imperturbatus | [Closed: Kirigiri Kyouko] Private lessons

[He had said the West Yard!

Alright, the problem was mostly with her not really knowing that that the 'West Yard' was partly a small patch of garden and mostly the connected North-West Yard or whatever. Either that, or she was getting her directions all wrong. Kirigiri wouldn't rule that out, considering that the staircases consistently changed direction however they wanted.

Lumos was a very handy thing to have. On the other hand light attracted all sorts of things, including danger, which gave Kirigiri some reservations on embracing it; on spotting Harada-sensei she stopped the spell and proceeded forward into the falling darkness.]

Coach!

[Wow. What a clandestine meeting, a teacher and a student lurking outside under moonlight. She'd been in the state of being suspicious long enough to be pretty fond of it. It's a nice enough atmosphere to put her in the mood for dropping a witty comment as she glanced around the courtyard.]

Was I supposed to bring my own broom after all?

[Sano snickered at the small teasing remark, pushing himself off the wall. He was aware how this had to look, especially to a teenager, but that would soon change. While he himself thought of two people flying in the shine of the moonlight, high up at the sky as very romantic, he had a feel they'd stay close to the ground level this time.]

Kirigiri-chan. I wasn't aware you owed one.

[With those words, he tossed her the broom next to him.]

For now, you can borrow this. [And because she seemed pretty relaxed and easygoing, did he allow himself a small tease as well.] We'll leave the more advanced lessons for later, shall we?

[This was not the kind of junk they gave to the first-years. It was evident from the moment she laid eyes on it; the neat polish and trimmings of some metal made it look like a serious piece of apparatus, something you could almost believe flew if someone told you that. (The school brooms on the other hand looked like things her grandparents would use to clean house.) She caught it with a muted oof- it was heavier than expected- and felt the wood thrum with energy.

Okay. Successfully suspending disbelief that this thing could fly. The school seriously needs an apparatus upgrade.]

.... ...... is this your broom?

[Well, what now? She had taken down general points from the flying class, but experimentation didn't seem worth the risk of a broom to the face. Kirigiri lowered the thing to hip level and loosened her grip. It felt like it would float.]

Okay. First lesson?

[Sano watched with a satisfied smirk, as Yari - his broom, as he had affectionately named her - flew straight into Kirigiri-chan's hand. For a moment it looked like she wasn't pleased with a new hand on her, but then she seemed to settle.]

Yep. Handle her with care. She's a fine lady, but can be sometimes quite picky. She's not the youngest, but she's the best.

[He had bought her first when he had been accepted to the quidditch team and she had been with him ever since and had never let him down. In turn he had taken good care of her, polishing her whenever he could and reenacting the spells placed on her, even tinkered her up a bit whenever he could.]

Right. First, sit on her, facing the hilt. Keep a firm grip on her, but don't be rigid. Relax. She's not a stubborn school broom who will make your life a living hell, but if you get tense and tremble, and don't show her exactly where you wanna go, she won't be able to take you there. The important thing with flying is, not to be afraid of it. All you have to do is relax and tilt the handle.

[It was easy enough, but the feeling of flying was alien for a lot of people and enhanced by the fact, that all that seemed to keep you several feet high in the air, was a thin stick. They never got comfortable enough and thus they never were able to enjoy it, or learn it properly.]

Now, first let's get you used to the feeling. Push yourself gently from the ground and fly up a few feet. Stay like that for as long, as you see fit, maybe look around a little, enjoy the new point of view and then land. Just tilt the handle gently and when you're close enough to the ground, put your feet down. You'll have to walk a few steps, as she deccelerates.

[It seemed like brooms were this universe's equivalent of cars, down to the trope of men fondly gendering them 'she'. Not sure about the part where Harada-sensei implied that brooms had personalities, though.

No time better than the present to find out about that. Kirigiri lifted her hands away from the broom- it did float- and pressed curiously on it to make sure it could support weight, before hauling herself into place.

