Permanent Fixture

It had been quite some time since Benjiro had been shocked to a point where coherent thought and speech were beyond him. While oblivious to how most people really acted, he was good at picking up on patterns. He could usually tell how someone would react, depending on what he observed of previous similar moods. It was one of the things that kept him on guard as to when trouble would strike. But, nothing could have prepared him for the surprise whose name was Daitan Haruoka.

(Earlier in the day)

The day after Domon marched into his lesson had cemented a matter for Daitan. The words of her tutor's brother had constantly been ringing in her ears. By her own admission, she had been rather Laissez-faire with her given task. Behind the scenes, she had been tailing her charge, or stalking as she knew it to actually be. Seeing the Scarecrow be all alone didn't exactly bother her, especially since it didn't seem to bother him either. What didn't sit right with her was when she saw the rich chick's wild eyed fanatics doing their stuff.

They didn't even have the decency to come out and try anything objectively reportable. Sure, they glared, left some crude drawings on his desk and said some pretty horrible things. Rather, they were horrible for a bunch of high schoolers that thought they were badass. Some of the people from her old crew could come up with things twice as hurtful in a drunken stupor, but that didn't stop their words from being harsh.

The poor bastard didn't seem to really have any friends. There was that chihuahua of a girl, Higaki, but she seemed like a... special case. Regardless, whether out of a sense of responsibility or maybe just fear of the yakuza enforcer, Daitan realized that she hadn't exactly been fulfilling her duties.

Both tutor and pupil were getting lost in their ruminations as they waited outside the door to the principal's office. Today was the deadline for Benjiro's temporary teaching position. He was to give a progress report of Daitan's English skills, her willingness to participate and so on and so forth. While the mop haired boy was sure the principal would be pleased with her recent improvements. The part he wasn't sure about was Ms. Handa's reaction to the nearly two weeks of complete stonewalling. The stakes may not have been particularly large for Benjiro, but his leg still refused to stop thumping and his perspiring hands were getting his folder wet.

From beyond the principal's door, "Mr. Nojiri, you can come in now."

After getting himself situated Benjiro answered each of the principal's questions about how Daitan had performed.

"Now, how was Ms. Haruoka's behavior for the past month?"

He knew that he was only being asked standard questions, but he still began to sweat.

"W-Well, things were defin-nitely tough at th-the start", he replied unable to look her in the eye.

'Or the middle and even part of the latter', Inei nonchalantly listed.

'Keep talking and we're going to have problems', Benjiro threatened.

'Like we don't already have a subconscious chock full of those', Inei reaffirmed, 'Oh, wait.'

Ignoring his mental counterpart, "But w-we were ab-ble to eventually come to an... underst-standing."

Principal Handa raised her eyebrows, "What kind of understanding."

This was when Benjiro especially began to feel like a bug under a magnifying glass. He was well aware that his methods of teaching, while legitimate, were not always considered effective. Further unable to look the principal in the eyes, "W-Well, Haruok-ka struggled at f-first. But when I g-gave her s-some less abstract mat-terial, she t-took off. It w-wasn't all sm-mooth sailing, but she's made a lot of imp-provement."

Handa laced her hands in front of her face, "And how exactly did you make the material less abstract?"

Benjiro clasped his own hands together, "W-Well, I'd make up s-songs that w-were about the l-lesson and use that t-to review."

Handa pursed her lips in concentration, "And did she respond well to this?"

"Y-Yes. It t-took a little wh-while, but she improved a l-lot", he placed the folder with Daitan's few quizzes and other material and slid it across the desk.

The principal picked up the files and took a few minutes to thoroughly examine the contents. There were still various mistakes, but it was a far cry from before. Cross referencing them with the grades she had on file, Handa could tell that Haruoka had definitely hit the grade curve.

"I must say, it's impressive that you've been able to make so much progress in only a few weeks time", Handa said in a light tone, "And considering that Ms. Haruoka was seemingly unwilling to even consider you as a teacher before, you must have a special relationship with her."

The phrasing of that sentence made Benjiro's cheeks feel warm.

"W-What do you m-mean?"

Taking off her glasses, "What I mean is, that even if a teacher presents their material as clear as day, it all depends on the students. If the students can't respect, trust or simply like their teacher, their propensity for learning becomes seriously inhibited."

