Chapter 74 - Yoshiko

Suginami Orphanage, Suginami.

"Goodbye, class."

"Goodbye, Yoshiko-sensei!"

Yoshiko is done with another morning lecture with the new students of her homeroom class.

After becoming a homeroom teacher a year ago, she got used to the job quickly, and she felt time pass her by.

She feels proud however. Successfully sending off her first homeroom students to the higher grade brought great satisfaction to her.

Currently, simply watching her the new students come in, listen, and leave the classroom is enough to make her feel proud and excited everyday.

As she starts to gather her things from the teacher's table, "Aherm…" she hears an adult man's voice from the classroom door. 

She then looks and sees a middle-aged man leaning against the door frame.

"Director, good morning." She greets the middle-aged orphanage director – slash – principal.

"Something is going on…" She then looks at the man in attention, noticing something different with the orphanage director's smirk.

"Something is." The Director nods as he enters the classroom.

"Kichirou-san is looking for you." He reports, suppressing his excitement.

"Kichirou-san… who?" Yoshiko tilts her head, not familiar with the name.

"You know Chihiro, right? He was in your class last year." The director asks.

"Yes. I heard he got adopted last week by some mysterious rich man." Yoshiko nods, but internally, she is suspicious.

After all, non-superiori children are very rarely adopted, and when they do, they usually do not receive as much care as the superiori orphans receive. In some cases, the non-superiori children that get adapted even suffer abuse, leading to those children becoming runaways. And in rare cases, the non-superiori children are treated as modern-day slaves.

"Yes. Kichirou-san was the one who adopted him." The director clarifies.

"Well, what does he want with me?" Yoshiko asks, getting more suspicious.

"All I can say is I smell opportunity for you." The director says.

"You're not trying to throw me away, are you?" Yoshiko nervously jokes.

"Is my job performance not satisfactory?" She asks.

"Hey. When I said opportunity, I wasn't lying." The director sighs.

"Look, your job? This job? It should be done by retired teachers, and not for a 24-year-old with a bright future ahead of her."

"So. Just try to talk Mr. Iwai and hear what he has to offer. If you don't like what he offers, then you are more than welcome to stay here." He assures her.

"Okay. If you weren't once my teacher, I would be thinking that you're pimping me out." Yoshiko shakes her head.

"*gasp*" The director holds his chest in offense.

"Anyways. He's waiting in my office." He can only point Yoshiko to his office in defeat.

<>

As soon as Yoshiko steps in the director's office, she sees a man looking out the window with his back towards her.

Her eyes are quickly caught by the man's nice blue kimono and haori.

Even though the man's clothes do not have fancy patterns on it, she cannot help but appreciate the obvious quality of it.

"Kichirou-san. Here is Yoshiko." Yoshiko is distracted from her assessment by the director introducing her to the man.

The man then turns around and looks at Yoshiko, before saying "Hello.", to her.

"I'll leave you two alone." The director says and leaves the office.

"Director!-" Yoshiko cannot believe that the director left her alone.

"Yoshiko-san. Please, take a seat. I've heard a lot of good things about you from the Director."

The man's amicable, kind features, and warm smile catches Yoshiko off-guard and she is compelled to sit down on the chair in front of the office table.

"What have you heard about me?" Yoshiko asks, her caution dropping.

'He seems kind' Her first impression of the man is forcing her to reassess her preconceptions.

"Well. Got yourself a scholarship. Graduated university with honors, which is impressive for someone who is not a thinker superiori. Can speak three languages aside from Japanese."

Yoshiko feels embarrassed at the man listing her academic achievements.

"Those are all in the past now." She shakes her head.

"Kichirou-san, you didn't ask for me just to cite my resume, right?" She wants to get to the point immediately.

"I heard from the director that you grew up here. Probably would have stayed if you weren't forced out when you turned 18."

She frowns, uncomfortable that the man knows a lot about her.

"Let me ask you something. And don't take this as me dismissing your sentiments for this place… Why are you back here, Yoshiko-san? With a person of your talents, you could do well in society, save up, start a life."

The man's question, whether the man is aware or not, stung her a little.

"I did try." She starts.

"Can't get into my dream job. Settled for less. Got abused at work by co-workers. And the students. I was undermined by students younger than me. The bullying, being the target for their powers. I tried complaining but the parents simply dismiss my concerns as the kids being playful. Or maybe they thought that their darlings can't be at fault."

She then realizes that she has overshared to a stranger.

"Are you a superioris, Kichirou-san?" She asks.

"I am." The man's answer stuns her.

"I-I'm sorry. I'm not saying that all superiori are like them." She apologizes profusely.

"No, no. It's fine, Yoshiko-san." She is relieved as she sees the man give her a warm consoling smile.

"As a superiori, I did not realize that the things I took for granted, are the privileges that the non-superiori can only dream to have. Talent wise, or social status. The least that we the superiori should do, is to recognize, and respect the non-superiori as they have to live without those privileges. This is why I hold a certain respect for you, Yoshiko-san."

She exhales deeply, the man's words seemingly taking off a huge weight on her shoulders.

"Thank you. Kichirou-san." She sincerely expresses her gratitude.

"Are you satisfied of your station here?" The man's question this time, makes her smile.

"I am. I am earning enough. Adding my tutoring gigs, it's not that bad."

"Is this where you see yourself ten years from now?"

