Time for an Alternate Universe my friends! This time, we are going with Swap Personalities AU, where Momonoki will be the tough teacher with cold feelings and Kalego will be the sweet and friendly teacher of the staff.
Enjoy it!
Halfway through the week and only half the work was done. The tasks of the Babyls teachers were immense and meant a big burden. Everyone who was in charge of teaching at the school knew it. However, that didn't mean that they worked like slaves every day, because at the end of the day they had their recess and their lunchtime, and after school they could enjoy the benefits of the teaching staff that Babyls had, which also included free dormitories. so that they do not have problems getting around.
At that moment, another day of classes had already ended and all the teachers were heading to the teachers' room to leave their daily reports and go to review certain works that they might have pending there. Although everyone was sharing a good mood after a good day, they could be divided into two groups: One where some teachers focused entirely on writing and putting scores without trying to distract themselves, and another where some of them sought to chat to distract themselves.
Kalego was one of those in the second group. He knew that classes sometimes didn't allow him to have direct contact with some of his colleagues, so he took advantage of that break to talk with Balam and any other professor who wanted to talk to him. He was someone open to everyone, in addition of being someone determined to get to know his colleagues and students better in order to fulfill his dream of being a Babyls teacher. He always showed an innocent smile and a sincere personality that made him endeared by many at the school.
Suddenly, the doors of the room opened, giving the entrance to a figure known to all the teachers at Babyls who had already finished their shift.
"Teacher Momonoki! Good afternoon!" almost everyone said in unison.
Huge noise and a lot of discomfort for her. It was the last thing she needed after having a stressful day.
"Silence." She said.
Some laughed lightly before returning to their seats and letting Momonoki make her way to her table. They sensed that she had had a tough class with the first years, so now she needed some rest and some tea.
Her cold personality and domineering walk made the students see her as someone who was strict and someone who didn't like games or pranks, at least 95% of them. However, her colleagues saw Momonoki as someone who was basically like them, only she needed to be less boring and sometimes take fun initiatives because, although everyone's main objective was to be guides for the school students, it didn't mean that they have to be 100% cold towards the students and their colleagues.
Momonoki ignored most of her colleagues, only giving short answers to avoid a long conversation. She just wanted to finish her daily reports and put up her notes from her last exam so she could go to her dorm. A good rest and a talk with her grandpa were what she needed after another hard day of school.
Kalego couldn't help but follow his gaze at the teacher who showed a unique and extraordinary image. An image that was always in his head since he had entered Babyls, and the image of someone who was part of a powerful family such as the Morax. He was impressed to see her character and the seriousness she brought to her work; however, he was also a believer that she had a fun and cute side if one got to know her better.
Momonoki finally reached her table and looked at Kalego who was sitting at the opposite table. She realized that he was focusing his gaze on her, perhaps wanting to ask something that he had doubts about.
"Good afternoon Kalego." She said as she sat down.
Her voice made Kalego snap out of his trance and jump slightly from his seat, but he was able to compose himself quickly.
"G-good afternoon, teacher M-Momonoki."
"I see you've had a tired day. But your look says a lot of things, is there something you need to tell me?"
"D-don't worry. I was just w-watching you getting to your seat."
Kalego blushed slightly, making Momonoki confused. However, she thought it was because he was tired or didn't know what to say at that moment. Still, she was open to answering him anything whenever he was ready.
"Alright." She said before looking at the papers on her table and checking her last tasks.
Kalego couldn't speak to her again during that entire moment. He wanted to just have a conversation with her about things in life, ask her about how she was doing, but he was a little afraid of her reaction. Normally she had a good relationship with him, but Kalego still doubted if that was true. He had so many doubts in his head, that an hour flew by instantly. There she realized that Momonoki had finished her tasks before him, even though she had arrived after all the teachers. He hadn't made much progress, but luckily, he didn't have much to review, and he could stay a little longer to finish what he had to do.
Momonoki was ready to leave the staff room and take a break until tomorrow. She stood up from her seat, grabbing some papers and focusing her gaze on the exit, however, she realized that Kalego was nervous again. She paused and looked at Kalego before leaving.
"Hey Kalego. I recommend you drink some tea to relax. You don't want to show nerves to your students and your colleagues."
"O-ok professor." Kalego responded, knowing that she noticed his nervousness again.
Momonoki smiled ever so slightly, something only Kalego was privileged to see.
"See you Kalego. Remember not to show weakness, because we are the guides of our treasures in Babyls."
Some might think that last sentence sounded somewhat demotivating or even like a negative message. But Kalego didn't see it that way. Momonoki had always seen potential in him since he had started his job in teaching, and she wanted him to overcome the nervousness and anxiety that he could sometimes have. She was able to write a small book about him and gave him some points to consider when teaching in the classrooms; and that last phrase was something that she had highlighted in the book, a phrase that Kalego had engraved in his mind until now.
