Work Text:
7:40AM:
'Where are those play time cards...', Gyomei squinted and scanned through the small containers of schedule cards again. He pulled a card from a container further away from him and squinted at the card in his fingertips-
A bright pink circle stood out against the blurry sea of white that was his vision, "Ah, that's the one."
He felt around for the schedule boards again and pasted the play time cards at the end of each board, 'Sanemi, Mitsuri, Giyuu, and the new kid.'
His face pulled into a small smile as he kept the small containers of schedule cards away into his locker. His class was small but it still packed a punch of rowdiness so perhaps this new student would be a calmer one, like Giyuu, to provide some much needed balance in the classroom. Sanemi and Mitsuri were wonderful bundles of joy and life and he loved them...but a better balance of social dynamics and energy between the children would be preferred.
The pattering of footsteps coming towards his classroom snapped him out of his fantasies.
"Hard at work as always, Teacher Gyomei!"
He chuckled at the gentle yet cheery banter of Teacher Amane, "If it helps the class to be more ready for the day, coming a little earlier is a small trade-off."
Teacher Amane chuckled followed by a small sigh as she pasted the schedule boards onto the wall, "We'll switch today so I'll fetch Sanemi and Mitsuri from the school buses and you can wait for Giyuu and Obanai here. I forgot to text you about this but we'll change the schedule to have play time first today and everything else will be the same."
The rapid sounds of velcro tapes being pulled apart took over as she shifted the other schedule cards down and moved the 'play time' cards to the top, "I think Obanai would need more time to settle down before joining the class."
"Sure!", he felt around for a schedule board and helped to reshuffle the schedule cards, "A change of routine is good once in a while."
"I'll head out now but before I forget,", she halted in her tracks before hurrying out of the classroom again, "Obanai's the new student but I'll tell you more about him if we have time later."
"Sure!"
As Teacher Amane sped away to the school bus bay, Gyomei rested a hand over his heart and closed his eyes, 'Namu amida butsu.'
It was a simple reminder he liked to do before each day began, to be the calm that the children needed in order to be calm.
He had his questions of who Obanai was and what kind of child he would be; would he be aloof like Giyuu? Or maybe he would be bouncy and lively like Mitsuri? How would he get along with Sanemi who could be rather rambunctious and impulsive at times?
But now wasn't the time to think too hard on these things; he would have his answers later.
Ding dong!
He pulled out his phone and squinted to find the fingerprint sensor at the bottom of his screen, and slid his finger to the top-left corner of his phone. He double tapped on the chunk of black.
"Time. 7:50"
He felt a small smile spread across his face, "Let’s see who it is."
He felt his way along the wall to head to the main door, and pressed the button that unlocked it, "Good morning, may I know who it is?”
“Giyuu, Teacher Gyomei is here!”, a lady called out.
Footsteps slowly shuffled over and stopped in front of him.
“Good morning, Giyuu!”, he knelt down and patted Giyuu gently on the head, “I hope you had a good morning so far.”
“You are not Teacher Amane.”, Giyuu replied with a deadpan voice.
“Giyuu, you cannot say that! Teacher Gyomei is also your teacher.”, the lady interjected, “Haish, this boy. I’m so sorry that he reacted like this, Teacher Gyomei.”
“It‘s alright!”, Gyomei chuckled, “You are indeed correct, Giyuu. I am not Teacher Amane.”
He felt around for Giyuu’s palms and glided his fingers over them to feel for any bumps, “Teacher Amane is helping to bring Sanemi and Mitsuri from the bus today, so there is a change.”
”Oh.”, Giyuu replied.
“Take your bag and go in, hurry! I need to head off to work soon.”, the lady shrugged a bag off her shoulder.
Giyuu slowly shuffled the bag onto his shoulders, “Cherie must reach at 10:50 to pick me.”
“Yes, yes, she will.”, the lady pressed a small kiss to Giyuu, “Have a good day at school!”
“Let’s say goodbye to your mumm-“
The sounds of heels clacking cut him off.
”Giyuu’s mummy?”, Gyomei called out as the heels clacked steadily and quickly away from them, “Giyuu’s mummy?”
