23. Thoughts
"Kuma-sensei, you in here?"
"I am here, though I do not need to be-- holy crap."
It's a normal day, like any other. Except, Naomasa's temperature was deemed half a degree too high so he's being contained in the infirmary. (No one cares that it's simply because of the weather, they're sticking him in there until he's healthy again.)
Then Nagisa walked into the infirmary, something like the darkest scrape on his forearm purpling his limb in a disgusting-- ah, it isn't a bruise.
"It's a friction burn," Naomasa stalked over as Nagisa seats himself on the stool. Naomasa deposited himself in the nurse chair and grabs a clean rag.
Nagisa laughed dryly, "Karasuma-sensei elbowed me a little too quickly, so I went flying," he said it like it was a joke, "y'know, cause I'm small, so he didn't... see me there... and I was slow to dodge anyways-- OWOWOWOW!"
Naomasa pulls Nagisa's arm over to the tap, holding the arm firm and running water through it.
"Hey hey, it's just water," Naomasa soothed, "the worst part isn't even here yet."
"It still hurts," Nagisa offered in protest.
"I'm sure you'll learn this eventually, but you'll have to learn how to land safely if you'll be roughhousing on the grass," Naomasa pays his protest no mind, "I have a feeling this will scar."
The wound was large across the forearm, a split gap across the skin that looked a little too gruesome for the faint of heart. Well, all friction burns looked like that. Nagisa would be lucky if this didn't scar.
"Oh no," Nagisa gulped.
Naomasa laughed at that, "I'm sure the scar will be cool," he assured him, picking out the ointments from the shelves, hoping he'd picked the right ones.
"Huh? Uh, yeah... but," Nagisa swallowed his words, looking to the side as he spoke-- he swallows a thick gulp, and the next words were much softer and harder to hear, "my... mother... wouldn't like it."
Naomasa's hands paused for a startled second-- then continued to work.
"Then I'll head over and apologize," he said without hesitating, "I'm sure Karasuma can come with me to say sorry."
Nagisa spluttered, not expecting such a drastic measure (usually teachers would just assure him blindly and say to take it as a lesson of being more careful, or offer to pay the bills-- it's a little hard to remember sometimes, but the assassination classroom tended to have minute difference like these.)
(Unnerving. But perhaps a little asuring... at the same time, not, because Nagisa's mother isn't the apology type of person.)
(She's the type that would go ballistic and call authorities and what if she finds out about the classroom she's going to scold him again because he's part of this filthy classroom environment in the first place...)
"Tell me if i'm binding it too tight," Naomasa's voice interrupted his thoughts.
The man was alarmingly patient. Setting the gauze down, he carefully tugs the bandage over his arm- and he's holding it like a piece of very fragile glass. It's the most gentle Nagisa's ever been handled.
Nagisa watched him wind the roll of bandages loosely over his wound, each loop a little more confident than the one more.
The silence was comfortable.
Naomasa didn't ask a thing-- why would a boy's mother get mad about getting a wound from PE? They should laugh it off as careless, because boys had the right to be absolute chimpanzees in every situation, according to Sugino.
(My mother wants me to be elegant.)
"Thanks, Kuma-sensei," Nagisa inspected the finished bandaging, and it's a bit of a menace, but it's comfortable. Luckily, it was on his left arm. He'd have to stay out of sparring, but he could still participate in most of everything else.
Naomasa returned the items to their respective spots before turning to Nagisa, who was already on his way out.
"Tell me if you need painkillers and change those bandages every day, but go to a proper doctor if it gets worse, alright?"
"Yes, sir, see you tomorrow!"
(Sometimes, Nagisa really appreciates that Kuma-sensei never asks.)
(Other times, he wonders if Kuma-sensei doesn't ask, because he already knows.)
-
Naomasa listened to the teacher talk, and tried not to show his disgust on his face.
A new message flashed in his phone, and he scowled at it. It wasn't rare for Principal Asano to text him each time a new development occurred, but this time he was actively seeking dirt against the government.
What was he, a double agent? He was asking Nao for anything he could use to ditch the new teacher.
(Guess there are types of people even Asano can't handle...)
Takaoka Akira didn't spare Nao a single glance. He was less significant than Irina, after all. He smiled at him where it was necessary and introduced himself while they were all together in the staff room. He didn't bring up any conversation, and since Nao asked no questions, he gave no small talk in response.
He only minded himself with Korosensei (if dropping an armful of sweets on the desk was a sign) and nothing else. He expressed no interest in Irina's beauty, professional as he was.
Naomasa kept a mental note, and wondered to himself what he could say to really be of use for the Board Chairman.
(He knocks his head against the windowsill. Why are you obeying psychopath Principal? Goodness, just ignore his messages.)
(Asano sends another message. He expects hourly reports now. Fuck me.)
"I personally feel that you, Karasuma-sensei, are most worthy of leading our students," Korosensei said, pointing at Karasuma while he cast a blank yet perplexed expression out the window where Takaoka was.
He left soon after that, and Karasuma offered no answer.
"Are you sure about this, Karasuma?" Irina offered her own two cents, "there's something off about that new guy."
And Nao found himself nodding quietly.
For Irina, it was probably her instincts talking. Karasuma would know better than to doubt an assassin's instincts-- but everyone underestimates Irina, so perhaps that clouds his judgement.
Korosensei may have spoken through his intuitive discern-- or he could be speaking knowingly but desired to see how things would play out.
What should Nao do?
He sends a message to the principal: He's stealing my students from me :(
-
Asano Gakushuu never cared much for his father except his father's opinion of his grades and achievements. Well, maybe he might want some fatherly attention kind-of-thing sometimes, but definitely not from this father.
Sometimes he wished he had more than one. One to actually be a father, and the other, well, can stay up on his pedestal and preferably not talk to him.
So when he came to the office only to find his father snickering at his phone, looking way too peaceful and much too soft for a man of his caliber-- Gakushuu closes the door, checks the sign above the door, and walked back in.
(Ah, thank goodness, maybe that was a hallucination.)
Because surely, Asano Gakuho the Board Chairman does not giggle at his phone screen. It wasn't even a smirk, or a sketchy laughter. For a moment it seemed like actual endearing joy, as if he were looking at cat videos or--
(Hallucination. Hallucination.)
The Board Chairman is stoic, face blank and patience and emotionless as usual.
Gakushuu forgets the ghost of that strange sight very quickly, because his father is talking about a new plan for tests and restating his expectations, and although Gakushuu could care less about what he already knows, he puts on his best soldier face for his father.
(That's right. This is normal.)
(My father does not smile kindly.)