Soukoku One-Shots

Fools and Love and Fools in Love

Alternate Universe

"Alright, that's all for today. I'll see you all on Thursday."

The sound of rustling papers and closing laptops echoed through the lecture hall as the students packed up while the professor stood behind the podium, rifling through his messenger bag and pulling out a stack of papers.

Higuchi, from where she sat near the front of the classroom, could hear gaggles of students gushing about him as they passed.

Professor Nakahara Chuuya was something of a celebrity at Bungo University. He was a bit of a mystery to everyone since he was notoriously secretive about his personal life, but students knew at least two things about him for certain.

Number one: at just twenty-two years old, Chuuya was one of the most important physicists alive today, receiving critical acclaim for his groundbreaking research on gravity as well as an entire slew of awards. He was a thinker, constantly asking questions that no one else bothered with. It was what made him such a brilliant scientist and a fantastic professor. Because of this, his classes were incredibly popular among the STEM students. Who wouldn't want to learn from a certified genius?

Number two: Nakahara Chuuya was beautiful.

There wasn't a single soul on campus who wasn't at least the tiniest bit in love with him. His mane of curly red hair was a rarity in a place like Yokohama—it demanded attention. His eyes were the stuff of legends, blue like the sky and sharp, too. Most students had trouble keeping eye contact with him because of it. He had lean muscle and a sluttier waist than any man should ever be allowed to have, and he was always impeccably dressed.

What more could a student ask for in a professor? He made the nightmare that is physics a digestible topic, and that is a feat unlike any other.

Higuchi Ichiyou, a suffering STEM student herself, has taken multiple classes from Chuuya during the past two years and swore by his teaching.

"I hate physics!" she had exclaimed one afternoon during lunch, just months after arriving at Bungo University. "But he makes it fun. Physics. It's a miracle, I swear."

"You've got a point, actually," Tachihara had replied with a mouth full of food. "It's weird."

Akutagawa bobbed his head and muttered: "He's unusually calm for a physicist."

"I dunno, I've seen him chew out a kid or two and it was not pretty." Higuchi shuddered. "And he's always yelling at Dazai, too, so there's that."

Not that she could blame him. Her required Literature classes were the worst parts of her day.

Gin had stayed silent throughout this particular conversation, but they all knew that she held a special fondness for Chuuya just like the rest of them. It wasn't common for educators to take time for the quieter students, but that changed in his classroom.

In her Mechanisms of Gravity class, Higuchi sat near the front because it was always too damn dark to see properly in the room, so it took her a little while to make it out of the classroom. She was just pulling all her things together when someone sauntered into the classroom, and half the students who were still in class looked up to see none other than Dazai Osamu hanging all over Chuuya's desk, trademark smirk on his face.

Alright, so perhaps there was a third thing the students at Bungo University knew about Chuuya.

He hated Dazai Osamu.

The Literature professor was no slouch himself, having published several successful books that had gained recognition around the world. His unique writing style, sharp nihilism balanced with a witty sense of humor, appealed to people across all genres.