Chapter Text
Yuzuru Hanyu (21)
Yuzuru loved reading in sunny weather in the park, he also tended to work so much better on his papers and homework there than anywhere else. Others would find it distracting to have people and children running around, making noise but it didn’t bother him.
With a soft smile on his face he looked up at the sky for a moment, tapping his cheek with the panda on the end of his pen, hoping to find the answer to the question written in black ink on his paper. His lips formed a straight line not recalling it and he had to mark the question to revisit later. Just in that moment he spotted from the corner of his lips how a round ball bounced towards the table he was occupying, kids in the distance jumping up and down and waving. Yuzuru could see their lips moving and he got up from his seat to pick the ball up and kick it back towards them. One of the kids caught it and bowed to Yuzuru who gave him a small wave, returning to his homework. The usual silence enveloped him, allowing him to continue working through the long pages in front of him, until he felt a tap on his shoulder making him stop. Raising his head he saw his mother smiling down at him, her hands forming the only words he could ‘hear’ and understand.
“It’s time to go, your new class is starting soon and you don’t want to be late on the first day.”
Yuzuru nodded his own hands moving in reply. “Yes, mom. I will pack things up.” Standing up he carefully collected all the papers and notebooks, putting them back in his bag, which he slung over his shoulder, following his mother to the marked car.
You know, there is one thing you need to know about Yuzuru Hanyu - he was deaf. The diagnosis spoken by doctors barely after he reached the age 2. At first everyone thought he was just in the world of his own, caused by the earlier birth than scheduled but as he was a silent child who barely cried they didn’t take it to be anything serious. They were more occupied by the signs of asthma appearing than the lack of his cries or response. It was his mother he grew more and more suspicious of the lack of voice or reaction from her son.
Now at the age of twenty-one he prepared to re-take some of his high school classes which he missed due to reasons which are meant to be told another day. Yuzuru wanted to finish and graduate so next year he could aim to go to University. Putting his seat-belt on he turned to look at his mother and asked.
“Were there some weird questions from the teachers?” Yumi tilted her head to the side confused at first but then she remembered. Her gaze turned soft, a gentle hand brushing a few dark strands from Yuzurus eyes.
“No, the teacher you will be assigned to has a small class, so he can make sure you are not missing anything and can graduate soon.” Yuzuru relaxed a bit, leaned back against his seat. Maybe this time around things will go better than the last couple of times.
“Hopefully.” He added after a minute or two.
Javier Fernández López (26)
Javier loved working with kids or young adults. He has seen his path in teaching at a very young age already and volunteered almost everywhere he could. During his teenage years that brought him to Japan and he learned to love the country and language. For the following years he learned as much as he could in aim to come here and help people. His Japanese was fluent enough for him to start teaching English and Spanish at first in a small school from the age of twenty-two, helping those who had to retake some high school exams or just needed extra study time. Over the years it grew into him teaching History and Literature as well, almost every subject he got to help his students with. A lot of his ex-students still visited thanking him for the guidance and support they have received from him, reporting what kind of good jobs they managed to find after. This was what made Javier happy, seeing others achieve their dreams.
He had a small apartment close to the school, frequently chatted with the old ladies in the grocery store. Dated the girl who worked at the flower shop for a couple of months but they weren’t really compatible with each other, instead they stayed friends. Everyone in the neighbourhood knew and loved Javier, as he was very social and outgoing with everyone. Parents asked him for small favours as watching their child for a few minutes until they grab a items from the store. The lady next door brought him bento boxes claiming she cooked too much, though he knew it was not the case. She was alone as her husband died a few years ago, now having so much time she did not know what to do with it. Javier in return spent at least one evening with her watching her favourite drama, playing cards or just listening to her old stories. About two years ago he got himself a cute cat, named her Effie and she got pampered like a true princess she was. His life was simple but it made him happy. He barely missed anything in it, having found a good place, a city with loving and welcoming people, a job that brought him happiness.
Spring and summer time tended to be the busiest of seasons for Javier as many kids would come and pick up subjects they neglected during the school year or failed it. To his real surprise his class only had seven students. Very last minute they have added a new one, making it eight but compared to the usual twelve or fourteen it was truly small. Javier took it as a good sign as this way he will be able to give each student a bit more attention, ensure they can follow up with the class. Also as he learned his new added student would be a bit different from the others.
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Javier walked with his notebook under his arm towards his classroom, most of the students seated already. As usual the first row was empty, the students new and unsure if they should be sitting so close to him. He chuckled to himself knowing that will change soon. Just before he wanted to greet the class as it was time to start the door opened and his eyes locked with that of a dark haired male.
“Yuzuru?” He formed the words carefully and the boy nodded. Javier offered a smile and signaled for him to take a seat. As predicted the boy took an empty table in the front row, right in front of him. Placing his notebook down on his own table he gave the brightest smiles he could put on to his small class.
“Welcome. My name is Javier Fernández. You can all call me Javier. We are going to spend the coming months together so please do not fear to ask me questions if you do not understand something. I would like to have each of you come up here one by one and introduce yourselfs so we get to know each other better.” Javier locked eyes with Yuzuru. “Do you want to start?” The other looked a bit torn but he took out a notebook from his bag and stood in front of the class. He opened the first page which read the following words.
“Hi, my name is Yuzuru.” He flipped to the next. “I am deaf. I use sign language but I can read lips well.” He flipped another page, each of them decorated with funny drawings, making it look cute and Javier couldn’t help but smile at that.
“If you speak while looking at me, I understand. I also always have a notebook with me where I can write things down or for you.” Yuzuru gave a small tentative smile to the others in the class.
“I may need help sometimes to understand and I hope some of you can do that. It’s a pleasure to meet you all. Thank you.” He waited for a second of two, before he closed the notebook and bowed in front of the people. When he raised his hands welcoming smiles were present on the others lips and their hands clapped though Yuzuru couldn’t hear it. Javier nodded towards the next student and Yuzuru sat down, taking small notes of everyone's names.
“Perfect. Now that we know each other by names, we should get started. Please open your English workbook on page 4. We start with the first exercise to revise.”