Music teacher, Arata Kobayashi, bursts onto the scene!(Open)

Hephaestus academy was the last place that Arata Kobayashi had expected himself to end up. He had always envisioned himself having a career similar to that of his mother, who experienced much popularity as she traveled the world. As an otherworldly musician, she became Arata's ideal role-model.  However cliche that may sound - it became Arata's dream and he never wavered from striving to accomplish what she did when she was a young girl. His whole life had been predicated on music.

Come to think of it, his whole livelihood as a musician seemed somewhat like a cliched fairy tale. He protected his sisters, excelled at every level, relying on his energy and hard work. In that sense---being invited to an academy to teach music should've been a grand success. This was most certainly true. It would have been a success but the terms were unexpected to say the least.


He received a letter the other day that read thus:



As his eyes glazed over the pages, the single word that stuck out like a sore thumb was obviously "supernatural".  His distant relatives had always spoke to him of multiple gods in the Japanese Pantheon and how they existed in a vast variety of objects. He never really placed any emphasis on the idea, however, content to live blissfully unaware of the paranormal.  Indeed, Arata had never seen anything supernatural outside of superheros on television and hearing about ghost stories.  So what made him accept the proposal to teach here?

Even in spite of the unusual methods it took to escort him here, and the anxiousness of teaching a class with somewhat nary an experience to speak of, he was ready to accept the challenge. And besides, with his mother forcing him into an arranged marriage proposal, this could serve as an peculiar yet interesting diversion. He doubted his mother could find him here.  With that thought in mind, Arata walked inside his classroom and begin decorating, waiting with anticipation as the students started to walk down the hall...

If Michiko was an assassin sent out to kill Arata, she would have no doubt succeeded in her task.  Until she spoke, Arata hadn't even been aware that anyone had entered the classroom. His decorations complete, he had heard what seemed to be the - albeit soft - voice of a female.  


Arata raised his head after completing his special alterations on his classroom. What met him was far from what he was expecting of his first student.  Even though this was a far-fetched imagination he was going off of due to his fear of the unknown, he nearly thought some wild  student was going to come bursting in, ready to take advantage of his inability to fight or berate him for deciding to teach music at an academy for the supernatural.  This was a pleasant surprise. It was a beautiful young lady, who while seemingly appearing to be shy, asked him politely about his being here.

Even though Arata wasn't attempting to focus on her looks, it was hard not to. She had light blue hair and her eyes possessed a certain innocence about them that kind of made Arata want to give her a big hug.  They were big, bright blue eyes that left Arata silent for a moment as he stared at her.  

He quickly, however recognized this and shook his head furiously in order to snap himself out of it.  With a small cough, Arata tried to sound mature and mysterious but he failed horribly as his voice wasn't entirely deep and one could indeed mistake him for a student because of it.  Hell, because of his own anxiousness, he struggled to get out the words he wanted to as well.

"U-uh.... y-yeah, um well... I'm t-the u-u-um... w-what i'm t-trying to say is... "

Dammit Arata, get it together! He voiced to himself internally. How could he show that he was a competent teacher when he was struggling with just one reply.  After a long silence, Arata simply and quickly came out with it.

"I'm the music t-teacher here! M-my n-name is Arata K-kobayashi.  I-it is a phenomenal pleasure to m-meet you... I-I do hope y-you'll enjoy this c-class and I-If you have any problems, my d-door is always open!"


In his anticipation to meet the challenge--- he accidentally created a new challenge altogether for himself. Trying to make an impression on a seemingly nice student. Oh man.... could this get any worse? He really hoped he didn't embarrass himself.

Arata felt as if he had succeeded in some death-defying event and escaped from it a living man. His introduction was shaky, unprofessional and the fact that Michiko wasn't laughing at him with pointed fingers was a blessing in itself. Even though he didn't make a good first impression with her, Arata loved conversation, whether he was the initiate or the listener. His only fear was that he had no idea Michiko would be such a welcoming student. As that fear was brushed away, Arata found it necessary to let down some of the barriers he had placed around himself. He watched as she walked to her desk and sat down.

Arata smiled playfully as he rubbed his head sheepishly at her question.

