Tales of Imagination
Chapter One: The raven
"Ahhh… shit."
It was already ten in the morning, but Grimmjow felt it was too early to get up. A bit of sunlight had managed to slip through his thick black curtains and hit him square in the eyes, such a lovely way of starting his day.
Not.
He tried to cover his head with the sheets and go back to sleep but it was no use. Growling, he got up from bed and took a peek at the clock sitting on his nightstand. Ten thirty, he'd get there on time for fifth period. Not that he cared. He put on his old, dirty uniform and headed out for school.
As he locked the door to his apartment, he noticed piles of boxes outside the apartment right next to his. He cursed. The place had been empty since he had moved in, and he liked it that way. No cranky old ladies complaining about the thundering music of his weekend parties, no uptight couples scandalized about his porn movies (he liked to turn up the volume), no nerdy idiot to bitch about the noise of his videogames. Bottom line, he liked the apartment the way it was, empty.
He didn't want to see whoever had come to ruin his as of yet perfect bitchy-neighbour-less life, so he decided he'd just pull a random prank on the poor idiot when he came back from school.
Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez was your everyday teenage delinquent. He was the kind of guy that skipped classes and was always late for school. The kind of guy that bullied weaker students and stole their lunch just for the fun of it. He was the brash kind of student that painted obscene graffitti on the principal's office, and started ill rumors about the teachers. He was the kind of guy that had the worst reputation and didn't give a shit about it. That was Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez.
By the time he arrived at school, it was already lunchtime. Perfect timing, he thought to himself, as he climbed to the rooftop to meet with his "friends". Every teenage delinquent must have a gang. Otherwise, the other delinquents could become his rivals. But they rather decided to team up to wreak havoc and have fun, fool around and piss the teachers off.
"Yo, Kittycat. 'S late yanno'? Thought ya wouldn' show up taday"
His main associate was called Nnoitra Gilga. Like Grimmjow, he was just another teenage delinquent. When they were not at each other's throats, they spent their time terrorizing students and vandalizing the school. That's how Grimmjow led his life, or something like that at least.
After chatting about what their next escapade would be, the bell marking the end of lunchbreak rang.
"Hey, ya comin' ta Tosen's class? Heard the bitch had'n accident er somethin' an' he won't be comin' over before April. Maybe we'll get a hot substitute er somethin' like tha'!"
"Thought ya had yer hands full with Nel. She's got'em big, ain't she?"
Nnoitra glared at him. "Yeah, 'n ya can't look a'em. 'Sides, I can still watch, can't I?"
Grimmjow smirked as they entered their classroom, which was already packed with students, all of them expecting anxiously to hear about the teacher's situation and what was going to be done about it. Nnoitra and Grimmjow took their seats at the back of the room and the taller teen took out a pair of scissors and started to scratch the wooden surface of his desk with them.
The door was suddenly opened by a skinny young raven-haired teen, probably a new transfer student, with pale skin, marred with green tear-looking tattoos on his cheeks, and big emerald eyes. He was carrying a black briefcase and wore a white dressing shirt, green tie and black pants instead of the regular uniform. He caught Grimmjow's eye instantly, though he wasn't sure if it was because he thought he was interesting or because he looked easy to terrorize.
The new student walked up to the teacher's desk and left his briefcase on top of it. He then started unpacking multiple things, as if the desk belonged to him. The other students were astonished, wondering why a fellow classmate felt so confident as to use the teacher's desk as if it were his own. Finally, the raven head took out a white chalk and started to write on the board.
"As you all might know, Tosen-sensei is temporarily incapacitated and could not continue teaching the Japanese Literature class. I will be taking his place until the end of this term. My name is Ulquiorra Cifer, pleased to meet you."
There was a deathly silence in the classroom as everyone tried to take in the news. Nnoitra growled something about "no boobs" in disappointment. Grimmjow was completely astonished. This guy couldn't be a teacher. He looked younger than him! Granted, he'd had to repeat his first highschool year because he had skipped and subsequently failed all of his classes, and so he was a year older than most of his classmates (except Nnoitra, that idiot was like… 19, 20? He would never get out of highschool in Grimmjow's opinion). But still, he was sure he'd beat up bigger guys than that so-called substitute teacher.
"Tche, how old is he, fourteen?" he muttered.
"My age should not concern you, Jaegerjaquez, but I am twenty-four. Next time you have a question, do raise your hand or there will be consequences."
The teen, no, scratch that, he wasn't a teen after all. The man's piercing green eyes met Grimmjow's for a fleeting moment, a slight warning imprinted in that cold gaze. Sheesh, not only did the substitute look like an elementary schooler, he was a creepo too. And he had needed less than five minutes to earn Grimmjow's dislike.
"Tosen-sensei did not leave a note of what I should be teaching you, or any specific program, so I will use my own and start from the beginning, even if we might not reach the end of it by the time I leave."
