It was a cold, hard, unwelcome building with "death" etched over its every brick. It vibrated with a feeling of pure evil; evil that was unmatched by any in our family. Evil, like the first evil to ever become evil. Cold, foreboding, and… evil! I shuddered. Kuwabara ruffled my hair as he walked up to the three of us. My face was a picture of pure horror. I couldn't take my eyes off of the evil building. By brothers followed my horrified gaze to look at the school.
"Please…" I whispered, "Please don't say that we have to go… in there!" Out of the immensely evil school stepped a neatly dressed man who was balding as we spoke. He seemed calm and quiet. He stood in front of us, and all of us just stood in anticipating horror, our mouths agape in fright. A breeze blew through the trees, then all was silent. Nothing moved. The roaring of two motorcycle engines interrupted the foreboding silence as Yamagata and Kai rode up on their bikes, screeching to a halt right in front of the scary yet nice man. Dust flew up as their tires stopped suddenly. They hit the kickstands out and came out to greet us.
Yamagata and I grabbed each other's hands then hit our knuckles together, smiling. Kai, still wearing his Madrangora victory wreath, stood next to Kaneda and Tetsuo, who was next to me.
"Well, I see some new arrivals shall have to be accounted for." The quiet man said quietly while he was being quiet. "My name is Mr. Longfellow. I am your principal."
"We just met the guy and suddenly he thinks he's our 'pal'. This fuckin' sucks." Yamagata said, still standing next to me. I clamped a hand over his mouth.
"Bad words, friend Yamagata!" I said loudly. He struggled to get away from my grip, but I grabbed onto his shirt and pulled myself up onto his shoulders, where I sat with my legs draping over his shoulders. He grabbed onto my legs and held me there while I leaned on his head.
"Yes, that behavior shall have to be corrected as soon as possible." Mr. Longfellow said quietly. Gee, he's quiet. Good thing we were all scared stiff by the evil school so we couldn't talk. Tails was the competent one, and he moved forward to talk with Mr. Longfellow.
"It's nice to meet someone with such intelligence as yours, Mr. Longfellow. I speak for my siblings and their friends when I say: I am glad to be here! Learning is such a wonderful thing!"
"ARGH!!" Mugetsu cried out, holding his head in his hands. He staggered crazily, yelling out in agony. "Please! NOOOO!"
"What's wrong with that boy?" Mr. Longfellow asked concerned yet quietly. Toya grabbed the principal's arm dramatically.
"Mugetsu, my dearest brother, suffers from a disease that can only be cured by singing the Song of Socks while eating a peanut butter and asparagus sandwich and a nectarine from the island of Zoop!"
"Why doesn't he do it, then?" The quietly confused principal asked. Mugetsu wailed and clung to Mr. Longfellow's leg.
"Someone else must perform this task, or else my bro-bro will turn into a purple fish from Zanzibar!" I cried from atop Yamagata. Ford rushed forward with a sandwich that was dripping with peanut butter and asparagus. In his other hand was a nectarine obviously from the island of Zoop. He thrust them into the hands of Mr. Longfellow. He looked at the food items questionably and quietly.
"Do it, Mr. Longfellow! Sing the Song of Socks and eat like you've never eaten before!" Shadow called.
"I don't know the Song of Socks…" Longfellow mumbled quietly while he shook Mugetsu off of his leg.
"Make one up, please!" Eowyn cried, hiding her face in her hands. Eomer comforted her. "I don't want my brother to be a purple fish!"
"Oh, socks, I like my socks…" Longfellow sang. He stuck the sandwich in his mouth and chewed, "Socks are comfy, socks are white, socks are nice…" He downed the sandwich and began working on the nectarine from the island of Zoop, "Socks, oh, socks… Socks don't taste good after a long run… Socks…" He swallowed the last of the nectarine and finished his song. Mugetsu stopped writhing around on the ground and stood up.
"You, sir, are gullible." He patted Longfellow on the head and back flipped into the crowd of us. We all began laughing. Longfellow's face turned red and he wiped the peanut butter from his face.
"Ms. Brown is not going to be pleased." Longfellow mumbled as he motioned for us to follow him. I hugged the top of Yamagata's head as we walked toward the doors that lead into the evil school. Kai ran up to Mr. Longfellow and bowed respectfully.
"We are truly sorry that we embarrassed you, sir. Please accept this as a show of our gratitude!" He took the Madrangora wreath from around his neck and put it around the principal's neck. Mr. Longfellow smiled.
"I suppose all of you can't be bad." We walked into the school It was just as evil as the outside. It was dark and creepy on the inside, and it smelt of mildew and glue. I held my nose shut and rested my chin in Yamagata's hair. He looked up at me, breathing a sigh.
