CHAPTER TWELVE
教師の最悪の並べ替え！父の最良の並べ替え！
The Worst Kind of Teacher! The Best Kind of Father!
(Nick, Chops, Dr. Rupert, Page, Yuuku, and Crystallene all sit together on a beach, watching the clouds pass by overhead.)
Ikutsu nooo…kanashimi woo! Issho niii koeta darou!
Ki ga sumuuu…made motometa! Anooo hi no…boku-ra ga ita!
(Nick looks up, sighing as the clouds transform into foes he'd beaten before. He frowns…and then he smiles as he sees a shape coming down from the sky...)
Jidaiii ga meguru nara …mata dokooo…kade aeru de!
Sono toooki ga kuru made…akiiiiramenaiii!
(Heartwing lands on him, licking his face after he's dispelled the clouds. Other people approach the beach from the side, Carmen, Jenny, Spud, Morpholomew, Kim and Trainer all wave as they come up to the others, who stand up.)
Sametekuuu! Omoi waaa!
Doushite…mo iya menai kedo!
Koi ni …ochite kawatteku no mo ii neee! (Come Along Together)
(Nick and Chopsuey look at each other as the wind blows their hair back slightly. They then nod and look out over the sea)
Aserazuuu! Sawagazuuuu!
Aru ga mama de to nagau kara!
(Chops suddenly blushes as Carmen stands by him, and then blushes further when Crystallene does as well.)
Kokorooo…ni hana wooo…
(Nick laughs slightly as he looks up, and the camera zooms in, looking into the blue sky.)
Sakasouj…just take my heaaart!
...
...
...
...Lilo Pelekai sighed and brushed her hair to the side slightly. Her black hair fell down around her back as she adjusted, for the thousandth time it seemed, her red t-shirt with a white floral pattern. Another boring school day…
"Class, I want you all to meet your new classmate."
Or NOT!
Some people celebrated their entrance into teenhood with cake. Or presents. Thanks to the state and his latest placement scores, he was settling it with entrance into the Kokaua Town Public School system. His half-tortured expression made it plain that he was very nervous about being here.
"…uh…hello…everyone." He said. "Aloha kakahiaka." He said, which meant "good morning". " 'O Nick Grey ko`u inoa, no Niihau mai au." He spoke. "Though I come to Kauai all the time to get away."
"Especially from annoying book keepers who wanna jump my bones." He added in his head.
"Ooh, from the "Forbidden Island", huh?" Lilo thought. "He might be an interesting classmate. I wonder why he's in OUR class though? What kind of score did he get on the academic placement test?"
The Hawaiian Academic Placement Test was the bane of many a student. It would define not only where you were placed in the public school system, but also determined where you best belonged in COLLEGE too because you were tested at the end of every year. Once you reached Sophomore year, you'd be called to the counselor's office and told "based on your HAPT scores, we've decided that a career in blah-blah-blah is best suited for you, and this college has a curriculum centered around blah-blah-blah…"
It sucked. And so said the testimonials!
"I was sick for three days straight!"
"I'll never take it again!"
"Make the hurting stop!!!"
Lilo's mind drifted back to the boy in front of her…yes, he had taken the seat before her and was facing the teacher. "Now what's the answer to this question?" The teacher asked, putting the question up on the board. "Stand up and answer it."
Oh no. Mr. Honikouule was famous for making kids stand up and embarrass themselves in class by forcing them to do a problem on the board. The kid looked around at the other kids who were awaiting his imminent social demise…he would be sure to fail.
"…sigh." The kid stood up. "The Declaration of the Rights of Man" wasn't taken to apply to all men, regardless of color or religion. Jewish Frenchmen couldn't become citizens with full rights unless they renounced their privileges as a separate group, to give up being a Jew in exchange for being a Frenchman. Blacks in the French Colonies weren't freed until 1794 and the government didn't enforce the law that allowed their freedom, and men without property were trapped in "passive citizenship", which kept them from gaining full equal rights until the year 1792, and women lost not only the brief rights they'd enjoyed in the revolution, but couldn't engage in any sort of organized politics."
Everyone blinked in amazement. The teacher frowned angrily. "Grr…that's…correct…" He muttered. "You may…sit down."
With that, the kid sat back down and took out a book from his backpack, going through it. Lilo however, didn't notice the book so much as she noticed the BOY…
"He did all that?! Woah, he's smart…" She thought to herself. "I'm gonna have to keep an eye on him…"
"Class, for tonight your home work is a take-home quiz. You must be sure to use all the notes you wrote down. And remember, this isn't a math class, the answers won't be in the BACK of the textbook!"
The kid in front of her frowned slightly. Now he'd have to CRAM and look up the test answers from the textbook and memorize over and over…
…
…
…
…well, he'd crammed. And he'd done the take-home quiz. Two days later, he got it back…
"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm passing out your quizzes…" Mr. Honikouule announced to them all. He went by seat after seat, announcing the names of the people he was passing the quizzes out to to everyone. "Myrtle…Yuki…Teresa…Elena…Victoria…Lilo…"
"Hmm. I wonder what I got." Nick thought. "It wasn't that bad, but to be honest there was one question I didn't do so well on." He mused. "Oh well, it's only one question." He said quietly.
