Chapter 22: Disciple and Teacher
The afternoon bell rang. Akishin returned to the faculty office and stowed the shinai back in his locker. Shizuka, meanwhile, was gathering her textbooks, preparing for her next class.
"Hiratsuka-sensei!" Akishin called out.
"What is it?" Shizuka looked over.
"It's about..." Akishin looked away, unable to meet her eyes. "When you're teaching your class, could you keep an eye on Hikigaya Hachiman? See if he's daydreaming? Or if he looks out of it? If anything seems off, tell him to come see me immediately!"
Akishin was genuinely worried. Having failed to restrain his killing intent, he was terrified he'd left a permanent psychological scar on the student he had high hopes for. Yukino had only caught the edge of it, so she was likely fine, but Hachiman had taken the full brunt of it.
Then again, Yukino's mental fortitude was nowhere near Hachiman's level of cynicism, so he couldn't be sure. He planned to check on them at the club room after school.
As he was planning out his first Mandarin lesson, Shizuka approached him, practically radiating fury. "Chishima Akishin, what did you do now? Why do I need to 'monitor' Hikigaya?"
Akishin raised his hands and backed away, feeling like she might swing at him any second. He said awkwardly, "I accidentally scared him. I'm sure he's fine, but I can't help being worried."
"How do you even 'scare' Hikigaya?"
"..."
Akishin stayed silent. He couldn't exactly admit he'd accidentally blasted the kid with pure, concentrated bloodlust.
Seeing his silence, Shizuka's temper flared. She wound up and drove a punch straight into his gut.
Whump!
It was a heavy blow. Akishin's expression tightened instantly. He could have dodged it, but he chose not to. This was his penance to Shizuka and Hachiman. He felt guilty for his impulsive display earlier.
Shizuka watched as his face contorted for a second before he regained his composure. Aside from a bit of paleness, he seemed fine. She looked at her fist in disbelief. That punch was thrown in anger; she'd used at least ninety percent of her strength. She was confident in her power—a grown man should have been on his knees.
Is Chishima Akishin a martial artist too?
She glared at him one last time, deciding to drop it for now. "There better not be anything wrong. If there is... Chishima Akishin, you'd better be ready for what's coming."
With that, she turned and headed to class.
Phew.
Whatever good impression he'd managed to build was probably gone. How am I going to fix this?
Akishin shook his head and sat down, ignoring the weird looks from the other teachers in the office. He started preparing for his Mandarin class.
The Japanese writing system already used Kanji, but Mandarin Chinese was a different beast entirely. It was notoriously difficult for Japanese speakers. If a Japanese person could understand common Mandarin, they were considered impressive. Usually, they relied on phonetic notations to navigate the characters.
Akishin had his own plan. While Mandarin was ranked as one of the hardest languages to learn, for someone who had used it since childhood, it was second nature. This was just for daily conversation, not translating ancient texts.
First, he had to break their rigid habits with Japanese and English.
He went to the storage room and brought back a stack of books. On the covers were three pinyin symbols: a, o, e!
"Good Baby Learns Pinyin"!
This was the textbook Akishin had specifically requested Sobu High to purchase. As a top-tier school, they had the resources to make it happen.
The beauty of Mandarin pronunciation compared to other languages was its monosyllabic nature. You couldn't read one character with two syllables. For example, 'Gege' (Older Brother) in Mandarin is 'Onii-chan' in Japanese—three syllables versus two.
Akishin's method: make them master Pinyin first. They had to memorize the rules of combination. Just like learning multiplication tables in primary school, it was the most basic yet most practical knowledge.
He planned to spend an entire semester just on Pinyin, sprinkled with simple words and Chengyu (idioms). It wasn't the traditional Japanese way of teaching, but Akishin believed in its effectiveness. He didn't want to produce a bunch of 'recording machines' who just memorized textbooks.
Akishin was a man of few interests, but once he committed to something, he gave it his all. It was a matter of self-respect, and a responsibility toward his students.
Today, Hikigaya Hachiman felt the atmosphere in class was incredibly strange.
It was Shizuka's period. Usually, she'd be at the front lecturing while everyone listened intently. No one dared to whisper; even the rowdiest kids were on their best behavior.
But today, Shizuka kept glancing at him. Her gaze was full of scrutiny and... concern?
Hachiman wasn't the only one who noticed. The rest of the class was picking up on it too, looking at Hachiman with utter confusion. Their faces basically said: "Who is this guy? Is he in our class? Why don't I remember him?"
Mid-lesson, Hachiman raised his hand. "Hiratsuka-sensei, is something wrong?"
"Nothing."
Shizuka waved him off and continued. Internally, she was relieved. Hikigaya was his usual self, paying attention and showing no signs of the 'trauma' Akishin had feared.
Hachiman connected the dots to the incident in the Service Club. Did Chishima-sensei say something to her?
Ten minutes before the end of the period, Shizuka assigned some self-study time and called Hachiman into the hallway. She explained what Akishin had said and asked, "Hikigaya, what did Chishima-sensei do to you? Or say?"
I knew it. Hachiman hesitated, looking back at her worried eyes. "Chishima-sensei just wanted me to practice Kendo with him. He even gave me a shinai."
"Kendo?" Shizuka was taken aback. She hadn't expected that. "That's it?"
"That's it." Hachiman nodded.
Just as Akishin had predicted, Hachiman's mental resilience was high. He had already moved past the fear. It really had just been the 'aura.' It was mysterious and overwhelming in the moment, but it didn't linger.
"Chishima Akishin knows Kendo? I've never heard that."
"I think he's actually quite good. He has a small dojo at his house," Hachiman explained. He paused, then added, "Hiratsuka-sensei, Chishima-sensei has been very good to me. Even if you think his words aren't suited for someone my age, they don't bother me. I listen to them because they are true, but I'm not blindly following them. I have my own thoughts. He probably knows that, which is why he talks to me that way. You've noticed he doesn't really talk to other students, right? So please, don't blame him. Both you and Chishima-sensei are good teachers in my book."
Shizuka's face flushed slightly. No one had ever called her a 'good teacher' to her face like that. She almost reached for a cigarette before remembering where she was.
Hachiman's gaze softened. If Shizuka-sensei and Chishima-sensei ended up together, it wouldn't be a bad idea, considering Sensei's age...
"Brat!" Shizuka laughed, giving him a playful flick on the forehead. "Don't think your teacher is so narrow-minded. That guy, Chishima Akishin... he's not a simple person. But you're right, he is a good teacher."
It seems Hiratsuka-sensei knows more about Chishima-sensei than she's letting on, Hachiman thought as he thanked her and went back inside.
Shizuka walked to the window, staring out at the students in PE on the field below, waiting for the bell.
Hikigaya Hachiman was a boy of many secrets.
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