Banri Settsu/The Blue of a Sky Someday

Meeting with a Gamer Tutor!

Backstage Stories

Part 1Part 2Part 3

Banri	... A teach-in-trainin'.
Banri	...
Banri	(Pretty sure one came to my high school? ... I don't got memories of interactin' with 'em, so I dunno.)
Banri	(In the first place, no one 'round me was aimin' to be a teacher, so I dunno what one would even act like...)
Banri	*Sigh*...
Banri	(If we're talking this kind of performance, then I guess it would be that person to ask?)
Banri	... I'll try contactin' him.
Banri	"Are you free this evening?" and send...
Banri	Welp, got that appointment done.
Tsumugi	Hmm, a teacher-in-training...
Tsumugi	How about something like... actually trying to teach someone something? For starters, you could look after the student group's studies.
Banri	Tsumugi-san and Chikage-san, and some~times Itaru-san, look after them, right. Even without me, you guys seem fine.
Banri	Plus, just teachin' someone something and the sense of teachin' someone as a teacher would be different, I'm pretty sure...
Tsumugi	Hmm, that's true.
Tsumugi	Ah, if you really want to try teaching someone... Just a second.
Tsumugi	Right, what about something like this? Do you want me to check if there are any restrictions?
Banri	... Seriously?
Izumi	Banri-kun as a short-term home tutor!?
Taichi	Ban-chan as a tutor!?
Kumon	Whaa!?
Banri	Y'all are too shocked!
Yuki	Not being shocked would be more surprising.
Izumi	Why a home tutor...?
Banri	A little while ago, I discussed how to get into my role with Tsumugi-san.
Tsumugi	So, when I was meeting with the business that helps me with my tutoring work, they just happened to be recruiting for a short-term, intensive 1-month long home tutor, so I introduced Banri-kun to them.
Tsumugi	The child he's supposed to teach is a boy who's a 1st-year in middle school, so his studies shouldn't be too complicated, and it's perfect for the timing of creating Banri-kun's role.
Izumi	I see, if he's a 1st-year in middle school, then Banri-kun should be fine.
Kazunari	What's the kiddo you're supposed to teach like?
Banri	Right after he started school, it seems like he began skipping out, but lately, he's started goin' to school again.
Tsumugi	He's supposed to be a rather smart child, but because of his extended absence, it seems like he's not able to keep up with his studies anymore...
Banri	So, I'm basically gonna be helpin' him with his homework and test prep durin' the short-term intensive tutoring period.
Yuki	... Are you going to be able to get rid of how you stink of delinquent? Aren't you just going to scare him?
Kumon	If the kid is bad at remembering things, Banri seems like he would beat it into him by brute force—!
Taichi	No, he might be taken with Ban-chan's surprising leaderliness and be like "Big Bro, I'll follow you forever!!" or something!
Yuki	That would be because he's a delinquent.
Izumi	Banri-kun... You'll watch your language so that you don't scare that boy, right?
Banri	Hey, I can do that kinda thing in a snap!
Kazunari	I don't think that you have to be that careful! Settsuar, even at uni you've got amaze communication skills, so I'm sure you'll be okaysies!
Tsumugi	Mm, I think so, too. Banri-kun, if there's anything that you're troubled about, feel free to come and ask me about it.
Taichi	Ban-chan, I'm cheering for you!!
Banri	Yeah, yeah.
Banri	It's a pleasure to meet you. I'll be the person in charge of teaching Takashi-kun; my name is Banri Settsu. Though it may be just for a short while, I'm looking forward to working with you.
Banri	(They told me to come dressed in my suit for the play, so I put it on, but don't I fit the part pretty good?)
Mother	It's a pleasure to meet you, too; I'm Takashi's mother. I'll be leaving my son in your care from today on. Come on, you greet him too, Takashi.
Banri	It's nice to meet you, Takashi-kun. Let's do our best together.
Takashi	...
Mother	Goodness, Takashi... I'm so sorry, Sensei, this one's shy in front of people he doesn't know.
Banri	It's fine.
Mother	Because this is the first session, I'll be here as well, but usually at this time, I'm out of the house. Will you two be fine alone from now on?
Banri	Yes, it's no problem. During that time, I'll watch over Takashi-kun.
Mother	I'm so glad that you said that. Well then, when time is up, I'll speak to you again. Takashi, do your best.
Takashi	...
Banri	Looking forward to working with you.
Banri	Well, let's start with working on your homework.
Takashi	...
Takashi	...
Banri	Takashi-kun, is there anywhere you don't understand?
Takashi	...
Banri	Ah, this part is wrong. This is an application of a previous problem, so try using this formula and solving it.
Takashi	...
Banri	Aha. This time you got it right.
Takashi	...
Banri	(Hmm... He ain't resistin' to studyin', and if you point out a mistake, he just corrects himself... He just doesn't wanna respond, huh...)
Banri	Oh, it's already this late. This problem will probably be the last.
Takashi	...
Banri	From now on, I'll be coming to teach you for a while, so if there are things you don't understand, could you compile them before our next session?
Takashi	... You're obviously not a teacher, just a supervisor.
Banri	!!
Banri	(This is gonna be a harder battle than I thought...)

