Tokyo Babylon--The High School Years
by Miyuki Inakamono
AB: Oh, yeah, chapter six is finally here!! YAY! So Subaru's gonna be stoned through half this thing, and Hokuto was given sugar previously. Have fun. I don't own it, yadda yadda yadda. Go fluff your seme. Oh, and here's something I'm adding--I just downloaded Dir en grey's new single, and can't get enough of it, so... Written under Kyo influence. Be very wary... This song (it's called "embryo") is incredibly messed up. I love it. XD
Part Six
Subaru raced around. "Seishirou-san, where's my socks??"
"I don't know," Seishirou answered the fretting Subaru from the mirrior where he was diligantly straightening his tie.
"Oh, you're not helping!" Subaru glared at him as he passed by, racing into the living room, where his socks were stuffed in his shoes, the most obvious place. Subaru was grateful that it was now week two of school; now that they wore uniforms so he could wear the same thing and no one would notice. During the first week of school, they were allowed to wear what they wanted since everything's pretty laid back while things get situated, but after the second week, uniforms were mandatory to help a ruitine set in. Subaru looked up from where he was pulling his socks on to see Seishirou walking in, grabbing his coat jacket off the back of the couch.
"Are you almost ready?"
"Yes, no thanks to you," Subaru shot, grabbing at his shoes.
"Ano, Subaru-kun, don't you need this?" Seishirou held up his tie, smirking. Subaru glared and marched over to him, snatching it out of his hand. "Grouchy are we?" Seishirou took it back, lacing it over the Sumeragi's neck. "Here, let me." Subaru turned to face him, his death glare trying not to melt into a grin as Seishirou's hands brushed over his neck lightly, fingers daintily tying his tie. ***AN: Heh. Heh. HEEEEEE!!!! Oh come on. If Subaru can tie Kamui's tie and we all ooh and aww over it, Seishirou can damn well tie Subaru's tie and we can all go ooh and aww over it. I think they make a cuter couple anyway. VWAH*** "There." Subaru finally gave up and grinned, Seishirou's hand running up his jaw as he finished the tie. Subaru turned quickly and began to pull his shoes on, tying them himself. Seishirou's were nothing more than dress shoes, so he slipped them on easily and waited on Subaru. Subaru was actually doing pretty good on getting ready; he had to wake up much earlier than what he liked, 4:30. Seishirou had to be at the school at six, but both of them had to take showers and get ready, so Seishirou set the alarm for 4:30. Now it was almost 6:45, and they were getting ready to head out the door for the trains. Subaru jumped up as he finished and grabbed his books (he had never gone home that afternoon, so he still had them), heading for the door. Seishirou opened it for him and let them both out, closing and locking it behind him. The two went down the elevator in relative silence, Seishirou holding onto Subaru's hand subconsiously, Subaru holding onto the other's fingers. Together, they went down the street like that to the trains, and off to school they went.
***
Seishirou held the door open for Subaru, who walked under the taller man's arm easily, relishing in the silght contact from brushing past him as the last he'd get for the remainder of the day, most likely. Seishirou walked up behind him, glancing around before putting a hand on Subaru's shoulder, running it up his neck gently before dropping it down to his side. "See you later."
"Ja matta," Subaru answered, a grin spreading across his face as he watched Seishirou take leave to the left into the teacher's lounge. He grinned a little more and continued about his way to his first hour class. His way, however, was much distressed by a dear twin that Subaru could care less of at that moment.
"Su-chan!! Did you have fun at Sei-chan's last night?? Hmmm??" She grinned at him devilishly, revealing everything that was on her mind.
Subaru rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Hokuto-chan."
Hokuto let out an insane giggle at the answer. "I know what that means!! Hee!!! You had a very good time, didn't you, Su-chan?? Sei-chan giving you some homework helpers??" She giggled even more at her own joke, which, in Subaru's opinion, wasn't very funny.
--HEY! See, you hate me, but I have dirt on the Sumeragi twin. ...No pun intended. Anyway, she had that Tashi person over last night. Thank me later.--
"Leave me alone, Hokuto-chan. I know for a fact," thanks to Evil Tree-san, "that you had your /boyfriend/ over last night, so whatever."
