Interesting," Rias said shaking her head. "Is it just me or does he have a noticeable aura of power around him?"
"It's not just you," Akeno said from behind her, shivering in place and licking her lips slightly. "I felt it too. A powerful aura, though a very odd one. It looked like a strange dichotomy of light and dark, as if each side was somehow two sides of a coin rather than the usual mix, and I could be wrong but there also seemed a bit of animal to it too."
"That is what I sensed too, the animal part, not the strange dichotomy," Rias said. "I wonder if he has a Sacred Gear, or if he's some kind of Magician from the Magical Association? I can send some magic around him too."
"Most Magicians aren't that powerful though," Sona muttered shaking her head, having felt some of the same things that her friends had, as did Tsubaki Shinra, her vice president. "Nonetheless, we'll find out more in time. Come on, it wouldn't due for four honor students to be late to the induction ceremony, would it?"
OOOOOOO
My God when they said the ratio between boys and girls was uneven I didn't realize it was this bad! Harry thought to himself as he stood with the other new teachers, nodding his head towards the crowd as he was introduced. There can't be more than one boy for every seven or eight girls max!
The headmaster having finished introducing Harry and the other new teachers Harry sat back down. He listened to the rest of the ceremony while his eyes roamed over the crowd, trying not to let them linger on any of the frankly gorgeous looking young women out there. After several weeks without any physical affection that was hard, but Harry kept the fact he was a teacher now firmly in mind and fought back his body's demands.
Harry noticed one blonde girl was looking back at him intently, her eyes narrowed in thought. She was very attractive as well, with a chest that was close to the two he had seen that morning, dark brown eyes and a clear, healthy expression and a lively looking face. He couldn't figure out why she was staring at him so intensely, but decided to put it out of his mind for now.
Instead, he concentrated on what the principal was saying as he forced his mind into teacher mode, readying himself for his first-class. There was no gym class today since gym classes were all scheduled on Tuesdays and Thursdays with a shorter class on Saturday. But he had four classes of English to teach today.
Harry walked into his new class confidently. He didn't actually have a specific classroom assigned to him since as a new teacher he hadn't been given authority over a homeroom class and in Japan outside of lab classes teachers traveled to their classrooms rather than the students coming to them. That of course made him unable to rearrange the classroom as he wanted, but Harry was fine with that.
After a few minutes writing on the whiteboard he turned with a smile. "Good morning class, my name is Mr. Potter, and I am your new English teacher." He then repeated himself in Japanese. "I will be taking role now and then we can get down to business."
At the sound of his only slightly accented Japanese the girls and two boys in this class all blinked in shock looking at the foreign teacher in the interest. Many of the girls had hearts in their eyes, others were just as obviously undressing him, while the two boys seemed to be glaring at him. Harry had no idea what was going on there, though he had a good idea as to what was happening on the girl's side of things. No Harry, bad Harry, don't look at your students like that!
"Now, as a new teacher I'm sure you're curious about me, just as I am curious about you. So for half the period we will play a little game. You can ask me any questions you like, so long as they are in English. I reserve the right to not answer of course if they are too personal, and I will be asking the students who volunteer to try one or two questions in turn, which they must answer in English. If a student can answer all three questions without any coaching from her or his fellows, they will receive a get out of homework card they can use this first month if they so wish," Harry said before falling silent, not repeating himself in Japanese this time.
Knowing how much prior knowledge this class, which was a sophomore level class, Harry was unsurprised to see that a little under a third of the students raised their hands while the others slowly worked through what he said. English was apparently very hard of Japanese to learn just like vice-versa, but Kuoh was a very prestigious school. With that in mind he smiled and moved around his desk to lean against the front of it staring out over his students.
When he spoke, he spoke in English first, then Japanese once more. "Please state your name first then your question. Remember however, that I did say I reserve the right to not answer any question I deem too personal or disruptive to the class."
To his amusement those last two points seemed to curb the student's enthusiasm, but there were still four hands to choose from. One was one of the two boys, and Harry pointed at him. "Karisomo, Hayate sensei. Are you from England or from America?"
