Shot of Silence

Chapter 7: Meeting class I-9

Instead of trembling at the sight of these bright neon airgun pellets rolling out of the classroom's door, the brunet felt rather comical when he heard the way the attendance goes.

'Man, it seems like even in this second chance at life, my days won't ever be so dull.'

Feeling amused, Heath was half wondering if weapons such as guns were as common as hunter knives over here. After all, in his past life, weapons weren’t distributed as casually, even when war broke out, so the fact that these adults let kids carry and use guns caught him off guard.

‘Then again, the children at the other school building, they don’t bring anything with them.’ 

So, perhaps, this place is the odd one out? 

‘Well, either way,’ Heath chuckled to himself, wondering what's in store in the future as he watched the door finally open for him as the cue for him to come in.

"I must say, sensei, that was an interesting way to start the day. So thrilling~" 

The former prince couldn't help but comment as a sense of nostalgia tingled in the back of his mind, remembering how his mentor loved to make him a living target to practice her aim as well. Per her words, he needed to learn how to sense danger, and she got to hone her aiming, killing two birds with one stone. Though, Heath was so sure, that eccentric mentor of his just loved to mess with him in the most twisted ways—

"gyahaha~ I like your way of thinking, Heath-sensei~" In the blink of an eye, Perry was standing by his side, putting his wriggling hand around his shoulder, clearly displaying the fact that Heath knew about him.

To which, seeing how the students stared at their interaction in complete disbelief, it’s crystal to him that this new normal he’s about to live in is likely not to be so normal after all. Or, well, he thought that was the reason behind their shock.

"Hang on, Heath-sensei? As in the spineless Heathwit?"

The former royalty frowned inwardly at the name-calling. The cowardly crown, the halfwit prince, Quiverheath—he had heard various ways his name being tarnished.

"Maa~ It seems like I'm quite infamous myself." He chuckled, "Alas, for the sake of formalities~ yellow there, Minna-san! As you might have known, my name is Sagara Heath. You may call me Sagara-sensei or Heath-sensei. It's nice to meet you," Introducing himself cheekily, he observed the young guns in front of him.

Those eyes.

Through and through, the resemblance of the pair he used to own back in his younger years is uncanny. 'At least they're two years older than I was...?' Not that it makes things significantly better, since there’s a reason people want his head on a silver plate from such a young age. He’s royalty. His own birth was a threat to certain powerful factions, and his existence challenges the established order in the kingdom.

To think that these students have similar dead eyes as he had in the past—

"Heh, don't expect us to start calling you sensei now. ‘Heathshit’ is what you are, and that's that." A pair of brown eyes darted at the voice owner at the back of the class.

That sharp and haughty tone.

Superiority that lacks real confidence.

“Heh,” Heath let out a chortle. ‘And here I thought this class would mostly consist of depressed children of the sort, since this class is that highly rumored class.' A smile crept across his face, 'I guess a little bit of variety is better to spice things up~'

"And you are?" He asked the delinquent, who smirked in return, "Kobayashi Kian is the name. Just call me KK for short so that you ain’t going around and forget it already" The boy scorned.

Yet instead of getting offended or at least upset, that brunet sniffled a chuckle, 'Ah, shit. Why does he remind me of Draven so much?' Draven was one of his loyal peers, the youngest in the group. Kian’s cockiness really reminded him of the young Draven the first time they met in their previous life. Knowing that he can’t get himself trapped in what was once a beautiful memory, Heath shrugged the thought along with the sneering aimed at him. "Right, okay then, Kianichy~ I'll keep that in mind."

"Pfft— Kianichy?" The students giggled, making the bleached blond fume in anger.

"You—!"

"You want me to remember your name, and I did. Now moving on~ Can I have your names? Or do you want me to give you adorable nicknames as well?"

Some of the students laughed a bit before they all introduced themselves. Heath memorized their names, including their seat numbers, likes and dislikes, and all the tiny gritty details they mentioned. It was one of the basic skills that his mentor had insisted he have, after all.

Heath smiled once they were all done with the introduction before then repeated it.

"Seat number 1, Aoki Zara. Aoki-san likes chemistry class and nature and dislikes physical class with gardening as a hobby.” The student in question gave a smile and a respectful nod to the new teacher.

“Seat number 2, our class rep, Kawasaki Jitsuo. Kawasaki-kun likes sports, especially baseball, loves sushi, and hates cold weather. He loves to practice his throw in his free time too.” From the class rep, he got himself a finger gun which made him chuckle a bit before continuing.

"Seat number 3, Kobayashi Kian, our dear Kianichy who chooses not to disclose anything and play as a mysterious character, which is fine~ it’s not a crime.” 

Kian could be seen throwing a fit on his seat, complaining loudly and causing a ruckus which only came in one ear and left the other one. Heath was about to react to it; however, before he got to do anything, Lilian stepped in by giving the rioting boy one sharp look, which resulted in him settling down despite his grumbling. 

‘Well, that’s something to take note of.’

Heath hummed at the interaction before then continuing with the roll call. “Seat number 4, Mori Nia. Mori-chan likes to listen to music and play some instruments, she dislikes rude or disrespectful people, which I can relate to,” he tipped his head at the student, earning him an elated laugh from her in return, followed by some suppressed chuckles by others.

“Seat number 5, Ono Zachary, nickname Zane-kun,” Heath was curious as to why the boy chose a rather feminine variation of his name as a nickname, but for now, he’d just assume it was a matter of preference, especially after looking at his hairstyle which had a similar nature. 

Moving on without much question, he followed with the student’s likes and dislikes. 

“Zane-kun likes reading books and taking notes, while, on the contrary, loathes public speaking?” The shy boy nodded slightly in confirmation.

“Next, we have seat number 6, Saito Jiro. Saito-kun likes traveling and hates being late or even worse, waiting.” Jiro gave a quick nod as well.

“Seat number 7, Tanaka Kai, currently absent.” Tanaka Kai. From the role call record, it seemed like she’s been skipping classes a few times as well. ‘Probably something that needs to be investigated?’ 

Well, he is a teacher now; it’s only right to know if his students are actually in trouble, right?

“And last but not least, Seat number 8, Yamaguchi Lia. Yamaguchi-chan LOVES her sweets, loves cooking and baking, but hates cleaning dishes, also relatable.” 

“Heck yeah!” the girl blurted out as she did a shoulder shimmy in her seat. 

And with that, it concludes their introduction and his first roll call in this class, and in this new world.