Married to a WHAT?!

#53: Rock Bottom

Kakashi took care of everything while Iruka simply spiralled downwards into depression. Two days after he got fired from his job, Iruka's landlord came down to give him an eviction notice. The rumours about his sexuality had spread to the entire town and there wasn't anyone who didn't know about the homosexual teacher who taught in an all-boys' kindergarten. Thanks to Mizuki, Iruka's reputation had been smeared and nobody wanted him near them even if they didn't know the truth behind the rumours.

The one good thing that came out of the fiasco was Kakashi running into Rock Lee when he was on an errand. The martial artist was working part-time as a food delivery boy when he bumped into the werewolf. His teacher, Might Gai was Kakashi's oldest rival and friend. Might Guy was a descendant of a dragon god who took in an orphan who grew up to idolise his ways. Rock Lee was akin to Kakashi's nephew and with the encounter, the werewolf was able to pull some strings to get Gai to help him out.

Iruka simply sat on the couch, unmoving while Kakashi helped to pack all of Iruka's belongings into one small box. There really weren't many things that Iruka wanted to take with him. Most of them could be thrown out and the only ones Iruka deemed precious were the drawings gifted to him by his students. The teacher who had intended to kick Kakashi out to avoid implicating him with his problems could only be thankful that it didn't happen. Before he could do anything, his entire life had fallen apart. Now, there wouldn't be anything left to tie Kakashi down with him. He was losing his home and his job at the same time. There was no money left and absolutely no reason for Kakashi to stick around when he came back yesterday informing Iruka about meeting an old acquaintance who could help him.

Naturally, Iruka was relieved and overjoyed that Kakashi would have somewhere to go. The man was also kind when he offered to help Iruka pack his things after accompanying him to the hospital for a check-up that confirmed he had fractured his elbow in the fall. Iruka couldn't ask for more and when Kakashi asked if he had a place in mind where he was going after he left, Iruka only nodded but didn't tell Kakashi where he was going. He thought about leaving here and heading back to his relatives' hometown but it didn't feel appropriate.

After Iruka's parents passed away when he was still in middle school, his uncle took him in but they weren't very close. In fact, his aunt didn't like him and was more than happy when Iruka announced that he was moving out of their house at eighteen. The teacher didn't really have anywhere to go that's why he didn't choose to bring along too much. Just a huge suitcase full of clothes, some necessities and a box of sentimental things.

Kakashi didn't say much about Iruka's response. He'd gotten his clan to search about his future mate's situation and they quickly found out everything there was to know about Iruka. He was orphaned while he was still in school and his relatives that took him in didn't like him very much especially with rumours about his sexuality. The man didn't even have many close friends and the closest was Mizuki which didn't turn out to be very great either.

Kakashi made discreet arrangements to bring Iruka back and house him at his place until the teacher was feeling better. However, he couldn't exactly do it outrightly because this lovely man still had his pride even when he was down on his luck. Kakashi wanted to respect that. If Iruka ever found out that he was the one behind the turn of lucky events later, Kakashi knew that the man would be mad at him. However, that was something that Kakashi was willing to risk.

"I'll be leaving now," Kakashi said sadly even though their parting would only be temporary. Iruka refused to give him his phone number or any way of contacting once they parted, saying that if it was fated, they would meet again. While the werewolf was a huge believer of fate, he wasn't willing to wait for so long before fate reunited them once more. He preferred to take actions to manipulate fate and that was what he would do the moment he left the house. His classmates were already on standby in the area. Every pup in his clan knew about his fated mate and Kakashi's influence was not to be underestimated.

After the front door clicked shut, Iruka finally allowed his tears to fall. Kakashi's hug before he left had been very warm and it was like the last fight of a dying candle in a storm. The warmth lingered but it didn't last, Iruka craved for more but didn't reach out to grab hold of the perfect man. What right did he have? If anything, until the very end, he didn't want to become somebody else's burden.

After staying for nearly an hour in an empty apartment, Iruka washed his face and wiped his tears. He put on some light makeup to cover up the ugly traces of bruises under his eye and concealed the fact that he cried with some eyeliner. Once the teacher looked presentable, he grabbed the suitcase and box with him, leaving the apartment without looking back.

After dropping the key in the landlord's mailbox, the teacher wandered down the streets aimlessly, just taking in the peaceful citizens living their lives like another ordinary day. Nobody spoke to him even though he received some judging stares from housewives who had heard of the rumours. Some of them gave him pitying looks but Iruka ignored them to the best of his ability. There weren't any signs of Mizuki around and Iruka felt safe enough for now. Still, he didn't know where to go or what to do.

Before he knew it, Iruka's feet had taken him on a nostalgic route to the park that Iruka liked to go to whenever he had a hard day at work. It was a rather small and quiet neighbourhood park that was frequented by old people and college students who simply wanted time away from the world.

Iruka sat down on a bench and sighed, looking up at the sky under the cool shade of an ancient tree. The gentle breeze played with his hair and tickled the scar on his nose playfully, putting a soft smile on Iruka's face. He indulged in the beauty of the scenery before him. Usually, he never got to see the park and how it was like in the day. It was always peaceful at night but in the day, it was beautiful. Iruka forgot about how he liked admiring the flowers. In the night, he was never able to tell what shade of colour they were but now, he was able to admire the field of rainbow tulips that someone had planted.

Feeling sleepy now that the tension left his body, Iruka closed his eyes and gradually was lulled to sleep by the gentle wind and sun under the cover of clouds.