Gin was reminded of a monologue from Ginji's memories about his feelings whenever it rains and the floods their home street.

In which case, his thoughts would be summarized to "I am used to it, but I was never okay with it."

He is always reminded that the house he now owns is a blessing to his family as he aids her mother and Anna towards Rin's house to pass through to his own property while remaining silent leaping over the roofs of his neighbors.

It was the usual predicament. After dropping the two of them, he returned to his family house where he sees his father checking and carrying boxes to a higher place to not be damaged from the flooding inside the house.

"Gin, help me out on lifting the fridge."

"Go rest now. I'll do it on my own. Times like this is why I'm glad I went inside the White Room."

On three chairs arranged for the fridge to be put on, Gin effortlessly lifted the appliance.

"I think that's all for now. Hahh…"

Over the past ten hours, violent winds quickly picked up at night and the rain began to bring down a vigorous shower. The rivers overflowed as they watched their street quickly become inundated.

With one call from his father, he immediately took a raincoat and a pair of rubber boots and leaped to their family house, watching as the water enters the house like a stream. As though everything from that point on was already ingrained in them, without a word, Gin immediately helped out on putting their belongings somewhere safe, until they have reached the present.

"Kei said they are fine on their side."

"Sector T1 doesn't really flood after all."

"What's the time, Dad?"

"11:34."

"I guess we're not sleeping again tonight until the water subsides…"

"Have you had any movies you missed on watching?" without any hesitation, Amano asked in the midst of water under their feet.

To which Gin answered also unhesitatingly, "Are you up for an anime? It was released when Rin was in the hospital but it recently went up for streaming."

"Show me where, I'll see for myself."

Amano then picked up the remote of the television as they both sat on the couch built to only have cushioning and decorations on the seats to lessen the hassle of flooding to them.

The Sakato household had experienced many a renovation. This included raising their power outlets high enough where they would not worry from them getting wet and thus turning off their power. That is the reason why the father and son was able to watch a movie even when there is water above ankle-deep or higher inside their house.

The rain had completely stopped, but the wind was still blowing wildly. In the duration of two hours after they finished the movie, the water only subsided by only a few centimeters.

"Yep, we're really not sleeping tonight, Dad."

"Just almost 2am… we still have long ways away before sunrise."

With the sudden loss of anything to do, Gin suddenly began reflecting the past few hours.

Without a word, he helped on keeping their things safe. It was amazing that at this point, the entire family works efficiently and quickly in silence as though they are communicating through telepathy. It was to be expected as Gin had always witnessed this scenario multiple times in a year for almost his lifetime.

Just like the usual, the men of the house will keep watch and monitor the flood. This will give them an opportunity to pass the time, like watching a movie, for instance.

Hours will pass and eventually, the floor of the house will resurface revealing a layer of mud covering the floor. Once they are sure that the flood will not rise again, they begin on cleaning up the house, dry the floors, and only from there can they rest.

Time and time again, year after year, this is a common scenario in the Sakato household.

"Are you not getting tired of all of this, Dad?"

As Amano remained sat, he only responded in silence—not because he could not answer his son, but because he wanted to listen.

"It just hit me right now, or maybe it always did, but time after time we do all these things to the point that it has become pattern. It feels like we go into autopilot whenever it rains then floods. It has become too ingrained in our minds that at this point it just feels like this is our normal life… when it's not supposed to be.

We've talked about this a few times, so should we do pull through with moving our family house?"

"Have you found a lot, then?"

"It's really convenient that a few blocks away in Cerulean Street there is one for sale around the same area as ours.

It looks like quite an expensive plot of land since it's that street, and it's near the station and Mykes Hospital. But while it's not so cheap like my house, I now understand the reason why my place got so devalued despite being a really good building, aside from the flooding.

Because even though this bit of White Street is infuriatingly flood prone, it's still the way towards the less quiet part of our street where it's busier with a lot of commercial places and stores for essentials. The same thing applies to that plot I just mentioned. We could visit it once the storm passes if you want."

"You see… if we're really moving, I want to let go of this place. But I think that's going to be far from easy.

I also gave this some thought after you initially brought up the idea of reconstructing our house with the compensation money you received. I plan to sell this house if the entire family agrees to it, but that's the problem. We have no time to renovate to up the value of this place, and even finding a buyer that will actually buy a land with trade-offs and depreciated value will be hard.

And don't get me wrong now, son. I talk like I'm so ready to get rid of this place, but this is still the home Senna and I built, and where the three of you grew up in, so of course I feel very deeply about this. But if we're really saying goodbye to this house, I at least want some return even if it's small, and I'd want to contribute that to the reconstruction."

