Chapter Text
Subaru rubbed her temples with circular motions, trying to suppress the looming headache that was coming for her. She would have loved for the day to be over, be able to unbutton the constricting dress shirt that imprisoned her neck, and get rid of her high heels while falling into her sofa at home.
She really liked her job most days. It wasn’t exactly what she had envisioned for her future, but she had found a good purpose, and she was happy. But that particular day, oh yes, that particular day she couldn't wait to leave.
“How was the meeting?” she heard someone say behind her. It was another teacher, by the name of Rika. Subaru let out a long frustrated sigh “That bad?”
Subaru shuffled through the documents in front of her, her gaze stopping on the student record of Miharu Ichida. She remembered the words she spoke at the meeting.
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“We met outside of our schools” the girl, Miharu, spoke with conviction. She had the Kikyo winter uniform, and beautiful long brown hair curled at the bottom “I know Chidori’s reputation, but he is a good and kind person”
Subaru raised an eyebrow, clearly not convinced of any of this, but remained silent, surrounded by the director and a couple of other teachers. The fear of men she had harbored for many years was a personal issue she didn't need to bring to the current setting.
And most of all, she was currently more worried about her fellow teacher next to her, Toki, who was displaying the scariest face she had seen on her in a long time.
“So, if I understand your position, you are not breaking up with him?” A fellow teacher asked the student among them.
“No, I won't,” Miharu said, determined. “He is a good person and we have done nothing wrong. I love him”
There was a minute of silence.
“Ichida” the icy voice from Toki was heard. Tension filled the room “How about you drop Kikyo then?”
Everyone else had a surprised expression on their face. Miharu looked pained at the suggestion, her vision felt blurry and she looked like she was about to crumble.
“Toki-sensei, with all due respect” Subaru, who had previously decided, as the most junior member of the staff, to stay silent and observe her coworkers in action, felt an impulse to intervene. She resembled so much of her dear friend Kaoruko in her high school years: sweet, smart, and highly motivated, while also somewhat impulsive on her decisions. She needed to step up “I should remind you Ichida is my homeroom student, and if our objective is to protect Kikyo students, getting them out of schools will have the opposite effect”
Subaru used a polite, but determined tone from where she was seated. Miharu looked at her with surprise and gratitude. Everyone else looked at her like she had grown a second head.
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“You have no idea,” Subaru answered dejectedly, returning Miharu's student sheet to a folder on her desk.
After her intervention in the meeting, a back and forth started between the staff. She couldn't understand what was going through Toki’s mind since she decided to insist on her position about expulsion. Subaru had managed to get to know her a lot better over the time she had been working there, recognizing a fellow socially awkward person, so she knew Toki was probably worried about the student.
Nevertheless, there was something else this time, a raw emotion in her face now that she didn’t know how to name.
Subaru felt like she was missing a piece of the puzzle and couldn't recognize her coworker anymore. After that, things came to a halt and the meeting was adjourned with no resolution yet. Everyone left the room emotionally exhausted.
“The day is over, so chin up a little” the other teacher told her condescendingly, they were the last ones in the teacher’s office “Oh look, your student is looking for you”
“Sensei” Miharu approached her while Rika, the other teacher, left. Subaru felt her headache starting to pulse again “I wanted to thank you for defending me today”
“Ichida, don’t get confused, I also oppose your relationship with that Chidori boy” Subaru said with a stern voice, “I want you to be part of Kikyo, that is why I don’t agree with telling you to quit, but as a member of Kikyo you need to have your priorities in order, soon you will have to focus on university admittance tests, your studies come before anything else”
“But sensei…” Miharu stammered “We study together and he supports my dreams…”
Subaru smiled, shaking her head slightly. These kids are always talking about dreams she thought, stealing a glance at an abandoned law book stacked on her desk, just below a stack of papers and binders.
“He approached you even knowing about the risk of causing trouble for you, and look at how things are now. If he was as kind and supportive, he would have kept his distance from the start, it would have been the correct thing to do” Subaru added matter-of-factly. Miharu lowered her gaze. It pained Subaru seeing her like this, but she was trying to fulfill her guidance role “This issue is far from settled, I will do what I can to be supportive of you so you don’t get expelled, but my personal recommendation would be to distance yourself from him and focus on yourself and your studies, tell me you will at least think it over”
“... Yes sensei” Miharu answered dejectedly “if you excuse me, I will go now”
Subaru plopped in her chair, pressing the bridge of her nose, while letting out a tired sigh. She started putting her things away. Maybe I should call Kaoruko later today, she thought. Her friend was a busy person now, but Subaru still depended on her calls when she was feeling lonely.