Grimmjow just wanted to run away. Tosen's classes were boring as fuck (the guy was freakin' blind and made them write their assignments in freakin' Braille), but this guy wasn't much better. His voice was deep and had that same droning property that Tosen's endless lectures about justice had. So, yeah, Grimmjow had been on his way to failing Literature again because he skipped the class on a regular basis, and when he did show up he used the time to take a nap and never did his homework (why would he ever want to learn Braille, anyway?)
"I will not make any assumptions about how much previous knowledge you may possess, do not feel insulted if I simply assume you are completely ignorant on the subject we are dealing with. I will, thus start from the very beginning. It is considered that the Japanese culture did not possess any sort of written maniphestation before the Chinese writing was brought to the island from the mainland. As such, there is not any sort of literature before the Japanese learned to use the Chinese characters. After learning the Chinese system, the Japanese adapted them to their own phonetical system and gave each symbol their own pronunciation, which is why our language is so different to that of the Chinese, even if we use similar characters."
Grimmjow's ears perked a little. Tosen had never actually told them any of that. It was kinda boring still, but he surprised himself when he took out his Literature notebook, which was so far completely blank, and scribbled some random notes. The teacher was now writing some Kanji on the blackboard with their different Japanese and Chinese readings with an impeccable handwriting. He just had to be that kind of guy.
Three minutes before the bell rang, Cifer-sensei closed his books and put away his chalks.
"That will do for an introduction. Next class we will start with the actual Japanese Literature, but I thought it important that you had some basis on the historical, social and political context of the time that gave birth to the first pure Japanese literary productions. Before you leave I have an assignment that I want you to bring me for next class, which should be this Friday. I want each of you to write a haiku about any topic you prefer. A haiku is a short poem that contains seventeen syllables distributed in three sentences of 5, 7 and 5 moras respectively. I want to know each of you better so I hope all of you put your best effort into this assignment. I will see you next Friday."
As if on cue, the bell rang the moment he finished speaking. He picked up his briefcase and left the classroom without any further word. The students quickly dashed out of the room, trying to use what little time they had before the next class started to visit their friends in other classrooms or take a quick visit to the toilet. Grimmjow just growled, deciding he'd stay for the remaining classes of the day. Nnoitra said something about not being in the mood to stand that hat-and-clogs freak and left, agreeing to meet his partner in crime after the last class.
Hours later, after graffiting "Aizen's hairspray kills the ozone" on the door of the teacher's lounge, Grimmjow rode his bike back to the apartment complex where he lived. He was surprised to see that there was still a bunch of boxes piled outside the apartment next to his. Seriously what was wrong with his so-called "new neighbours"? Not only did they come to screw up his perfect life, they were unable to sort out their mess, so Grimmjow decided to give them a piece of his mind.
"Oi, fucker, get yer shit fixed already, it's blocking my way! Ya get this crap outta here or I'll burn'em down!"
He heard soft footsteps coming from the apartment and a short man came out of the door labeled with a number four.
"I thought I recognized your voice. I would ask you not to swear, it is unsightly. If you are in such a hurry to have these packages out of the way, you could help me carry them inside. Otherwise, I am quite sure you have more important things to do rather than making noise in the hallway."
Grimmjow's eyes grew the size of saucers as he saw his new substitute teacher, Ulquiorra Cifer, emerge from the previously abandoned apartment.
Fuck.
"No way, man. So ya got Cifer livin' next door? Well, maybe ya can get inta his pants, maybe tha' way ya'll pass this time. He kinda looks like a chick anyway, ya can just pretend."
Grimmjow wanted to punch Nnoitra. Was the guy retarded? Wait, he totally was. How he'd managed to get the hottest girl in school was beyond him.
Having fucking Cifer living next door was the worst thing that could have ever happened to him. They had only crossed paths in the building twice, and he already hoped it would never happen again. The substitute sent him a deadpanned look that felt like green ice (what the fuck was 'green ice' anyway?) and left without a word.
Speak of the devil, Grimmjow thought, as the raven-haired man passed by them. And just like before, sent him an empty sideways glance without stopping on his track. There was something about that guy that made Grimmjow incredibly uneasy, but he just couldn't put his finger on it.
"Oy, move it Kittycat. Let's steal Getaboshi's hat er sumthin'."
That night, the apartment 6 was silent. No scandalous porn movies, no thundering music, no loud videogames. And that was because the inhabitant of said apartment was banging his head against the table, and sending glares at a blank sheet of paper, as if expecting for some random inspiration to pop out of nowhere.
What's wrong with me? I'll just not do it and that's it. 'S not like I care about fuckin' homework or fuckin' Literature. 'N poetry's for fags anyways."
He glared at the blank paper again and it somehow reminded him of the empty glances he received from the stoic teacher. He furiously stabbed the paper with his pen and screamed in frustration.
