Navigating the world of teaching on a low salary and high hospital bills to pay

I'll do it myself

His sister-in-law ended up fitting perfectly into class... a little too perfect but he was happy she seemed to be having a good time. Even though she was acting at least she was happy!

Though, that didn't take away the pain of seeing his severely reduced paycheque thanks to her actions; he'd cried in the bathroom for a long time while she'd raided his fridge for pudding.

"Seriously, are you still crying?" Kayano had looked unimpressed when he'd finally emerged from the bathroom.

"Half my pay is gone," Koro-sensei argued, while she sat down on the sofa eating his pudding. "And stop stealing my food!"

She took an obnoxiously long spoonful of pudding in response. "Look, if you need a loan, just say so."

He swiped the pudding from her. "No."

"Hey! I was eating that!" she complained.

Koro-sensei kept the pudding out of reach. "If you're going to stay here, can you please leave me something to eat?"

"Who says I'm staying here?" Kayano raised an eyebrow, stretching on the sofa. "This place is a dump."

His eye twitched from agitation. "It is not a dump!"

That was a lie, it was kind of a dump, but she didn't have to be so blunt about it; he still had feelings!

"Anyway, my old agent managed to find me a nice apartment in the city, so I'll just stay there," she said casually.

Koro-sensei frowned, feeling a rise of concern. "Akari, you can't just live alone in the city, it's dangerous."

Her brow furrowed, shooting him an odd look. "How? I lived alone for three months in LA when I was twelve and nothing happened."

He nearly choked. "WHAT!?"

She shrugged. "I had a maid, so it's not like it was a big deal. Plus, the staff were nice."

Koro-sensei grew flustered. "That's not safe!" A thousand thoughts raced through his head as he imagined what could have happened. "How could your father even leave you alone for so long?"

She stared at him like he was stupid. "The same kind who barely visits his daughter in the hospital."

He grimaced slightly. "...Regardless, you can't just live alone." He crossed his arms sternly. "It'll just make Aguri worry."

Kayano frowned. "Have you seen this place?" She gestured around the messy apartment. "Living here is a health hazard."

He bristled a little but didn't let that deter him. "This is nothing a little elbow grease can't fix!" He placed the pudding on the counter and rolled up his sleeves. "I may have let some things go slack, but no more!"

She arched an eyebrow. "It's nearly 8 PM, you can't just start cleaning—"

He was already getting the cleaning supplies out from under the sink.

***

In the end, it took him five hours to get the whole apartment sparkling clean. Kayano had made herself comfortable on the sofa and fallen asleep.

Koro-sensei rubbed his eyes blearily as he looked at the time, his clothes filthy from scrubbing the floors and every corner of the home. "Clean enough to fry an egg..." He yawned loudly and clumsily crawled over to the sofa, collapsing on the rug. "It looks... brand new..."

Besides a few cracks here or there, everything was clean and tidy. Items stored away and out of sight.

Kayano snored from the sofa, snuggling her face into the cushion, as an empty pot of pudding fell to the floor.