Banri	(I've come 'ere 3 times, and I've tried out a buncha approaches that Tsumugi-san taught me, but the distance between us hasn't shrunk at all. As usual, he doesn't listen to a thing I say...)
Banri	(Thought I'd have a kinda hard time, but I didn't think it'd be this bad. ... Are those communication skills Kazunari praised me for seriously ineffective on a middle schooler?)
Takashi	...
Banri	...
Banri	(He doesn't ask questions, so ain't I just watchin' him do his homework? At this rate, it'll be like Takashi said, and I'll end up bein' just his supervisor...)
Banri	Hm...?
Banri	(That thing on top of his desk, is that... Did I just find somethin' to talk about?)
Banri	(Meh, he's just gonna ignore me.)
Itaru	... So, how's tutoring?
Banri	... Ugh.
Banri	He's more unsociable than I thought, so... I'm havin' a real hard time. He ignores everythin' I say.
Itaru	Lol, Banri having a hard time is Schadenfreude tbh.
Banri	Tch... Damn it, stop makin' fun of me.
Banri	... That reminds me, you tutored too, didn't you, Itaru-san?
Itaru	IG.
Banri	... How did you teach your students?
Itaru	Ahh... Public persona full throttle was my default.
Banri	Just as expected.
Itaru	That way's easier, you know?
Banri	It's true that I'm usin' my public persona too, though.
Itaru	See?
Itaru	Well, there was this one time I got a high school boy who was in his rebellious phase. That kid, all he did was game even during the time I was supposed to be tutoring him.
Banri	That sounds like a hassle in its own right. How'd you get him to study?
Itaru	I said, "If I win in this game, will you come over to your desk?" and challenged him to a showdown with a 100% power refreshing smile.
Banri	What's up with that... Didn't you just con him?
Itaru	It was a fighting game that I'd played before, so first of all, I pretended to be a total beginner and gave him a handicap that way, see?
Banri	You gave him a handicap...!?
Itaru	Just for Round 1. I purposefully took the hard L... And then after that, for the next two rounds, I beat him down without taking a single hit.
Banri	Jeez... You're so childish.
Itaru	I don't wanna lose in a game, so I ended up getting serious. The smug face he made when I lost Round 1 pissed me off, too.
Itaru	But you know, I thought to myself, "Did I really piss him off?" And then...
Itaru	He said, "Sensei, your game sense is crazy!" and instead, he ended up getting really attached to me.
Banri	That's some fast turnaround.
Itaru	After that, I guess he started to respect me, and he started to do his homework when he would get it.
Banri	That's definitely some kinda cheat trick...
Itaru	Well, why not try communicating outside of studying like I did with that boy?
Banri	Communication outside of studyin', huh...
Banri	—Ah.
Takashi	... Who is it.
Banri	It's Settsu.
Takashi	...
	*door opens*
Takashi	!!
Banri	'Sup.
Takashi	Sensei, that outfit...
Banri	Ah, this? If I wore my usual suit, it'd be pretty weird. Today I'm wearin' my casual clothes.
Takashi	Huh...?
Banri	C'mon, put on your shoes. Today, we're havin' an extracurricular lession—but keep it a secret from your mom.