"Screw you Cifer!"
When Nnoitra Gilga arrived at school on Friday, just in time for Literature class, he found Grimmjow sleeping in the classroom. The blue-haired male had dark circles under his eyes, and he looked like he hadn't even changed his uniform from the day before.
"Ya look like shit Kittycat."
Without even raising his head from the desk, Grimmjow threw a blind punch at the other man in annoyance.
"Shaddap Spoony, 'm sleepin'."
"Had fun last night?" Nnoitra smirked.
Grimmjow tried to punch him again, in a fruitless attempt to get him to shut up and let him sleep. He was so not telling him that he had stayed up all night writing Cifer's stupid haiku.
The moment the bell rang, Ulquiorra Cifer came into the classroom. He carried the same air of cold indifference around him that he had the first time, it felt as if there was an unbreakable barrier between him and the students.
"Good afternoon. I hope all of you have brought your assignments. If so, please pass them over."
Grimmjow almost felt like keeping the paper to himself. He was Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, he never did any assignments to begin with, let alone hand them over. But before he had time to ponder his possibilities, Ulquiorra came by his place and took the paper from his hands. Green eyes scanned through the characters with interest. A thick black eyebrow quirked with curiosity.
"Thank you, Jaegerjaquez."
Grimmjow was pissed. Pissed at himself for writing the fucking haiku. Pissed at Cifer for reading it. Pissed at his crappy life for being so crappy. And especially pissed at Nnoitra who just wouldn'..up.
"Awww, yer such a good boy, Kittycat! Ya did yer homework! And Emo-bitch liked it! Didja write'im a love letter? Er maybe a dirty poem?"
The blue-eyed teen punched his crime partner in the stomach; he'd had enough of Nnoitra's retarded behaviour. The taller man growled angrily and cursed loudly as they left the building.
"The fuck's wrong with ya? Can't even take a little joke. By the way, Mr. Good Boy, I'm throwin' a party tanight. Wanna come over 'n get wasted? Or yer gonna stay home studyin'?"
There was nothing better to forget the loads of shit he'd had to stand this week than gallons of crappy booze from one of Nnoitra's infamous parties. He crooked a half grin as he followed the black-haired man, hoping that he'd be so hungover next morning that he wouldn't have time to worry about having Cifer next door the whole weekend.
Wednesday came, and Grimmjow felt a strong urge to just skip Cifer's class. It was bad enough to see the man every day in the building, to see his velvet black car parked outside in the street, and the light of his apartment glowing until late hours every night. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to just leave the school for a couple hours and go to the arcade with Nnoitra.
Cifer was perfectly on time, as usual. This time, he only took out a single book from his briefcase. A huge single book. Grimmjow asked himself why he had decided to stay to the one class that promised no more than endless boredom with the last person he wanted to see standing right in front of him.
"As I told you last Wednesday, there was no written literature before the introduction of the Chinese writing. But as of the eighth century, year 712, we find this piece." he lifted the gigantic book. "The Kojiki is not only one of the most antique Japanese literary pieces, but it is the most ancient History book we possess. It contains songs, poems, myths, legends and genealogical stories of the ancient Japan…"
Grimmjow's attention drifted away. Seriously, who cared about a bunch of old papers? If he'd have to read them, let them burn for all he cared.
Cifer dropped the booked loudly on the wooden table, and Grimmjow wondered if it had been on purpose.
"Because this is such an important text to the past and the present of our country, our culture and our artistic maniphestations, you will have to read all of it. You have until next Friday."
The students whined in protest. Grimmjow's eyes widened. Was that guy for real? That book was huge! Did he really expect them to read it in less than two weeks? Grimmjow was sure he hadn't read so many pages in all of his life. Oh well. He wouldn't read it, end of story. He didn't really care after all.
Thursday night, Grimmjow arrived late at home. He was a bit miffed for some reason he really didn't know, so he told Nnoitra they should put fire to fox-face's papers. It didn't go as well as they hoped, since Ichimaru-sensei just stared at the flames, gave a wide grin and sang "I dun have paperwork anymo~ore" as he just left the papers to burn. Nnoitra had then asked him to help him pick a second-hand car, which he planned to buy with some bucks he got… somewhere. Nobody knew the source of Nnoitra's income and nobody asked. It was better that way.
As he pushed the key into the keyhole, he noticed the next door opening and a green-eyed man coming out of the apartment with annoyance written over his normally expressionless face.
"What? Got some bitch whinin' for attention?"
Cifer ignored the comment and closed the door behind him, leaving it unlocked.
"Good evening, Jaegerjaquez. It would seem that I left my cellphone in the car and I have to retrieve it."
Grimmjow rolled his eyes with boredom. There was no point in bugging him if the guy didn't get pissed. He was about to lock himself in his apartment when he heard that low, deep voice calling out for him.
