Rules Were Made to be Broken

‣ scene 30 [happy synthesizer]

"That's all for today. I'll see you here again next week! Enjoy your weekend, everyone."

There was no formal bell to announce the end of this particular class. Kiyotaka's voice was the only form of dismissal that existed. As soon as he had granted permission, his students stood, some eager and others reluctant.

Kiyotaka released a breath he'd been holding, for some time, deep in his chest. His back was starting to ache. He'd gotten too used to sitting in a desk all day and his back had yet to recover from the switch to a job that involved so much standing. He stretched, which alleviated the pain for an instant. He would have to ask Sakura for advice about that. Or Nekomaru, maybe. Akane swore by the man's massages.

Kiyotaka barely managed to sit down by his desk before two of his students approached him. He recognized both at a glance. One of them was something of a friend of his now.

"About that test—"

"I told you already, you'll be fine," Kiyotaka laughed, interrupting him. "You've been doing very well, Leon. If you're that worried, I can tutor you, but I really don't think you need it."

Leon sighed heavily and leaned forward into his folded arms, which looked as though he had crumpled in half. For someone who wanted to come across as if he didn't care about anything at all, Leon was awfully anxious about the state of his educational pursuits. He had never formally graduated and was now trying to pass his high school equivalence test alongside a friend of his.

"You don't hafta lie to me just so I'll tell people you're the cool teacher or whatever, y'know," Leon scoffed. "I'm already obligated to pretend to like you anyway, aren't I? Daiya will fire me if I don't!"

Kiyotaka, luckily, knew Leon well enough by now to know that he was joking. And he knew Leon well enough by now to know that he didn't need tutoring. They'd already tried it, and Leon had easily recalled everything. He wasn't actually stupid— it was an act that he had perpetrated for so long that he eventually came to believe it himself— and Kiyotaka wasn't going to let him pretend to be.

"If you can tell me EXACTLY what it is that you're having trouble understanding, I'll tutor you."

"That's... right. I, um. I just don't get, the, the, uh—"

"Thought so."

Kiyotaka smirked as he made a show of tapping his stack of papers against the surface of his desk, lining them all up perfectly. Leon sighed. His dreadlocked friend chuckled at his expense.

This was what Kiyotaka did now. He was, finally, a teacher. It didn't pay anywhere near as much as his old job had. And yet, he would not trade it for something that paid more— what the job didn't have in salary and benefits it more than made up for in fulfillment.

Kiyotaka taught people who had fallen off of the tracks and helped them get their lives back in order. Most of his students were young truants who hadn't been able to complete their schooling for various reasons. Bullying, oftentimes, or a difficult home life. Others were adults who had never done so, but wanted to pass the test now so that they could pursue higher education. Kiyotaka's classes often used practice tests because he wanted his students to be certain that they were ready for the final exam. Leon was going to do just fine on his. Yasuhiro, though, standing there idly and laughing with not a care in the world— he did have reason to worry. Kiyotaka fixed him with a stern gaze over the frames of his glasses.