Banri	Takashi, sit over here.
Takashi	Huh... Hold on!
Banri	Let's see... Think I'll use this character. Hurry up and pick.
Takashi	What? Ah... A—Alright...
Banri	Ooh! Usin' that one, huh. I ain't losin' now.
Takashi	Gooo...!
Banri	Heh... Nice moves.
Banri	(I knew it, Takashi's played this game a lot.)
Banri	(... But I've played it more.)
Banri	Use this combo... Yep, K.O. Got my 16th win in a row.
Takashi	Noo!!
Banri	'K. Let's take a breather soon.
Takashi	... Yeah.
Banri	Is cola okay?
Takashi	... Thank you.
Banri	Ya know, you're pretty strong, Takashi. Your throw tech is so good that I started sweatin' there.
Takashi	But, you won every match, Sensei. I couldn't even win a single round...
Banri	That's just the difference in our experience.
Takashi	I'm not used to this arcade stick, so if I had been using a controller, I think I could have hit cleaner lines...
Banri	You looked like you've played the fightin' game we were playin' a lot, but your room doesn't have a console, right?
Takashi	Yeah...
Takashi	You see, when I started middle school, I couldn't make any friends, and I ended up skipping school for a while.
Banri	Sorry kiddo, but I heard about that before I took the job.
Takashi	... So yeah. During that time, all I did was play games inside the house.
Takashi	My mom and dad got worried over that, so they hid all of my consoles somewhere... That's why my room only has a TV in it.
Banri	So that's what happened...
Banri	(There was a keyholder of that game we just played in the corner of his study desk, so I thought it was weird that he didn't have any consoles...)
Takashi	Both of them said that if I only play games, it wouldn't be good for me. They said that if I don't study, I won't be a successful adult in the future...
Banri	Well, to stop 'em from findin' out, why not go to a game center rather than playin' at home?
Takashi	But if my mom finds out...!
Banri	If it happens, I'll help get you permission to keep comin' to the arcade. I'll also bring along an OP support.
Takashi	A support...?
Banri	This person that I know well, he's an even more extreme gamer than I am, but he's also an adult who has higher education, good income, and an OP public persona.
Takashi	Wha... There's someone out there like that!?
Banri	Well, yeah. He's out there.
Banri	He grew up on a theory that the important things in life could basically be learned through games, but even as the game addict he is, he's still responsible from a societal standpoint.
Banri	Tbh, just his public persona and his society specs are good. Once he gets in the dorms, he turns into a insanely lazyass cheat character, though...
Takashi	Cheat...
Banri	If I bring 'im along, and he says how he was raised, then your mom can't complain, right?
Takashi	... Yeah.
Banri	All in all, if ya don't want complaints about bein' a gamer, you've got no option but to skill up the rest of yourself so that they can't complain.
Takashi	...
Banri	... So, what're you gonna do?
Takashi	Just like that person you talked about... I want to work hard so that no one will complain even if I play games a lot...!
Banri	Nice one.
Banri	Welp, when we get back, first thing's test prep.
Takashi	... Okay.
Banri	Before we go, wanna fight one more time?
Takashi	Yeah! Banri-san, tell me how to do the combo you did before!
Banri	Haha. Guess I got no choice.
Tsumugi	Good work. How was your short-term intensive work?
Banri	By teachin' someone somethin', it becomes somethin' that can be used by that person... That's the kind of thing that makes it feel worth doin'?
Banri	I kinda feel like I understand that now.
Tsumugi	Really? Even if you only "kind of understand," that's still good. How was he after that?
Banri	Even after the tutoring period ended, I still sometimes LIME Takashi.
Banri	He made a friend in his class that likes fightin' games, so he's havin' fun at school now.
Tsumugi	That's a relief.
Banri	Yeah.
Tsumugi	You were having problems with communicating with him at first, but... How did you become so close after that?
Banri	Ahh...
Itaru	Ah, damn it! ... I'm gonna shit on this guy.
Itaru	*Sigh*... Banri~ after this is done, join my party—.
Banri	Yeah, yeah.
Itaru	ASAP, thanks~.
Itaru	Tch... The healer's dead as a doornail.
Banri	... In some cases, even a useless adult can be a good example.
Tsumugi	Haha. I think I understand.

Kou