DISCLAIMER: Me own no bread, me own no bun, me no own Saiyuki, and that's no fun ;)
If the flashback sounds sort of funny, it's because I ended up writing the whole thing in Japanese for some reason.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
"Ishida-sensei said you wanted to see me, Cho-sensei," came a small and muffled voice at the door. Cho Gonou looked up and adjusted his glasses. A small, slight young boy with dark bangs hanging over his face was standing at the doorway, looking extremely apprehensive.
"As a matter of fact, Tei-chan, I did. Please come in, and shut the door behind you. What you have to say in your defence shouldn't be influenced by anyone else."
Shima Nittei felt a sudden surge of respect for his Year 2 Japanese Language teacher, and closed the door soundly. As an added precaution, he locked it when he thought Gonou wasn't looking.
"And now...will those students peeking in at the windows please go home?" he addressed the empty air. "If anything requires your attention, you'll know tomorrow. Or perhaps somebody would like to do some extra homework by transcribing this conversation?"
The shadowy shapes at the windows fled instantly.
Gonou turned to Nittei and beamed. "Works every time. Now sit down, Tei-chan. I suppose you know this is about something quite serious." Nittei nodded mutely and drew up a chair, sitting across Gonou at his table.
"Ishida-sensei tells me," said Gonou as he continued to mark kana-writing exercises, "that last week you took Chiyo-chan's hair ribbon and tossed it over the school fence into the monsoon drain. Three days ago, you got into a fight with some 6th. year seniors--" Nittei's gaze flitted anxiously to the still-crusty scab upon the back of one arm--"and today, well...today, this."
Gonou patted the pile of exercises. They were damp and smelled a little of drainwater. He put down his pen, looked straight at the boy and continued, "They sent you to see me because they think I can get the truth out of you. Well, I can't say I'm going to try. Will you answer all my questions truthfully, Tei-chan? There might be more trouble if you don't, I'm afraid."
Nittei nodded. It wasn't like things could get worse, he thought sullenly.
"Hai."
"All right then." Gonou picked up his pen again, marked a few more exercises as he thought of how to phrase his enquiries, then looked up and smiled at a surprised Nittei.
"Tei-chan, do you like apples?"
Taken aback by this unexpected question, the boy nodded nevertheless. "Yup! I love them!"
"Would you like one?"
Nittei hesitated slightly, then nodded shyly. "That would be kinda nice."
Gonou reached into a plastic bag near the bottom of the table and brought out a shiny, ripe red apple, handing it to Nittei. "Here you go."
"Thank you sensei," Nittei smiled and bit into the apple, feeling its crisp flesh give way under eager teeth and the juices run down his throat.
"Actually, Nittei, I like apples myself. What sort of apples do you go for, then? The red ones? Perhaps you prefer the green ones, or even the yellow ones?"
"Yellow apples? Do they HAVE those?" Nittei paused mid-bite.
"Yes, they do. I've tasted one before. They're wonderfully sweet and very delicious, you know! And they're a wonderful golden colour you would never have thought to be so beautiful. In fact, they're something like your eyes, Tei-chan. I'm sure you think quite highly of them."
"I do NOT!" Nittei suddenly snapped, looking up. The hair fell away somewhat from his face, flashing wide (and currently rather angry) eyes a warm colour somewhere between honey and sunshine. "I hate them! I hate them, I hate them, I hate them! I used to think they were such a pretty colour until I came here this year, but now I wish I didn't have no eyes rather than get teased all day because of them!" If apples had been any softer, Nittei would have crushed his into applesauce by now.
"It's your eyes, is it? In any case, don't hide them under your bangs all the time. You're straining them that way, and then you'll have to wear glasses like me." Slowly, Nittei pushed his hair away from his face, to Cho-sensei's approval. "Now, what do they say when they tease you?"
"Sensei can I ask you something?" he asked suddenly, releasing the death grip on the half-eaten apple.
"Sure. What is it?"
"What's a heretic?"
"A heretic?" Gonou seemed quite surprised.
"Un. They call me that to tease me, 'Tei-chan the golden-eyed heretic'. I told Chiyo-chan I'd take her ribbon if she didn't stop calling me that, 'cause I like her, sorta, but she didn't listen. And then she went and ratted on me." He pouted, fiercely bit off another chunk from the apple and chewed furiously.
