Education: one of the most vital things required for a person to thrive in life. A basic human right. Sadly, some people were unfortunate enough to not even be granted this basic simple need. Whether it was due to the conditions they grew up in, making education an impossible aim, or those around them refusing to teach them, the point still stands that they were ill-fated to never receive an education. This meant, in order to survive in this world they had to teach themselves because they'd forever be stuck at square one if their knowledge never grew greater than that of a toddler's. Luckily, due to the circumstances they lived in, knowledge and skills may become easier to obtain since without them there'd be no way to survive; they would be forced to learn them quick in order to avoid more pain and suffering. However, self-teaching can only get a person so far because eventually they'd reach a roadblock. Along the way to discovery, they will reach a formula, a sentence, an idea that we won't be able to comprehend and would need someone to walk them through it- this is where a teacher is essential.
The life of a teacher is one filled with highs and lows. At times it can be incredibly rewarding but at other times can be seriously frustrating. The annoyance of a student not listening or not even trying to comprehend what's being taught, and don't even mention the stress of keeping a whole class of thirty in check, making sure there's no bullying and they don't end up killing each other. Hell, it can be a lot at times. However, none of that means anything when compared to that blissful feeling from seeing the smile that appears on a student's face when they figure out a problem or that rewarding kindness of bringing a student out of their shell, making them feel comfortable to ask for help. Those were the kind of feelings that drew Kunikida to teaching in the first place and were the reason he enjoyed going to work each day. He may no longer be a teacher but those days of teaching will always hold a special place in his heart. Kunikida loved his job at the agency and wouldn't trade it for the world, but it would be a lie to say he didn't miss teaching... however those days of teaching may not be completely behind him.
Just as Kunikida was walking into the office, he was greeted by quite the unusual sight. Atsushi was sat at his desk, his head deep in paperwork, but that wasn't the thing that was unusual, what was unusual was the perplexed expression on his face. Atsushi looked so lost like he was faced with an incomprehensible problem but when Kunikida peered over his friend's desk, all he saw was some basic accounting sums. This muddled him because it wasn't something out of the ordinary. Each member of the agency had to fill out accounting forms to conclude all spendings that were work related for cases, even Dazai had to do this whenever Kunikida managed to force him to, so this was something Atsushi had done plenty of times before, yet he was struggling as if this was the first time he ever had to do this. What confused Kunikida even more though, was that the problem Atsushi was struggling over was a basic sum- ok maybe not as simple as 1 + 1 but it was still only double digit multiplication- any fourth grader could do it. Suddenly a realisation hit Kunikida- any fourth grader with an education could do it. Atsushi was normally fine at maths but he usually had a calculator, and sitting clearly on his desk was Atsushi's broken calculator. Has Atsushi been solely relying on his calculator before today? Has Atsushi never been given a proper education? Would that awful headmaster have bothered teaching the kid as well as traumatising him?
"Atsushi, are you doing ok there?" Kunikida asked, walking over to help. Moving closer it became apparent how badly the boy was struggling, Atsushi was counting on his fingers and was writing tallies to keep count.
"Um... well.. it's fine... I'm..." Atsushi sheepishly replied, trying to hide he was struggling to do a simple calculation.
"Atsushi, I'm going to ask you an important question and i'm going to need you to answer honestly." Kunikida suddenly stated, a concerned tone lacing his voice, shaking Atsushi off guard. Kunikida waited a moment for Atsushi to respond, giving a quick nod, before continuing.
"Have you ever been given a decent education." Kunikida questioned and his heart strings pulled seeing the ashamed expression on his colleagues face.
