A/N: Damn, I think I reached a new low with this one...
...No pairings, just plain crack.
...ish.
0.0
Please? I'm begging you to read?
Mikoto: I hate her. I HATE HER!
Ai: Who now?
Mikoto: That arrogant SOB Mai!
Ai: Sena Mai? Why?
Mikoto: It's not just me. The whole class hates her too.
Ai: Who's class?? Tell me already!
Mikoto: All of Kamijou's class today!
Ai: Why? What did she do this time?
Mikoto: Thought she would get all smart, god dammit! Landed us a thousand word essay by tomorrow!
Ai: Ouch. What happened?
Mikoto: See, she…
--
"Synonyms?"
"Yeah," the student – Sena, was it? – confirmed, sitting forward more in her seat. "Home entails a safe place where one can go back to, while refuge is like a sanctuary, where you can be safe. So, if looking at it that way, the two would be synonyms, right? So I don't really understand the author's distinction between the two in the chapter."
Hiroki didn't really have to think about this. He just looked out the window for a dramatic second pause. "It's a matter of connotation. To the author – rather, to the character – home is a place he could trust, whereas refuge is more publicized, and, like he says in the third paragraph, can never be trusted as to whether or not crows hid in the shadows, or rats behind the walls."
At Sena's crestfallen expression, Hiroki knew that this was another student trying to sound smart (lost a bet, probably) in front of him, to embarrass him to a certain extent while acknowledging her. Hm. Who did these students think they are?
"I-I'm afraid I still don't quite understand, professor," the girl sniffed, to protect the last ounce of her pride. Of course, Hiroki, being Hiroki, wanted to shatter that into beyond reparable, microscopic pieces. "Could you please explain more?"
"What you suggested are the denotations of home and refuge," Hiroki continued, growling inwardly at the utterly clueless expression on Sena's face (he just knew she had absolutely no idea what denotation meant). "The author's taking the words and their meanings to his own context, turning them into what it means by itself. For example, if I say to the class, right now, ice cream, you all would picture different kinds and different flavors, with of course, different shapes. That's because of how you were taught as children, and your impressions of the word are different than others. Likewise, if I said family, I'm sure everybody would have a different image in their minds. Now, if I ask everybody what a circle is, everyone would no doubt think of this." He picked up a piece of chalk and drew a perfect circle on the board. "Do you see the difference now?"
At the abrupt question, Sena, who had been tuning out, blinked and stammered, "Uh… I… Kind of… Not really…?"
Hiroki offered a rare grin. It was his 'I-got-you-now-and-you-have-no-chance' grin that sent shivers up everybody's spine. Sena instantly became the most hated person in the class.
"Then allow me to continue. The character's connotation of a home is a place with people he could trust. Other people's connotations might mean different things. A home might be a place that opens its doors to you. A home might be somewhere that offers you shelter and food and your necessities for life. A home might be where you are attached to the most. They all essentially come back to the same thing, but its implications are different in the minds of different people. Likewise with refuge. While a home might be somewhere that opens its doors to you, a refuge could be the other place that offers you food. If a home's necessities – to the person connoting it – are to provide food and shelter, then a refuge would be somewhere that offers you safety. Somewhere you are attached to the most would make refuge somewhere that has necessities, but not necessarily attractions for you."
Unfortunate coincidence, Hiroki's mind automatically flashed to a certain best friend of his whose connotations of the words home and refuge would serve as a perfect example. Such a pity he pissed him off so much.
"And a home might be somewhere horrifying, where due dates are coming all the time, and your editor's got your key, while refuge would be the office of where ever your supposed best friend happens to work at the time, without any consideration of whether or not said supposed best friend would get fired at all," he mumbled, gritting his teeth. Just the mere memory of the many jobs he had gotten fired from because of one Usami Akihiko had his hands quivering from anger (justifiably so; after all, it was a pretty big number). And it seemed that his hands weren't just quivering, either, but clenching tightly on the unfortunate piece of chalk he was holding – too tightly, apparently, for the chalk suddenly crumbled into pieces out of the blue, the white pieces falling to the ground and a grey mushroom cloud puffing up. Forcing himself to relax, Hiroki released his hand, and the carcass of the writing utensil fell in a pattering shower.
Something about thinking of Akihiko encouraged inner monologues filled with extensive adjectives, apparently. Dammit. His author-ness was rubbing off on the brunet.
The bell chose that moment to ring, and the obligatory scraping of chairs on the floor sounded, before one Hiroki's sweeping glare sent all instinct-driven movements right into reverse, and the classroom was instantly silenced once more.
"Since Sena has brought up such an interesting topic," he said lightly, casually blowing at the tips of his white-coated fingers, watching the fine powder swirl in intricate patterns while dancing in the air (much like whatever's left of Sena's pride was doing by her foot). "I want everybody to write a one thousand word essay on connotations, and the author's usage of it in the chapter. It's due on my desk tomorrow morning, and if it isn't here by the time the bell rings, I'm not taking it." With one last sweeping glare around the room, he finished. "I'll see you all and your essays tomorrow."
A/N: 0.0
Yeah, I'm disgusted at the home-refuge lecture too...
I just... got the idea in my head and it wouldn't get out...!!!!
=.=
Review, pretty please? Make me feel better, 'cause I'm kinda down right now?