I woke up groggy the next morning after a somewhat sleepless night. Sosuke that bastard. Thinks he can come in and ruin my life again. Well not this time! Today I wore a pantsuit and grabbed my belongings before going out. I got on my bike and rode away to school. Homeroom was not silent when I came in so I felt much more comfortable this time. After attendance I began typing on the computer. After I was done with that I began some grading, resting my hand in my hand and easily grading the simple homework. " See how she leans her cheek upon her hand! O that I were a glove upon that hand, that I might touch that cheek!" a voice rang out.
I looked up and saw an ever so happy Sosuke holding flowers and stepping towards me. The other students were now silent, watching the exchange. " Can I help you professor Aizen?" I asked annoyed.
" I just thought you might like some flowers to brighten your room," Aizen said grabbing a large beaker off the counter and filling it with water. " But next to you they seem so dull," he said setting them on my desk.
Some of the girls in the room sighed dreamily. " Thank you for the gift you may leave now," I said back to my paperwork.
" Would you like to get a coffee sometime?"
" No"
" How about-"
The bell rang. " Time for you to go teach yes?" I asked.
Aizen briefly glared then walked away, the other students following him out. I sighed in relief and left to go to the library. " Shunsui are you here?" I asked.
He was sleeping at his desk, of course. Fortunately he woke when I came in. " Chinatsu can I help you?" he asked.
" Um weird request but I was wondering if you had any of the year books from the year I left?"
Shunsui stretched and stood. " Just give me a minute," he said then walked into the storage room. He came back with one and handed it to me. " You can keep it got 5 other extras."
" Thanks," I said then headed back to the classroom.
Once I sat down I immediately opened the pages and began skimming through the book. First off were the club pages. Juggling, chess, Spanish, book, Tennis, and… wait book club? I went back to that page and there was a picture of Sosuke and I reading a book. This year we had our very first book club! Founded by Sosuke Aizen and Chinatsu Watanabe, the book club consisted of these two students and their teacher, Professor Kyoraku. They would pick out books to read for the week and then discuss them at the end. Little did they know students also read the books they picked out. When not reading, the two were found simply talking and laughing in the library. Maybe they were reading some romance books on the side!
I scoffed at the article. There was a picture of professor, Sosuke, and I together on the other side as well. I started skimming through the rest of the yearbook. There was a picture of me, of course, with the rest of my class. Gross. Then the senior pictures where I found Sosuke smiling in a suit. Seniors were allowed one quote under their name. " It is better to have loved and lost than to have never have loved at all."
Whatever. Going farther were the favorite pages. Best dressed, smartest, teachers pets, etc. And the final one was cutest couple. Probably Rangiku and the school quarter- OH MY GOD WHAT IS THAT! And there, under the name of the title, was Sosuke and I. The main picture was of us at prom, dancing, but a picture on the bottom showed Sosuke and I kissing at school. And I thought no one was there for that! Sosuke Aizen and Chinatsu Watanabe were seen together simply as friends in the fall around homecoming. These feelings grew into something more as noticed by onlookers who saw the two holding hands and blushing with one another later in the year. And though surprised, the student body was happy to find the two together at prom that year. And before the school year ended, when the two thought no one was looking, they would steal kisses with one another. Way to go!
I groaned and hit my head on my desk. And I thought nobody knew geeze. And finally the 'Most Likely to' pages. And unfortunately Sosuke's most likely to was end up with his sweet heart. I closed the book and moved it to the side just as the bell rang and the students came in. " Good morning. Today we will start with turning in last night's homework. It was easy enough yes? Just a questionnaire about yourselves. Now then um Orihime, can you collect the papers and bring them forward?" I asked.
Orihime nodded and went around collecting the papers as I pulled up today's PowerPoint. " Here you go," she said sweetly and handed them to me. But she didn't move away from my desk.
" Is there a problem?" I asked.
" Oh I was just looking at the yearbook you had on your desk," Orihime said.
I whipped my head around and saw she was looking through the pages. I grabbed the book and yanked it back. " Um I'm sorry it's personal," I said.
" Aw come one it's yours isn't it? Can we get a look?" Grimmjow asked.
" No! Now today-"
" You know we can just go to the library and check one out right?" Ichigo asked offhandedly. The others murmured among themselves in approval.
" Fine!" I said pushing the book forward. Students crowded around my desk but unsurprisingly Grimmjow shoved them all away and brought the book to his posse in the back. He skimmed through the pages then stopped on one page and his eyes widened. He looked between me and the page then began laughing.
" They mixed up your pic teach!" he said laughing still.
" No. That was how I looked in high school," I muttered. Students grabbed the book back and looked at the picture in surprise. At least I had my braces finally off freshmen year. I can handle them looking at me what I can't handle is-
" Hey look Professor Aizen is in here!" Rukia said. Oh boy.
" He was a senior when I was a sophomore. Now then let's-"
" Oh my you two were a couple?" Momo asked, a student who was one of the many Sosuke lovers.
I sighed and put my head on my desk. I'm ruined. " Holy shit seriously?" Grimmjow asked.
I slammed my hands on my desk and everyone stilled. " Everyone makes mistakes in their lives ok? Professor Aizen and I were in a VERY brief relationship. I moved to France, he graduated, that's it. The story ends there. Now let's finally-"
" But he comes here everyday and-"
" Enough! I have no feelings besides professional for professor Aizen understand?" I said then took the yearbook. " Open your books to page 50," I said then began my lesson. And after class I sat in my chair and let out a sigh. If there's anything I remembered from high school it's how fast a rumor spreads. And by the time the next batch of students entered, I had questions of our relationship thrown at me. Lunch didn't come soon enough and I groaned hitting my head on my desk.
