the things that you might like don't grow inside of me

It was an interesting thing to see, how similar some places could be despite their differences.

In all of the years he had been alive on the planet never once had Masaru considered the possibility that his life choices could eventually lead him to take on the role of an educator. Not in a professional sense, anyways. The many, many years he had been alive had been almost invariably defined by violence in some respect or another, and generally speaking that tended to be the sort of man that common sense would dictate best kept away from the impressionable youth. And yet here Masaru now sat, dressed in what was best described as a set of business casual slacks and white button shirt, the kind of clothing he hadn't worn in nearly twenty since retiring. Seated on the left right side of the taxi, the road that led to the academy entrance thankfully kept the collection of buildings and greenery that sat beyond the fence to Masaru's right side as the car drove along, affording him some time to regard the place in advance. He would not have been so fortunate had they arrived from the opposite end of the road - while it still somewhat functioned his left eye barely would've been able to make out the lights and darks of the view presented, even had it not been covered by the plain black eyepatch that hid it from the world.

Notably, though, this place was not the one Masaru had been hired to teach at. Shiketsu was in a quite different part of Japan. Moreover there were still at least a handful of weeks before the term started. Seiai, by contrast, lay almost within the heart of Tokyo within the metropolis' Minato Ward. It wasn't a place that Masaru could say he was particularly familiar with beyond a professional sense, nor was it one he really cared to know better. While that could honestly be said of most areas that Masaru visited these days - a fact his family often chided him for - it held especially true when there was something else occupying his attention or a task he was more focused on completing.

Time was a valuable commodity, one that Masaru was only growing increasingly aware of as he got older. In general there were very few people that he was willing to afford said commodity to, and this visit involved one such person. As the car slowed to a stop Masaru would wordlessly pass forward the taxi fare before opening the door and stepping out, pausing only when the driver asked if he'd be needing a ride back to whatever hotel he was staying in.

"No, thank you. That'll be all." Masaru replied, stepping out of the car only to feel it visibly rise a few inches as the vehicle was freed of his weight. Closing the door behind him, Masaru would ignore the sound of the vehicle starting to leave as he stood before the entrance to Seiai academy. No movement would be made to approach the gate as he could only assume the security measures in place were similar to Shiketsu's - instead he would stand and wait for his host to arrive.

Blanche Autry