hey! sorry this took a bit longer to update. School starts again next week, so my updates might be a little bit less frequent, but hopefully there shouldnt be too much difference!
this chapter contains a lot of talking about condoms, mild homophobia (q slur), suggested abuse, and mentions of self harm. It's a little bit rushed and definitely very messy buuttt it'll do for an update ;) I'll go back and edit it a bit later if i need to
hope yall enjoy!
"Condoms. Diaphragm caps. The pill. All well-known forms of contraception, but according to your principle, it seems like you guys might need a little extra help in understanding what these things are."
Christophe Giacommeti was an interesting man, Viktor came to realise quickly. He possessed an admirable confidence that didn't waver in front of the class of pissed-off teenagers, the smirk that sat on his lips didn't fade even when he was pointing at microscopic images of chlamydia bacteria. He was the perfect combination of intimidating and friendly, laid-back and serious. Viktor might have found himself becoming jealous of his demeanour if he wasn't struggling to hold back laughter.
"Do you guys know the consequences of not wearing one of these things?" He was holding a condom now, and was pointing at it with a lube-covered hand, looking around the class like a searchlight sweeping for missing boats. The dark purple colour of it suggested that it was grape-flavoured. A wrapper was lying discarded on the floor, forgotten, and Viktor hoped that he would remember to pick it up before he left.
"Teenage pregnancy. Gonorrhoea. Trichomoniasis. HIV infection. Doesn't sound like fun, huh? What if I were to tell you that one of these things can lead to an incurable disease? I'm not going to teach you abstinence, since it's pretty clear that any attempts would be useless judging by the hickies covering your necks." He looked pointedly at Yuri, earning a jeer from the rest of the class. "But I am here to teach you to stay safe."
Half of the class looked wide-eyed and fearful, the other half were moderately amused but mostly bored. This was better than math or science, they supposed, and Chris wasn't a horrible guy. He insisted on them calling him by his first name and interestingly wasn't unnerved by the scowl that was being aimed at him by a certain red-faced Yuri Plisetsky. His two-toned blond and brown hair, tanned skin, daunting height and tendency to lie across surfaces when he talked consequently made him very fitting for a sexual education teacher. Sara earned a glare from Michele when she wolf-whistled at him.
When Viktor first announced that they would have to sit through 90 minutes of someone discussing penises, they all immediately thought that it would be a complete waste of time. Condoms were important, ask for consent, etc. etc. Everyone knew that there wasn't a virgin in the entirety of class E2, so they all knew the basics from experience, right? For someone like JJ, who had lost his virginity when he was 12, sexual knowledge was the only subject he would get an A in. Even Guang Hong (who had barely even touched himself before he got together with Leo) rolled his eyes at the proposition of a stranger talking about the biology of a vagina. Seung-gil was more of a mystery but other than that… secrets were hard to keep in a class of rude, nosy teenagers.
When Mr Giacometti fell through the door 15 minutes late, clutching a small suitcase and declaring that 'the receptionist was being a bitch" and not letting him through, the students all exhaled a sigh of relief and sat back to enjoy the show. Part of them expected Ms Baranovskaya (the terrifying vice principle and ex-wife of Mr Feltsman) to come storming into the class yelling about STDs, so this scatter-brained new man was angelic in comparison.
Even if he was a bit hyperactive and didn't know how to act appropriately in front of children.
"You." Chris suddenly turned around from the photographs pinned to the whiteboard to face Otabek, jabbing a finger in his direction. The boy in question flinched and shrunk down in his seat. "Do you know how to put a condom on?"
"Uh… y-yes?" Otabek stammered, feeling humiliated. Yuri sympathetically patted his hip. Otabek always hated attention from anyone else, especially by weird teachers whose fingers were sticky with cheap lube.
"Great. You can demonstrate to the class."
"Excuse me?"
