7 A First Comrade, Seriously!?

Nikolai sat down on a nearby bench outside of his classroom and waited for Math class to end. He could be caught slacking, but that was the least of his worries.

'I need to do something about this. This is not me.'

He felt like a foreign entity was crawling inside his head and telling him how to react and converse in Japanese. While being able to speak a different language was cool, he didn't want to change as a whole just because of something like this. He raised his fist and punched himself in the cheek.

*Thud*

His pain receptors immediately reacted, sending the shock of pain towards his head.

'Much better.' He immediately noticed a change as he felt his mind clear up.

Right after, the door to his classroom opened, revealing a middle-aged man with a nicely cut beard.

"Haaah, these kids will kill me one of these days. Beard-sensei this, Beard-sensei that. They have no respect for me. I should just quit this job." The man stretched out his arms and sat on the bench. He folded his arms behind his head and noticed that someone was sitting next to him.

"Jesus, what the hell!?" He stood up from the bench in a quick motion while giving the boy who was calmly sitting next to him a wary look. Upon closer inspection, he deducted that it was just a student.

But it wasn't just 'any' student.

"You...You are that transfer guy who fought Kawakami Kazuko just now, right? Jeez, you scared me. I couldn't see you at all."

Nikolai nodded, and Beard-sensei sat back on his seat.

He lit up a cigarette, and that's when it dawned upon him, "Wait, shouldn't you be in my class right now? Are you slacking off?"

"Same to you, shouldn't you be in the class right now? Teaching? The bell has yet to ring. Are you slacking off?"

Beard-sensei paused for a moment. The cigarette that was hanging on the corner of his mouth almost fell out as he stared at Nikolai in disbelief.

"Another sassy little student...Haaah...kids these days. Yes, you caught me slacking off. Can you even imagine how boring Math is? And I have to teach that!? I might as well try to find another job than do this, yet I am still here. Heck, even garbage collector sounds promising, or at least let me teach a different subject!" He let out monologue filled up with complaints.

Nikolai smiled at him, half invested in his story.

"I can agree with you on that one. Math is terrible. In any case, in my defense, I was called in by the principal to fill in some papers regarding the martial arts I practice and then went to check on Kawakami in the infirmary. So I was not slacking...That much."

"Good for you. At least you have an excuse, unlike me," He took a whiff of the cigarette and stared at the wall in front of him, contemplating his life.

The bearded man had enough of all the suffering and stress his old work brought him, so he tried to quit and find himself another job. That was also how he stumbled upon the job of a teacher.

Teaching these kids was, in one way, a lifeline for him. Even though he complained all the time, he enjoyed spending time with the kids.

Unlike his old friends, he didn't want to die in the dirt someday. Every one of his friends and acquaintances, who were from the same line of business as him, had already died, and he was the only one left.

People have lives, don't they? Normal, average lives, where no one expects to die the next day, no one expects them to die in some abandoned alley.

He wanted to live like that.

He just wanted a peaceful life. He just wanted to lie in the grass and watch the clouds, wanted freedom and peace. He truly felt that Kawakami University had saved him from the shackles. From the shackles of his own past.

'Despite all of that, I have a son who hates me, and my attempts at Kojima-sensei were not rewarded at all. Maybe I am just getting senile and want to spend time with someone and just...relax.' He glanced at Nikolai, who was busy gazing at his pack of cigarettes with a thoughtful expression.

"Want one?" He offered him the pack, and Nikolai immediately pulled out four cigarettes from the package.

"Jeez, I said one and you almost took half of my package, greedy little..."

Nikolai smiled slyly, "Thanks, it's been a long time since I've had one, but I am pretty sure students shouldn't be smoking inside the school,"

The bearded man stood up and replied, "Neither should the teachers, and that's precisely why we are going outside. I've got a good spot. You coming?"

"Sure,"

They didn't waste any time and went through the corridor, straight up to the rooftop.