"I am from Britain, which is England yes. Are there any good family restaurants around here?" Harr asked.
"A few," Hayate replied, then began to list a few such, starting from the nearest, and even gave directions, all in English before translating back to Japanese. The young boy, a rather mousy sort both in size and attitude, knew his stuff.
Harry waved him back into his seat and turned to the next, a tall, athletic looking girl who asked whether Harry played any sports, and if he was also going to be their Phys Ed. teacher, something that had been mentioned in the introduction ceremony. Harry answered in the affirmative, then asked about the school's sports clubs, and if there was a self-defense seminar or club. The girl, whose name was Murayama Shiratori (though she introduced herself family name first, which Harry knew was the Japanese way), replied with a quizzical expression. "I'm not certain if I understand Sensei, what do you mean a self-defense club? We have kendo and various martial arts clubs..."
"Those are nice and all, but if you don't walk around with a, what do you call those wooden play swords?"
Murayama bristled slightly at the 'play swords' line, but still answered. "We call them bokken sensei."
"Yes those. But what if you don't have one on you? What if you find yourself in a situation where you're suddenly set upon or have your purse stolen from you? That is what I mean when I talk about defense. It is more of a mindset than anything else, though I suppose martial arts clubs and the like would be able to teach the same thing." Harry replied, waving the girl into her chair. "Well done Shiratori-san."
This left only two more students with their hands up and Harry saw they were the two girls he had noticed this morning. Smiling, he gestured to the one with black hair to ask her question first, trying as hard as he could to keep his eyes on their faces as he did.
"Himejima Akeno, sensei. Can I ask what brings you to Japan, and what do you miss most from Britain?" Akeno said, smiling back, though there was something in her violet eyes that made Harry's spine stiffen slightly, though he hid it well. That is a far more mature look than I'd have expected from a normal high school student.
"A chance to start over and a very well-paying job brought me to Japan. As for what I miss most, I suppose that I have yet to get used to the local teas, and much of the local food is still new to me. Not bad, I hasten to add, just new." Harry replied, then paused and asked, "Now for my question: Is the cafeteria here any good, and if so what would you recommend?"
"It is alright I suppose sensei, but most of the good food goes quickly," Akeno laughed, raising one hand to hide her mouth, something that made Harry angle his head to one side in question. "Even girls get hungry sensei, and the cafeteria can be something of a battlefield at times. I would recommend that you bring something to eat, lest you be mobbed in your pursuit of food, both for that, and for… other things…" Akeno finished slowly, her eyes raking Harry up and down.
If Harry had been a younger man he might have blushed. Instead, he simply smiled, crossing his arms over his chest and looked back, shaking his head. "Unfortunately I wasn't looking for food for myself here on campus but something to take home for dinner for my daughter and me since I doubt I'll have time to make us anything after finishing here." At least not until I get used to the workload.
There was a loud murmuring at that throughout the class, as he translated his words to Japanese as he had been doing all along. At the back of the class one girl, who Harry couldn't' see through her fellows, whispered loudly, "So he's a DILF? Oh that's so hot!"
That made Harry nearly lose his cool and laugh out loud, but he coughed into his hand and quickly turned to the last student who had raised her hand to answer his earlier challenge. "Yes, well, last student. Then we are going to do a few group exercises to give me an idea of your grasp on grammar, vocabulary and above all the written version of English. In fact Ms. Akeno if you could hand these papers out while your friend here asks her questions?"
Akeno answered in the affirmative, getting up from her seat quickly. She made a point of rubbing slightly against Harry as he stood by the papers before turning away, not having gotten any reaction from him, which she thought was both a pity and rather telling. Mr. Potter might be young for a teacher, but he has a certain amount of self-control. But this close I can sense more of the animalistic side of him. He's definitely a were-creature of some kind.
