Chapter I
I woke up with a start. Feeling my surroundings, soft, smooth blanket underneath me and the fluffy pillow beneath my head, I sighed. Good, I'm still in bed.
I sat up reluctantly, pulling my green blanket off of me and dangled my legs over the edge of the bed. I thought of the day ahead; calculating the probability of my former teachers and soon-to-be colleagues remembering who I was, all the while getting out of bed and doing my morning routine. I thought about what would happen if I saw my former classmates while brushing my teeth, how I would introduce myself if I did meet them in the near future.
Today is the first meeting for the teachers of Seishun Gakuen. It is a time to introduce any new teachers to each other and to receive the schedules of their classes and the profiles of each student attending the class appointed to them.
I have been a teacher for three years following my graduation from T University located in _. I was offered to be a professor immediately after I graduated from the university, my research in chemistry was turning quite popular, but I refused. What I wanted was to be surrounded by the same adrenaline I felt in high school. Nothing else would be able to satisfy me.
For three years, I worked at Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku alongside my honourable friend, Renji Yanagi – I applaud him for being so patient with me all this time. I took a liking to the area especially after my parents moved us there right after I graduated from Senior High. I had the pleasure of seeing some former tennis club rivals in the span of those three years. Yukimura worked there as the tennis club coach. Sanada would often visit. I had the opportunity to play matches against these formidable players during off days. Even then, I wasn't satisfied.
Now, I stand in front of the doors of a school I knew all too well.
"I'm home, Seigaku," I admired the exterior of the school building. Nothing had changed save for the newer, shinier windows. After recently moving out of the family home, finally, after living with them for 24 years, I am home again.
I stepped into the building, staring at the walls in fascination. Nothing has changed except for the things on display and perhaps the newer shoe lockers. Everything else looked the same as they did before.
I made my way to the teachers' office. Taking a deep breath, I entered the room. Once I was inside, I greeted my fellow teachers and I was introduced to the Head Teacher of the Science Department. Science had always been my forte and so it is the subject that I chose to teach. It is only right to share to the students my passion and knowledge after all.
After a few more minutes of introductions, we were all called to the gym. The meeting was going to start. The new teachers were called to the stage and were asked to introduce themselves, including me. There were about five of us new additions to the school, two males and two females who looked to be the same age as I was. In a matter of seconds, it was my turn to introduce myself. I did not want to.
Standing in front of the podium on the stage, I thought of how to introduce myself. I felt oddly nervous introducing myself to the rest of the staff. Was it because I was returning to this school? What should I say to increase the percentage of a good impression? Should I go and say, " Nice to meet you" or "Nice to see you again"? About 30% of these people knew who I was. About 13% would recognize me. In any case, either greeting would give me at least a 60% chance to leave a good impression.
I could feel the sweat trickle down my forehead and I took a deep breath, opened my mouth and greeted: "Good morning, my name is Sadaharu Inui. I was a former student of this very school and I am honoured to return as one of your teachers. It is a pleasure to meet you all. Let's all get along!"
There were a few chuckles from the seated teachers though they all clapped once I was done. I walked back to my seat with the other teachers, trying hard not to show my nervousness on my face. Once I was seated, I sighed in relief. That was done with.
As I watched the rest of the new teachers give their own introductions, I felt as if I was being watched. I looked around the room in search of the one staring at me, slowly turning my head to the left and slowly to the right. Just as I looked 135 degrees to my right, I caught movement from the corner of my eyes. The person stilled. The person was male, with jet black hair that reached until a little below his ear. His shoulders were broad, though he was partly covered by someone sitting both next to him and behind him.
I couldn't help but feel that I have seen his shoulders before, his hair similar to the one most important to me. It reminded me of K- No,no. He isn't here, He can't be.
Before I knew it, the meeting at the gym was over. The teachers filed out of the building and into their respective departments at the teachers' office, receiving their lists of students for the year to look into.
As I was reading over my list of students, the sound of a chair scraping the floor caught my attention.
"Ah, Kaidoh-kun," I could feel my body stiffen in shock. It couldn't be that he was still stuck in this place. I thought he had wanted to go pro? Or that he wanted to get into animal medicine?
