CHAPTER 2 - Confession
"That's right. When I was alive, I was a teacher." His pronouncement would have had just the effect he was hoping for had he given it some thought. But at the moment, Shuuhei regretted his rash decision to reveal that information.
At least, it shut them up, he consoled himself.
Iba, Renji, and Kira stared at him, eyes wide, mouths open, chins in their laps. He picked up his coffee cup, leaned against the counter, and sipped. This was stunning news! Shinigami were not supposed to have connections to their past lives in the world of the living, yet here he was – calm, mature, responsible (except for today when he had been late) Vice Captain Shuuhei Hisagi - making the shocking claim that he knew who he had been when he was alive. It wasn't so much that he had been a teacher, but rather that he knew he had been a teacher. How was that possible?
Kira was the first to recover. "Shuuhei, talk about a bombshell! How do you know that? We're not supposed to know anything about our past lives."
Iba gaped, "Yea, Shu. 'The less known the better.' Isn't that what you've always taught?"
"Well, yea," said Shuuhei slowly, running a hand through his spiked hair, "I mean, that's what I was taught too. It's just that I was helping a friend, and it sort of came out." He pushed away from the counter.
"So you're finally coming out, huh?" Renji belly-laughed, "I knew all the babes around you were too good to be true."
"Shut up, moron. That's not what I meant."
Kira moved from his spot on the sofa to refill Hisagi's cup. "He knows that, Shuuhei. He's just being an idiot to annoy you."
"Thanks, Kira. I…"
"So, spill, Shuuhei. How'd you find out?" Renji interrupted.
"I don't know if I should tell you," Hisagi countered.
"If you don't, your butt is going to get Bankai'ed till the moon don't shine." Renji was rather pleased with his little pun, so Hisagi did the only thing he could and sucker-punched him in the gut.
"Why you…" started Renji.
Kira pushed him back down to the sofa. "If you start a fight now, we'll never find out the story, and I for one would be very interested in finding out who I was in a previous life." He turned from Renji to Shuuhei. "Go on, Shuuhei. As Renji said earlier, spill."
"Well, okay, but it goes no further than this room, okay?"
"Really?! A secret? What fun!" chirped a newcomer. "Tell me, tell me! Ikkaku and I want to do the luck-luck dance for you." Two Shinigami entered the room, one completely bald and the other immaculately dressed with orange cowl and long decorative feathers gracing his right eyebrow.
"Ikkaku! Yumichika! You're just in time! Shuuhei was just about to tell us about his previous life." Izuru Kira beckoned them both to stools at the counter.
"How exciting!" Yumichika Ayasegawa clapped his hands together in glee. He
was practically glowing with excitement.
Kira continued, "He was a teacher, you know."
"Humph, somehow that figures," growled Ikkaku Madarame, the bald one. "All prim and proper, in spite of the tattoos."
"Don't use alligators around him," Iba said. "He gets mad."
"Allitera…Oh, never mind," Hisagi despaired.
"A teacher, huh? A language teacher of some sort, Hisagi?" asked Yumichika.
"Uh, no," hedged Shuuhei, taking a sip of coffee.
"No? Then what kind of teacher were you?" All eyes turned to the man who once again stood leaning against the counter, self-consciously staring into his coffee cup.
"Spill, Shuuhei."
"Spill, spill, spill, spill," the chant filled the room, driving the beat into his head, "Spill, spill, spill."
"All right already!" He straightened up decisively, crossing his bare arms. "I was a…" His voice drained away into nothing as he spoke. Crossing the room, he slouched into an easy chair by the door, the leather squeaking beneath him. He returned his gaze to his cup, wishing that he could dive into the coffee and disappear to the bottom under the black liquid.
"A what? Did you hear what he said? A what?" Yumichika asked Ikkaku.
"Hisagi. Speak up. Yumichika couldn't hear you."
"Like you could!" Yumichika pushed Ikkaku.
"I could!" Ikkaku pushed back.
"Then what did he say?"
"Why should I tell you?"
"Come on, Shuuhei. Don't be embarrassed. It can't be that bad," encouraged Izuru.
"I say a little embarrassment would do him good. What do you think, Iba?"
"Yea, like Abarai said, where's your posturing now, Hisagi? Huh, Teach?"
"Spill, spill, spill." The chanting started again, but died out almost immediately.
He looked his friends murderously in their faces. Gray eyes flashing, he repeated loudly, "I was a physical education instructor. Okay? You satisfied?"
Ikkaku screamed in delight. "YOU WERE A GYM TEACHER???"
Laughter pealed around him as he sat woodenly, pink faced, ears hot, seeing nothing, waiting for the good times at his expense to die down. At least, someone was having a good day, even if it wasn't him. A few friendly punches and whacks about the head reminded him why his normal quiet demeanor wasn't so bad. He regretted trying to shock his friends. The mighty vice captain of Squad 9, already assigned a seated position in the Gotei 13 before he had left the academy, knew that he wasn't going to hear the end of the teasing any time soon.
"Hey, Hisagi," a laughing voice called out, "did you teach Sex Education too?"
His facial coloring deepened to scarlet.
