I do not own Blazblue.
A more serious story that will be divided into two parts. One posted this week, and the other being posted in another. I plan to post a new chapter in between which will be unrelated to this one before I upload the second part, but if not out in time, only part two of this will be out. This is Kagura x Kokonoe related.
Everyday was the same, humdrum shit life.
It was the same shit job, the same shit kids, the same shit boss, the same shit everything. She sometimes wondered if life was honestly attempting to give her a wake up call to off herself already, but the few aspirations and dreams she had that she was so close to getting was what was really keeping herself from jumping into the first bus she saw.
Kokonoe sat indignantly at her desk as she passively sipped at a cup of saccharine coffee and regarded the massive amounts of unmarked tests and assignments that have begun to pile up over the past week while shooting the occasional death glare to the silent class that sat pensively in their seats. They have just recently finished a midterm earlier on in the week and Kokonoe can quite literally smell the nervousness and anxiety from their sweat alone, and they had a right to be. She was notorious around the school for having rather hard exams, and thus a low student turnout, but she didn't care. If you're a dumbass and join this class, expect to fail and fail hard, was her motto.
She grumbled something indistinct under her breath as she quickly moved the pen in her hand across an ungraded exam as thoroughly and as quickly as possible before moving onto the next paper just as swiftly. Being an advanced chemistry teacher for a bunch of ass kissing, overachieving, shit kicker kids was never the job she hoped to get before moving on to bigger and better things. Extra credit this, less homework that, confiscating phones, and trying not to curse out the next brat who wants to complain about a grade change was eating away at her like mad. Often times she thought about how easy life would be for a bit if she "accidentally" left some gas on during a lab experiment, but fuck did she need the money, and killing a bunch of teenagers wouldn't look good on a resume.
Sure, her way of thinking was cynical and downright morbid to anyone who dared to peer into her dark little head, but she was sure any teacher who worked at some run of the mill public school for forty hours every week would think the same if they had far more better things to do with their time.
With a drawn out sigh and a crack of her knuckles, Kokonoe tossed the pen she had on her desk before peering up at the clock behind her. Nearly half past two, it read, and how fortunate was it that she was able to grade her entire class' exams before the school day ended. Shame she had four more classes back at home for her waiting to be graded, but she's gotten use to the work load at this point.
Kicking her feet up and folding her hands over her stomach, Kokonoe cleared her throat to get her class's attention before opening her mouth to speak.
"I'm done scoring just about all of you guys' work for the semester." She began as she rested her head back against her chair. "Not much to say besides better luck next quarter."
She heard the entire room collectively groan in unison at her words before they began whispering their potential grades to each other in fear. They knew how hard her class was, but she herself never knew why they acted so surprised whenever they got a bad grade. It was so idiotic, she thought.
One student somewhere in the back raised their hand and waved it frantically.
Not even looking, Kokonoe acknowledged the student while making a displeased noise.
"Yes, you in the last row?"
"What exactly was the highest grade in class, Professor Mercury?"
The teacher hummed in contemplation before giving her answer.
"Probably an 86."
That's when the class really started to get loud and made the teacher's eyebrow twitch. Props to the one sucker who got it, but if it meant giving them all 86's to keep them quiet for the next five minutes of class, she would for her own sanity. She could hardly wait for the earful she'll get from them tomorrow about how they did and what they could do to fix their crap grades.
"If you're all done whining about your test," Kokonoe grumbled as she tried to diffuse the situation. "I'd like your homework on my desk before you leave ASAP. Maybe if about half of you got at least a third of the questions correct, I'll consider putting it as extra credit."
She hated giving extra credit, but it would be necessary in this case so she could avoid being nagged to death all day tomorrow. She was gonna grade it anyway so not like it was a total waste of her time.
She heard her students sigh in minor relief and continued their idle chatter but a little more quietly while Kokonoe closed her eyes to allow herself the chance to relax for a bit until she heard the final bell for the day ring and all the kids clamor over each other to put their work on her desk. The professor still kept her eyes closed as they piled paper after paper in front of her, rambling away about how good or bad their report cards will be until they all finally dashed out the room and left their teacher alone.