"Are you having fun up there, or are you ready to come down yet?" he asked, seemingly a bit annoyed. I made a sniffling sound and pressed my finger against his cheek.
"I'll get down if you give me a cookie!" I said. He thrust a cookie into the hand that was pressing against his cheek. I hopped down and munched on the yummy cookie. Yamagata punched me lightly on the shoulder.
"You're heavier than you look, kid."
"It's because I sit on people's shoulders and ask for cookies." I wiped my hands off on my pretty khaki pants.
"Your room is in here, kids." Mr. Longfellow opened a decorated door for us. We stood, looking stupidly at the open door before us. Longfellow motioned for us to walk in. Still, we stared dumbly. I sighed, sticking my hands in my pockets, and I walked forward into the bright classroom. Kuwabara tried to restrain me, but Nicholas shook his head. He shifted his cross on his shoulder and started walking after me. I stepped into the bright light of the room, shielding my eyes.
There were two long wooden tables in the middle of the room, and they were surrounded by small wooden chairs. In another part of the room, there was a chalkboard with many things stuck on it: the alphabet, a calendar, colors, and such. Cardboard happy shapes hung from the ceiling and colored pictures plastered the walls. At a metal desk covered in encouraging smiling things sat a woman with blonde hair falling to her chest. She looked up with sparkling purple eyes and smiled at me. She stood, setting her pencil aside, and opened her arms in a friendly way.
"Welcome to my classroom," she said sweetly, "I am Ms. Brown. You must belong to the Valentine family. Well, I am so glad..."
"Excuse me, Nick." Kaneda said as he pushed past my brother and into the classroom. After him was Kai with a wry smile on his face, then Yamagata, hands in his pockets. Tetsuo filed in after him, and their eyes fell on the beautiful kindergarten teacher.
"Edward has a present for Mr. Longfellow!" She said, holding the Magical Nitro out in front of her. Longfellow was about to take it, but Ed took it back. "Edward thinks that she needs to give it to Mr. Longfellow outside..." After a moment, Ed came galloping back into the classroom as an explosion ripped through the air. Bye bye, Mr. Longfellow...
Kai's eyes filled with tears.
"An angel!" he cried, and he flung himself at her feet. Ms. Brown recoiled in fear. Kai hugged her ankles. "An angel fallen from heaven and into my life! Please, I must know your name! I cannot go on living with out your lovely name!"
"Ms. Carol Brown." She told him, kicking him off of her legs. He fell back onto his butt, eyes still fixed on the lovely Ms. Brown.
"But that can't be!" Kai cried, tears moistening his eyes. "An angel such as yourself can't possibly be without an adoring husband… or at least a boyfriend…" He edged closer to Ms. Brown, a mischievous look gleaming in his eye.
"Restrain yourself, Kai." A large hand grabbed Kai by the collar of his shirt. We were all very surprised to see Mr. John Harrison holding Kai back. The others filed in after us, saying hello to Mr. Harrison as they passed him, still holding back the hysterical Kai.
"But I love her! You can't tear bonds between us! Our love will live on!" I grabbed a stick from Leah and whacked Kai over the head with it. He looked at me, hurt, but I shook my head.
"Students should never date teachers. It only starts fights and lawsuits… Trust me." I carried Kai over to a seat next to Yamagata. His bottom lip trembled, and he turned to face Ms. Brown, clenching his fists dramatically.
"No matter how far apart we are, my love, I will always be in your heart!" I settled down into a seat next to Jet and Kuwabara. Across from me sat the bike gang. My heart stopped dead and my face hit the wooden table in front of me as Kaneda sat across from me. Kuwabara leapt from his seat, screaming. Ms. Brown turned around in alarm.
"What's wrong?" She asked sweetly. Kuwabara pointed to Kaneda.
"He killed my baby sister!!" With that, Kuwabara's fist crashed into Kaneda's face and knocked him out of his seat. Ms. Brown screamed as my brother leapt across the table and was about to land on Kaneda as the biker brought his feet up and the boots met my brother square in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. His back fell against the table. Kaneda pounced on my red-haired brother, pounding his fists into his face. By now, most everyone in the classroom was rooting for either my brother or Kaneda (mostly Kaneda) and my heart started again.
