Chapter Text
“Iruka-sensei?”
“Ah, you must be Kakashi-sensei.” He looked at the lean, fit man in front of him. Unreadable expression, too young for a full shock of grey hair… shit. He knew this man. One of Kaori’s more passionate admirers at the club for the last few months. He’d even sent little letters and flowers backstage for her… Iruka wouldn’t have thought that this man was a teacher. Sporty, yeah, but more prestigious, high-class sporty like golf or polo. Not… afternoon teacher for kids with behavioural problems.
“I’m supposed to take three of your brats.”
“Of course.” Iruka pointed to the playground where Naruto and Sasuke were fighting again already. Sakura was screaming her head off trying to stop them but she only riled them up further. “You’ve got Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke. Be careful with them. Sasuke has trauma issues, he lost his whole family very young and still suffers from the aftereffects. Naruto is an orphan; he never knew his parents. It’s… difficult for them to connect to other people.”
“I know. I read their files.” Oh, didn’t he feel cool, standing there with his hands in his pockets sounding like he couldn’t give a fuck. At least he’d done his homework.
“Naruto and Sasuke have some sort of rivalry going on, it can get messy sometimes.”
“Yeah, I can see that.”
“And don’t let Sakura fool you. She might act sweet and innocent at times but the girl has a temper and gets violent very quickly.”
“Right. I’ll watch out.” Wow, he sounded bored. Iruka was just trying to help. He felt his own temper rise but he kept smiling politely.
“Well then, they’re all yours.”
“Hm…” Suddenly, he felt dark eyes staring at him questioningly. “Say, have we met before?”
Shit. No. He was not having this conversation with his new colleague. Not now, not ever. That would probably be the end for Iruka’s career, at least the daylight one.
“I think I’d remember someone like you.” A wink, a charming smile, that would make him leave. He was obviously still deep in the closet.
“Yeah…” Uncomfortable shift, he didn’t want to show that he liked Iruka’s little flirtation. “I’ll go meet the brats.”
“Be careful, I’m very fond of them!” Iruka called after him. “And if you treat them badly, I’ll know.”
The guy didn’t turn back around; he just lifted one hand in greeting and shuffled away. Which gave Iruka the chance to study his back…side. Unfortunately, he was so Iruka’s type. He’d thought it before, at the club. There had been a few occasions where Iruka had thought about taking that guy home because… shit, he was hot as hell… and good thing he hadn’t. They were colleagues. If the guy had recognised Iruka just now…
Iruka was a teacher at a school for "difficult" children. He’d been one of them himself in his time and he wanted to support them as well as possible so that they would have it easier to get it together and live a good life. It was an exhausting job but he loved it fiercely. He loved his students. The ones who had made it out of here and became respectable adults… it was just the best thing in the world. That was his day-time job, anyway. The pay was okay, enough to afford his little apartment two bus stops away. But he had a night-time job as well, even though he rather considered it a hobby he got paid for.
Three nights a week, he worked at a queer night club as dancer, stripper and entertainer but not as himself. At night, he was Kaori, a beautiful drag queen at the “Starset Boulevard”. That’s where he’d seen Kakashi. And he had to admit… he liked the man better in a tight shirt and drooling on Kaori’s heels. Staring up at her in awe with big, amazed eyes. He liked this man as an admirer who left sweet poetic notes backstage. But he didn’t like him as the wannabe-cool afternoon teacher who tried to act like he didn’t give a fuck about the children. Iruka’s children.
Just then, he realised that he was still staring at the playground which was deserted by now. Kakashi and the kids had gone off to the gym or something like that. So Iruka turned around and left. He had 17 essays to correct before he could start getting ready for tonight.
The curtain parted and a spot fell onto Kaori. She slowly walked across the stage knowing full well how her dress shimmered and sparkled in the light. As did the shiny hairpins that held up the wig’s light blue hair. She looked and felt gorgeous as she swayed her padded hips. Yes, she was incredibly beautiful and she let them know with a winning smile. A gentle turn let her skirt fall open and revealed her flawless, long legs. The first beats of the song gave her enough time to get to her spot in the middle of the stage, the other dancers lining up to her right and left… there was one last moment to remember the choreography and it was time to shine.
