Eighth Haiku [Voice]

[koukai_kirai]

Classes are underway now, and anyone registered for mine should have received their syllabus and schedule by now. Reaction papers on the first few weeks' readings are due in class on Friday. My policy regarding late work is the same as always.

Kendo club has been meeting through the summer, but if anyone's interested in joining for the fall, they should let me know. I'll be available after regular practice if anyone wants to spar with me personally.

That's all.

[He's just going to focus obsessively on the things he can do. That's how to handle losing a close coworker, right?]

Comments

[knighterrantofthedragon]

As always, let me know if I can be of any assistance with the club, Hijikata-sensei.

[koukai_kirai]

We're a little smaller than this time next year, so I won't need too much help observing and correcting, but I can always use your help for demonstrations. And for keeping an eye on what the students' priorities are.

[He's not always the easiest authority figure to talk to, and he knows that.]

[knighterrantofthedragon]

[He answered with a polite smile and a respectful nod. He was well aware a good part of his potential value to Hijikata was that he tended to be a bit more of a soft touch--at least, in a classroom context, certainly.]

It would be an honor, of course.

[koukai_kirai]

If anyone needs to take a week or two off of group lessons, you could help them make up for lost time, too.

[He doesn't much understand skipping classes and sparring practice after a trauma, being the type who tends to throw himself completely into work until he recovers a bit, but he's certainly seen it happen in his years here.]

[knighterrantofthedragon]

[That really tends to me more Alric's coping mechanism, as well, but he nods, knowing he's rather unusual in that respect. His expression is a touch more pensive, though, given the tangential subject of the reason why someone might be taking time off.]

Mm, certainly, I would be glad to do so.

-> [Private]

[koukai_kirai]

[Hijikata is quiet for a few moments, taking in the small changes in Alric's demeanor, before deciding it's better to speak with him on a private channel right now.]

...How are you doing?

[Private]

[knighterrantofthedragon]

[Alric was, in earnest, somewhat taken aback at that, but smiles reassuringly, after a brief pause.]

..ah.. I am.... well enough. I certainly appreciate the solicitude, of course. I was quite fortunate that I did not... lose anyone to whom I was very close, personally. Given the circumstances, I suppose we acquitted ourselves well enough, during the riots.

[Private]

[koukai_kirai]

You did well. The team did.

[That's about as effusive as his praise gets, honestly. Under the current circumstances, it's even more muted in tone than he'd usually be, but he wouldn't say it insincerely.]

...What about the rest of them?

[Tiamaris, in particular, was unstable, and leaned heavily on Alric in that regard.]

[Private]

[knighterrantofthedragon]

[Alric paused a moment to contemplate that.]

Mm... as well as can be expected, I believe. If they've had any troubles distinct from our fellow students, they've not shared them with me--or revealed them in any obvious way. While things could perhaps have gone more smoothly, I believe they are by and large satisfied that they didn't go poorly.

[Private]

[koukai_kirai]

Keep an eye on them for me. Some of them are more likely to go to you than to me if they're having trouble handling it.

[Private]

[knighterrantofthedragon]

[Alric smiles to himself at that; less due to taking it as a compliment, and more because there's something amusing about Hijikata pointing out that some people might not find him the most comforting authority figure in the room. Still, he's not going to be disrespectful about it.]

...ah... yes, I suppose that might be true. I'll do so, of course.

[Private]

[koukai_kirai]

[He does catch that smile, and as badly as he might use the information from time to time, he's decent enough at reading people to get a rough idea of why.]

...Well. "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles."

[And he knows his own flaws like a monk knows his sutras, studies them like no one else could.]

[knighterrantofthedragon]

[Alric smiles just a little more, tilting his head in a sort of half-nod.]

...of course. My greater concern, however, is how well we know our "enemy."

[...which could refer to actual external enemies, or the challenges faced by the students--and probably really means both.]

[koukai_kirai]

We can never know enough about that. Always push to know more.

[He lives by that idea, even when it's frankly to his detriment.]

[knighterrantofthedragon]

As one does, of course, Hijikata-sensei.

[koukai_kirai]

I suppose I don't need to tell you that, no.