-A Teacher's Plight-
Just another Type-0 One-shot or more stories about Kurasame-Sensei who is the head instructor of Class Zero.
I can see a lot of humor and destruction of being a teacher for Class Zero.
Shrieks of chaos surrounded around the purple-haired man with eager vengeance.
"No ... anything but that! P-Please don't— Don't do it! No! STOP IT!"
His hand reached out to a white, dimming light in front of him. His eyes began to prick with tears as the warm splatter of red crimson splashed darkly across his face.
His eyes widened at the torn country in front of him. The warmth of the liquid was fading away fast and the heart inside him beat quick and relentlessly, like a bird struggling out of its cage.
Burned buildings and rotting flesh smothered the air, making it hard to breathe for the solider who was shivering out of pure fear. The man was alone with only the clothes on his back to protect him.
Black, gray, and red were all the colors that jolted the war-veteran into a shell-shocked state at that moment in time.
"Kurasame-Sensei! Wake up! Kurasame-Sensei!" A urgent and scared female voice faintly echoed outside of his bleak, black world he encompassed himself in. The solider raised his head in confusion.
"W-Who's that? Who's there?" His voice felt hoarse and weak as if he couldn't say anything, but asking questions to another being up above him.
"A-Ace! Get a healer! Kurasame-Sensei won't wake up!" The same female voice ordered quickly, hearing the same scared tone from before.
The solider heard footsteps running hard against a surface.
"Whoa, what's up with Sensei? He looks—" A male voice was interrupted by a sharp thwack echoing out of nowhere.
The solider breathed heavily, feeling utterly lost and confused by the background noise.
"Be quiet, Nine!" A different female's voice sharply snapped.
"Damn it, Queen! What the hell!"
"Don't curse at me, Nine. Better yet, why don't you shut your mouth for a change? Everyone will have a better day for it." Queen stated with an air of satisfaction.
The man faintly remembered those names. He looked up at the black sky above him, and saw nothing that would break him away from this horrible nightmare.
"N-Nine? Q-Queen? Anyone! I need help! S-Somebody! ANYBODY! I-I WANT TO GET OUT OF THIS NIGHTMARE!" The man screamed with all of his might, feeling his heart lurch at the sound of his own voice pleading for help.
Suddenly, his world began to shake and roar underneath his feet and above his head.
The man's eyes closed his eyes tightly as he crumbled himself into the fetal position.
"This isn't real. This can't be real. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT! JUST STOP IIIITTTTTT!" The man yelled.
"Kurasame? Kurasame, wake up. Kurasame!"
A bespectacled woman shook the Suzaku instructor's trembling shoulder with her free hand. His class watched with worry as their Master woke up with a jolt, breathing heavily with tears streaming fast down his face.
His vision was blurry and his first action was to wipe away the dirt from his eyes. Feeling the tears on his face, the violet-haired man removed his hands and stood up from his chair.
The woman's yellow eyes flickered to her fellow co-worker and then to the mute students in front of her. In a force of habit, she pressed the golden pipe to her lips and inhaled slowly. Gray smoke surrounded the woman in a light breeze, making some Class Zero students shiver at the action.
"Please ... excuse me for one moment, everyone." his voice quietly echoed throughout the classroom.
With a fluid motion, Kurasame forced his legs to walk outside of his class and closed the door behind him.
"All right, Class Zero. Since Kurasame's out of commission you'll be having me as a substitute Instructor for today." He heard the woman's lazy-tone penetrate through the wooden door. The groan of students filled the room, leading the woman to chuckle at their actions.
Kurasame clenched his hands into fists and glared at the stone floor below him. It took him a while to compose himself as he tried his best not to break down at the mental images from his dreams.
"Not that dream again..." Kurasame whispered to himself, feeling his body shake at the mere thought of reliving those horrible nightmares over and over again. He felt a tug at his clothes, looked down and saw his Tonberry watching his Master curiously with its red eyes.
It tiled its green head as if to say,"What's wrong, Master?"
His blue eyes softened and unconsciously patted his beloved Tonberry atop his head. His Tonberry closed its eyes, feeling the warmth and comfort it always felt when his Master showed rare affection towards his beloved companion.
"I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me, old friend."
Behind his black mask, Kurasame released a small smile. Through it all, his Tonberry was the only one who understood and tolerated his indifference and cold behavior.
"So, the Icy Blade of Death does have a heart underneath it all." An amused voice spoke from behind.
