that's rad

There was pity in Octavio’s blank stare. Pity that this professor, the professor in charge of fight club, and potentially really cool guy was just another old guy with no understanding of the modern age whatsoever. Of course, Octavio was being dramatic. He was always dramatic.

Throwing one arm around the professor’s shoulders, he dragged Kiryu in and pointed the camera at the both of them. What was personal space, anyway? Flipping the recording back on, he started again,  ❝ This is the guy in charge of that club that I joined with the crazy kid in the golf cart–that video’s not up yet, but you’ll see what I mean soon. Say “¡hola!” professor! ❞

Once he was satisfied with Kiryu’s response, Octavio pressed pause again and pulled away. He hoisted himself up onto the nearest windowsill in the hallway, sitting so one leg dangled and his heel kicked the wall in a repetitive thump thump thump.

❝ Soooooo, I heard you killed a guy. What’s that all about? ❞

Suddenly seeing his face on camera and realizing that hundreds of people might see him bring all sorts of discomfort to the professor. ❝Um, what?❞ is all he could muster, mostly because he would like some context on that golf cart story but the moment is over as quickly as it started. He should probably tell this kid to cut that part out because he highly doubts having his face out in the online public isn’t really going to help him with keeping his location undisclosed from those who are out for his blood.

He straightens his blazer once Silva has finally pulled away. ❝Hey kid, you should probably leave me out of that—❞ He starts but is immediately interrupted by the young man’s bold, unexpected question. The kid just brought it up nonchalantly as if they are merely discussing the weather. Kiryu pauses and stares at him with so much incredulity, one would have thought he’d just shake his head and walk away.

But that would be a cowardice response and Kiyu Kazuma is no coward!

continuation from [x]

❝You’re already doing a good job of keeping the campus safe. You shouldn’t exert yourself more than what your body is capable of.❞ He has always been very appreciative of campus security even if he doesn’t show it as well as he should. Their mere presence keeps students in their best behavior and they remind him that discipline is still valuable in today’s youth. He’s heard of the constant parties the kids throw in the dead of most nights and he could only imagine just how many hours of sleep their officers have been deprived of.

He feels bad for them. He really does. But this is also beyond his control so there’s nothing much he could do but to offer one of them a quick snack and a cup of coffee from his own supply.

She was doing so well. So well to repress the memory of the previous night, but alas, the memories were too strong.

In her procrastination of her studies she’d stumbled across a random fluff shonen anime complete with uninspiring writing and cliches out the wazoo. She thought to turn her brain off and it to make fun of it through its runtime, but…

She got a little too attached to the two bit characters.

“I-I’m sorry, professor…! It’s just…” The tears began welling as the memory became clearer. “It’s just, Satoshi promised Hanako that they’d return to the usual place after the battle, and then *sniff* and then, in the battle, Satoshi sacrificed himself so that the-the…! The hillside…! And then I looked outside and saw a hill and…!”

She buried her face in her hands for a moment before reaching for a handkerchief and blowing her nose.

“I mean, he’s the protagonist, right?!” She looked back up to the intimidating man with a bit more fire in her eyes. “You can’t do that! He was supposed to have plot armour!” 

Is she... crying?

❝I... I’m sorry to hear that...❞ He really has no idea what she’s going on about and for a moment, he thought she’s crying over the death of an actual person whose flourishing romance failed to reach its final bloom. He truly would have understood why the walls that kept this young lady strong have now collapsed to pitiful shambles. A story of such tragedy would have had his eyes brimming heavy with tears as well.

But apparently, she’s talking about fictional people and that’s just a whole new different level of understanding that Kiryu has yet to grasp. How does one comfort someone who’s only crying over dead characters made up by a remarkably innovative individual?

❝Erm...❞ He clears his throat and looks around in search of something that could possibly help him cheer her up. But instead, he sees other students watching them with either inquisitive or accusing glances. Realization dawns visibly on his features and he quickly looks back at the young woman. Now he really needs to cheer her up because people are starting to get the wrong idea.