After a few moments of collecting her thoughts and mustering up the strength to get out her chair, Kokonoe put her feet back on the floor and rubbed the grit out of her eyes before getting up and grabbing her things. She quickly stuffed her papers and documents into her oversized messenger bag before grabbing her coffee and chugging it halfway down, her stomach grumbling in response to the lack of food she didn't bring with her today. She can already hear the wondrous call of the local bakery calling her name when she felt how hungry she was, and who was she to deny herself of such wondrous temptation? Another stressful day called for some sugary sweets to recharge her batteries.
Brushing off her jeans, Kokonoe bolted to the door of the classroom to switch off the light and exit out into the hallway, but cursed loudly when she nearly ran into an obnoxiously huge chest of biblical proportions once she stepped past the door.
Suffice to say she knew exactly who it belonged to.
"Fuckin' hell...!" Kokonoe quickly stomped passed the woman in question and sent her a glare. "How about putting those things away for a change, eh, Litchi?".
"Oh, my apologies, Professor!" The older woman gasped and placed a hand over her mouth shyly. "I was just coming in to see how you were doing!"
Kokonoe narrowed her eyes her way but didn't care to stay annoyed for long. This lady was Miss Faye Ling, a health and wellness teacher who all the students affectionately called "Miss Litchi" since she preferred it that way. She was essentially the bubbly antithesis to Kokonoe's more indolent personality due to her motherly behavior, soft approach and popularity among the students and staff. She had the approval of nearly everyone in the school and got along almost too well with the teachers, but always found time to check up on her for some odd reason. Kokonoe didn't really mind since her visits were short and brief, but God did her tits and voice annoy her when she got too talkative.
Especially those fuckin' tits...
"Whatever..." Kokonoe trudged past Litchi and hoisted the strap of her bag further up her shoulder. "Don't you have anything better to do than coming to see me?"
"I came to fetch you, is all." Litchi wasted no time following after her and kept that same smile on her face. "Did you forget what today is?"
"Probably." Kokonoe deadpanned. "As soon as that bell rings, any and all school related activity can kiss my ass."
Litchi giggled a little nervously at her colleague's crassness and continued. "The science department is having a meeting today." She explained further. "I know you never like them and all, but I think it's important that you come to this one. They're going to be talking about funding."
The younger woman's ears twitched at that. The science department of the school was already knee deep in new repairs and equipment with enough money to purchase two new laboratories, so it seemed odd to have a meeting about funding of all things. Isn't like it could lose the dough it already has since it's so big unless they're doing budget cuts, but those big wigs weren't dumb enough to propose that idea.
Nevertheless, Kokonoe still couldn't honestly find the will to care much about a single meeting. She's missed enough that her presence in of itself would be odd to anyone there unless she had some sort of gain from it, so best to brush it off for now.
"Funding, huh? Sounds like no better way to waste my time...Besides, I have work to do."
"Oh that's right! Midterms for all the science classes were this week, correct?" Litchi asked.
"You should know. You're one of them." Kokonoe groused.
"I had already given my classes their tests about two weeks in advance." The teacher declared. "I felt like they needed the free time this week to study since the rest of you science big heads give them such a hard time!" She joked merrily.
That comment made the young professor's mouth curl up into a sardonic sneer. Of course she would be so gracious as to do that for her students, she thought bitterly. If she didn't know any better, Kokonoe would've sworn that Litchi just loved to fuckin' show off how much of a great person she was.
"These kids don't deserve the gratitude." Was all Kokonoe said. "All they do is keep me away from shit that really matters. I can't be marking exams all week when I have other crap to get outta the way."
"What else are you doing besides grades, Professor?" Litchi inquired innocently.