"Ah, so that's what it is. But to be honest, I don't think our expenses will be as much as you're imagining. Though, I also kind of understand where you're coming from. It would be nice to get something from selling this house."

"You're literally talking to an accountant, Gin… Have you even run the numbers?"

"Nope! What I'm saying is that we shouldn't cut costs on materials, but labor is a different story. Of course, we'll still get a contractor but the Exiles are willing to help. We have some passionate carpenters, masons, and engineers that are raring to make something since there's really nothing much to do about it underground. When I pitched to the AMM crew the thought of making solar panels, they were overjoyed, you know.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Of course it's not for free, not in a monetary standpoint, but it's mine to deal with since I'm one of them.

But speaking of solar power, if we push through, I'm also planning on making the house sustainable. I basically have years' worth of experience in putting back power on the grid and getting paid for it.

That said, I'm still waiting for lawmakers to pass the bill making the process easier for households to register. Man, did I went through a lot of bureaucracy behind the scenes back then."

"Pfft…"

All of a sudden, a burst of laughter came out of Amano as he slapped the back of his son.

"Hahh… You've really grown up a lot, Gin."

"First it was Mato and now you, Dad."

"Well, if this was even a few years back, I wouldn't have even expected you to actively talk about other people because it just feels like it's a pain."

"Hmm, yeah, that sounds like me."

"Let's talk about this further when we have Senna and your siblings. Well, I think we can also have Shiina with us now."

"That's great, but only if she agrees to it."

At 10 in the morning, the flood finally subsided to a point where vehicles can now pass the street again, there were still water outside, but at that point, the household already had several fans facing downwards to dry the already cleaned up floor of the house.

And indeed, the father and son has still not yet slept.

With a little bit of resolution settled in their decision-making for the family, the two of them thought about how this better be one of the last few, if not the final, times they will have to do the painful routine of cleaning up after the aftermath of a typhoon, or even a mere thunderstorm.

▪ ▪ ▪

Three days later, classes resume.

"Homeroom. Homerooooooom, S1VA.

Nature really up and gave us one final present before winter, and it totally sucked."

"We could see that from your face, Sir Gin."

"Tell me about it. I still need a bit more sleep.

Anyway, I'm assuming that the typhoon didn't make you come up with any ideas of the upcoming event?

That's rough. The event will still happen in Cotona Week, so I'm giving you this time to come up with something. You can talk to yourselves about it but don't be too loud. If you want to ask any questions, just approach me here at the desk."

And so, Gin let the students be on their own to discuss their plans while he brings out a thick bunch of paperworks, only for it to cover what he is actually doing which is his budgeting and meal planning for the days he is in charge of their home's kitchen.

Gin Sakato truly does his teaching work well.

"…!"

But his pen flew from his hand as he flinched from the sound of a knock on the table, and seeing Gakuon Shizuka with a very small whiteboard on his hand and a dry erase fineliner pen.

"Oh, hey there. Need help, Gaku?"

"I'd like to ask something, Sir Gin."

"I can never get over how fast this kid writes."

"Sure?"

"In your opinion, should the class go with a commercial booth or otherwise?"

"That's a tough question, honestly. I haven't been around enough to answer that exactly since the class is a mix of old students and transferees. But while there's already a synergy established within the class, I don't think I can be the judge to that."

"Then, what if we base on skill?"

"If we're going to base it on your plate outputs to gauge your capabilities, then I'm afraid I still can't answer that.

You see, my takeaway from being a student here was that the assignments don't reflect the 100% of one's artistic skill. This is just my opinion, but I think the way to see someone's full prowess is when they are the freest. I mean that in a way where a person is not bound by a specific medium, theme, or any other restrictions. Those restrictions, for example, are your outputs.

The curriculum already has predetermined sets of assignments that you must do and it follows instructions that can't be deviated.

By being their freest, everything starts with our mind, and not from some guidelines. But on the other side of the argument, I suppose you could still say that too much freedom can make an artist lost. It's still case by case. Are you following?"

Gaku nodded.

"That means that's where you can gauge their skill when you can vicariously see how far they can go with their creativity, resourcefulness, and applying the things that they have learned so far. Sure, there can be the argument that you could unconsciously set up restrictions, but I believe that the decision still comes from the artist and not a textbook.

Still, there are cons about this kind of principle, and I think the most important concern is its extent of morality. Having freedom basically means you can draw whatever you want, but there is still a line that shouldn't be crossed.

