A/N: This fic is about Hiroki getting fired from his job due to some suspicious activities which he is sure were photo shopped but he had no proof. He moves to the country but before he does that, Akihiko convinces him to submit his writings to Aikawa and he becomes an author under a pseudonym. He gets a surprise in a few chapters in the backyard of the old house his grandfather left him. As always, this is an egoist fic, Nowaki will show up later.

This was a prompt I made on tumblr and I guess I am taking it upon myself to write out some of them. I made some changes from what I originally wrote but the concept is still the same. For some reason, this one jumped at me, like I don't have enough to work on but either way I am on track on finishing what I have in my files.

-Lucicelo


Chapter 1

Throughout his years of working for Mitsuhashi, Kamijou Hiroki kept himself out of any problems. Keeping out of anyone's way worked to his advantage, normally he wasn't the sociable type, so staff members had nothing too bad to say about him. He didn't bother to talk to other professors half the time, the free time he had in between classes, he used to read or grade any papers before he left for the day. Most of them didn't have his love of books which had him speaking to them unless he had a reason. Although, he was certain the avoidance of the other professors painted an obnoxious persona to him anyway. Not that he cared when many of them just went for a paycheck and not to earnestly teach their students. He was there to work and spread his knowledge of literature. Having a social life wasn't the first priority in his list.

Despite the variety of students who couldn't care less about his teachings, he wanted to present his favorite authors in the most positive matter. Having open discussions about a certain passage and getting his students to share his passion for the written word was something he hoped happened in his classroom. But he noticed the eagerness students used to have in answering questions didn't transcend into university.

Then again, he used his own experience in his literature classes as an example. He was more than willing to give his own open discussion about a book in a heartbeat.

There was another assistant professor named Tsumori, who he remembered him from T University. They always clashed opinions with him whenever they got in the same room. Hiroki took it upon himself to ignore him but for some reason, the man pestered him any time he saw him. The importance of his career overshadowed any debate with someone he didn't get along with. When he found out he shared an office with Yoh Miyagi, he got the room at the end of the hall and it was far away from Tsumori.

Having to share an office with another established professor lessened their interactions. This made Hiroki's life at the university more tolerable, well less stressful. Despite the students lack of interest, he placed his focus on them. Giving them plenty of essays didn't kill him, reading the wrong interpretations and horrible grammar did.

Hiroki expected Professor Miyagi to seem cool and serious, considering he was a respected literature professor but he turned into this jokester. The disillusionment in his vision of this man shocked him but he quickly got over it. Their friendship gathered at a slow pace but Hiroki let Miyagi slightly get inside of his head. It was almost comparable to his friendship with Akihiko.

The timeline for his road to getting certified as a true professor was on the right course. He assumed it was on the right course due to Miyagi explaining how he got his place in Mitsuhashi through their conversations. Which presented him with a good road in what he had to accomplish and gathering more feedback in how he handled his class.

He had nothing to worry about, well, he thought nothing bad would happen to him.

When the secretary from the Dean's office called their phone. Hiroki was left stumped at the explanation she gave him when he talked to her. The vague words didn't provide any proper clues on why his presence was required.

Hiroki put his bag on his shoulder as he rubbed his temples. The timing to go to the Dean's office wasn't favorable, he was in the middle of grading papers and in half an hour he had to give a lecture.

Miyagi dismissed his fears with his usual lame jokes. He had an encouraging smile on his face as he lightly pushed him out of their office.

Hiroki had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Putting on a strong front, he hurried over to Dean Takatsuki's office before the man thought he didn't consider this meeting important enough to hurry.


Sitting in front of Dean Takatsuki, Hiroki fiddled with his fingers in nervousness. The Dean's body language and overall demeanor wasn't giving him a positive picture. Maybe his performance wasn't up to standards or the scores of his students revealed a lack in his teaching ability. On his last review, his report specified there was nothing to complain about in his teaching methods. No other reasons entered his mind, he drew a blank on any possible reasons for his presence.

When he knocked on the door, he was only told to sit down and close the door. His boss sneaked glances at him while he held a large manila envelope in his hands. Whatever was in that envelope might end his whole career and he didn't know what was in there. This made him more anxious than he already felt.

Hiroki tried avoiding his eyes, he didn't want to stare at the envelope that might end his teaching career or send him to some program to improve his teaching skills. He successfully tutored students who flourished in high end universities in the past. It wasn't his fault that his stricter regimen of teaching wasn't what the students expected when they entered his class. He warned them in the first week so they had a chance to drop out of his class.

The sound of a cough broke the silence.

Hiroki turned his eyes toward his boss, who held the manila envelope to his chest. He saw the dean's name on the front and another note which read: "Open immediately."

"Do you know why I have called you here?"