But it was too late. The clacking of heels were now too soft to be heard.
He sighed and looked towards the small hand that now held his right hand, “Perhaps next time we can say goodbye to your mummy before she leaves.“
“Yes.”, Giyuu replied with a deadpan voice, “I will do that next time.”
A smile pulled across his face and he ruffled Giyuu’s hair once more, “Let’s head inside, shall we?”
———————————————————————————
8:25AM:
Ding dong! Ding dong!
“Coming!”, Teacher Tamayo from the toddler class next door called out as she ran towards the main door.
”Hm…”, Teacher Amane peered her head towards the door her classroom while stacking legos to form a house, “Maybe Obanai isn’t coming to-“
A piercing scream cut through the air.
“Oh my, what happe-“
Another wailing scream cut Gyomei off.
Footsteps pattered quickly towards their classroom. A knock on the door.
“Teacher Amane, it’s your student!”, Teacher Tamayo called out before running back to her classroom
“Alright, thank you!”, Teacher Amane replied and gave a small sigh, “Teacher Gyomei?
“Yes?”, Gyomei strained his ear towards Teacher Amane.
“I’ll need your help to bring Obanai in.”, she raised her voice slightly to speak over the loud screaming coming from outside, “But there’s no need to rush him to come in if he isn’t ready.”
“Will you be alright?”, Gyomei placed the toy stethoscope he had been using to play with Mitsuri on the floor, “It will be you alone with the three of them.”
“I‘ll make do. If you need more help, just call Teacher Kagaya. He should not be in any meetings right now.”
A louder scream cut through the air.
“Will do.”, he nodded and headed to the main door with his hand trailing along the wall.
——————————————————————————————————
Ruka felt her heart race as she carried and bounced Obanai on her hip, “It’s alright, Obanai. It’s alright…”
But her words fell on deaf ears as Obanai let out another piercing scream and flung his head towards the floor.
She cradled his head and coaxed him to rest his head on her shoulders. Not that it worked. Given the way he held fistfuls of her shirt and screamed even more.
If she was being honest with herself, she had expected Obanai to have some fear about going to school or going onto the school bus. But she had been hopeful; maybe he would be less afraid since he was going with Kyojuro to the same school.
And then the bus driver had pulled up to their house.
With a female assistant to usher them onto the bus.
And all hell broke loose.
And so, here she was. Sending one child on the school bus, sending one child to the same school on her own, and now an hour late to work.
A sigh of relief escaped as the glass door in front of her opened gently and Teacher Gyomei stepped out.
“I’m really sorry about this.”, she tried to project her voice over the ringing in her ears, “He had calmed down by the time we arrived but he wasn’t prepared for Teacher Tamayo to answer the door and-“
“It’s alright, Ms Rengoku.”, Teacher Gyomei carried a serene smile, “Some days just aren’t good days.“
He slowly extended his hands towards Obanai “It’s alright, dear child. Everything will be okay soon.”
The collar of her shirt threatened to expose her chest as Obanai held on with a vice grip with one hand and held a white toy snake with another hand whilst kicking blindly.
“Kyojuro is inside and he’ll protect you. You’ll be safe.”, she gently rubbed the back of his hands and whispered as she gently pried his grip off her clothes.
Teacher Gyomei opened the main door, “You can bring him into the classroom and we can figure out a way for him to calm down from there.”
“I can’t, I’m already late for work.”
“Understood. You can place his bag inside and I’ll carry him in.”, he moved to hold Obanai from behind, “Obanai, five counts and we’ll go inside. 1…2…3…4…5.“
Shrill screams stabbed his heart and ears as he shifted to carry Obanai with one arm and close the door with the other.
Fists flew wildly onto his throat and chest.
Kicks landed on his thighs.
The sounds of an escalating argument between Sanemi and Giyuu were audible.
‘Where should I g-‘
He supported Obanai’s head and laid him down as Obanai flung himself towards the floo-
Obanai squirmed and bolted past him.
PONG! PONG! PONG!
Screams and shouts surrounded him.
