#kitakata sensei

[jichanxo]

commissioning @vos-videmus was a life changing experience. forcing you all to look at this immediately (please don't repost or crop out the watermarks. thanks 👍)

[rooftopdaigos]

I'll be teaching chinese at a public school starting in september. Entering my kitakata sensei era/j

[passthroughtime]

its time for my LJ memes, two from the ancient times of twitter and one exclusive one. all for the future generations of kuwana appreciators

[colhbs]

sorry for being obvious. may i request kitakata sensei

Cat ears are mandatory :P

[ozmatippetarius]

Class 3-Z Ginpachi-Sensei Lesson 2: Scaring People is Also a Technique (Part 1)

Years back I tried my hand at translating some of this novel. Since the adaptation is coming out soon, it reminded me of the project and I decided to pick it back up again. Since a translation of Lesson 1 already exists on the internet, I started with Lesson 2. This is a very amateurish fan translation, so keep that in mind! Please enjoy.

Part 2

What is important in life is life, and not the result of life.　（Goethe

I think so too. (Sakata Ginpachi)

No, please think for yourself sometimes. (Shimura Shinpachi)

Hyuu, the wind blew, shaking Shinpachi’s bangs.

10:00 p.m. He was in front of the main gate of Gintama High School.

It was scary, Shinpachi thought. The school at night was really scary...

No, whether it was a school, or a shinto shrine, or a temple, going anywhere at night would be scary. Although the phrase ‘School at Night’ was particularly creepy.

Really scary. Shinpachi didn’t have any thoughts besides that.

Shut away on the other side of the tightly closed iron gate, the unspeaking (obviously) school building sat. In the sky above the school building a huge full moon hung, or, should I say, the final boss was about to come out? It was an atmosphere like that.

Even so, Shinpachi hadn’t gone in.

Into the school at night.

To retrieve an item he’d left behind.

Scary. But he couldn’t wait until tomorrow morning. Couldn’t wait for the thing that he’d left inside his class desk. After returning home, and finishing his dinner and bath, he’d noticed it.

That was why he had come to retrieve it now.

Shinpachi placed his hands on the school gate firmly. The height of the school gate was just short of Shinpachi’s jaw. Climbing over it wouldn’t be easy, but it wasn’t impossible.

But the cold touch of the school gate, the sensation of the rough rust, and the sound of the metal creaking all shook Shinpachi’s resolve.

Well, Shimura Shinpachi, muster your courage!

So Shinpachi said to himself. He gripped the school gate hard with both hands, pulling his body up forcefully. In this way he got his right foot over the gate, and in that moment-

“What are you doing, punk!”

A sharp voice sounded behind him.

With a start, Shinpachi turned his head in that direction, and fell on his butt to the ground.

Ouch! Scary! Ouch-scary!

Panicking and in pain, Shinpachi got on all fours and raised his surprised face.

“What are you doing, aru? On the ground like that.”

Standing before him was class Z’s boisterous exchange student, Kagura-chan.

“Kagura-chan!” Shinpachi started to protest vehemently.

“What are you doing, you surprised me! Because of you my heart is beating like an alarm bell!”

“Trespassing is a criminal offense, aru.” Kagura-chan was remorseless.

“I wasn’t trespassing. I came to retrieve something I forgot.”

“Something you forgot?” Kagura-chan raised one eyebrow, and suddenly grabbed Shinpachi’s collar.

“Idiot! In life, sometimes by the time you realize you’ve forgotten something it’s too late!”

“What are you even talking about! I don’t get your vibe right now!” Shinpachi shook off Kagura’s arm.

“Or rather, why are you suddenly Kitakata Kenzou?”

And just as Shinpachi was getting into his tsukkomi role,

“I see, something you forgot.” Kagura-chan had already returned to his pace.

“If that’s the case then I’m the same, aru.”

“Huh, Kagura-chan too?” Shinpachi touched his glasses.

“That’s right, aru. I came to retrieve a lost item too, ne.”