"Have you started reading yet, Jaegerjaquez?"
The teen frowned. The fuck was that freak talking about? Ah! that huge book he brought to class the other day. He clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"'Course not! Ya really think I'd waste my time reading that old crap? 'Sides, why do ya even care? Betcha'll love to write a huge "fail" mark next to my name before ya leave."
Cifer's expression remained unchanged and he dug his hands in his pockets.
"Why would I find any pleasure in watching you fail? If my students fail, it means I have failed as a teacher."
Grimmjow wasn't quite sure of what those words meant, but something inside him cracked as he watched the raven-haired man walk away.
How his feet had led him to the school library, he didn't know. Why was he carrying a huge, heavy book, he had no idea. But he felt it was a bit too late to go back now.
As he approached the counter, the librarian sent him a bewildered look.
"I wanna borrow this book." he sputtered, blushing as the words left his mouth.
The woman frowned.
"You, Jaegerjaquez? You want to borrow a book? I'm afraid that won't happen. You have been banned from this library three times. The last time we let you touch one of our books, you vandalized it. Oh, you're definitely not taking a book to your house."
She tried to snatch the book away from Grimmjow's grasp, but he backed away from the counter, growling angrily.
"The fuck's wrong with you bitch? I'm finally trying to read somethin' and ya won't let me?"
Grimmjow snarled, clutching the book close to his chest. Now he didn't care about anything else, he just wanted to take the book to piss off that bitch.
The woman gave him a questioning look and raised a fine eyebrow. She tapped her chin thoughtfully and finally sighed, taking out the library's stamp. She extended her hand towards him with a defeated look on her face.
"This will be your last chance, Jaegerjaquez. Return it integrally next Friday or I will see to it that you never touch a book again."
Grimmjow smirked as he took the book from her and hid it in his bag. Nnoitra would never let him hear the end of it if he saw he had a book with him.
He had declined Nnoitra's offer to go drinking tonight. Instead, he had decided to stay home and read the stupid book to prove Cifer that there was nothing great about it. That it was just a big boring book like all the others, and he intended to say so in the class. Though he'd probably fall asleep within the first page anyway.
As his eyes glided through the characters, his hold on the book tightened.
"Oi, ya stayin' fer Emo's class taday again? Haven't seen ya skip even one of those. Ya like watchin'im and havin' dirty thoughts?"
Friday morning found Grimmjow with sleepy eyes and Nnoitra trying to annoy the hell out of him again. When had his life become this load of crap?
The class fell into silence as the substitute teacher came through the door, perfectly on time as always, carrying the same huge book he had brought last Wednesday.
"Good morning. As of today you should all have read the Kojiki…" he stopped mid-sentence, his eyes scanning over the terrified looks of his students "Now please, raise your hands if you finished reading the book."
Only two people raised their hands. Obviously, die-hard nerds, Pink Freak and his boyfriend Four-eyes.
"Please, raise your hand if you started to read the book, even if you could not finish it."
At first, nobody raised their hands, a bit startled by the question. Then, slowly, one, two, three hands started to rise. As if encouraged by their brave classmates, more students raised their hands to the air. After a couple of minutes, Cifer counted eighteen hands in total, out of the twenty-five students present. He nodded slowly.
"That is good enough. Truthfully, I did not expect you to finish reading the Kojiki in such a short time. It is an ancient book, with a complicated style. But I wanted you to at least get a taste of it, to get to know the book that tells the story of the birth of Japan. I am glad to see that most of you did try to approach it. It means I can go on with the class as I had planned it."
The students exchanged terrified looks. What kind of activity had Cifer planned for them? A test? They were certainly not ready for it. Maybe he wanted a report? More than one of them looked ready to mess their pants on the spot.
"I do not believe that tests or reports are the best way to understand Literature. You can easily answer a test from reading summary. A report can be downloaded from the internet. As such, I prefer that you tell your impressions of the book, right here. It can become an open dialogue between me and all of you, if you want to see it like that, and listening to others' opinions can help you find new perspectives to the reading that you may not have found on your own. Anyone is free to speak now."
The class stayed silent. It was the first time since he had come to the school that Cifer asked for them to speak, and nobody dared say the first word. In spite of his young age, in the short time he had been in Karakura High, the substitute teacher had proved to be quite knowledgeable, and incredibly intimidating. Everyone was scared to say something stupid and get scolded for their "incurable ignorance".
Not knowing what had possessed him, Grimmjow raised his hand. He hadn't even finished the stupid book. Cifer simply looked at him impassively, waiting for him to continue.
Without thinking, the words just started coming out of his mouth. When he heard them, he could hardly believe such elaborate thought had come from him. But he was even more surprised when he saw the tiny hint of a smile curving the substitute's lips.