"Well then i'm going to fix that. Starting tomorrow I will be giving you lessons in every class because there's no reason you should miss out on a basic education." Kunikida declared, much to Atsushi's surprise but he more than welcomed the announcement feeling a sense of excitement at finally getting to learn.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few weeks had passed since his first ever lesson and Atsushi was feeling much more confident in his abilities. He had improved so much already. It was amazing. If child Atsushi could see him now he'd be so astounded; he'd be like a completely different person, so much smarter than before. Yes, Atsushi was far from a mathematical genius or a literature poet but he'd come such a long way, to a point where he was starting to feel like he was on equal grounds to his peers when it came to education. It was a real exhilarating feeling and made him walk with a bit more pride in his step. He was getting better day by day. Even today, in his last class, he had finally mastered the skill of double digit multiplication; the problem that he'd gotten him in this situation in the first place and Atsushi couldn't be more grateful for everything Kunikida was doing for him. His coworker was being kind enough to teach him in every subject he would have studied in if had had the opportunity to go to school. It was more than Kunikida needed to do; he could've just tutored Atsushi on maths since he was formerly a maths teacher but Kunikida wasn't afraid to branch out to subjects he didn't have a degree in, even apologising to him for lack of knowledge compared to his field of expertise but it was much more knowledge than Atsushi so was quite appreciated. All this help and progress had certainly put the weretiger in a good mood; a thing that wasn't unnoticed.
At the moment, Atsushi was currently on a date with Akutagawa. Since it was a beautiful day, the pair decided to go on a walk by the port and then eventually have a picnic at a nearby park. It was a wonderful idea that the couple both loved. It wasn't overly complicated and was just sweet and peaceful. They could keep their minds off work and simply enjoy each other's company. A simple bliss that they have enjoyed ever since they started dating. In their tense fast paced lives, a moment like today where things can slow down and be calm, is always such a blessing. What made this date even more special for Akutagawa at least was how happy his boyfriend appeared to be. There was a warm, innocent smile radiating from his face and a happy jump in his step. Atsushi's left hand was lovingly intertwined with his and his right was gently swinging the picnic basket. It was so heartwarming to see his boyfriend so joyful and he couldn't wait to get their picnic spot so he could hound Atsushi for the cause of his newfound joy. For now, though, Akutagawa will simply enjoy basking in the love Atsushi was radiating.
Soon they reached the end of their walk and had arrived at their designated destination. A peaceful park close to the port, that was always quiet at this time of the day. They had come here a few times before, enough times to figure out their favourite spot so when they arrived, they were quite pleased to see it was free. The spot was quite a distance into the park but was nice and secluded so they got a lot of calm quiet but wasn't so deserted they didn't hear the happy giggles of others in the background. It was an area that had pretty daisies growing in the grass and had a great amount of shade provided by the big oak tree in the centre. It was just perfect so once they made it there, they wasted no time getting the picnic blanket out and lying down or in Atsushi's words- attempting to lye down but getting accosted by his mafioso boyfriend in the process and ultimately ending up relaxing, lying in Akutagawa's arms.
"Ok mister sunshine, want to fill in your scary and lovely boyfriend on what has got you in such a good mood." Akutagawa teased, genuinely curious on the cause of such a bright smile.
"Oh you noticed." Atsushi remarked, bringing his hand to his face, only now noticing how hard he was smiling, causing him to smile even more, "It's really nothing important, not worth detailing. Just something small that's made me proud of myself that's all."
"When it comes down to you, my dear Jinko, anything worthy of putting a smile on your face, whether small or big, is worth detailing so please elaborate." Akutagawa sang out, his words beautiful like poetry, whispering against Atsushi's ear, making the weretiger laugh as his boyfriend's breath tickled him.
"Ryu, stop!" Atsushi laughed, playfully hitting Akutagawa whilst the other pecked him with gentle kisses against the neck, "You're going to make me blush."
"Then tell me what's put you in such high spirits." Akutagawa joyfully insisted, pulling Atsushi closer against his chest as they rolled around the blanket, playfully kissing and tickling each other. After a few enjoyable moments, the pair finally came to a stop, sitting up in a comfortable silence so each other could catch their breath.
"Well you know how i grew up in an orphanage and well the headmaster there was a royal prick of a monster." Atsushi began, Akutagawa nodding along as he listened, "It's, of course, no surprise that the headmaster put the minimal effort in to give me a basic education, practically neglecting to teach me most thing but when Kunikida realised this, he took it upon himself to teach me. Over the past few weeks, alongside work, Kunikida has been giving me private lessons in all sorts of subjects as if i was really in school and well... I've been making a lot of progress where i feel i'm on equal footing with everyone now. Recently, like today, i finally mastered double digit multiplication, and i know that's nothing amazing but it was the first time i did that."