"I see." Gonou seemed to be deep in thought and appeared quite troubled. Poor boy didn't even know what it was, and here he was being called by the foul term. Likely the children didn't quite know its implications either--probably picked the word up from their parents. Well, he'd have a good talk with his classes later but for now, he had to deal with Nittei.
"I'm sick of being called that, sensei. What's a heretic?"
"It's not something that you should call someone at ALL, Tei-chan."
"It's a bad word?"
"Most definitely."
"Worse than 'baka'?"
"Much worse."
"Well what's it MEAN?"
Gonou paused, trying to find words simple enough and coming up short. "It's kinda difficult to explain, Tei-chan. It's like saying you're not human."
"But I AM human! One hundred percent!" Nittei waved his arms in the air, almost sending the apple flying off with the centrifugal force.
"Tei-chan, calm down! I didn't say you weren't. It's just a lot of people believe that golden eyes like yours are the sign of a heretic. They are shunned much like youkai are, even in these days."
Nittei's hands fell to his sides. "Nande da yo...?" (Why...?)
"Tei-chan..."
"Why do they tease me just because my eyes are this stupid gold colour? It's not like I ASKED for 'em! I didn't DO anything to the others! The seniors shoved me over, so I fought back! Is that wrong? And the papers, everybody was chanting 'Tei-chan wa itan' (Tei-chan's a heretic) so I got all freaked and dropped the papers into the drain! It wasn't on purpose, sensei! Honest! I tried to tell them that but they kept on chanting..." Nittei's knuckles were turning white as he clenched his fists. Tears were threatening to spill from his eyes.
"I never knew. Poor Nittei-kun." Gonou leant across the table and ruffled the boy's hair gently. The boy recoiled like the teacher's hand was a burning coal and let out one loud sob.
"Don't call me POOR!" shouted Nittei at the top of his lungs, and started sobbing in earnest. "I'm not some baby or a small kid! I'm not asking for friends, I'm not asking that they like me...I just want them to stop teasing! Why can't they treat me like everyone else? I just want them to LEAVE--ME--ALONE!"
_I think we all have to wait a long time to experience that, Tei-chan,_ Gonou thought sadly. "You don't wish for friends, Tei-chan? Why not? They can make the others' teasing much easier to bear."
"I don't need them," Nittei explained hotly between sobs. The apple was going somewhat brown. "Not really. I've been alone all my life, y'know, sensei. The other kids at the orphanage don't want to come close to me either thanks to these." He waved his hand in front of his face.
"Tei-chan...nobody, and I mean NOBODY should ever be alone in this world, for any reason. I ought to know. I was alone for a long time before I met you children."
"Huh?" Nittei nibbled at the apple again in a sort of nervous gesture.
"I'm an orphan too, you know."
"You ARE?"
"Yes, although I lost my parents when I was a little younger than you. Since those days, and until I met Kanan-san when I first came here, I had no friends and kept a lot to myself. I know how hard it is, I know how painful it is. That's why there is no way I can ever let somebody else know the loneliness I felt when I was a boy."
"Sensei..."
Gonou blinked and laughed nervously. "Ah, it's a bit too much for one young boy to absorb in one day. Well, go ahead and eat your apple, and I'll talk about other things. How does that sound?"
Nittei sniffled and smiled a watery smile. "It sounds just great."
So Gonou went on talking, and counselled Nittei to be patient for the time being. He would talk to the others and see whether that helped. And Nittei listened, chewing on his apple, nodding slowly and interjecting at certain points which he felt compelled to speak on.
"Never hate someone just because of their circumstances, Nittei," Gonou added. "Whether they have golden eyes, crimson eyes, human or demon, rich or poor, healthy or crippled, it's just what we are and everyone has a right to be accepted for that." He stopped the serious talk and switched topics. "Your most hated trait could be what others love about you. Someday those hawksgold eyes may snag you a pretty girl, like I got Kanan."
"Ewww, gross."
"You'll figure it out someday. How was the apple?"
Nittei smiled a watery but definitely grateful smile. "The best one I ever had, sensei. Thank you."
"You're welcome. Just one more thing?"
"Yeah?"
"If you have no friends, then please, from now on, consider me as your first. I should be honoured if you did."