Kalego knew that her personality could make anyone see her as antagonistic and cruel, but Momonoki was a great person when you got to know her better. After all, she was his mentor, and even though she was a little strict, she did care about him.
It was there that Kalego turned his gaze from her to pick up a pencil that he dropped, and he saw Balam that was fixing his gaze on him in a very curious way.
"What happened?"
"That look doesn't fool me Kalego."
"What do you mean?"
"You are in love man. And it's nice to see you like this."
Kalego hadn't noticed that he was blushing and smiling slightly, but Balam noticed it quickly. When he told him what he had, he couldn't help but blush more and turn red like a tomato, in addition to getting more nervous than normal. Kalego covered himself with his hands because of his friend's comment.
"And I see that I was right, huh?" Balam said.
"C-come on, that's not true. Maybe I'm just stressed like she says." Kalego tried to contradict him.
"Don't try to lie to me. You know that doesn't work against me."
Balam had a point; he was immune to lies. He could make up an entire story, but he would easily find out if it was made up or real. He didn't want to try to deny his feelings again, so he continued the conversation where he wanted to go.
"Since when did you notice it?"
"Two months ago, my friend." Balam said as he remembered some things. "It was normal to see you a little afraid when you started having Momonoki as a mentor in past years, but these nerves you have now have no trace of what you felt before. You seek to get closer to her, you admire her work too much, and you increasingly want to talk to her about anything. You even blush slightly when you hear her name, which is nothing to feel bad about; that expresses that you really love her and want to form a story with her."
Kalego discovered that Balam knew much more than necessary. It was one thing to tell him that it was easy to identify that he was in love with Momonoki, but another was to highlight facts that he didn't even know. He didn't know he was a huge blushing machine.
"I'm bad at hiding feelings, right?"
"Look on the bright side, I'm the only one who technically knows this."
Once again, Balam was right. He knew that some of his colleagues could exaggerated with the topic of love, mentioning Raim or Dali. It wasn't anything bad, but it was very embarrassing for him that some people expressed their love stories as if it were nothing, and he knew that if he said a word about the love he had for Momonoki, it would appear in the newspapers the next day.
On the one hand, he felt good that he could tell Balam his secret. At least he wasn't going to "betray" him like some of his other colleagues could do.
"Do you think I have a chance with her?"
"That's something you'll have to answer yourself, Kalego." Balam said with a bit of excitement in his voice. "You meet the criteria of a man that Momonoki appreciates. You take things seriously, you are friendly while respecting certain limits, you don't do everything abruptly. Additionally, you are the only one who receives special charges from her that no one else can, such as summoning familiars. You have an enormous level of trust with her. However, to see if you have a chance with her, you must take the first step, because... let's just say she's not very good with love either."
"But how can I try something with her? I don't think it's appropriate to approach her continuously knowing that she is very busy, besides, what if she wants to kill me if I try a love move?"
"Calm down Kalego, don't panic, she is not hostile to you, and you know it. I'll help you." Balam said. "And I have an idea so you can approach her."
"Really? What is it?"
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"This is suicide Kalego, and you know it."
He was very hesitant to knock on the bedroom door, but he had come too far to back away. He had accepted Balam's help and had gained a lot of courage by that time; however, his inner consciousness didn't allow him to move a muscle. He didn't think Balam's plan was very extreme, although in reality, it was Kalego's perspective that was working against him.
Balam's idea was simple. Kalego was going to give Momonoki a flower. A little symbolism that shows how much she meant to his life. Momonoki was very foolish in love topics, so he could take advantage of it by presenting her that gift and not have a negative response beforehand. Furthermore, it wasn't even something exaggerated, knowing that many girls in Babyls loved those small gestures regardless of the meaning of the message, of course, considering that it always had to be something positive in general.
When Kalego heard his plan, he refused to follow it, knowing that it was too risky and could jeopardize his relationship with Momonoki. Chances were she would look at him strangely or say the ugliest words that could break his heart at that moment. However, Balam told him that it was a small gesture that shouldn't be something strange, in fact, it could be something good to de-stress her after the classes she had. Even the smallest gestures could brighten someone's day.
Furthermore, he told him again that if he wanted her to be with him, he had to take the first step. Momonoki didn't have the image of being a bad girlfriend, but it was asking a lot for her to pay attention to signs of infatuation that Kalego could show indirectly. Her emotional and loving intelligence was so small that she probably would not be able to say "I love you"; however, she wasn't stupid enough to now know what love was. She simply hadn't experienced it because of the priority she placed on her work, and Kalego's goal was to be the one to help her get out of the box and know her feelings to be a happy couple.
