This story has a lot of interaction between Hikari and other characters. Especially Shu, because of some reasons that will come out. But this isn't a Belleshipping fic, they are cousins.
April 7th, 2006. Snowpoint City
It was the last day of the first week of school. Just as Hikari wanted Shinji to be, he was an excellent teacher. He saved his words, not talking too much about the topics unrelated to the class, and spent much more time focusing on the main topic of the class. His explanation was easy to understand and crystal clear. His voice wasn't warm, it was as if a high-functioning android was speaking in front of the whole class. But somehow that made his explanation even more understandable.
Hikari was so happy that she could learn her favorite subject from him. She paid even more attention to the class than she did to other classes.
"So, what do you think about his class?" Hikari asked Shu, right after the teacher left the class.
"It's fine. He makes things seem easy, I guess." Shu nodded.
Hikari asked some of other students and most of them liked the class. After all, this year they needed skillful teacher, not a kind teacher. But even though they knew the fact in their head, it was obvious they wanted a warm teacher as well.
After the whole class was over, Shinji told them to stay behind.
"As you know, we need to elect the new class president." He spoke.
Hikari gulped.
"First, I want to know if there's any volunteers."
Shu flipped his hair and was about to raise his hand, but Hikari was first. And that startled Shu. Hikari liked positive attentions, but this wasn't a type of attention she liked. She liked being a cute, bubbly, and popular girl, being friends with everyone, but not a leader.
"Miss Sakurazawa." Shinji said, writing her name on the board.
Shu stared at her for a moment and slowly raised his hand as well.
"Mr. Akagi." Shinji wrote Shu's name on the board as well.
"What are you doing?" Shu asked her in whispers. Hikari tilted her head, puzzled.
"What? I can't?"
"That's not what I mean."
"Is there any other student who wants to volunteer?" Shinji asked his students.
None of them raised their hands.
"Okay, then. Miss Sakurazawa, you come up and start speaking." He stepped to the side and Hikari walked up to the front of the class.
"Well, hi!" She said. Hikari was nervous. She didn't really like speaking in front of others.
"As you know, this is the last year of our high school and most of us want to just focus on studying. I know that and I felt the same way as well, but I realized that this year would be the last chance to contribute to my class. I thought that I would perhaps regret it without having something to remember my last year of school, so I hope you guys will give me a chance to fulfill that wish."
She looked around the class, who were clapping their hands. Judging by their facial expressions, she didn't mess up.
Hikari sat back down on her seat. While her cousin was speaking, she couldn't focus on his words. She spaced out again, while her eyes fixed on the teacher, not her cousin.
To make the long story short, Hikari became the president. And Shu automatically became the vice president.
"Okay, tell me the truth now." Shu stopped her after everything was over. They were standing in the middle of the hallway, in front of their classroom, and no one was there. Everyone had already gone home or to their club activities.
"What are you talking about?" Hikari frowned.
"What you said in the front of the class. That's a lie." Shu stated.
"Um, rude! Just because you couldn't keep your record of class president for 10 years, doesn't mean that you can just unleash your anger at me. Why can't I try out something new?" Hikari argued.
"Because Hikari I know doesn't like talking to many people at once, getting too much pressure or responsibilities, and having obstacles in her studies. Being a class president means you have more responsibilities than before and that would get in your way of studying. I really don't know why you just decided to do it." Shu reasoned back.
Hikari didn't say anything for a moment, because Shu was right. Everything he said about her was correct. Hikari had a goal of her own. And the only way she could get to the goal was through her studying. And although she did like hanging out with her friends, it frustrated her whenever she couldn't finish what she had planned for the day.
"What's going on?" They turned to see Haruka walking toward them.
"Hikari just became our class's president." Shu answered before Hikari could say something.
"Really? That's great!" Haruka replied with a small excited clap.
"No! Haruka, don't you think it's weird?" Shu was frustrated now that his girlfriend wasn't really helping.
"Hikari can do whatever she wants to." Haruka answered, puzzled by Shu's questioning.
"Fine, just get to the point. What do you want to get out of me?" Hikari crossed her arms, wanting to get this end with.
"You are doing this because of Iwai-sensei, right?" Shu asked. Haruka raised her brow, not knowing what was going on.
Hikari kept her stern look and didn't uncross her arms, "No. You are wrong."
"Kouki told me about Monday. You were blushing when Iwai-sensei walked you home."
"Wait, he walked you home? Why didn't you tell me?" Haruka asked.
"That's not important right now. Please don't tell me you like him." Shu whispered sharply with an apparent worried expression on his face.
Hikari closed her eyes in frustration and bit her lips. Just then a voice echoed in the hallway.
