Labcoats and Loners

Fools Bring Flowers Twice

Chapter 3: Fools Bring Flowers Twice.

-x-x-x-

Hiratsuka Shizuka was a very perceptive woman and she had made it a habit of repeating this to herself whenever she noticed small changes in just about anyone who she had to deal with on a regular basis, which mostly and unfortunately meant her students.

As a teacher she noticed changes in her students, she could practically read their emotions on their faces by studying their eyes and body language. Her students were simple minded people, bothered about simple things, mostly their homework, their crushes, their idle gossips and of course, their animated chitchat about falling in love and all the happiness associated with being in a relationship.

However one of her students, a certain Hikigaya Hachiman continued to respect his so called 'status quo'. He was an exception to everything and everyone, an outcast, a loner. He never mingled, he never joined in on any conversation and he kept his thoughts mostly to himself. Unless he was handling a request for the service club, his interactions were mostly limited only to his club mates and her. She was the advisor of this service club and even though Yukinoshita Yukino was the president, it was Hikigaya Hachiman who handled most requests, solved all problems and always ended up hurting himself in some manner or form while never understanding the consequences of his actions.

But now she was here, she was his teacher and through this tutoring session she was willing to help him learn and understand more than just high school level mathematics and science.

Of course this was a one way street. It was her responsibility to teach him and it was his task to soak in all her knowledge and use them whichever way he wants. She never considered learning something from him and she often wondered whether she was wrong, because everyone has something to learn and everyone has something to teach.

However like her student she refused to learn.

-x-x-x-

Hikigaya Hachiman came to her home for their next tutoring session like he promised.

He was neither late nor early, neither gloomy nor enthusiastic.

In short, he was himself, like she had come to expect.

He sat on a sofa, kept his school bag on her coffee table and she took a chair, facing him and thus began their usual interactions where both of them took on their respective roles and participated in a banal bubble of redundant routine.

However, Hiratsuka Shizuka was a perceptive woman and his teacher. Hence, she easily spotted subtle changes and alterations in his body language, but like a good teacher she kept her thoughts to herself.

Or at least until she was done making him study some basic geometry.

Truly, Hikigaya Hachiman was horrible in mathematics, but today he seemed a little more distracted than usual.

"Pay more attention!"

"Ah, sorry sensei."

She noticed him, his eyes especially and saw him, looking at those lilies of her kept in a vase on top of the coffee table. His school bag was lying right beside it.

"You want to take something out of your bag Hikigaya?"

"Not at all sensei. What made you say that?"

She decided against pursuing it any further.

"Never mind. Focus on your studies."

"Gladly sensei."

But after a couple more minutes Hiratsuka Shizuka lost her patience because Hikigaya Hachiman kept losing his attention and his eyes would always wander over to his schoolbag. She had already asked him whether he had something in it, and he had already given his reply, saying he did not, but clearly he was lying. She reached over and closed his text book with an ominous snap of finality and after receiving a heated look from her purple eyes, Hikigaya Hachiman understood that this was his time to plead guilty. His throat felt dry and he gulped.