Kokonoe briefly considered telling her peer her plans for the future but just as quickly decided against it. Her haste in leaving the school was because she considered this place a mere stepping stone for her future as an actual head scientist in an actual research facility than a rinky-dink chemist making sparklers out of magnesium. She just needed to get some extra money to move out of here and head out to the best residency she could find. Her ten plus years of university and degrees is not gonna go to waste by stopping here, and like hell is anyone going to convince her otherwise.
Which is why if she told Litchi about her plans, she would probably try pathetically to get her to teach here still. Seriously, what does this chick see in her?
"I have some personal projects to get done by the end of the season." The scientist lied. "It's been bugging me all year."
Litchi seemed to visibly perk up at the revelation. "I didn't know you did projects at home as well, Professor! Someone who is so in tune with physics and quantum mechanics and the likes, I bet you have loads and loads of theories, and paperwork, and-"
Kokonoe immediately tuned Litchi out once she began to go on and on about how great she was as they rounded a corner, too irritated to notice the commotion of teenagers bustling the halls and staying affixed to their lockers to be bother by it. Why doesn't she just put a sock in it already?
Litchi continued to ramble on and on with little indication that she was going to stop until the two women began to pass by a group of rambunctious boys and a few girls who clamored around the left side of their lockers and was making a ruckus. Rackets like these were far from uncommon, especially during dismissal time, but Kokonoe was more than sure that they were probably being louder than the rest of the kids here, and that was saying something.
"My those kids are quite rowdy, aren't they?" Litchi inquired. "A lot more rowdier than usual."
"Jesus, can't they keep it the fuck down for a change?" The scientist cursed. "Or better yet bring it outside. I don't see why they always lose their damn minds at this time."
Both teachers stayed silent for a time to watch the kids from the corner of their eye and get a good look at their faces as they proceeded to walk past them. It was nothing but the same posse of young wannabe thugs and rappers that they both always saw roaming the halls all day instead of attending any classes, which prompted Kokonoe to shove her way through the teenagers already in the hallway to finally get to her car. She was thoroughly convinced that there was nothing new to see or care about for that matter since it was the same shit as always until she saw a face among the noisy group she had not expected to see today.
He stood against a locker with one hand in his pocket and the other holding a sling bag over his chest, too busy cracking jokes and making conversation with this charismatic grin of his to pay attention to her or Litchi. From a distance he looked like an average high schooler, but up close his presence stuck out like a sore thumb to both Kokonoe and the kids he chatted with.
His hair was black and wild, his face long and angular while his body was tall, large and very muscular, his biceps and pecs very much visible under the form-fitting wool sweater he was clad in. To most, including her, he could be considered objectively attractive, which was a rare find indeed considering he looked way older than he should be compared to the other kids.
But he was still a massive punk to Kokonoe.
Litchi was the first to notice Kokonoe's pensive glare directed at the group and looked down at her in concern. "Is something the matter, Professor?" She asked.
Kokonoe resisted the urge to answer her for a time. She never managed to catch his name since she was in such a hurry to get to class at the time, but the brief interaction she had with him wasn't exactly the best thing to happen to her that week. His face was already well known throughout the school among the students and staff for better or for worse despite how he was new last time she checked, and he had gotten in a few fights with some kids over his popularity unsurprisingly.
And one of those fights she had to fucking break up just to get through the hallway.
It was a minor altercation that hadn't lasted long anyway since she stepped in, and had ordered the both of them to go to the principal's office since it was basic protocol to do so when kids got like this, and was gonna leave it at that, until that kid had decided to open his fresh little mouth to get her to let them off the hook.
"Principal's office is a bit harsh, don't you think? I know you want me outta your hair and all, but a cute girl like you and pretty lips like those shouldn't get all pouty at a bunch of kids goofing off, yeah~? It certainly ain't a look that fits you."
Of course say she had a few words to say to him.
"If you don't get out of my face in the next five seconds, you're gonna have a lot more to worry about than a trip to the principal, do you understand?"
His expression after that was more shock than any sort of fear like she usually got, but at least she got her point across.
"Professor?" Litchi said again.
The scientist wrinkled her nose and conceded to Litchi's question.
