Before Her (Gundham Tanaka x F!reader)

Chapter 7: The Lesson

In the morning, Ibuki, Sonia, and I got dressed and waited for their parents to pick them up, or in Sonia's case, escorts. Once they left I checked my computer to see if I had gotten any notifications that I missed due to my burnout. I only found a bunch of coupons and scam magazines ads. After filtering out my junk mail, I did see one email that caught my interest. It was from the principal, Jin Kirigiri! With stark curiosity, I clicked on the email. He had said the reserve course students had been complaining about the conditions of their greenhouse and blamed the school for not giving them any sort of education or advice to fix the matter. Because reserve course students weren't allowed to enter the main building for any reason, he requested that I visited the reserve course to give a lesson on plant care. The email was sent Friday, so I still had time to reply. I didn't mind giving some advice to aspiring plant owners, so what would be the harm in going over there? II sent reply and hoped for a response soon.

Again I went back to the green house where, to my surprise, I found Tanaka waiting for me. "Hey, Tanaka! What are you doing here?" I asked with a smile.

"Oh, Y/N. Well, I enjoyed aiding you with your greenhouse the other day, so I thought you wouldn't mind if joined you again?" Obviously, I let him help. My plants were more vibrant than ever! We were almost done, but I hit a bit of an obstacle. A rat had gotten in and started to devour some crops. I was a little grossed out, but I had to stay strong. I picked up the rat with my gloves hands and did my best to keep it from making any other kind of contact. My first thought was to bring it to Tanaka. "Oh, what a promising young man! He will be perfect to train under my 12 zodiac generals!" He proclaimed. I giggled at his sincerity. "Hmm.. he seems frightened. There ,there. I just watched for a moment. He was so comforting and understanding to animals. It was just so, attractive. I was suddenly embarrassed by this thought and excused myself to go back to those crops. We eventually finished up in there and started to head home. We made  it a nearby park when we heard-

WAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!

"What was that?" I asked. I around to see a young little boy, crying. I walked up to him immediately. I proceeded to ask him questions along the lines of "Are you okay?" and "Where are your parents?", but he responded with louder sobs. I looked back at Tanaka to see if he had any idea what to do, but he seemed just as dismayed as I was. Then, I got an idea. I quickly grew a tiny flower that looked like a tulip, but it was one of my special breeds that changed colors. "Tanaka, you can go on without me. I think I've got this covered." I said, looking back at him. He stared at me for a second, then nodded and went on his way home. The boy's parents showed up a little later and I was free to head home and go to sleep.

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The next morning, I got ready and checked my email. Mr. Kirigiri had given me details about what I was to teach today and that I would be under heavy security while I was there. I understand some kids that go there are desperate, but really don't think they'd would try to hurt me. Right? I got to school early and told Ms. Yukisome where I would be around noon. 

Class passed quite quickly and noon came like a slap to the face. I ran to the reserve course greenhouse. Luckily, I wasn't tardy. Main course students already had a bad rep here and being late would probably bring me to a rocky spot. I was given a roster of who would be at the session  and I saw a somewhat familiar name. "Natsumi Kuzuryu?"

"Part of the Kuzuryu Clan. I believe her brother is in your class," Mr. Sakakura explained, " You might want to watch your back around her. She's known to be eagerly trying to get into the main course." The class soon started. Most students just gave me glares and dirty looks, but that always nothing to what Miss Natsumi did. She openly threatened me and claimed that I was there to look down on them. It was so bad Mr. Sakakura had his goons take her out. 

"Boy, she sure is a handful...Is she in your class?" I asked a boy with sharp, light-brown hair, making sure to flash a bright smile.

He was surprised I was talking to him. He smiles awkwardly and replied, "Yes, she is. She's like that to everyone." 

"So, are you enjoying this class?" I asked with hope.

" Well, I'm not really good at anything, but your class has definitely taught me something. You show a lot of passion in your work, so I guess I'm not surprised your the Ultimate Gardener. Your so good at your job, I bet I'm scum compared to you." He chuckled a bit, but what he said wasn't funny.

"Hey, listen here! Just because I can do something most people can't doesn't mean I'm any better than you. We're all here for a reason! If your betting that, I bet you'll do something the whole world will see!" I exclaimed. The other students gave me wired looks but I didn't care. "What's your name?"

He blinked for a few seconds, but said, " Hajime Hinata." I would've replied, but I heard screaming outside the door. As it turned out, Natsumi had gotten into a fight with a dark haired girl. Hajime then let out a small sigh, "It's only her first day today and she already made an enemy and they are on really bad terms." I just shook my head.

I didn't realize how important she was to this story.

A/N- Hey, just wanted you guys to know I made a slight change to a few previous chapters. Basically, I changed Gundham to Tanaka bc technically in the anime, from my understanding, his "true name" hadn't been revealed until after The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History. I do plant to have a scene where he tells Y/N his "true name," but right now that hasn't happened. Hopefully, more updates on the way. 🤗 ~Co-Author