Work Text:
The new math teacher was a strange man.
Then again, all the math teachers were strange. And the previous teacher he was replacing, an older man who had retired at a ripe old age, was a stiff guy; a younger man would be a nice change in pace. Apparently, he was transferred here from another school. At least, that’s what the rumors said.
The first thing most people noticed was that he constantly wore sunglasses inside. And sure, Matsudaira wore sunglasses, but he was outside most of the time. Gengai wore goggles, but he often set things on fire. The new math teacher wore sunglasses inside, outside, for no goddamn visible reason.
Well, it shouldn’t be an issue. Ginpachi wore slippers for crying out loud. At least Gengai could pass his own off as sandals.
The newest math teacher was also loud . When he spoke, sometimes it was at least five octaves over what it should be, but sometimes he spoke too softly, too. He didn’t seem to notice either until a kid piped up and asked him to change his volume accordingly.
Despite his talkative nature, he barely talked to the teachers at first, sitting alone during their lunch hour. He seemed more content reading whatever strange articles he was reading on his iPad. Zenzou wondered if he was rich, and if so, what the fuck was he doing here at this school? Eventually, he started to converse with the other teachers. One day he just walked right on in and talked to them like they’d all known each other for five years.
A strange man indeed, professor Sakamoto Tatsuma was.
The strangest thing of all was how he was after work. A lot of the teachers went out and got drinks, got smashed if it was on a Friday, but Tatsuma never came, not to a single one. He’d come by and drive people home if needed, but he tended not to drive when he could help it, riding a bike to class every day.
One day, the answer spilled out.
They were (finally) leaving for the day, Tatsuma unchaining his bicycle from the bike rack. “Hey, you wanna come with us?” Matsudaira suggested, pointing at the gaggle of teachers standing there. “We’re going bowling, not drinking.”
To that, Tatsuma smiled. He glanced over at the teachers, examining their faces. Ginpachi looked annoyed at the entire situation, Gengai looked confident, probably at his bowling skills. Tsukuyo looked just plain bored. And Zenzou… damnit, he couldn’t see anything past that hair of his! “Can’t bowl, sorry. But I can still come! I have to run home real quick first. Just wait for me, ahaha! Say, can I bring someone?”
A girlfriend? Matsudaira shrugged. Why not?
Of course, when Sakamoto did come, he wasn’t with a girlfriend, but he was carrying a small boy in his arms instead. Everyone just stared. The tiny boy got tiny bowling shoes. He was probably around five, too, and had to use the lightest bowling ball. Even then, Tatsuma helped him, holding him steady as the boy pushed the ball and watched it roll and knock down pins. His name, according to the board, was Mitsuo. Ahaha, he’s gonna bowl for me, Tatsuma exclaimed.
“We got the bumpers, at least,” Ginpachi drawled as he sipped a soda. To him, bowling was… a pain. Too much effort. Yet he was good at it, effortless form, lots of spares. He didn’t even need the bumpers half the time!
Out of all the teachers, Tsukuyo came out on top, but one person beat her: the small child. Mitsuo was ecstatic, demanding they go get a treat. No one seemed to protest, especially not Ginpachi. “Oi, I didn’t know you had a kid,” Ginpachi commented, eating his share at the small place they stopped at. “You never talk about him.”
“Yes, I do, I talk about him all the time, you just don’t pay attention!” he laughed.
Ginpachi didn’t bother fighting him on that. Alright, so professor Sakamoto Tatsuma had more secrets than most realized, and Ginpachi found himself paying attention more to his talks whenever he told his life stories. He seemed to talk even when others were visibly not paying attention.
It was by doing that how Ginpachi learned the exact reason why Tatsuma was a single dad.
It was winter break when the information spilled.
It started with one meal, back in October. Tatsuma asked Ginpachi out for a small meal at a friendly cafe across from the school the day a huge fight broke out on the school grounds, saying that Ginpachi needed a small break. “Your company is pleasant,” Tatsuma said, smiling the whole time. “C’mon, let’s make this a weekly thing. I’ll pay this time, but you can pay next time.”
It bounced back and forth since, often times they went to their own respective places. A small cafe for Tatsuma, an ice cream shop for Ginpachi. Tatsuma brought Mitsuo one day, and soon brought him every time. Mitsuo was a quiet kid, using sign language more often than words. Ginpachi just signed back. Hey, being a language teacher had its perks, and there were a few students in the school who only communicated with sign language anyway. Come to find out, Mitsuo just didn’t like strangers, and after five meet-ups was talking up a storm with Ginpachi. It reminded him of his pop, they were a lot more alike than most thought, it seemed.
Tatsuma preferred the sameness, but one day he called ahead of time to inform Ginpachi he wanted to take him to a nicer place.
“It’s break after all,” he commented. “On the first day of winter break, we should celebrate!”
This time, Mitsuo was left home. The night was calm, chilly. A warm meal, a few drinks to loosen up. It started to snow by the time they were done eating and left, and Ginpachi suggested they go back to his place for a bit. Tatsuma didn’t protest and followed after, the place was close enough so they could walk.
Tatsuma found himself pinned to the wall, Ginpachi kissing him, hands trailing down into his pants, and he smiled.
It was in the tangle of sheets and limbs, of heat and breathy pants that Ginpachi noticed a scar. A nasty scar, one he noticed before but never thought was this extensive, or ugly. He brought it up once they were done, head propped up on an elbow, watching Tatsuma breathe. “What happened to your hand?”
Tatsuma lifted it and glanced at it, extending his arm slowly, clenching a fist. “Oh, this old thing?” A sad smile ghosted his face. “Car accident three years ago.” He pointed to a scar on his cheek. “This, too.”
Ginpachi was silent.