Nittei nodded, and almost forgot he had to unlock the door before he left.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
15 years later...
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
He was a man in his early thirties, thick, straight hair ruffled by the wind as he walked through the street market. He was dressed in a loose black shirt with a green jacket thrown over it and loose khaki pants with suede loafers to finish the look. A monocle was perched on his nose, covering his right eye, and his fringe swept low over his eyebrows. Quite handsome, in an intellectual way, with those viridian eyes and dark hair.
His arms were wrapped around two or three bags of shopping, and he couldn't see in front of himself very well. It was no surprise, then, that he collided into the youth with the raven hair walking in the opposite direction. Both fell over, and groceries tumbled all over the road.
"Oh nuts, I'm so sorry, mister, I should have looked where I was going," the younger man apologised profusely, dusting himself and the green-eyed brunette off. "Here, let me help you pick up those oranges," he added, gathering them up from the road and shoving them back in an empty bag.
It was then their eyes met. Jade ran smack-bang into gold.
_Goku?_
"Sensei!" exclaimed the young man suddenly, a smile breaking over his face. "You're Cho Gonou, aren't you, mister? Don't you remember me? I heard you lived round here."
It had been a long time since our subject had been called that. "I'm afraid not, although your face seems most familiar..."
"It's me, Cho-sensei! Shima Nittei! I was one of the orphans you used to teach fifteen years ago! Don't you remember? The one who always gave you trouble in class?" The youth's eyes shone bright with excitement.
Slowly realisation dawned on Cho Hakkai. "Tei-chan?! But why, you're all grown up!" And he had. He'd increased about three feet in height and 60 kilograms in weight, cutting a tall, strapping figure. The fringe that used to flop over his eyes, giving him that hang-dog expression, was now slightly shorter and neater, and his voice was clear and pleasant.
"It's been fifteen years, sensei! I should hope so! Just moved here, in fact. You, you're looking well yourself. I don't see any change except that you cut your hair. And what's with the monocle?"
"A bit of an eye problem. Too much squinting through my fringe." He smiled at his joke. "I remember now. Shima Nittei, never in any teacher's good books, always on the run from something or someone. Scrappy little fella, you were."
"Yeah, that was about the stuff of things back then. But things all came to a head fifteen years ago, na? I think it was around this time of year, too."
"They did?"
"You don't remember? Cho-sensei..."
"Please, I gave up being a teacher fifteen years ago. Call me Hakkai."
"Very well. Hakkai? I thought your name was Cho Gonou?"
"I changed my name. Long story, though."
"Long story, huh? Well, all right. I'll try and refresh your memory." He finished repacking Hakkai's groceries and rearranged them delicately in his former teacher's arms. "Remember that 15 years ago, you called me in and put things right for me over one beautiful scarlet apple. You were the only teacher who trusted the words of a so-called 'heretic', and the only one who managed to make me spit out the truth of things. Maybe that was because your trust was worth more to me than anything else. It may not have struck you as much, sensei...Hakkai-san, but it meant a lot to a young boy who hated his golden eyes. And you're right--these golden eyes did help me snag a woman."
"Let me guess. Juunohara Chiyoko?"
"How'd you know it was Chiyo-chan?"
"A wild guess." Hakkai tried not to smile too mischievously.
"Riiiight. How have you been? It's been almost fifteen years since I last saw you. Last I remember, you didn't come to school and everyone was saying that something happened to Kanan-san and you took leave to take care of things. How is she now? Do you have any kids?"
Hakkai shook his head. "Kanan-san left me many long years ago, Tei-chan."
"Kanan-san what?!"
"Passed away. I was there when it happened." He did not elaborate further on the circumstances in which she had died.
"Oh merciful Buddha. That's awful, Hakkai-san! I'm so sorry."
"It's all right. You couldn't have known."
"No no, NOT all right. Her death must have changed so many things for you." Nittei looked sad, thinking of what would happen if his own Chiyo-chan was no longer with him.
"Ee. It did, in quite a few ways."
"Listen, sensei, you take these. I think I owe you a lot for that one lecture you gave me." He shoved another bag into Hakkai's arms, although he protested mightily.
"Tei-chan I couldn't possibly..."
"Yes you could. Just TAKE them. And I'll help you carry these groceries back. Where headed?"
"Thank you. Just those houses over there."
