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tinabopper

@peoplenotplaces

Ever since she’d first seen Soseki, he’d been her favorite teacher and someone she wished she could befriend if age wasn’t such an issue. She loved his classes. They were a blast. And she loved the fact that he helped with the Newspaper Club, since it was more or less a one woman army so far this semester. 

Yeah, she pretty much adored the guy. There was just one thing about him that struck her as odd. He reminded her of someone from her past she thought long gone: her mentor.

One day she decided to confront him about it. “Hey, Soseki~! I mean, Mr. Yamamoto, hehe… I gotta ask you something.”

Soseki enjoyed working at Harvest Academy. If you had asked him three years ago where he’d be now, he wouldn’t have answered teaching, but not long after that he’d felt the need for a change of pace in life, a new direction. And he’d thought of his teachers, always instrumental in his life, even more so than his father had ever been. They made a difference and that appealed to him the same way that going into journalism had appealed to him when he was younger.

And you could only be in journalism so long before you realized the inevitable corrupt nature of those above you who tailored news and what was reported to fit their agendas. No, Soseki would rather help teach the next generation to identify and value the truth. And that was how he ended up here. 

True, Soseki had always been quick to act on his whims, but he rarely regretted them. One of his students came up with a bright smile: Tina. A perfect example of why he didn’t regret coming to teach. “Of course, Tina. What is it?” He was pretty lax in how his students referred to him, though it felt proper to keep it on a respectful basis. 

Her Favorite || Tina and Soseki

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lovelycitrusperfume

Yawning, Freya held a hand up to her mouth and her eyes ever-so-slightly filled with tears. There was no other explanation besides the fact that she was exhausted. Sometimes she felt that the teachers of the school would purposely make all their assignments due on the same day to suck the life out of the students the night before, making it easier to teach the next day. She never, not even for a second, thought that it was a coincidence, especially when Student Council and club work lined up as well.

At least her next class was English, a class that came naturally to her and if she happened to fall asleep for a quick moment, the all A student didn’t have to worry about falling behind. Though the same can’t be said for falling objects…

“Um…?”

By her feet, Freya was greeted by a flock of papers. She picked them up and noticed that at the top of each was red pen. It was her classes graded English tests and unfortunately for this student, they didn’t do too well. She took her eyes away from the papers to look for her teacher, who she assumed wouldn’t be too far away.

“Mr. Yamamoto, I believe these are yours.”

First, Soseki stood and dusted the dirt from his pants and shirt. He might not be able to get all the papers back, but he had to try. After all, they were their grades. Thankfully, they were already entered into the grading system, but it wouldn’t do to have them flying around all willy nilly. 

Fortunately, just as he stood and resigned himself to tracking down the papers, one of his students came up with a sheaf of them in her hand. “Ahh, Freya! Thank you!” He accepted the paper gratefully, quickly ordering them into a neat pile. “This... looks like it might be all of them. Did you see any more? They can be kinda tricky to get a hold of.” He chuckled softly. 

As he was double checking, the wind changed directions towards them. An errant paper went with it, brought up by a gust of wind, and smacked Soseki straight in the face. 

Bad Morning | Freya & Soseki

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miss-clem

Why the fire alarm didn’t go off was an awkward question with an even more awkward answer. It didn’t seem like a bad idea when she first thought of it, but… Oh goddess, she was already ruining everything, wasn’t she?! This guy was going to see what a mess she then report her, and next thing she’d know she’ll be packing her bags and heading home in shame. Goodbye students, and academy, and apartment. It was nice while it lasted!

“…Off?” His second question snapped Maya back into reality. She smelled burning. She took the cakes out, and then… Oh, fudge cakes. Without even answering him, Maya made a dash toward the oven and smashed her finger against the power button. A beep sounded, almost as if in protest of the unnecessary force used against it, but Maya only sighed in relief. How klutzy could she be to forget to turn off the oven?! 