Tatsuma was also silent, but only for a minute. He then chuckled softly, putting his hand down. “I used to live in Kyoto. We were driving out to the countryside to see some farm life. Mitsuo’s first time seeing a cow, all that. Someone was drunk, and…” He made a motion with his hands, one hand T-boning another hand. “Absolutely wrecked the car. I don’t… remember much. Hit my head. The other car, it hit the passenger side. I guess that's what saved me. Woke up in the hospital with my arm bandaged, broken ribs… Well, Mitsuo was okay.”
"What about his mother?"
“Ah… she left ages ago.”
“Condolences,” Ginpachi muttered.
Tatsuma waved a hand. “I’m fine. The hardest part was watching Mitsuo cry for her at night after she moved out.” He rolled over to face the other. “Anyway... My hand took ages to get a decent grip back, I can hold chopsticks and write again, but it’s still weak.” His smile was sad again. “Can’t carry anything too heavy or my grip fails. It becomes stiff during the winter, but it wasn’t too bad today.” He gave a soft smile.
Ginpachi didn’t hesitate, and he reached out and grabbed the hand gently, turning it so it faced him palm first. He gently pressed his lips to the scar.
Tatsuma didn’t know what to think of that.
He grabbed his phone with his left hand and checked the time. 8:36pm. He said he’d be home by 8:30pm… he pulled his right arm away to send a text to the babysitter, telling her that he was a bit late but on his way. “Oh, yikes, it’s late.”
“You need to go?” Ginpachi threw his legs over the side of the bed and sat up, glancing over at the other as he hurriedly put his clothes back on. “You walked you bike over, right? I’ll drive you home.”
To that, Tatsuma laughed. “You only have a scooter. Nice try, hotshot. I’ll be fine.”
They didn’t see each other again until Christmas. Ginpachi burst into Tatsuma’s apartment with a fake beard and a small sack with two wrapped gifts in it for the boy. Mitsuo just grinned and clapped. “Santa!”
“It’s not Santa. It’s Ginpachi. Santa comes at night and hates the sunlight.”
“Like a vampire?”
Ginpachi knelt down and dumped the two gifts in the boy’s lap. “Exactly.” He felt Tatsuma slap his back and he grinned, standing back up. “What?”
“Don’t tell the kid Santa’s a vampire.” He smiled and made a face, observing him. Ginpachi just stared back, still grinning.“I really can’t kiss you like this, you know that?”
“I’m not just wearing this for show. I grew it out overnight.”
Tatsuma grabbed his shirt and tugged him into a kiss anyway. Ginpachi seemed bored, but he kissed back, a smile ghosting on his face. It was just a quick kiss, chaste.
Mitsuo had looked up by then, but he wanted to show his father his drawing of the three of them. Instead, he found his papi kissing Santa Claus. “Papi, why are you kissing him?”
“Because I, ah, um-” They parted, and Tatsuma seemed embarrassed, but Ginpachi just had that usual deadfish look in his eyes.
“Well, look!” Mitsuo lifted his drawing, now that the other two weren’t preoccupied with each other, they could look at his drawing! Ginpachi took a long glance and let out a low whistle.
“A keeper. I’ll laminate it. And put it on a wall. Sell it for fifty million.”
Mitsuo ran over and shoved it into Ginpachi’s arms, and then ran back to his doodle book. Ginpachi took the fake beard off and sat next to the kid. “Oi, aren’t you gonna open your presents? C’mon kid, don’t leave me hanging…”
The boy glanced up at Tatsuma, who nodded. He then grabbed a present, ripping into it. He bounced up and down when it was revealed to be a small box of candy. And then he screamed, resulting in Tatsuma kneeling down and lecturing him about using his words - or hands - instead of just screaming. Mitsuo just opened up the next present, a doll.
He stood up, wrapped his tiny arms around Ginpachi’s neck and refused to let go.
“Well, that’s better than screaming.” Ginpachi stood up, holding him. “Guess I gotta… take him home! Merry Christmas!” He went to leave, but was grabbed by the shirt and pulled back down to the ground on his ass.
“Are you and Papi gonna marry?” Mitsuo asked in a whisper, like he was keeping a secret from Tatsuma. Ginpachi let out a huff.
“What makes you ask that?”
“You kissed him.”
Oh. Ginpachi let out a laugh at that. He pried the boy off his neck and placed him in his lap, putting the hat that was on his head on Mitsuo’s. “Nah, he kissed me.”
Mitsuo giggled at that, and he ran over to Tatsuma, holding the box with the doll up at him, wanting him to open it. He took it and handed it to Ginpachi. “Sorry kiddo, my hand.” But the doll was soon wrangled free, and Mitsuo started dressing the doll quietly. Too many zip ties. It was almost like trying to free a prisoner from the shackles of jail.
“That’ll keep him busy for awhile,” Tatsuma muttered. “How’d you know he wanted that?”
“He asked. That simple.” Ginpachi stepped outside to light a cigarette, puffing on it. “You, however, haven’t asked just yet. What do you want?”
Tatsuma hummed, shifting on his feet a bit. “Hm, I thought it was obvious.” He gave Ginpachi a soft smile and shuffled close. “Take a guess.”
“Bad at guesses.” He let out a huff and elbowed the other. “C’mon, tell me.”
Another smile, and the math teacher leaned in to whisper into his ear. “A Celestron Advanced VX 8” Newtonian Telescope.”
Ginpachi turned to face him with the most horrified look on his face. That might be one of the best telescopes, but it was also one of the most expensive telescopes. The other just had a smug look on his face, flicking the other in the nose and walking back inside. Ginpachi just stared at him, sneering, what a bastard, he wasn’t made of money!
“Hit me up!”