"Saw some punk kid who got in a fight with someone that I had to break up." She explained. "He's a real "ladies man"."
The older woman peered over at the group and blinked. "Oh him? You met before?"
"Unfortunately." She grumbled.
"I believe he is a transfer student if I remember correctly. He takes a class of mine." Litchi nodded and placed a finger on her chin. "He's a natural born charmer for sure, but he can be a little bold when it comes to older women..." The teacher grimaced when she recalled the few times the young man had decided to come onto her as well.
"He's the furthest thing from a charmer..." Kokonoe said to herself when she tried making a beeline towards the school exit when it came near but stopped when he heard that kid's voice call out her way.
"Hey, teach!"
She resisted the urge to turn around and continued to walk the other way.
"Aw, don't play hard to get!"
Litchi suppressed a giggle. "I wouldn't think he would take such a liking to you... B-But that still doesn't give him the right to talk to you that way!"
Kokonoe said nothing and peered over her shoulder to grant him the slightest bit of acknowledgement which did little to quiet him down or the laughing goons around him.
"Keeping outta trouble just like you want me to, teach. I promise~" He said aloud.
The professor shot him a black look that shut everyone up except for him who just seemed to smirk harder at her attention. She merely turned the other cheek in response and walked faster towards the exit doors before pushing through them once she was near. She better not see that fucker in the hallways ever again as long as she's working here. Kicking a student's teeth in for flirting wouldn't look good for her in the future or on her still clean criminal record.
"Wait, Professor!" Litchi yelled out when she finally caught up with her. "My, you walk fast... Where are you about to go now?"
"I'm going home." Kokonoe stated bluntly. "Have fun inside."
"Are you positive you don't want to go to the meeting?" Litchi asked again. "Or did that boy bother you too much to even consider it? Because if so, I'll-"
"I could give a rat's ass about what that little shit thinks." She interrupted. "As for the meeting, I wasn't gonna go in anyway. You can talk my ear off about it tomorrow."
"Well if you say so... I would've thought you would be the slightest bit interested." Litchi pouted at her bluntness but managed to smile nonetheless. "But alright then, Professor. I'll see you tomorrow!" She gave a friendly wave that Kokonoe rolled her eyes at.
"Yeah, yeah..." She gave a curt one of her own as she walked off onto the main sidewalk and drank the rest of her coffee before throwing the empty cup somewhere on the ground. The scientist muttered an expletive under her breath as she shuffled over to where the teacher's parking lot was located before pulling out a pair of jingling keys from her pocket.
The sooner she made it to her car, the sooner she can get her snacks for the day in her stomach to give her the rush she needed to finish as much work as possible. She needed the sugar, but she wouldn't be surprised if she winded up knocking out halfway through. Time could only tell of course.
Though sometimes she did wish that she never had to wake up again whenever she did crash from exhaustion.
The ride from the school to the bakery had not taken long at all considering how it was just a three minute drive from the building, but boy did it feel longer than that. It was around this time that rush hour reared its ugly head and caused a significant amount of traffic to fuck up everyone's mood and time. Honestly she would've been better off walking the twenty minutes it took to get here if it meant getting her sugar in time, but like hell she would exert the little energy she had just for some donuts.
Kokonoe yawned and walked lazily towards the counter once it was her turn in line and requested the usual from the cashier who quickly jotted down what she wanted.
"I need two dozen assorted and make it snappy." She quickly said before moving over to a chair near an adjacent table to sit down in. She watched the cashier finish up her order and rush into the back of the bakery to give it to whatever patissier was back there before he returned to the register. She always got big orders from this place since she always ate so many sweets in just a few days, so they knew exactly what she wanted and how soon she wanted it, or else face the consequences. She knew how much of a bitch she could be, but that didn't stop her from using it to her advantage sometimes.