Grimmjow had really been looking forward to one of Nnoitra's crazy parties, to drink himself stupid or something like that. Trust Nnoitra to choose this Friday to take off with his girlfriend for the weekend. So now the teen was stuck by himself in his tiny apartment, with virtually nothing to do.
People would not imagine that a seventeen-year-old teen would be living on his own, but he did. Normally, on any other Friday night, he would be playing videogames, but he only had one game (he didn't have money to buy another one), and he was now bored of it. He would also watch porn movies that he would borrow from Nnoitra. But the older male was out of town now and watching the same movie twice felt just wrong.
Grimmjow was fucking bored. He wished he at least had that book he had been reading, it was kinda cool and he hadn't finished it, but he'd had to give it back to the librarian that afternoon. That bitch had frowned when she found that the book was in perfect condition, Ha! Grimmjow was sure she wanted to…
He stopped mid thought. Had he just wished he had a fucking book to read? He banged his head against the table. He must be losing his mind.
Suddenly, there was a soft knock on his wooden door. He rushed to open, ready to scream bloody murder to whoever dared bother him at such late hours, when he was so busy wondering what was wrong with his brain. But he was left speechless when he was met with a pair of deep green eyes.
"Forgive me for bothering you at such hours. It would seem there is a problem with the electricity at my apartment and the power has shut down. I have contacted the administrator and it should be fixed within a couple of hours, but I need to send a report to the headmaster before midnight. Could I connect my laptop here so that I can finish my work? It will not take long."
Grimmjow's eyes were glued to the pale hands that flashed across the keyboard as fast as light. Was this guy for real? He was sitting in front of the laptop, his back completely straight, his eyes fixed to the screen. He looked like one of those office freaks living in a tiny cubicle 24 hours a day. A total creep.
"Oi, if ya got yer laptop, why didja need to be here in the first place?"
Cifer didn't take his eyes away from the screen or even stop typing to answer.
"I ran out of battery. I did not plug it in just for entertainment."
Grimmjow muttered a simple 'Huh' and the conversation died there. It was as if the guy killed the mood wherever he was. Grimmjow was sitting on the other side of the low coffee table where the laptop was sitting, his elbow resting on the wooden surface, his cheek laying on his open palm.
"Hey, what're you s'pposed to write on that report?"
Again, green eyes stayed fixed to the screen.
"A short synthesis of my work throughout the week among the different classes, the progress I have made with the students and how far along the program I am. The headmaster usually expects around ten pages to be sent per week."
"'N ya gotta send'em before midnight? Ya sure ya gonna make it?"
When Cifer answered, he did it in a cold, clear, deadly tone, and his fingers stopped midtrack in their frenetic dance through the letters on the keyboard.
"I always meet my deadlines."
Scary.
Thus, the conversation died once again and was replaced by the swift sound of the teacher hitting the keys at inhuman speed. The younger male had already given up on trying to follow those pale fingers; he had started to feel dizzy after trying too hard.
"And…" Grimmjow had to light up some conversation or he'd die from boredom " what's a guy like you doin' in a little town like Karakura? Ya look like a city dude."
"My personal information is none of your concern."
Grimmjow was about to hit the table in frustration. Was this really a way to spend a Friday night? Stuck in his apartment with his creepy teacher who wouldn't even talk to him?
"Demophobia"
Grimmjow blinked in confusion.
"I suffer from a variation of demophobia, I can not stand to be surrounded by large crowds or big groups of people. Sometimes I felt suffocated when in these situations. I first thought it would disappear with time, but it just got worse. I was born in Tokyo, one of the most crowded cities in the world. My psychiatrist suggested that I moved to a smaller town. An acquaintance of mine happens to work in Karakura High and recommended me to take Tosen-sensei's position temporarily. That way, the headmaster solved the problem of covering Tosen-sensei's class, and I have time to find a more permanent job."
The tone of his voice made it clear that he was done talking about himself. Grimmjow's lips quirked into a half smirk. Well, that was something, at least. He noticed the man had an odd tendency to refuse answering personal questions, just to give said answers immediately. Such a weird guy.
"What about you?"
Grimmjow yelped, the question catching him by surprise, and managed a stutter as a response.
"You are obviously living on your own, in spite of your age, and it is quite obvious that nobody but you ever steps into this place. Why is that?"
The teen took a sip of the coke he was drinking. His eyes scanned the tiny living room, remembering the first time he'd come to this place after receiving the keys and he smiled softly for a second. His previous smirk returned to his face as he turned back to look at Cifer, who was still working quietly.