Subaru would have to thank the Tree when he got the chance...
--You're welcome.--
Subaru shook his head, smiling. Hokuto, however, was bright shade of pink. "Hokuto-chan..." Subaru turned his head to the side, "you're cheeks match your purse." He pointed at the bright pink purse his twin carried, red cloth roses hanging from a keychain that jingled when she moved. She got a frustrated look, then one of panic, wondering just how much Subaru knew--
--You know lots. Grin.--
--and becoming more nervous as Subaru started to grin. "YOU!" she declared, finally decided to go for angry. "YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!! YOU... YOU... MEANIE!!!" That said, she stormed off, and Subaru let out a sigh of relief. Hokuto was off his back, at least until lunch.
***
Seishirou shuffled the papers in his hand, going through the usual memos and newsletters, and--
A secret pal? Curious, he picked up the blue envelope, sealed with a blue rose sticker. 'Wonder who it's from...' He began opening the letter.
--It's from...--
'Don't tell me,' Seishirou interrupted. 'You'll ruin the surprise.'
--Ah. Well, I just saved your boyfriend from his sister.-- Seishirou could hear the smirk in the Tree's thoughts.
'Thanks, but if you don't mind, I'd like some private time.' Silence. Seishirou nodded in approval, knowing the Tree was hungry from lack of food the previous night and as a result would do his wishes. Now with some sense of privacy, he commenced with opening the envelope, pulling out a card. On the front was nothing special; it read in plain, black letters, "With a start of the new year," he opened the card to the inside, which still read in the same black lettering, "Also start new friendships --Your Secret Pal." He raised an eyebrow. 'Well, that's odd...'
No sooner had he gotten the thought out when one of the other teachers walked in, followed by the one he had bumped into--Kaminari Nozomi, if his memory served him well. He didn't know the other teacher; a tall, glassed man with a warm face and gentle features. Seishirou shook his head at his next thought--'I bet he was quite handsome in his younger years.' He prevented the smirk that threatened to take over his face and instead smiled softly, greeting the two with a nod of his head. "Ohayo, Kaminari-san to...."
"Danjite Ikenai," the man answered, "you can just call me Ikenai."
Seishirou nodded. "Ohayho, Ikenai. How are you both this fine morning?"
"Fine, thank you for asking," Ikenai answered.
"Same," Nozomi said, then added, "I saw you walking a student in this morning..."
Seishirou nodded, then his paranoia kicked in and he wondered if they saw him rub against his neck before walking away. "Sumeragi Subaru. I've known him a very long time..."
"Oh, yes, I know him, I have in him in my French class," Ikenai answered. "And I saw him teasing his sister this morning... Why are they here so early? Students don't need to be here for at least another hour or so."
"Subaru-kun came with me; he stayed over at my apartment last night," Seishirou tried not to smirk and prevailed, "and I'm not sure what Hokuto-chan was--"
"My son drove her here," spoke up Nozomi. "He leaves at the same time I do since he's a little ditzy like me, and I'm scared to leave him alone... He offered to pick Hokuto-chan up if she was willing to wake up that early; he said she seemed more than willing to get here." She shrugged. "Kids these days."
'She probably knew Subaru-kun would be here right about now... Wait a minute. Her son?' "Tashi-kun is your son?" Seishirou said, raising an eyebrow at this odd coinsidence.
She nodded. "Hai... Him and Hokuto-chan have been seeing each other for a few months, if I understand right..."
'Hu... I'll need to talk with Subaru-kun about this.' "Well, that's odd. She just now told us..." He shrugged elegantly in that Sakurazuka-whatever way he can. "Anyway," he had a question to ask, "what's with the secret pals?"
Ikenai answered him. "Something a few of the teachers do, especially if there's someone new on the staff to make them feel more at home. They act as a secret pal through the year, sending things during holidays and what not."
