Depression Chapter 26:
Toshiro and Hiro at School
The six of them went up to the first period class, History. The teacher looked up, and said, "Let me guess, the principal got carried away AGAIN."
"Yup," Miwa said.
The teacher sighed and said, "Go sit down."
"Hai," Miwa said, and the six of them sat down as close together as they could as the teacher started the lesson.
Ichigo was the first to notice the staring, but soon after, the others caught onto the fact that the girls in class were ignoring the no-staring rule.
This seemed to particularly irritate Toshiro, because his eyes were glowing slightly. Ichigo noticed and said telepathically, Toshiro, your eyes are glowing. Try to calm down.
They're driving me insane! Toshiro said.
Deep breaths, it helped me, Kisshu told him.
Toshiro tried that, and his eyes stopped glowing. Soon after, the bell rang, and they headed out. "The next teacher is stricter," Moe said.
"I hope that helps," Toshiro said.
"It usually does," Miwa said as they walked.
They sat down together in the next class, and waited as the teacher came to the front of the room. "I've been asked by the principal to go over the rules he set up again, since I hear your first period teacher neglected to do so," he said. "As you're all aware, we have two new students, and harassing them and/or their friends will get you a week in detention- unless of course you get beaten up for whatever you did, in which case you'll get suspended. So that means no note-passing, talking out of turn, or staring at people, and if you choose not to follow these rules, you're going to regret it. Now let's start the lesson."
The class was a bit more subdued after that little speech, and class passed by without incident. The next class was pretty much the same, but the period before lunch wasn't that great. The teacher got called out of the room, which was obviously a cue for the girls to start writing notes. As they were finishing, the teacher came back, and while her back was turned, a girl put a note on Hiro's desk. Kisshu, what do I do with this thing? he asked.
Rip it up, and I'll go tell Toshiro the same, Kisshu replied.
Hiro started ripping the note up as Kisshu said telepathically, Toshiro, if someone passes you a note, rip it to shreds like Hiro's doing.
Understood, Toshiro said.
Unfortunately the teacher had heard the ripping noise, and asked Hiro, "Did someone pass you something, and that's why you're ripping up paper?"
"Yup, she passed me a piece of paper, and I've been told what I need to do with these things, so I ripped it up," Hiro said. He gestured to a girl sitting behind him.
The teacher sighed and asked the girl, "You know what this means, right?"
"One week in detention…" the girl said gloomily.
"Yes," the teacher said. "Jeez, I leave for five minutes…." Shaking her head, she went back to the lesson.
The next period was lunch, and the six friends were about to head for the roof when a girl came up to them. "What do YOU want?" Miwa asked.
"I wanted ask if Hiro wanted to eat with me…." the girl said.
"The answer is no," Hiro said. "I'm eating far away from the rest of you creeps. Besides, I already have a girlfriend."
"Whoever it is is probably doomed," the girl said.
"I think the lot of you would have a very hard time dooming me," Moe said.
"YOU got a boyfriend!?" the girl asked in shock.
"Yep, and Miwa and Toshiro are together," Moe said.
The girl fainted. Miwa giggled and said, "Let's go eat, guys."
"What's up with the girls here?" Toshiro asked as they walked.
"They're all idiotic nutcases," Miwa said. "No brains, no mind."
They reached the roof as Ichigo said, "They've all got one-track minds. Boys, boys, boys. Idiots."
"Good thing we were never like that," Moe said as they sat down to eat.
Suddenly they heard footsteps on the stairs, but the girls and Kisshu relaxed when they saw it was Yoki. "Hi Yoki," Miwa said. "How's it going?"
"Some girl is running around telling everyone you and Moe got boyfriends," Yoki said. "About half the people in the school are now unconscious."
Kisshu burst out laughing, joined by the others. "Are any of them dead from shock?" Ichigo asked, giggling.
"No, not yet," Yoki said. "I have a feeling the principal's going to be up here soon."
This was proven correct as the principal came up the stairs too. "Seriously, did you have to?" he asked wearily. "Half the school is unconscious."
"That's funny," Ichigo giggled. "We told one girl. It's not OUR fault she ran around knocking people out."
"You were trying to kill people by shocking them, right?" the principal asked.
"Yup!" Miwa said cheerfully.
The principal sighed, watching Kisshu eat yet another apple. "Is there some reason you're staring at my apple?" Kisshu asked mildly. "I'm not sharing."
"What did Pai say?" the principal asked.
"He said I'd be an apple in about five days, but he was joking," Kisshu said. "And then he started laughing, which freaked everyone out. His laugh is creepy."
"It was funny when he chased you around the Café," Ichigo said. "He's really out of shape."
"That's because he spends all his time sitting in a lab," Toshiro said. "But what's up with you turning into an apple, Kisshu?"
"It's a human saying, if you eat too much of something, you'll turn into it," Kisshu said. "It's just a saying, which is good, because otherwise I probably WOULD be an apple. I love apples."