Atsushi had this proud smirk on his face as declared all these amazing feats he'd achieved in only a few weeks which would've been seen like only dreams weeks ago. It saddened Akutagawa to see his boyfriend put these achievements down due to being mediocre, even though they meant a great deal to the weretiger.
"I'm so proud of you Jinko. You've come a long way it seems and that's such a great thing and you seem so proud to. These aren't achievements to put down because, though they might be easy for others, they weren't for and yet you've done so much which is amazing." Akutagawa encouraged making Atsushi blush a little before quickly sitting up to kiss him.
"Thanks Ryu. It means a lot for you to say that." Atsushi commented, making sure Akutagawa knew how much his words meant to him.
"I think you're quite fortunate Atsushi and you should take advantage of the situation, being proud of your progress." Akutagawa explained, piquing Atsushi's attention, "I never had these opportunities growing up nor when i got into the Mafia. Dazai gave me the basic knowledge to complete missions and follow instructions but that was it and i've done my best to teach myself, occasionally asking Chuuya for help where he can offer it but this is as best as i can do."
"Oh, Ryu. How stupid of me. You grew up in the slums; education must've been harder to find for you than me. Why didn't i realise that? You know what, you should join our lessons for a day, our next one is in two days time, just come to the agency. I'm sure you'll enjoy it but it's up to you." Atsushi suggested, an excited gleam shone in his eyes at the prospect of a study partner.
"I'll consider it." Akutagawa promised, further exciting Atsushi.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nervous, fearful, worried: Akutagawa stood just outside the ADA's office door, contemplating on whether or not it was too late to turn back. It just so happened that he had a free day on the same day Atsushi said his next was so he thought there was no harm dropping by, but now he was seriously regretting that idea. Standing in front of the agency door is really making this whole situation sink and Akutagawa wasn't sure if he was ready for this, ready to show how smart and dumb he really was. God, this was worse than standing in front of Dazai pointing a loaded gun at his face. It was so bad because he secretly wanted to do this but the fear of showing weakness was so strong he couldn't make a decision on whether to go in or turn back. Why can't someone else make the choice for him?
Watching Akutagawa panicking from the other side of the door was one Dazai Osamu. He had noticed his former student not too long ago, when he was middle of slacking off and trying to find a distraction to entertain him. Atsushi wasn't an option nor was Kunikida, both getting ready in the conference room for another round of lessons. Poor kid, stuck with Kunikida as teacher, yikes, but good on him for improving on the education he never received. It was nice to see Atsushi so happy to get questions right and no longer shy away from basic knowledge questions when on cases, like a case that involved some simple history or maths knowledge he was the first to volunteer. It was a much refreshing sight and Dazai hoped that the bright light of enthusiasm continues to grow. It was around the time when Atsushi came running back out to grab his pencil case, that Dazai noticed Akutagawa. Seeing how he looked like a deer caught in headlights, upon spotting Atsushi, Dazai had a good idea why Akutagawa was here and was curious what he would do. However as minutes dragged on, and Akutagawa's anxiety didn't seemed to be calming down; Dazai found himself feeling pity for the boy and made his way over to lend a helping hand.
"Akutagawa, my former student, Atsushi was hoping you'd come. Let me show you where they are." Dazai chimed, guiding Akutagawa by the arm before he even had a chance to respond,
"Akutagawa! You came." Atsushi excitedly exclaimed, jumping to his feet to show his boyfriend to his seat.
"I forgot to bring a pen and paper." Was all Akutagawa managed to stutter out.
"That's fine. You can borrow some of mine." Atsushi offered, already grabbing a pen from his pencil.
"I see we have another student with us today." Kunikida commented, turning around from the whiteboard, wearing a neutral expression so Akutagawa had no idea if he was mad or not about his presence.
"I wanted to give him the same opportunity as me so i invited him. I hope that's ok?" Atsushi wearily checked,
"Of course, everyone deserves a chance to learn, belongs as he behaves i see no problem." Kunikida reassured, writing the date on the writeboard like he did back in his teaching days,
"If it's ok with you 'Kunikida-senpai', I'd like to sit in and observe your lessons, purely out of curiosity." Dazai requested, but it was clear from his childish tone that he would still stay even if Kunikida kicked him out and over his time being Dazai's partner, he had learnt to pick his battles.
"Very well then. Let the class begin." Kunikida declared and they were off.