Seishirou shook his head, turning to face the coffee machine that sat on top of the refriderator in the small lounge. It was as if these teachers lived in a world all their own; teaching, and exchaning, and acting like they cared... He shook that thought out of his head. Sometimes he cared. Sometimes...
"Why do you ask?" Nozomi said, picking the conversation back up after Seishirou's silence.
Seishirou held the envelope up along with the rest of his mail, all held in one hand. "I got this today... I was just wondering if I had done something to deserve humiliation."
Nozomi laughed; Ikenai chuckled. "No, you're just new," the other man answered, taking his own mail out of his box. He checked his watch with a sidelong glance, then let out a sigh. "Class starts in about thirty minutes. Might as well grab something and start on down there." He walked over to the refridgerator, Seishirou moved to the side from where he was making his coffee with his one free hand, still pondering the secret world of teachers. Ikenai grabbed a cup of cold tea--'How can he drink that?' Seishirou thought--and headed for the door. "I'll be seeing you all around then! Ja na." That said, he turned and walked down to his classroom.
Nozomi smiled to herself, going to get her mail as well, then taking a seat and crossing her legs, hidden beneathe her long maroon skirt. She raised her eyebrow as she read through a memo. "Did you see this?" she asked Seishirou's back, who not a second after turned, finally done souping up his coffee.
"No," he answered, taking a sip, "what is it?"
"A notice about the lunch hour. It's not really a lunch hour anymore..." Nozomi laughed, shaking her head at her own joke, in which Seishirou just raised an eyebrow. 'Teachers.' "It's been cut down to 45 minutes, and more time is being added to classes... I'm not sure why. I think it has to do with the new group of freshmen, I suppose. I have a few in my world history class. They aren't exactly geniuses if you follow me." At this time, Nozomi did the same thing as the previous teacher--checked her watch and got up to go. "Time to go prepare! Have a nice day, Sakurazuka-san," she said, waving.
"Same to you, Kaminari-san." He shook his head as she left. "Well... Lunch hour's gone down." He sighed. "Not as much time with Subaru-kun..." He decided that he had nothing better to do, and so he left the lounge for the worn path of the hallway by generations past, heading to his own small classroom on the far end of the complex.
***
Seishirou closed the door behind Subaru as they left to go grab something to eat; Seishirou had the idea of grabbing something, then having him come back to the classroom so they could eat and work on their game plan. He had to do something to keep Subaru from getting out of hand with his teasing with Hokuto and actually taking the blackmailing to a true extent that could result in something both siblings would regret.
And he got some private time with Subaru.
But that was besides the point.
He furrowed his brow as another thought entered his mind. Something was odd about the secret pal; he knew it. And going to the Tree now was no good; it knew that Seishirou wanted to know what was going on and was not going to tell him under any conditions unless his life was indanger, which he figured it wasn't. At least not by the hand of any teacher. And yet, there was the slight notion nagging him in the back of his mind that there was something serious he was missing, something having to do with that card he was missing. 'Can't you help me a little in that department?'
--There's nothing strange about it, at least from what I can tell.--
'Was that Kaminari-san telling me the truth?'
--Yes.--
'Aa.' Well, if anything, this just made things harder for him. There was something big, something serious he was overlooking--
'It's Ikenai, isn't it? He sent me the card and he's hitting on me.'
--No, you're just full of yourself. Two things--one, he didn't send you the card, and two,-- Seishirou heard the Tree's satisfaction with this statement, --he's married and has two daughters and a son on the way.--
'Oh.'
--Just don't tell him you know anything about a son; he doesn't know the child is male yet.--
Seishirou shook his head, grinning to himself slightly. 'Fine, fine. Now, if you don't mind, I have some pondering to do.' The Tree left him alone, still taking to his orders after one night of hunger.