Kurasame turned around and saw the legendary Sorceress observing him from her red-rimmed glasses. He cursed mentally, unsure of what to make of the woman who now closed his classroom door silently.
"Arecia, what brings you here?" The man asked coldly. He never understood the new Head of Suzaku Magic which irked him to no end. Her eyes were one of the few things that made his skin crawl.
Her cat-like yellow eyes brightened at his tone of voice. She crossed her arms together, emphasizing her already huge breasts even more. Her golden, black-rimmed pipe was always on her person no matter the event, time, or location.
"Do you take any medications for your illness, Kurasame?" Arecia asked, smiling. Kurasame's steely, blue eyes looked at her. Feeling the rising tension between the two, Tonberry stepped in front of his Master holding its weapon at her menacingly.
She waited for a response, but the black-masked man didn't waver and stood his ground against her.
Which is to be expected from a high-class solider like him. I didn't think he would give out his answer so easily. Arecia thought, still amused at her co-worker for his secret.
"Just between you and me," Arecia's yellow eyes seemed to glow from behind her oval-shaped glasses as she walked away from the door and stood side-by-side with Kurasame.
She leaned in closely to Kurasame's ear and felt her lips and warm breath tickle his skin.
"If you don't take anything for that sickness inside of you, it'll fester and rot until you are nothing but a broken soul inside of a lifeless body." Her words caressed the side of his neck, making the man feel a cold pit at the bottom of his stomach.
At that moment, his head began its ritual headaches as Kurasame winced at the endless throb of pain inside him. The woman took a small mental note at his obvious pain as she walked away quietly back to her section of Peristerium.
Stopping its stance, Tonberry watched his Master carefully, holding the man's coat tail with a small grip of its hand. Kurasame stood there for what seemed like an eternity as he waited for his daily headache to stop pounding.
His blue eyes felt weary after staring at the stone floor during his small episode and shook his head to clear the muffled thoughts shifting inside his mind. His red-gloved hand brushed the back of his head, giving himself something to do before going inside his classroom to face his students.
Holding the doorknob, Kurasame opened the door. He raised his one eyebrow at the strange image in front of him. His blue orbs darted at his students who smiled sheepishly at their Instructor, embarrassed at their actions.
There, within inches from the door, were Suzaku's most elite and widely feared students named, "Class Zero" were stacked side-by-side and on top of one another, forming an oddly-shaped pyramid with the several male students at the very bottom.
"H-Hi Kurasame-Sensei!" An orange-haired female said between huffs. she was holding up one of her fellow classmates, Rem Tokimiya on her back the best she could. Rem could only look at her teacher with a flustered face as she, Queen, and Sice carried Ace to the very top of the pyramid.
"STOP DIGGING AT MY SHOULDER CINQUE!" The boy at the bottom of her yelled, feeling the weight of her and the rest of the female population on his back. The orange-haired girl named Cinque glared at him, making the handsome blonde grimace back.
"Well, I can't HELP it, Trey! I didn't come up with this mess! Nine did!"
Nine laughed, his body shaking at the full weight of women on top of him. He was at the very bottom, squished between Eight and King.
"So, IT'S ALL ABOUT ME, HUH CINQUE!" He managed to say with sarcasm. King grunted, still wondering if this was a wonderful plan to be at the bottom. A boy next to King with blonde, tussled hair smiled at his view above him.
"Hmm...I never knew Number Seven had such naughty panties!" He exclaimed, grinning at the sliver-haired girl's blushing face. His vulgar remark earned him a kick to his face with the only weapon she had left: Her knee.
"I DARE YOU TO LOOK UP AGAIN! I DARE YOU JACK! No? Well, that's a good boy." The girl named Seven smugly replied, savoring his pained groan. Between Cinque and Seven were two female classmates Two and Four and one male, Ten. They were silent, but the looks on all three of their faces showed them extremely unhappy with their position on the pyramid.
It was instantly noticeable to Kurasame why the males were at the bottom of pile while most of the opposite gender were rising steady away from them. He locked eyes with Ace who was trying and failing miserably at balancing himself as the tip of the pyramid.
"Stay still Ace!" Queen snapped, causing Ace to freeze at the class president's tone of voice. A white-haired girl next to Queen named Sice smiled a rare smile at her Instructor, knowing full well the implications for their eavesdropping actions would go all to waste once Kurasame recovered from his initial shock of it all.
"Does this happen often, Kurasame-Sensei?" A strong male voice asked, highly amused at his classmates' antics for the day. Kurasame tilted his head away from the man-made shape and saw Machina chuckling to himself.