***

The rooftop of the Kawakami University

Nikolai was squatting on top of the rooftop, Beard-sensei standing right next to him, leaning on a wall. Both of them were enjoying the breeze of the wind while savoring the cigarettes.

"Say, Nikolai, was it? Why did you pick this school?" He asked.

"...It's complicated."

"In your files, I noticed that your father allowed you to exit the borders, to pursue the martial arts of Japan. It made me a bit curious. Russia and all. You might have a problem in the future. There are some extremists out there. Hunting."

"Although I don't know the state of things, I don't really care. It's nothing special. I am forced to be here, that's all, but I do admit I enjoyed the first day."

Beard-sensei felt that Nikolai didn't want to talk about it.

"Forced? Sounds rough. I don't want to pry into something like this anymore then. Let's switch the subject...Hmmm...Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet, now, have I? My name is Kyojin Usami, but the bunch of rascals from the class 2-F always call me Beard-sensei. I don't dislike it though."

"Feels like you are really close to them. I don't like things like nicknames as I feel like it makes people forget your real name, but if I was really close to a person, then I guess I wouldn't mind. Either way, I am kind of glad you pronounced my name correctly, unlike half of the people in this school." Nikolai noticed a trashcan near the stairs area, so he extinguished the leftovers from his cigarette and threw away the cigarette butt.

"Heh, I have some experience talking with foreign people, so saying your name wasn't anything special. Anyway, thanks for hanging out with me, this old man was really bored lately."

Beard-sensei clapped both of his hands together to convey his earnest thanks to Nikolai for being here, but Nikolai waved off his gesture, "No problem." They talked for a bit longer, and the more they talked, the more it felt like they found someone who could understand them, and someone they could get along with.

He was equally grateful to Beard-sensei.

If anything, Nikolai's feelings ran even stronger. Beard-sensei was the first mature person he could genuinely talk to, ever since he came to this world, and Nikolai felt like they hit it off really well.

*Ring* *Ring* *Ring* The school bells rang, informing them of how much time has actually passed.

"Well then, it appears my Math lecture is over. I hope you enjoyed it!" Beard-sensei said with a smile.

"Yeah, um, it was really...profound. Please do teach me again."

Both of them laughed until finally, the conversation died off, and silence abruptly fell between them.

"...If you are ever bored, visit this club. I call it the Laze-About-Club. The only member is me. The classroom is empty all the time, and I use it to just lay down and relax as the day passes. See ya later. Ah, it hurts again." Beard-sensei cracked his joints and left the rooftop while complaining about his back pain.

"Sounds good. I will keep it in mind. Bye." He said, and soon enough, he left as well.

Bonding with people during smoking or drinking was a normal thing to him. At least you weren't alone and could talk with someone. You might even meet new friends or love interests during this activity. In this case, Nikolai has found an interesting man he could talk with and relax.

***

As he was walking down the hallway, other students were roaming around as well. Most of them were avoiding him whenever he walked by and just opened up a path for him.

'Exactly as everything should be.'

Just as he reached the classroom, he heard the heated voices of his classmates.

"I told you not to call me by that name, dog! My name is Chris, not...C-Crit..." Chris slightly blushed as she said that. It almost sounded like a certain part of the female body.

The innocent Kazuko didn't understand what she meant, "What is wrong with it? I personally think it's great! You call me dog anyway, so it's only natural you earned yourself a nickname as well! Crit, Crit, Crit!"

"S-Shut it with the grade-school naming sense! Are you trying to provoke me with that? Are you stupid, dog?"

Chris was fuming. So much for hoping she was alright during her fight. Now, she gets teased by her.

Some of the boys in the classroom couldn't help but salivate.

"Oh, is it just me, or does Crit sound so erotic? Crit and Clit are really similar, huh...ugh, I am horny now." A monkey-like teen breathed heavily at the thought.

