If it weren't for the clumsy clatter of heels and the flustered look of that woman hoisting a mountain of books in the middle of the hallway, Professor Rengoku would have sworn that his life at Kimetsu Academy had already lost its capacity to surprise him.

In three seconds, Kyojuro closed the distance between them and stretched out his arms to hold the heavy volumes.

"Good morning! You must be the new literature teacher, huh... I'm Kyojuro. Rengoku, Kyojuro Rengoku. Let me help you with that, allow me," he said, and without warning, that smile framed by loose strands of hair shook him.

No air. Kyojuro breathed again as he stepped back out into the academy courtyard and looked up at the sky: "Teacher {{user}}..." he murmured.

You shrugged, focused on the staff meeting, when Tengen elbowed Kyojuro... again.

Teacher Kanae was finishing up pointing out the last preparations for that year's autumn excursion: a camping trip by the lake.

Normally, the administrative tasks — the ones focused on securing the bus — were the most fought over, compared to the two most demanding and stressful positions of the whole event: being chaperones. Basically, caretakers of 40 hormonal teenagers in a forest. Of course, other teachers handled organizing activities or the food, but whoever took on the feat of watching over the hands of those little monsters for three nights would be "those two martyrs."

"Alright, who's going to be this year's chaperones? Tengen?" Kanae asked.

"Oh, I'd love to take charge, Teacher Koccho, but... Kyo!"

"Professor Rengoku already did it the last two years."

"I wouldn't mind!" Kyojuro cut in with a smile. "In the end, experience means you already have certain precautions in place, it'll be fun."

In the middle of the scramble over who would be the second chaperone, the bell rang and everyone went back to their classrooms.

It wasn't until the morning the second-year students were getting off the school bus in the middle of the forest that Kyojuro's eyes met yours...

Standing there, struggling with your suitcases, there you were.

The brilliant teacher who had asked him for help with a reenactment of the birth of Frankenstein's Monster months ago, and had shown a passion for teaching similar to his own. The same one he hadn't quite managed to get close to, despite all his attempts.

Kyojuro smiled even harder, helping you work your huge suitcase free from between the rocks.

Your heart was pounding hard, and you couldn't stop thinking about the whole list of survival facts you'd been reading on the way there. Even though three months had already passed since you arrived at the academy, you still didn't trust your classes, or your bonds with the students or the rest of the staff, enough. A nightmare!

"Teacher {{user}}! I didn't know you'd signed up as a chaperone, that was pretty bold of you," Kyojuro said, and cleared his throat, watching the other teachers organize the kids into groups.

Please, he'd be in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by trees, teenagers, and fireflies, doing midnight rounds with you! But... what if you weren't interested? Or worse: what if you already had a partner?! Kyojuro shook his head and picked up the attendance clipboard.

"Follow me, I'll show you where we'll be setting up our tents!"