This didn't feel very stable without her feet. Here goes nothing-]

-!!

[She wasn't sure if it was because her pushoff was a bit springier than she should've or if broomsticks just ascended at that speed, but she was in the air and it indeed did not feel very stable. It was hard to keep her balance on such a narrow seat, and stretching her legs out did not- help- shit-

Doing that was probably counterproductive, since her toes could merely paddle the air at this point. Yari dipped a little and seesawed a little more before Kirigiri managed to not feel like she was going to fall off either side. Now she had one hand placed behind her to support herself from behind.]

I-is there a procedure for if I fall off?

[She half-hovered one hand away from its grip behind her to go back to the pose she knew was generally correct- both hands in front- but she could feel Yari slowly drifting upwards still and she wasn't in the mood for a fall.

The broom stopped at a level just above the first floor of the building behind her. Kirigiri attempted to inculcate a fondness of heights, but even the calming night air only lasted her nerves a few seconds. She'd take a longer look next time, maybe.]

Let's go down, [she muttered to herself.] I'm coming down....

[Yari either really did have a personality, or was pressure-sensitive and caught the urgency in her grip. She descended (what felt like) a lot faster, skittering at a sort of half-jog pace as she landed.]

That was.... something-!

[He watched as the two girls - okay, technically it was one - took off at a pace, that looked a bit higher than Kirigiri-chan seemed comfortable with, but still careful and experimental. Sano slowly trailed behind her, making sure to stay right under where she was floating. At the question he had to snicker. Procedure... That's right, the Japanese had a procedure for everything, he remembered. Bless that half of his blood was Irish.]

Yeah! Make sure to fall my way and I'll catch you!

[That wasn't a height anything serious could happen and even if it was, there were practical charms like 'levicorpus', that would cushion the fall.

But luckily nothing likewise happened and soon she landed, again a bit faster, than she might have prefered, but Sano blamed it on Yari. He greeted Kirigiri-chan on the ground with a smile.]

See? That wasn't so hard, was it? Did you like it?

Ah, you might wanna push a little gentler. She's a racing broom with five speeds, so she's pretty touch sensitive. And probably used to higher speeds a bit too much. [He admitted in an afterthought. He did like to ride her fast, to the highest heights possible.]

[She had meant for a procedure to prevent falling, but okay. Kirigiri made a mental note not to test the balance of any Quidditch player in a fight (though those seemed uncommon in this corner of the universe, something she was not ungrateful for.)]

It was..... interesting.

[She needed a bit more reflection time to decide how exactly she felt about levitating up three feet trying not to fall off a broomstick, and the mixed feelings may have shown on her face for a while. But she schooled her features quickly into their usual neutrality.]

It just needs a lot of getting used to.

I'll keep that in mind- so, do I go again or...?

It mus be a strange feeling, the first time around.

[Sano conceded with a smile. Not that he had never had a first time on a broom, but it had been so long ago, he didn't even remember anymore. And he'd been the type of child that had a toy broom, which he had carried around everywhere, so the feeling of someone sitting on it for the first time, was a bit beyond him.]

But when you get used to it, it's a lot of fun.

Sure, we can stay as long as you'd like. [He had made no late night plans with anyone, so he was free as long as Kirigiri-chan would want to practice.]

And if you feel like you're losing balance, just grasp the handle tight and breathe for a moment. Brooms have all sorts of charms placed on them to prevent serious injury. People play Quidditch with it, where you fly fast, into all directions, get hit by bludgers and more than occassionally bodychecked [though it was against the rules], but falls are despite of that pretty rare.

Are falls rare because it's actually not that easy to fall, or because people bad at flying don't fly?

[And yes, that was the procedure she was talking about.

On another note, Quidditch sounded brutal. She had not seen a match yet, and the description of all that airborne drama earned a concerned eyebrow raise. Kirigiri was going to hope Harada-sensei's word was true on falls being rare. It would suck even more, otherwise.]