"Kekoa…'Ihilani…Enrico…Nick…"
FWIP.
"WH-WH-WHAAAAA?!?!?" Nick gasped in his head. "70!?!?!"
Even though the last question hadn't been covered in the textbook, he had thought that just one answer wrong wasn't a big deal! But the teacher had counted it as…
He took out his calculator and did some math…
"THAT MANY POINTS?!?" He shouted. "WHAT THE EICH-EE-DOUBLE-HOCKEY-STICKS!?!" He hollered.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha!" The teacher laughed. "So there, Mr. History genius, now do you understand the importance of class attendance and getting information from your fellow students?"He remarked. "Learning stems from an inquiring mind! A heart that yearns for knowledge gives birth to a will to learn! Now matter how smart you may be, if you think that you can learn everything my class will teach you just by looking through the textbook, you're dead wrong!"
"What the heck!? But you didn't say that anything you'd taught IN CLASS would be on the test! You said "all your notes" and talked about the textbook, you didn't mention anything else!" Nick said. "If I had known you were going to put material on the quiz that didn't come from the textbook, I would have searched for the material myself!" Nick protested, placing his hand on his chest.
"HA! You assumed!" The teacher laughed. "Furthermore, within this week I'll give you all a test that will see if all of my class has learned what I've been teaching in class!"
"But I don't KNOW what you've been teaching in class!" Nick yelled. "Why would you do THAT?!"
The teacher blinked. Then he spoke.
"You hoʻohaole." He remarked, which meant to "act like a white man", or "act superior". "It's annoying."
"So THAT'S your true nature!" Nick yelled, pointing with an accusatory finger. "YOU'RE THE WORST KIND OF TEACHER!" He snarled.
Everyone gasped as the teacher's nostrils flared. "You…you punk! Is that any way to treat your superior?!?" He snarled. "Alright smart guy, here's how it's going to be! You weren't here in school two weeks ago because you were taking the placement test…so I'm going to put what we discussed in class during that week on a test TOMORROW! Now…" He grinned and folded his arms, holding his head up slightly. "If you apologize and say "I'm sorry teacher, you're a better human being than I", I might reconsider-"
"WAWAU!" Nick snarled. "He kâkalaioa!" Which roughly translated into "eff you, you thorny old plant", aka "b-i-t-c-h"! "I'm not apologizing for being WHITE!" He added.
The teacher left the room, laughing all the way while Nick clenched his fist tightly. "That sonofagun, that sonofagun!" He said angrily, fist shaking madly.
"Hey…"
Nick turned his head to look at Victoria. "Don't apologize to THAT kind of teacher!" She insisted.
"Yeah, we'll let you use OUR notes!" Lilo added, nodding her head.
"I just wanna see you blow the teacher a new one." Myrtle said. "He picks on ME all the time too..but it'll cost you five bucks." She agreed.
"Yeaaah!" Her posse said, pitching in.
Nick beamed. "All right! I don't care if I have to go broke, I'll show that teacher what for!"
THE NEXT DAY…
"All right, Nick!" Nick said as he sat down at his desk, pencils at the ready. "You stayed up half the night with their notes, but you WILL ace this test! Hit me with your best shot, jerk! FIRE AWAY!"
The teacher passed around the tests. Nick looked it over, noticing one big discrepancy…there was one question that was worth 50 points…
"What was the name of my first love?"
"WHAAAA!?!" Nick shouted.
"Take THAT, haole!" The teacher thought to himself. "This is a problem the entire class can't do!" He covered his upper head, laughing madly. "Hu-hu-hu…ha-ha-ha-ha-haaaaa!"
Then he noticed that the entire class was glaring at him, a venomous aura arising from them.
"HOW THE HELL ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO A PROBLEM LIKE THIS!?!" They all shouted at him.
The test was thrown out…naturally.
…and it wasn't the only thing! :) It's unknown if the door hit his ass on the way out, but…
…
…
…
…Chopsuey lay on his back, a single blade of grass in his mouth as he looked up at the clouds.
He kept thinking about the fight with Ace. He wanted to become stronger…strong enough not merely to impress his father and make him worthy of love, but…to protect this partner.
…Nick…you sure are a crazy loon, he thought. Yet I couldn't have asked for a more kind-hearted caretaker…
He suddenly felt thuds. Big thuds, coming his way. Who on Earth?
Looking up, he rubbed his eyes and saw an ENORMOUS man approach him. He had very shaggy hair that was tied up slightly into a ponytail and a Hawaiian t-shirt that was splitting at the seams due to his large size. He looked down at Chopsuey, covered in sweat.
"Excuse me…" He asked. "What a cute little dog you are! Even though you're green."
