lines. — an alfred + kiku fanfic
ꕥ rating: general audience, gen (no ship).
ꕥ desc: if you look deeper, art is just a bunch of lines. it’s just that artists knew how to draw them correctly, that’s all. so if you can draw a single line and learn how to arrange them correctly, you can be an artist too.
ꕥ tldr; typical football player alfred stays with art teacher kiku because of his horrible grades. alfred hates mr. honda, but will he hate him forever?
ꕥ tags: wholesome, self-indulgent, strictly teacher-student, fluff and stuff, art, school, w academy, mentioned fruk, detailed, advice, cringe, also gen. read at your own risk.
ꕥ wordcount: 2935 words
ꕥ a/n: this is inspired by a poem i made and practice for detailed writing. basically show not tell. apologies if i made any errors. (also, i know this isn’t ao3 but i want to apologize for my mistagging, legit did clickbait but i learnt it’s not helpful. i’m very sorry.) i hope you enjoy this fic.
ao3 ver.
The golden light of the sun shines through the windows of the classroom as the bell rang, a flurry of young students bursting out of their classrooms at lightning speed. Class was over as the clock struck two thirty in the afternoon, leaving the art teacher, Kiku Honda, be.
He can hear their chatter polluting the hallways as they escape from what they call “hell”, gazing at the open door to the stampede in thought. He can hear how students’ days have been as they walk with their friends to their dorms, updates on after-school activities like clubs and sports practice, and that juicy gossip he couldn’t escape from, the rumors of a certain French teacher eloping with a Brit coworker growing about.
The tea he heard from Arthur and Francis was something he’ll talk to his grandchildren about in another 50 years.
It was no wonder both didn’t appear to work today.
From a classroom that is splotched with paints and brushes with works on canvases pinned to the walls, Kiku waited silently until the outside noise subsided. His eyes never blinked from what he surveyed as he processed the last seconds before his classroom filled out, the quiet emptiness of the building replacing the noises of humans following not long after. When his surroundings were all still and quiet, he stood up, gesturing to the remaining student to come over to his desk. The student rolled his eyes and shuffled over, walking slowly to the front of the classroom.
“Can you please make it quick? I have a football practice that’ll happen in about a minute.” Alfred glares as he makes his way toward the teacher’s desk. Kiku, used to his rudeness against the teachers, sighed heavily as he checked the athlete’s grades.
“Alfred, unfortunately, I can’t let you go to practice today. Your coach and I discussed it ourselves.”
His eyes widened from the news as he dropped his backpack, rushing behind the teacher as he hurriedly checked his grades. “What?”
“Your grades are the lowest I’ve ever seen this past semester. Although you’ve barely passed the standard, your average in Art is lower than any subject.” Kiku stated, tracing the numbers of his missing work down the list with his cursor. “You will stay after class to make up for the missing work you’re unable to pass. I will not curve up your grades this time.”
To face the boy, Kiku looked up as he was met with widened blue eyes with his mouth agape. It was only for a split second before he regained his composure, straightening his lips as he slowly walked back to his desk, wanting a minute to himself on what just happened.
Meanwhile, the art teacher was also processing what just happened, as Alfred, the loudest in the class with his happy-go-lucky smile he shows to his peers, suddenly cares about grades as he gestured over to his seat, looking down, his face unsmiling, a tinge of sadness creeping all over him.
The teacher watched him sink into his seat dejectedly.
Kiku lets out a breath as he breaks his gaze on the poor student, switching to the narrow cabinets at the end of the classroom.
“Time to get your work out, Alfred. You have so much to do today.”
A few minutes later after the student brought out his materials, Kiku continued to type away on the computer as the occasional clicking of the numpad entered his ears, grading other students from other periods he hasn’t graded yet. Both men were doing their own thing, coliving in this classroom as the sun continued to set from the horizon.
From the submissions of the recent project his classes were currently working on (and supposed to be finished by the end of the week), he sighed heavily when most of the people in a period didn’t submit their work on Schoology. From all the goofing around that's ten times way worse than what Alfred does daily, the teacher might as well give them a big fat zero at this point.
'Watch them turn in their submissions late as soon as I announce how low their grade is.' Kiku grumbles in his thoughts, pushing himself away from the computer. 'I'm on the line of failing everyone at this point, they barely listen to my instructions anyway.'
Taking a break from his responsibilities, he decided to get up from his seat to check on Alfred. He quietly walked over to the student, spectating as he carefully colored in his lines, bringing his artwork to life.
This illustration came from last month's lesson about oil pastels, where Kiku explained all sorts of techniques they can use to make tremendous art. Since an illustration related to the topic is a major grade, Alfred put it on top of every missing work he has in this class. Most of his missing work is a minor grade anyway, although that doesn't mean the grade doesn't matter.