So it wasn't Ikenai, and it couldn't be Nozomi--she had a son, and probably a nice husband to go home to everynight. And surely she knew his preference lie not with her type. It was fairly obvious, or so Seishirou thought... Well, he'd have to make it obvious. That shouldn't be hard. He his grin transformed into a slow, sneering smirk. He'd end up being good friends with Ikenai anyway. His smile dropped. Oh, but what about Subaru? What if Ikenai started to flirt back? Stranger things have happened. Then Subaru would be left in the dust. Seishirou could always flirt with Subaru--that sure wouldn't be hard to do; he could barely resist as things were--but if that were the case, he would end up losing his job and then all this worrying and wrinkle-causing would be for naught a cause.
"Seishirou-san?"
Subaru knocked Seishirou out of his thoughts. "Ne, Subaru-kun?"
"You look like something's bothering you." Subaru picked up a tray from the stack. While in such deep thought, he had made his way to the cafeteria--
--You're welcome.--
--and he now realized he went the whole way without a word to Subaru. "Aa, I'm fine, Subaru-kun. Just thinking... Teaching tends to make you do more of that than usual."
Subaru smirked playfully. "Well, don't give yourself a headache."
Seishirou gave him a Look. "Too much Hokuto-chan teasing; it's going to your head."
"Oh, I'm just joking with you, Seishirou-san." Subaru picked a salad up off the top of the silver counters the food rested on. He flashed Seishirou a bright smile. "I'm just worried. You hardly have said a word to me all day..." He turned his head to his side, picking a bottle of water at the same time. "You usually say a little more than that... And I figured," he lowered his voice, "that you would have something to say to me today... Considering," he was interrupted by a yawn, which he figured said it all. He turned his smile back on, raising his voice. "It's just odd of you, that's all." He gave Seishirou an odd look. "And you didn't get any food, Seishirou-san."
Seishirou sweatdropped. "Well, what do you know... I'll just grab one of the wrapped teacher's salads..." He butted in front of some students (he's a teacher, he can do that) to grab what he wanted, then stepped behind Subaru, who was paying for his lunch. Seishirou did so as well, then the two (Subaru had waited on him, of course; he could see plain well that something was bothering Seishirou) went of to the classroom to talk.
***
Yesh, I'm already working on the next part. Next time--I'll satisfy your needs and explain all the Sakurazukamori shtuff that's kinda unclear through this thing.
by Miyuki Inakamono
AB: Oh, yeah, chapter six is finally here!! YAY! So Subaru's gonna be stoned through half this thing, and Hokuto was given sugar previously. Have fun. I don't own it, yadda yadda yadda. Go fluff your seme. Oh, and here's something I'm adding--I just downloaded Dir en grey's new single, and can't get enough of it, so... Written under Kyo influence. Be very wary... This song (it's called "embryo") is incredibly messed up. I love it. XD
Part Six
Subaru raced around. "Seishirou-san, where's my socks??"
"I don't know," Seishirou answered the fretting Subaru from the mirrior where he was diligantly straightening his tie.
"Oh, you're not helping!" Subaru glared at him as he passed by, racing into the living room, where his socks were stuffed in his shoes, the most obvious place. Subaru was grateful that it was now week two of school; now that they wore uniforms so he could wear the same thing and no one would notice. During the first week of school, they were allowed to wear what they wanted since everything's pretty laid back while things get situated, but after the second week, uniforms were mandatory to help a ruitine set in. Subaru looked up from where he was pulling his socks on to see Seishirou walking in, grabbing his coat jacket off the back of the couch.
"Are you almost ready?"
"Yes, no thanks to you," Subaru shot, grabbing at his shoes.
