Classes.

During class, Leonardo tried to pay attention to the teacher for a whole minute before realizing he could barely understand what he was saying. Therefore, he decided to use his time to practice his writing again. But having such a cute girl next to him was distracting. There was too much going on for him to focus on class.

Ever since puberty hit and after his first attempt at a sexual relationship, where he realized that the sexual frustration could only pile up without release, seeing pretty girls was an annoyance he had to work hard to ignore. Knowing nothing could come out of it helped in doing that. There was no need to keep appearances or try to be particularly charming, since it wasn’t like getting a girlfriend would make things any better.

But now? If he believed Mrs. Wisler, there was a clear path to get rid of the curse, and that entailed getting close to a girl first and having her fall for him. Now there was something to worry about. Now, there was the possibility of fucking things up.

He gave a quick glance around the classroom. The other girls weren’t unattractive per-se, but the one next to him, Reiko, was on a league of her own. Cute face and a slender, curvy body. How could a **** guy like him not hope for something to happen? No, hoping wasn’t enough. He needed to make it happen. Trying for anything with Angela was useless. It needed to be Reiko.

He turned his eyes toward her, and both were startled when their eyes met. Shit. It was such a juvenile reaction, but his heart was pounding madly. Thoughts he hadn’t had in forever started crawling back into his mind.

What if she didn’t find him attractive? What if she found him weird? What if she found him more of an annoyance, since the teacher **** her to sit next to him?

The bell rang, startling him. He swallowed a groan as he looked at the clock hanging over the whiteboard. Had first period really gone by already?

The students started rising from their seats and, much to his displeasure, they started to gather around him. They asked questions he couldn’t understand and tried to speak to him in broken, incomprehensible English. He had to ask Reiko to translate from him and tell them he couldn’t really understand what they were saying, and his classmates started losing interest.

“Sorry to be a bother,” he told Reiko, “and thanks.”

“No problem,” she answered with a smile. He noticed how her lips where thin and pink. Cute. “I did tell you to ask for my help.” Her mannerisms were modest, reserved, polite, yet he believed her smile was genuine, not just an obligation.

“It’s a huge relief to have someone to talk to. I’m trying to learn the language as fast as I can, but it’s difficult.”

“How old are you, Contreras-san?”

His eye twitched at the way she addressed him. Right. He had forgotten about the use of honorifics in this country. They really cared about that here, as well as calling each other by their surnames if they aren’t close enough. He’d just have to get used to it.

“I’m 19,” he said.

“N-Nineteen?” she repeated, shocked.

“Weird, right?” he laughed. “My family situation made me drop out of high school. I’m hoping to finish my education here.”

“I-I see. I’m sorry,” she said, looking guilty for asking.

“Don’t worry,” he said with an easy smile and waving his hand dismissively. “And you, uh… Maeda-san? How old are you?”

“I’m turning 18 next week,” she said, showing a relieved smile.

“Really? I’ll have to remember to bring you a present, then,” he said. But what should he give a girl he only just met? Wait, was it even appropriate? Well, she was helping him, so it should be.

“W-Wha…? T-That’s really not necessary,” she told him, visibly flustered. She looked even cuter.

“I think it is,” he said, crossing his arms and frowning in disagreement. “You offer to help me and I do nothing in return? I don’t think that’s how it works.”

He hoped the confident act was convincing enough. Leonardo honestly had no idea how to flirt with a girl or anything like that. He was nervous about screwing things up. He’d never had to worry about it before, but he wasn’t dense enough not to notice when other women tried to flirt with him in the past. That meant that being himself should be enough, right? Or at least just trying to be more attentive that usual.

Besides, he supposedly had something to help push things in his favor. The aphrodisiac scent. Could it be that Maeda-san’s flustered reactions were because of that? He wanted some proof, so he just looked directly into her eyes and gave her a small, charming smile.

He saw her cheeks reddening and her shoulders stiffening. She looked down to the table for a few moments, but still smiled back.

“T-Then… My birthday is on April 10th,” she said. Did that mean it worked? Leo couldn’t be sure.

The second bell rang, signaling the end of the five minute break. Next period started, so he couldn’t keep talking to Maeda-san. He kept trying to focus on class, at least to try and understand what the teacher was saying. He did so every class until lunch break. Many of the students started getting up and leaving the classroom, chatting with friends or moving their desks next to another’s.

“Um…” Maeda-san started. “This school doesn’t have a cafeteria,” she told him. “If you didn’t bring lunch, there’s a shop on the first floor. You can either eat here or somewhere else. A lot of people go to the rooftop during spring and summer.”

“I actually did bring lunch,” he told her, getting his bento box from his bag. “It’s nothing fancy, but I’m hoping it turned out well.”

“Did you make it yourself?” she asked, her eyes widening in surprise.

“Yeah. I’m still not used to using local ingredients, so I’m keeping it simple.”

“Let me see!” she said, excited.

Leonardo opened the black, circular box and revealed its contents. A portion of rice with slices of pork and fish, green onions, and pepper he’d never used before, all of them neatly presented.

“These are shishito peppers, right? I’ve never tried them before, so I just went for it,” he said.

“It looks so nice!” Maeda-san praised. “My mom does all the cooking in my house, so I don’t know how to do it myself,” she laughed. When it died down, she looked around the classroom with a melancholic frown before turning to Leo again. “Say, um… You don’t really know anyone here, right? W-Would you mind if I had lunch with you?”

S-Seriously? Perhaps the aphrodisiac scent really was taking effect if this girl he’d spoken to for not more than a total of 15 minutes was already asking to eat with him instead of going to her friends.

“I’d love that.” He smiled, unable to hide his own excitement.

It’s true that maybe he should’ve gone and looked for Angela, but it wasn’t like they had much to talk about anyway. He could only hope she was doing well.