Campus Sanctuary 1

Uneasy Feelings

Shinnosuke approaches Ikki during the lunch period. He's a blind monk who teaches Moral Studies on Tuesday mornings and uses his staff as his walking cane. Shinnosuke says his vision of the phoenix led to Ikki asking if he's Shaka. Shinnosuke takes this as a compliment and rushes to have students call him Shaka-sensei from here onward. Meanwhile, Yuichiro, who looks like another Gold Saint, teaches Social Studies in the afternoons. His appearance alone puts Shiryu on high alert.

The weather for today is sunny and cloudy.

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[May 15, Tuesday - week 3]

Ikki reads a textbook outdoors on a bench near the dorm during lunch break. He and Kyoko had already met, and she had to leave early to attend to a personal matter. As he reads, an odd-looking religious figure approaches him. He calls out in a somewhat familiar voice.

"Hello, there!"

Ikki looks up to see the figure standing before him. He appears to be a monk with long dark robes and long brown hair tied in a ponytail. His eyes are shut, but part of his bangs cover an eye. He holds a golden staff that the monk uses as a walking cane.

"What do you want?" Ikki asks.

"Don't be rude. I'm here because of your aura of the phoenix in my vision."

"How do you know?"

The monk's response puts Ikki on high alert, prompting him to set the textbook aside and hastily stand.

"I don't mean to trigger, but I say is true. You have this fiery aura in shape of the phoenix and I can't help but come towards you."

"Who are you?"

"Haha! I'm Shinnosuke. As you can see, I'm blind so I need this staff to move around. I bet you're wondering what I'm doing here. Well, I'm one of the new teachers here and I taught this morning with Moral Studies as the subject. By the way, there are four other students with the same aura as you. I met those students. I bet they were shocked like you."

"I'm Ikki." He utters his name with a confused tone.

"Nice to meet you, Ikki. I've been told of your quarantine. It's a shame I won't be able to sense you in class, but I will mail schoolwork."

Shinnosuke takes a step closer. Ikki remains in place for some reason.

"He definitely looks like Shaka. Of course, his hair is brown. He even has a red spot on his forehead. But is he really blind? Or is it really him?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Yes, please do. I'm your teacher so ask anything!"

"Are you Shaka?"

"Are you calling me Buddha? I'm just a simple monk. I haven't reached Nirvana. I don't even have supernatural powers or anything. I wonder what makes you say that." Shinnosuke shakes his head. "No! Scratch that. Actually, I'll take it as a compliment. If that's how you see me, then I will have every student in school call me Shaka-sensei from now on."

"Wait! That's not..."

But Shinnosuke has already left, and Ikki observes him going around the courtyard telling students to call him Shaka-sensei, to which many say yes. Ikki plants a facepalm and turns red out of embarrassment.

"Dammit! What have I done?"

Meanwhile, in the BB's classroom, students remain seated while waiting for another new teacher to arrive. The new teacher enters, but this time, he's a young man with short silver hair, a gray cardigan, and eyeglasses. His appearance is familiar to yet another Gold Saint. He arrives at the teacher's desk and lays out his paperwork as he introduces himself.

"Good afternoon. My name is Yuichiro, and I'll be your Social Studies teacher every Tuesday afternoon. I'll hand out the sheet of possible topics that we'll discuss during the year. I hope we get along."

"Why does he look familiar for some reason?" Seiya ponders. He stares at the new teacher but retrieves his gaze before Yuichiro notices. Shun and Hyoga also stare, not out of familiarity but rather curiosity. Shiryu, on the other hand, tries his best not to shiver so that no one would notice. However, his friends give a quick glance as if something's off.

"What's wrong with Shiryu?" Hyoga whispers.

"I don't know," Shun says, also whispering.

Seiya seems to know because he keeps glancing at his friend.

But Hyoga and Shun's whispers get Yuichiro's attention.

"Is there something wrong?" Yuichiro asks.

"No, not at all," Hyoga says.

"Very well. Let's preview some of the topics..."

When the afternoon class ends, school ends for the day. The BBs head outdoors and sit on a bench near the Practice Building.

"You were shaking, Shiryu. Is something wrong?" Shun asks.

"Shun, I don't think we ought to ask," Hyoga observes. "He's based on another Gold Saint. Seiya, you seem to know. Am I right?"

Seiya sighs, hesitating to respond. "Right..."

"Figures. We've met six of them now."

"Yeah, the monk from this morning and now him."

"Shiryu, if you're not feeling well, you can return to the dorm."

"Thank you, Shun, but I'll be fine. I just need to sit outside. We'll be seeing more of him so I can't let this overreaction get the best of me. After all, we continued fighting after the 12 Houses."

"That's true. We continued because we wanted to fight for Athena and save the world. So going to school won't be different regardless of the Gold Saint-look alikes we'll meet," Seiya says.

"Exactly," Shiryu adds. "He's just another teacher, that is all."

Shiryu stands weakly and slowly heads back to attend the Student Council meeting. His friends observe, worried for his well-being.

"Hang in there, Shiryu..." Shun murmurs.

"Who would've thought the fights we've done left us mentally scarred? Coming here would've been a pipe dream," Hyoga comments.

"Shiryu, Yuichiro-san is based on Cancer Deathmask without a doubt. Seriously though, what the hell is going on? Why does this keep happening to us? What did we do to deserve this?"

Seiya stares into the distance before going with Shun to the Practice Building to attend club meetings. As for Hyoga, he returns to the dorm since his club meets tomorrow afternoon at the same site.

To be continued...