"Aye yai yai! Get your dick out, Altin!" Mila excitedly cheered from across the class, clapping her hands together in mocking glee. The clapping soon turned into her thumping her fists onto the desk in a rhythmic drumming, accompanied by the chant of "dicks out! Dicks out! Dicks out!".
Mila had always had a weird obsession with the Kazakh. Her sultry looks and winks drove Yuri crazy, not in a seduced way, but in a weirdly-jealous, overly-angry way. Yuri couldn't say he hated her. He hated Jean-Jacques Leroy and his mother. Mila was someone he respected- except for when she was thrusting her breasts at his best friend and groping him whenever he walked past.
Still, she had an infectious charm and a powerful beauty that made it hard to look away from her. She could be manipulating and evil, yet she could also be lovely and caring if you had something to offer her or if you were one of the lucky few people she cared about. Everyone except for Yuri and Otabek followed in her footsteps, which was made evident by the fact that it didn't take long before most of the class had joined in with the chanting and Otabek had buried his face in his arms.
"No, no! Stop it!"
Chris was trying to silence the chanting, but nine students easily overpowered anything he had to say. Even Minami and Guang Hong, who usually shied away from loud noises and ridicule, were grinning and shouting the embarrassing obscenities at the poor boy who was slumped in the corner. Viktor didn't bother interfering; he wouldn't be able to make any difference, and besides, this was technically his free period. Mr Feltsman said that he was supposed to be teaching another class during E2's sex ed, though that job had been claimed by another cover teacher.
So, here he was instead. Sat by the door, arms folded, eyebrows raised, trying to figure out whether Otabek was having a panic attack or crying.
"Okay, listen up fuckers!" Chris was standing on Viktor's desk now, knocking over neatly organised files and pots of paperclips (much to the silver-haired man's horror). Viktor didn't know if visitors to the school were allowed to curse and insult their students, but it had clearly done the job, so it wasn't as if the ethics of the situation were important. Now eleven shocked faced were peering up at him.
"We will be seeing nobody's genitals in this classroom. What you get up to in E1 is none of my business, but this is a no-dick zone. Unless you count the plastic replicas I have for you to practice on."
"Practice what? Deep-throating?"
"No, Emil, not deep-throating. Putting condoms on. You again, what was your name, sorry?"
Otabek slowly raised his head, sensing the hazel eyes that were burrowing into him. "Um… O-Otabek. Altin." He said quietly, desperately avoiding eye contact. His face was flushed a post-box red and if you looked close enough, you'd be able to see his hands trembling.
"That's a rather foreign name. Where are you from, Otabek?" Chris asked, leaning over and smiling kindly at the teenager.
"Almaty. Kazakhstan."
"Ah! Lovely. I've always wanted to go to central Asia. My boyfriend like travelling, see, and- "
"Boyfriend? Do you like it up the ass too, sir?"
All eyes turned to Jean-Jacques, who was either smirking or scowling behind the sunglasses that sat on his face. He didn't seem to mind the smallest bit that he was suddenly the centre of attention, sitting with his legs spread and elbows resting on his desk. The epitome of arrogant confidence. Probably something to do with that 'huge ego' that had been mentioned.
Viktor crossed his arms and prepared for a fight to break out.
"Excuse me, young man?" The tone in Chris's voice was much less joy-filled than it was previously.
"I'm just asking. Don't mean no harm." JJ said with a shrug. "There's loads of queers in this class."
"Are you queer?"
"No sir. I got a girl. She's called Isabelle."
"Well, then. You don't get to use the word queer. That's a slur, y'know? And I'm certain Mr Nikiforov isn't going to tolerate any homophobia in his classroom." Chris made eye contact with Viktor briefly, sensing the other man's discomfort.
"Woah, I ain't homophobic! How can we be homophobic when we share a class with Plisetsky?"
