Never—
—the sensei sitting in front of Hito in the classroom coughed. "What world are you lost in, Tadano?"
Snapping out of his bad memory (of setting the island on fire), he looked at his homeroom teacher, a man with broad shoulders, who wore glasses and had slipped his hair to one side.
Besides Sensei was the school counselor. Hair tied into a bun, she wore a cream color blouse over a skirt. She sat with her legs crossed and her hands folded over a paper pad.
Hito had come in the school uniform – a white shirt above black pants. Since this was the last second-time third years would come to the school, they were supposed to wear the school's black blazers, but everyone in the school knew Hito would never wear a blazer.
The teachers had scolded him for not wearing the blazer, even punished him for wearing his sweater instead of the blazer and a sweater, but he had grown prone to it, and so had the teachers as time passed.
The counselor sighed. "Let us start again, shall we, Tadano-Kun? It looks like you were distracted by your hometown's name. No problem if you do not want to specify it."
"Sorry about that, Sensei. What was the question?" Hito rested his back on the chair and adjusted his shirt. Then looking at his homeroom sir, he tugged at the shirt's collar. "Can I open at least one button of this thing?"
Hito liked to keep the top two buttons open (including the one we have to button for tying a tie), so keeping it buttoned during the meeting was making him uncomfortable.
His Sensei raised his eyes, then gestured at the counselor. She noticed the eye sign and adjusted herself on the chair.
Hito sighed and dropped his hand from the shirt's neck.
"Uh, Tadano-Kun," she decided to get back to the career topic. After she took a look at something on the pad (probably the Career Preference form Hito had filled out), then said, "It says that you want to be a teacher when you grow up." She squinted at him.
With confidence, he nodded.
"Is that what you want to be?" Was she testing him?
"Why did I write it then if I did not want to be one?" The summer heat and the irritation around his neck had taken over his ability to remain calm.
Homeroom Sensei glared at Hito, then the counselor stretched her hand – telling him to sit back.
"Okay. Do you like teaching?"
"I have never taught before, but it is the only thing I can imagine myself doing in the future."
"And why is that?"
"Why is the reason important? It is personal."
"Ok, so what do you want to teach?"
He scoffed, "You would not understand, Sensei."
"This is my job, Tadano-Kun. I have dealt with topics harder than what you want to teach."
'I want to teach young dark wizards how to use dark magic without setting a whole island on fire.'
"I want to teach at Junior High." He shook his head. "I still do not want to specify it."
"See, Tadano-Kun." She sighed for the nth time. "I am asking so that we could have a better conversation."
"Then please get the point and change the topic." There was a sudden rise in his voice, which he immediately lowered after realizing. "I want my subject to be kept classified."
She frowned – as if asking what was so special about the subject he would teach middle-schoolers that he wants it to be classified, top secret.
"Just answer it, kid. What are the options anyway?" Homeroom Sensei said. "Literature, Business, or Arts."
Hito shifted his gaze from the counselor to his Sensei. He stared but did not say anything for a while, letting the awkward silence build up. "A PE teacher," Hito said.
"And sports… okay." Homeroom Sensei sighed helplessly. "I know you are lying, but let us consider you want to be a PE teacher."
"No, Sensei, let us get over that stupid topic," the counselor said. "Where is your father?"
'Now that should have been your question after asking about my hometown. But no, she wanted to get to his occupation first.'
"He is a religious man, always meditating on the hills. He comes down only when the cold is unbearable. Somewhere in the middle of December and January. The rest of his time is spent on the mountains."
This time, both the teachers frowned. "How come I never knew this in the last three years?"
"And your mother?" she asked.
"Well… she left my father because of the same reason I had to come alone to this meeting. Now she is with another man, god knows where. Father does not have time to ask her, and I do not want to ask her."
Homeroom Sensei frowned harder. "How come I never knew about this?"
The counselor looked at the papers a few more times, then looked up at him. "We are done here. You may leave now."