Learning Problems

Sensei had a problem; her two best students were also her two worst.

Honestly, they got the best grades in class, but they never studied never paid attention! No kid should be this smart. That would defeat the entire purpose of being a child. However, when the debate started, she wasn't quite as surprised as she could have been.

She had been in the middle of a history lesson when it happened. They had been talking about Europe and princes and kings. It was Ayumi who asked how the next king was picked; she had apparently been hearing too many conflicting fairy tales to decide on just one way. She and many others seemed surprised to learn it was through family, rather than retrieving magical swords or hidden birthmarks or kissing frogs. Mitsuhiko asked if that worked all the time.

"Well, of course not," spoke up a voice from the back of the room. She checked; sure enough, it was Conan. He had actually put down his habitual Sherlock book to participate. "When that happens people are stuck with an incompetent ruler."

"Or they revolt, or there's a war." This quiet voice was from the other strange child, Ai. "Sometimes both. Look at Macbeth, for instance.

Conan snorted. "Bah, you can't use that; it's literature, not history."

""Well then, the American Civil war, or the French Revolution."

"And maybe the War of Roses as well…"

"No, that was over succession."

"Yeah, and that's what we're discussing."

"But the connotations are different; you also have to take into account…"

The teacher slapped her hand to her head. She let the debate rage on for a little while, listening with increasing incredulity. Kids should just not know this. The rest of their class was just baffled.

Finally, she interrupted them. "Please, you two. If you're going to continue to be smarter than the rest of the class, please do it outside and let me get back to the lesson."