Oh, God. Viktor resisted the impulse to slam his head against the wall behind him. The lesson had been going so well, they were behaving considerably better than they ever did with him. Even with Mila's dick mantra and the way they giggled like little kids whenever Chris flicked the condom out of his way. But now things were going to get ugly if he didn't intervene. Yuri had already been provoked once, and if that wasn't enough to set him off, then watching his friend get humiliated would have pushed him very close to the edge. His fists were probably aching to connect with Leroy's nose after that comment.
Viktor pushed himself up without a second thought and walked over to stand next to Chris. The first thing he noticed was how tall the other man was. The second thing was that his hands were still covered in lube and were being held awkwardly in front of him.
"Okay, Jean, step outside please. What have I told you about angering and provoking other students? And take those sunglasses off too, it isn't even bright." He demanded, raising an eyebrow in a way that hoped made him look threatening and authoritative. Jean-Jacques sighed and looked like he was about to argue, but then surprisingly gave up, shrugged, and stood up too.
"Whatever, teach. Can I go home?"
"No? I mean, no! Stand outside in the corridor. I'll talk to you afterwards. And give me those glasses."
"Nah, I'm good thanks." The dark-haired boy scoffed and kicked his way through the rucksacks on the floor, then let the door slam behind him after he had left. Maybe he would obey Viktor's words and would just sit in the hallway until he was called in again. Maybe he would disappear to the canteen or the yard or even home. Viktor couldn't deny that he felt proud of himself for getting at least someone to listen to him, and the surge of satisfaction that came from the idea of calling Jean's parents if he skipped class sent a small thrill up his spine. Usually he hated people who abused their power as teachers… but Viktor really didn't like Jean-Jacques Leroy.
"Sorry about that, Chris." He said, shooting an apologetic look at the visitor. Chris simply nodded an understanding.
"Okay, well, tragically for me but luckily for Otabek, that little incident has brought me to the end of my session. I could only have half a lesson this week, unfortunately, however I'm scheduled for the same time every Thursday. Viktor would like to introduce someone else into the class next, I believe?" The condom and its wrapper were deposited into the bin, along with a lemon-scented handwipe that Chris used to clean his fingers with. "I also have presents for you all."
For the first time, everyone noticed a small cardboard box that could be seen from inside the suitcase. It was labelled with the word 'Aufklärungsunterricht' in black marker pen.
"Are you German, Chris?" Michele narrowed his eyes at the strange spelling, recognising the order of letters and pronunciation from Rammstein songs.
"Ah! Good eye. But nein, I am from Switzerland, though German is my first language. I also speak French and some Italian, as well as English, of course."
"That's cool. I'm Italian. So's my sister, Sara."
"Lovely! And what is your name?"
"Michele."
"Nice to meet you, Michele."
The exchanges between Chris and the students were odd, in Viktor's eyes. When he tried to talk to them, he got cursed at and insulted and threatened. Until he introduced his 'rules', he was getting physically assaulted by paper airplanes every lesson. But with Chris they were calmer, conversational even, as if they trusted him. Perhaps it was because they knew they would only be seeing him once a week? Because he didn't have the authority to kick them out or phone their parents?
Or perhaps because he was taking an interest in their lives?
Viktor made a mental note to follow his footsteps. After all, he was going to be with these kids for some time. Getting to know them could be valuable in his fight to earn their trust and respect.
"Little goody bags for all of you. Don't get too excited, there aren't any candies or fun party toys." Small black opaque bags were being passed around the class now, enough for one each, with a couple left over. Someone made sure to leave one on Jean-Jacques' desk for when he was called in again. A small buzz of chatter was floating around the room as everyone turned their bags upside down on the desks, laughing and frowning and groaning at the contents of them.
A selection of condoms (the expensive brands, not shitty supermarket-own types). A morning-after pill. Sachets of lube. A small pamphlet that was entitled 'symptoms of different STIs'. A larger booklet that explained the importance of safe sex and contained a variety of pie charts detailing the climb in teenage pregnancy rates, the mortality rate of different diseases, and where to go to get help and advice. All in all, it was an uncomfortable assortment of things to be given, but important nonetheless.