"Miss Sakurazawa." Iwai Shinji was standing at the other side of the hallway.
Shu's eyes widened. He was worried if the teacher hd heard their conversations. Hikari frowned at her cousin and Haruka just looked at them, worried about what she'd just heard from her friends.
"Good, Mr. Akagi is here as well." Shinji approached them. He didn't seem to have heard their conversation.
"I couldn't hear what you were saying when I came here." Haruka assured them.
"I need to talk to both of you. Let's go to the faculty office." He said.
Haruka couldn't help but notice Hikari's face lighten up a bit.
"Do you have any club activities right now?" Shinji asked.
"No, sir." Hikari answered.
"I need to leave in 30 minutes, sir." Shu answered. He noticed the change in Hikari's expression as well.
"It won't take that long." Shinji then spotted Haruka standing there.
"Miss Shundo." He acknowledged her. Haruka bowed her head a little in surprise.
"Come now. We don't have all day."
So, Iwai Shinji took the two students to the faculty office. Haruka stood outside, waiting for them.
"I should've called you right over after the class ended, but there was a faculty meeting. I'm glad you didn't leave."
The two students just looked at each other.
"I didn't call you to get all lightened up or be cheerful about this year."
That's what most teachers would do when their class president and the vice president were selected, Shu thought that to himself.
"There's going to be individual consulting starting from next week. It will start with you, Miss Sakurazawa, then you, Mr. Akagi. If you have any questions you might want to ask, prepare them by next Monday. I will talk to you, Miss Sakurazawa at lunch, and you in evening.
Also, as soon as you arrive on class next Monday, tell everyone to write their names on the time and the date they want for the consulting." He handed Hikari a sheet of paper. It was a blank calendar.
"Put it on the bulletin board. I will tell them during the assembly, but make sure everyone writes the time by Tuesday. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir." Hikari answered, holding the paper a bit tightly.
Shinji saw that, "Miss Sakurazawa, you are crumpling the paper."
Hikari realized what she was doing and laughed nervously. "Oh, sorry."
Shinji sighed, "Wait a bit. I will print one more." Frustration was rubbing off of his voice, but it was clear he was trying to hold it down.
He stood up to go to the printer. Shu nudged her.
"What?" Hikari said sharply.
Before Shu can answer, Shinji came back with the new one.
"Here, you take it." He handed the paper to Shu.
"What? No! I can do it, sensei." Hikari protested.
"Too bad, Hikari." Shu smirked, reaching out to grab the paper but Hikari grabbed his hand and gave him a glare.
"No. I can do it, sensei. I'll be careful this time. No need to worry!" Hikari said as she grabbed the paper from the teacher's hand.
Shinji raised his brow at her and sighed. Shu could tell he was trying his best not to show is annoyance, but he clearly was.
"Alright, don't crumple it again."
Hikari exited the room and Shu followed her out.
"Okay, you are trying too hard now Hikari." Shu commented.
"No, I am not." Hikari replied, stubbornly.
"Hikari, can you now explain what's going on?" Haruka asked, annoyed.
"Fine. On the first day of school, Shu came a bit late to pick me up. I was waiting for him, but sensei came."
"How did he know where you work?" Haruka asked.
"He came to the convenience store when I was working. I think he lives around there. He asked me when my shift ended so I told him. He said he was worried since it was getting dark. That's why he walked me home, that's all."
"And her face was red, according to Kouki." Shu added.
"Okay, stop with it. I don't like him." Hikari said firmly. "I already told you that my last year of high school is going to be romance-free."
Shu sighed, "Alright. I won't say it anymore. I was just worried that you might get hurt, emotionally. You know that, right?"
Haruka nodded in agreement next to him.
"Yes, I know. But don't worry. It's not going to happen."
April 10th, 2006. Snowpoint City
Next Monday arrived soon enough and Hikari was very nervous. She ate her lunch as quickly as possible and hurried to the faculty office. Shinji was already sitting at his desk, looking through her files. Hikari was holding onto a small shopping bag. She was meaning to give it to him.
"Um…" She was awkwardly standing behind him and he noticed her.
"Alright, sit down." He said, pulling a stool from nearby.
Hikari did as she was told, and she held tightly onto the strings of the bag.
"So, you wrote here that you are trying to go to Veilstone University." He said, looking down at one of the sheets, which was probably her record.
Hikari blinked. She just missed the chance to give the bag to him.
"Um, yes. I always loved biology and wanted to study it further. Maybe I can actually study Pokemons' habitat out in the field." Hikari said, and as she talked, she couldn't hide her excitement she had for this field.
Shinji's brow furrowed while listening. "Alright, your grades are outstanding, you've been doing your best in your club activities as well, and…" He glanced up at her from the file.