For her part Rias smiled thinking of what to ask. She knew what most of the class was interested in, but she knew that Mr. Potter would not respond to such personal questions such as if he was married or not. Besides, she had already spotted the answer. He wore no ring on his finger any longer but there was a slight band of discoloration on his ring finger. That meant he had been married at one point, and if it had ended poorly for whatever reason. Rias had no interest in opening up that can of worms.
Instead she decided to get to know him another way, through his daughter. "My name is Gremory Rias sensei. You mentioned a daughter, what is she like, and does she go to school near here? Can she speak Japanese as well as you can?"
It was immediately evident that she had taken the right tack as Harry's eyes and face softened noticeably. A look of love came into those emerald eyes that quite took the breath away from many of the girls looking at him, including Rias, though she didn't show it as much as those around her.
Reaching into a pocket Harry pulled out a nonmagical photograph of Lily Luna, smiling at it before handing it to the girl in the desk right in front of him. "That's my little Red Moon, Lily Luna. She is a bundle of energy, quite intelligent for her age."
While the girls of the classroom all cooed about the photo or shot looks between it and Rias, Harry went on to answer the rest of Rias' questions. He had already noticed that Rias' hair was only a little darker than his daughter's. "I enrolled her in Kuoh Elementary, and yes she can speak Japanese. We both have a good ear for languages, which has served us well here. The culture is still an issue but I think we are settling down as well as we can."
When it reached her, Rias understood immediately why people had been looking between her and the girl. The hair color and some of the face did look like the two of them could be related. Still, Rias knew they weren't it was simply a coincidence. Though she did think the young girl was a real cutie pie.
"Hmmm… as for my question…" Harry thought for a moment, not wanting to waste his question on what he thought obvious: that the girl was related to the man who had offered him this position, Sirzechs. Yet for some reason Harry was having a lot of trouble stopping himself from asking any one of a dozen inappropriate questions that had been going through his mind since Akeno had eyed him moments ago.
After a few seconds contemplation as his picture returned to him and Akeno signaled she was done passing out papers Harry shrugged. "For my question Ms. Gremory, answer me this: where around here would I go to purchase some good teas?"
Rias smiled happily, and went into a lengthy explanation of a few of the local tea stores while Akeno reclaimed her seat pouting slightly. She habitually made the two of them tea whenever they were in their club room, but Rias too enjoyed making and drinking it.
Smiling at the redhead's enthusiasm, Harry clapped his hands looking around at all of the students, making a point to nod at the four who had taken up his challenge. "Very well done, I am impressed. However we need to make certain that your information and knowledge is not the exception but the rule." He said once more in English then converting to Japanese.
"In front of you is a page of multiple choice and short answer questions. Don't worry, this is not going to be graded, this is only for my own understanding of your individual levels. You have fifteen minutes to complete these, then we will go over the sheet together for the rest of the time. In the last five minutes we will discuss required reading and the syllabus for this course."
Harry spent the next fifteen minutes walking around the room, talking quietly to any student who needed his help. He found that some of the girls still tried to make doe eyes at him but didn't thankfully outright flirt with him, though Akeno did wink at him, and Rias smiled at him before looking away demurely.
The class were all finished the assessment paper in the allotted time, and Harry spent the rest of the class doing as he said he would. When they got to it they were several questions about the syllabus, noticeably about how little actual graded quizzes there were, and the amount of reading homework which was a marked difference from their first classes. There were also a few questions about how Harry wanted them to record themselves speaking specific lines in English and prepare them for class the next day.
Some of his choices for reading were also questioned, since he hadn't included as many of the known classics as was normal. Instead he had mixed in several modern fantasy and science fiction novels and even magazines from popular culture. Harry answered their questions easily, and the class realized to an individual that maybe this class was actually going to be fun.
Altogether Harry was quite happy how his first class had gone, and dismissed his first class happily. Now he had lunch free before his next class, though the rest of the day would see him without further breaks.
"Potter-sensei," Akeno said, moving towards him as the rest of the class hurried out, while Rias waited nearby to ask her own question. Akeno stood almost pressing Harry back against his desk, obviously flirting with him in a way he was surprised to see from a student to a teacher. "Seeing as you mentioned being concerned about being able to cook for you and your daughter, I could stop by this evening and cook you something?"