His heart thumped against his chest along with the sounds of fists pounding on the entrance door.
“Obanai. Stop doi-“
He bit his words back.
Sat down.
Placed a hand over his heart, and rested his head against the wall behind him.
‘Namu amida butsu.‘
Took a deep breath.
‘I need to be calm for him to be calm.’
He scooted slowly over to Obanai; stomping, pounding the door, and crying. Something soft greeted his hands as he felt around the floor. He placed it on his lap and traced his hands over it; long, thin, and soft like a stuffed toy.
‘What is this thin-?‘
Cries died down as it was snatched away from his hands and replaced with soft whimpers.
“A comfort toy.“, he started slowly and softly, “I had one too as a child.“
Distressed grunting replied him.
“I had a bear called Namu.”, a smile made its way across his face as he recalled the softness of Namu’s fur beneath his fingers, “Many things and places were scary as a blind child, but they were less scary with Namu there.”
He scanned around and found a small figure with a mop of long, dark hair, ”What‘s your stuffed toy’s name?”
Silence built itself as a wall between them.
“It’s alright if you’re not ready to talk now. You can always tell me when you’re ready.”
Perhaps he was pushing Obanai too far when he was already so distressed. It was hard to tell how much he had calmed down or if he had calmed down at all since it was impossible to clearly see his body language or facial expressions. Or maybe Obanai didn’t understand his question which was also a possibility-
“Maru.”
A croaky whisper so soft he almost missed it.
“Maru is a nice name. Can I meet him?”, silence weighed as he waited, ‘Did I push too far?’.
Obanai’s blurry figure became larger as he walked over and stopped in front of him. He reached out with an open palm.
“Oh.”, soft fur landed on his palm, “Hello, Maru.”
He gave a small pat and the soft fur was gone, “Thank you for letting me pet Maru. Can I tell Maru my name?”
“Yes.”, Obanai whispered.
“Thank you very much.”, he leaned down towards Maru and whispered, “My name is Teacher Gyomei. I have some new things to show you and your friend, Maru. Shall we take a look?”
Maru tapped twice on his palm.
“I think that was a nod! Thank you for joining me with your friend, Maru.”, he shifted to stand, “Let’s bring your bag inside and I can show all the new things.”
——————————————————————————————————
9:30:
A sigh of relief escaped as the classroom door clicked open to show Teacher Gyomei walking in with a small boy with long, black hair behind him. Teacher Amane fought to keep her expression neutral as Obanai gave her a fleeting glance before keeping his eyes on the ground.
“Is the new friend here?”, Mitsuri asked and stood from her chair to peek over the shelf behind her, “I want to give a hug!”
Teacher Amane held Mitsuri‘s hand before she could bolt away, “I think our new friend isn’t ready for a hug yet. Let’s wait for him to come to the table and we can say hel-”
“Teacher Gyomei!”, Sanemi stood from his chair and bolted away.
She raced to block his path, “Sanemi, wait for Teacher-”
“Hello Teacher Gyomei!”, Sanemi rammed into Teacher Gyomei with a shout.
“Hello, Sanemi!”, Teacher Gyomei held his hands, “Let’s wait for our new friend to finish-“
Sanemi squirmed out of his grasp.
Teacher Gyomei’s hand met air.
Sanemi grabbed Obanai in a hug, “Hello! What’s yo- Oof!”
Teacher Gyomei felt around the boys, ‘What in the world just h-‘
“You so bad!”
He reached out towards Sanemi’s shouting and squinted as Sanemi’s shadow came closer to him, “Sanemi, what happened?”
Distressed grunting buzzed in the background. Sanemi’s hand tugged his arm.
“He push me! He‘s so bad! Bad stup- very bad boy! He make me so angry!”, Sanemi tugged harder on his arm, “Teacher Gyomei, you must scold him! He so naughty!”
Distressed grunts grew louder.
’What do I do with two ticking time bombs!’
He squinted to scour the blurry sea of white that was his vision and extended his other hand to feel around, “Obanai, can you come-”
Another set of footsteps pattered over quickly, “I’ll help you, Teacher Gyomei!”
