The Colors of Life

Chapter 5

Kagami sat stiffly on the little stool, awkwardly holding his big bag in his lap. His eyes darted restlessly around the small office unable to settle their gaze anywhere comfortably. Especially on the man sitting at his desk in front of him.

Professor Matsumoto's tall and thin figure leaned back in his office chair, its back bending under his weight. His right ankle was resting on top of his left knee, and his hands were behind his head. The sharpness of his elbows stood out by the way the sleeves of his white shirt were rolled up revealing the muscular forearms. His dark eyes – set deep into his face, under bushy eyebrows – looked at Kagami trying not to squirm on his seat.

"I read your paper," he said and nodded towards his desk where Kagami's assignment lied in the middle of various stacks of papers. "It was an interesting read."

Kagami didn't answer.

He was trying not to shrink away and cower – a guy of his size shouldn't be intimidated so easily – but couldn't quite help it. Many would have called Matsumoto's little box of an office cozy but Kagami had always found it suffocating. Stuffy. Three massive bookshelves were looming over them opposite to Matsumoto's desk and where they sat. He felt like a clumsy giant trying to fold his long legs naturally while sitting on the too-small chair.

The already small room was shrunken down even more by the most intimidating presence: Matsumoto himself and the way he calmly and silently weighed up Kagami with his piercing eyes. Kagami had a good five inches and over 30 pounds on the man, but no one managed to make him feel small in a similar way as Matsumoto. The man might look like a monkey with his large upper-lip, high forehead, and big ears but his cool and confident demeanor demanded respect.

"I heard Kuroko helped you out."

"A little," Kagami said and wouldn't meet the professor's eyes. Then – a bit miffed – he straightened up and lifted his head. "But I read the book myself. Every word of it. And I wrote the paper myself."

The corners of Matsumoto's thin lips twitched a little.

"I believe you. Kuroko would never let you cheat off him like that."

"What's the problem, then? Why did you tell me to come to see you?"

Matsumoto leaned further back in his chair, his eyes finally easing off their hold on Kagami.

"He's an interesting guy. That Kuroko."

Kagami frowned a little.

"Yeah. I guess."

"A good student, for sure," Matsumoto went on, sounding like he was talking more to himself than Kagami. "But also has lots of interesting ideas. He doesn't have the same expression of a bored sheep like most of the students roaming this university or dozing off in my lectures. Unlike others, he's not content with just following the herd."

Kagami wondered what kind of a sheep he was in Matsumoto's eyes.

"But," the professor's tone perked and he suddenly fixed his relaxed posture, "if he can manage to successfully make you do something I have failed for a semester after another, I can only admit defeat. And perhaps take a page from his book in the future."

He picked up the graded paper and held it out in front of Kagami. There were a few scribbles on the pages in the marginals, but Kagami's darting eyes couldn't find a big red F anywhere.

"Don't worry, you passed. I gave you a C."

"Huh?"

Kagami's mouth fell open. Dumbfounded, he accepted the paper. With slightly unsteady hands, he turned to the last page, and there it was: big red C, hastily circulated and accompanied with a couple lines of handwritten notes.