I watched with interest as Kuwabara slammed an uppercut on Kaneda's jaw. Kaneda flew through the air and landed on the second wooden table. He bounced off and, fists forward, tackled Kuwabara hard. The two grappled with each other, and the occasional blood spot appeared on the tile floor. Ms. Brown was screaming at the front of the class, and Mr. Harrison, along with a new teacher, ran into the room. Mr. Harrison grabbed Kaneda's fist just as it was about to deliver another blow. The new teacher restrained Kuwabara. Blood was dripping from Kaneda's nose, and Kuwabara wiped blood from the corner of his mouth, breathing hard.
Suddenly, they both began to laugh. Kaneda wiped his bleeding nose with the back of his glove, and put the other hand out to receive a high five. Kuwabara gave it to him, and they both laughed harder. Kuwabara glanced over at me, who was also laughing. They both hopped up and shook hands. I shook my head, smiling. Those were my guys.
Ms. Brown was breathing almost as hard as the guys that were fighting. She covered her eyes for a moment, then glared up at the two boys, who were still laughing. But before a word left her mouth, Kai was shielding her.
"How dare you two fight in the presence of such an intoxicatingly beautiful woman! She could have fainted! You don't know!!" He turned to Ms. Brown and smiled like an idiot. I covered my face. I didn't know I looked that stupid when I smiled like an idiot.
"Take your seats!" Ms. Brown warned. She looked at Kai, who was still smiling stupidly. "That means you too!" She pointed at the tables. His heart broken, Kai sat down, tears dripping down his cheeks. He suddenly erupted into a fit of crying, and he covered his face with his hands. Yamagata stood angrily.
"You bitch! Look what you did to him!" Kai's monotonous cries blubbered out of his mouth and around the silent room. Yamagata helped Kai out of his seat and out the door.
"Where do you two think you're going?" She called after them.
"To calm his broken soul!" Yamagata cried in a dramatic tone. Ms. Brown covered her mouth in surprise. Kaneda flopped down in his seat again, exhausted. Kuwabara spat blood into the trash can and sat down next to me. I put my arm around his shoulders and gave him a cookie. I reached into my cargo pocket and pulled a cookie out for Kaneda. I offered it to him. He smiled gratefully, and was about to take it as Leah swooped in, landing on Kaneda's head.
"What have I told you about taking cookies from people in my family that are wearing orange, dearest Kaneda?"
"Er… nothing?"
"WRONG! For now I am telling you that it is BAD!" Leah stole the cookie from my hand and went back to sitting on her first husband Spike's head. Kaneda sighed.
"She's got me in handcuffs." He mumbled.
"No she doesn't." I told him. "You were kicking my brother's ass a second ago." Kaneda showed his wrists to me, and indeed, Leah had slipped handcuffs on him in the moment she had been sitting on his head.
"Please…" I whispered, "Please don't say that we have to go… in there!" Out of the immensely evil school stepped a neatly dressed man who was balding as we spoke. He seemed calm and quiet. He stood in front of us, and all of us just stood in anticipating horror, our mouths agape in fright. A breeze blew through the trees, then all was silent. Nothing moved. The roaring of two motorcycle engines interrupted the foreboding silence as Yamagata and Kai rode up on their bikes, screeching to a halt right in front of the scary yet nice man. Dust flew up as their tires stopped suddenly. They hit the kickstands out and came out to greet us.
Yamagata and I grabbed each other's hands then hit our knuckles together, smiling. Kai, still wearing his Madrangora victory wreath, stood next to Kaneda and Tetsuo, who was next to me.
"Well, I see some new arrivals shall have to be accounted for." The quiet man said quietly while he was being quiet. "My name is Mr. Longfellow. I am your principal."
"We just met the guy and suddenly he thinks he's our 'pal'. This fuckin' sucks." Yamagata said, still standing next to me. I clamped a hand over his mouth.
"Bad words, friend Yamagata!" I said loudly. He struggled to get away from my grip, but I grabbed onto his shirt and pulled myself up onto his shoulders, where I sat with my legs draping over his shoulders. He grabbed onto my legs and held me there while I leaned on his head.
"Yes, that behavior shall have to be corrected as soon as possible." Mr. Longfellow said quietly. Gee, he's quiet. Good thing we were all scared stiff by the evil school so we couldn't talk. Tails was the competent one, and he moved forward to talk with Mr. Longfellow.
"It's nice to meet someone with such intelligence as yours, Mr. Longfellow. I speak for my siblings and their friends when I say: I am glad to be here! Learning is such a wonderful thing!"
"ARGH!!" Mugetsu cried out, holding his head in his hands. He staggered crazily, yelling out in agony. "Please! NOOOO!"
"What's wrong with that boy?" Mr. Longfellow asked concerned yet quietly. Toya grabbed the principal's arm dramatically.