The question startled Octavio. He lurched dramatically, looking over his shoulder at the approaching professor. Had it been any other professor, he probably would have made any excuse to peace out as quickly as possible. Maybe that was because he’d never attended any of this professor’s notoriously boring lectures. But it wasn’t the lectures Octavio cared about, it was the fact this was the professor in charge of Fight Club–and that was cool in his book. Weird murderous rumors aside.

❝ Si, it’s a vlog. Duh! ❞ Oh no, did this potentially really cool professor live under a rock? Octavio paused the recording to spin around and face the guy, showing off his phone by spinning it through his fingers. ❝ Got to keep the fans updated, even on slow days! ❞

And boy was it a slow day. This was the one day that Octavio had four whole classes piled onto each other. He tried to put as many classes into as few days as possible, so he’d have more time for more interesting things in his “down time.” 

❝ Do you even use the internet? ❞

❝A vlog, huh?❞ He’s heard of that before but he can’t say he’s ever actually tried watching one. Why should he care what other people do with their lives? It’s none of his business. But this young man claims to have fans so perhaps he is a celebrity of some sort. The campus security must be doing a good job in keeping the paparazzi from entering the premises then. Kiryu makes a mental note to thank them later.

❝Of course I use the internet.❞ The professor brings his hand up to rub his chin in genuine thought, not even affected by the young man’s flippant tone. ❝Google and Wikihow have helped me in situations that I thought were beyond repair.❞ 

❝This is taking longer than ‘five minutes’, you know.❞ Kiryu finally decides to voice his annoyance after fifteen minutes of keeping this kid balanced on his shoulders. 

It isn’t exactly tiring to be carrying Desaulniers for this long but Kiryu still believes the young aspiring artist is overstaying his welcome because despite several sounds of his camera clicking, he still hasn’t said a word nor made a gesture that he has finally taken the picture he’s been trying to get.

Kiryu knows that he should have just said no because who on earth asks a professor if he could get up on his shoulders to get a better angle of his subject? Then again, this wasn’t even Desaulniers’ idea so perhaps he shouldn’t really be pointing fingers here. This is the last time he ever suggests something just for the sake of helping a student out.

He doesn’t often think of himself as the ideal person to talk to when it comes to venting out emotions. Sometimes he’s not entirely sure how to react, and sometimes he reacts too much that it just pushes people away. There’s just no in-between for him in regards to what the social norms are these days.

But he’ll be damned if he pretends not to notice that young woman appearing to be very upset over something. He can’t put a name to her face so it’s safe to assume that she’s not a student of his. Nevertheless, that’s not gonna stop him from lending a helping hand should she need one.

❝Oi, why are you talking to yourself?❞

A question brought up with genuine curiosity, Kiryu pauses on his steps to take a good look at what one of his students could possibly be doing with their phone. Phones are meant for communication between two individuals who are tied with the unfortunate inconvenience of distance, or at least that’s what the criminology professor initially thought. 

Instead, he sees Silva facing his phone to himself and just seems to be talking to his own mirrored image on the screen.

As Kiryu takes another step closer, he also sees himself in the young man’s phone and he comes to realize that the front camera is on. A confused frown etches on his features and moves his gaze away from the phone and to his student.

kiryu kazuma / 37 

a criminology professor and fight club supervisor

formerly a yakuza but was expelled after everyone was lead to believe he murdered one of the patriarchs of their clan

but really, he only willingly took the fall for his oath brother’s crime and spent ten years in prison for it #brosforlife

has never really killed anyone but rumours say otherwise

moved to north america because the yakuza are out for his blood

only got a job as a professor thanks to his father who pulled a few strings for him

has an eight-year-old adoptive daughter, haruka. he sometimes lets one of his most trusted students babysit her when needed

does a lot of cheesy inspirational speeches to motivate his students

often perceived as intimidating but he’s really a Big Softie

could never say no to those who go to him for help, no matter how ridiculous their favors are