On Tuesday, the second day of their instructor duties, Hayden and Pou had the same teaching responsibilities as the previous day. However, they taught a different section. They did not have any classes with section 1A on that day.
Just like usual, Hayden dominated the class, asserting his superiority and making them do nothing. The two taught three different first year classes, and it went peacefully. During the classes, Hayden slacks off on the desk while Pou plays with a cat. It was a different cat from before, but the cat's clinginess was no different.
Bringing pets or any kind of domestic animals is strictly prohibited, which is why Pou hadn't brought his cat the day before. However, after considerable bargaining and even begging on his knees, he was finally allowed to keep his beloved cat in the campus grounds, provided it doesn't cause any trouble.
Despite the day being boring, a group of students from 1A approached Hayden and Pou during the lunch break. The students chatted with their professor casually, just like friends, more often asking about things they're curious about. The conversation never got dry as Pou was always the one blabbering about his thrilling combats while using his cat as puppet to illustrate his moves. It was a vibrant moment, and it finally dawned on Hayden that all the classes he had taught so far were a waste of his energy, except for one specific class.
The following day was wednesday.
Hayden walked into room 1A in his 1pm class. When the instructors entered, the students noticed the thunderstorm above Hayden's head whereas Pou's had a vibrant sunny mood, bright as the weather outside.
The reason for Hayden's dismal spirit was because his sister demanded extra allowance earlier that morning. He's flat broke at the moment, so he was struggling to think of a way to earn extra cash.
Hayden reeled towards the teacher's seat, and slumped his head down the desk.
"Wonderful morning guys!" Pou cheerfully greeted the class while manually waving the cat's hand for the student.
"Seems like your partner doesn't have it that wonderful," Jea said.
The cat crawled onto Pou's arm before laying over his shoulder, meowing in a sleepy moan.
Pou scratched the back of his head, and with a tee-hee, he replied, "Let's give him space for a moment."
Pou wasn't assigned on teaching duty, and he has no intentions of replacing Hayden on the job. No one taught and spoke a lecture in front, but despite having no one teaching the class, Pou sat with the students and chatted with them, eventually turning their hilarious and warm discourse into something educational.
Every student participated, listening and asking questions except for one student at the back of the seats. But despite Hayden and Klyne contributing nothing but their presence, the discussion made the hours pass by; the students played with Pou's cat, bursting out in laughter from time to time, and students were engaged with every word Pou said.
It was a wholesome moment, but that's until the door slid open.
Pou was babbling over how intense it was to fight a real demon when he was interrupted. Euna came through the door, holding a sheet of documents on her arm. Her eyes leered towards the front desk, spotting Hayden slacking off in the middle of the day. Her eyes proceeded to slide towards the clump of students with Pou in the middle.
"Hey Euna!" Pou greeted as the room fell silent.
Euna turned her gaze back to Hayden and went towards him with her heels clacking every heavy step she took. Her peeved expression as she rolled the documents into a cylinder made the students predict what will happen next.
Hayden had fallen asleep while trying to organize his thoughts hours ago. He slept like a rock, only to be woken by a paper slapping his head.
*Bonk*
"What the hell…" Hayden lifted his head up the desk, blinking his eyes from the daze of his sleep. "Can't you see I'm sleeping?" he sleepily said.
His vision was blurry, but after scratching his eyes clear, he came to realize he's in danger of not only losing his job, but his salary as a Headhunter as well, which is not optimal since he's currently broke.
"Seriously?" she coldly said. "Do you know the weight of your actions?"
Hayden is a mission enthusiast, normally acting professional and disciplined during serious missions. But being a teacher feels like a tedious task to him, it wasn't even the main mission. Because of that, he's breaking out of character, becoming listless and grumpy all the time.
"I just took a 5 minute nap, that's all," he justified.
Euna crossed her arms, narrowing her eyebrows as she focused on Hayden's dishonest face.
"What?!" Hayden shrugged. "I'm telling the truth."
Hayden knows Euna will report his indolent behavior to Franklin, and getting scolded while losing a large percentage of his salary is the last thing he wants. Fortunately, someone aided him.
"Ma'am, we actually finished our class session early," a female student explained.
Hayden's eyes widened, his gaze darting towards the direction of the voice.
"They've been wonderful teachers, and even give us time to refresh our brains," Jea added.
Hayden knew this girl from the last meeting, she was in Aubrey's circle. Hayden didn't notice her before, but after a better look, her black hair falling all the way down to her waist and striking eyelashes gave her the moody initial impression for everyone she crossed paths with. She's almost similar to Aubrey, and although they have that powerful barrier of surly countenance that repels insects and freaks, they are actually warm and caring inside.
With a smug look on his face, Hayden glanced back at Euna. "Heard that feedback?" Hayden stretched his body, still shaking himself off from sleep. "I think I deserve a raise."
Spontaneously, the paper that hit his head moments ago came dashing back towards the front of his face. Yawning, Hayden caught Euna's wrist, preventing her from getting the second slap. "Save your aggression to Vash, will you."
