Light Switch

"Actually they're dead, sensei."

Hajime didn't go in a roundabout way in his explanation, directly telling Akamine-sensei about his parents' situation. At first, Hajime never wanted his teacher to know, but right now seemed like the opportune time to tell her. They weren't in the school setting, and moreover, he owes her a favor from three days ago. What she did was unneeded, to say the least, but she went through it anyway. To Hajime, that was a big thing, whereas Akamine-sensei just reasoned that it was her duty as a teacher to look after her students.

"..."

"I... I see..." There was a pause before Akamine-sensei muttered softly to herself, inwardly berating herself for not seeing the signs. They were all there, out in the open, it's just that she failed to see them. She's never met Hajime's parents, nor did she hear from them. Then again, Hajime was self-enrolled but she was the one who assumed that his parents were just out of town or something along those lines. While it was clear that Hajime had no parents from the start, she didn't see through it at all. 'A failure as a teacher,' She said to herself.

Almost dropping the plastic bag with ice cream, Akamine-sensei walked beside Hajime as they exited the convenience store. "I-I should've known, I'm sorry.'

Everything that Hajime did started making sense in Akamine-sensei's mind. Of course, that doesn't justify him missing out on his morning classes or him doing construction work at such a young age, but at least Akamine-sensei was finally aware of his standing.

"When did they um— "

"Last year, it was a car accident," Hajime replied. He didn't want to into all the details like how he and his younger sister were also in the car accident but they survived... or how a truck hit their car dead-on due to brake failure.

"Last year?!" Akamine-sensei was shocked beyond belief. She initially assumed that Hajime's parents died a couple of years back, seeing that Hajime is quite used to his life being alone. Even his heart had been hardened to the point where he wholly ignored the reputation he acquired in school. To say the least, Hajime didn't give off the feeling that he lost his parents quite recently— or so that's what Akamine-sensei saw superficially.

"And... your grandparents? Do you have any relatives left?" Akamine-sensei asked.

"No, my grandparents died when I was young." Hajime continued. He got over the threshold of recalling his parents and bawling his eyes out in the process. A moment ago though, his voice was getting a little shaky and he could feel tears about to burst from his eyes. He managed to suppress those impulses, fortunately. After all, he didn't want to appear like a crybaby in front of their homeroom teacher.

Something within Hajime urged him to talk about his younger sister but he didn't want to be a source of pity to their homeroom teacher. In any case, Hajime was perfectly aware that no one could and would help him regarding the situation with her sister... not because no one's willing to, but because of the amount of money involved.

'If I were to tell sensei about her, it'd just be another problem on her plate.' Hajime said to himself, remembering the shocked expression that Akamine-sensei wore when he told her about his parents' deaths.

Helplessly, Akamine-sensei bit her lips, telling herself that she shouldn't have asked such an insensitive question. To be fair, she didn't know anything... and asking a student about their parents is a normal thing to do. But then again, she felt like she overstepped her boundaries a little too much. Pursing her lips, she offered Hajime an ice cream as she unwrapped one herself. "If you need anything, Hajime, just let me know."

"Money, I need money," Hajime teased so the awkward atmosphere would disappear.

Smiling, Akamine-sensei shook her head. "I don't think I can help you in that department. I'm already struggling with myself, you know,"

"But you said 'anything', and what I need most right now is money." Hajime shrugged before he walked forward. He didn't want to overextend his joke since their homeroom teacher might take it seriously.

"I'll try to arrange a couple of things as your homeroom teacher so you can catch up with your classes. Just make sure you attend your morning classes from time to time... and don't fail your exams. Midterms are coming soon."

"Summer vacation, yes," Hajime timidly pumped a fist, remembering that Summer Vacation is just around the corner... but before that, he had to think about the School Trip. One of the cliche school experiences that everybody got to have in high school. Then again, he couldn't be bothered with it. That's why he didn't think about it too much.

Just then, the thought of Megumi came to mind and he realized that he had to attend the School Trip one way or the other. He had bodyguarding duties to do, after all, and the School Trip is technically included in his shift. 'What did I get myself into?' Hajime thought as he felt a headache coming in just from imagining how exhausting that fated day would be.

"Do they really think we haven't noticed them?" Hajime was genuinely curious since he could still see Megumi and the others from afar, trying to hide from them even though they were completely obvious.

.....

When the night finally settled in a couple of minutes later, Hajime and Akamine-sensei finally got home. Hajime realized that at this point, it won't be long now before his candles run out. He contemplated whether he should softly drive them away or let them stay a couple of minutes more for ice cream... however, he was too tired to do the former. In the end, he opened the door (he actually brought his keys... fortunately he did) and let everyone in, ignoring the fact that they were outside in the first place.

"Whoa, it's too dark in here," Fuuka commented, reaching out to one of the switches and switching it on before Hajime could warn her that there's no electricity.

Hajime let out a chuckle. 'Hah, jokes on you electricity doesn't exist in this hou— '

Click.

Click.

Before Hajime could finish his conclusion and make fun of Fuuka in his mind, the light bulb by the ceiling started blinking... blinking...

It's as if time paused for Hajime as he gasped in awe, staring at the light bulb as it flooded the room with light. For the first time ever since five or six months ago, the room was lit during the night, giving Hajime a sense of shock and mild panic.

"..."

"What on actual— " He stopped short just as he always did, trying to uphold the unwritten rule that he shouldn't curse out loud.