"Correction: you're severely addicted to apples," Ichigo said dryly. "It's a good thing they're good for you."
"Am I really that bad?" Kisshu asked.
Ichigo gave him a look that said, "Are you serious?"
Kisshu sighed. "I just love them…" he said.
"I don't think I've ever seen such a serious food addiction," Miwa said.
"Me neither," Ichigo said. "Kishy goes through two bags a week. This is getting pretty out of control."
"TWO BAGS a WEEK!?" the principal asked incredulously. "How does your mother afford it?"
"I don't exactly know, but I think we need to cut you off, Kishy," Ichigo said. "Addictions- no matter what they are- aren't a good thing to have. And yours is seriously out of control. I'm going to talk to Pai after school; maybe he'll be able to figure out something."
"You're cutting me off for being obsessed?" Kisshu asked.
"This isn't normal, Kisshu," Ichigo said. "Unless it's something like the fact that you can't sleep if I'm not nearby, this isn't a good thing."
"I don't want to stop eating apples…" Kisshu said sadly.
"I'm aware of that," Ichigo said. "But we need to at least figure out if something's wrong."
Kisshu sighed as the bell rang. The principal sighed too and said, "If people start passing out in class, you six get to go home early."
"Great…." Kisshu said unenthusiastically.
They went to their next class, which was Science. The minute they walked in, someone noticed Miwa was holding hands with Toshiro and said, "Look, it's true!"
The entire classes' jaws hit the floor. The teacher sighed and said, "You six can go home, I'll never get anything done while you're here."
Ichigo sighed, and said, "Let's go, guys."
The others followed her to the office, and Toshiro knocked on the principal's door. It was opened a minute later, and the principal came out, then said, "I take it you're going home?"
"Yep," Ichigo said. "Well, actually we're going to Café Mew Mew for work, but you get the idea."
"Have fun, I'll try to get the students under control," the principal said gloomily. "I'll call your families, and tell them you get to stay home until the others get used to this."
"K," Ichigo said. She nodded to the others, and they followed her out.
When they were outside, Ichigo asked, "Moe, Miwa, are you coming to the Café?"
"Sure," Miwa said.
"We start work today," Hiro commented.
"Cool," Moe said.
"I hope it's not as bad as last time," Ichigo sighed as they walked. "That was the most exhausting day ever."
"I'll say," Kisshu said.
They reached the Café, and Ichigo unlocked the door with her key. Sakura poked her head out of the kitchen, and asked, "Okay, what happened this time?"
"This girl ran around telling everyone Moe and I had boyfriends, and everyone she told fainted," Miwa said. "The principal said he'd call you and our families."
"Great…." Sakura sighed. "Keiichiro and Pai are in the basement, maybe you could start preparation?"
"I need to talk with Pai," Ichigo said.
"Knock first," Sakura said, and went back to the kitchen.
Ignoring Kisshu's gloomy look, Ichigo went downstairs, and knocked on the door. She heard a sigh, and then Keiichiro called, "Come in!"
Ichigo opened the door, and Keiichiro and Pai looked startled. "What happened to school?" Pai asked.
"We got sent home early," Ichigo said. "I actually need to talk to you, Pai."
"What about?" Pai asked.
"Kisshu's apple addiction," Ichigo said. "It's completely out of control; I'm worried something's wrong. I've never seen a food addiction like this, even when Miwa couldn't live without raisins. She got over it, but Kisshu's addiction is getting worse, not better. Miwa eventually got sick of raisins; Kisshu just wants more apples. And I'm not sure how much longer Mom can afford to buy two bags a week."
"I did think it was kind of strange that Kisshu couldn't live without them," Pai said. "I really like peaches, and fruit addictions aren't really uncommon for Cyniclons, but I can live without peaches."
"Kisshu can't go a day without at least one apple, or he starts acting grouchy, and sometimes sad," Ichigo said.
"Okay, now I'm worried," Pai said. "Keiichiro, I'm sorry, but you're going to have to work alone for a while."
"Alright," Keiichiro said. "Good luck."
"Thanks," Pai said. "Let's go, Ichigo."
Ichigo followed him upstairs, where they found Kisshu looking grouchy, and the others trying to calm him down. Pai sighed and went over, then said, "Kisshu, I need to do a check-up on you."
"Why?" Kisshu asked grouchily.
"I'm worried about your apple obsession," Pai said. "From what Ichigo's described, it doesn't sound like this is either normal or good for you. Let's go, we can do this at home."
"I don't WANT to," Kisshu said.
Pai sighed and held out a hand. A ripple formed in the air, and froze Kisshu. Pai grabbed his shoulder and Ichigo's, and teleported to their room. He put Kisshu down on Ichigo's bed, then put him to sleep and undid the freezing spell. Then he put a hand on Kisshu's forehead, and said, "Ichigo, stay quiet."
Ichigo nodded, and watched as Pai closed his eyes, concentrating.
What do you think Pai will find? Review and find out!