"Mugetsu, my dearest brother, suffers from a disease that can only be cured by singing the Song of Socks while eating a peanut butter and asparagus sandwich and a nectarine from the island of Zoop!"
"Why doesn't he do it, then?" The quietly confused principal asked. Mugetsu wailed and clung to Mr. Longfellow's leg.
"Someone else must perform this task, or else my bro-bro will turn into a purple fish from Zanzibar!" I cried from atop Yamagata. Ford rushed forward with a sandwich that was dripping with peanut butter and asparagus. In his other hand was a nectarine obviously from the island of Zoop. He thrust them into the hands of Mr. Longfellow. He looked at the food items questionably and quietly.
"Do it, Mr. Longfellow! Sing the Song of Socks and eat like you've never eaten before!" Shadow called.
"I don't know the Song of Socks…" Longfellow mumbled quietly while he shook Mugetsu off of his leg.
"Make one up, please!" Eowyn cried, hiding her face in her hands. Eomer comforted her. "I don't want my brother to be a purple fish!"
"Oh, socks, I like my socks…" Longfellow sang. He stuck the sandwich in his mouth and chewed, "Socks are comfy, socks are white, socks are nice…" He downed the sandwich and began working on the nectarine from the island of Zoop, "Socks, oh, socks… Socks don't taste good after a long run… Socks…" He swallowed the last of the nectarine and finished his song. Mugetsu stopped writhing around on the ground and stood up.
"You, sir, are gullible." He patted Longfellow on the head and back flipped into the crowd of us. We all began laughing. Longfellow's face turned red and he wiped the peanut butter from his face.
"Ms. Brown is not going to be pleased." Longfellow mumbled as he motioned for us to follow him. I hugged the top of Yamagata's head as we walked toward the doors that lead into the evil school. Kai ran up to Mr. Longfellow and bowed respectfully.
"We are truly sorry that we embarrassed you, sir. Please accept this as a show of our gratitude!" He took the Madrangora wreath from around his neck and put it around the principal's neck. Mr. Longfellow smiled.
"I suppose all of you can't be bad." We walked into the school It was just as evil as the outside. It was dark and creepy on the inside, and it smelt of mildew and glue. I held my nose shut and rested my chin in Yamagata's hair. He looked up at me, breathing a sigh.
"Are you having fun up there, or are you ready to come down yet?" he asked, seemingly a bit annoyed. I made a sniffling sound and pressed my finger against his cheek.
"I'll get down if you give me a cookie!" I said. He thrust a cookie into the hand that was pressing against his cheek. I hopped down and munched on the yummy cookie. Yamagata punched me lightly on the shoulder.
"You're heavier than you look, kid."
"It's because I sit on people's shoulders and ask for cookies." I wiped my hands off on my pretty khaki pants.
"Your room is in here, kids." Mr. Longfellow opened a decorated door for us. We stood, looking stupidly at the open door before us. Longfellow motioned for us to walk in. Still, we stared dumbly. I sighed, sticking my hands in my pockets, and I walked forward into the bright classroom. Kuwabara tried to restrain me, but Nicholas shook his head. He shifted his cross on his shoulder and started walking after me. I stepped into the bright light of the room, shielding my eyes.
There were two long wooden tables in the middle of the room, and they were surrounded by small wooden chairs. In another part of the room, there was a chalkboard with many things stuck on it: the alphabet, a calendar, colors, and such. Cardboard happy shapes hung from the ceiling and colored pictures plastered the walls. At a metal desk covered in encouraging smiling things sat a woman with blonde hair falling to her chest. She looked up with sparkling purple eyes and smiled at me. She stood, setting her pencil aside, and opened her arms in a friendly way.
"Welcome to my classroom," she said sweetly, "I am Ms. Brown. You must belong to the Valentine family. Well, I am so glad..."
"Excuse me, Nick." Kaneda said as he pushed past my brother and into the classroom. After him was Kai with a wry smile on his face, then Yamagata, hands in his pockets. Tetsuo filed in after him, and their eyes fell on the beautiful kindergarten teacher.
"Edward has a present for Mr. Longfellow!" She said, holding the Magical Nitro out in front of her. Longfellow was about to take it, but Ed took it back. "Edward thinks that she needs to give it to Mr. Longfellow outside..." After a moment, Ed came galloping back into the classroom as an explosion ripped through the air. Bye bye, Mr. Longfellow...
Kai's eyes filled with tears.
"An angel!" he cried, and he flung himself at her feet. Ms. Brown recoiled in fear. Kai hugged her ankles. "An angel fallen from heaven and into my life! Please, I must know your name! I cannot go on living with out your lovely name!"