Hikari breathed in and bit her lips. She could feel her ears warming up.
"It seems like you will have no problem going to the university you want to, unless you fail the entrance exam. But, we will work on that. I also checked your records on the mock exams." He dug through different files. "They were good, but you will still need to work on your language arts a bit more.
"Um, okay." Hikari replied.
"Any questions?" He asked, looking up from his papers.
"I um…" Hikari tried to remember what she wanted to ask but the nervousness shook them away.
"And please don't ask anything personal." Shinji added with indifferent voice.
Now Hikari had nothing to ask. "No sir, I don't have any. I will just ask if I have one later."
Shinji nodded at that. Hikari just sat there, not knowing what to do. Shinji noticed that.
"You are dismissed." He told her.
"I wanted to give you this." Hikari held out the bag to him. He raised his brow.
"They are cookies I made. I was just making them for me and my friends, but I kind of made them more than I intended, and since I became the class president, I thought it would be just nice to give some to you as well," said Hikari, so fast that Shinji looked confused and even the teacher who was sitting next to Shinji snuck a peak at them to see what was going on.
"Thank you, Miss Sakurazawa. But I would really appreciate it more if you use that time on studying." He replied coldly as he took the bag from her.
"Oh… okay." Hikari replied. She saw the other teacher saying 'ouch' silently.
"You are dismissed." Shinji repeated and Hikari left the faculty office.
"Hey! You are out earlier than I thought. How was it?" Haruka was standing outside the office. She was just waiting for Hikari. She was sucking on a small lollipop candy, and handed one to Hikari as well. Hikari took it.
"Um… Quick? He just said what he needed to say and it was over soon."
"Really? Doesn't it usually takes longer than that? But since you've got good grades, maybe he didn't have much to say." Haruka commented.
Hikari kind of wished unconsciously that she shouldn't have studied this hard.
"What about the cookies? You spent like 5 hours to make that yesterday. You didn't even let me have a bite." Haruka said with a frown.
"He said I shouldn't waste my time on these things and just study instead." Hikari said, disappointed.
"What? That's so mean. You worked so hard to bake those cookies and no one should disapprove of food."
"I can't believe you are mad because they were cookies." Hikari sighed.
"But no one should say those things when they were gifted food! Food is all about care and love."
Hikari just sighed at that and headed back to her classroom.
April 13th, 2006. Snowpoint City
Hikari realized about 3 days later that it wasn't just her. Shinji was doing the same to other students as well.
Hikari was surprised to find one of her classmates crying during lunch.
"Is something wrong?" Hikari asked another classmates.
"I think she's just a bit hurt because of what Iwai-sensei said. You know, with him being straightforward." He explained.
"He just says what he should and didn't really care for my opinion. It was a bit annoying." Another one said.
"Hikari, tell him something. It's really frustrating the way he talks. I mean, his teaching is okay but I don't think he really cares for us. I wanted to tell him about my plan, but he said I won't be able to make it with my current grades. Maybe Mirai heard that as well."
Hikari hesitated for a moment. He really wasn't a type of person she would enjoy having conversations with, it was hard to admit but it was. But she was the class president and that meant she had to do the role of Pidoves and carry on the messages between the teacher and other students.
"Alright, I will go to him now." Hikari replied. She headed toward the faculty office and in front of the office, she spotted him. He was coming out from the office with a toothbrush in his mouth.
"Iwai-sensei!" Hikari called out.
The said man turned to her.
"I have something to tell you." She said.
He pulled his brush out, "If you can see, Sakurazawa, I'm heading to the bathroom. Wait for a moment."
"I can talk and you can listen while going there." Hikari insisted.
"Is it that urgent?" Shinji sighed.
"To me, it is."
Shinji grunted, putting the brush back into his mouth and headed toward the bathroom. Hikari followed him behind.
"It's about Mirai. She was crying after having consulting with you. I know you don't mean to hurt others, but your words are a bit straightforward, and it really doesn't seem friendly." Hikari explained the situation.
Shinji just listened.
"I'm suggesting that maybe you can use some kind words when you are talking to us. And maybe a little comfort? We are all in hard times right now." Hikari gulped, waiting for Shinji to say something.
Hikari waited while he was finished with brushing his teeth.
"Sakurazawa." He called her when he was finished.
"You are in the last year of high school, right before being an adult and heading out to society. I don't think I will be your last-minute help with only comforting. My job is to give out the best way possible for you students, so you won't fail."
"But that's only your opinion. What matters is ours. It's our life."
Shinji grunted, "And just let you make pathetic choices when it's clearly going to fail? I don't think so." He said washing his cup.
