On one September holiday, Rin slept in and woke up late, seeing herself in the mirror with a spectacular mess of her black and white hair mixed all around. Upon a failed attempt to calm what she would call a monster, she gave up and descended the stairs in their house with the sight of deep thought written all over Gin's face as he swayed on the couch with a mechanical pencil between his nose and lip, while her mother is sat on the floor with a blanket, reading a travel magazine.

"What's got you so busy this early, Botato…"

"You just called me Botato.

I'm not really busy… just thinking about ideas on how I can help my classes."

"Oh…? Something going on?"

"Let's try remembering ourselves."

"…

Honestly, after I got ill, I feel like I completely forgot the 20 years of my life."

"What's my name then?"

"Botato."

"…"

In such rare occasion, Rin was able to render her significant other speechless. With a chuckle, she sat on the couch beside Gin after washing up and grabbing her breakfast.

"If you really forgot 20 years of your life, why are sitting close to me like I'm your boyfriend?"

"Amnesia can make the mind forget, but not the heart, don't you think?"

In such rare occasion, Rin was able to render her significant other speechless, 2nd edition.

"Hahh… hold still."

Without any way for him to counter, Gin just grabbed a hairbrush and started fixing Rin's hair.

"Already flirting this early in the morning, you two…" the mother uttered jokingly, contrary to words that are supposed to be said with a tone of rebuke.

"By the way, where's Dad?" Rin asked before she shoved a spoonful of rice.

"Getting his watch fixed.

Really, that guy keeps telling me he'll give me one of his watches when I don't even wear them."

"You've gotten so close to him that you can just call him 'that guy', ahahaha. Just give in," Sumi chimed in.

"You really became a part of this house now, huh?" asked Rin.

Then, Sumi brought up a point hearing that.

"Oh, right… You've been living with us for a year now."

"Wait, it's only been a year? It feels like it's been forever since then, Potato."

"And that one year was not a painful two years like the author's."

※ Damn hiatus.

"But now that I think about it… Didn't I move in last month last year?"

"We all completely forgot about it, I see…"

"Aww, you live next door and all, but we're going to miss you once you move back to your house next year."

"Why do you sound sadder than me, Mom…?"

"If only next door was just an apartment I would've left and move in here for good, hahh…"

"Well, can't help it. I have a house to tend to after all."

"Oh?" hearing the bold statement, the mother and daughter reacted somewhat unsurprisingly.

"Hm? Did I say something wrong?"

(!)

"Ahh… I think I got what I was supposed to say and what I was thinking mixed up… Talk about a slip…" Gin slumped. "Anyway, I'm going to be bringing in the kotatsu before the month ends, so too bad for Nagi."

"That'd be nice…

Ah! I think the car needs fuel."

The car, said Rin. Apart from the car that the family owns, Gin had brought home the car that the restaurant Rin is undergoing her internship lent her some weeks ago and is parked on Gin's yard. Beyond that, Rin has been learning from family, friends, and anyone that she could ask for guidance in driving. With that, she finally got her license a few days ago, although she is still in the process of mentally preparing herself even after practice and gaining adequate experience.

"Oh, gas, right. Want me to fill it up?"

"I think I can go by myself now. I'll go after Dad is back.

"That's nice."

"Now I can get Ringo to drive me for groceries and shopping~"

"You can always use our car, you know?"

"Like I told you, I've gotten less confident behind the wheel. But if I'm on my own I at least can get a bit of exercise."

"Speaking of… the track oval I pass when going to Claude is open for free today. Maybe I should jog there in the afternoon…

Wanna go with me, Potato?"

"Sure. Dr. Snetr will probably scold you if you don't get exercise anyway. What time?"

"3 maybe? I'll just fill up the tank by then and then we can go straight there. I already know the way."

"Sounds good."

Sumi has silently closed the magazine she was reading and opted to just watch the children talk with themselves. Feeling somewhat emotional, she felt that her daughter is now growing up quickly and becoming more and more of an adult, while at the same time she could still see her as the girl she still is, throwing jests around and acting younger than she is in the presence of her partner.

Meanwhile, the thought of having another son into their family is becoming more and more real with every day Gin is under their roof.

While Sumi remains to have unavoidable worries for her daughter, she is able to make a smile as the hopefulness of the future outweighs her lingering unease.

Suddenly, the image of Gin from when she first met her came to mind, overlapping to Gin now who is not rid of his flaws but bearing confidence compared to how he was in the past as though his younger self is just a shadow of him now.

