Mister Inokori

VIII: Infatuation

Mister Yoshitaka walked up to the school, "Another day of New Hope Highschool," he whispered to himself. He prayed that today would be a good day as he walked through the double doors of the school.

Mister Yoshitaka walked to the teacher's break room and grabbed his lanyard, but before he could leave someone called out his name. "Mr. Yoshitaka, wait." It was a woman's voice. After a few seconds, the woman appeared in front of him.

"Miss Phonic?" he questioned as he slid the lanyard over his head. "What are you doing hear?"

"I work here, silly," the light brunette said, booping his nose with a smile on her face. "But that isn't the only reason I came to you, I wanted to talk."

"Talk?" Yoshitaka questioned as if he never heard of the action before.

"Yeah, but we will have to make it quick because school will start soon," she smiled as she lead him away.

"Where are we going?" Why was he getting all sweaty and nervous again?

"Somewhere a little private, you have a free period, right? No one should be in your class then." They walked up the stairs, but why did Yoshitaka feel as though he was being forced to do something bad?

As they walked past Phonic's room and Inokori's room, on the door to the left, room E-2 came the dark chasms of only one man. Yoshitaka begging for help, threw his eyes and hoped that his crush would help him out.

Finally, they entered room E-3. Miss Phonic placed Sora Yoshitaka on one of the student's desks. She locked the door and they both heard it click. What is she going to do to me!? He mentally screamed. Sora could not take the suspense anymore, threw his arms in the air, and blurted, "Whatever you're going to do with me, just make it quick."

Miss Phonic paused; then she doubled over and laughed. One hand was on her knee while the other one was fighting her abdomen. Sora Yoshitaka was confused and the look on his face only made Miss Phonic laugh even more. Eventually, she made it over to Mister Yoshitaka's teacher's desk and stood behind it, leaning a little upon it. "Mister Yoshitaka," Miss Phonic said wiping a tear from her face. "You are one funny man. Do you know that?"

"If this what you wanted to talk about?" Sora Yoshitaka asked.

Miss Phonic shook her head just as the five-minute school bell chimed. Then her face got all hard and serious. "Mister Yoshitaka, I don't know if you can answer this question, but I'm going to answer it anyway. What do you do if you think someone likes you but they are younger than you?"

The question shocked Yoshitaka a bit. He was pretty sure that Miss Phonics was the same age as him if not a little older. She could not have been older than twenty-five. Not many teachers were younger than her and even fewer of them were male as far as Yoshitaka knew based on his limited knowledge. The only guy he knew that was probably younger than Miss Phonic was himself.

Uh oh.

"Umm... Uhh... I—"

Miss Phonic made a scrunched-up face before she said, "I have to go but I await your answer." She unlocked the door and left with a jazzy wave.

"Wait!" Yoshitaka followed Miss Phonic out of his classroom. Outside he watched as Miko entered the classroom with his crutches and backpack. He looked so cheerful entering E-1.

Mister Yoshitaka shut his mouth and closed his outstretched hand, forming a fist. Slowly it fell to his side. "Never...mind." Yoshitaka turned to his right where room E-2 lay ready for class. Gingerly, he removed his lanyard and laid it balled, tight in his fist. At the last minute of passing time, Sora Yoshitaka entered Mr. Inokori's room and sat down in the back. The students did nothing more than bat an eye at Sora Yoshitaka as he had assimilated with them and become one with the students. It was only once he sat down and Inokori nodded at his presence did Sora snap out of his odd trance.

"Now Class, do you like your teacher or not?" Inokori was behind his desk as he said the familiar words. The response soon followed and Sora Yoshitaka repeated the words as lifelessly as the students around him. It was similar to an actor reciting their lines over and over again until they just got bored of it. They knew what to do and they forgot the original meaning of the line because of the repetition.

The class went on as normal after Mr. Detention's addition or the old ritual. "Anybody holding back or didn't nod, I'll see you when school is done."

Talk of rhetoric flew echoed through the classroom as it went through one ear or the students and out the other. Mister Inokori's teaching style did not excite them to bear the love of learning but made them instead want to sleep. Yoshitaka felt bad for the student before him. He loved Inokori, there was no doubt about it, but he wished that the man was the way he was before. He seemed to forget that as well.

As the period passed, Yoshitaka's thoughts traveled elsewhere. He tried not to think about what happened or could have happened with Miss Phonic and instead focused on something else. Yoshitaka went through his bag and out popped a piece of paper, it was the same one that he received yesterday. Someone wanted to meet him on the roof after detention tomorrow, but that tomorrow is now today. He wondered who it could be. It had to be a student in the class, who else would leave a note on his desk?

"...and finally, the third appeal of rhetoric, pathos, also known as emotion..." Inokori's lecture broke through Sora's brain as the man with the abysmal eyes glanced at him. Sora could not help but take a deep breath as Inokori's eyes passed. But that also gave him an idea. What if he used rhetoric to make Inokori's classes more interesting? Yoshitaka smiled at his idea as he started writing his ideas in his notebook.