2/26/20 ended up revising the first chapter and changing/deleting some details... oop!
Shion turned away from the chalkboard and smiled at the classroom full of students. "Any questions?"
Every time he turned to look back at them, he would see another student whipping their head back from the clock out of the corner of his eye. It was close to the end of the day, and the students were growing restless. Over the past week, he had been dismissing them halfway through the lesson and picking back up the next morning. But he was determined to see the rest of today through.
Rain suddenly began to pelt against the windows, and everyone's head whipped towards them in surprise. "Looks like you'll all have to stay here until the rain lets up," he chirped. Everyone responded with a collective groan and begrudgingly returned their gaze to the board.
The rain had only begun to let up slightly when the period finished. After dismissing them, he left the classroom and headed down the hallway to his office to collect the rest of his things.
A flicker of movement in his peripheral vision caught his eye, and he turned his head in time to spot a mouse scuttled along the wall across the floor. He watched it run down the hallway in front of him until it disappeared from view.
"Hey, Shion! Are you going to wait the storm out?"
At the sound of the voice, he jumped, having been distracted by the mouse. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Azumi laughed. The administration had initially hesitated to hire her due to her young age, out of fear that the students wouldn't respect her. But Azumi proved to be more than capable, with an intelligence and wit that made her instantly popular with the other staff and students alike.
Shion smiled and shook his head. "I have to go home to Mamoru," he said.
Azumi nodded. "Better get going, then, while the rain has still let up," she warned. "Weather report says it's going to get worse." She opened her mouth as if to add something, but closed it and looked down.
"What were you going to say, Azumi?"
The young teacher shook her head. "Ah, it's nothing," she said dismissively, biting her lip. "It can wait until tomorrow."
Shion furrowed his brow. "What's wrong?"
Azumi shifted uncomfortably to the other foot. "I've been noticing a lot of mice around here lately." She paused. "Well... not just me. The other teachers have been talking about it. I know you've had to substitute in addition to your administrative duties. Everyone's grateful. But we run the risk of a violation from the health department, and I don't want to see this school shut down." She pursed her lips, waiting anxiously for his response.
"You're right," he admitted sheepishly, nodding. "I haven't noticed, but I just saw one right before I ran into you, too. Thank you for bringing this to my attention." He turned and looked over his shoulder. "I promise I will take care of it. Have a good night, Azumi. I'll see you tomorrow."
He stopped by his office to retrieve his raincoat and umbrella before heading for his car. The other teachers have been talking about it. He frowned. He had only been substituting for two weeks, and already staff were pointing out problems with the school. He was grateful that the teacher for whom he had been substituting was finally returning next week. As boring as administrative duties could be, teaching students was not as easy or fun as he had hoped it would be, and he found himself looking forward to getting back to his main role.
He opened the door and threw himself into the driver's seat. He shut the door quickly, but everything managed to get completely soaked in the five seconds that the door was open. Rainy days in particular were always the worst: he couldn't uncouple the memory of Nezumi with monsoons and rainstorms. He sighed. He was forever cursed to think of that raven-haired beauty every goddamn time it rained.
It was already raining as hard as it had been when he finished teaching, and he realized that he had been sitting and getting lost in his thoughts again. Not good. He made himself think about Mamoru and Hamlet. He couldn't drive in this rain, but this unexpected deluge of thoughts was threatening to carry him away to darker corners of his mind.
Mamoru was waiting patiently by the door and greeted him excitedly before swiftly pushing past Shion's legs to relieve himself outside. He waited by the door with a towel to dry the large animal, who was soaked to the bone after only spending less than two minutes outside.
Hamlet appeared right on cue, his ears twitching happily at Shion's arrival. He smiled and reached out with his finger to rub the spot between Hamlet's ears on top of his head. The mouse squeaked happily and crawled onto Shion's hand, curling up into a small ball. He lifted Hamlet and carefully placed him on his shoulder.
After preparing dinner for himself and Mamoru, he resigned to his favorite armchair with the book he was currently reading. He and Karan were exploring the city hall, which had been abandoned by the previous government, and stumbled upon a trove of books in the basement of the building. The library spanned multiple stories and Shion had spent weeks lost in its shelves. He and other officials opened the library to the public and left it completely untouched, ensuring all citizens unfettered access to this trove of forgotten history that had nearly disappeared forever. What little free time he had was spent reading, grateful for the temporary disconnect from reality they offered him.
With Mamoru at his feet and Hamlet on his shoulder, he read for a few hours without interruption, closing his eyes periodically to rest before giving in to exhaustion and dozing off.