27. Visit

"What is going on here?"

"Hi, Asano-kun, I came to invade."

Asano Gakushuu was flabbergasted. Let's not question the fact that his dad was home early for once-- what is Kunomasu-sensei doing here?!

The very-familiar, kinda klutzy, very infamous teacher stood at the door.

His dad simply strode in like nothing was wrong. He made a beeline for his room, holding his work papers and throwing a few words behind him.

"You may use the guest room. Have my son show you there. If there are any problems, I will be working in my office."

And he just goes. Like nothing's wrong.

His office door closed. Kuma-sensei was smiling at the door, waiting for instructions. Gakushuu kinda wanted to flip a table.

-

"So basically, I ran away from home," Nao told him over a cup of hot chocolate.

Gakushuu had his face inch-deep in his palm. He honestly still couldn't believe that this teacher was in his house. No teacher ever visited him-- his dad's the Board Chairman, for god's sake.

He never even had friends over, and suddenly he has to entertain a teacher??

"Sir, you're an adult," he stressed the last word.

Nao beamed, "which is why I ran away with permission!"

Gakushuu had the sudden urge to do a flip off the balcony. His hands tightened on the mug he was holding, and he turned away to give a very heavy sigh.

What exactly did his father find charming in this?

"Regardless, Kunomasu-sensei," Gakushuu said with a sigh, "I would prefer if you had a little more self-preservation than this."

No one messed with the Board Chairman as much as Nao, and it was for a very good reason. Kuma-sensei might have had a leeway thus far, but surely this, too, had limits.

Nao smiled warmly at that.

"It's fine," he said. Gakushuu looked up. Nao prodded at the side of the mug, "I think the Board Chairman is scary... but it's much better than going home right now."

Gakushuu faintly pondered upon those words. He took a sip of his own drink.

"You sure have it hard," Nao told him, "you have such a scary father. Does he ever feel like a dad? Or is he pretty much never there?"

Gakushuu was slightly taken aback at the sudden switch in topics. The conversation had suddenly flipped from him to him and...

"I'm fine as it is," Gakushuu told him, "I do not... need him to act like a father anymore. I can handle myself just fine."

Nao leaned his chin into his hand, elbow propped on the table, and he gave the boy a knowing smile.

"I'm sure you wonder about it too, sometimes." Nao chuckled, "how is a 'father' supposed to act, anyways? I never had a dad, so I don't know either."

Gakushuu looked up at that.

Nao drank his hot chocolate. "To me, things like a family-- they've never really been there. There was something, once upon a time-- but it's long gone. I can't even remember how it feels, but I lived this far... so maybe I don't need it, after all. That's what I believe, too."

Gakushuu's fist tightened on his mug, and he stood up.

"I'm going to bed," he stubbornly declared, "good night, Kunomasu-sensei."

"Gakushuu," Nao interrupted him. The boy didn't turn around to look, but Nao continued talking. "Unlike me, you still have time to treasure these bonds," he said. "Whatever you do... make sure the regret doesn't linger in your heart."

Gakushuu closed the door behind him.

Nao put a hand at his chest, over his heart. "I'm such a hypocrite."

-

Nao didn't want to go home. His brother was there, trying to pretend he still had any right to talk to him.

Nao hated Kazu. That's a fact that won't ever change, at any time in any world no matter the actions, roads, and mistakes.

Nao didn't want to give Kazu a chance.

So he ran... to Asano, of all people.

A few months ago, if he told himself he would seek solace in the Board Chairman, he would have laughed and jumped out the window.

Yet here he was, sitting by the balcony of a building he had no right being in-- looking at the stars.

Gakushuu was in a similar situation, if he thought about it.

Their family's done nothing but harm to their hearts. They won't ever get on their knees to apologize, yet at some point, Nao and Gakushu would have to be the ones to speak first, to forgive them and begin setting down new blocks to the relationship.

Maybe that was what led him, instinctively, to wanting to help the boy out.

Maybe deep inside, Nao wanted to fix his relationship with Kazu, despite everything. And right now, he was just too much of a stubborn coward to do it himself.

He clutched at his shirt, around his heart, and he had to laugh miserably.

Is he getting desperate because he doesn't have any time left?

Is he desperately wanting to leave his mark in history, after all this time?

"If you love too little, no one will ever know you lived."

(Dammit, it's because Korosensei said unnecessary things.)

He felt the tears come. And in the safety of a sleeping house and the moonlit night, he let himself cry, undisturbed.

-

-

"Oh, Kunomasu-sensei," Gakuho turned around casually, "your collar is untidy." And he stepped closer, reaching for the younger man.

Quickly and expertly inserting himself in between the two adults, Gakushuu stood before Nao and his father.

The mutual glares were kind of hard to watch, but for once, Gakushuu wasn't backing off in front of the Board Chairman.

"What is the meaning of this?" Gakuho demanded in the most chastised, innocent way he could probably irritatedly muster, and Gakushuu stood firm.

"Please get a little further away from Kunomasu-sensei, Sir Board Chairman," Gakushuu told his father, with all due respect. Then he turned to Nao, "and Kunomasu-sensei, there is a mirror on the desk, you may fix your collar there."

Nao saw sparks between their fiery gazes. What's going on?

Then Gakushuu hooked an arm around the teacher and pulled him out the door. "Well then, let us leave. Please excuse us, sir Board Chairman, we will head out ahead of you."

And Nao is hastily pulled out the door, across the street, his arm held captive by a very prickly fourteen-year-old.

When they're really far out of earshot and halfway to school, Gakushuu swirled on the teacher and all but snapped.

"Kuma-sensei, please have just a little more self-preservation skills!" he hissed, bristling like a ruffled puppy.

Nao was confused. "Wouldn't I be in more trouble if I said no? Like, it'd be rude when he's just trying to be nice, right?" And oh, did Gakushuu just call him Kuma?

And Gakushuu shot back like he'd been burned, "god it's worse than I thought. You're not dumb. You're just blur as fuck."

It's honestly the first time Nao ever heard this model student swear or seen him lose his composure like this, so although he's still not too sure what Gakushuu is implying, he smiled and enjoyed this amazing view.

"I'll be fine," he assured, "the Board Chairman hasn't threatened my life in ages."

"That's exactly why it's not fine!!"