"Ah, yes. Here are the documents you asked from Satonaka-sensei, Yousuke-sensei." The latter's voice was deep and raspy. Very much like his.
"Thank you," I heard Yousuke-sensei, the head of our department, say. "By the way, we have a new addition in our department today. Have you met?" I gulped.
I could hear their footsteps come closer to my desk, his deep, raspy voice accompanying the rhythmic clicks of their heels on the floor.
"No, sir. I had to check on the equipment in the Home Ec room," the other replied.
"Ah, yes," Yousuke-sensei chuckled. "Wouldn't want those kids to burn themselves."
A deep chuckle rang out.
"This guy," I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Is a returnee to this school. He graduated high school here, went away for University in the Kanagawa Perfecture, got kicked out if Rikkaidai after teaching there for three years and wound up here again. Don't you feel sorry for the guy?"
I turned my chair around, finally able to face the ones addressing me.
"Please don't say such things in a way that people might misunderstand," I said, nearly dropping my jaw after seeing the one accompanying the department head. Yousuke-san is a man in his late forties. He stands at 5 feet, 9 Inches and has short, curly, graying chestnut hair.
There he was, Kaidoh Kaoru. My doubles partner and the boy - man, now - that I once loved. No, I still do love.
"Inui-sempai," he spoke, his low raspy voice sending shivers down my spine.
"Ah, Kaidoh-kun. Nice to see you again," I replied, unable to stop the grin from forming on my face.
"You know each other?" Yousuke-san asked, alternately looking between Kaidoh and I.
I nodded. "This guy," I placed a hand on Kaidoh's shoulder. "Was my fellow tennis club member and doubles partner back in high school." I retracted my hand. "Is there still a tennis club going on?"
"Yeah, though they aren't doing very well," Yousuke-san answered. I raised an eyebrow at the statement before turning to look at Kaidoh.
"There's no fixed coach. No one really wants to manage it," Kaidoh stared at his feet, shame somewhat evident on his face. "I already had a club to manage before the last coach transferred and we can only take care of one club. I can't take care of it even if I want to now."
I nodded, more to myself than to anyone else. "I can take care of it... Probably."
"Ah, yeah!" Yousuke-san exclaimed. "You played tennis, didn't you? And you were a part of the team, weren't you?" I nodded at every question. "Go talk to the principal about it. It'll probably be good for the team. They haven't won anything apparently since this guy left," he added, tilting his head towards Kaidoh.
"Alright, I can probably do that now."
"Yeah," Yousuke-sensei spoke first, breaking the silence. "You should do that now. Get this guy to take you. I'll see you when you get back and I'll take you to the labs to check the equipment," and with that, he left.
An awkward silence surfaced.
"Sh-shall we go?" Kaidoh asked suddenly, making me jump.
"Yes."
We walked out of the teachers' office and into the hallways. The school seemed so empty without all the bustling students.
"I think... They're expecting you to take over the tennis team," Kaidoh suddenly spoke. "The principal had such high hopes even when Coach Ryuuzaki left. Our generation left a good taste in his mouth I guess."
I hummed. "Then the probability of them accepting my request to coach the team is..."
"About 97%" he answered. I raised an eyebrow at him.
"Oh? Why do you say that?"
"Because you were a part of the team that won Seigaku the National Championship title ten years ago AND you were the team manager that made sure the team was in good shape - juices or not," he announced. I couldn't even respond to his statement. I felt a surge of pride within me. I was glad that he thought that I was a help to the victory of our team that year. It was truly a wonderful feeling.
An air of silence accompanied us the rest of the way to the principal's office. I hoped to have said some more, reminisce about the past even, but the silence was too comforting to break. The three minute, forty five seconds and six millisecond walk to the office was too precious to shatter.
A/N: Well, I had already been typing this before I posted the prologue. So I finished this faster. I only have two other chapters drafted so far and it's no way near the midpoint of the fic. So, I'll probably concentrate on writing the drafts instead of typing them for now. Thank you for reading guys and remember to review~ Constructive criticism is always welcome.
Blackxxcat013