This gave Benjiro pause as he reexamined his own time with Daitan. It was true, she was less of a powder keg, but respect? Trust? Liking? They all seemed like such foreign descriptions to how Daitan acted and spoke around him.

'Eh, whatever. After this, it's no longer my problem.'

"I suppose we should also hear from the one you've been teaching", Handa said before calling Daitan into her office.

"Now, Ms. Haruoka, how would you say that Mr. Nojiri performed as your tutor?"

Daitan remained as stony as ever in front of Handa, "The guy can be a little stiff, he can't communicate well, he seems to want to end lessons quickly, and his lessons seem to be all over the place sometimes."

Every time the muscular girl listed a negative, Benjiro could feel an arrow pass through his heart. What was she saying? Had he really been such a poor teacher in her eyes? Could he really have so little talent as an instructor?

"But, he does have a good grasp of the subject, the way he teaches makes things easy to understand and remember, the lessons are fun and at some point, it just didn't feel like I was being made fun of or pandered to."

Pain turned to confused relief. Her earlier admonitions were still present, but hearing praise from the mouth of the girl that had threatened him so callously before. If a unicorn crashed through the wall and began shredding a guitar solo before taking him away, he honestly wouldn't have been as surprised.

"I see", Handa said evenly, "And would you say that you've actually learned an adequate amount over the past month."

Daitan shrugged, "Eh, I still can't understand a ton of stuff."

The sinking feeling was returning.

"But, compared to before, I learned more now than in probably all my time in school."

If the principal was surprised at all, she didn't show it. Instead, she continued with her exit interview.

"Well, as promised, you waited the required amount of time. One of the official tutors finally finished up helping their students and are now accepting students. If you like, I can have you signed up and ready to attend their lessons by the end of the day."

Hearing this made a further wave of relief wash over Benjiro. He could finally just go home at the end of the day and just kick back. Ordinarily, hearing something like this would also cause Daitan to feel relieved, but something was wrong. There was this nagging sense of...want? True to her words, the skinny guy sitting next to her was kind of hit or miss as a teacher. He could be flaky and never maintain eye contact for long. He was all those things and more, or less depending on how you looked at it. But for whatever reason, she couldn't accept it.

Her breath hitching, "Actually, if it's alright with you, I think I'll stick with him."

This time, both the other occupants showed their surprise. Benjiro's mouth was hanging open, and sounded like a dying fish. Principal Handa's eyebrows shot up and her mouth was pursed in shock.

Recovering quickly and clearing her throat, "Are you sure, Ms. Haruoka? Spots in the tutoring classes fill up rather quickly and if you don't act now, it could be even longer if you decide to change your mind."

Daitan looked a little unsure of herself, but she remained resolute, "I get it, but changin' teachers now would really throw me off. And by this point, I'm kinda used to the way this guy "teaches." So, thanks, but I think I'm good."

The incident yesterday with that b**chy Domon girl had only served to cement Daitan's final decision. At least, that was the half truth she was telling herself. It was true that she was told to protect the Scarecrow and it was also true that despite the flaws, she had learned more from his songs and games than any lesson in the past. But, there was always another but, at the core of it all, there was this new feeling. It was this desire to just be around the guy. Not even because of the other two reasons. Just because she wanted to. He was an odd duck, but Daitan had grown to enjoy being around him.

Turning back to the other student, Handa addressed, "Erm, Mr. Nojiri what do you have to say about all this. Ultimately, the decision is upon both of you. If you feel up to the task, you may continue teaching Ms. Haruoka."

Benjiro was brought back to reality from his rambling thoughts. Every instinct in his body was yelling at him to say no and that's what he was about to say. But when he turned to look at Haruoka, he saw something. It was only a sliver, like a ray of sunshine behind a prison wall. It was a look of expectation. As if his unwitting potential permanent pupil was daring herself to lower herself. He wasn't sure how else to read her, but he could just tell that just behind that brick wall wasn't quite the monster he had come to fear.

Rubbing the back of his head, "W-Well, if y-you feel like I'm th-the best choice."

"Don't go getting full of yourself", Daitan contradicted with her usual impassive face. Upon closer inspection, Benjiro could swear he almost saw her smirk.

'Ah well', he inwardly sighed, 'It's not like I was actually up to anything noteworthy most nights anyway.'