Okay, I'll try to go again- but before that, is it better to lean close to the handle or sit straight, for a beginner?

[Sano chuckled at the question, as it sounded a little strange. No one had ever asked him that.]

Maybe a bit of both. It does happen, but you'd have to be literally forced off it. There are also some risky maneuvers, that can make it happen.

[Like spirals, without holding onto the broom tightly, or saltos, or sudden downturns, none of which were regularly used, aside from extreme broom sports.]

And yeah, generally it's harder to stay on the broom for people, who can't handle, or control it properly, or fear flying enough to have a full out panic attack, but those are people that usually don't even go anywhere close to a broom.

[He smiled encouragingly.]

If you're sure in the saddle and pay attention to what you're doing, you won't fall. And even if you don't pay attention, the chances of you falling are small, unless someone pushes you off. Just don't fear it. The merit of a broom lies in it's owner. If you're unsure and afraid of flying, the way you fly will be unsure as well, and no matter how great your broom is, it's gonna turn all jumpy. It works sorta similar to a wand. They absorb your habits and personality through the way and frequency you use them.

[Which was exactly why the school brooms were so moody. Too many people had already used them, a lot of them unsure and scared and afterwards, they were just put away and forgotten about for months. Sano would get pissed off as well, if treated like that.]

Uh, definitely straight. Leaning forward increases your speed. Sit relaxed and enjoy the view.

[She was getting a very strong 'trust in the broom' message here. It sounded almost like a fantasy-series saying by some wizened old wizard, but it turned out that actual wizards came in younger, occasionally Japanese and red-headedly handsome variations.

~~It came to mind that a certain light-novel-writing classmate could have a whale of a time here.~~]

Don't fear it. Right. Do you give the same pep talk to the first-years? You could think about it if you don't.

[Kirigiri hadn't heard him give that sort of (to her, quite useful) information to the first-years, but there's a lot that's missed when eavesdropping from a distance in the outdoors.

Or maybe the school brooms would be less moody if Harada-sensei stopped calling them dead dry sticks. Who knows, this comment is more in jest than anything. Hopefully the school brooms will find a broom activist eventually.]

I'll take another shot at this.

[Well, this thing has got a personality apparently, so for what it was worth Kirigiri gave it an experimental pat as she got into position to take off again. Trust in the broom, huh.

Cue ~~heartwarming~~ montage of various flying attempts....?]

[~~The 'broom guru' strikes full force.~~ The former Quidditch player probably shone through in his attitude towards flying and it's 'machinery'. He probably loved flying too much, to be honest.

At the question he had to snort.]

All the time!

[Not that it helped much, but oh well. Fear wasn't an easy opponent.]

But they still do and have a hard time with it. Suppose the brooms don't help it any either...

[He scratched the back of his head, as his on-going problem was starting to make his head hurt again. When he had started teaching last year, he had tried to get them back into shape, but they were just too old and neglected to be ever good anymore. Less energy and investment would go into buying new ones, honestly. He just had a hard time convincing Professor McGonagall to invest into it.]

Go for it!

[He watched Kirigiri-chan's careful attempts for a while, occassionally giving instructions, or useful tips.]

That's good! Try to play around a little with speed. Increase and decrease, find a pace you're confortable with.

[Oh, it was probably that the first-years were so tiny, then. It was a very long time since she was that young; maybe if she were eleven she'd have more of a problem with brooms too.]

It seems like most schools have an equipment dysfunction of some sort.

[Except Hope's Peak. An indoor greenhouse, really? An underground court room? Really? (Though maybe the last one was Monobear-installed.

But moving on.]

What's the highest I should go at this point?

[Kirigiri yelled this from a certain height, being not quite willing to expend the effort to go all the way back down. She was a careful flier, which made the lesson free of any overenthusiastic accidents. (On one hand it may be boring, but on the other, at least no one was flying too fast and into a wall?)]