Nittei shifted his grasp on the two bags and started walking. He found out during the course of the following conversation that Cho-sensei lived there with a friend. Occasionally two others would visit for a beer and smoke ("You drink and smoke?!" "No, of course not." "Phew!"), but for the most part they were left alone.
"Well, maybe I'll drop by sometime, then. I just moved here myself. Take care of yourself, Hakkai-san. It's been great catching up with you. Nice ear piercings, by the way. They suit you, somehow."
Hakkai smiled ruefully. "These aren't piercings, Nittei-kun."
"Oh?" Nittei paused, as if he was thinking of something rather weighty. "Y'know, it's funny, sensei," he said with a weak smile. "About a month or two after you left, there was this rumour that went round the school. Something about you becoming a y..."
_Never hate someone just because of their circumstances, Nittei. Whether they have golden eyes, crimson eyes, human or demon..._
"Rumour?"
"Nah. Nothing. It was a stupid rumour I never gave a hoot about anyway. I'd better go. See you."
"Mm..."
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
Sha Gojyo helped his housemate unpack the groceries, pocketing the Hi-lites with a cheerful 'Much obliged, Hakkai'. It was then he happened upon the package Nittei had given his former teacher.
"Hey, Hakkai, what's this?"
"I'm not very sure myself. How about we open it?" Hakkai got a pair of scissors out and snipped away the twine holding it. As the paper fell away, a shower of apples rolled all over the table. A letter lay silent in the middle of the stack.
Dear Cho-sensei,
I heard you were staying here. I just moved in with my wife Chiyoko, and I bought these today for you. I hope I can find you before they go bad! Do you still like apples? I tried one before I paid for them--they're delicious.
I was, and always will be infinitely proud to consider Cho-sensei as one of my friends.
Happy Teacher's Day.
Shima Nittei
Gojyo looked down at the table as if he didn't quite know what to make of things. "What are these?" he questioned, one crimson eyebrow raised delicately.
Hakkai couldn't help but smile to himself, amused. _Arigatou, Tei-chan..._
"Tell me, Gojyo, have you ever eaten golden apples?" he asked, looking down at the fruit coloured somewhere between sunshine and honey.
-oshimai-
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
If the flashback sounds sort of funny, it's because I ended up writing the whole thing in Japanese for some reason.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
"Ishida-sensei said you wanted to see me, Cho-sensei," came a small and muffled voice at the door. Cho Gonou looked up and adjusted his glasses. A small, slight young boy with dark bangs hanging over his face was standing at the doorway, looking extremely apprehensive.
"As a matter of fact, Tei-chan, I did. Please come in, and shut the door behind you. What you have to say in your defence shouldn't be influenced by anyone else."
Shima Nittei felt a sudden surge of respect for his Year 2 Japanese Language teacher, and closed the door soundly. As an added precaution, he locked it when he thought Gonou wasn't looking.
"And now...will those students peeking in at the windows please go home?" he addressed the empty air. "If anything requires your attention, you'll know tomorrow. Or perhaps somebody would like to do some extra homework by transcribing this conversation?"
The shadowy shapes at the windows fled instantly.
Gonou turned to Nittei and beamed. "Works every time. Now sit down, Tei-chan. I suppose you know this is about something quite serious." Nittei nodded mutely and drew up a chair, sitting across Gonou at his table.
"Ishida-sensei tells me," said Gonou as he continued to mark kana-writing exercises, "that last week you took Chiyo-chan's hair ribbon and tossed it over the school fence into the monsoon drain. Three days ago, you got into a fight with some 6th. year seniors--" Nittei's gaze flitted anxiously to the still-crusty scab upon the back of one arm--"and today, well...today, this."
Gonou patted the pile of exercises. They were damp and smelled a little of drainwater. He put down his pen, looked straight at the boy and continued, "They sent you to see me because they think I can get the truth out of you. Well, I can't say I'm going to try. Will you answer all my questions truthfully, Tei-chan? There might be more trouble if you don't, I'm afraid."
Nittei nodded. It wasn't like things could get worse, he thought sullenly.
"Hai."
"All right then." Gonou picked up his pen again, marked a few more exercises as he thought of how to phrase his enquiries, then looked up and smiled at a surprised Nittei.
"Tei-chan, do you like apples?"