“Is that so…”

Nodding his head, Shinpachi was struck with an idea.

The school at night was scary. But if they went together, the fear would be diminished, right? So, at once he said.

“Well then, Kagura-chan, let’s go get our lost things together. Look, since the school at night is frightening.”

Thereupon,

“No way, aru!” Kagura-chan said, grabbing his shoulder.

“You’re planning to take me to the field house at night and do something, aren’t you, aru?”

“Um, I, I didn’t say a single word about the field house, did I?”

“Men are all wearing wolf’s clothing, ne.”

“No, that is, I don’t need to be wearing that kind of thing.”

Oh, geez, Shinpachi thought to himself.

“We should go. You’re being too loud here; tomorrow at school there will be complaints.”

Yeah, yeah, I understand, aru, Kagura-chan said with a reluctant nod of agreement. 

And so together they pulled themselves over the gate.

“Heave-ho,” said Shinpachi.

“Set-go,” said Kagura-chan.

Then, at the moment when they both forcefully lifted their bodies.

“The school isn’t a love hotel, punk!”

It was the unexpected sharp voice, Part 2.

With a thud, Shinpachi and Kagura-chan both fell to the ground.

Again! Who was it! Shinpachi thought while lying on the ground on all fours. When he raised his head, there was - white-haired Sakata Ginpachi standing, with a cigarette in his mouth and a labcoat on even at that time.

With sleepy eyes, Ginpachi said,

“Hey, hey, Shinpachi. Are you having an illicit sexual relationship at school at night? Ozaki Yutaka is crying.”

“We weren’t doing something like that! Or rather, please don’t surprise me like that!”

The person beside Shinpachi protested,

“That’s right, aru! I think I’m having a heart attack, aru!” Kagura-chan also said.

But, ignoring their combined Sino-Japanese objection, Ginpachi asked,

“Or rather, what were you guys doing?”

“‘What,’ he asks. Kagura-chan and I came to get some things we forgot.”

“Things you forgot?” Ginpachi squinted.

“Well, if that’s the case, I guess I’m the same way.”

“Huh? Sensei too?”

Shinpachi asked, and Ginpachi replied, “That’s right,” listlessly.

“Yeah, the Jump I bought in the school store today, I left it in the staff room. Even though I returned looking forward to reading it, my plans all went awry.”

“Jump, was it…”

Although that seemed a very Ginpachi-like thing to forget, Shinpachi spoke up.

“But if that’s the case, it’s fine if you buy Jump at the convenience store. Why go through all this trouble…”

“You idiot,” said Ginpachi, breathing out smoke.

“Why would you buy two copies of the same Jump. Unless it has a Gintama cover, that is.”

“No, you’re a perfect narcissist, aren’t you.” Shinpachi gave a bitter smile.

“And?” said Ginpachi.

“What things did you guys come to get?”

“Um, I came for a CD,” Shinpachi answered.

“CD?”

“Yes. Today Otsuu-chan’s new album was released and I bought it from the school store, but I left it in my classroom desk.”

“Hmm.” Then with a small uninterested nod, “Then, you?” Ginpachi said, looking towards Kagura-chan.

“Sukonbu, aru!” Kagura-chan said cheerfully.

“Today during fifth period, I left my sukonbu behind in the art room. Moreover, it was unwrapped. Unless I retrieve it soon, tomorrow morning the art room will be filled with the smell of sukonbu.”

“Um, was that meant to be some new kind of terrorism,” Ginpachi interjected with a low voice.

“I mean, that kind of thing doesn’t even smell that strongly, does it.”

“Since I left behind seven pieces, the smell is intense, aru.”

“Yeah, we probably don’t need to discuss that any more,”

Ginpachi said, and then added, “Well, it’s fine, right.”

“So the three of us have matching faces. Together let's go on a lost article recovery tour.”

“No way, aru! What are two people planning to do bringing me to the science prep room at night, aru!”

Disregarding that Kagura-chan was grabbing onto her own shoulders, Shinpach and Ginpachi quickly held onto the school gate.