"The class 1A is scheduled to take their initial ranking test next week," Euna said. "This assessment is done yearly by first year students, aiming to gauge their DH ranking."
Excitement filled the room as the students learned they would receive their DH ranking in just a week. They leaned forward eagerly in their seats, anticipation sparking in their eyes.
"I'll leave further descriptions to you," Euna added.
Hayden relinquished his grip on Euna's wrist and took the rolled paper on her hand. Once that was done, Euna left the classroom and proceeded to bother Vash in the next room.
Hayden unrolled the document and elaborated its content to the students. The assessment will last for one day, required to form groups with the maximum of 4 members each. Stated on the paper is that each group will clear an E-rank gate by themselves with the guidance of an A-rank from Twilight guild and one 4th year senior student. Their performance in eliminating the low-level demons will determine which rank they would fall. Students could suit up on their will and they're allowed to bring any weapons necessary.
The students were thrilled by this news, their excitement overriding any fear. They were confident since even non-DH soldiers could defeat E-rank gates.
They agreed to decide the groupings through a raffle, which led to Aubrey, Jea, and two other male students being placed together. Meanwhile, Grace found herself in a group with Klyne and two other guys.
The class then concluded and the twins approached Hayden and Pou on their way out, but the girls wished to talk privately so they led their instructor to an empty hallway.
"Are you free, like right now?" Grace kindly asked.
"Hmm? Why'd ya wanna know?" Pou replied, trying to pitch his tone to match Grace's gentle vibe.
"We're planning to go shopping for the upcoming rank assessment," Grace explained. "And maybe you can help us pick things that might end up useful."
"Shopping? I love shopping!" Pou exclaimed, but the smile on his lips turned upside down after remembering something. "I'm deeply sorry, but I need to go home to feed my kittens. But hey, I know the perfect person who has a sharp eye for item qualities,"Pou was about to point to Hayden when Hayden immediately cut him off.
"No," Hayden instantly declined. "I don't find any benefits in accompanying you."
"How much?" Aubrey asked straightforwardly, settling the discussion.
~~~~~~~~~~~
After bargaining for his price, Hayden found himself walking down the hallway, side by side with the twins.
The lingering fact that his sister needs extra funds did not contribute to his decision, Hayden is just so obsessed with money that he'd become shopping buddies with the twins in exchange for cash.
Since Hayden's role was to give suggestions of which items the twins should purchase, Aubrey hired Hayden as a bodyguard instead as he's more used to that job. With that, Hayden was back to his bodyguard duties, not speaking and always alert of the surroundings.
After walking for a while, they reached their first stop in the academy. They were in front of a room in Block 2, Building 2, Room 2A. Hayden wanted to ask what they were doing there but decided not to since bodyguards don't initiate conversation with their VIP.
Not long, Hayden's curiosity was answered when Jace came out of the room.
Jace is the bodyguard of Grace when Hayden was on bodyguard duty with Aubrey. These two bodyguards have deep connections and could communicate by just exchanging glances.
Ever since the twins studied at the academy, Jace also became a second year student as per Froilan. However, beyond school hours, Jace is instructed to be the twins' bodyguard.
"Let's stop by the mall, Jace," Grace said. "And in case you're wondering, Hayden became an instructor at the academy. Aubrey also hired him as bodyguard for a couple of hours."
Jace nodded. "Understood," he said, already aware of the situation from his observations alone.
The four of them made their way to the parking area where the SUV was parked. A sense of nostalgia surged through them as they walked together: the twins side by side, while the two bodyguards followed closely behind. It was like that final wholesome moment in a slice of life novel.
From Aubrey's perspective though, her thoughts were different. As they walked in silence, the awkwardness hung in the air, becoming so intense that it started to irritate her.
Out of nowhere, she paused and turned onto Hayden, lashing out in frustration. "You were so damn arrogant in class yet you don't have a tongue as a bodyguard?"
Hayden looked at her, confused about where she was coming from. Getting ticked off for a reason no one knew is Aubrey's only red flag.
Hayden caught on pretty quickly and wondered why the bitch targeting him when no one was shooting up a conversation. It's true that Hayden is limiting his voice as a bodyguard since that's what the google says a professional bodyguard would act, but since she spoke to him now, Hayden is free to give a response.
"Is there something bothering you?" Hayden responded like a robot.
Aubrey exasperatedly sighed. "Never mind," she muttered, continuing to walk as she vented. "This is exactly why you're the second person I hate the most."
'Second?' Hayden thought, puzzled about who topped the list. Unable to contain his curiosity, he finally asked, "Who comes first, then?"
"The criminal with the highest bounty, of course, Wolf," her serious tone is screaming for vengeance and Hayden could feel it. "I will become an S-rank and I'll be the one to claim that animal's head."
Hayden wanted to ask why but hesitated, concerned that he might hit the wrong spot, so he opted to shut his mouth.
But then she added, "It murdered mum, hence I loathe him the most."