Taken aback by this unexpected question, the boy nodded nevertheless. "Yup! I love them!"
"Would you like one?"
Nittei hesitated slightly, then nodded shyly. "That would be kinda nice."
Gonou reached into a plastic bag near the bottom of the table and brought out a shiny, ripe red apple, handing it to Nittei. "Here you go."
"Thank you sensei," Nittei smiled and bit into the apple, feeling its crisp flesh give way under eager teeth and the juices run down his throat.
"Actually, Nittei, I like apples myself. What sort of apples do you go for, then? The red ones? Perhaps you prefer the green ones, or even the yellow ones?"
"Yellow apples? Do they HAVE those?" Nittei paused mid-bite.
"Yes, they do. I've tasted one before. They're wonderfully sweet and very delicious, you know! And they're a wonderful golden colour you would never have thought to be so beautiful. In fact, they're something like your eyes, Tei-chan. I'm sure you think quite highly of them."
"I do NOT!" Nittei suddenly snapped, looking up. The hair fell away somewhat from his face, flashing wide (and currently rather angry) eyes a warm colour somewhere between honey and sunshine. "I hate them! I hate them, I hate them, I hate them! I used to think they were such a pretty colour until I came here this year, but now I wish I didn't have no eyes rather than get teased all day because of them!" If apples had been any softer, Nittei would have crushed his into applesauce by now.
"It's your eyes, is it? In any case, don't hide them under your bangs all the time. You're straining them that way, and then you'll have to wear glasses like me." Slowly, Nittei pushed his hair away from his face, to Cho-sensei's approval. "Now, what do they say when they tease you?"
"Sensei can I ask you something?" he asked suddenly, releasing the death grip on the half-eaten apple.
"Sure. What is it?"
"What's a heretic?"
"A heretic?" Gonou seemed quite surprised.
"Un. They call me that to tease me, 'Tei-chan the golden-eyed heretic'. I told Chiyo-chan I'd take her ribbon if she didn't stop calling me that, 'cause I like her, sorta, but she didn't listen. And then she went and ratted on me." He pouted, fiercely bit off another chunk from the apple and chewed furiously.
"I see." Gonou seemed to be deep in thought and appeared quite troubled. Poor boy didn't even know what it was, and here he was being called by the foul term. Likely the children didn't quite know its implications either--probably picked the word up from their parents. Well, he'd have a good talk with his classes later but for now, he had to deal with Nittei.
"I'm sick of being called that, sensei. What's a heretic?"
"It's not something that you should call someone at ALL, Tei-chan."
"It's a bad word?"
"Most definitely."
"Worse than 'baka'?"
"Much worse."
"Well what's it MEAN?"
Gonou paused, trying to find words simple enough and coming up short. "It's kinda difficult to explain, Tei-chan. It's like saying you're not human."
"But I AM human! One hundred percent!" Nittei waved his arms in the air, almost sending the apple flying off with the centrifugal force.
"Tei-chan, calm down! I didn't say you weren't. It's just a lot of people believe that golden eyes like yours are the sign of a heretic. They are shunned much like youkai are, even in these days."
Nittei's hands fell to his sides. "Nande da yo...?" (Why...?)
"Tei-chan..."
"Why do they tease me just because my eyes are this stupid gold colour? It's not like I ASKED for 'em! I didn't DO anything to the others! The seniors shoved me over, so I fought back! Is that wrong? And the papers, everybody was chanting 'Tei-chan wa itan' (Tei-chan's a heretic) so I got all freaked and dropped the papers into the drain! It wasn't on purpose, sensei! Honest! I tried to tell them that but they kept on chanting..." Nittei's knuckles were turning white as he clenched his fists. Tears were threatening to spill from his eyes.
"I never knew. Poor Nittei-kun." Gonou leant across the table and ruffled the boy's hair gently. The boy recoiled like the teacher's hand was a burning coal and let out one loud sob.
"Don't call me POOR!" shouted Nittei at the top of his lungs, and started sobbing in earnest. "I'm not some baby or a small kid! I'm not asking for friends, I'm not asking that they like me...I just want them to stop teasing! Why can't they treat me like everyone else? I just want them to LEAVE--ME--ALONE!"