"We don't know about the future yet. Future can change. Won't it be just best to support our choices?"
"Just supporting won't make any differences. You need some realistic advice, not some cheesy supports. Think, Sakurazawa. Not everyone has grades good enough as you do. Do you really think that I should support everyone when it's clearly out of their reach? No. I find more suitable goals for them and suggest it, so that they won't regret about starting their preparations too late. You have to stop daydreaming and come back to reality. Not everyone has what you have, Sakurazawa." Shinji said, this time, turning completely toward her and talking while looking into her eyes.
Hikari gulped.
"I may sound too idealistic, but I think your job is to find a way to get to the goal. Not change the goal." She replied with a frown on her face.
Shinji sighed, "There's a clear difference between us but you are not the teacher. I'm the teacher."
Hikari might've cried if she was talking to Kouki or Shu, whom she was much more comfortable with, to the point she showed off her weak side often. But she was oddly calm. Her head was just focused on clarifying her opinion to her teacher.
"Just because I'm a student doesn't mean you should ignore my opinion." Hikari retorted.
"What are you trying to say here?"
"If you can't talk idealism into them, then maybe at least try to sound kind. I am here on the behalf of the whole class. They all think the same. Don't you want to keep good relationships with us? The way you talk made most of the classmates don't think you care about us."
"That's ridiculous." Shinji growled. Hikari flinched at that.
"If you don't show you care, we won't know, sir."
"I am showing my care. You have no idea how much time I spent trying to give out better solutions according to your grades on each subject, your club activities, student records and those personalities and aptitude tests you took last year." He looked frustrated for a moment and realized that he was almost yelling at the poor student in front of him.
He sighed with his hand on his forehead, "My apologies, Miss Sakurazawa. I didn't mean to yell."
Hikari didn't mind. It was interesting to see her teacher show emotions. He barely did. Her heart was beating a little faster than before.
"None taken, sir." She fidgeted her fingers for a moment, "Maybe it's the language. If you listen to them first and just suggest what you brought, in kind words, maybe they won't feel that bad..?" She trailed off a bit at the last part.
She had sudden realization that she sounded like she was questioning his authority as a teacher. She didn't screw up, didn't she? She looked at him to study his face.
Shinji was glaring. Not particularly at her but he just glared because he wasn't in a good mood. And after a brief moment of silence, he finally finished thinking, and sighed.
"If that's the feedback, then I will have no choice to take it. I will try to explain what I meant and sound nicer than before, are you happy now Sakurazawa?" he asked. He knew better than to fight with his student, so this was the best he could come up with.
Hikari was actually surprised he just accepted it. She had told herself not to expect to much because usually teachers didn't like it when they were told that way.
She beamed, "Yes sir. Thank you for listening. I hope you aren't offended." She added politely according to the manners.
"I'm not. Thank you for gathering up the courage to tell me that."
Hikari grinned again. He did know how to say things nicely! She was also glad Shinji didn't think of her rude. That would've really messed things up. Now all nervousness were gone and her muscles suddenly relaxed. She almost fell down.
"Something wrong?" He asked.
"No sir, I'm fine." Hikari replied, holding onto the wall.
"You really are troublesome girl." He commented.
Hikari pouted at that, "No I'm not!" She protested.
"I think you are." Shinji replied, heading back to the office. Hikari followed behind him.
"I'm not troublesome. I just did what I had to."
"Yes, yes. Now go back to the class. 5th period is about to begin soon." He said that last before entering the office.
"Hmmph." Hikari huffed and returned to the class.
"How did it go?" One of the students asked. He was the next one to go.
"He said he will try sound nicer." Hikari summed everything that happened up to just that sentence. She didn't want to share the whole conversation she had with others. It was all hers.
"That's a relief. Thanks!"
Other students seemed relieved hearing that as well. Shu raised his brow.
"How did you do that?" he asked when Hikari sat back at her seat.
"Do what?"
"Convince him to do as you wanted."
"You make it sound like I am manipulating my teacher." Hikari giggled at her own joke.
"Just tell me."
"No. I just told him what I thought, like you would've done if you were in my position." Hikari said.
"Okay…. He didn't take you rude, right?" Shu was worried about that too.
"No, I don't think he did. I'm really glad he didn't. That would've seriously messed up my year." Hikari said with a sigh.
"I know. I'm glad nothing bad happened." Shu nodded.
The next day she did hear from other students that he changed his attitude a bit. Of course, he still brought out those other options and kept his straightforward vocabularies, but he tried listening to the students more than he did before and tried to compromise.
Hikari felt so relieved by that. She didn't want her classmates to hate him. And it felt like she was the person with the job to keep them from hating him.
"No need to worry." She told herself.