"I think so. I just want to give back too. I would be dead, my friends would have been dead, if it wasn't for this place." 

"I see. Well, that's a bit disappointing."

She does not know if she heard wrong.

"Excuse me?"

"I was going to offer you employment."

"Huh…" She gets interested.

"What job?"

"A teacher and a caretaker. The young Chihiro, is not the only one child I adopted. There's four more." Red reveals.

Yoshiko raises her brows in surprise and suspicion.

"However, I am not experienced in actual childcare and babysitting."  Red adds, making Yoshiko confused.

"Then why adopt them then?"

"Even though these children are non-superiori." Red's preface surprises Yoshiko.

"…I see potential in them. And me, not knowing what to do with my excessive possessions, I am glad to help them use that potential."

"Huh…" Yoshiko is impressed.

"While I respect what you're doing, I think the children here need me more. Especially the non-superiori children that might need my guidance."

"I see. I was going to offer you a generous salary. With free lodging and food. Not to mention the quiet and peaceful countryside." Red offers.

Yoshiko gets a bit tempted. But after thinking about it more, and the faces of her students crossing her mind, she still feels the same.

Adding her suspicions to the benefits that are too good to be true, she is confident in her refusal.

"I have to refuse." She says firmly.

"I see." Red nods.

He is satisfied by the young lady's character.

"But… why me, Kichirou-san? Whatever job and benefits you want to give me, I feel that there are plenty of superiori that deserve it." Yoshiko gets curious instead of Red's intention.

"I need a role model for my children. That even though they are non-superiori, they can be as smart and as competent as you." Red explains.

"Well.. That's flattering." Yoshiko gets shy.

"Not to mention your character, Yoshiko-san." Red adds.

"What about it?" Yoshiko frowns in confusion.

"It's something I value." Red answers vaguely with a smirk. He is satisfied that Yoshiko is unaware of how kind and nurturing she is.

"Anyways. Is teaching here the only way you can help the kids here?" He asks.

"It's the only way I can help." Yoshiko shrugs.

"How about this? What if I donate 50 million yen to the orphanage, in your name?" Red offers.

"W-what?" Yoshiko is stunned.

"And I will set-up a college fund worth a hundred million yen for deserving non-superiori children, in your name too." Red adds, almost making Yoshiko choke on her spit.

"And all you have to do… is to help me nurture my adoptive children." He concludes his offer.

"I-I accept." Yoshiko can only accept. Just thinking about the number of children Red's money can help makes her head spin.

"But…" She stops herself from getting carried away.

"How do I know if all your offering is real?" She asks.

"I heard that you're free for the rest of the day?"

<><>

"Are you okay, Yoshiko-san?" Red offers a hand to Yoshiko who can barely stand straight.

"Oh dear… Oh no… Oh… Too fast…" Yoshiko is sweating coldly, pale, and hyperventilating, almost traumatized by the speed they were traveling.

After a healing technqie from Red, she suddenly feels fine.

"Which Superioris class do you belong?" She asks in great curiosity.

"A. Probably." Red shrugs.

"Wow…" Yoshiko feels self-conscious, getting to know an A-Class superioris for the first time in her life.

"Stop looking at me like that, Yoshiko-san." Red snaps his fingers in front of Yoshiko's face.

"Oh.. Oh. I'm sorry, I was staring. So... Where are we?" Yoshiko asks she looks around the hillside, and the view of Hinohara it offers.

"Let's take a walk." Red leads her up the road.

Soon, they reach Gin's house.

"Oh… your family's home?" Yoshiko asks, appreciating the homely beauty of Gin's house on the left side of the road.

After building Gin's house, Red also built a similar looking and similar sized house beside Gin's, and another house, more than twice the size of Gin's house, on the right side of the access road.

"No. My house is beyond these bamboo trees." Red says as he points at the huge bamboo gate where the access road is cut off.

"Anyways. This is your would-be co-worker's house." He points at Gin's house.

"That… will be where you will be staying if you accept the job." He points at the house beside Gin's.

"And that…" He points at the biggest house, "Is where my children will be staying."

Yoshiko has no words, not even knowing which one to think about first.

"A-anyways. Can I see the children?" She asks instead.

"They're not here at the moment. Why don't you take a look at their house first? I'm proud of it." Red says.

<>

A few minutes later, "How was it?" Red asks as Yoshiko steps out the door of the house of his adoptive children.

"I have to say… Even adults can only dream of living here." Yoshiko, alone, had just looked around the children's house, and she is very satisfied by what is in it.

"I mean, I didn't think they'd have their own rooms. Each room almost as big as my apartment." She is a bit envious even. Ultimately, she still feels very happy for the children.

"Well. You can live in a house to your own… If you accept the job, of course." Red says as he points at the house beside Gin's.

Yoshiko is very tempted to accept the job, just looking at the beautiful minka.

*Vroom*

Suddenly, the two hear a car engine from the distance.

Soon, a large SUV parks in the road. The vehicle's yellow color attracting Yoshiko's eyes.

The next moment, one of the doors open and a 10-year old boy runs out from it.

"Yoshiko-sensei!" The boy greets in excitement as he stops in front of Red and Yoshiko.

"C-Chihiro?" She almost cannot recognize her former student.

Chihiro after all, is wearing a well-tailored light-blue colored yukata.. An expensive outfit that the children in the orphanage can only dream of wearing.