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Hotarubi's poor toneless whistles were among the many of noises to be had in Takigakure's Academy classes: just one of the many, and many of the many students to be found on site. He himself sat roughly in the middle, slightly closer to the front and on one end: easy to get in and out of. His hands were crossed in front of him as he waited for the lesson to start. The only thing that he had been leaning on was the chair he sat in - careful to use chakra and be a human as to try and actually do some form of training on drowsy days like this. Hotarubi looked underneath his desk: only for his own equipment, and pulled out a scrawled timetable. What was the lesson again today? He was shuffling through his own stuff, books, yadda yadda... until he finally found the piece of paper. "Oh." He softly said to himself. That's what it was. It couldn't have been too bad, he supposed, of all the things. His mind began to wander as a whistle began again and he daydreamed, wondering what it would be like to be a Shinobi. The ethics module they'd had to partake in was not one that engaging; at least by his own standards. To conduct onesself with integrity? Completed that.

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Hanma looked across the students in his class, some of them were asleep. Of course, they were expecting an ethics class today. That, however, wasn't the only things they be learning today. He got up from his desk, approaching the center of his classroom. "Hotarubi, why do you think ethics is important to learn." He asked the boy; he was 17 and joined the academy about 4 years ago. "What makes ethics so important, what makes it worth our time? What purpose do we have for teaching something that is clearly boring to every student?" He continued, waiting for the boy to answer.

Hotarubi was one of the few students that Hanma felt was ready to leave the academy. Most were simply doing this without any real motivation or drive. Hota was different though, which is why Hanma asked him questions the most often during his lessons. It wasn't to pick on him, it was because he would use the information more than any of his other students. He had his issues too, of course. But he had the things he needed. The passion to be a shinobi. He still had a bit to go before he had all the tools he needed to be a Genin, but Hanma and the other instructors would get him there.

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Utter, utter disdain. Hotarubi couldn't be any less interested if he had tried. Hotarubi was paying attention for what it was worth, but although Hanma had been trying his best as did other instructors, he wasn't ever going to convince Hotarubi it was a worthy subject. He scratched his face and just below his nose as he thought about the two questions he had been given by Hanma. "Because for the different viewpoints?" A good starting and foundation block, but he wasn't finished as he put his hands back around his stomach in crossing them, he continued talking. "It's for weak people who need social immunity to cover their glaring mistakes." Still, his words were not the kind that Hanma was looking for. It might've been up for philosophical debate, but this was not a debate and Hotarubi was meant to be answering a question - so, it was incorrect. Perhaps notable, but incorrect all the same. He eyed up his instructor, not in an attractive way or anything but Hotarubi clearly remembered his ass being handed to him on a platter in spite of his weak looking exterior. That had set Hotarubi straight in one way, but the Instructors knew their stuff enough that he had eventually learned they were not to be messed with.

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Hota's answer was definitely a different one than expected, but it wasn't completely incorrect either. "That's not all, Hotarubi. Though you're not entirely incorrect." He started; it was a nice start to his lecture. "It's caused by the different viewpoints more than anything, every village has a different opinion of what's ethical and what isn't. It's a way of representing your village, what they value." He would continue, looking at his students to see who all wasn't paying attention. Slowly, he started to make his way to the back.

"It's not just for social immunity though, there's some lines that every village believe you shouldn't cross." He had reached a sleeping student and proceeded to knock him in the back of the head with an eraser. "While I understand that this class is more boring than something like Taijutsu training, it is still important." The student gave a simple nod, he was one of the quieter individuals so that was expected. "I'm gonna give you all a situation, and I want you to come up with an ethical and unethical situation in response to what I give you." He would say before writing on the board. It would read: A member of a clan abandons their old village, going to another one holding the secrets of their clan. He would give the students a few moments to come up with their responses. "Whenever you're all ready to give your responses, simply raise your hand."

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Excuses, is what Hotarubi thought of that. The winners decided what was okay; and the weak perished. Perhaps it was the Yamakira upbringing that did it to him, but when you were children and scolded for being too weak when your toys were taken by other kids, it tended to instil strong virtues into people. Shared ethics, is what Hanma was getting at. Hotarubi made a short chuff noise at waking the sleeping student. Even if Hotarubi hated the class, he at least tried to pay attention even if the daydreams were beckoning him and laziness was just around the corner. Hanma did provide a response or situation for them all to mull, and it didn't take long for Hotarubi to come to the conclusion that it was the village's fault for not being enticing enough. Now, those thoughts were treasonous but the Yamakira was a bit like that. Hotarubi did not answer, keeping his arms crossed - rather not wanting to answer and he tried to mull it. Was it ethical, or not? The idea someone would spread his Hijutsu around for anybody to have was treasonous, so why else would someone want to leave a village? There were plenty of reasons, none of which Hotarubi had a reason to tell. One student who was not Hotarubi answered first, raising their hand. "It's ethical if they were escaping tyranny or fearing for their lives, and unethical to do it for the point of greed?" Their tone was curious. Hotarubi scoffed.

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Hanma had made his way back to the front of the classroom by the time anyone was ready to answer. He didn't call on them yet though, first he made a T chart on the board using chalk. On one side was the word Ethical, the other was the opposite: Unethical. He then called on the individual with his hand raised, writing his answers on the appropriate sides. He continued holding the chalk, flipping it into the air every couple seconds while he waited on the next answer.