"Ms. Carol Brown." She told him, kicking him off of her legs. He fell back onto his butt, eyes still fixed on the lovely Ms. Brown.
"But that can't be!" Kai cried, tears moistening his eyes. "An angel such as yourself can't possibly be without an adoring husband… or at least a boyfriend…" He edged closer to Ms. Brown, a mischievous look gleaming in his eye.
"Restrain yourself, Kai." A large hand grabbed Kai by the collar of his shirt. We were all very surprised to see Mr. John Harrison holding Kai back. The others filed in after us, saying hello to Mr. Harrison as they passed him, still holding back the hysterical Kai.
"But I love her! You can't tear bonds between us! Our love will live on!" I grabbed a stick from Leah and whacked Kai over the head with it. He looked at me, hurt, but I shook my head.
"Students should never date teachers. It only starts fights and lawsuits… Trust me." I carried Kai over to a seat next to Yamagata. His bottom lip trembled, and he turned to face Ms. Brown, clenching his fists dramatically.
"No matter how far apart we are, my love, I will always be in your heart!" I settled down into a seat next to Jet and Kuwabara. Across from me sat the bike gang. My heart stopped dead and my face hit the wooden table in front of me as Kaneda sat across from me. Kuwabara leapt from his seat, screaming. Ms. Brown turned around in alarm.
"What's wrong?" She asked sweetly. Kuwabara pointed to Kaneda.
"He killed my baby sister!!" With that, Kuwabara's fist crashed into Kaneda's face and knocked him out of his seat. Ms. Brown screamed as my brother leapt across the table and was about to land on Kaneda as the biker brought his feet up and the boots met my brother square in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. His back fell against the table. Kaneda pounced on my red-haired brother, pounding his fists into his face. By now, most everyone in the classroom was rooting for either my brother or Kaneda (mostly Kaneda) and my heart started again.
I watched with interest as Kuwabara slammed an uppercut on Kaneda's jaw. Kaneda flew through the air and landed on the second wooden table. He bounced off and, fists forward, tackled Kuwabara hard. The two grappled with each other, and the occasional blood spot appeared on the tile floor. Ms. Brown was screaming at the front of the class, and Mr. Harrison, along with a new teacher, ran into the room. Mr. Harrison grabbed Kaneda's fist just as it was about to deliver another blow. The new teacher restrained Kuwabara. Blood was dripping from Kaneda's nose, and Kuwabara wiped blood from the corner of his mouth, breathing hard.
Suddenly, they both began to laugh. Kaneda wiped his bleeding nose with the back of his glove, and put the other hand out to receive a high five. Kuwabara gave it to him, and they both laughed harder. Kuwabara glanced over at me, who was also laughing. They both hopped up and shook hands. I shook my head, smiling. Those were my guys.
Ms. Brown was breathing almost as hard as the guys that were fighting. She covered her eyes for a moment, then glared up at the two boys, who were still laughing. But before a word left her mouth, Kai was shielding her.
"How dare you two fight in the presence of such an intoxicatingly beautiful woman! She could have fainted! You don't know!!" He turned to Ms. Brown and smiled like an idiot. I covered my face. I didn't know I looked that stupid when I smiled like an idiot.
"Take your seats!" Ms. Brown warned. She looked at Kai, who was still smiling stupidly. "That means you too!" She pointed at the tables. His heart broken, Kai sat down, tears dripping down his cheeks. He suddenly erupted into a fit of crying, and he covered his face with his hands. Yamagata stood angrily.
"You bitch! Look what you did to him!" Kai's monotonous cries blubbered out of his mouth and around the silent room. Yamagata helped Kai out of his seat and out the door.
"Where do you two think you're going?" She called after them.
"To calm his broken soul!" Yamagata cried in a dramatic tone. Ms. Brown covered her mouth in surprise. Kaneda flopped down in his seat again, exhausted. Kuwabara spat blood into the trash can and sat down next to me. I put my arm around his shoulders and gave him a cookie. I reached into my cargo pocket and pulled a cookie out for Kaneda. I offered it to him. He smiled gratefully, and was about to take it as Leah swooped in, landing on Kaneda's head.
"What have I told you about taking cookies from people in my family that are wearing orange, dearest Kaneda?"
"Er… nothing?"
"WRONG! For now I am telling you that it is BAD!" Leah stole the cookie from my hand and went back to sitting on her first husband Spike's head. Kaneda sighed.
"She's got me in handcuffs." He mumbled.
"No she doesn't." I told him. "You were kicking my brother's ass a second ago." Kaneda showed his wrists to me, and indeed, Leah had slipped handcuffs on him in the moment she had been sitting on his head.