" Hey Chinatsu," a voice said.
I looked up and smiled faintly. " Hey Kisuke," I said with a wave.
" Care to join me for lunch?" he asked. I laughed slightly and nodded then followed him down the halls to the cafeteria. I didn't feel any stares thankfully as I entered the cafeteria and waited in line but I did see Sosuke glaring at me as I talked to Kisuke in line, making sure I made a point to ignore him. After grabbing a tray I was surprised by how good the food looked. I mean this is one of Japan's best private schools but still! I ordered the three cheese grilled cheese, cream of tomato soup, side salad, soda, and triple chocolate cake. Seems like this school has gone farther up hill since I left. Kisuke led me to a table, walking right past Sosuke, where Yoruichi was who waved at us.
" Welcome back to high school. My names Yoruichi Shihoin, Gym teacher," Yoruichi said holding out her hand which I shook.
" Dr. Watanabe but you can just call me Chinatsu," I said.
" You took Kisuke's old job right? And also the biology teacher huh? You should talk to Tier she's the other biology teacher. Oh there she is," Yoruichi said and waved.
Now 2 other teachers joined us. " Chinatsu this is Tier the biology teachers and Coyote Starrk the history teacher," Yoruichi said and I shook both their hands.
" Tier doesn't talk much outside of class," Starrk said and I nodded. Just then three girls came over and latched on Halibel.
" Hey mom!" one girl said.
" These are our daughters Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-sun," Halibel said quietly.
" We got married right after graduating high school," Starrk said holding Halibel's hand.
" That's so sweet," I said. The girls talked to their parents a bit longer before leaving. I looked around and saw Sosuke sitting with a few others.
" Kisuke who is Sosuke sitting with," I asked.
Kisuke turned a little to see. " Oh well the one with glasses is Tousen, the music teacher. He's blind but he has a great ear for good music. And the silver haired one is Gin. Gin and Sosuke have been friends since college. He is also a literary teacher you know the fun teachers."
" Fun teachers?"
" The ones the kids like, the fun classes. We're the boring classes but from what I hear AP chemistry is going to be a hit this year," Kisuke said.
" Oh did you look at my syllabus?"
" At first I thought I was looking at the home ed. Class. So many cooking lessons!" Kisuke said laughing.
" There is a lot chemistry in cooking you know. And when I get my job at Cambridge that's what I hope to teach," I said.
And so I enjoyed the rest of lunch with my new friends. " We're going for drinks this Friday want to come?" Yoruichi asked.
" Sounds great I'll see you there," I said waving before putting my tray away and heading back to class. I began walking down the halls back to my classroom.
" Chinatsu!" a voice called out.
I turned and saw Sosuke. " Can I help you professor Aizen?" I asked.
He stopped right in front of me. " I um saw you with Kisuke," he said.
" And?"
" What were you doing with him?"
" Besides the fact that he's my colleague and superior? I think he's nice and he invited me to sit with him at lunch so I said yes."
" Well um you can sit with me tomorrow maybe?"
" No"
" Why not?"
" I don't want the students getting the wrong idea."
" Ah yes I heard they found out about our previous relationship," Sosuke said with a smirk. I frowned.
" I will say this once and one time only. I don't want our past to get in the way of our lives, of our jobs. So if your willing then I'm willing to put the past behind us and go on with our lives like nothing ever happened. Sound good?" I asked.
The smirk remained as Sosuke took a step forward and closer to me then took my hand. " You see there's a small problem with that. I can't forget about the time we spent together Chinatsu. And in fact instead of forgetting the past I want to relive it. I hope to find out what went wrong and earn you back Chinatsu," he said then brought my hand to his lips. " Because I love you."
Just then the bell rang. I yanked my hand away just as the first students came around the corner. A few of them looked between us and there were quiet whispers as I left Sosuke behind. He doesn't love me! If he loved me why did he laugh in my face all those years ago hm? I scoffed as I entered my classroom. And before I knew it I was in free period last period again. I began grading some papers when there was a knock. I looked up and saw the teacher called Gin.
" Yo! Just thought I'd pop in and say hiya. Ma name's Gin, Gin Ichimaru. Teach English down the hall," the man said.
I stood, smiling, and stepped over to him. " You probably know me by now but I'm Chinatsu, bio and chem. teacher," I said shaking his hand.
He nodded and began roaming around the room. " I always heard about the famous Chinatsu but I never thought you were this good lookin'," he said while examining a beaker.
" Pardon?"
" Oh Sosuke always talked about ya back in the good old days. Chinatsu this Chinatsu that blah blah blah blah blah," Gin said. I didn't respond. " Don't know what ya did to 'im but he was totally screwed up when I met 'im. But I helped fix 'im back up and even better this time. Got 'im a haircut and some new clothes and he was like a new man. Picking up girls right and left."
" Good for him," I said with a nod. " I'm sorry but if you'll excuse me I need to finish grading."
Gin finally moved back to me with his creepy smile. " It took a long time for me to fix 'im back up, make 'im human again," he said then opened his eyes. The smile was gone and his icy blue eyes pierced my soul. " And I can't let you hurt 'im again. So back off."
And with that he was gone. I let out the air I was holding in and leaned against the closest table. That's what I was trying to do, stay away from him. And hopefully I can.