"If I ain't out of here in the next ten minutes, I'll just get a shake from a burger joint..." She mumbled to herself, ignoring the noises around her in favor of taking out of her phone and fiddling with that. Time seemed to fly for the young teacher the longer she sat there, too preoccupied with whatever game she was playing to notice the bell of the bakery's door ring as another customer walked inside. She continued tuning out the world around her instead, her mind too busy and yet too tired to care about anything else except for the small screen in front of her until she heard a boastful, flirty voice from behind her call her name and make her jump from her seat.
"Well isn't this a sight for sore eyes. Didn't think I would be seeing you here, miss~"
Kokonoe spun her body around to peer up at the owner of the teasing voice who dared to get her attention and immediately scowled when she saw who it belonged to. It was that dumb kid from earlier with that same dumb smile who grinned down eagerly at her without a care in the world. How the hell did he follow her over here so quick? Did he have a car and drive here? Did he walk and just happen to stop on the way over for a snack? Both seemed implausible considering the time it took to get here by foot and the traffic that ravished the streets outside, but Kokonoe was way too exhausted and annoyed to think about anything other than getting this fucker out of her face as soon as possible.
"Look..." She stood up and pointed an accusing finger his way. "You better have a right good excuse for talking to me again, and believe me, now that we're not in school, I will not hesitate to knock your head off if need be."
"Woah, woah there, teach. I'm not here to fight ya." He reassured. "I just came to get something sweet to eat is all."
"You don't seem to be the type who hangs around bakeries." She grimaced.
"I wouldn't peg you either, teach, but who am I to complain? I'll come down here everyday if it means meeting up with cuties like you." He ignored the growing anger on her face and instead held his hand out to her. "I never got yours, but my name's Kagura. Kagura Mutsuki."
"Pleasure is mine." She said sarcastically.
"Mind tellin' me yours then?" He asked.
"You're not my student and neither are you anything I wanna be involved with."
"Ohhh, that fiery attitude and that icy stare you're givin' me is more of a treat than a deterrent, miss. In fact, I like it a lot~"
"I'll kick your ass six ways from Sunday if you don't shut that trap of yours, asshole." She hissed. "You're not getting my name."
"Playing so hard to get." He sighed playfully. "But I like that about my women. Alright then, you don't gotta tell me. How about you let me guess it then?"
"Guess all you want," She waved him off and walked in front of him to wait by the counter again. "You're never gonna get it even if you tried."
"You'd be surprised by what I'm capable of, miss." He flipped his hair as he wandered next to her. "I can tell exactly who and what a person is and what they're feeling just by lookin' at 'em. Think I wouldn't be able to read you, teach?"
"You of all people would never be able to." She scoffed once more and stared at him from the corner of her eye. "Young, dumb, and restless little shits like you would never be able to tell what an adult has to go through."
"That's what you think, huh? More stoic than I took you for." Kagura was visibly growing more and more amused by the second and began inspecting Kokonoe from head to toe. "Long salmon pink hair... peach skin...honey gold eyes...a small chest, but...what you lack up there you certainly make up for downstairs."
Kokonoe's eyes widened at that last part and almost immediately tried slamming the toe of her boot in Kagura's shin which he had barely managed to dodge in time.
"And that same fiery temper I'm coming to love so much."
"Shut the hell up!" She tried suppressing the blush slowly bleeding into her cheeks from her own embarrassment and glared daggers at him. "What are you even getting at!?"
"What I said so before." The teenager crossed his arms and gave her a knowing look. "Just by looking at you, I can tell what you are, who you are, and what you're thinking of. Right now, maybe a little flabbergasted, but before you thought of me as any other punk kid, yeah?"
"What makes you think I still don't see you as just that?"
"Well now you dunno what to think. You may think I'm a punk still, but you're very unclear as to what else I might say. But relax, I won't say anything to upset you like that if it means keeping my nads where God intended them to be." He joked.
"Whatever, just hurry this charade along." Kokonoe's patience was reaching a boiling point.
Kagura's smile was still unfaltering. He really knew how to push a chick's buttons.