*

Well then, inside the school building at night.

Walking through a hallway devoid of life, Shinpachi, Kagura-chan, and Ginpachi were the Forgotten Item Recovery Trio.

The fluorescent lights in the corridor were out. The light source that illuminated their path was the moonlight shining in from the window.

Shinpachi and Kagura-chan’s slippers made a squish, squish sound, and behind them, Ginpachi’s cheap sandals made a slap, slap sound.

Three people were now walking towards the staff room. First they would recover Ginpachi’s Jump, then they would recover Shinpachi’s CD in Class 3-Z, and finally they would recover Kagura-chan’s sukonbu in the other building’s art room; that was the route that the three people had arranged.

“Even so it’s scary, to walk this way…”

As they walked through the dim corridor, Shinpachi timidly muttered.

Before long, the party was close to the staff room. Ten meters down the hallway, they could see a plate with “Staff Room” hanging from the wall.

Just as he saw the plate, Shinpachi suddenly remembered something.

A chill went through him, and he stopped in his tracks.

“Shinpachi, what’s wrong, aru?” Kagura-chan asked.

“Y- yeah,” Shinpachi gulped and said.

“No, I just recalled something unpleasant…”

“Something like shitting yourself on Parent Visitation Day during your first year?” said Kagura-chan.

“No, I don’t have that kind of past. Don’t make up things as you wish.”

After instructing the Chinese girl, Shinpachi continued.

“No, the thing I remembered was, you know… the ‘Seven Mysteries of Gintama High’ type of thing.”

“Seven mysteries?” Kagura-chan tilted her head.

*

Next ->

[four-white-trees]

Sunday Six

It's the time of the week!

I've been working away and several RGG projects this week, and the one I'm most excited to show off is a lengthier fic that explores Kuwana's life as a high school teacher. This was originally meant to be a small vignette in a fic that explored all of Kuwana's transformation, but then the high school teacher took the fuck over. I'm very proud of it, however, and especially the bit I'm sharing today.

Tagging the collective @overdevelopedglasses @carbonatedcalcium @fire-tempers-steel @passthroughtime @woundedheartwithin @mike----wazowski @skysquid22

The lecture that day was over haiku, which Kitakata usually enjoyed, especially with third-years. By then, students had grown up with haiku all their lives, so he was able to pull a deeper discussion of meaning, construction, and language. He’d start with one that always got laughs from the class: 

Over-ripe sushi,

The Master

Is full of regret.

- Yosa Buson

“What strikes you about this?” he asked, raking his gaze over the class. His eyes lingered on Kusumoto’s empty desk. 

“Someone needs to learn how to make sushi,” Kawai said, drawing a laugh from Suzuki and Akaike. 

“But he’s a Master,” Sawa pointed out. “He knows how to make sushi. I think there’s something very sad about someone who knows better but still makes such a basic mistake as preparing old sushi.” She locked her eyes with Kitakata then, a flare of indignation in her eyes. Kitakata plastered on a smile. 

“Quite good, Sawa-chan,” he said. “Although perhaps sadness is not the emotion to take from this. Rather, think of it as a warning to remain humble in your craft. You can always make a mistake, no matter how good you are.” 

The look in Sawa’s eyes seemed to intensify, and then she dropped them to her notebook as she scratched out some notes. 

He moved on to a famous poem that everyone in the room was guaranteed to know. 

An old silent pond...

A frog jumps into the pond,

splash! Silence again.

- Matsuo Bashō

“This one is about serene nature,” Suzuki offered. “I like it. It seems like such a peaceful scene.” 

“That it is,” Kitakata said with a nod. “Notice how Bashō is able to paint a dynamic picture in so few words. The energy moves from stillness, to movement, and back to stillness, like the cycles of life itself.” 

“Seems too boring to be real life,” Kawai suggested. “Maybe back in the samurai times this made sense, but today? We have cars, man.” 

“So you’re saying this haiku lacks a sense of timelessness?” Kitakata pressed. 

