A Lingering Touch (Junjou Romantica)

[1]

Throughout his years of working for Mitsuhashi, Kamijou Hiroki kept himself out of any problems. Keeping out of anyone's way worked to his advantage, normally he wasn't the sociable type, so staff members had nothing too bad to say about him. He didn't bother to talk to other professors half the time, the free time he had in between classes, he used to read or grade any papers before he left for the day. Most of them didn't have his love of books which had him speaking to them unless he had a reason. Although, he was certain the avoidance of the other professors painted an obnoxious persona to him anyway. Not that he cared when many of them just went for a paycheck and not to earnestly teach their students. He was there to work and spread his knowledge of literature. Having a social life wasn't the first priority in his list.

Despite the variety of students who couldn't care less about his teachings, he wanted to present his favorite authors in the most positive matter. Having open discussions about a certain passage and getting his students to share his passion for the written word was something he hoped happened in his classroom. But he noticed the eagerness students used to have in answering questions didn't transcend into university.

Then again, he used his own experience in his literature classes as an example. He was more than willing to give his own open discussion about a book in a heartbeat.

There was another assistant professor named Tsumori, who he remembered him from T University. They always clashed opinions with him whenever they got in the same room. Hiroki took it upon himself to ignore him but for some reason, the man pestered him any time he saw him. The importance of his career overshadowed any debate with someone he didn't get along with. When he found out he shared an office with Yoh Miyagi, he got the room at the end of the hall and it was far away from Tsumori.

Having to share an office with another established professor lessened their interactions. This made Hiroki's life at the university more tolerable, well less stressful. Despite the students lack of interest, he placed his focus on them. Giving them plenty of essays didn't kill him, reading the wrong interpretations and horrible grammar did.

Hiroki expected Professor Miyagi to seem cool and serious, considering he was a respected literature professor but he turned into this jokester. The disillusionment in his vision of this man shocked him but he quickly got over it. Their friendship gathered at a slow pace but Hiroki let Miyagi slightly get inside of his head. It was almost comparable to his friendship with Akihiko.

The timeline for his road to getting certified as a true professor was on the right course. He assumed it was on the right course due to Miyagi explaining how he got his place in Mitsuhashi through their conversations. Which presented him with a good road in what he had to accomplish and gathering more feedback in how he handled his class.

He had nothing to worry about, well, he thought nothing bad would happen to him.

When the secretary from the Dean's office called their phone. Hiroki was left stumped at the explanation she gave him when he talked to her. The vague words didn't provide any proper clues on why his presence was required.

Hiroki put his bag on his shoulder as he rubbed his temples. The timing to go to the Dean's office wasn't favorable, he was in the middle of grading papers and in half an hour he had to give a lecture.

Miyagi dismissed his fears with his usual lame jokes. He had an encouraging smile on his face as he lightly pushed him out of their office.

Hiroki had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Putting on a strong front, he hurried over to Dean Takatsuki's office before the man thought he didn't consider this meeting important enough to hurry.

Xxxxxx

Sitting in front of Dean Takatsuki, Hiroki fiddled with his fingers in nervousness. The Dean's body language and overall demeanor wasn't giving him a positive picture. Maybe his performance wasn't up to standards or the scores of his students revealed a lack in his teaching ability. On his last review, his report specified there was nothing to complain about in his teaching methods. No other reasons entered his mind, he drew a blank on any possible reasons for his presence.