Hiroki shook his head. "No. Your secretary only told me to come."

"I see." Takatsuki opened the envelope and took out a stack of papers, keeping them from Hiroki's view. "In this university, I have not had a single problem with my staff since I first took this position." Hiroki knew this already but didn't voice it. "And I will keep problems out of my university until I retire."

"I understand but what does that have to do with me?"

The older man presented Hiroki pictures of him in compromising positions with a high school student. He didn't have enough time to register anything before the images were removed from his face. Takatsuki crossed his arms over his chest in disapproval while leaning against his desk.

Hiroki's mind was on overdrive. He didn't understand how he was in those images and the mystery girl didn't register as anyone he knew in his life. He had plenty of cousins who were clingy and grabbed an arm while he met with them at times but none of them wore a public high school uniform. To his knowledge, all of them were in private high schools. He thought this was a sick joke. Almost assuming this was a dream, he pinched his hand. He thought he would wake up in his bed without such an awful claim against him. Nothing happened.

"I can't have such a scandal coming through this university, Kamijou." Dean Takatsuki said, he threw the printed pictures on his desk. "

Hiroki clenched his jaw, not trusting himself to say anything to defend himself. An idea came into his head on why this happened, someone was framing him. Yet, this person didn't know him very well. His interest swayed to men, not women, especially those who were in high school.

He didn't recognize the student and he never got a good look at her face. From the quick presentation the Dean showed him before taking the pictures back from his face, the details were fuzzy in his mind. All that stood out was the public high school uniform.

Fighting back and claiming he was innocent wouldn't look good on his credibility. Accepting the accusation ruined any chance at finding work in another university. Either way, he buried himself with the presence of the evidence which came from that manila envelope.

All of his investment in becoming a professor crumbled before his eyes. He felt his hands trembling in anger of this accusation.

Gripping his hands to stop the shivers, Hiroki flinched slightly when his nail dug into his skin. He knew he had to defend himself but from the disgusted look on Dean Takatsuki's face, he had no chance.

Hiroki relaxed his face enough to open his mouth to speak. "I already know you won't hear my explanation because your mind is already made up."

The man started to explain. "The evidence is quite clea-"

"Then fire me." Hiroki glanced at the low quality paper, glaring at the pile. "There is no point in arguing. I already know you won't change your perspective because of these claims. Besides, I can always get someone else to prove my innocence."

Seeing the signs of a possible lawsuit, Takatsuki said. "You don't need to sue us, the evidence will bounce back at you."

"Who said anything about suing you?" Hiroki inquired as he stared up at him with an arched brow. "I just said I had someone who might send someone to come help my case. Rest assured, a big scandal through a lawsuit will gather bad results on both ends."

The Dean nodded his head stiffly. "It's good that you realize the gravity of this situation. Pack your things and leave the premises." He turned his back to Hiroki and placed his focus on the window.

Hiroki grabbed his bag, stood up, and pushed the chair behind him. He only knew one person who could help him and his pride took a hit in admitting he needed his help. He never asked his father for any type of help after he left home but he had no choice.

Glancing at the papers with the photos on the desk, he held back his tears of anger as he left the room. Closing the door behind him, he left the university.

He didn't want any of his ex-students to witness his walk of shame out of the place.


Soshi pushed up his glasses as Hiroki ended his tale. Letting out a deep sigh, he leaned back in his chair while he stared at his son. The manner Hiroki's boss dismissed him without investigating everything with some help from the police was sloppy. Whenever someone in his company did anything wrong, he went through every single measure to check for any evidence and testimony from anyone who witnessed anything the person was accused of doing. The last thing he needed was problems from an ex employee after termination.

He watched his son's distressed face, the manner he tried controlling the volume of his voice. Hiroki had fought him on continuing his love for literature when he informed him the major he picked when he entered university. Honestly, he wished Hiroki inherited his company but he realized his son's place resided in books. Forcing him to take over his business would drive all of his hard work into the ground.

Besides, he warmed up to the idea when Hiroki got that assistant professor position. The determination and drive he had when he worked appeared in Hiroki's eyes.

After this hidden scandal, Hiroki couldn't go back to apply for any more teaching positions if Mitsuhashi placed him in a blacklist. He was sure there was one shared in between all the universities in Japan just to keep any unworthy professors away from their pristine universities.

Leaning back in his chair, Soshi ignored a call from his cell phone, keeping his eyes on his son. "I will call my lawyer so she can talk to the police. Just keep a low profile while they settle this whole debacle." Soshi told Hiroki while he silenced his cell phone and placed it on his desk.

Hiroki nodded his head slowly. "So..you believe me right? I don't need to explain everything again?"

Soshi stared at him with an arched brow. "Of course I believe you. The moment you told me the evidence placed you in a relationship with a woman, I knew they could be easily dismissed through the investigation."