"Well, it's not as exciting as it may seem. I'm the oldest of five, I got four younger sisters. 'S not like my life's all shitty 'n stuff, I just had to share my room with the youngest, she's eleven 'n she's a pain in the ass, she liked to kick my balls in the mornin' to wake me up! So I asked Mom and Dad to let me have the guest room, but yanno' they said 'the point of a guest room is that it's available in case we have guests'. So I told'em I'd run away if I didn't get my own room. They said I was stupid, (I reckon I was) and Dad gave me the key to this place. It's the apartment he lived in when he was in College. Mom and Dad pay for my daily basics: Electricity, gas, food, 'n stuff. And the phone so that I can call'em once a week. But everythin' else's on me. I'm too lazy to work, so I just take small jobs on weekends to pay for booze or pizza 'n that stuff. Mom let me bring my things from home, my clothes, magazines 'n shit but they said they had paid for the videogames with their money and they were 'family property' so I couldn't bring'em. The furniture and TV were already here 'n I don't have to pay any bills. But I can't afford a cellphone, my computer stayed home ('family property'). That's been my life for the past year. 'S cool 'coz I can do whatever I want, but there ain't much to do without any bucks."
Cifer saved the finished document and gazed at the loud teen from the corner of his eyes, intrigued by such a strange story. Said teen caught his gaze and his smirk widened, if that was even possible.
"What? Not what you expected? People tend to think that I ran away from home, or crazier things like my parents kicked me out of my house. Some even think I killed them." he grimaced at the thought. "It would totally kill my image if everyone knew my Mom still pays my bills, wouldn't it?"
The teacher stayed quiet as he pressed the send button and, almost immediately, shut the computer, three minutes before midnight. He unplugged the machine and rose from the floor, walking towards the front door, almost ignoring his host.
"Oi, wait! Ya leavin' already?"
It wasn't until then that Cifer seemed to remember that he was in somebody else's house, and he turned to look at Grimmjow, his hand already on the doorknob.
"I already finished what I had to do; I have no need to stay here anymore. I appreciate your hospitality."
Grimmjow caught himself holding the door on its place. He had no idea of why he wanted the other man to stay, but now that the idea was fixed in his mind, he was not letting go of it.
"Wait a sec! I mean… yer place's still dark, right?"
A nod.
"It'll probably take a couple more hours for the technician to fix it. I know the dude, he's really lazy. And he's probably callin' a hotline at this time of the night, I don't think it'll be done in less than two or three more hours, what'cha gonna do in the dark all that time?"
"I do not depend on modern technology and computers to entertain myself. I prefer to read."
Grimmjow gave him a cocky grin.
"Ya need light to read, Mr. Caveman."
Somehow, he had ended playing Scrabble with his stuck-up teacher. The guy said he didn't like videogames, and there was nothing on the TV. Why had he even suggested that stupid game? He didn't even know it was there. He had been rumagging through his father's dusty boardgames closet and found the old box, along with a Monopoly (boring!) and a poker set (he didn't even know how to play poker). And of course, Cifer had to be a freakin' bookworm, and kept coming up with words like "wafture" and "subsidy". Seriously, who uses that kind of words?
Bottom line: Cifer was royally kicking his butt. What was he expecting? The dude taught fuckin' literature! Of course he knew a lot of big words. Still, he hated to lose.
The substitute's deep voice broke his train of thought.
"You did not finish reading the Kojiki, did you?"
Grimmjow rose his eyes from his crappy game (he was totally sure 'glabk' was not a word) to meet his teacher's green orbs.
"Nah. I had to return the book to the library today. That bitch wouldn't let me keep it for one more second if her life depended on it. Ah, fuck it. Yer turn"
The raven-head eyed the new word 'bag' and said nothing else as he placed his own word 'fallacy' linked to it, watching with the tiniest of smiles as the blue-eyed teen scowled angrily.
Time had past by so quickly he hadn't noticed it was already four in the morning until the emerald-eyed teacher announced that he could see light coming from his apartment's windows, and that he should be heading home. Grimmjow almost yelped when he saw the numbers on the digital clock hanging by the door when he walked Cifer outside.
The other man thanked him and left towards his apartment. Oddly, Grimmjow found himself following him, for no apparent reason. Cifer eyed him questioningly as he opened the door and let himself in.
"Yes?"
Grimmjow was at a loss for words. Because he had really no idea of why he had followed the other man. The pale man sighed softly and took a step back as if letting him in. The teen was dubious at first (a teacher inviting his teenage student to his apartment at four in the morning? Horror movie clichè!) but he finally walked inside, without closing the door (he needed an escape route, just in case).
He followed the other man to the living room, without paying much attention to his surroundings. That was until he saw the place he was led to. Asides from being about the same size as his own living room, the freaking walls were completely covered by bookshelves, which of course, were at full capacity. Grimmjow gaped. He was pretty sure he had never seen so many books in all of his life.
Cifer's deep voice broke the silence. Grimmjow nearly jumped; he had never been to a place where people could speak while being surrounded by so many books
"If you want to, you can borrow anything from here. Of course, you have to give it back integrally as soon as you are done with it."