"Uh…I'm a SPECIAL dog!" Chops said quickly. "I can talk too! I'm magical."
"Ooh, interesting! Are you a "Shiisa"?"
"Shiisa?" Chopsuey blinked.
"A guardian spirit that's a cross between a lion and a dog!...although you kind of look more like an oni, a kind of troll or ogre."
Chopsuey slapped his face. "I'm not a bad person if that's what you're wondering. It's my job to look after a certain kid who controls my magic…" He said.
"A guardian? Sounds like a shiisa to me!" The man said. "I'm Taro." He said happily, reaching down and shaking the "shiisa's" hand. "My son Kiyo is here in the city and he sent me a letter saying that he's getting married to a girl named Mizune. So…"
"So you want to meet her, okay!" Chopsuey said, walking along with Taro into town. "Let's head to the police station and get ask for her help."
UNFORTUNATELY…
"Sorry, but if we only know her first name, we can't help you." Officer Kiule said sadly.
"…uh…thank you…anyway." Taro moaned, leaving the station to approach Chopsuey, who was outside the station.
"I heard it all. Sorry." Chops said. "I think I might…wait…your body…"
He took a deep sniff. "That's not SWEAT…that's sea water!" He gasped. "You…you SWAM to Kokaua Town?"
"I got thrown off a boat." Taro admitted. "I snuck aboard because I've got no money and when they found me…well, I got a pink belly from the impact too!"
"Yet you swam all the way here…" Chopsuey said softly, looking the gigantic man over.
"She is…my only son's…bride…" The man said quietly.
Chopsuey crossed his arms, looking intently at the man. Then he smiled. "Tell me, do you know where your son lives?"
…
…
…
…they'd arrived at an apartment and Chops was now rummaging through the room, looking for something that was out of place…and he was quickly rewarded!
"Ah-ha!" Chops held up a bikini. "WOAH it's big…anyhow…" He sniffed it. "I can track her scent from this!" He took a few more deep sniffs. "Yep, this smell is far different from the others around here. The perfume's quite nice. I can DEFINITELY track her scent now!"
They walked back into town, down the sidewalk as Taro talked to Chops. "You see, my son's always lived on his own, and I think it's helped him become a man. But now he's finally found a bride…it means he's let somebody into his life that will make him happy forever, and I want to see that person who made someone so guarded up so…so happy."
A warm feeling entered Chopsuey. He smiled gently. "I…I think I know what you mean." He admitted quietly. They soon reached another block. "Say, what kind of girl do you think Mizune is?"
"Well, if she's a flashy, dyed-hair kind…the kind who looks like she's no good for my son…I think I'm gonna beat her to a pulp." The man said nonchalantly.
Chopsuey kind of vomited a little in his mouth. Taro laughed heartily at this. "Relax, relax! It's a joke! There's no reason I would do that."
"Uh…okay…" Chopsuey smelled the air again. "Hey…I smell her, she's REALLY close!" He turned his head. "THERE!"
They looked down the street and saw…
Hair cut short…school girl outfit…big necklace and bright pink lipstick.
Ooooh boy.
WOOOOOSH! Though it seemed impossible, the man was off like a bullet down the street! Gasping, Chopsuey ran after him. "WAIT!" He shouted.
The man finally came to a quick stop in front of the girl, holding up a big fist. "You're Mizune, right? You might know my son, Kiyo…"
"Uh…yes…" She squeaked out in fear.
"Here…"
"WAIT! DON'T HURT-" Chopsuey began, raising a hand up as he raced towards Taro and Mizune.
He opened up his fist to reveal a ring box…with a diamond ring shining brightly. "This is the ring I had when I married his mother, rest her soul." Taro said quietly. "It's a little old…but the stone is good. My son said he was still looking for a ring, so…please accept this." He offered gently.
"Th…thank you, sir!" Mizune said happily, taking the ring box and then hugging Taro tightly.
"…" Chopsuey looked at the scene, a small smile appearing on his features. "I took that joke seriously…why couldn't I see that all he wanted was his son's happiness? This father…so desperate for his son's happiness…such a wonderful thing." He thought. "I wonder…"
He felt tears pour down his cheeks even as a beautiful smile grew wide on his face. "Could my own father be as this one?" He thought.
…
…
…
…even when they're not fighting, they're learning and growing. That is the nature of a hero.
That is their nature.
That is their choice.
And in time, they will be rewarded.
Author's Note:
I really like playing up how Chops wants his father's love and approval. Don't forget to review! Also, enjoy this preview!
Dr. Rupert: Ah, it will be a bright day today!
Page: Today's the day you chaperone for the field trip to Volcanoes National Park, right?
Dr. Rupert: It will be nice to see Nick again! I just hope they don't ask me to do anything TOO outrageous...
Page: Like making dinner for everyone?
Dr. Rupert: Exac-AAA! Oh no, OH NO!
???: That fool has NO idea what we've in store for him...
???: This...will be fun...and YOU might find it fun too, on the next "Alternate Fate: Fantasy"!