_I think we all have to wait a long time to experience that, Tei-chan,_ Gonou thought sadly. "You don't wish for friends, Tei-chan? Why not? They can make the others' teasing much easier to bear."
"I don't need them," Nittei explained hotly between sobs. The apple was going somewhat brown. "Not really. I've been alone all my life, y'know, sensei. The other kids at the orphanage don't want to come close to me either thanks to these." He waved his hand in front of his face.
"Tei-chan...nobody, and I mean NOBODY should ever be alone in this world, for any reason. I ought to know. I was alone for a long time before I met you children."
"Huh?" Nittei nibbled at the apple again in a sort of nervous gesture.
"I'm an orphan too, you know."
"You ARE?"
"Yes, although I lost my parents when I was a little younger than you. Since those days, and until I met Kanan-san when I first came here, I had no friends and kept a lot to myself. I know how hard it is, I know how painful it is. That's why there is no way I can ever let somebody else know the loneliness I felt when I was a boy."
"Sensei..."
Gonou blinked and laughed nervously. "Ah, it's a bit too much for one young boy to absorb in one day. Well, go ahead and eat your apple, and I'll talk about other things. How does that sound?"
Nittei sniffled and smiled a watery smile. "It sounds just great."
So Gonou went on talking, and counselled Nittei to be patient for the time being. He would talk to the others and see whether that helped. And Nittei listened, chewing on his apple, nodding slowly and interjecting at certain points which he felt compelled to speak on.
"Never hate someone just because of their circumstances, Nittei," Gonou added. "Whether they have golden eyes, crimson eyes, human or demon, rich or poor, healthy or crippled, it's just what we are and everyone has a right to be accepted for that." He stopped the serious talk and switched topics. "Your most hated trait could be what others love about you. Someday those hawksgold eyes may snag you a pretty girl, like I got Kanan."
"Ewww, gross."
"You'll figure it out someday. How was the apple?"
Nittei smiled a watery but definitely grateful smile. "The best one I ever had, sensei. Thank you."
"You're welcome. Just one more thing?"
"Yeah?"
"If you have no friends, then please, from now on, consider me as your first. I should be honoured if you did."
Nittei nodded, and almost forgot he had to unlock the door before he left.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
15 years later...
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
He was a man in his early thirties, thick, straight hair ruffled by the wind as he walked through the street market. He was dressed in a loose black shirt with a green jacket thrown over it and loose khaki pants with suede loafers to finish the look. A monocle was perched on his nose, covering his right eye, and his fringe swept low over his eyebrows. Quite handsome, in an intellectual way, with those viridian eyes and dark hair.
His arms were wrapped around two or three bags of shopping, and he couldn't see in front of himself very well. It was no surprise, then, that he collided into the youth with the raven hair walking in the opposite direction. Both fell over, and groceries tumbled all over the road.
"Oh nuts, I'm so sorry, mister, I should have looked where I was going," the younger man apologised profusely, dusting himself and the green-eyed brunette off. "Here, let me help you pick up those oranges," he added, gathering them up from the road and shoving them back in an empty bag.
It was then their eyes met. Jade ran smack-bang into gold.
_Goku?_
"Sensei!" exclaimed the young man suddenly, a smile breaking over his face. "You're Cho Gonou, aren't you, mister? Don't you remember me? I heard you lived round here."
It had been a long time since our subject had been called that. "I'm afraid not, although your face seems most familiar..."
"It's me, Cho-sensei! Shima Nittei! I was one of the orphans you used to teach fifteen years ago! Don't you remember? The one who always gave you trouble in class?" The youth's eyes shone bright with excitement.
Slowly realisation dawned on Cho Hakkai. "Tei-chan?! But why, you're all grown up!" And he had. He'd increased about three feet in height and 60 kilograms in weight, cutting a tall, strapping figure. The fringe that used to flop over his eyes, giving him that hang-dog expression, was now slightly shorter and neater, and his voice was clear and pleasant.
"It's been fifteen years, sensei! I should hope so! Just moved here, in fact. You, you're looking well yourself. I don't see any change except that you cut your hair. And what's with the monocle?"
"A bit of an eye problem. Too much squinting through my fringe." He smiled at his joke. "I remember now. Shima Nittei, never in any teacher's good books, always on the run from something or someone. Scrappy little fella, you were."