“This is hard! I give up!” the American threw the yellow-green oil pastel on the desk in a fit as he crossed his arms. “This is too difficult. I can never make art under your expectations!”
“Expectations?” the teacher queried, breaking his train of thought as he peeked at his artwork behind his seat. “Who said that art is exceptional under my expectations?”
“The people around me!” Alfred exclaimed, his hands gesturing to an invisible crowd. “Everyone draws as good as you! How they sketch, how they color, outline, everything! They’re always making you satisfied!”
"Have they said that to you literally, though?"
"What?"
"Like they told you, directly, in a literal sense."
Alfred's eyes traced down the floor of the classroom, which was when Mr. Honda stepped forward next to the little boy's seat. He glanced at the dirty-blonde boy, before switching his gaze to the piece bathing in the sunset.
The illustration was a colorful butterfly rich with all sorts of darker shades of colors. Although some places are a little scuffed and unfinished, Kiku thinks it's an amazing masterpiece coming from someone who claims they couldn't draw.
Alfred could've done something simple like a regular sphere or any other shape, but no, he chose to draw a butterfly, filled with colors of the rainbow, which signifies how much effort he puts into art.
"Alfred… that illustration, it's so…"
"Not shocking compared to the art submitted on Scholastic." Alfred states, and he's right, confirmed Mr. Honda as he saw better in his grade. "I can never be better than you. I can never be better than anyone here. I'm supposed to be number one, on everything, including this class!"
"Don't beat yourself over it just because you're a regular human." Mr. Honda shares, hesitantly putting a hand on the athlete's shoulder. "Everyone has flaws from time to time, and though they're negative, it shows that you're, well, just like us." the teacher rubbed his shoulder before picking up his student's work, quietly demanding a closer look.
"But I love to be number one. I want to excel in what I do, like my work, and my role in the football team! I want to be the best of the best!"
"It's not bad to aim for the top, Alfred," Kiku paused, tracing his finger lightly against the applied color, "but when you recognize your flaws and stop being a chronic perfectionist, you will truly become number one."
Seeing no point in arguing with his art teacher he used to dislike, he turned his attention to what was in front of him as his teacher gazed at his work, happily humming from here to there as Alfred's ears had no option but to hear. His irises scan his teacher's expression, and he found how satisfied Mr. Honda himself was with the artwork. That joke of an artwork. Then again, all of his works of art were terrible in Alfred's judgment.
"...I'm not a perfectionist, y'know?" the American corrects, looking away before Kiku could notice his side eye. "Like look at my grades, they're barely in the minimum to pass."
"I know," Kiku agrees, plopping the work down in front of his student, "but you did so well in this work, it felt like you were trying to do enough to get my attention."
"I'm not an attention-seeker either!"
"My apologies, Alfred, but I couldn't brush off how you think everyone draws as good as me…"
The American, in response, slumped in his chair for what seemed to be the umpteenth time, regretting what he previously said beforehand.
"...however, despite that praise, everything is just a bunch of lines."
Alfred found himself gaping up at the teacher, puzzled by his last sentiment.
"What?"
"Art… is just a bunch of lines," Kiku repeats, looking out to the slow sunset, "a free form of expression. The arrangement of the lines does not matter. And with that line, it can take the form of a shape, an object, to draw something complex, or surprisingly simple…
"It can take the form of writing, the form of drawing, the form of poetry, or music. Sculptures, print, absolutely anything. The plushies we have, the clothes we wear, our style of hair is art."
Alfred blinks at his teacher's view of his topic, his mouth not moving to respond as he had nothing to say.
"And all of that connects to… a bunch of lines." the art teacher concludes, sighing before turning to his confuzzled student, tilting his head to the side. "So feel free. Do what you want, as art itself is unlimited. And because art itself is unlimited, your freedom of expression is unlimited. That, itself, is art."
With the window's curtains fluttering from the wind that blows, the two occupants of the room fell into utter silence. Yellow rays from the golden hour transitioned to low orange shades, purples, and an array reflecting against the clouds.
Automatically, the lights flicked within the room, its artificial light disrupting the natural view. Kiku shut his eyes closed as his lips turned to a slight frown, the peace of nature gone, overtaken by the urban nature of technology. Sometimes, Kiku wished he'd be in his dorm, catching the sunset again as he relaxed calmly in his bed…
"Does that mean… I can go home now?"
Kiku snapped to Alfred with a glare, "No, Alfred. Get back to work."
"Noooooooo~!"
The teacher chuckled at the student's whines, finding it pathetic especially when he was near to finish.
Just not long after an estimated 30 minutes, Alfred finally completed his art project. As such, the teacher ran over, looking forward to the student's finished product.