Somewhere between lip-synching and losing her dress to reveal the sparkling swimsuit underneath, she spotted Kakashi in the crowd. His silver hair just stuck out. And oh dear lord, did he look hot. That tight black shirt was just marvellous on him and he stared open-mouthed at Kaori… their eyes met and for a moment, she forgot what she was doing. A little stumble and their connection broke apart. Kaori managed to regain her balance and continued the choreography as if nothing had happened. She smiled at the people and threw hot looks at them but her heart was pounding. This was not supposed to happen. This man was a dick and yes, he looked good. But the good-looking guys were all assholes. She shoved the thoughts aside and only allowed herself to calm down and break the tension when she was backstage; sweating and emptying a bottle of water after her show.
“Kaori-chan,” her boss came in with a grin on her face as usual.
“Boss-sama,” she teased her.
“Oh stop, darling or I’ll get ideas.” She blew Kaori a kiss. “You were marvellous tonight, again. As always. But say… that trip in the middle of your show. What was that?”
“Yeah, sorry. Got side-tracked for a moment. Won’t happen again.”
“Aww… was there a handsome face in the crowd that made you lose your balance?” Yes, there had been. But she’d spaced out for different reasons. “By the way, that snack of man came backstage. Again.” She waved a letter at Kaori who sighed. She loved reading those letters but she wasn’t sure if she’d enjoy them as much, now, that she knew the author. “He’s got it bad for you. Maybe you should give him a chance. He’s hot.”
“Yes, Anko. I know. I noticed.” Of course she’d noticed. It’s not like it wasn’t obvious… Kaori sighed. “But he’s hot and he writes nice words. He can’t be a good person. That would be too much.”
“Awww, sweetheart…” Anko came up to her and patted her cheek. “There are good people in the world. Dare to trust. He might be the fairytale prince you deserve.”
“Yeah. No.” Kaori shook her head vehemently. “There’s no such thing. I know him, okay? I met him at work. He’s trying very hard to be cool but he’s got a stick so far up his ass, not even I could reach deep enough to pull it out. And he’s so deep in the closet, he’d find Narnia if he just turned around. He enjoys watching this beautiful woman on stage and it might be a man impersonating her but it’s still a woman, so it’s okay to be turned on by her. See what I mean?”
“Uuuuh… you’re getting quite worked up about him…” Anko grinned her devilish grin. “Cute. But… try to keep it together next time, okay sweetheart?”
“I got your point,” Kaori grumbled and sat down. Her fingers wanted to open her dress but stopped in their tracks. The innocent white envelope lay on her desk and… she couldn’t resist. Slowly, she opened it.
Most beauteous of Queens,
Not a day passes without a reminiscence of you. It might be the peach colour of the morning sun that graces my favourite dress of yours; it might be the light brown of my coffee that comes so close to your brisk tan. Your voice haunts me in my dreams and lulls me to sleep every night. There is not a minute of my waking day that passes without a thought of you. The evenings when I see you shine brighter than the stars in god’s great field are like rays of sunshine in the grey reality of my life. You are my sunshine. I pine away knowing that this little paper is the only part of me that reaches you. Two nights a week, I see you. But your looks only pass over me. I am nothing more than one amongst many admirers, a liege man amongst liege men. Know me as your devoted follower, my Queen. Even though you don’t know my face, you can be sure that my heart is yours and yours alone. It might be a lonely sensation but I would not miss it for anything in the world. You hold me up, my Queen. You give me a reason to come back and see you, every night. My undying dream remains that one day I might see your face up close.
I have the honour to be your most faithful vassal,
K.H.
It was more or less the same every night. There were compliments, nice words about love, a plead to let him into her dressing room and the initials K.H. Until now, it had been thrilling to know that a good-looking man like him would send her such beautiful words, and sometimes even flowers, but now that she knew whom these initials stood for, they had lost their magic.
K.H. Kakashi Hatake, afternoon teacher for difficult kids and therefore work colleague. Suddenly, these letters weren’t flattering poems anymore but just pretty words that some conceited asshole had written who liked imagining himself in the middle ages as a sort of knight, romanticising a rather gruesome period of history.
He scoffed and threw it away. Iruka wasn’t in a good mood anymore. He undressed, removed his make-up and fake breasts before he untucked and went to take a piss and a shower.
The letter lay there, on the floor, and in the end, he picked it up before he left and crammed it into his pocket. Fuck this dude, he still liked the words. They were pretty words and they were meant for him. He wasn’t going to be picky.