Kawai shrugged, but Akaike took up the conversation. “Yeah, I think it does. The modern world is just too different. I don’t even know the last time I saw a frog was.” 

“Perhaps this can serve us modern people as a reminder to slow down, then,” Kitakata suggested. 

“No way,” Kawai said. “You slow down, you fall behind.” 

“Interesting perspective, Kawai-kun,” Kitakata said. He turned to Sawa. “What do you think, Sawa-chan?” 

Sawa fiddled with her pencil, looking thoughtful. “I think there’s an overwhelming sense to the silence of the pond. Even though the frog disrupts the silence temporarily, it returns, and it’s like the frog had never even jumped at all.” 

Kitakata let a silence hang after Sawa’s words, surprised by her perspective. The silence was disrupted, however, by Kawai and Suzuki’s laughter. “You’re such a downer, Sawa-chan,” Kawai said, earning him a glare from his classmate. 

Shaking himself from the reverie, Kitakata moved on before Kawai and Sawa started arguing. 

My life, -

How much more of it remains?

The night is brief.

- Masaoka Shiki

As Kitakata recited it, he caught Akaike and Kawai exchanging an incredulous look. “Now, I think this one resonates with me a little more than you,” Kitakata said. “You are all at the beginning of your lives, and you don’t get a sense of mortality until you’re an old man like me.” 

Suzuki giggled. “You’re not old, sensei,” she said. 

“See? That’s the correct response, very good, Suzuki-chan,” Kitakata said, and Suzuki giggled more. “Still, it is good to keep your own mortality in mind, even at your age,” he went on. “You aren’t invincible, as much as it may feel that way. Now, I’m not saying any of you are going to die young.” He paused and swept his gaze over the classroom again. Kawai rolled his eyes. “But you never know.” He smirked, and Akaike chuckled. 

He lectured on a few more haiku, but the end of class came quickly. He dismissed the class, hoping to make a quick exit, when Sawa stood up. He recalled, then, that she had asked to talk to him the day before, and he had completely forgotten about it. But before he could address her, Kawai jumped up.

“Sensei,” he said, drawing Kitakata’s attention. He closed the distance between his desk and the podium in two long strides. Lowering his voice, he asked, “My grade’s pretty bad, huh? Think there’s a way I can make up some of those missed assignments?” 

Kitakata sighed. “Kawai-kun, you know I don’t give out extra credit,” he responded. “That’s more work for me.” 

Kawai smiled, embodying all the cocky self-assurance a seventeen-year-old could. “Yeah, but I’m your favorite student, right?” he said with laughter in his voice. 

Behind him, Kitakata noticed Sawa’s shoulder sag. She gathered her backpack and left the room. He should have called to her to stay, as he had no intention of entertaining Kawai’s nonsense, but he was also eager to get home and relax. Perhaps whatever issue she had had already been sorted out. 

“The best way to salvage yourself here is to stay on top of everything for the rest of the term,” Kitakata said firmly. “Then, Heaven help you, you may have a chance.” 

If Kawai was disappointed by this response, he didn’t show it at all. “You got it, sensei,” he said. He grabbed his notebook, which Kitakata had noticed he hadn’t written in all class, and joined his usual crew out in the hall. 

“Idiot kid,” Kitakata muttered under his breath. He gathered his notes together and picked up the textbook he had been teaching from. As he placed his bookmark back in it, his eyes fell over another haiku. Perhaps it was the end-of-the-day fatigue, but the words caused a prickle of goosebumps to kiss his neck. 

I kill an ant

and realize my three children

have been watching.

- Kato Shuson

[jichanxo]

[jichanxo]

girl sensei ❤

[jichanxo]

yagami/kuwana/kitakata artdump

[jichanxo]

sensei's deep in thought in the staffroom

[jichanxo]

[jichanxo]

speedpaint below the cut

[jichanxo]

workplace romance, or something

[jichanxo]

[jichanxo]

quick sensei!au kuwagami as a gift to myself ❤

[jichanxo]

kitakata sensei au stuff [from sept/2023]