[Sano barked a laugh at that comment, because it was very true. All of them, really. At one point of time, or another.]

The highest? The highest you feel comfortable with, I suggest. Experiment a little!

[Being careful was good - especially for the first lesson - but taking risks was what pushed your limits and made you improve. Or so Sano had always viewed it. While thsat could be a little dangerous at times, now was probably the best time for it. With a teacher's supervision, there was very little -if anything - that could go wrong. Yes, he was confident in his abilities.]

I'm here in case anything happens.

.....

[Normally flying from on top of a thin stick wouldn't be something she'd want to 'experiment' with, but it seemed to be a normal thing to do around here, so....

Kirigiri pressed on the broom in a way that would tilt it up, cuing that she wanted to ascend straight up. It seemed like the most intuitive thing for her, anyway, and was a fairly intuitive thing for most Quidditch players wanting a quick accent.

Except she wasn't a Quidditch player, nor prepared for the details that came with sitting on a broomstick tilting at an increasingly steep slant. She felt her hands slip, and with the perceptible pull of gravity on her felt herself to be slipping.]

Ah-!

[In the heat of the moment she let out a surprised yelp, slamming her hands down on the handle to bring it to an extremely abrupt halt.]

[Maybe giving her his racing broom hadn't been such a great idea after all, Sano thought, when he saw the sudden arrow-like ascent.]

Whoa!

[He had his wand ready and in position in the blink of an eye, but luckily, he didn't need it, as she seemed to find the solution by herself quickly. She was a fast thinker, wasn't she? And had pretty good instincts. With enough training she might even be a good Quidditch player one day, if she wanted to.]

Good reactions! If you want a straight vertical ascnet, don't tilt the broom. Just pull it up, like you wann aplace it on a higher shelf. Shifting your center of balance to a lower point can help slow it down as well.

[Okay, maybe that was enough broom for tonight. Uncontrolled hurtling into the dark had revealed itself to be an unwanted prospect. Kirigiri shifted forwards to get back where she originally was; the broom bobbed mid-air as she did so, and it was threatening to the first-timer.

It was also hard making sense of Harada-sensei's long sentences at this height, and the breeze wasn't helping.]

Again?

[No, wait, that was utterly useless, she hadn't even raised her voice to shout down. Harada-sensei said something about not tilting the broom- yes, she had found that out experimentally. It was a little intimidating to tilt the broom now, even though that was the instruction for going down.

Whoa, she was really high up by her standards. At least she hadn't gone above the castle yet....?

The broom started to descend slowly, not as smoothly as before since its rider was now shaky.]

Is it the same for going down?

[He said something like pulling it? Can you pull a broom downwards while on top of it? (How do you pull a broom up without tilting it, even?)]

Sorta! Just push down on it a little.

[He watched her descend slowly, as Yari sunk down in a bit of a rocky, but gentle glide. It hadn't been perfect, but for a first flight it was pretty decent.]

You've done well. To be honest, most of the brooms can be directed more or less through will alone, but it's useful to learn the manual directing as well. It fine tunes you with the broom and gives you a sort of order for directions. And the older models, or brooms that are worn down are harder to direct with will.

Well, I hope you had at least a little fun.

[Better than the average first-year, at least. Kirigiri floundered a bit on the dismount, but it was nothing close to putting her off-balance. Now that her feet were firmly on the ground she let out a quiet exhale. ]

I doubt my mental synchronization with other people's brooms will be quite that reliable, heh.

It was..... I guess 'fun' can be said, yeah.

[She tended not to describe things as 'fun' often, but she didn't wholly dislike the flight. It.... fit the definition of 'fun', she supposed?]

[Much better than the avergae first year. Sano chuckled lightly at the quiet, but audible sound that she made.]

It can take a little time. [He nods.] But usually works swimmingly, once you get the handle of it.

[At least she didn't seem to hate it, he thinks with a smile.]

I'm glad. I'd be a bad instructor if you ended up hating it instead, wouldn't I?