“Mitsuri! Don’t-“
A shrill scream echoed in his ear as his hand moved to block Sanemi and Mitsuri on time.
“Let’s give Obanai some space.”
“But Teacher Amane-“
‘Amane has the rest of them. Find Obanai first.’
Shouts and screams layered and clashed over each other, and bounced off the classroom walls. Heavy stomps were barely audible to his strained ears but he followed them.
He squinted his eyes to find Obanai’s long dark hair, and felt around for his hands, “Everything will be alright.”
Soft fur brushed past him; ‘Good. He’s still holding onto Maru.’
He kept his movements gentle to guide Obanai’s hands in brushing Maru’s fur, “Maru is here too.”
More screams erupted along with frantic stomps and hand flapping.
The door unlatched and more footsteps pattered into the room.
“The calm down corner is not in use right now.”, Teacher Kagaya notified calmly next to him.
“I’m sorry I need to do this, but it’s for your own safety.”, he carried Obanai and strode to the calm down corner.
Obanai screamed and swung his legs wildly as he set him down with his hands clawing at his arms. He sat down in front of him and felt around for the weighted blanket, ‘It has to be here.’
Tak. Tak. Tak. Tak. Tak. Tak.
‘He’s probably banging his head.‘
‘Do I stop him?’
‘The wall is padded. He will be okay.’
‘Find the blanket first.’
He pushed through the ringing in his ears and continued to feel around for the blanket-
The muffled sounds of beads!
He unfurled the blanket quickly as he could and felt around for Obanai’s shoulders to drape the blanket over and press his own palms over Obanai’s ears.
More screams erupted.
‘Is this even working?’
He had a hunch that Obanai was mostly triggered by the shouting in addition to the unexpected touch from his peers; Giyuu was similar in a way. But it was hard to tell if he was right; at the rate Obanai was prying his fingers away, it wasn’t impossible that he was triggering him even more. He gently lifted his palms off his ears-
Obanai yanked his hands back with another scream.
‘Perhaps I was right after all.’
As screams sputtered off into wails and coughs, he moved a hand to rub gently on Obanai’s back and covered his ears again.
His soft cries continued as Sanemi, Mitsuri, and Giyuu cleaned up after their group activity, and headed to the toilet to wash their hands for snack time.
'It should be around 10:15 now.'
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
His own heartbeat was all that remained along with the whirring of the classroom fan and air conditioner, and soft whimpers continued along with the occasional hiccup. It made his heart ache of how spent Obanai must have been by this point. Still, the worst had passed and now Obanai could actually start to calm down.
A deep sigh left him, ‘Deep breaths. That’s all we have to do.’
He kept his breathing as slow and measured as he could, and his hands ached from holding them up to cover Obanai’s ears. But it was a small trade-off if it could help him feel safe.
“It’s alright to feel scared. There’s many new things happening today.“, he whispered as softly and calmly as he could, “Do you want a hug?”
He heard the blanket fall to the ground as he opened his arms. He placed his arms loosely around Obanai as he leaned his weight onto him with a soft sigh.
“Is Maru hungry?”, he nudged the soft toy that joined Obanai to rest on his lap.
Obanai shook his head slowly against his shirt.
“That’s okay then.”
He rested his back against the wall and allowed his mind to drift for a moment as the class sang their snack song at a particularly soft volume.
‘How thoughtful they can be with the right guidance.’, he thought with a gentle smile.
“Kudos to you, Teacher Gyomei.”, Teacher Amane’s voice snapped him out of his much-needed daydreaming.
“What?”
“He trusts you a lot now.“, Teacher Amane added, “I‘m not sure if you noticed it but he’s about to fall asleep.”
He took a keen listen to Obanai’s breathing that was now soft and slow, with his head drooping down from his chest level to his thigh. He moved him to rest on the crook of his elbow with a small smile, “Perhaps it’s time for me to have a nap as well.”
Teacher Amane chuckled, “I think 10 minutes wouldn’t hurt just for today.”
“If you say so.”, he rested his head against the padded wall and sleep took over without a fight.