Teasing Master Nishikata-chan

Eraser

Chi sat in her chair, bored. Nakai-sensei isn't a bad teacher, but his voice is like a mosquito buzzing in my ear and it's driving me crazy!

Then Chi remembered a story her mother told her about an unlikely incident with an eraser. "Hey, Tanabe-kun!"

He turned to face her with a stoic expression. "What."

"I forgot my eraser today, can I borrow yours?"

Tanabe stared at her. "You were using it during Maths today. The white one with your name written on it, Nishikata-san."

"What?! How did you - uh, I mean, right! So, um, I lost mine...?" Chi stammered, fumbling for an excuse. I've got to do this! I'll definitely take the lead!

He gave her a dead stare, then passed his eraser over. 

"Thanks Tanabe-kun, I'll give it right back to you in a sec... hm?"

"Nishikata-san, you're using a bullpoint pen."

"Oh, I guess I am... ahahaha..."

Tanabe raised his eyebrow at her. "Uhm... so... uh..." Chi stammered, "I just, made a mistake and thought I was using pencil so..."

"Really?" Tanabe swiftly grabbed her notebook and checked it carefully. "I don't see any mistakes in here. All your characters are correct, are they not?"

Chi opened and closed her mouth. "Uhh..."

"Well, here you go, Nishikata-san." Tanabe put her notebook gently back onto her desk with a soft thmp.

"Thanks, Tanabe-kun..."  Chi let her forhead fall onto the table. Dammit! I should've been more careful and expected all the worst to happen! Arghhh... and my plan was so perfect too... Damn you, Tanabe-kun!

Later that period...

"Oh, Nishikata-san." 

"Uh huh."

"Have you heard of the rumor, where if you write the name of the person you like onto your eraser, your love will be eternal?" 

"Wha-- What?!!" Chi cried. "No way you could've known! How'd you know I was going to - going to..."

"Yeah, I thought so." He shifted so he was facing forwards again. "Figures."

"... But you don't know why, do you?" Chi asked hopefully. If I can do this, I'll be dragging him down even just a tiny bit--

"Yeah. Because you like me, right? If the rumor is true, and I used it up after you wrote your name, our love would've been eternal." He dragged his dark pupils and stared into her eyes.

"No! No!" She shrieked. "That's not what I... not what I--"

"Nishikata, Tanabe, are you two alright? You're being quite noisy there," Nakai-sensei called.

"Yes! We're just fine!" Chi yelped. "Nothing's wrong! Nothing!!"

Tanabe raised an eyebrow at her again. "Really! Nothing!!" She screeched.

"If you say so, Nishikata," Nakai-sensei said, chuckling.

Although Tanabe was sitting next to her, and even though she knew she should never, ever in front of Tanabe blush, Chi felt her face heat up quickly. Luckily for her, Tanabe completely ignored her blush and kept staring forwards.

Or so she thought.

"You can stop blushing, Nishikata-san, unless you like me." 

"WHAT!" Chi yelped, her hair lifting like a ghost and her blush further deepening. "No, no, no!! I don't... don't... don't feel that way! No way! No way!!"

"...You're still blushing, Nishikata-san. Somewhat more, actually."

"...You must be seeing things, Tanabe-kun..."

"I can take a photo for you, if you'd like."

"NO!" Chi screamed. Instantly all attention was on her again. Chi's cheeks flushed, embarrassed and furious that Tanabe managed to do this to her while staring forwards with a stone-cold face. "Nishikata, are you sure you feel alright?" Nakai-sensei called again. "This is the second time in a period, you know."

"I'm f-fine." Chi muttered, "Sorry, Nakai-sensei."

"That's ok. You're actually a lot like your father, you know, when your mother kept teasing him." 

Argh!! Here's someone who might actually realize what's happening to me, darn you Tanabe-kun!! Chi dropped her head, hoping her hair covered her round face. "Uh, good to know...."

"If you've got problems, you can definitely talk to your mother, you know. She's very, what I'd call experienced. Alright people, back to the topic." Nakai-sensei turned and continued to talk in a monotone voice while reading off an old, worn book.

"Urrghh," Chi groaned softly, fists clenched and head bowed on the table. She'd clearly inherited her mother's looks, but not her personality. In fact, speaking personality-wise, she could've passed for her father's younger female clone.

"Hm. Well, did you write anyone's name on your eraser, Nishikata-san?" 

"N-no, not that I remember of..." Chi sighed in utter defeat. "To be honest, it sounds a little childish now..."

"Is that so." Tanabe put his pencil down and raised his hand. "Nakai-sensei, may I use the bathroom?" 

"Go ahead, Tanabe." 

Tanabe stood up and pushed his chair in before walking out the door. His footsteps could be heard making gentle clacking sounds, each softer than the latter until the sound simply faded away. Chi sighed, resting one round cheek in her palm. Teasing Tanabe-kun seems impossible... the same way father tries to tease mother... no, it's just the first day back. I can't give up so fast, I'm my mother's child, the former Teasing Master Takagi-san!! She taught me all of her methods, I can definitely tease Tanabe-kun by the end of the day!! I must not give up just yet!! A weak start, but I can definitely, 100% carry out this eraser-technique I learnt!!!

Chi suddenly had a thought. Hang on a... Tanabe-kun leaves for the bathroom and he thinks he can keep his stationery safe from me?! I must teach him to be more alert! He must think I don't have the brains to do this; I'll take this chance to write my name on his eraser and tease him!! And if I can't, I'll see which girl's name he already wrote on it and tease him with that instead! This is a great plan!

She stretched her left arm across to Tanabe's table, making sure not to touch anything on it or move anything out of place. Chi grabbed the pale white chunk of rubber and slowly slid off the case, bit by bit.

L

'L'? Someone's name is already on this? Huh, didn't realize he was the kind of person to believe in stories like that... Chi wondered, then slide it off further down. Lo. There's no-one in our class with that name... 

Look into the hallway, Nishikata-san.

Chi raised her head, confused. That was when she spotted part of Tanabe's face, angled so only she could see. Darn you, Tanabe-kun!! She thought, the distance between her head and shoulders shrinking in embarrassment. As he walked past to his seat, he gave her a traditional half-smile, which only made her defeat more bitter.

"Every time you do exactly what I think you'd do, which just makes winning easier for me and defeat easier for you, Nishikata-san. You're as readable as an open book."

"I'll beat you someday, Tanabe-kun, this is just the beginning! Just you wait!" Chi barked.

"I don't think you can. Not when you take the odds of 50-50s and still can't win." Tanabe raised an eyebrow at her.

"Eh? 50-50 odds?" She echoed. "What?"

"Not telling."