What was he going to teach in this class? He had a vast knowledge of instruments and the inner workings but his main strengths were vocals, guitars, and pianos. There were a lot of ideas he had but only if the students were comfortable with it. He wanted to make the class fun, truly having no intention of being a distant teacher. His desire, at least in principle, was to leave his students with a good impression on life and music. Music was beautiful, awe-inspiring, life-changing. It didn't matter how he taught them---it could be whatever they wanted, and his main goal in all of it still would be to leave them with a sense of satisfaction that one achieves when they listen to something that speaks to their soul. Arata sat down in his chair and said,

"Well, I know this might sound a little unprofessional but I hope I can teach whatever makes you guys feel comfortable...."

He continued; "Music is something I believe should be used to bring others happiness, a sense of being fulfilled if you will. I want my class to be how music is, ever-expansive, open to possibility, change, and finally, evolution. It sounds really cliche, I know, but that's the best way I can describe my class. They didn't really give me a set way of teaching it, so I may just start with something simple. Singing, perhaps? Maybe I'll bring in a Kaoraoke machine and we can have fun with that. It's really up to people like you who decide to join my class. Come to think of it - since we're on the subject - is there any type of music you like? Any instruments you're fond of? I don't have many right now, but I'll add them as they get requested. Or, if you like singing, we'll be doing things like that too. "

As the conversation continued to fluctuate between Michiko and Arata, Arata slowly realized the whole angle of differing opinions as it concerned students in a classroom.  He was a novice of course---so his naivety was pitiable to an extent.  However, Arata knew from a logical viewpoint, that appeasing everyone would be nearly impossible. And then, there was the matter of whether or not the students would even like his class, considering not everyone enjoyed music to the same extent as he. There were a lot of factors he hadn't even considered, which made him feel slightly ashamed of his inexperience.

Nevertheless, he did have to admit he felt warm inside by the care with which Michiko was showing. For one who thought that his class would be full of unruly students ready to take his life with their special abilities, she was a breathe of completely unexpected yet well-received fresh air.  If only he could teach her a little rhythm though. That tap could use some work. She also seemed to have this aura of being nervous, which he hoped he could try to fix but wouldn't pry too much if he was not allowed to do so.  Handing her the piece of paper, he scratched his head ever so slightly as he continued, poking at his brain to plan out ideas to make his class move along as smoothly as possible.

"Ah, well.... now that you mention it, I suppose that in a class full of students with different personalities, trying to satisfy the whims and fancies of all those included... would indeed be an exercise in futility. Wow, that's pretty insightful of you, Michiko. I'm impressed! Hm... what would I like to teach in this class? Man... there are so many things I could teach, so it's hard to pinpoint any one thing. Music is the type of thing you can tackle in a myriad of ways. Singing, instruments, acapella, and so on and so forth...

but if I happened to try one thing, then I guess I'd start off with teaching the class about how to play an instrument.  Thinking back on it, singing would probably make a lot of people nervous, especially if they were forced to do so in front of the entire class.  

"

He then proceeded to answer her next question.


"What do I want my class to accomplish? I couldn't say any one thing but if I had to, then it'd obviously be leaving the class with at least some modicum of improvement that is noticeable from the first time they entered my class.  I want them to be into it, even if they have no plans of pursuing a music career. I'd hate it if there was slacking, so for the most part, I think the accomplishment is to be engaged, and leave this class with a skill in the art of music they probably didn't have to begin with. You know, as this isn't really a class that counts to any one grade, that's all I'd be asking for out of my class. Full-term commitment and noticeable improvement. Do those answers sound a little better than the ones before?"

"It felt---surprisingly normal to say the least... Almost as if I had nothing to worry about. " Admittedly, perhaps Arata had been overthinking the whole process. There were no altercations, his body was still in one piece, uninjured, healthy, and operating at full capacity. He did not die. Of course, as he recalls the rules, teachers have little worries of their students attacking them.

If anything, individuals at the school challenged each other in separate areas, to ensure that innocent bystanders weren't harmed. With a half-exasperated sigh, Arata felt embarrassed by how stupendously wrong he was. Now if only every day could be like this....

As he was packing his materials, he decided to ask her a question. "How did you feel? Even though it might be your first experience, was it to your liking? I know it's not the flashiest class or the most interesting but allow me to commend you on how focused you were. There were a few hiccups but you definitely have some potential, no doubt. If you feel like it, I definitely hope you'll come to my class again. I do have to thank you for curing for my foolish mind. When I first entered, I thought you and a bunch of other students were.... well, let's just say when I came here, I didn't think I'd leave in one piece after today. Pretty stupid, right? "