The first class of the day was Maths, Kunikida's subject of expertise. Today's lesson was on long division but due to Akutagawa's presence, Kunikida decided to recap everything they had recently covered on division as well as a bit of their multiplication lessons, then topped it off with a pop quiz. Kunikida may have said he was just doing a quick recap to check Atsushi could remember everything but his true intentions was to give Akutagawa a quick understanding of everything they had covered, to ensure he wasn't thrown into the deep. Additionally, the pop quiz served the purpose of allowing Kunikida to gauge where Akutagawa was in his set of skills. Knowing where your student is, allows a teacher to choose the best approach when teaching so they can cater their lessons around their students and allow them to thrive. Today Akutagawa was his student and he was going to make sure help him the best he could as his teacher.
So far the maths lesson was going quite well and could've been regarded as one of his best in his whole history of teaching, but it's not a real shock that a pair of adults were giving a class of kids a run for their money in best class category. Both his students were well mannered, listened well and politely asked questions when unsure. From the pop quiz, Kunikida gathered that division wasn't a weakness for Akutagawa. However his multiplication skills were quite inconsistent which he might want to work on with him. Nevertheless today's lesson was long division and it was best to focus on teaching that, then letting his mind wander to other things. Figuring out multiplication could be an after class discussion, if Akutagawa was up for that. The lesson on long division was going smoothly and Kunikida was quite pleased Dazai was sitting back and being quiet. He hoped that would stay true for the rest of the day but he'd learnt not to hold out hope. Besides that, Kunikida was quite proud to see Atsushi was answering more questions the Kunikida posed, less scared of getting things wrong but saw it was worth giving it a try. Perhaps having another student was a comforting motivation that he wasn't alone. On the topic of Akutagawa, Kunikida was surprised at how shy he was being compared to the ravenous mafioso he was used to- it wasn't bad just different. Kunikida was actually relieved when Akutagawa finally spoke up, to correct a mistake he had made on a question he was walking through.
"Wow Akutagawa, you're so good at this. I would've never noticed Kunikida-sensei had made a mistake." Atsushi exclaimed, amazed at his boyfriend's intelligence.
"It's not that amazing Jinko." Akutagawa quickly rebutted, not wanting the spotlight, "It's just skills like that were useful in the slums, when you had a lot of mouths to feed but not that much food."
"Nevertheless, good catch but would you believe me if i was trying to catch you out." Kunikida remarked rewardingly,
"Ha!" Dazai fell off his seat laughing, "So the stern teacher does know how to crack jokes."
"I knew you wouldn't stay silent for long." Kunikida sighed, "Yes I can make jokes, being cruel isn't the only way to teach."
Dazai quickly averted his eyes looking a bit ashamed, muttering: "Yeah, yeah, I know I made mistakes."
"What? Nevermind, I think you two have the hang of this so I'm going to write some questions for you to have a go at." Kunikida instructed, turning back to the whiteboard, confused about Dazai's weird comment- what did Dazai's mistakes have to do with teaching?
For the rest of the maths lesson Dazai remained silent, returning to being a silent observer. Kunikida didn't know what brought about this change in attitude but he was very glad about it. Learning is best done in peace. Speaking of learning, he was quite happy about how his students were picking up everything he taught and were giving the questions their best shot. It was also quite sweet to see when one was struggling the other walked them through it. Peer learning is always a useful tool. Akutagawa walked Atsushi through some of the more difficult division questions and Atsushi explained where he went wrong in some of the multiplication questions from the pop quiz. They complimented each other's weaknesses. The best duo when in battle or in class it appeared.
When the clock struck the hour, it was time to switch to the next class which was to be english. Kunikida had curated a school curriculum that wasn't too overwhelming for a young man who was working as well as learning. Also was meant to be paced as not too much information at once, because they were going over almost 18 years worth of education so taking slow and steady was best. This meant Kunikida decided to make a three period day timetable and always had the second period as the humanity class which rotated between history, geography and english. This left the third period to be Japanese. Science was also an important subject but Yosano had volunteered to do that when she discovered he was teaching Atsushi, so science was taught every other day between the days he taught. This meant Atsushi had a pretty good curriculum which he seemed to enjoy learning from, that pleased Kunikida. Anyways- English that was today's class because last time it was history.