"Uh… I don't need this. Nor do a few of us." Leo was holding up the pill and side-eyeing Guang Hong. "Do you want us to, like… hand them around to others?"
"Well, those things are expensive as fuck, so I'm sure the girls would appreciate having a couple to spare. Who else doesn't need one?" Chris walked over to retrieve Leo's and Guang Hong's morning-after pill, then looked around the room expectantly. Well, this was a much easier way of figuring out everyone's sexuality. He made a mental note to remember the faces for future reference.
Otabek and Yuri held theirs out, as did Emil and Minami. Everyone knew that Emil was gay- he flirted with every guy in close proximity- but Minami? Apparently he had sex once out of peer pressure, but other than that, did he even know what intimacy was?
"Join the club, Minami!" Emil shouted obnoxiously and reached over to ruffle the dyed-red part of the small boy's hair. Minami swatted him away and blushed furiously.
"I'm not gay! I'm just… I don't like anyone, really. I don't like doing… that." He gestured vaguely, hoping that they wouldn't press him for more.
"Ah, no worries. Everyone has their preferences. Keep the condoms just in case though, yeah?" Chris smiled and finished zipping his suitcase up. It looked like it contained other things besides the cardboard box and plastic penis replicas, although the students would have to wait until next week to discover what was inside. Sex ed might turn into the only lesson that didn't make them want to throw themselves out of the window. They got free stuff, a friendly teacher who didn't shout at them for putting their feet up on the desk, and an hour and a half away from Nikiforov's half-angry-half-pitying glances. What was there to complain about?
Chris said his goodbyes and left the room, hauling the suitcase behind him. As the door swung open Viktor cause a glimpse of Jean-Jacques slumped against the wall outside, head in his hands, and he remembered that had disciplining to do before he could move on to the next part of the lesson. The part he was most excited for.
"Talk amongst yourselves. I don't want to see any condoms lying on the floor when I come back in." Viktor instructed. He didn't stop to see their reaction before he took a deep breath, rolled his eyes, and prepared to nurse a migraine that would undoubtedly blossom as the result of the cocky teenager sat outside.
(line break)
Apparently it wasn't Viktor who had fallen victim to a headache today. JJ had his head in his hands because he was rubbing his temples, an act that made Viktor frown and drop to his knees besides the boy, who immediately flinched and jerked away, seemingly unaware of the teacher's presence until that point. He looked up at him with a frown.
Well. Viktor assumed that he was frowning. It was hard to see behind the sunglasses.
"Jean? Are you alright?" He asked sympathetically, moving to put his hand on his back, but thinking better of it. Touching his students without permission would seem shady in the eyes of the law, and Viktor didn't know how they would react. Everyone in that class seemed to constantly be on edge. Whether it was a sudden loud bang or Viktor accidentally raising his voice, flinching came second nature to them, as if they were expecting something bad to happen. It was curious. Something to keep an eye on.
"I'm fine. You here to yell at me?" JJ said, but his tone had lost the sharp arrogance that it usually contained. Instead he sounded tired, drained, in pain, even. Perhaps he had a migraine? That would explain the sunglasses. Viktor avoided bright lights like the plague whenever his migraines were acting up again.
"I'm not going to shout at you. Does your head hurt? Do you have a migraine?"
"Look, I said I'm fine, alright? Get off my back."
"I'm afraid I can't do that if you're in pain, Jean. You should have told me if you weren't feeling well. I could have sent you home." Viktor cocked his head and dragged his eyes up and down the teenager. His slumped position, furrowed brows, the way his fingers were laced in his hair. He had to help in some way. He wouldn't be able to sleep easy if he neglected someone in his care. "Is that why you're wearing the glasses? Bright lights hurt too much?"
"What? No." JJ tensed slightly, jerking away as if words made physical contact and were burning his skin.