Perhaps, she thought and was reminded that, she is really leaving her youngest daughter in good hands in the future.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

▪ ▪ ▪

"It's homerooooooom. Get back to your seats."

"This semester is ending in two months and I still can't get used to saying that."

Into the morning, Gin entered the second year classroom of the Culinary Arts department right on time. At this point, he has made himself acknowledged around the classes he is handling not through disciplinary acts but through a show of skill to his students. Still, he is more than halfway in his teaching term yet he still could not get to the authoritative feeling he gives off to his students.

However, no matter the age gap between him and his students, he had always told himself he must not yield whatsoever and not look away from his obligations.

In his junior high school times when he was in the company of the infamously unruly class A batch including the late Akaji Mashido and the reformed Marcus Rodriguez, they have made a teacher, a fresh graduate at the age of 22, resign in a matter of four months into their first teaching experience. Not that they were harassed, but the pure undisciplined acts of the class put a damper towards the teacher's teaching performance. It was a fact that that circumstance was one of the reasons why Blue Ink's reformation happened under Tenth's leadership, and as to why the schools screens the students' background in their previous schools—being one of Akira's jobs.

And since Aomine Sanshoin and Sora Kagurazaka's departure from the school, no major issues have occurred. The high school has indeed made a jump from the disastrous Soundwave Incident from 2017 to a much more acknowledged academic institution.

Nevertheless, Gin has so far successfully fended himself off of situations where he would be placed in drastic emotional changes over the past few months. It was his biggest hurdle as a teacher as experiencing an extreme mental episode takes time to recover, hence why he needed to be a bit authoritative from the start to avoid any issues on his end. In his current state, in being calm, to being livid, there is no in-between which is why he avoids being in a position where he would have shifts in his emotional states.

"It's that time of the year again for the Open Event.

Do we have any transfer students in this class again?"

"Sir, we don't."

"Oh, well. Then I guess I'm going to speak supposing that all of you already knows how the Open Event works.

So this year's week-long event will be held next month at October 16-20 declared as Cotona Week this year. Just like usual, you'll especially have to submit a proposal to the office if you're going to be doing something commercial. So as early as now, I'd like this class to think about what you're going to do for this year. It doesn't need to be related to your department, but something close to your course will be helpful for you. As your co-adviser, I'll be the one turning in your proposal to the office.

And before I forget, to those that are part of the club, make sure to quickly make a decision if you are going to participate in this class's event or not. We'll have three scenarios: in scenario A, you are participating in this class but not in your club, scenario B is basically vice versa, and in scenario C, you will participate both in your class and club.

I'm helping out three other classes and a club but I'll try my best to help out in all of them. I think we'll have less than three weeks to prepare so an earlier submission of a proposal will be to your benefit.

The school will be open on Saturdays to give way for preparations, and to those that are going to stay the nights for the last three days of prep before the actual event, please come to me so I can give you a permit.

Uhh…"

Suddenly, Gin paused with his face saying as though he had spaced out.

"Give me a sec," he then skimmed the documents placed on the desk and took out a sigh of relief.

"Sorry about that. I kind of went autopilot with the things I remember of my experience of Open Event here. It says here that this year's event will be from October 18-20, so three days.

Again, this year's Open Event will be held for three days, not five. I apologize for that.

Anyway, I have here are printouts about the event's guidelines so stay put while I distribute them to you."

"Sir Gin," as he was distributing the handouts, he was suddenly called by one of the students.

"Arfa, right? Dino Arfa? Man, I'm getting good at remembering your names, huh?" he said jokingly while still wearing a straight face.

"It's been three months, sir. That's a skill issue at this point."

And the entire class laughed.

"You zoomers better refrain from saying that to your teacher, you know.

Anyway, you have a question?"

"You were an alumnus here, right?"

"Yeah? But you guys probably have a lot more experience in Open Event since I already did it for one year."

"Sure… but rumors say you earned five digits everyday back then, which hasn't even happened ever since then."

All of a sudden, the class quieted to just murmurs as they began to intently listen.

"Ah, that… can't say I can deny that. Well, the Art Club back then had a lot of backing in our marketing so our customers weren't really the usual ones."

"Wait, it was the Art Club that did that instead of our CA department?" a few whispers can be heard from the students along those lines.

"And like I said, we were the Art Club so we also sold prints and a manga artist named Yuki Amagami also held a signing event there.