"Depends on the day and the time, Machina." Kurasame replied back, his tone of voice went back to his usual coldness and indifference. Machina and Rem were previously the newest addition to Class Zero, and as such they were at first surprised at the crazy activities the class often participated in.
Waving one index finger behind him, Tonberry walked next to his master awaiting his orders.
"Tonberry ... take care of them for me."
A mad glint formed in Tonberry's red eyes as it braished his sliver weapon at the students with excitement. Soon, the classroom erupted with screams, yells, and shouts coupled with many groans of pain.
The males at the bottom scrambled out of harms way by lifting themselves up from the ground, sending the teens above them falling backwards to the floor. In response to this action, many of the females shrieked in surprise and shouted curses at the cowardly males who, after the composing their get-away properly, ran away from the devilishness Tonberry out of fear.
"DAMN YOU IDIOTS! WHAT THE HELL?" A scream coming surprisingly, from the calm and collected Queen, who was now underneath several other classmates: Rem, Sice, and Ace who were all groaning in pain.
Cinque, Seven, Two, Four, and Ten took the brunt of the action, as they were directly on top of the bottom row, sprawled all over the red-carpet floor with arms, legs and heads sticking out from their body pile-up.
In the background, Kurasame heard loud laughter coming from Machina, who was holding his sides very sorry he hadn't had a video camera to capture the Rise and Fall of Class Zero.
Tonberry jumped threateningly in small bouts in front of the students, who removed themselves up with difficulty, from their pile and ran for cover. Kurasame watched the chaos spread all over his classroom and cracked a small smile, thankful he wore a mask behind it.
His blue orbs spotted a small figure sleeping near an open window near Suzaku's infamous garden. Ignoring the screams that were getting louder with his Tonberry inching closer and closer to every student, he walked slowly towards the sleeping student.
He saw that it was his newest student, a female named Luna. Using her arms as a cushion from the hard wooden desk, the albino-haired girl slept peacefully, her hair acting as a repentant against the yellow rays of the sun.
She was infamously known as a Red Agito in many of her classes and her "odd behavior" apparently stuck with her when she entered this class. She labeled was a slacker and often daydreamed in his class instead of doing her work like she was suppose to.
Socially an outcast, she never participated in group activities and turned her head away when Class Zero came up with crazy antics like this one. Building a pyramid to eavesdrop on their teacher was one of them.
"I think I know who my favorite student is." Kurasame muttered to himself, giving his student a gentle pat on her head. She didn't stir, but breathed softly like an innocent child ignorant of the outside world.
"GOD SUZAKU! HELP US ALL!" Nine shouted in mock horror. He held an infuriating Queen and a blushing Rem by the waist, separately latching on to them with his arms.
"Nine! Will you st—!" Her order was quickly interrupted by a stampede of the whole class running past them and away from Tonberry still holding its weapon and swinging it rapidly.
Queen's eyes widened in horror and held Nine by the shoulder. Rem uttered a squeal at the crazed animal in front of them.
"Pick me up you idiot! Pick me up, pick me up—PICK ME UP NOW!" The class president yelled. Nine was too happy to oblige and held Queen and Rem each by her waist and over his shoulders. With his strong legs, he ran away from the Tonberry who was hot at their heels.
With each swing, Rem and Queen shrieked with fear while Nine laughed at their fear. The rest of Class Zero hilariously began running in circles around Kurasame-Sensei's classroom, each person grabbing hold of the other person in front of them with their hands.
They knew they could take Tonberry with their expertise, but since it was the pet and companion of Kurasame-Sensei's they couldn't do anything about it. It was a running gag of Class Zero, with all of them, including Sice and King afraid of the little animal ever since they entered Kurasame-Sensei's classroom.
Watching all of this in the background was Kurasame. He took a mental picture of each student's horrified face in his mind, satisfied that they found their "just-desserts" for eavesdropping. Tonberry was having a wonderful time, scaring the living daylights out of the most feared and elite students of Class Zero.
"Do you think they have enough, Luna?" Kurasame asked casually to the sleeping girl. He cracked a smirk as his Tonberry finally had all of them cornered behind his desk. All of Class Zero uneasily looked at Tonberry and yelled for Kurasame-Sensei to stop the mad companion to stop.
"WE GIVE UP KURASAME-SENSEI!" Cinque yelled, holding on to Two with a fierce hug. They both had their eyes shut, tears pricking their eyes. Eight, King, Trey and Jack formed a circle between them, linking their arms together, sobbing their eyes out.
