiroshi! He's just too good!"

Sitting on the couch waiting for Hiroshi to finish dealing cards, Vladimir replied, "Nah, it's just that you're really bad at the game, Krystina."

"Hey! Welcome back!" Krystina greeted, waving to Erina and Yuiko.

Looking at her cards, Krystina asked, "So hey... Yuiko and Erina, you wanna team... Actually, scrap that... Erina is worse! ARGHHH!"

Slumping down on the table, Krystina murmured, "I can't even ask Yuiko... she and Erina are like a team..."

Poking Krystina on the head, Erina asked, "Um... Krystina? It's your turn now... so can you stop moping?"

Sitting up as if nothing had happened, Krystina exclaimed, "Sure! New game, new chance! I'll win!"

After wiping the floor with everyone a few times, Erina asked, "Wanna go to the cafeteria? It's getting a little late..."

Having enjoyed playing, even if her ass got handed to her on a silver platter, Krystina replied, "Sure, let's~ go~!"

Walking down one of the paths that led to the cafeteria, Erina mentioned, "Oh yeah, Yuiko, and I bumped into Rinte earlier! She's going to be teaching Magic Theory!"

Jaw slacking in surprise, Hiroshi replied, "Wait! Didn't she say she was done teaching though?"

Nodding, Yuiko replied, "Yeah, but apparently they approached her after the previous teacher passed away. So she accepted it and now she's here!"

Chatting for a while, Erina declared, "I'm going to eat as much dessert as possible today!" While walking through the entrance of the cafeteria, "I'm going to try and break my record!"

Sighing with various expressions of resignation, the rest of the group formed an impromptu huddle.

Starting off their 'secret' meeting, Yuiko asked, "So we know she's doing this thing again... so how are we going to carry out the request that Miyuki gave us? Because we can't just fail on the first day!"

Coming up with a plan of action, Yuiko, Hiroshi, Vladimir, and Krystina showed impeccable teamwork that meal trying to make Erina eat as healthy as possible...

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Walking out of the cafeteria oblivious to her friends' defeated expressions, Erina exclaimed, "I did it! I ate 7 slices of strawberry cake today~!"

Twirling around as she walked, Erina hugged Yuiko while explaining, "I think one reason I was able to do it was that the cake slices weren't too big! And also I pretty much only ate cake!"

"Yes, good for you..." Yuiko replied with a forced smile plastered onto her face, "I'm really happy for you Erina!"

Unable to hold it any longer, Yuiko started pinching Erina's cheeks while lecturing her with a strained smile, "ERINAAA!! Did you forget what Miyuki lectured you on when we left the house! She told you especially to hold back on desserts and eat healthily!"

Getting it out of her system, Yuiko let go of Erina with a brilliant smile that radiated kindness.

Watching the dramatic shift in Yuiko, Erina thought, 'Mental note: Add Yuiko to the never piss off list... Ranked only below Mama...'

Returning back to the dorm, Erina and the others prepared what they would need for the first day classes before turning in for the night.

And so~ one month passed without incident~!