Under The Willows

Chapter 2: First Day Jitters

Violet awoke with a start. The blaring alarm she had heard in her dream was buzzing in her ear. She jolted out of bed and smacked her alarm clock. Caught up in her dream, her body refused to hear the alarm until it was almost too late. Glancing at the time, she inhaled sharply. Why did she have to sleep so late? Now she was going to be either late and have no makeup on or put her makeup on and be late. There was no time to do both. Normally this kind of start to the morning would make Violet upset but after last night she was still in a dreamlike mood. So of course Violet ran to apply her makeup and pick up her favorite dress.

"Violet, get a grip. He's probably just being nice to you. Although, it won't hurt to try to look your best, so yeah, maybe the blue dress!"

Yanking the baby blue sweater dress from her closet, she smiled and also grabbed her girdle. She didn't have any matching tights so she just chose her plain black sheers and black ballet flats. Walking past the mirror she noticed the curl trying to come back to her hair and grimaced knowing she didn't have the time to fix it. So she oiled her hair to tame the frizz and give it a shine boost and stuck a jeweled headband in her hair and pulled the bangs out to frame the face. Time was running short so she just smeared on some blush, lip gloss, and shimmied some mascara on her lashes. She flashed a smile in the mirror but quickly turned away not really recognizing the quickly aging face. Toshinori had plenty of wrinkles himself, but they were configured in such a pleasing way that it made him look even more handsome and dignified. She rushed out the door with her phone and keys and wallet and bolted out the door.

Although the streets bustled with people getting to their jobs and to school, she was lost in thought. Going over the lesson plan in her mind time and time again until she felt the butterflies lessen. She had a lot of good counseling and therapy and training thanks to Nezu, so surely she should be confident enough to try to help the class after all the things that they had been through. She was going to feel extremely drained by the end of the day, she could feel it in her bones.

Slightly regretting the choice of a sweater dress on such a warm day. She made it with a couple of minutes to spare so she ducked into the bathroom to freshen up. Making it to her office with about 10 minutes to spare she let out a sigh of relief. She set down her belongings on her desk and gathered her lesson plan and supplies to go to the classroom. Feeling a gaze she looked up and met Toshi's line of vision. He smiled and waved shyly.

"Adorable!" Violet thought as a blush rose in her cheeks. She shyly waved back as she headed out the door to her classroom. She had to fight the huge grin that kept threatening to take over her face. "Stop being silly and focus, you idiot," she scolded herself.

As she walked down the hallway she got a cold shiver down her spine. She frequently interacted with teenagers at the animal shelter that she volunteered at, but teaching them was going to be a whole different matter. It is especially hard to teach people how to take care of themselves. Having used Healing Heart for many years for the purpose of healing and caring for sick animals was something completely different from human beings with complex and layered emotions. She did make a promise to Nezu to try her best so she inhaled sharply and held her breath as she charged into the classroom. There were a few students already in the room. She looked out and smiled at them and said good morning. She wrote her name on the white board and the name of her special course and underneath that she wrote a concise synopsis.

"Miss Flowers: Helping Yourself- A class designed to help you process and recover from disturbing events and to learn how to take better care of your heart."

The rest of the class trickled in and everyone was in their seat silently before the bell rang.

"Hello everyone, My name is Violet Flowers; my quirk is called Healing Heart. I'll be your instructor for this special course arranged by Principal Nezu. He has been very worried about the mental state of the students in this school. You all have been through some tough things. Things kids weren't meant to go through. This is a special course that won't be a part of the regular curriculum, but I will be staying on as the school's resident counselor." She scanned the classroom for a response, they were all amazingly respectful and seemed to be listening intently. There was one rather angry looking blonde boy, but his scowl didn't fool Violet, she knew he was a good kid. In fact, all the kids looked like good kids.