"No?"
"I mean… Yes. Whatever."
"Jean. Can you take your glasses off for me, please?" Viktor sensed that something was off about the way JJ was reacting. His boyfriend often did the same thing whenever he was upset; state his feelings, then change his mind, either because he wanted to keep them a secret or because he thought he was being a burden. That was the positives of dating someone with anxiety, Viktor supposed: you quickly learned to pick up on concerning behaviour. Yuuri used to joke about how Viktor should be the therapist, since he had learned to get good at helping during a panic attack or breakdown. Granted, he was useless at first, and froze up in the presence of someone crying. But as their relationship progressed Viktor grew accustomed to the steps he should take.
JJ didn't respond to the request or even move at all, aside from the shuddering of his shoulders that came from the deep breaths he was taking. Obviously in pain, physically for certain, but maybe mentally, too.
Viktor felt guilty. Five minutes ago he would have jumped at the opportunity to give this boy detention or call his parents. Now he was realising how unfair he was being, how he was beginning to show bias towards students he disliked.
That was something he'd have to work on and stop before it became obvious to everyone else. He was here to help, not single-out certain people and make them feel like shit.
He'd make it up to Jean-Jacques by caring for him and giving him the rest of the day off if he wanted it. But first he needed to find out what was wrong.
"You can talk to me, you know? It's confidential. I just want to make sure you're okay." This time he gathered the courage to place a hand on JJ's back. Just lightly, just enough to let him know that he wasn't alone. If it was Yuri or Mila or Michele, Viktor knew he would get shoved away. Part of him expected JJ to do the same.
Surprisingly, he leaned into the gesture and remained there for a few moments before reaching up to remove his glasses.
A silence stretched for a few seconds as Viktor stared. JJ cast his eyes to the floor and wrung his hands together.
"Okay… care to tell me what happened?"
A dark bruise around JJ's eye clearly showed that his distress was due to more than a simple headache. It was fresh, Viktor could clearly see that by the way the purples and blues had yet to fade to yellows and pinks, as bruises usually did when they were a few days old. Plus, he hadn't noticed any injuries when JJ came to school the day before. So whatever happened, whether he had been hurt or had just clumsily walked in to something, it would have occurred either after school or in the morning.
Both times where the boy would have been at home.
Viktor didn't know much about his parents- or any of their parents, to be honest- but by the way JJ's cheeks had been stained with a blush and his eyes were glued to the carpet, it didn't take a genius to figure out that he had secrets to hide.
Like the faded white scars on Yuri's arms. The way Leo would pull at his hair when he thought the teacher wasn't looking. How Guang Hong would flap his hands when he was overwhelmed. All of them had secrets to hide, and as each day passed, Viktor was beginning to understand what Yuri meant just a couple of days previously.
"Do you have any idea who you're dealing with, teach?"
No. Viktor had no idea who these kids were, what they were going through, why they were so angry all the time. And looking down and Jean-Jacques' crumpled form leaning against the wall now, he was more determined than ever to not give up on them.
"Come on. Let's get some ice. You can tell me about it when we're in the nurse's office."
The second visitor of the day would have to introduce himself. Viktor had sworn that he would be there to make things easier, since he knew how troublesome his students could be, however more urgent matters had taken priority.
But it was okay. Yuuri would understand.
(line break)
He was small, Asian, kinda goofy-looking, and appeared to be absolutely terrified. He had walked in to the class about 5 minutes after Viktor had left, and was now stood at the front with his arms crossed, glasses sliding down his nose, trying to avoid eye contact. If it wasn't for the lanyard around his neck, they would have thought he was a lost student. The chubbiness of his cheeks only made him look younger.
"Dude, are you, like, okay?" Michele asked, raising an amused eyebrow at the man before them. Was he a new cover teacher? Had Nikiforov finally done a runner? All of them seemed to have the same curiosity, and were whispering to each other, pointing and giggling and overall not doing much to make the strange man feel comfortable.