Pop quiz—can you give me an example of that?"

Flustered, he nonetheless wrote on his whiteboard.

"I think it can be sensitive topics be it cultural or societal. Or it can also be things that must not be publicly seen like adult things, I think.

There's also the talks about the use of AI which is still in a gray area."

"You went from a generalization to something specific so suddenly, but you get the point."

"Can I ask your stance on it, if you don't mind?"

"I'm not completely against it, but I also can't really support it much if some AIs are training from works of other people. There is still the ethical issues that needs to be ironed out, after all.

It's kind of hard to put it into words but I'd rather see a work made with the tools but still created with human input and time was put into it instead of just a one-click output. But if that's what they enjoy, then who am I to tell them off?

That's just a part of it, but how about you?"

All of sudden, Gaku's writing contained much more vigor.

"I think calling what you mentioned a one-click output as someone's own work is disrespectful to those putting the time to learn art from scratch. I personally think that something did the work for them rather than their own, but I do understand your point of using the tools as a mean to an end rather than immediately being the end result."

"I see you've studied about it. I've heard from G, I mean Ginji, that he's been tutoring you. It shows enough that you're dedicated to improve so I see where you're coming from with your stance.

I hope you're not taking to heart why I'm a bit strict with plates but what I wanted to see from them is the execution of purpose. In the end, you learned and delivered so that's good job on you. If anything, you've been quickly improving and even there are times when you surprised me.

There are parts in your plates where they need to be improved, but what astonishes me is when I see bits that screamed experience.

Maybe you were a master painter in your past life and you're unconsciously regaining your memories from it."

Although, it obviously came off as a joke, Gaku chuckled and denied it.

"That was one heck of a tangent, but whatever the class chooses, it will go through me first before I turn in. Depending on that, I'll have to cook up something to see if it will work.

Aaaaand! In just a few, I'd announce here that I will promote what you'll do in our TAC Instanyan account. If I think that your proposed activity is feasible and it gets approved by the admin, that is.

Call it a morale boost if you will. I want you all to see the fun in creating something with your own hands."

Gaku then nodded… but stood on a pause with Gin surmising that he has something in his mind. And so, he pulled back up his whiteboard and swiftly wrote possibly his longest message in this conversation… only to erase it with a slight change in his mood.

Gin had the impression that Gaku wants to move quickly when talking to people, which is why sometimes there are still marks of his previous writings still visible. But this time, he even sprayed the board with alcohol before rubbing it cleanly with a cloth.

"Thank you for all the advice."

Contrary to what he originally meant to say, Gaku instead gave his thanks and turned back.

"Gaku!"

He flinched, and went back to the desk nervously with the sudden call. There, Gin gestured at Gaku to come closer.

"I just want to say that if you feel like things are difficult for you, you can ask me for help even after I leave the school. So, how about we be buddies once I'm not a teacher anymore?"

There was, for a moment, a genuine shock painted on the student's face, but then he awkwardly reached his hand out for a handshake.

"You can count on me and your tutor, you got that?"

In Gin's eyes, Gaku approached him with a rather aloof feeling with him, but now he sees his back walking towards the class seemingly a lot brighter.

~ ~ ~

That night.

"Riiiin-chan, what's the password of TAC's account again? I think Jean logged out all connected devices again," after dinner, Gin knocked on the door of Rin's room and let himself in.

"If you came thirty seconds earlier while I was changing I would have sacked you."

"Oh, sorry."

Give me a sec, I'll write it down," Rin went to her desk while her partner lied down on the floor of the room.

"You seem to be in a good mood?" without even facing him, Rin deduced.

"There's something with seeing students get hyped up over something you said, I guess."

"Ah, it's almost the Open Event, huh?"

"Ding, ding! You finally remembered. Only took you a typhoon and a few days."

"I'd like to go with you but that's not going to happen this year, isn't it."

"Hmm, I think I'll get plenty of breaks, though."

"Then let's look around at those times then!"

"You're not bothered getting seen by my students with me?"

"How's that a problem, hahaha. We're way past their age so there's no point thinking about our relationship like we're teenagers."

"Good point. I shouldn't have been worried about that in the first place, I see."

"Hahh, you late bloomer."

"Say that again."

"Here's the password. Don't accidentally throw that away. You have the 2FA app, right?"

"Yup, thanks.

Actually, I'll stay here for a bit if that's fine."

"You do you~" she said, as she jumped to her bed looking at her phone.

"…

Want to join me on the floor?"

"No."