"Hmm, English... Atsushi where did we get to in the last english lesson?" Kunikida asked, racking his brain for what they went over last time.
"We just finished simple sentences and were starting to look at more complicated verbs and different tenses." Atsushi recalled, looking through his notes,
"Ah yes, verbs and tenses. In today's lesson we'll be going over how to say verbs in past and future tense and working on putting them into a sentence." Kunikida explained to his class, "Akutagawa don't be afraid to look through Atsushi's notes since you may be a bit behind but fortunately we are still at the start of this subject."
With that, Kunikida dived straight into the lesson. He began with writing some key verbs on the board and explained how these would be turned into past tense verbs. Then to make it easier to understand, he wrote two sentences with each verb, one in present tense and one in the past showing how the tense and meaning changes. Sometime during the lesson, Dazai slipped out unnoticed but Kunikida was too engrossed in teaching to give him a second mind. It was good to see the pair taking notes and using the english/ japanese dictionary to create their own sentences. When he felt they had understood how to turn present verbs to past tense verbs, Kunikida then repeated the process with the future tense before giving out an handout filled with english sentences where they had to fill in the blank with right present, past or future tense verb.
"Wow, this is a very good attempt, both of you. A few mistakes here and there but there's a clear understanding. Good job!" Kunikida remarked as he graded their handouts.
"I think when you know two languages, it becomes easier to learn three." Akutagawa joked, offhandedly, not actually expecting the teacher to comment on it.
"You know two languages Akutagawa, that's a really good skill. If you don't mind me asking what other language you know." Kunikida inquired curiously,
"Well, um I don't know it perfectly yet but um, you see Chuuya tends to speak in french when really annoyed or stressed and if you spend enough time around him, you end up picking it up. It's normally best to know if he's annoyed or stressed." Akutagawa revealed, still not sure if he liked the spotlight on him, it was only a matter of time until they realised he wasn't that smart.
"Cheers to that. It's always best to know if you're dealing with a stressed or annoyed chibi before you make a wrong move, hey that's how i mastered french." Dazai cheered, making his way back in.
"Perfect timing Dazai. It's lunch break so you'll just have to wait a bit to observe the next class." Kunikida chided, leaving the room.
"Don't tell Kunikida, he thinks he's scolding me, but I timed my re-entrance for lunch." Dazai whispered, acting like a sneaky uncle who's in kahoots with his nephews.
"Dazai..." Atsushi moaned, used to Dazai antics but the small smile showed he wasn't that annoyed,
"I brought snacks." Dazai declared as a sort of peace treaty and the next thing they all knew they were digging into the food. Akutagawa was in the middle of eating a figg (his favorite) when Atsushi got up for a bathroom break and Dazai took this opportunity to talk to Akutagawa in private.
"You seem to be doing pretty well in these lessons." Dazai commented, which Akutagawa simply acknowledged with a nod.
"I'm really proud of how far you've come. You've taught yourself better than i could but what it's worth I wish I could've been a better teacher." Dazai apologised, surprising Akutagawa which encouraged him to speak his own truth.
"Dazai thank you, but I think you've also overestimated how far i've come. I hate to admit it but I'm really not the smartest and I fear soon Kunikida-sensei will realise that and see I'm not worth teaching." Akutagawa revealed, showing his vulnerability in turn for Dazai's.
"Hey now, Kunikida isn't like that. I may say he's strict but I'm only joking; he's a really caring teacher who wants his students to blossom. It's ok to make mistakes." Dazai reassured, "I'm sorry I made you think it wasn't. I promise it's ok to be bad at things-"
"Because that's where I come in to help you, or else my job would be redundant. I'll always be here to help my students." Kunikida stated proudley.
"I'm back, did I miss anything?" Atsushi panted, clearly ran his way back, worried he was going to be late.
"No you're just in time for the final period: Japanese." Kunikida announce and Akutagawa visibly paled- he wasn't one for words.