“I guess I must’ve been too distracted with the cakes and smoke.” A blushed crept across her cheeks as she turned to face him again, one hand lifting to tug at her right braid. “But, um, I already opened a window! Now that nothing is on anymore, it should clear out in a few minutes.” The hand touching her braid lowered and pulled at the collar of her shirt. Was it hot in here, or was it just her? The warmth DEFINITELY wasn’t helping with her nerves. 

Hopefully he’d forget about the whole alarm thing. Behind the smoke and at a distance, he looked tall and thin, like a sinister shadow stretching in the light. She knew logically that a person who was willing to barge into a smoking room couldn’t be bad, but still! If she didn’t play her cards right, there could be a “fire”… followed by “ed” stamped across her application.

“Are you alright?” As the smoke slowly cleared she saw his palm covering his nose and mouth. Maya must’ve been used to the smell of smoke to hardly be affected by it. Which… only made her tilt her head to the side even more sheepishly. 

“Do you need water or something?”

Soseki watched in disbelief as she finally went to go turn the oven off. Who, he couldn’t help but think, had hired her? Ok, maybe it was just an off day for her. He certainly had his own and this was only their first meeting. He was a man who went off facts and it was honestly too early to have them all. And in all the commotion, it was easy for small things to slip your mind.

However, as the smoke started to clear, he realized another fact: the fire alarm was covered. He walked over and easily took it off. Now that the room was mostly cleared, it wouldn’t go off. “Did you cover this?” He asked as if he already knew the answer. How would she not have been able to notice? Ignoring her questions, he continued, “It’s highly irresponsible, not to mention illegal.” Tampering with fire equipment had all sorts of nasty repercussions, especially when working at a school. 

This is the behavior he’d expect from a student, not a teacher who was hired to work at a prestigious place like Harvest Academy.

Where There is Smoke | Maya & Soseki

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Spilling the Coffee | Muffy & Soseki

@loveydoveymuffy;

Break room coffee wasn’t spectacular. Some mornings it was made wrong, others it was from the day before, and there were days when he wasn’t sure if it had been clean in months. Sometimes, it was better to go with the tried and true method: Java City Coffee. Not free, but you got what you paid for: glorious, delicious, caffeine-laced coffee. 

The aroma preceded his arrival to Muffy’s office. Checking that she wasn’t with a student, Soseki slipped inside. “Excuse, Miss. Baker,” he held up one of the coffees for her, “I’m having a terrible case of gossipities. What should I do?”

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rebelcase:

@peoplenotplaces

Neil was too eager to head get out of the campus. He had no gigs to go to tonight, or dates, but something far more important. In the apartment not too far from his own, someone was waiting for him. He sped up as he rode his motorbike from the campus to the apartment area, and practically hurried to run up to the front door of a fellow Harvest Academy staff. 

Helmet in hand, Neil knocked loudly and impatiently at the man’s doors. He couldn’t waste time out here when his children were waiting for him. Not just one, but three precious children. Don’t worry kids, Daddy’s home.

Soseki’s classes ended early today, which was just as well because he had three baby kittens at home that needed attention. Which meant he was showering them in affection and teasing them with shoelace strings until Neil got here. Unfortunately, Soseki knew very little about their care and what was required. When he heard the door, he got up to answer, not realizing one of the kittens jumping on his pants legs to go with him.

He opened the door. “Hey, come on in.” From his ankle came a soft mewl. The kitten let go of his pants and tumbled out of the door on shaky legs. It was headed for freedom. 

Call me Daddy

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miss-clem

Her batter was perfect. Smooth, the right consistency, and when she dipped in her finger for a taste, it wasn’t too sweet nor not sweet enough. Maya would even go so far as to say this was the best batch of cake batter she ever made! If only her grandmother were here to see it… Glancing at the time, her posture wilted a bit. Or not. 

Almost a whole hour. Just to make batter. Ugh, something so simple should take half as much time, even less! A frown crept its way onto her face as she poured the mix into two circular pans that would create the layers of the cake. Well, what she lost in prep time she would just have to make-up in baking time, Maya decided. She made her way to the pre-heated oven with a pan in each hand, leaning over to squint at the heat temperature. Two seventy-five. Hmm… a higher temperature meant it would bake faster, right? Or course! That was just simple science. The button beeped as Maya, satisfied with her elegant solution, raised the heat to three-fifty. She placed the pans in to bake, and— 

The rest was history. 