Grimmjow looked at him in shock. He stayed fixed to his spot, not daring to move for what seemed like an eternity until the young teacher nodded his head towards the apparently endless book collection. The teen took a hesitant step towards the shelf and his eyes roamed through the titles with curiosity, not really knowing what had taken over him that made him actually consider reading one of those huge volumes. But damnit, he had been craving for something to read since he had given that stupid book back and he had a once in a lifetime opportunity in front of him, so he pushed his doubts to the back of his mind until his eyes met a book that called his attention.
His fingers itched to pull the Kojiki out from the shelf. He'd had an empty feeling in his stomach for not being able to finish the stupid book. He had really enjoyed reading it. The stories of adventure, blood, love and betrayal had completely captured him. But he'd feel like a freakin' nerd if he picked an old history book, so he regrettably passed it and kept searching.
He finally found another book that made him stop in his search, but he didn't dare touch it, so he simply stood there, staring at the spine.
"Poe has always been a personal favorite of mine."
Grimmjow yelped. Was that guy trying to scare the living shit out of him? As he tried to recompose himself, he took a second look at the book Tales of Mystery and Imagination, still hesitating whether he should take it or stick to his old videogame for the hundredth time.
"If you are interested, take it. I believe it is the kind of reading you would enjoy. After all, Poe is most famous for his macabre tales."
He didn't understand half of what the teacher said, but he felt slightly encouraged by the man's deep voice, completely lacking emotion, and he finally managed to pull out the thick book. He examined the leather cover with silver letters, kept in impeccable condition in spite of its aged appearance.
"Thanks, I'll bring it back soon."
Cifer didn't reply. He simply nodded, his emerald eyes gazing into space absentmindedly. Grimmjow wanted to say something else, to do something else, but he didn't know what. He stared at the smaller figure, a feeling akin to longing gurgling in his chest. Scared about it, he simply stepped back and left the room.
Grimmjow was so freaked out about the events of last Friday that he didn't dare show up at school on Wednesday for Cifer's next class. He spent all day pacing around his apartment or reading that awesome book he had borrowed from the petite man (Cifer was right, it really was the kind of book he liked, and he was nearly done with it already).
By five o'clock he felt like a caged cat, so he decided to leave the building and try to find something, anything to do, that would take his mind away from all the weird things that had happened that night and the horrible feeling that haunted him for skipping that stupid class. If worse came to worst, he would even be willing to pay a visit to his parents' home, which he hadn't done since he'd left the house.
Leave it to him to choose the worst moment to get out of the apartment. The moment he crossed the door, he was met with a pair of clear emerald eyes, which appeared to be unfazed by his presence.
"I did not see you in class today."
Crap. Of all the people, why did Cifer feel the need to confront him about it? Were it any other teacher, he wouldn't give a damn. Bur for some reason, he felt ridiculously guilty for missing the pale man's class.
"Yeah… Didn' feel like gettin' up from bed today."
Lies.
"Hmm. Well, that is your decision, and whatever consequences there may be will be yours to assume. I suppose you know I can not fill you in about the details of the class. If you want to catch up, you will have to ask your classmates."
Grimmjow cocked his head to the side, thoroughly confused. Firstly, because he had not requested for any information about the class, and secondly, because he didn't know why the substitute wouldn't give it to him if he asked for it. And now that it was denied to him, he felt like he wanted it, even if he hadn't been interested in it to begin with.
Cifer noticed the questioning look in Grimmjow's face and sighed.
"Just because we are neighbours, it does not mean I will give you any special treatment. For school-related topics, our relationship remains the one of a teacher and a student and I have to treat you the same as I do your classmates."
Grimmjow still looked at the teacher, puzzled by the man's logic, which he found odd and hard to understand. How could he tell the difference between their "neighbour relantionship" and their "school relationship"? They were both the same for Grimmjow. He then frowned. Who would he ask about the class he'd missed? Nnoitra? He probably skipped it too. And he didn't really get along with anyone else in the class. Damn.
The substitute rubbed his temple for a moment, as if he were deep in thought, and finally reached inside his briefcase.
"Read from pages sixteen to thirty-four." he said as he handed him a small book with a beautiful painting on the cover. "The rest you will have to find out on your own."
An uneventful week went by. Grimmjow kept going to Cifer's class, and they still met in the hallways of their building, but they simply exchanged the basic pleasantries. It was as if nothing had gone out of place that quirky Friday, that now seemed almost distant.
It was Friday again, and Grimmjow had, for whatever weird reason, turned down Nnoitra's invitation to go to the arcade after school. So he was now entering the building and readying himself to confront Cifer to give back the book he had borrowed (which he had finished nearly a week ago, but he hadn't had the guts to face the emerald-eyed man).
As always, luck was not on his side, and he didn't have time to get ready at all, since said man was just unlocking the door to his apartment. Grimmjow froze, forgetting what he had planned to say to begin with.
