Chapter 2

"Hisana?"

"Yes?"

Mika was standing by Hisana's desk in the staff room, a small grin spread on her red lips.

"There's a student to see you."

Hisana nodded and thanked Mika as she made her way to the entrance of the staff room. When she closed the door and stepped out into the corridor she was surprised to see none other than Ryuu quietly waiting for her.

"Saito-sensei." He politely greeted.

"Ryuu!"

It had been approximately two weeks since the incident but it wasn't the first time Hisana was seeing him since then. He had showed up in one of her lessons, his silent overbearing palpable even in class. She could understood why the children would want to mock him and she had witnessed it even in the classroom. She had intervened of course, the spectacle still very much disturbing to her.

"Is everything alright?" she asked in concern.

He removed his hands from behind his back at her question and produced two white sheets of paper neatly stapled together. "Your assignment." He said by way of explanation.

"But it isn't due until Friday."

"I know but I finished the essay earlier and I didn't want to keep it until then.
Hisana raised her eyebrows in surprise. "You're very confidant."

"I think I did it well enough."

"Ah." She grinned and accepted the paper from his outstretched hands. "I hope it's promising. You're the first one to drop it in."

"Yeah…"

There was an awkward silence before Hisana spoke again. "So, have you had any-"

"You didn't mention anything to the principal right?"

"I'm sorry?"

His sudden enquiry had been unexpected.

"You know, about that incident, the thing you saw."

Hisana sighed. "Why don't you want him to know?"

"I… have my reasons."

"But things like this-"

"I know, but…" he lowered his eyes to the ground and hesitantly shifted. "He knows my family and if he knew about the teasing I get from the other students he'd tell. I really don't want my family to think any worse of me…"

A crestfallen look had settled on his features.

"Is that why you—?"

He nodded.

It was a trivial reason but at the same time she could understand his point of view as a teenager. She paused in thought and eventually nodded her head in comprehension.

"If anything is troubling you just know that you have a friend in me, okay?"

He looked up at her, clearly startled.

"If you want to talk, I'll always be available so…." She gave him a kind smile. "Drop by, alright?"

"I— erm, thank you, sensei."

Hisana smiled and nodded.

Didn't teachers usually do things like this?

A little sense of accomplishment overcame her and she quietly settled down to her job for the remainder of the day.

As the school term progressed the students in most of Hisana's classes began to straighten themselves out. The playfulness was still apparent but the restlessness from summer vacation had finally worn thin. It made Hisana's job much easier.

Her encounters with the young man called Ryuu also increased, much to her surprise. He continued to drop in his assignments before the rest of children and was usually the only one who managed to receive a decent grade. What was it about an essay that the remainder of the class found so difficult to write was still a mystery to her. Ryuu's ability to write was promising and it impressed her the more she continued to read his work. He had an interesting way with words.

He was, it seemed, a naturally quiet person, saying as little as the whispering winds on a still day, his presence undetectable until he was asked a question. His voice was always low, but his words were well spoken and his answers always sensible. The only thing though was that the sight of him responding to questions surprised the rest of the class. One of the other students had mentioned to Hisana the fact that he had never answered other teachers before. This piece of information had stunned her. "He answers now though," the student had said, "Some of us were so amazed when we heard his voice!"

It was on one evening that Hisana also found out another piece of interesting information about her student, Ryuu. She had been telling Mika about his progress and was also listening to Mika's appraisal of his behaviour in her own classes.

"Hey, did you know that he was an outstanding member of his Middle School's Go Club?"

"He was?" Surprise at raced through Hisana at this news.

"Yeah, I was checking through his records today, curiosity of course, and what do you know, I find out he's a Go enthusiast."

It was at that point that Hisana's memory about a competition from The Go Association of Karakura Town was jogged. She had only read through the flier earlier that day when another teacher had left it on her desk. She wasted no time considering the options.

Noticing Ryuu's slow but sure acceptance into high school society pleased Hisana and she wondered why he had never been able to do it before. He needed more exposure and he needed to interact with others more. It was with this thought that Hisana eventually approached and asked him if he would have been willing to participate in the Local Go competition to represent the school.

"Represent the school?"

"Yes, don't you like Go?"

"Ye…yeah, but-"

"It would be a terrific idea, and you'll have an opportunity to meet new students and make new friends!"

"But-"

"Well wouldn't you like to?"

He hesitated for a moment but eventually grinned at Hisana and nodded his head. "I'd love to."

That was probably the first time she had seen him smile at all. It was a pleasant change.

They started spending evenings after class, with Hisana, who had also grown up playing the game, challenging him and playing against him all with an effort to bring back the skills he had once wielded. It was an entertaining affair and she found herself relaxing as they continued their preparations together, some of their conversations, like the one today revealing little things about him that always intrigued her.