The dark smoke which filled the room couldn’t compare to the dark smoke which filled her heart. Her perfect batter. Ruined. She hurried to remove her burning cake, plumes of smoke escaping the oven as she opened it. Coughing several times, Maya placed the pans onto the counter before rushing toward the window. Luckily, she already covered the alarm with a plastic bag in foresight of such accidents. Some might consider this foolish, but with students still learning to cook and a teacher who probably burned more dishes than they did, it seemed better than panicking the whole school with false emergencies. 

Huffing, Maya just managed to crack the window open when a voice called into the room. 

Oh no. 

Maybe the alarm in the classroom wouldn’t go off, but the ones in the hallway sure would. Blue eyes widened as Maya made a dash toward the stranger. 

“Don’t open the door!” she yelled, grabbing him by the front of his shirt before yanking him inside. In one motion she slammed the door shut, twirling on her heels to face him just as a breeze managed to clear a little more of the smoke. Geez, the look on his face… he was probably going to think she was nuttier than a pecan pie. Of course it had to be another staff member, too. 

“I-I mean, everything is okay! I just had a little bit of an accident, that’s all.” Her shoulders bounced with sheepish laughter as she released him and patted down the wrinkles she caused in his shirt. Geez, what a mess. With a tilt of her head, Maya indicated toward the open oven and then at the pans now sitting innocently, no longer smoking. Charred was too kind of a word for how her cakes looked. Just by sight alone one could tell they were hard enough to break a tooth on.

A woman appeared from the smoke like a demon out of hell. Before he could react, he was yanked inside and the door shut behind him. The smoke was still thick, casting a haze over his vision, and now that he was inside there was a strong, distinct smell of something burnt. One hand automatically covered his mouth and nose. The woman in front of him was shorter but besides her blonde hair it was hard to make out distinct features.

“We still need to get the smoke out! Why isn’t the fire alarm going off?”

Soseki turned around, intending to open the door again. They needed to get the smoke cleared out of here. “The oven is off now, right?” Thankfully, he couldn’t see - or feel - a fire, but that didn’t make their situation any less in need of immediate attention.

Where There is Smoke | Maya & Soseki

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Bad Morning | Freya & Soseki

@lovelycitrusperfume;

There were several events that led up to the current situation. For one, Soseki was late waking up. His alarm, which went off about five times in the morning, had only managed to rouse him on the last one. A not too uncommon occurrence in itself but all the same shaved off precious minutes of his daily morning routine. Second, he was out of coffee. This was a transgression against man - specifically this man. Third, in his haste to get to his class, he’d stuffed all of the class’ tests into one folder and into his bag. 

So when he tripped along the sidewalk, and the papers went flying, it took him a few minutes to actually realize that they were now scattered outside the English building rather than inside his bag. He watched as the flew out and down the road, flapping with the wind and dancing across the sidewalk. 

Maybe he could cancel class.

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Where There is Smoke | Maya & Soseki

@miss-clem;

The faculty lounge was a hotspot for gossip related to both students and teachers. Besides a few co-workers, most met in there to chat while grabbing coffee or something in-between classes. And boy did they have some interesting stories, especially when they thought Soseki was napping or too engrossed in his coffee and newspaper.

With two new teachers, there was a lot more gossip to digest. Specifically, he had heard that one of the new teachers - the cooking one, of all positions - apparently needed a box of fire extinguishers. Was she worried her students would set the building on fire? Curiosity piqued, he resolved to pay a visit and introduce himself, maybe figure out what that many extinguishers were needed for or if she had plans to start her own army of firefighters. 

However, when he approached the room it was to find dark smoke bubbling underneath the door. How the alarm hadn’t already gone off, he wasn’t sure, but he sped up towards the door and opened it. 

Which, in hindsight, was a bad idea. He now had a face full of smoke. He immediately started to cough, but managed to call out, “Anyone,” another fit, “in there!? Are you okay!?”