"You gotta pretty face and gorgeous body, but you aren't as prim and proper as most girls. Dark lines under your eyes, no makeup, and jewelry. You don't care to be seen and don't wanna be seen." He continued. "You have more of a bigger goal in mind than lookin' pretty, yeah?"
The older woman hesitated to give him a response but conceded to his guess since it was only a small one. "Yes, I do. I don't care for fashion."
"Fashion, friends, or even a social life for that matter. I guess that's what happens when you're so enamored with science."
"So, ha, ha, you guessed that I'm a science teacher and that I hate trends. Anymore magic tricks you got for me or are you just bullshitting me now?"
"Ah, ah, ah," Kagura wagged his finger. "You're too cynical and yet too smart to stick to a teacher's job. You got ambitions ahead of you, don't you? Probably makin' a name for yourself out in the field?"
The professor was gradually growing more interested in his observations but kept her thoughts to herself. "...Yeah. So what are you getting at?"
"Cynical yet determined, fiery and cold, cute and yet so drab. You're a rare case indeed and full of surprises, but if anything I don't think I have much else in the bank." He said bluntly. "I got the simplest parts of you down though, didn't I?"
"Bare minimum, is what I would say." She retorted.
"Bare minimum, maybe, but enough for me to guess your name, I bet~"
Kokonoe waved him off. "Try if you wanna, kid."
Kagura thought about it for a moment as if in contemplation and said his answer.
"Professor Kokonoe Mercury, advanced Chem teacher of grades 10 and up at our humble school here in the boroughs. Is that it?"
The teacher seemed stupefied for a second and blinked at the words that came out of his mouth before regaining her composure. She thought he was surely bluffing about reading people, but that guess was the farthest thing from inaccurate. She couldn't think of any other way he would know that unless he was messing with her and just knew from basic knowledge around the school, but that was almost too on the nose for him to get since he was so new.
"How...how did you even guess that?"
"You look like that would be your name." He grinned and looked down at the lanyard hanging from her neck and poked at the plastic case it was hooked onto gently. "Also says it right here on your teacher's card."
Kokonoe did a double take between him and the photo-id that rested against her chest and felt her blood boil. This fucking brat really was messing with her the whole time, and damn did he get her good! No one has ever made a fool out of her, and here she was being bested by some teenager! She wanted to yell, she wanted to scream, she wanted to bite his head off, and was near ready to rear her head back and curse him out with every cuss she knew until she heard the chime of a small bell ring in her ear and the chipper voice of the cashier who rung it.
"Your order is hot and ready to go, ma'am!" The cashier said cheerfully as he slammed two large boxes of baked goods on the counter and tied a string around them to keep them together.
The scientist looked away from Kagura and to the sweets next to her, her face, once brimming with anger, slowly turning into her usual permanent scowl once she fished for the wallet in her pocket to get the money she needed to pay for her stuff. Showing how fucking irate she was would only result in him winning and like hell was she was going to give him the satisfaction. That fucker had another thing coming if he really think she was going to.
"Really funny trick you got there...!" She growled as she tried looking for some money. "And here I thought you actually had some semblance of intellect in that tiny brain of yours."
"Aw, come on, professor, you know I was just teasing." Kagura dug into his own pocket and pulled out a stack of bills. "Here, I'll make it up to you."
"What are you doing?"
"In return for giving me such a lovely name, this batch is on me." He placed the bills on the counter and started to walk off towards the door. "See you on the flip side though, professor. I'm sure we'll be getting to know each other real well in the future." He gave a wave of his hand and a candid smirk that did nothing but leave the older woman both baffled and irritated by his antics.
Kokonoe simmered in place for a bit before taking her snacks in her arm and muttering to the cashier to keep the change as she stomped towards the door with goodies in hand. That kid better hope he doesn't come crossing her path one of these days in school or so God help her will she give him the beat down of a lifetime. The last thing she needed was another unneeded fixture in her life, and it certainly wasn't gonna be some damn teenager.
It was without a doubt in her mind she was gonna scarf all these donuts down as soon as she got home.
Stay tuned for another one in a few days to a week.