[He gives her a wink and tries not to think about how most of the first years seemed to dislike the subject.]

When you feel like trying again, tell me anytime.

[Secretly she was glad that she didn't struggle as much with it as the average first-year. Maybe they should raise the scheduled target age of the flying curriculum. Or just change the brooms.

Harada-sensei winked at her.... except her first thought in response to his comment was to recall the memory of that poor kid who got smashed in the face by his assigned broom.]

So the first-years are usually enamored with flying by the end of your lessons?

[Come to think of that. There were gaps in her knowledge of the flying thing here.]

How long do the lessons go on for?

[It was hard to tell how long she'd be at this for just from one session. Was she supposed to practice until she was Quidditch-standard? There's a level in-between that she was expected to get to, right? Since the only two proficiency levels she'd seen at flying were First-Year(pretty bad) or Team Player(pretty good). ]

And yeah, I'll let you know when I'd like I try again.

[He smiles mischievously at the question. Not all of them turned of course the greatest flying fans, but... no one left his lessons afraid of heights, when they ended.]

They usually stop hating it at least.

[That would still take some time though, by the present state of things.]

Usually as long as you need to be able to fly without supervision. But honestly, as long as you want to, or how far you wanna go. I can teach you just to be sure enough on your broom, or I can make you a Quidditch pro. It all depends on you.

[For the first years it was usually either the end of term, or the mastery of the skill at an acceptable level, whichever came first. And at current, an acceptable level was when you stopped screaming and trashing, and had enough control to fly in different directions, without crashing into anything. Only rarely they'd have to retake the lessons the following year, but if some wanted private lessons for more training, he didn't refuse them.]

[Hmm. So it was up to her, and she could become school-team-standard if she felt like it. Did she feel like it? Realistically, there were other options to be spending her time, even if it looked very cool. She'd consider it.

Well, people on the school team were good, and they had to start somewhere, so that some one evidence of the efficacy of however-many lessons. At least this wasn't like some of the extra enrichment modules by schools that no one really understood the point of.

On another note, it was getting quite dark. Kirigiri glanced up at the figures moving beyond the castle windows for some indication of the time.]

Mmm. I see.

I think this'll be it for me tonight.

[Sano nods with a smile, reaching out to take his broom back.]

Have a good rest then. And let me know, when you feel like having another lesson. I find two hours a week effective, but it can be more, or it can be less. I'm free most of the time, outside of Quidditch practice and flying lessons.

[He had some activities here and there, but an hour of private lessons was always in.

He gives her a smile.]

I'll walk you to your dorms, or do you have any other plans for tonight?

[She had cleared the night's plans being unsure of how long the lesson would take and how exhausting it would be. Talking with a teacher might get her more background information about the workings of the school, so why not?]

I board in the Ravenclaw Tower, though. Is that convenient for you?

[The teachers sleep..... where?

There's probably a secret teacher's compound somewhere.]

It's on my way.

[Sano answers with a smile. Not that he wouldn't walk her to the dorms, even if it wasn't - it wouldn't be very chivalrous to let a lady find her way alone - but it was certainly convenient.]

My quarters are in the West Wing as well.

[With that they started walking towards the exit of the court.]

Do all the teachers have quarters in that area?

[Her class in highschool had not had many mature boys, so the reminder that chivalry isn't dead is nice. Kirigiri avoids dwelling on how foolhardy it could be to be alone with a mere acquaintance in the nighttime corridors, but the thought of what could happen in a less benign school does cross her mind as she walks. Campuses are so different.

Kirigiri tends to let her thoughts drift during her regular nighttime ventures, and it's no different tonight. It's observable that she's deep in thought, at least until something like a conversation demands her focus again.]

[Sano might have liked a little romance and nighttime fun, or teasing and a few dirty jokes here and there, but he would never force himself on anyone, who didn't feel the same way. Or on a student, who was supposed to be within his responsibility and protection. He'd have to have serious feelings for them,- reciprocated feelings -, if he had wanted to try something. He was accompanying Kirigiri because he wanted to prevent bad things, not because he wanted to iniciate them.]

