She lived in Osaka, where she and her parents lived very happily.

It was her first time in grade 1 and she was nervous. Her parents dropped her off at her school and she went inside. She greets the teachers and students like her parents taught her. 

Then, she removed her outdoor shoes and put on her indoor shoes. She looked for her homeroom classroom and arrived there with the teacher already in there.

The teacher told her to sit in her seat while they waited for the other students to arrive.

After the students arrived, the teacher started to teach them Japanese. 

Each period was 45 minutes. The subjects they have to learn are math, Japanese, P.E, art, music, life studies, and moral education, which they learn every day for weeks. Until a new student transferred into her school: 

Takeshi Yamamoto.

Takeshi was 2 years older than Yuki and was in 3rd grade.

One day, Yuki bumped into Takeshi in the hallway while rushing to get to her homeroom classroom because she was 2 minutes late. Her parents already scolded her, and if she were any later, her parents would get even angrier.

“Ah!” Yuki screamed as she fell to the ground.

“Oh, sorry about that, are you okay?” Takeshi apologized as he extended his hand to help Yuki up.
“Y-yes, I’m okay,” Yuki said nervously.

“Well, you better get to class, I should too, ‘cause I'm late. Bye.”

“Um, bye-bye…”

That was the first interaction ever between those two, and they didn’t interact for 3 years until Yuki was in 4th grade and Takeshi was in 6th grade. That was when Yuki needed a tutor because she kept getting bad grades, so her mom had had enough and paid for a tutor. Her tutor was Takeshi.

Takeshi was wearing a normal gakuren school uniform like every other student in Japan when Takeshi arrived at Yuki's home. He first greeted Yuki’s mom and dad. And went upstairs to teach Yuki the subjects she has been failing.

He opened her door and saw her playing video games instead of studying.

“Hello.”

“Wah!” she yelled.

“Oh sorry, were you busy doing something?” Then he stopped talking. “Wait, I remember you, you were that little girl who bumped into me 3 years ago. Not doing so well in class aren’t ya? You need a tutor like me.”

“Um, yeah, my grades have been…declining for the last year until now. And I really need your help, so can you get rid of my gaming addiction?”

“Sure, first, give me your phone, no more phone for the entire school year.”

“Wh-whaaaat?! Th-the entire school year?! That’s like…7 more months!”

“Yeah exactly, if you want your phone back. Your report card needs your teacher to say you have been a good student, have been paying attention in class, and have been improving your learning skills.”
“You're not fair!”

“Life ain’t always fair, girl. Now here, I have some work for you to do, and after that, we’ll be doing some tests. I will be tutoring you for 2 hours.”

“2 hours?! That's forever!” Yuki said with a groan. But wanting not to anger her parents further, she finally accepted.

***

For the past 7 months, Yuki worked hard, she always tried to steal back her phone from Takeshi, but he never let her. She has been taking lots of notes, studying with Takeshi for 2 hours, and when he leaves, she studies for an extra 3 hours.

They introduced themselves to each other every day because Yuki always had no manners and would always pull out her phone in class so she could play on it. She was a laid-back girl who would not care about anything other than playing video games, but Takeshi changed all of that.

Yuki’s parents were surprised that Takeshi was able to change her in just 7 months when they couldn’t in 16 months.

Takeshi, of course, gets his paycheck of 20,000 yen per month. And they both even became friends.

***

7 months later, it was time for her final report card. Yuki was nervous, and Takeshi was a little nervous, too. When Yuki looked at her report card, the look on her face told all. She has improved.

The teacher said on her report card to keep up with the hard work and to keep improving. She was happy and excited to show this to her mom and dad. Takeshi was relieved that his work had paid off and was happy for her.

She showed her report card to her parents and they were happy as well.

Spring break arrived, and Takeshi invited Yuki to eat some ice cream with him, and of course, like a normal 7-year-old, she agreed.

They met up in the park, where it was peaceful, and coincidentally, there was an ice cream truck, so Takeshi bought two for him and Yuki. After Takeshi paid for the ice cream, he handed out the strawberry-flavoured one to Yuki, and she happily and gratefully accepted his gift.

He ate his chocolate-flavoured ice cream.

“Thank you for the ice cream, Takeshi-kun!” Yuki said while smiling with her bright smile.
“No problem, Yuki-chan.”

“Can we go out for ice cream every week?” she asked Takeshi nicely.

“Sure, of course we can, just don’t tell your parents.”

“I won’t! I promise!” she smiled brightly.

***