Hiraeth

9

After you reached the college, you were greeted by a few of your students. Seeing their cheery selves, it managed to put you in a rather good mood. Something about seeing kids their age reminded you of your own teenage years.

You made way to the teacher's lounge to place your bag down before you got to work.

As soon as you got there, Byakuya's happy and wide brown eyes were the first thing that you saw, almost making you let out a scream, "I-Ishigami-san?!" His boisterous laugh was the next thing that your senses picked up.

God, why is this man like a child on a sugar rush?

You, along with everyone else in the lounge heaved a tired sigh as you made way to your desk. As you passed by everyone else, you sent a quiet nod to everyone, just how they preferred it (it took you a month to figure it out). No one here had the energy to greet each other first thing in the morning.

Well, except for maybe, Byakuya.

"Good morning, [Last Name]-san!" The said man's cheery voice rang at your side, making you turn towards him with a calm smile, "Good morning, Ishigami-san."

"Had a good night's sleep?" You smiled politely along with a nod and his grin grew brighter. He nodded to himself with a grin and walked off to chat with the Japanese Literature teacher. Ever since your first day here, you noted that Ishigami got along with everyone, not just you.

He was cheerful and peppy. And he also had a kind looking face, so it was easier to get along with him. But you were naturally quiet, and found it hard to actually keep up with him ever since that one conversation you had with him on your first day.

So the most interactions you would have with him were when he would greet you in the morning or when he would bid you goodbye before leaving for the day. It wasn't as if you didn't like him.

But he was just too energetic for you to handle.

Throughout your life, you only had friends like Xeno and Stanley who were even quieter than you were, and so you were the chatterbox among them. But with someone so high on energy, it was honestly difficult for you to even keep up.

Even [Sister Name] all charged up wasn't this energetic.

And so, as much as it saddened Byakuya, you both were still practically just acquaintances. Not even friends, let alone good friends like he had hoped for.

Meanwhile, you thanked God that you only had three classes in your schedule today. Most of your work was before lunch break.

The only other thing that you had after lunch was a single class. After that, your schedule was mostly free, except for scoring the exams and compiling the results of the students.

The moment you were done with the day, you still had some time. So you decided to go to the library for some material that you were gathering.

But apparently, you miscalculated the time it took you to scour the library, because by the time you had noticed, it was already way past your schedule. With a swift look at your watch, you gathered your belongings and made your way to the teacher's lounge.

Since the first monthly exams had just finished, all of the teachers were busy marking the tests and quizzes. And you were no different.

As you reached the lounge, you saw most of the teachers still working.

Without much of a greeting, you entered and sat down at your desk. Grabbing one of papers from the large pile, you opened the reference book with another hand.

"Become a teacher, I said... It'll be fun, I said..." You muttered to yourself in English, and continued to check the answers.

All of a sudden, you heard buzzing on your side that was quickly followed by a whisper.