Not all of us. [He replies.] Usually we have the privilege of chosing where we wanna have our quarters, though usually the house heads live close to their houses. But some teachers don't even live on the campus.

[A lot of them just came in for their lessons, usually through the floo powder network, or by apparating into Hogsmead. He himself spent some time in his house on the coast of Kerry, though he preferred to stay in Hogwarts.]

[Oh, she'd been more concerned about murder.

The cultural problems that come with being a transfer student from Murder-Mystery-ville, huh.

She turned to notice each burst of bustle from other students roaming the corridors. This girl was a keen one- and also, not unappreciative of having a crowd in this school.]

Are there empty rooms around that new teachers can choose from? Or is it just- castle magic?

[Hogwarts: A History is not the most engaging book in the universe, alright?

She should get back to trying to tackle that book again. But in the meantime, Harada-sensei's information was interesting. Information from a teacher was not the kind of thing most students knew, probably.]

[Good question.]

You know, I never thought about that.

[But Hogwarts was a pretty big castle and there was no way all of the rooms were getting used at all times. But then again, not all might make viable quarters. All Sano had applied for was 'some tower', because being high reminded him of flying and the Quidditch he could no longer actively play. But in the end, more than the memory of Quidditch, he ended up enjoying the magnificent view.]

Maybe a bit of both? But I think most of the time there's an abundance of free rooms. Especially with all the towers it has.

[There were a lot of mysteries about Hogwarts no one knew about. An old castle with an old history hid a lot of secrets. Most suited to be a magical school, indeed.]

[Kirigiri was beginning to wonder if even the management knew what was going on with this place. Was there a management? She knew there was a Headmistress, but there should be more staff coordinating the routine of the campus.... .....

Nevermind.

"Magic castles were magic castles."]

Oh.

[At the mention, Kirigiri glanced out of the windows to see if there were towers that could be seen from their position.]

.... schooling in an English castle is quite new to me. It's interesting.

[It was probably impossible to know all about Hogwarts, Sano mused. Even the Headmistress, as many before her, had admitted that she couldn't figure everything out. Old castles hid and revealed their secrets as they wished. ]

Where did you study before?

[He asked, out of plain curiosity. And because of the apparent Asian traces in her face, as well as her name. Kirigiri Kyouko didn't sound very english, did it? Well, neither did Harada Sanosuke sound very Irish, but.]

[Her cover story was, well, covered. The existence of phenomenon turning Muggles random magically was apparently too serious a secret to let out; luckily she took to secrets like children took to candy. Kirigiri answered as naturally as if it had been the truth all along.]

I went to a district school in Japan for a few years, and then we moved abroad.[Not entirely a lie. The Headmistress did suggest Mahoutokoro, but it was risky quoting a school she in fact knew nothing about. It was easier to corroborate accounts and spot lies with such an established school.

Since they were on the topic of personal sharing, she put forward a question of her own.] Is this the first school you're teaching at?

[Harada-sensei looked fairly young, so he was unlikely to have worked for too long. Unless the wizarding education system was as haphazard as most things in this castle and using her knowledge of her own world was a terrible comparison.]

I see.

[One of those lesser known schools. Well not like a single school could shoulder the education of an entire country, right?]

Why did you move?

[That was sorta a valid question, since he's lived in Japan for a while as well, before moving to Ireland. He was curious about what reasons people had, to leave where they had spent at least half of their lives.

He chuckles at the question, since he's not asked that often. People usually know what he's been up to since he left school, but Krigiri came here only recently and Sano doesn't mind being asked.]

Aye, 't is. I'm in my second teaching year.

[She had in fact moved at least twice in her lifetime; once with her grandparents, but there was also the move here which..... appeared to be for no apparent reason. Presumably Harada-sensei was referring to the former, which was....... not her favorite thing to talk about. There was a palpable pause.]