Hiroki had already told his parents of his preference toward men when he was in high school. Now that was the most distressing thing he had ever done in his whole life. They were the most important people in the world to him. There was no big reaction from his parents, Hiroki suspected they figured it out on their own and only waited for him to tell them.

"There will be some discretion right? I don't need anyone else to think I am capable of doing something like this."

"Yes. Motou's contacts won't make a big fuss over the whole process. They will grab the evidence themselves from your ex-boss before anything else." Soshi checked the clock on his desk. "This will happen in the morning once I call them when you leave."

Hiroki let out a deep sigh. "I honestly don't know how this happened. I made sure to keep myself away from people to prevent getting a target on my back."

Soshi tapped his fingers on his desk. "You were seen as a threat, Hiroki. I had my share of attempted blackmail when I started getting into the family business. It's nothing new."

Hiroki frowned. "I am not in business, father. I am an assistant professor in literature."

"EX assistant professor." Hiroki glared at his father. "Get used to the fact that you are not working in that field anymore. You are blacklisted by this dismissal alone and when this investigation is done they might take you off this list. You might not want to teach there again after all of this is over."

"Then what am I supposed to do for work? If you think I will start working for you, you are sorely mistaken."

Soshi rolled his eyes, he told Hiroki with a smirk on his face. "I don't want dead weight in my office."

"Father!"

"Calm down, son, I am only teasing." Soshi interlaced his fingers together on his lap.

"Yeah right.." Hiroki muttered as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Besides, I have some money saved up to last me for a while. I might have to downgrade to a much smaller apartment.."

Soshi kept back a comment in Hiroki coming back home but his stubborn son would never agree to such a thing. Knowing he had some money saved up took away some of his worries, Hiroki won't starve during this forced vacation.

A buzz came from the office phone when Soshi pressed the button. "Yes?"

His secretary told him. "Kamijou-san, Akiyama-san is here for his meeting with you."

"Thank you, once Hiroki leaves my office send him in." Soshi informed her, he turned to Hiroki. "Don't worry about a thing, son. I will make sure this will all settle down and your name won't be tarnished." He stood up, Hiroki followed suit as they both walked toward the door.

Hiroki awkwardly reached out his arms and wrapped them around his father. Soshi stared down at Hiroki in shock, Hiroki had not hugged him in the a longest time. The only other person Hiroki held was his mother, who never let Hiroki leave without her embrace.

Soshi patted Hiroki's hair down. "Son?" He inquired in a soft voice.

"Thank you...thank you for helping me, father." Hiroki choked out, he let his fear come out for the first time in years. "I almost didn't think you would..."

Soshi wrapped his arms tight around him and told him. "It's no problem at all. You are my only child after all."


Hiroki sat in the middle of his living room with a red pen in his mouth. Papers scattered all over the floor, plenty of them had an 'x' over a place Hiroki didn't think suited him. Either they needed repairs or were too old-fashioned for his taste. Slowly growing aggravated, Hiroki stood up, walked to his fridge and took out a beer. His frown grew deeper when he saw his almost vacant fridge, he needed to move out soon. He didn't want to stay in this city anymore.

His best bet was moving back with his parents which was something he didn't want to do. Sure, he loved his parents but after leaving home, he had no strong feelings in going back. There was an occasional visit to talk about what had happened in their lives and maybe have dinner. After getting used to living alone all this time, he didn't want to explain himself if he ever returned late from anywhere he went.

Suddenly, Hiroki remembered that his grandfather left him a property in the countryside. He grimaced, he wasn't sure of the conditions of the place and he never got an actual photograph when he was handed the will in high school. He gave the will to his parents for safe keeping since his home was usually filled to the brink with books, he would have lost it himself.

He had no choice in the matter, it helped that he used to help his maternal grandparents in their farm during the summer. Besides, he wasn't a total city boy, he could handle himself in the countryside.

Taking a swig of his beer, he walked back to his spot on the living room floor. He stared down at the papers and knew the will of that property meant he wouldn't have to pay rent. All he had to do was set up the gas and water for the place before he left Tokyo.

Having the place in almost the middle of nowhere meant he wouldn't have to deal with any awful neighbors. He was certain many of the people he met as a teen still lived there. If not, then his books would remain his company. His books had never betrayed him once and the serenity of the close forests might calm him down.

"This means I have fetch the deed tomorrow...just great." He rubbed his temples as he gathered all of these papers for the recycling later on in the week. "Then the rental of the car too, whatever, at least I won't have to worry about paying for a new place."

He placed all of the papers in one bag while he stared at the daunting task of packing all of his books. A feeling of dread went through him, he might need to pay extra money for these heavy books he had in his collection.

TBC