As for the backing we had… let's just say that the name of our booth is Giotto's Mini since we got the approval from the restaurant itself. Well, I'd be lying if I didn't say I pulled some strings since I am the sous chef there, as some of you probably already know."

From the revelation, some voices raised in awe.

"They helped us with promotion which was why we pulled in customers in our event and to the rest of the school with some patrons visiting.

Ah, I have ten minutes left…"

After realizing how much time Gin only has in his homeroom, he clapped several loud ones enough to reverberate inside the room as he returned to the teacher's desk.

"Alright! Settle down.

If you need more advice, you can visit me on the staff room but don't come in large groups. We'll only allow three at a time.

As for what Mr. Arfa brought up here, just because I gave you an advice doesn't mean you'll get similar results as there are a lot of variables you have to consider. But of course, before thinking about some stellar success, I want to see you all enjoying the Open Event.

Also… I don't like to mention this while Open Event work is approaching but I already announced that I'm only teaching here in Blue Ink just for this semester. I took a break from Giotto's a few months ago and got offered a teaching job, but now that I am also back working there, I have to leave this job in November.

Why am I saying this? It's because some of you will still definitely be seeing me in the second semester. Not here, but in Giotto's for your work training as you are in a graduating class. You will be told details about it in a few months, so don't think about it too much yet. I'm just giving you a reminder.

Anyway, once again come to the staff room or the Art Room if you need an advice for Open Event preparations. If I have time, I'll tell you some stories about it. But for now, I wish S2CA success in the next few weeks.

That's it for homeroom. Wait for your next teacher."

~ ~ ~

Three more times did Gin repeat the same context for the other classes that he is co-advising in between the subjects he was teaching for the day.

Somewhat feeling exhausted, he retreated in the Art Room as the afternoon arrived.

"Man, I'm finally done…"

"Good work out there," from his desk, Martin greeted as he was leisurely reviewing documents.

"So nice to see that you have a subordinate you can trust in lengthy announcements, huh? Too bad I won't be here in the next semester." Gin threw back sarcastically.

"It's funny how even Sir Dean pushed the job to you at CA. Want a drink?"

"The usual tea, please."

"Aren't you glad that the raspberry tea has basically become a tradition here?"

"I guess? Though aside from the students, nothing much has changed in this room. It feels like home.

Speaking of, what's your forecast? You think the club is goimg to do something similar again?"

"Well, we're still mostly doing exhibits and selling prints—the usual. Attraction has gone down significantly right after you guys left, but the one that's different is that they are more open for joint efforts unlike you solitary bunch."

"Well, sorry about that."

"The Entertainment Club has either tried to maintain a steady popularity or attempt to up their things every year, and the same can be said to the culinary clubs and classes since they are likely to be visited the most among other booths. That said, the Art Club and Entertainment Club has now always been hand-in-hand, and the club even solicits artworks for the exhibits from the VA classes and anyone else interested.

Basically, you guys left with raising the bar too high. The show you put out pretty much now acts as a benchmark to what the students will do in this event. They may not know you personally, but I don't think that there's a student here that doesn't know of TAC.

Call this your legacy if you want."

Martin ended his words with the sound of a cup placed on the table and went back to his work.

"I've basically outed myself as one of those alumni, so I guess I have the responsibility to motivate them one way or another but giving them a reality check that it isn't really simple to do what we did."

"Look at you sounding like some adult. What, don't tell me you're getting excited for this year's event?"

"Kinda…?

Things still feel the same, but also different. I basically went to this school for six years as a student so obviously being a teacher here now is an entirely different perspective. I know it's going to be stressful but at the same time I'm looking forward to it."

"You were never this motivated when you were a student. I guess even you can change."

"Really?"

"Yeah. At least that's how I see it right now."

The conversation however was abruptly ended with the sound of a notification simultaneously coming from Gin and Martin's phone.

"You also got the memo, Mato-sen?"

"Hahh… Let's head out right now. I'll go to S2VA and you go dismiss the first years."

"Alright."

A sudden memorandum that was effective immediately basically ordered the early dismissal of all students in the school due to the threat of an imminent cyclone.

The country has been made aware of a tropical storm that accumulated in the Pacific Ocean, and was forecast to go on a west-northwest direction towards the Philippine islands. However, Gin immediately found out that the track of the storm changed towards the island of Orio then to the East China Sea, and would make landfall as a cyclone of a Typhoon category within the next 48 hours.

※ Based on Japan Meteorological Agency's classifications.