I'm not sure. I was quite young then.

Did you grow up in Japan or around here?

[It appeared to be life story sharing time.]

[Sano takes note of the pause and the dodge, and decides not to press the issue. Either she really doesn't remember, or doesn't want totalk about it. Though, if she wanted to, he would lend his ear gladly.

Instead he answers her.]

Both, sorta. We had houses in both, Ireland and Japan. We had this Geisha Statue as a Portkey between them. Since my Mother works at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, it wasn't a problem to get them to issue one.

[Not that he likes to flaunt - not to mention his relationship with his mother is nowhere near good, basically it's close to non-existent, -but there used to be times, when her status at the ministry was convenient.]

But I guess I spent more time here than there. Though to be honest, I feel more Japanese than Irish.

[He adds with a smile and think how paradoxical that is, since he's very little like a typical Japanese, he thinks.]

[So they do have wizard cops of some sort. It seems strange to live in two houses at once- or maybe Harada-sensei simply didn't mention how often they traveled between houses.]

Did your entire family live in one house at a time or-?

[Her attentions are on him- Kirigiri has to admit that she's a little curious, even though it's not exactly the kind of mystery she's looking to solve.

Her general understanding of the world involves most families deciding to settle in one house at a time, and maybe traveling to visit relatives. Either magical families were just weird, or possibly his parents lived apart.

Oh, possible can of worms there. Well, an adult should be able to keep his secrets fine.]

Depends on who had business at which country, but mostly yes. Dad had work in Japan, so he switched the most, but he always came back home to Ireland in the evening.

We'd usually spend the summer breaks in Japan, though.

[But that all ended when his parents divorced. In one moment of anger, his mother had broken the statue and had thrown it into the garbage. He hadn't been there since, not going for a visit even when he played for one of the Japanese Quidditch teams.]

[Spoiler warning: To any browsers wanting to avoid Dangan Ronpa spoilers, there're some Kirigiri-related spoilers below! I tried to make it vague so hopefully it's not too bad.]

[Talking about fathers was not really the best conversation topic, but it wasn't as if the subject was her father, she's old enough to be better than that-]

I think we're almost at Ravenclaw Tower. I can walk the rest of the way myself- unless you're also boarding there?

[On some matters her brain still thinks she's fifteen-and-a-half and matches emotional maturity accordingly, it seems. She was supposed to think about improving her emotional control on this after the last time it was brought up- losing her cool is bad bad bad and could bite her back in important moments- but, well, oops. Too many things on the to-do list.

At least she hadn't snapped just now, but maybe she sounds a little more impatient than usual.]

[It's not very hard to tell that he stepped on the mine, by the way she's preactically escaping. It hadn't been his intention to scare her off and he doesn't want her to think she needs to tell him something, she doesn't want to.]

You know... I haven't ssen him for 12 years.

[He says, thinking it might make her feel better to know, that someone else had troubles in the family as well. He has no idea what her problem with her father was, but he knew it helped to know you weren't the only one.]

And I plan to keep it that way.

[He hadn't forgiven the man yet.

He looks ahead. The tower is just down the hall and there's no one out. It seems safe and he doesn't want to impose himself on her, if she feels uncomfortable, or would rather prefer privacy. They have already passed his turn, he'd have to go back either way.]

You'll be okay?

[He choses his words deliberately, letting her know it's okay, if she wants to walk alone, and also asking if she would be alright, after their conversation took an apparent turn.]

[His latest words are gratifying to hear, as much as she'll never admit it. Someone agreeing with her stance is good enough to start dissipating the sudden rush of anger; Kirigiri finds herself relaxing slightly, not realizing she had tensed up in the first place.

There's a lot of things she wants to say about her father, but most of them aren't objective. It's hard to be objective when it comes to that man. She's not fond of acknowledging the subject.]