The class started nice and easy, just going over simple sentence types: compound and complex sentences. Developing that, Kunikida then went on to explain how to use commas and stated they'd be exploring more complicated punctuation next lesson so it's key to get a grasp of the basics first. Next he went on to explain different literature devices such as similes, metaphors and personification. Explaining each technique in detail, giving great examples and then asking the class to contribute their own example. It was soon revealed that this lesson was decided on due to Atsushi wanting to have a go at creative writing and maybe use it as an outlet for his feelings such as his pent up trauma. Kunikida thought this was a brilliant idea so wanted to give his friend the techniques to make his stories truly engaging plus express his feelings to the best extent of how he felt them. For the final half of the lesson, Kunikida instructed the pair to write a short story or the beginning of a story, using this picture of a cherry blossom in a lake as inspiration. Before setting them off, he reminded them he was here if they needed help.
Sitting back and observing was one of the best parts of being a teacher. A person could see how well one's words had communicated to their students and how well they encouraged them to keep going. He loved seeing them inspired and excited whether it was solving a difficult maths problem or like today, writing an engaging story. On the other hand, taking a step back and simply observing was a great tool to spot who needed help. It got a teacher out of their head and let them focus on their students so when he spotted Akutagawa staring frustrated at his paper which was scribbles with so many words crossed out, he knew it was time to help. Atsushi was head deep filled with inspiration and would be too distracted to notice him coming over and kneeling down beside Akutagawa.
"Akutagawa, what are you struggling with? Tell me, I promise I'm here to help." Kunikida kindly informed with a soft welcoming voice that made Akutagawa look up at him with hope.
"I'm not one for words, I always struggle writing my reports at work because I don't know how to make them sound formal and get my point across without getting rude. I know what i want to say but why are so many words needed?" Akutagawa rambled starting to get overwhelmed but Kunikida was quick to act, putting his hands on the boy's shoulders, he gave them gentle but hard squeeze, grounding Akutagawa, allowing him to calm down.
"Hey it's ok, we can just try something else. Maybe haikus are more your style. This is how you write them." Kunikida explained
Time past and soon the boys had both finished their tasks, giving Kunikida their finished works a read.
"Akutagawa! This is really good, do you mind if i share this with the class?" Kunikida requested,
"Well it's just us few so sure." Akutagawa bluntly responded,
"Green frog,
Is your body also
freshly painted?
Sick and feverish
Glimpse of cherry blossoms
Still shivering."
Akutagawa was stunned to see how everyone was smiling and started clapping. They too really enjoyed his words. It was simple; the way he liked it and Kunikida had made the task work for him which meant a lot. He was surprised he had managed to tell a beautiful story in a little words and found that maybe he really liked Haikus.
~~~~~~~~~
"So how'd you find the lessons?" Atsushi asked as he packed his bag,
"Quite informative and enjoyable, I can see why you're so proud of what you learn and I think your making such great progress." Akutagawa responded, thinking over his words,
"The same goes for you, that Haiku at the end was amazing." Atsushi complimented, the pair was just about to leave when Kunikida requested to speak to Akutagawa alone.
Akutagawa stood nervously in the conference room, unsure why the teacher would want to see him. Did he step out of line at some point today? Did he not do well enough? Was his presence truly horrible that Kunikida never wanted him to appear again? Oh, he hoped whatever he did didn't impact Atsushi badly. These lessons meant a lot to his boyfriend and he didn't want to ruin it for him. Akutagawa was getting so worried over what he could've done wrong that he didn't notice Kunikida come back in nor see how he was looking at him with pride. Not once did he consider he was called in for something good.
"Sorry for making you wait." Kunikida apologised, "First I'd like to say how proud I am of how far you've come today, It being your first lesson."
Akutagawa was stunned for a second. This was not going how he expected one bit.
"Secondly I wanted to speak to you privately so I could invite you to officially become one of my students and please keep coming to my classes. I want to see you grow as much as Atsushi, but this is your choice hence why this is private so you can decide without any peer pressure but if you do decide to keep coming, perhaps next Japanese class can cover formal writing ." Kunikida explained.
"You'd really do that for me?" Akutagawa asked touched by the gesture,
"I help my students wherever they need to grow in their education, like i said I want you to do your best and blossom so if you need help with formal writing I'm more than happy to help. I do have a fair bit of experience in writing good reports so it's safe to say you're in good hands, so what do you say?" Kunikida reassured holding at hope for a new potential student,
"I say when's our next class." Akutagawa excitedly replied close to tears and Kunikida couldn't help but pull him into a hug.