"Damn, what the hell...Your dick has too fast of a reflex...Well, the same goes for me!" Gakuto started drooling as well.

"Police, there are two perverts here." Miyako grinned and hugged Yamato from behind. She pressed her massive jugs on his back and tried to arouse him. It was truly a heavenly feeling. "You won't get an erection out here in public, right? Fufufu."

"Police! There are three. There are three perverts here." Yamato said and lightly hit her forehead with a finger flick.

"Ouch...you are no fun...But I won't give up." She gazed into his eyes full of resolution, making him look away in guilt, and went back to her seat.

"Cri--" Kazuko wanted to tease her a bit more but noticed Nikolai standing near the door. She quickly swallowed her words and went back to her seat.

"Jeez for the last time, can you sto--Wait...she actually did?" Chris was still arguing with her, while having her eyes closed, so she didn't notice that Kazuko had already disappeared, and it made her look weird.

Yamato glanced at Kazuko in surprise. "Wow, you are really becoming more mature, Wanko. I thought you were going to make fun of her for a little bit longer, good job."

Gakuto and Moro also nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, something is weird. This isn't like Wanko."

Kazuko flinched in her seat but didn't say anything.

Yamato turned to Miyako who was reading a yaoi novel, "Miyako, do you want something to eat, I am going to the canteen."

"The only thing I want to eat is you,"

"That's unfortunately off limits. Anything else?"

She sighed and looked out of the window with a sad expression. "Then forget it. Try someone else."

"Gakuto, Moro?"

"Nah man, Yonpachi said he had some nice pics to share so I will be busy here." Gakuto carresed his palms in a creepy way.

Moro on the other hand,

"Sorry, Yamato, one of my friends invited me to watch the second season of this cool isekai anime, where the mc basically goes back in time whenever he dies. I don't really watch isekai's but I really enjoyed this one as the main character has insane character development. It's truly amazing and I can't wait for what's to come. See you later." He waved him off and bolted from the school.

"What about you, Wanko? Are you hungry yet?"

"No, I am good. After grandpa healed me, I ate four apples so I am full."

"Jeez, Captain is away again, I guess I have to go alone." He thought that was the case, but he saw Nikolai entering the room.

Yamato immediately waved at him with a friend smile, "Yo, Russian friend. Did the principal let you off already? I thought I saw him fighting with Nee-san earlier, but you still didn't come. The classes have ended for today, but there is still afternoon homeroom you need to attend."

"The classes have ended? It's still only about 10 am."

"Ah, right, you are new here. Well, since this is a martial arts university, we don't have that many subjects to learn. Other than the History of Japan, Math, and the Japanese language itself, there isn't really anything to worry about. Cooking classes are easy and art classes aren't mandatory. Although we do have a lot of spars and class competitions."

"Oh really, does that mean I can just leave the school now and return later?"

Yamato nodded and replied, "Of course, but I think the better course of action would be to pick something up from the canteen before you leave. Captain told me he gave you a few meal tickets. Each ticket can be used for a single portion of something in the canteen. Be it a soup, steak, or some kind of dessert."

Nikolai couldn't help but think it was useful. Back home, they had the same system in his highschool and he was glad it was the same here. He still did not eat anything since coming to this world. He felt like he would use up all ten of those tickets at once.

"Sure, I am starving. Let's go."

Just as they were about to leave, Kazuko stood up and stopped them in their tracks. "Can I go with you guys, I am hungry."

Yamato frowned, "Hungry? Didn't you say you were fu--"

"I am hungry." She made sure to raised her voice to drown out whatever was about to come from Yamato's mouth.

"Ehm...Sure...Let's leave then." He glanced at her fidgeting figure and noticed she was looking at Nikolai.

He quickly put two and two together.

'Seriously? Really? Wanko? This Wanko who was not interested in anything but training and eating had this kind of reaction? There is no way! I have to tell Nee-san about this, I bet she would tease the hell out of her.'

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