Mr. Kirigiri was a very stupid man.

[It does help, but she's also not too fond of talking about her feelings and whether they feel better.]

I am okay. [Kirigiri responds, even if she might not actually be- she believes she's fine, she'll put away the subject as she usually does.] But we're at the Tower, you don't need to walk me further if your room isn't here. Do you need to go further up this way?

[Stupid, huh? Well, that was a good word to describe them, he supposed.]

So was Harada Satoru.

[He nods, giving her an encouraging smile, then scratches his head mischievously.]

We already passed my turn. It's okay though. It's not far.

[He's staying close to the Gryffindor tower, which is just across the floor. Besides, he wouldn't let a girl walk alone to her room, no matter what.]

[The agreement gives her a sense of calm. She won't conclude it after some reflection later in her room, but there's a kind of connection being brewed between them over the shared stupidity of their fathers.

Kirigiri glances down the path to her house common rooms. From Harada-sensei's tone, it seems like he's coming along anyway.]

It really isn't far, my dormitories are just up the tower.

But if you want to accompany me, I don't mind.

[She's the best candidate to be allowed to walk alone her room, by her track record, but it's his choice. Kirigiri picks up her pace again towards the stairwell at the end of the corridor.]

[He chuckles softly, when it suddenly sounds like she's doing him the favor for letting him accompany her, instead of him being the correctly chivalrous one.

He doesn't say anything though, silent in his amusement, as he picks up his pace as well and follow her.]

I'll accompany you. It's proper manners.

[And a teacher's responsibility, he adds in his mind, but he feels like it's just an excuse for him to be chivalrous. A true former Gryffindor, ain't he?]

[Kirigiri had been raised closer to murder than manners, where offers of escort are unusual and potentially dangerous. She usually doesn't ask for the favor of accompaniment even when heading to far shadier places, so this display of chivalry just strikes her as an unneeded expense of effort, but there's no reason to convince him to turn back.

This school is supposed to be fairly safe, after all. If Harada-sensei would like to walk some extra distance he can do that. You could say she's not so Japanese where her sense of what formalities are normal is concerned.]

This is manners required of a teacher to a student? Walking me this far is fairly kind already.

[He chuckles lightly, looking away. One could phrase it that way as well.]

More or less. [He turns to her again, giving her a smile.] I was just raised this way. It's rough and unpolite to let a girl, much less a student entrusted to me, walk back alone, no matter how safe it is. I'm old-fashioned like that.

[He might have been a liberal and tolerant person in many ways, but there were a few outdated habits like this, that he honed. You could be liberal and still know how to behave and have manners.]

[Her first thought is of how inconvenient that could be; too much chivalry could easily put a person in danger. She smiles in amusement at his words- though the dim lighting hides it somewhat- and it's the kind of teasing smirk she's seen other Ravenclaws wear when criticizing Gryffindor house.

Hm. If teachers had houses she could picture Harada-sensei there. ~~(And he actually was from there. But anyway.)~~]

It's a little funny to me, I've been raised on different values.

[But then again, she had recently learnt that chivalry could have its good points, too.]

[He notes with amusement the smirk that he like to call 'the Ravenclaw jab'. Aah, you couldn't deny your house, you just couldn't. There were times when it shone through so clearly, that the founders themselves wouldn't have believed it.]

Different values are a good thing. If we all lived on the same values, the world would stagnate.

[They reached the entrance to the tower and Sano turned to Kirgiri-chan.]

I'll let you off here. Have a good night, Kirigiri-chan.

That's true.

[Nicely said. She was glad the first teacher she's gotten to know wasn't an average salaryman with a plain, forgettable sort of identity. (She's been taught by a few of those sorts in her lifetime.)

Hopefully future lessons would bring more nuggets of knowledge -and wisdom, since Harada-sensei was around for longer than she.]

Mmm- I'll see you next time.

Goodnight, Harada-sensei.

[Closed: Kirigiri Kyouko] Private lessons

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