The lanyard around his neck was blue, not red like the rest of the teachers had. Sandbrook High liked to use colours to differentiate between the members of staff: red was for teachers, green for caretakers and cleaners, yellow for day-by-day visitors (like Chris, for example), and blue for… they didn't know. They had never seen someone of that position before. Unless there was a new section in the school, like after-school volunteers or club managers or-
"Hey! You're the new school counsellor or some shit, right? You got a blue neck thingy. We ain't had a counsellor for fucking years, dude." Emil said loudly, grinning at the visitor and leaning over his desk to get closer to him. Judging by the widening of the man's eyes, Emil was correct.
Great. Just what they needed. Another useless 'counsellor' who would tell them to punch a pillow when they were angry and would phone home whenever anything got too concerning.
"I… Yes. Yes, sorry. My name is Mr Katsuki, but you may call me Yuuri." He smiled faintly and tried to look Emil in the eye. "I will be your new counsellor. Vikt- Mr Nikiforov should have introduced me, but I can see that he's not here right now."
"Nah, JJ was being a prick and got kicked out, so sir went to fuck him up or something."
"I highly doubt that… okay. Never mind. Can I ask your name?"
"Emil Nekola. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, cutie." Emil winked and earned a groan from the people sitting around him.
Yuuri introduced himself some more, explained where his office was and what times he was available to talk to. Apparently he had a specific day for each block, and Wednesday belonged to the E block, which famously only had one class occupied. And if their faces were anything to go by, E2 were not going to make the most of their allotted time.
They looked annoyed. Offended, even, as if the offer of help and support was outrageous and shocking. Sara had an eyebrow raised. Minami was gaping. Even Seung-gil was paying attention, staring intently at Mr Katsuki with a faint look of disgust on his face.
And Yuri was fuming.
Mr Katsuki said his goodbyes, told them that Viktor would give them more information later, and then left them on their own again.
"This is bullshit. I have to see this bastard every Wednesday instead of doing Sports. I'm going to fucking kill myself." Yuri spat as soon as he was out of earshot. He started picking at a splinter on his desk, not caring when it pricked his fingers and made blood bead under his nails.
"Please do not kill yourself." Otabek said in response. He had calmed down from his previous embarrassment and was now sat zoning out and trying to process everything he had just learned.
"Remember what happened last time they made me see a school counsellor?" The blond fiddled with the cuffs of his sleeves. "They made me pull my sleeves up and phoned home to tell my mom. Didn't even fucking help me or nothing. Mom beat the shit out of me, my mental health just got worse afterwards. If that happens again it's going to push me over the edge, I fucking swear."
He sighed and leaned back, just as his stomach rumbled. Another reminder of how fucked up his home life was.
"God. I need to cut." His eyes flickered closed. Partly out of fatigue, partly to hide their sudden wetness.
What was up with these mood swings? They had always bothered him, but had gotten worse lately, and would leave him exhausted. He blamed it on hormones and hoped it wasn't the symptom of another mental illness to deal with. Depression was awful enough. Yuri splayed his hand over his stomach to silence its complaints and leaned into Otabek's waiting arms.
"Try not to. I'd offer to let you stay around tonight, but… My parents…"
"Yeah, I know. It's okay. Thanks anyway, Beka."
They sat like that for a few moments. Yuri appreciating the warmth of his best friend, listening to his heartbeat, breathing in that familiar shampoo scent. Wishing not for the first time that they could just stay like that forever.
The answer was simple, really. They couldn't make him talk. They couldn't force him to open up.
So he wouldn't.
Eyes of a soldier. And soldiers never cried.
im thinking of making the next chapter Very Angsty so keep that in mind. I've got a plot figured out but due to Yuri's inability to open up, it might take a few more angst-filled chapters to get to the main points.
please review if you can! Your love and support makes my Heart Warm. I love you all !
