Work Text:
"So this is the place, eh?"
Sasara stood assessing their target. The creepings of daytime light slowly peeked over the horizon, washing the place in an almost ethereal glow. What he and Rei needed to do had to be done in the quiet of the morning, and without Rosho knowing.
"Yes," Rei replied, rubbing his chin. "My contact should be here soon."
Sasara nodded, lollipop slowly melting in his mouth. Hopefully this kid knew how to find them.
"Pst." Sasara and Rei both turned towards the sound. A young girl dressed in a school uniform stood partially hidden in the bushes. "Do you have the goods?" At the affirming nods, she gestured for them to follow her. "Come with me," she whispered. Rei glanced back at Sasara, earning a nod in return.
Getting into the school with the student's help proved to be easier than Sasara anticipated, but he supposed having someone on the inside always did make work easier. Quietly, the team of three made their way down empty hallways, the young woman leading the way with sure footsteps.
Before long, the girl stood in front of a door and threw it open, declaring to the rest assembled, "Rosho-sensei's friends are here!"
"Hi, we're Rosho's division friend--"
Before Sasara could even introduce himself, one of the students frantically pushed streamers in his hands.
"Rosho-sensei said we can't climb the desks because it's too dangerous," she explained.
"Oh!" Sasara said, taking the streamers. How thoughtful of their friend, but how unlucky for his students. "Well! Then, we'll have ta make an impromptu desk now, don't we?" Sasara grinned, not surprised by the extreme look of wonderment on the student's face.
"Old man!"
"Already ahead of you," Rei said. Suddenly, Sasara felt himself lift up. Oh. Alright, that wasn't part of the plan, but it'll do. He balanced himself on Rei's shoulders, up higher than he had any right to be.
"We also already know who you are," the girl who led them back to the classroom explained. Sasara looked down...way down to see her. "Rosho-sensei has mentioned you both before, and we saw you with him before." A pause. Sasara recognized that look. Looks like even Rosho students know who he was as well.
Sasara grinned. “Well, today, we’re just Rosho’s friends tryna give him a great birthday surprise, okay?” The girl smiled, nodding.
Sasara adjusted himself on Rei's shoulders, finding a good balance even as Rei removed his hands from his legs. The students quickly worked on decorating the rest of the room, one of the students using their pretty handwriting to decorate the board with "Happy Birthday" messages.
The students let Sasara know where they wanted their decorations hung, and both he and Rei went willingly, allowing the students to dictate the placements.
"We got the presents around the desk and a cake," Sasara heard one of the student's say.
"Excuse me," Sasara looked down to see another student looking up at Rei. "Do you mind if I put some bows on your jacket?"
"Go right ahead," Rei told him. Hm. Interesting.
"Just one more streamer, sir!" one of the girls said, handing Sasara the last of the decorations.
"The last, ah? This is quite the--" Before Sasara could even finish his pun, the door swung open again.
All heads immediately turned, as the only person missing from the class was the teacher himself.
Silence filled the room for a moment, and even from that height and distance, Sasara could pinpoint the exact moment that shocked realization crossed Rosho's face.
His book fell out of his hand, dropping to the floor. One of the student's looked back to signal the rest, and the whole room erupted: "SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"
x.x.x.x
There was a lot of explaining to do, Sasara knew. So when he easily jumped off of Rei's back and bounded over to Rosho, he quickly said, "Happy birthday! We'll explain everything later!"
"Wha--!"
"Happy birthday, Rosho-sensei!"
Sasara quickly let Rosho go to get swarmed by hugs and gifts from his students. If Sasara knew Rosho (and Sasara did think he knew Rosho quite well), he'd say his friend was keeping his emotions in check.
Rosho allowed the fanfare for a while, honestly, probably because he loved his students more than he enjoyed the festivities. Sasara could see why. The students were easy to get along with, and weren't nervous, especially now with Rei and his jacket covered in little colorful bows.
"You all love your teacher, huh?" Sasara asked one of the students who had wanted some pointers in being a comedian. ("It's all in the jeans," Sasara had joked.)
"Rosho-sensei is the best!" he answered, eyes bright. "Even though he has a hard time speaking in class sometimes, he's one of the best!"
Hm, so Rosho's stage fright came into the classroom too, huh?
"But he's been getting better!" Another one of the students whispered loudly, as if worried that Rosho could hear her from across the crowded classroom.
"Oh?" Sasara asked.
She nodded enthusiastically. "Ever since he joined up with you two!"
At that, Sasara wasn't sure what to say. He was saved from answering, however, when Rosho took control back of the classroom.
"Alright, let's settle down and get some actual work down today, yes?"
With affirmations to their teachers, the students slowly found their way to their desks. To Sasara's surprise, he saw one of the students gesturing to an empty desk for him. Sasara grinned. Well, he wasn't expecting to be in class today, but...
Rosho sighed, seeing both of his teammates take their seats among his students. "What are you two doing?"
"Your students have apparently adopted us," Rei said, leaning his head on his hand, "Rosho-sensei."
Rosho lifted his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose. He glanced over at Sasara and sighed when he saw Sasara nodding enthusiastically.
Then, he started the class. Now, because the festivities took awhile, the class ran short, which was fine by Sasara. There had been a few times where he was close to calling out a joke or a jab, finding the rhythm of Rosho's words very, very familiar.
In fact, Sasara was almost sure Rosho was egging him on.
"S-so, yes," Rosho continued on. "Ah...So...Soon we will move into trig and if we're good....into statistics."
"But graphin’ is where you'll draw the line, Rosho-sensei?" Sasara asked, unable to stop himself. A smatter of laughter filled the classroom, and Sasara swore he saw the corner of Rosho's lip lift.
"Is now the right time for this, Sasara?" Rosho asked, though the amusement in his eyes gave up the game. Sasara grinned.
"Right time? Here I was thinkin' I was usin' acute angle?"
More laughter. The grip Rosho had on his chalk lessened. "Very funny. I'm surprised you managed to stay seated during most of this."
"Well, I'm not exactly a roamin' numeral."
Rosho pinched the bridge of his nose again, much to his student's amusement. But Sasara saw the smile he hid behind his hand, and that was worth all the puns in the world.
x.x.x.x
After the first class, Sasara and Rei allowed Rosho peace for the rest of the day. After all, both were busy men...even if Sasara's brand of busy was buying pudding and filling Rosho's fridge with it. And Rei was...well, Rei.
Nonetheless, Rei did promise to meet back later at Rosho's apartment. Though Sasara knew better than to take his word for what time he'd be there.
So, instead, when the school day ended, Sasara went to pick Rosho up. Unsurprisingly, he found Rosho finishing up in his classroom. The decorations were mostly gone, but the presents still sat on Rosho's desk.
"Rosho~" Sasara greeted, allowing himself to lean on the back of Rosho's chair. "Are you finished for the day?"
"Almost," he said. Hm...no jab?
Sasara stood quiet for a moment before he asked, "Didya have a good birthday?"
Rosho closed the book on his desk, and pushed his chair out to stand. Sasara had to take a step back before the chair ran over him. Sasara looked up and the smile that greeted him was almost blinding.
Rosho took off his glasses for a moment, composing himself enough before he answered.
"The best."