It was there that Kalego had a motivation. He had to do something to make her start noticing him. So, ignoring the negative thoughts he had, he knocked on Momonoki's bedroom door, trying to hold back the nerves he had in his body.
"Professor Momonoki?"
"Yes? Who is it?"
"Kalego. Naberius Kalego."
"Oh, wait a minute."
He could hear Momonoki walking in her room, steps steady unlike his own when he headed to her door. Once she opened the door, she was greeted by Kalego who still had his uniform on. She thought that he had stayed up late reviewing exams, but the reality was that it was only at night that he was able to make the gift due to the little free time Momonoki had.
"Professor Kalego, good evening. Tell me, what happened? You know it's a late hour to be awake."
"I know, and I apologize first of all for showing up at a not-so-convenient time."
If Momonoki had anything to highlight about Kalego, it was how thoughtful and responsible he was in his actions. Normally, she wouldn't open the door to any of her colleagues, except the director; However, Kalego was always that colleague from whom he appeared for concrete and important things, never for nonsense. She knew that he had ignored her little rule that she slept at that time, but since they knew each other and he genuinely apologized at that time, she decided to give him some time to talk.
He was an empathetic demon, there was no doubt about it.
"Well, you need to talk. You don't want to wake up someone else."
"Alright. I have come to give you this."
Kalego handed over the small pot that had the flower, trying to hide his blushing face. The flower had a light blue color like Momonoki's hair, with an exclusive design that was taken from Suzy's garden. Although he could have made a long speech, he was direct in expressing the reason for his visit.
"What's this?" she asked.
"I-it's a flower." he answered.
Momonoki received the flower, confused as to why Kalego was giving her a gift even if it wasn't her birthday or anything. That's where the male started talking.
"Look, I know you've been having a rough few months with the Abnormal class and with some students who can be a little difficult to control. And I thought this might lift your spirits. I know how much you admire open landscapes, and flowers are a detail you have loved for as long as I have known you. Also, I would like this to serve as a small thank you for helping me since I wanted to join Babyls as a teacher. If it hadn't been for you, I would probably be lost or weak in front of the students."
While Kalego said the sincerest words from the bottom of his heart, Momonoki listened attentively to all of this. She almost always only received administrative papers for academic purposes, but she had never received a flower from someone for a different reason.
"But hey, I would like you to accept it, Professor Momonoki!"
Although she had already received the flower, Kalego wanted to make sure she had it in her hands. His nerves wanted to kill him, but he knew he had to be strong. Everything he said was true, there was no need to be afraid in general.
Momonoki smiled, knowing that at the end of the day Kalego was one of the best demons she could meet in her life.
"It's a nice gesture of yours, you know that Kalego?" she said with a sincere and genuine voice. "Thank you."
Kalego's heart jumped with uncontrolled happiness, beating at an incredible speed and excited to know that Momonoki had liked his gift.
"However, always remember to let me know in advance if you want to deliver something to me or talk to me. Remember that my sleep schedule is something that I don't want to ruin and that you should also consider if you want to have energy the next day."
"Oh! D-don't worry Professor Momonoki! I will take that into account next time!"
"I know. By the way, don't feel guilty if you feel like I got angry. You had no bad intentions in giving me this."
Momonoki was still observing the flower carefully. It reminded her of the garden her family had, as well as the books where her grandpa taught her about horticulture. Kalego had been very precise in giving her a flower that had opened incredible memories for her without him realizing it.
"A-alright Momonoki. I will retire to my bedroom now, rest well!"
"Rest well Kalego. See you tomorrow."
Kalego quickly left that area, without saying another word and leaving Momonoki confused again. Once he was far enough away, he jumped of joy and was celebrating knowing that nothing bad had happened. Balam's plan had worked, and he was able to give the first direct sign of love to her, even if Momonoki didn't realize it. He was happy to see that he had improved her mood, and that was something that it wasn't going to allow him to sleep at night because of the excitement and adrenaline of the moment.
Although it was somewhat small, he felt that he was doing a good job. She was a girl who deserved the best despite being seeing as someone antagonistic, and he was happy that she had gone from being his mentor to being someone... extraordinary in his life.
Momonoki, for her part, didn't know how to express how happy she was. Although it was a mere flower for some, that had been enough to make her entire week better. It brought back good memories, and served as a reminder that Kalego was that companion she could always rely on.
It was incredible to think how he went from being her subordinate to being one of the most important demons in her life. She was happy that they both followed the same goal, because he made Babyls a better place for her.
"It looks pretty." Momonoki said as she placed it on her window.