The student's work, this time, is barricaded by a thick, black border that he makes all his students cut out. Alfred did a good job cutting the black illustration paper, in which the thickness of the border is two inches long. The butterfly, which is the main attraction, is now touched up with all sorts of colors ranging from light to dark. No negative space is left as Alfred colored all the missing spaces, and its glossy highlights from the art gave a polishing finishing touch, further astounding the Japanese teacher into half yelling.
"This is amazing, Alfred-san! I didn't know you had such a talent…"
"Um, I can't speak Japanese, Mr. Honda…" Alfred deadpans, puzzled why he said everything in Japanese.
"Oh, my apologies." Kiku bows in forgiveness before handing over the student his artwork. "This is amazing, Alfred. I like it. I like it a lot."
"Oh, thanks…" Alfred mutters, his face penetrating a lightish pink as he hides his lower face with his work. Kiku was intrigued, as he had never seen this side of Alfred before…
"I didn't know you had a talent for art, or rather, I've never seen you put this much effort in my class before…" the teacher continued, looking away as he couldn't deal with eye contact. "You must've had a lot of potential, perhaps there are a lot of things you can immediately get in one go…"
"Well, it's sort of true. I do have some sort of potential…" Reluctantly, the student agrees, dropping his work down to his legs, "But that's because I'm a naturally fast learner, to some extent, and can be better than everyone once I get the gist of it…"
"An amazing talent you have, Alfred." Kiku comments, gazing at the American's bashful facial expression.
"Y-yeah, but…" Determinedly, he clicked to Mr. Honda's brown hues as he clenched his hand against his art lightly, "I got tired of their expectations of me being better than them! So, I decided to slack off a bit, eat some burgers, skip, whatever! Sure, I got low grades and got yelled at by the coach and teachers a lot, but it's better than to be seen as an overachiever, right?" He stared at the teacher for approval, wanting to know whether what he was doing was understandable.
The art teacher nods. "I see, so that's why…"
Alfred nods back in approval, though he feels like the teacher has something else to say…
"...but while it's an act of rebellion towards everyone who expects the most of you, it's self-sabotage, right?" Kiku queries worryingly, to which Alfred rebuttals a no.
"I'm going to be in the football team anyway when I graduate, Mr. Honda, so it all goes down the drain from there." Alfred shrugs, smiling lightly at the teacher's kindness. "Hey, you're cool, Mr. Honda. I didn't know this side of you until we started talking."
'That's because you're always been mean to me since the first day of school.' Kiku retorts, but he didn't say it anyway as he's happy he's speaking to the troublemaker properly.
"Say, whenever I'm off from practice, do you mind if I chill here for a little while and just chillax?" Alfred asks, bending down to get his sloppy backpack. "I feel comfortable around you, and even though I'm with friends I just need a place to… let loose, y'know? I just need some time to myself."
"If that is what you must, you may." Mr. Honda consents, walking back to his desk, "Although, please be quiet whenever you're in this classroom, I prefer to work in quiet areas where there is no interruption."
"It's a promise, dude!" Alfred throws out his pinky towards the grown teacher, although he's far away.
Kiku tilted his head in confusion, pausing his arrangement of papers as he was knocking them gently against the table.
Alfred, backpack slung over his shoulder, inched closer to the teacher until he's within arm's reach.
Mr. Honda silently eyed the finger, in a daze about whether the student would keep his promise or not, before setting the papers aside and reaching out to his student, the teacher's pinky meeting his.
"Promise."
"Promise!" Alfred broke away from Kiku's grip as he ran towards the classroom doors, not before putting his work to his assigned cubby. "Alright, I'm going to go eat dinner with my friends. See you later, Mr. Honda!" He shouts, before heading out.
"See you later, Alfred…" the teacher's voice trailed off before he was met with a loud bang from the door.
Quietness was suddenly met within the teacher's ears, standing all alone in his classroom.
Well, at least he's finally done with grading, and grading Alfred's work, too.
With a small smile, Kiku silently cleaned up his things and set his necessities in his small backpack, shutting down his computer after closing all his tabs. He then did his usual routine around the classroom as he cleaned up, setting his students' works back to their cubbies from the drying rack and setting the unnamed ones on a nearby table. 'Forgetful ones,' he thought, 'always forgetting to put their names on the back.'
From there, he starts packing up, zipping his backpack as he finally exits his classroom, shutting off the lights and locking the door with his assigned key. He sighs once more, safely keeping the said key inside his backpack before walking away from his work area, another day well done.
He wonders what he'll eat for dinner, perhaps in a nearby Japanese restaurant or using DoorDash to deliver to his dorm, who knows? Though, today, he feels like staying in, catching up on that anime he's currently binge-watching, the most popular anime in the season.
Putting work (and Alfred) aside his messy mind of thoughts, he walked among the halls to his dorm, excited to settle down and binge-watch all he can in one night.
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