"I see you've been ignoring your verbal attackers lately."

He was surprised by the sudden change in conversation.

"Have I?"

"Um hm, you're becoming a little more outgoing, that's good. I hope you keep it up."

He blushed at her praise.

"But you've never told your parents about your situation have you?"

"…"

"Ah—I thought as much. Why?"

"It would be troubling…"

"Your parents would be concerned about your situation I should think."

"Oh, they would be, but I think it's better they didn't know."

Hisana sighed. "You baffle me Ryuu-kun."

"I do? How?"

"First you refuse to have the principal know of your circumstances and then you tell me you think it's better your parents didn't know?"

"But you won't tell my family would you?" There was trepidation in his voice.

Hisana gently reassured him. "But if things ever get worse, god forbid, I'm afraid I will have to speak to your parents. Speaking of which…" she added as an afterthought. She withdrew a sheet of paper from one of her texts and placed it before Ryuu. "You'll have to get one of your parents to sign your permission slip. I can't take you to the competition without parental or guardian consent."

His reaction startled her. His features paled and apprehension filled his eyes. "Do- do they have to sign? I thought they didn't have to know…"

"Well of course they do, it's school regulation."

"I-I don't know if that's such a good idea…"

Hisana closely examined him. "Why wouldn't it be a good idea?"

"My uncle—my parents aren't around anymore so he takes care of me—I don't think he'll be very keen about this."

Hisana frowned. "Why not?"

"He-he has his reasons right now…"

"Can I at least speak to him? Tell him the circumstances?"

"I doubt he'd entertain you."

"Well that's silly. I can always call him though, or visit-"

"No!"

Hisana wrinkled her brows in confusion. "Why ever not?"

"It-it's not a good idea…"

"But how else are you supposed to enter the competition? Doesn't he realise how important this is for you? Doesn't he know about your respect for the game?"

"Well yeah, but-"

"You want to be a part of this don't you?"

"Yeah…"

"Well that's reason enough! Whose guardian or uncle wouldn't be proud of their son for something like this?"She gently smiled at him and simply added. "Your uncle will be happy he spoke to me about you. He obviously doesn't know how brilliant his nephew is."

"Sensei… you're very kind but I still don't know..."

"Can you let me speak to your uncle on your behalf?"

"But what do I tell him?"

"Tell him a teacher would like to meet him with regards to your school performance."

Ryuu gave her a wan smile. "But that's a lie."

"But it does relate to school doesn't it?"

Ryuu sighed. "I'll see what I can do."

Saito Hitoshi was every bit as even tempered as his name suggested. He was a reserved man, a trait his daughter had no doubt inherited, and conducted his business dealings on a level ground. He had taken on management of his deceased wife's family Ramen shop and had been dedicated to it since her death almost eight years ago. Things weren't going all that smoothly as it had in the earlier days however and this posed a severe hurdle for the restaurant owner because on occasion, life did not always throw you circles and squares, sometimes other more complicated sided situations liked to poke up.

Hitoshi was currently sitting in the cramped back room of a well off Chinese Restaurant in Karakura Main Town. The catch though, he had not come to visit of his own accord.

"Almost a month has passed Saito-san. You do know what that means of course."

The man who spoke was a tall youth with a shock of tempestuous red hair. It was visible even in the darkened room.

"I-I know, but business has been so slow, how could I ever come up with enough to pay within a month's time?"

"We gave you fair warning, you were supposed to heed it." The voice was ominous.

"But I-I tried to explain it to you back then as well, it would have been impossible for me to gather that amount of money in such a short time."

"You borrowed the money Saito-san you were supposed to pay after a given period. We can't have things running so haphazardly in this town."

"I-I know but-"

"You do care about that teacher daughter of yours don't you?"

Hitoshi's eyes widened in horror. "You-you leave my daughter out of this!"

"That's the consequence of not adhering to our policies. But we're professionals and we deal with these situations in professional ways. You chose to borrow from us and you violated the contract. Secret meetings result in disastrous conclusions if not followed. You've made your choice."

"My daughter, please! You have to promise me that you'll leave her out of this!"

The red haired man scowled at the despicable look on Hitoshi's face and turned his back. "You've been warned Saito-san, good day."

"You have to prom-!"

He was hauled through another back door and ruthlessly thrown into a pile of garbage bags at the back of the restaurant before he could finish his appeal. The old man hung his head in despair and covered his face in shame. He should have never approached these people for financial help—he should have just left everything as it had been. There was nothing more he could do and he had one more month to bring loose ends together again. He had to try, it was his own fault for getting himself in the mess in the first place.

"I'm sorry Hisana…"

hisana and byakuya haven't interacted as yet, but keep reading and i promise u they will.