"Good afternoon, Jaegerjaquez."
He blinked, trying to form a coherent thought so that he wouldn't look like an idiot.
"Uuuh… Hi."
Riiiight, that went well.
Cifer had finally managed to open the door, and was about to disappear behind it, when Grimmjow managed to pull himself together.
"Oi! Wait! I wanted to give this back." He pulled Poe's book from his schoolbag and shoved it into the green-eyed man's hands. "Uhh… thanks, I guess. I did kinda like it."
The teacher nodded softly and made a quick inspection of the book. He then took a short glance at Grimmjow, seemingly deep in thought. He made a sign for the teen to wait outside, and disappeared into the appartment.
Darn, and I was about to run for the hills.
He came back quickly, carrying a different book, which he offered to Grimmjow.
"Here, you can take this one. I suppose you will want to know how it ends."
Grimmjow glanced at the book and stared with awe at the beautiful painting on the cover and the elegant white characters that gave out the name of the book: Kojiki.
"U-uhm… thanks but I uhm… I don't think I should take it. I'm not sure of when I could bring it back to ya an'-"
"Jaegerjaquez," he was abruptly interrupted "I am not lending you this book. I am giving it to you as a gift."
If he was dumbfounded before, now he simply didn't know how to react. He still couldn't dare to touch the book. Cifer's version was much more beautiful than the one they had in the library. He wanted to snatch it away from the teacher's pale fingers, and at the same time, he felt too scared to move.
"O-oi, wait a minute! What happened to that 'Teacher-student' relationship or whatever shit?"
The man quirked a thick black eyebrow.
"I am giving it to you as your neighbour. I think it is clear enough. Do not put up so many objections or I might believe you do not want it."
Finally Grimmjow took the book, not without a bit of hesitation. A small grin appeared on his lips without him noticing as he tucked the book under his arm.
"Hey, by the way, I have no plans for tonight and I've got some leftover pizza, wanna join me? We can even play that stupid Scrabble or whatever." He suddenly blurted, not really knowing what he was saying or why he was saying it.
Cifer seemed to be initially surprised by the invitation, but he immediately composed himself and frowned slightly.
"Did I not tell you already? As your teacher, our relationship is to stay as a purely professional one."
Grimmjow smirked.
"Oh, but I'm not inviting ya as my teacher. I thought it was pretty obvious that I was inviting ya as my neighbour. After all, it's imporant to be nice to yer neighbours, isn't it?"
The raven-haired man's lips quirked upwards in the tiniest of smirks and he shook his head. He had a feeling this student was going to be the death of him.
To be continued.
Thank you, really thank you to Tokyo Kitty for beta'ing this and for putting up with all my crap (I seriously asked her to revise it twice because I'm freaky like that)
Anyway this is yes, you guessed it, another cliché school romance AU. So LOL again at my originality. Blame me for thinking teacherUlqui looks incredibly sexy in the imaginary teacheroutfit I well… uh… imagined. Sorry, it's in my head and I suck balls at drawing so it's staying there, come up with your own sexyteacherUlqui
There's lots of shit to say about this, firstly I didn't want to write Grimm's haiku because well duh, I don't know shit about writing haiku and I'd feel like I insult anyone who does if I attempted at writing a fail!Haiku of my own. As a funny fact I did indeed read the Kojiki a couple of months before I wrote this for a school assignment and it is a really cool book. It's Japanese mythology-history told in poetic narrative and it's stupidly hard to understand (heck, I didn't get half of it). I don't recommend it unless you're a historyfag like me.
Another book mentioned here, and the one that gives the title to the story is Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Mystery and Imagination, and it's one of my favorite books of all time. As you can see, the chapter titles are going to be named after Poe's Tales, this one is The raven for well, Ulqui and his raven hair.
Lastly, Akutagawa's Jigoku-hen (Hell Screen). I hadn't actually read the book when I wrote this (8 months ago) but I have now and it's a mindfucking awesome tale. The interesting thing about this is that the story was adapted into anime in episodes 11-12 of the Aoi Bungaku anime, and the character design was done by Tite Kubo. Not only that, but the King is voiced by Daisuke Namikawa (my favorite seiyuu) who is also Ulquiorra's voice actor. So I thought it'd be a nice touch to add this book here. The particular cover I describe here actually exists, I searched for it in Amazon and it's pretty creepy.
On a final note (my notes are too long WTF) Yes, Scrabble. I LOVE Scrabble. It's the only boardgame I'm actually good at. As for the words Ulquiorra uses here, I googled 7-letter-words, I'm not that wordy. I also think it's the kind of game Ulquiorra would play as a well… Literature teacher.
And after this gigantic author notes, I hope you enjoy the story, it's only three chapters long but I still hope you like it and that you'll spare me a read and a review of course, I'll always love reading your thoughts and I always hope to know how I can improve.