"Yeah, that was about the stuff of things back then. But things all came to a head fifteen years ago, na? I think it was around this time of year, too."
"They did?"
"You don't remember? Cho-sensei..."
"Please, I gave up being a teacher fifteen years ago. Call me Hakkai."
"Very well. Hakkai? I thought your name was Cho Gonou?"
"I changed my name. Long story, though."
"Long story, huh? Well, all right. I'll try and refresh your memory." He finished repacking Hakkai's groceries and rearranged them delicately in his former teacher's arms. "Remember that 15 years ago, you called me in and put things right for me over one beautiful scarlet apple. You were the only teacher who trusted the words of a so-called 'heretic', and the only one who managed to make me spit out the truth of things. Maybe that was because your trust was worth more to me than anything else. It may not have struck you as much, sensei...Hakkai-san, but it meant a lot to a young boy who hated his golden eyes. And you're right--these golden eyes did help me snag a woman."
"Let me guess. Juunohara Chiyoko?"
"How'd you know it was Chiyo-chan?"
"A wild guess." Hakkai tried not to smile too mischievously.
"Riiiight. How have you been? It's been almost fifteen years since I last saw you. Last I remember, you didn't come to school and everyone was saying that something happened to Kanan-san and you took leave to take care of things. How is she now? Do you have any kids?"
Hakkai shook his head. "Kanan-san left me many long years ago, Tei-chan."
"Kanan-san what?!"
"Passed away. I was there when it happened." He did not elaborate further on the circumstances in which she had died.
"Oh merciful Buddha. That's awful, Hakkai-san! I'm so sorry."
"It's all right. You couldn't have known."
"No no, NOT all right. Her death must have changed so many things for you." Nittei looked sad, thinking of what would happen if his own Chiyo-chan was no longer with him.
"Ee. It did, in quite a few ways."
"Listen, sensei, you take these. I think I owe you a lot for that one lecture you gave me." He shoved another bag into Hakkai's arms, although he protested mightily.
"Tei-chan I couldn't possibly..."
"Yes you could. Just TAKE them. And I'll help you carry these groceries back. Where headed?"
"Thank you. Just those houses over there."
Nittei shifted his grasp on the two bags and started walking. He found out during the course of the following conversation that Cho-sensei lived there with a friend. Occasionally two others would visit for a beer and smoke ("You drink and smoke?!" "No, of course not." "Phew!"), but for the most part they were left alone.
"Well, maybe I'll drop by sometime, then. I just moved here myself. Take care of yourself, Hakkai-san. It's been great catching up with you. Nice ear piercings, by the way. They suit you, somehow."
Hakkai smiled ruefully. "These aren't piercings, Nittei-kun."
"Oh?" Nittei paused, as if he was thinking of something rather weighty. "Y'know, it's funny, sensei," he said with a weak smile. "About a month or two after you left, there was this rumour that went round the school. Something about you becoming a y..."
_Never hate someone just because of their circumstances, Nittei. Whether they have golden eyes, crimson eyes, human or demon..._
"Rumour?"
"Nah. Nothing. It was a stupid rumour I never gave a hoot about anyway. I'd better go. See you."
"Mm..."
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
Sha Gojyo helped his housemate unpack the groceries, pocketing the Hi-lites with a cheerful 'Much obliged, Hakkai'. It was then he happened upon the package Nittei had given his former teacher.
"Hey, Hakkai, what's this?"
"I'm not very sure myself. How about we open it?" Hakkai got a pair of scissors out and snipped away the twine holding it. As the paper fell away, a shower of apples rolled all over the table. A letter lay silent in the middle of the stack.
Dear Cho-sensei,
I heard you were staying here. I just moved in with my wife Chiyoko, and I bought these today for you. I hope I can find you before they go bad! Do you still like apples? I tried one before I paid for them--they're delicious.
I was, and always will be infinitely proud to consider Cho-sensei as one of my friends.
Happy Teacher's Day.
Shima Nittei
Gojyo looked down at the table as if he didn't quite know what to make of things. "What are these?" he questioned, one crimson eyebrow raised delicately.
Hakkai couldn't help but smile to himself, amused. _Arigatou, Tei-chan..._
"Tell me, Gojyo, have you ever eaten golden apples?" he asked, looking down at the fruit coloured somewhere between sunshine and honey.
-oshimai-
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~