The ringing phone from the teacher’s office brought her back from her train of thought.
Who can it be this late? she thought, and redirected the call to her desk.
“Good afternoon, This is Kikyo. Hoshina speaking”
“Hello” a deep masculine voice said on the other side of the line “This is Natsusawa from Chidori”
Subaru froze with the phone glued to her face. What is this about?.
“Er… hello?” the other person asked, confused by the long silence.
“Can you state the reason for your call?” Subaru suddenly asked, coldly, trying to recover her composure.
“Eh... yes” the voice over the phone sounded a little thrown off “a student of mine had reached out to me about another student of your school, Miharu Ichida. She seems to be in some sort of trouble because they know each other”
Somehow, hearing a nosy Chidori teacher talking about her student annoyed her, and about the topic they had spent hours debating with no resolution. A great way to end an already exhausting day.
“We are not in the habit of disclosing student information to unknown callers,” she replied back, with a sharp tone.
“You know we are next door, right?” the man added, the tone was serious but there was a clear hint of sarcasm laced through his words “If you want to avoid the risk of this being a scam call I can just step out and head over so we can solve this issue in person”
The audacity of this guy she thought, standing up from her desk. Her headache was in full force now.
“I don’t really see why we would need assistance from an unrelated party, so feel free to remain where you are”
“Unrelated how? All this is obviously related to my student” The professional tone Saku was using was starting to crack and sound more and more annoyed. The phone line was tense, and both people were on edge.
“I wouldn't dare to waste your precious time on trying to solve problems in yet another school, I suppose you would have your hands full solving the issues of all the delinquents that frequent there”
The audacity of this woman, he thought, smacking the top of his desk.
“We could just talk this over as neighbouring institutions instead of you guys always thinking of yourself oh so superiors to the rest of us mortals. It would do you guys good to take your head out of your..” click.
Subaru stared at the phone on her hand. In a knee-jerk reaction she had hung up. But now she was seething with rage over the recent interaction. She was not going to be disrespected by a no-name school teacher who didn’t know anything about her.
Saku, on his side, plopped on his chair and rubbed his temples. He felt a pang of regret at being as easily triggered as he was. He knew he was out of line. It didn't matter how insufferable Kikyo people could be, he wanted to help his student. That was the main purpose of his call, but along the way he had lost composure, being petty about old resentments.
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Subaru arrived at her desk after another busy day. She had her previous afternoon partially ruined by the call. She mulled it over time and time again. Thinking about all the comebacks she would have wanted to say in retrospect.
Then that day she had to take care of her literature classes, admin responsibilities as the homeroom teacher of the 2nd year, and for a couple of the clubs. Then attend a meeting about extracurriculars, and answer the call of two overbearing parents. A hectic day that didn't give her any time to go over Miharu’s case.
Should I talk with her parents? her mind wandered while organizing her desk. If Toki keeps bringing the topic of expulsion then I should probably include them in the conversation.
“Subaru?” her coworker Rika exclaimed from the other side of the cubicles “There is a call for you, I’ll put it through”
“For me?” she asked, confused, then her phone started ringing. She remembered the late call from the previous day. No way is the same person, I think I was very clear yesterday, she thought. “Kikyo speaking”
“Hi good afternoon, My name is Natsusawa Saku, I would like to speak with the second year’s homeroom teacher please”
You have to be kidding me. Subaru sighed.
“Can you state the reason for your call?” She repeated in the same cold tone from the previous day. On his side of the call, Saku silently mouthed a curse, he didn’t expect to end up speaking to the same person as the day before.
There was a long silence. Subaru was very anxious now, but at least the interaction with this infuriating man was over the phone. She was also aware that she had some coworkers around and didn't want them to get nosy.
“Hello again, we talked yesterday. I wanted to apologize” The voice muttered over the phone.
“Pardon?” She, who was tense waiting for the worst, was left speechless for a moment.
“I wanted to apologize for how I spoke yesterday” Some seconds of silence “You're Hoshina from yesterday, aren’t you?”
“Yes, er… It’s me” Subaru stuttered. She looked around. She waited some seconds for Rika to get farther away from her cubicle before talking again.
“... Hello?”
“Ok”
“??? Ok what?” He asked, confused now. She rolled her eyes.
“Ok, the apology has been acknowledged” She stated in cold politeness “If that was the purpose of your call then I suppose that would be all”
“What? wait” Saku leaned in his seat. She does want to end the call again doesn't she? “I would like to talk about the issue between schools, specifically between Miharu and Renji”
“I think we already broached the subject yesterday” Subaru said flatly.
