Chapter Two: By the End of Today
Sesshomaru unlocked the door to his classroom and walked in. It was colorful, vibrant, and alive. Ms. Shiata was indeed a very interesting woman. She had encouragement posters up on her walls, sayings from famous people, movie posters, pictures of Shakespeare, Harry Potter, the Lord of the Rings, etc. On the ceiling, she had very strange quotes, like, "All work and no play makes students cry" and "Those who cannot see the light ahead must be as blind as a bat".
He set his briefcase on the desk and set about reading and looking at the walls. In the back corner was a life-sized figure of Darth Vader with a light saber and by the front desk was another life-sized figure of a silver-haired male character from Final Fantasy, glaring at Sesshomaru menacingly. Set around the room were other life-sized figures of groping zombies, suggesting that she was a fan of Resident Evil as well because Alice was pointing a fake gun at a zombie that was maybe a foot from her.
Sesshomaru reached out to touch them and found that they were made from clay, handmade and painted, probably by Ms. Shiata. They all looked so real, the zombies appearing very slimy and covered in blood, Alice as though she were sweating. He smiled a little. If she was so good at modeling clay, then why was she an English teacher? The detail on every one of them was exact and so precise, some of them so small they were barely noticeable. A few of them were even covered in a light coating of slime!
Walking up to the desk again, a student walked in and took his seat in the back in front of a zombie that looked as though it were about to fall on him and start gnawing on his head. Apparently the students were used to them, or simply ignored them. Just before eight, the rest of the class filed in and sat down.
As the bell rang, Sesshomaru adjusted his glasses, placed his fingertips on the desk, and said, "Good morning, class. I am Sesshomaru – Sensei…"
Ryou sat in first hour, writing down notes as the Calculus teacher wrote them on the board and explained how to do the next section. He had Calc. for two hours, History for one, Science for another, and two electives – Cooking, and Piano Keyboarding – before English, all of his main classes being Honors classes.
He listened as the teacher went on and on about all the math crap that no one (except Ryou and the brainiacs) really cares about. By the time Lunch rolled in after Piano Keyboarding, Ryou was totally wiped and resolved to stay after school and study in his English class because he wasn't ready to go home to Bakura yet and face his evening battering.
He sat in the hallway that he and his friends always spent lunch in and rested his arms on his knees as he buried his head in his arms and tried to wake himself up to do some Calculus homework. The teacher, Mr. Saijo, had assigned for the class to do almost 172 problems for that night and he knew he'd never get it done later. Yugi, the Pharaoh, Jounichi, and Honda all walked up to him together and sat down around Ryou, speaking quietly in a semi-circle to try not to wake him up. Duke and Tea came up a few minutes later, and Tea said out of the blue, "Sesshomaru – Sensei is so sexy!" Ryou's head snapped up and he gave her a dark glare that none in the group had ever seen before.
"Tea, let him be…" Ryou said lowly. Yugi and the Pharaoh looked at Ryou like he had just mutated into an alien and Jounichi and Honda looked as if someone had just released a bunch of spiders at their feet.
"Ryou, I didn't know you flew that way. Do you like Sesshomaru – Sensei that much?" Tea teased. The Pharaoh threw her a dark look.
"Tea, please don't torment Ryou with this. We're not going to judge Ryou based on his sexual preferences. We should respect his choices."
"Ryou, do you really like Sesshomaru – Sensei?" Yugi asked. Ryou's eyes were hooded for a moment before answering.
"Yes, as a matter of fact I do. He's so nice and he helped me earlier this morning. Bakura was drunk again and I was running from him when he drove up and offered me a ride, then he bought be coffee and we went to the park for a little while, then I went to sleep while he drove here. I…think I…Yugi, I think I love Sesshomaru – Sensei…" Ryou said.
Sesshomaru was walking down the hallway close to where Ryou and the gang were sitting and heard Tea say, "Sesshomaru – Sensei is really sexy!"
With a few manila folders in his arm, he pressed his back against the wall and listened to what they were saying. "Tea, let him be…" Ryou said in a voice like a growl. Sesshomaru smiled a little.
"Ryou, I didn't know you flew that way. Do you like Sesshomaru – Sensei that much?"
"Tea, please don't torment Ryou with this. We're not going to judge Ryou based on his sexual preferences. We should respect his choices," said the Pharaoh.
"Ryou, do you really like Sesshomaru – Sensei?" asked Yugi.
"Yes, as a matter of fact I do…" Ryou said, then muttered the rest until he said to Yugi, "I…I think…Yugi, I think I love Sesshomaru – Sensei," Ryou said. Sesshomaru dropped his folders and stood next to the wall in shock and happiness.
Sesshomaru stood there in shock a moment longer then knelt down and started to pick up the dropped papers as Ryou went on to say, "I've only known him for a few hours, but I can't get him out of my head. He's so hot, and his eyes are so…I don't know…cold, reserved, maybe? But when he looks at me, they soften and they seem to blaze with a fire that burns into my soul and makes me want to throw myself at him, feel how soft his hair really is, his lips, his skin…Yugi, I want so desperately to tell him, but I'm so shy…how am I supposed to tell him? You just don't go up to someone like him – especially if they're your teacher – and say something like that. He can get sued and fired, and I could be kicked out of school!" Ryou said. Sesshomaru envisioned Ryou holding on to Yugi's school uniform and on the verge of crying.
Smiling a little, Sesshomaru turned and left for his room, pleased of what his sharp ears had picked up from his young crush.