Surprised, and despite himself becoming quite excited by the girl's closeness Harry almost replied in the affirmative before his self-control reasserted himself. Down boy, she's a student remember, and a high school girl, no matter that she has a body any adult woman would kill for GAH stop it! "That would hardly be appropriate Himejima-san. What would people think of you being alone in a teacher's house?"
"Ara, but I wouldn't be alone with you would I, your daughter would be there too," Akeno replied disingenuously. "Besides, I am certain you wouldn't do anything I wouldn't want you to after all."
"I think that would rather be the problem Himejima-san, what exactly would you not like me to do to you?" Harry replied before he could stop himself, his voice deepening for a moment as his eyes bore into Akeno's. To Akeno's chagrin she was the first to look away, a blush coming to her cheeks.
Shaking his head Harry regained control of himself and turned away to fiddle with some papers on his desk. "Thank you for the offer though, it was very kind."
Akeno nodded her head still looking away rather flustered and moved toward the door, while behind her Rias chuckled, shaking her head. It was obvious that while you could get Mr. Potter to respond to physical flirtations, he would either reply in kind and turn the attack back on you or ignore it and make you feel silly. I suppose he is more experienced than either Akeno or I attempt to fool ourselves and others into thinking. In any event, that kind of flirtation is more Akeno's style than mine.
No, it's best to go for a soft sell to find out what exactly Mr. Potter is and if he would like to join my peerage. Rias did not like trying to manipulate people, she was honestly quite a straightforward girl when she could be. But at present she was facing an issue in the near future that was slowly starting to dominate her mind and she had to do something to combat it.
To get out of that fate, she was willing to be underhanded. And besides, it isn't like I am going to hurt Harry or his daughter, she consoled herself. And they can always say no, I refuse to force anyone to join if they don't want to. I'd rather have friends than nothing.
Moving forward to take her friend's place near Mr. Potter, Rias kept some distance between them unlike Akeno, just enough to make their talk more informal but not close enough to make it seem she was flirting with him. "I wanted to ask Mr. Potter if you have decided if you will oversee a club yet? You mentioned something about defense?"
"I haven't no, but as for defense that is a passion of mine you might say, though given how many martial arts clubs Shiratori-san mentioned it doesn't seem to be necessary. Why, do you have a club in mind, or would you like some defense lessons?" Harry asked looking at the redhead with interest.
Now that Akeno wasn't flirting with him and there weren't other people around, Harry became aware of a feeling in the air, a sense just beyond his ability to discern. It was like Rias was giving off a kind of magical aura, but not one he was familiar with, just like the ones he had sometimes sensed walking around town. Interesting.
"Well, I happen to be the president of the Occult Research Club. We go around looking at mysteries and discuss the supernatural." Rias smiled at Harry, noticing his lips twitching at that, not as if he was making fun of her, but as if he knew something she didn't.
Rias saw that, and realized that yes, Mr. Potter knew what he was and about the occult world, or at least parts of it. That would make it easier to approach him later on. "We don't have an advisor however, Miss Imuya left after the school declared it would become coed. If you think you could, that would be a major help in organizing trips and other things of that nature. We could also be open to babysitting Lily Luna after school if you're busy with paperwork or just want a night out on the town Sensei."
"Hmm… I'll think about it Gremory-san," Harry said, standing fully upright and gesturing toward the door. This brought him slightly into Rias' personal space, which caused her to blush for some reason, though he didn't notice. "For now though I think you should get to your next class before you're late."
Rias nodded bowed politely. "In that case I will see you tomorrow Sensei." Despite her desire not to come on physically as Akeno had however she couldn't stop herself from adding an extra little swing to her hips as she turned away and Rias smiled when she spotted Harry's eyes trailing down her back in the door's window as she made for the door.
Shaking his head Harry moved around the desk to stand by his heretofore unused chair. This is going to be an interesting job for certain. I wonder if I really understood what I'd be getting into as a teacher, especially here…
End Chapter