As he looked over the class again, he noticed Hotarubi being deep in thought about it. Lucky for him, there was another person ready. He pointed at them, giving them the confirmation to give their response. "It would be ethical for them to discuss it with their village beforehand if possible. For an unethical example, leaving without telling anyone would be unethical." Hanma smirked a bit, his lesson was going exactly as he had planned. His goal was to simply get different answers, showing the students how different everyone's opinions were on ethics within the classroom. He wrote down the second individuals answers, waiting for the next student to raise their hand.

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Hotarubi was still pondering. "Weak." He scoffed, finally not able to hold it in any longer. He stared over at some of the meeker students. He supposed he would have to be the voice of reason, and he did not raise his hand in order to do it. He was, personally, in two minds - and he knew he held opposing views about the subject and it disgusted him. For someone to spread his own hijutsu (this was a hypothetical) he would have wanted to destroy that individual, it would be diluting their power. They held power and craved it - and his mind was not evolved enough to see other views as to how it would be beneficial. On the other hand, if he so thought it would benefit him to leave the village and go elsewhere for power, he would be able to justify it himself, because it was a means to an end. That made it worth it, and not that he would say that position openly, power was power. That's what Hotarubi respected. "I see it in two minds. Is it ever ethical? Not really. But ethics are for the village and the people who make it up. Not the individual. An individual not need concern themselves for it." Hotarubi was well intentioned, even if he were missing the point somewhat.

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Hanma watched the remaining students, by now he had written a couple different people's answers. There were about five answers he was still waiting on, one of them being Hotarubi. He seemed to think his fellow students were weak, and he wasn't entirely wrong. Most of their answers Hanma didn't entirely agree with. For the purpose of this lesson, he hadn't said anything regarding their answers yet. More answers would come, prompting Hanma to write more on the chalkboard. There were now about three left. What would Hotarubi's answer to his question be?

As he asked the question to himself, Hotarubi started to speak. His response was definitely a curious one. There were ways it could be ethical, and vice versa. But his mind was in the right place, he was proving his loyalty to his own village regardless of if that was his intention or not. To the right of his T-chart, Hanma wrote down Hotarubi's answer. It didn't fit his prompt, but it could still fit the discussion. Finally, the last students answered the question, allowing Hanma to continue with his lesson.

"Alright now look at all of these answers. Do you see how even in a classroom everyone's idea of what is and isn't ethical is vastly different? You may find yourself agreeing with some of these statements and disagreeing with others. In this classroom, there's around 15 of you. Nowhere close to the immense numbers in a village, minor or not. The purpose of this lesson was to show you how everyone has a different view on ethics. If any of you disagree and think that everyone has the same view on it, raise your hand now and we'll move the discussion onto that for the last few minutes of class." The man would say as he stood in front of his class, there were around 10 minutes left for him to teach his students. He would be happy to simply clean up the chalkboard for his next class, but if his students required it, he would gladly have a discussion.

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Hotarubi would by choice not have much further to say in that, as he watched everyone from his sedentary position and while he could - he wouldn't be turning at the hips to listen to anyone's view behind him. Still, his mind cogs would turn off after a while and he would devolve to daydreaming, so things were being lost on him as Hanma spoke - his blank staring face was focused on the chalk board. He would not try to attempt to change anyone on their view of thinking even if his own were changing somewhat. It was a difficult situation - languidly staring into space and wondering what his brother was up to today. Did he want noodles today? Maybe a spicy - no, perhaps a creamy? no, a spicy coconut noodle soup? That was combining multiple things that he liked. In fact, Hotarubi was becoming less focused and thought about the various other aspects in his life, until that people were beginning to shuffle out and he was still in 'thought' - only when Hanma had given them the okay to leave. The pre-seniority exam would be coming up soon and he felt that he had all of the skills in order to pass through the exam, as one of the Academy's self professed primo talent.

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There were a couple questions as to what Hanma found ethical out of the responses. He waved them off, deeming them as off topic for the current lesson. Once all the questions had been answered, he turned to look at Hotarubi once again. He was obviously zoned out, probably as soon as he'd given his answer. However, he participated in the discussion before zoning out, so Hanma didn't mind. So long as his students did what they were supposed to first, he didn't care if they passed out.

He seemed pretty deep in thought though, perhaps his view on ethics was changing? Or he was thinking about his brother, Nageku. Both were equally likely to be what he was thinking about. Hanma gave the rest of his class the okay to leave before looking back at Hotarubi, "What did you think of the discussion? Were there any parts you disagreed with? Oh, and how is your brother doing these days? Is he getting into a lot of trouble?" He would ask. Hotarubi was free to not answer and just go about his day, Hanma wouldn't mind regardless. He just wanted to know what Hota was pondering over. Was he trying to change or simply thinking about life? 

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As the class came to its end and he snapped out of it, he was one of the few remaining - others stayed, this was the same room for their next lesson. It was Hotarubi grabbing his bag and going on his way out that he would be stopped by Hanma. What did he think of the lesson? Hotarubi didn't think very hard of his answer, but he did better than to speak it without seeming as though he'd deliberated the topic. He pondered for a moment. "'s probably for the best it be left, I have things to think about myself. I think ethics is shitty and winners make or break what's appropriate or not." However, he had also asked about Nageku as well. To that point, he shrugged, taking a small moment to gather his breath to respond. "Nageku is lazy and is doing whatever is least." There was little explanation could offer because Hotarubi was not in front of him at that very moment and he wasn't the kind of person to keep an eye on his brother, since he trusted that Nageku would (eventually) do what was best for him, truancy or no. Still, he had been left with conundrums that would bother him even if he didn't want to think about them, so that was it. "Am I okay to go?" he pointed, thumb out toward the door.