"KURASAME-SENSEI! STOP TONBERRY! PLEASE!" Seven shouted, climbing over her own classmates to save herself. Ace's blue eyes darted back to Tonberry and then to Kurasame, pleading for their Instructor to end the madness.
"We-we're all sorry! Right guys?" Ace managed to stutter, looking at his classmates with a fearful glance. They all quickly nodded in response, staring at their teacher with regret filling their eyes.
"You mean it?" Kurasame's voice echoed, coldly tossing away their plea for help. Tonberry, jumped towards them again, making Class Zero back away closer to each other for comfort.
"WE'RE SORRY SENSEI!" Class Zero yelled. Kurasame smiled, thankful for the thousandth time, he wore his signature mask to work everyday.
With a snap of his fingers, Tonberry lowered its weapon and made a bee-line towards his Master, happy and excited it got to show its power against all these ungrateful students.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and soon relaxed their poses. Some of them chuckled at their actions, uncomfortable at everyone's physical closeness with one another.
They all went back to their desks, chatting to each other as they recreated each student's horrified faces.
Order was finally restored in the classroom as Kurasame firmly laid down the law on who was boss. Class Zero respected their Instructor highly, not because he was the famous Icy Blade of Death, but because he taught each of his students separately one-on-one unlike other classes where the Instructor was with a student one second and quickly gone soon after.
Kurasame walked back to his desk, frowning slightly at the mess his students made. In their scramble to get away from Tonberry, papers and pens were scattered all over the floor. He sighed wearily and bent down to pick them up.
Post-Tra—
Kurasame's frown deepened. Picking up sheets of his student's bell-work, the paper became clear. Kurasame's blue eyes looked blankly at the words in front of him. His grip on his students' papers tightened.
Post-Tramatic Stress Disorder (also known as PTSD)
Post-traumatic stress disorder is a type of anxiety disorder. It can occur after you've seen or experienced a traumatic event that involved the threat of injury or death.
The Cause
PTSD can be caused by a major trauma inducted by stress relating to certain events such as war or natural disasters. This may last up to 3 months after the event or continue on for many years.
The cause of PTSD is unknown, but psychological, genetic, physical, and social factors are involved. PTSD changes the body's response to stress. Having been exposed to trauma in the past may increase the risk of PTSD.
People with PTSD re-experience the event again and again in at least one of several ways. They may have frightening dreams and memories of the event, feel as though they are going through the experience again (flashbacks), or become upset during anniversaries of the event.
The Symptoms
1. Repeated "reliving" of the event, which disturbs day-to-day activity
*Repeated dreams about the event or flashbacks
*Recurring distressing memories of the event
2. Avoidance
*Numbing of emotions
*Feelings of detachment
You also might feel a sense of guilt about the event (including "survivor guilt"), and the following symptoms, which are typical of anxiety, stress, and tension:
*Agitation, or excitability
*Dizziness
*Headache
*Paleness
The Treatment
Medication or social groups can help reduce the PTDS or stop it completely. Talk to your healer if you are able to take medication for your PTDS or you can contact social groups in your local area.
Kurasame stopped reading. Picking up the paper, he opened one of his many drawers and shoved it in the back. He didn't notice how hard he closed his drawer until Rem asked what was wrong.
"It's nothing. Go back to work." He ordered with his usual strictness.
Rem looked at Sice who shrugged her shoulders. Ace and Machina exchanged confused looks with one another, but all went back to their respective desks to work on their daily assignment for the day, conjuring up spells and working with their weapons.
They didn't notice their Instructor blankly watching them from afar.
I'm training these students to become war heroes and heroines. Training them for a War I never wanted to be in. A war ... where all they'll see is death and blood. An event full of dark, red crimson, black souls and a world that is equally cruel and unwelcoming. Why? Why am I doing this? Why see them suffer like I have? I-I can't do anything anymore. Just like Arecia said, I'm a broken soul inside of a lifeless body.
Kurasame balled his fists in anger.
God Suzaku, why must you bestow weapons upon the weak?
Here's the picture of the pyramid if you were confused about the order:
Ace
Rem, Queen, Sice
Cinque, Two, Four, Ten, Seven,
Trey, Eight, Nine, King, Jack
Oh, a Red Agito is a person or group of people who are social outcasts or outsiders enrolled in Suzaku. You can read more about it The Red Agito fanfiction in the Final Fantasy Type-0 section.
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