"Ano, Subaru-kun, don't you need this?" Seishirou held up his tie, smirking. Subaru glared and marched over to him, snatching it out of his hand. "Grouchy are we?" Seishirou took it back, lacing it over the Sumeragi's neck. "Here, let me." Subaru turned to face him, his death glare trying not to melt into a grin as Seishirou's hands brushed over his neck lightly, fingers daintily tying his tie. ***AN: Heh. Heh. HEEEEEE!!!! Oh come on. If Subaru can tie Kamui's tie and we all ooh and aww over it, Seishirou can damn well tie Subaru's tie and we can all go ooh and aww over it. I think they make a cuter couple anyway. VWAH*** "There." Subaru finally gave up and grinned, Seishirou's hand running up his jaw as he finished the tie. Subaru turned quickly and began to pull his shoes on, tying them himself. Seishirou's were nothing more than dress shoes, so he slipped them on easily and waited on Subaru. Subaru was actually doing pretty good on getting ready; he had to wake up much earlier than what he liked, 4:30. Seishirou had to be at the school at six, but both of them had to take showers and get ready, so Seishirou set the alarm for 4:30. Now it was almost 6:45, and they were getting ready to head out the door for the trains. Subaru jumped up as he finished and grabbed his books (he had never gone home that afternoon, so he still had them), heading for the door. Seishirou opened it for him and let them both out, closing and locking it behind him. The two went down the elevator in relative silence, Seishirou holding onto Subaru's hand subconsiously, Subaru holding onto the other's fingers. Together, they went down the street like that to the trains, and off to school they went.
***
Seishirou held the door open for Subaru, who walked under the taller man's arm easily, relishing in the silght contact from brushing past him as the last he'd get for the remainder of the day, most likely. Seishirou walked up behind him, glancing around before putting a hand on Subaru's shoulder, running it up his neck gently before dropping it down to his side. "See you later."
"Ja matta," Subaru answered, a grin spreading across his face as he watched Seishirou take leave to the left into the teacher's lounge. He grinned a little more and continued about his way to his first hour class. His way, however, was much distressed by a dear twin that Subaru could care less of at that moment.
"Su-chan!! Did you have fun at Sei-chan's last night?? Hmmm??" She grinned at him devilishly, revealing everything that was on her mind.
Subaru rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Hokuto-chan."
Hokuto let out an insane giggle at the answer. "I know what that means!! Hee!!! You had a very good time, didn't you, Su-chan?? Sei-chan giving you some homework helpers??" She giggled even more at her own joke, which, in Subaru's opinion, wasn't very funny.
--HEY! See, you hate me, but I have dirt on the Sumeragi twin. ...No pun intended. Anyway, she had that Tashi person over last night. Thank me later.--
"Leave me alone, Hokuto-chan. I know for a fact," thanks to Evil Tree-san, "that you had your /boyfriend/ over last night, so whatever."
Subaru would have to thank the Tree when he got the chance...
--You're welcome.--
Subaru shook his head, smiling. Hokuto, however, was bright shade of pink. "Hokuto-chan..." Subaru turned his head to the side, "you're cheeks match your purse." He pointed at the bright pink purse his twin carried, red cloth roses hanging from a keychain that jingled when she moved. She got a frustrated look, then one of panic, wondering just how much Subaru knew--
--You know lots. Grin.--
--and becoming more nervous as Subaru started to grin. "YOU!" she declared, finally decided to go for angry. "YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!! YOU... YOU... MEANIE!!!" That said, she stormed off, and Subaru let out a sigh of relief. Hokuto was off his back, at least until lunch.
***
Seishirou shuffled the papers in his hand, going through the usual memos and newsletters, and--
A secret pal? Curious, he picked up the blue envelope, sealed with a blue rose sticker. 'Wonder who it's from...' He began opening the letter.
--It's from...--
'Don't tell me,' Seishirou interrupted. 'You'll ruin the surprise.'
--Ah. Well, I just saved your boyfriend from his sister.-- Seishirou could hear the smirk in the Tree's thoughts.
'Thanks, but if you don't mind, I'd like some private time.' Silence. Seishirou nodded in approval, knowing the Tree was hungry from lack of food the previous night and as a result would do his wishes. Now with some sense of privacy, he commenced with opening the envelope, pulling out a card. On the front was nothing special; it read in plain, black letters, "With a start of the new year," he opened the card to the inside, which still read in the same black lettering, "Also start new friendships --Your Secret Pal." He raised an eyebrow. 'Well, that's odd...'
No sooner had he gotten the thought out when one of the other teachers walked in, followed by the one he had bumped into--Kaminari Nozomi, if his memory served him well. He didn't know the other teacher; a tall, glassed man with a warm face and gentle features. Seishirou shook his head at his next thought--'I bet he was quite handsome in his younger years.' He prevented the smirk that threatened to take over his face and instead smiled softly, greeting the two with a nod of his head. "Ohayo, Kaminari-san to...."