“I think the call went south before we arrived to a solution if I remember properly”
“And if I remember properly, I explained that we in Kikyo don’t need to involve externals into our affairs”
Saku held the bridge of his nose, applying some pressure. How does she manage to get under my skin so easily?
“oh, yes, though you didn’t use that same wording I recall” He snapped with a mix of annoyance. “You seemed rather worried about my agenda being full with attending to delinquents” He ended the phrase with a smirk.
She blushed, remembering her own lack of composure the previous day. She felt a small (very very small, minuscule even) pang of shame, but there was no way she was apologizing to this smug idiot.
“I must have been mistaken, as you have a lot of free time on your hands to be on the phone so much” She snapped back with disdain.
Saku stayed silent, biting his tongue trying to not break his professional persona again.
It was difficult.
Rather impossible.
“Do you think this is a leisure call, Hoshina? Must be hard to be you if this looks like a fun call to you” He retorted with a sarcastic tone (truth be told a small part of him was actually having a little bit of fun, even if it was overhauled by annoyance).
“... ” Subaru remained silent, frustration creeping up to her and tightening her throat. She didn’t have any energy left for witty comebacks.
“... Ok, I know that was out of line” Saku exclaimed, leaning on his desk “Let’s get back on track. Are you still there?”
“I’m listening” She confirmed coldly.
He thought how to best approach what he wanted to say with a tempered head.
“I’ve been calling because of Renji, he is a great student, top marks, and a good kid” He started off. The sarcasm and bitterness from his tone had dissolved completely and was replaced with what sounded like pride? That was what it sounded to Subaru at least. That helped her to cool down and she leaned back on her chair again, now alone in the teacher’s room.
Saku drew a long breath and continued “He and the Kikyo student have been a couple for some time, or at least that is what he explained to me yesterday. He is worried that she is in big trouble in school over that, and I think, if you could meet with Renji it would help clear the air. I can be there as support as well”
Subaru pondered over his words for half a minute before answering, a little confused.
“My job is to care for my students, which include Miharu, and my students have a responsibility to uphold the school reputation and academic requirements,” she explained. She was back to a polite, although rather cold, tone “I don’t want to sound dismissive, but I honestly don’t understand what meeting with this student will add to the process. If he is in any kind of trouble that is exclusively Chidori’s responsibility to manage”
“Oh, Renji is not in any kind of trouble” Saku answered quickly in a neutral tone “as I mentioned he is a good student and in Chidori he won’t get any consequences for dating”
Now Subaru was even more confused.
“If your student is not in trouble then, why are you getting involved?” She asked, genuinely curious this time. Although she thought the question probably came off ruder than she intended.
“I’m not getting involved to help Renji, but to help Miharu” Saku cut in, in a polite tone although a little exasperated “as teachers, it is our responsibility to help children if they get involved in some kind of problem, isn’t it? It doesn’t matter if she is my student or not.”
Subaru stood frozen in place, at a loss for words. Her eyes wandered to the forgotten law book in her cubicle drowned by papers and binders, and couldn’t help but smirk.
The words this infuriating man had uttered, resonated deeply inside a part of her that had been dormant, but was central to her beliefs. Maybe it is not only kids who talk about dreams nowadays, she thought with a soft scoff. The man on the other side of the line was getting anxious over her silence, ignorant of the way his words had disarmed any resistance in her with a snap.
“I still don’t get why meeting with Renji will solve anything but…” She did a pause, drew a long breath before continuing “But I’m ok with trying if it has a chance to help my student’s case”
Saku mouthed a silent yes, putting his arms up and doing a spin on his chair in celebration. He then cleared his throat to continue speaking in a serious tone.
“Thank you. We can go over the details now if you want," he added. On the corner of Subaru’s eyes Rika came back to the teacher’s room, and the last thing she wanted was for her to listen to her conversation.
“Right now is not a good time” Subaru cut in “I will give you my phone number if that is ok”
“Ok, that works. And Hoshina… I’m really sorry for being out of line earlier” Saku apologized. After a small pause he continued “The animosity between the schools had made me bitter, but I shouldn’t bring personal issues into our call, or against you”
Now that they seemed to be on slightly better terms, Subaru was less apprehensive to accept his apology, since it sounded a lot more genuine as well. She peeked at Rika leaving the teacher’s room again, now holding the papers she had come to fetch.
“Ok, I also apologize, since I could have been a lot more professional about our interaction” She said, again in her polite but cold tone. He was starting to suspect that was her standard way of talking, instead of something targeted at him as he had assumed.
The call ended briefly after that, and Subaru, filled with a new surge of determination, fished out the paperwork related to Miharu’s case, the school rulebook, and her student file where Miharu’s parents number was.
“Ok, time to make some calls”