"Danjite Ikenai," the man answered, "you can just call me Ikenai."
Seishirou nodded. "Ohayho, Ikenai. How are you both this fine morning?"
"Fine, thank you for asking," Ikenai answered.
"Same," Nozomi said, then added, "I saw you walking a student in this morning..."
Seishirou nodded, then his paranoia kicked in and he wondered if they saw him rub against his neck before walking away. "Sumeragi Subaru. I've known him a very long time..."
"Oh, yes, I know him, I have in him in my French class," Ikenai answered. "And I saw him teasing his sister this morning... Why are they here so early? Students don't need to be here for at least another hour or so."
"Subaru-kun came with me; he stayed over at my apartment last night," Seishirou tried not to smirk and prevailed, "and I'm not sure what Hokuto-chan was--"
"My son drove her here," spoke up Nozomi. "He leaves at the same time I do since he's a little ditzy like me, and I'm scared to leave him alone... He offered to pick Hokuto-chan up if she was willing to wake up that early; he said she seemed more than willing to get here." She shrugged. "Kids these days."
'She probably knew Subaru-kun would be here right about now... Wait a minute. Her son?' "Tashi-kun is your son?" Seishirou said, raising an eyebrow at this odd coinsidence.
She nodded. "Hai... Him and Hokuto-chan have been seeing each other for a few months, if I understand right..."
'Hu... I'll need to talk with Subaru-kun about this.' "Well, that's odd. She just now told us..." He shrugged elegantly in that Sakurazuka-whatever way he can. "Anyway," he had a question to ask, "what's with the secret pals?"
Ikenai answered him. "Something a few of the teachers do, especially if there's someone new on the staff to make them feel more at home. They act as a secret pal through the year, sending things during holidays and what not."
Seishirou shook his head, turning to face the coffee machine that sat on top of the refriderator in the small lounge. It was as if these teachers lived in a world all their own; teaching, and exchaning, and acting like they cared... He shook that thought out of his head. Sometimes he cared. Sometimes...
"Why do you ask?" Nozomi said, picking the conversation back up after Seishirou's silence.
Seishirou held the envelope up along with the rest of his mail, all held in one hand. "I got this today... I was just wondering if I had done something to deserve humiliation."
Nozomi laughed; Ikenai chuckled. "No, you're just new," the other man answered, taking his own mail out of his box. He checked his watch with a sidelong glance, then let out a sigh. "Class starts in about thirty minutes. Might as well grab something and start on down there." He walked over to the refridgerator, Seishirou moved to the side from where he was making his coffee with his one free hand, still pondering the secret world of teachers. Ikenai grabbed a cup of cold tea--'How can he drink that?' Seishirou thought--and headed for the door. "I'll be seeing you all around then! Ja na." That said, he turned and walked down to his classroom.
Nozomi smiled to herself, going to get her mail as well, then taking a seat and crossing her legs, hidden beneathe her long maroon skirt. She raised her eyebrow as she read through a memo. "Did you see this?" she asked Seishirou's back, who not a second after turned, finally done souping up his coffee.
"No," he answered, taking a sip, "what is it?"
"A notice about the lunch hour. It's not really a lunch hour anymore..." Nozomi laughed, shaking her head at her own joke, in which Seishirou just raised an eyebrow. 'Teachers.' "It's been cut down to 45 minutes, and more time is being added to classes... I'm not sure why. I think it has to do with the new group of freshmen, I suppose. I have a few in my world history class. They aren't exactly geniuses if you follow me." At this time, Nozomi did the same thing as the previous teacher--checked her watch and got up to go. "Time to go prepare! Have a nice day, Sakurazuka-san," she said, waving.
"Same to you, Kaminari-san." He shook his head as she left. "Well... Lunch hour's gone down." He sighed. "Not as much time with Subaru-kun..." He decided that he had nothing better to do, and so he left the lounge for the worn path of the hallway by generations past, heading to his own small classroom on the far end of the complex.
***
Seishirou closed the door behind Subaru as they left to go grab something to eat; Seishirou had the idea of grabbing something, then having him come back to the classroom so they could eat and work on their game plan. He had to do something to keep Subaru from getting out of hand with his teasing with Hokuto and actually taking the blackmailing to a true extent that could result in something both siblings would regret.
And he got some private time with Subaru.
But that was besides the point.
He furrowed his brow as another thought entered his mind. Something was odd about the secret pal; he knew it. And going to the Tree now was no good; it knew that Seishirou wanted to know what was going on and was not going to tell him under any conditions unless his life was indanger, which he figured it wasn't. At least not by the hand of any teacher. And yet, there was the slight notion nagging him in the back of his mind that there was something serious he was missing, something having to do with that card he was missing. 'Can't you help me a little in that department?'
--There's nothing strange about it, at least from what I can tell.--
'Was that Kaminari-san telling me the truth?'
--Yes.--
'Aa.' Well, if anything, this just made things harder for him. There was something big, something serious he was overlooking--
'It's Ikenai, isn't it? He sent me the card and he's hitting on me.'
--No, you're just full of yourself. Two things--one, he didn't send you the card, and two,-- Seishirou heard the Tree's satisfaction with this statement, --he's married and has two daughters and a son on the way.--
'Oh.'
--Just don't tell him you know anything about a son; he doesn't know the child is male yet.--
Seishirou shook his head, grinning to himself slightly. 'Fine, fine. Now, if you don't mind, I have some pondering to do.' The Tree left him alone, still taking to his orders after one night of hunger.
So it wasn't Ikenai, and it couldn't be Nozomi--she had a son, and probably a nice husband to go home to everynight. And surely she knew his preference lie not with her type. It was fairly obvious, or so Seishirou thought... Well, he'd have to make it obvious. That shouldn't be hard. He his grin transformed into a slow, sneering smirk. He'd end up being good friends with Ikenai anyway. His smile dropped. Oh, but what about Subaru? What if Ikenai started to flirt back? Stranger things have happened. Then Subaru would be left in the dust. Seishirou could always flirt with Subaru--that sure wouldn't be hard to do; he could barely resist as things were--but if that were the case, he would end up losing his job and then all this worrying and wrinkle-causing would be for naught a cause.
"Seishirou-san?"
Subaru knocked Seishirou out of his thoughts. "Ne, Subaru-kun?"
"You look like something's bothering you." Subaru picked up a tray from the stack. While in such deep thought, he had made his way to the cafeteria--
--You're welcome.--
--and he now realized he went the whole way without a word to Subaru. "Aa, I'm fine, Subaru-kun. Just thinking... Teaching tends to make you do more of that than usual."
Subaru smirked playfully. "Well, don't give yourself a headache."
Seishirou gave him a Look. "Too much Hokuto-chan teasing; it's going to your head."
"Oh, I'm just joking with you, Seishirou-san." Subaru picked a salad up off the top of the silver counters the food rested on. He flashed Seishirou a bright smile. "I'm just worried. You hardly have said a word to me all day..." He turned his head to his side, picking a bottle of water at the same time. "You usually say a little more than that... And I figured," he lowered his voice, "that you would have something to say to me today... Considering," he was interrupted by a yawn, which he figured said it all. He turned his smile back on, raising his voice. "It's just odd of you, that's all." He gave Seishirou an odd look. "And you didn't get any food, Seishirou-san."
Seishirou sweatdropped. "Well, what do you know... I'll just grab one of the wrapped teacher's salads..." He butted in front of some students (he's a teacher, he can do that) to grab what he wanted, then stepped behind Subaru, who was paying for his lunch. Seishirou did so as well, then the two (Subaru had waited on him, of course; he could see plain well that something was bothering Seishirou) went of to the classroom to talk.
***
Yesh, I'm already working on the next part. Next time--I'll satisfy your needs and explain all the Sakurazukamori shtuff that's kinda unclear through this thing.