All play and no work? Classes begin…
"Attention, class!"
It was the next day and classes had begun for Sango. She had taken a tip from Kagome and changed her bulky school uniform shirt for a cooler and more comfortable singlet top. This had brought catcalls from Miroku until Kagome threw an ink bottle at his head.
Sango's first class was Art, where she had no company of anyone she recognized. Kagome was in the year under the others and neither Miroku nor Inu-yasha had Art. The vacant seat beside her didn't stay empty for long however – just after the lesson had started someone casually slid into it. A red-haired, paint-stained someone.
"You're the new girl who was in the office yesterday, aren't you?" asked Shippou, looking at her with sparkling eyes. "I'm impressed. Not many who talked to Princie-Pal the first thing they did have stayed on."
"Well, I got picked up by Hojo…"
"Oh, that explains it. He's got enough enthusiasm for a squad of cheerleaders. Now, what did Darling Dorla tell us to do?"
'Darling Dorla?' thought Sango, bemused. 'Oh, the teacher.'
"To draw a forest fire as it would look if it was underwater, the trees grew upside-down and the sky above was made of marmalade… wait a minute, that doesn't make any sense!"
"Does it have to?" Shippou was already at work with his picture.
"It's Art," he continued, "it doesn't matter what you do as long as you do it with your soul."
'My soul? The nuthouse is cracking now, ohh boy is it cracking.'
On the other hand… ever since kindergarten she had wanted to try finger painting. Before her stood twenty cans of different coloured paint. Rich, fat oil paint. She looked at them longingly. What the hell…
'Free my soul,' she thought, dipped her fingers in the orange can and started painting.
After the lesson she exited the classroom with Shippou, who had promised to help her find Bunny. It turned out that class 3FX7 was in their Final Year. Shippou was in his last year, too, but he went to all Art lessons possible – even those in younger age levels – and that was why he had been at Sango's lesson. He wanted to become an artist.
'No surprise there,' Sango thought to herself.
Bunny turned out to be a tall, good-looking girl, looking a bit haughty but being very sweet. She had a tendency to speak with a lot of endearments.
"Why are you in charge of this?" Sango asked as the girl opened her locker and frowned at the cloud of dust that came from it. "Isn't that supposed to be taken care of by the teachers, or in the office, or something?"
"Well honey, this is the way we do it here," Bunny said, diving into a large bag and tossing Sango a padlock, "we rule, the teachers hide. The staff does paperwork and stuff, but everything important is taken care of by the students. If there's something that needs doing, do it – if you can't do it, send it on to someone who can. For example, when Shippou darling here decided that we needed signs to show the way to the office he made signs. Or when Flex saw that the plumbing was screwed up he hired a guy to fix it. The school paid, of course, but Flex organized it. The teachers aren't in charge of things like that, and that's the way we want it. We manage on our own. After all, we're the ones who live with the problems in a school, so we know how it ought to be, right?"
"So you and Shippou and Flex, are you the Student Council or something?" asked Sango, making the older girl laugh.
"Lor', no, sweetie. We don't hold with doing organisations and shit. Everyone does what they can, you don't have to be in a Student Council to understand that something's screwy with the plumbing if the bathroom's drenched. Often when there is some sort of trouble people come to us soon-to-be-graduates, but that's only 'cos we've got the most experience. Here's your key, by the way." While she was talking Bunny had been going through an enormous ring of keys, and found the one belonging to Sango's lock.
"I have a spare key here if you ever need it. There should be some free lockers, just grab one that looks empty and you'll be OK. Now, do you know how to get to your next class?"
"Oh no!" Sango exclaimed. "I'm going to be late!" Bunny laughed cheerily.
"That's not really a problem, here. Anyway, here comes someone I'm sure will be going your way."
Sure enough, Miroku came waltzing up the corridor with his arm around a pretty girl. He let her go with a flirty smile and then spotted Sango, grinned like a Cheshire cat and made his way over to her.
"Ah, the ever beautiful Sango, prettiest new girl in town. Great, we'll have company to History! And how is the lovely Bunny today?" He lifted Bunny's hand to his lips and kissed it with a great show of gallantry, then snaked his arm around Sango's waist.
"We have to get going!"
"And just WHAT… do you think you're doing?" she hissed after he had led her about halfway up the corridor, getting over the initial shock. Then she froze. His hand had just found its way to a place where it was not welcome.
"Why, helping you get to your class, of course!" said Miroku innocently.
"Oh. That's all?"
"Yes, unless you have a suggestion of what you'd like me to do…"
"… well, for starters… GET YOUR BLOODY HAND OFF MY BUTT!!!"
*************
They arrived in class ten minutes late, Sango still fuming and Miroku sporting a nice red mark on his cheek. Inu-yasha looked up when they entered and actually grinned. Sango took the seat next to him, turning her back on Miroku deliberately.
"What?" she snarled.
"Nothing." She looked at him suspiciously, but he didn't give away anything. He was still grinning though. She looked around for something else to vent her anger on.
"Why isn't he noting my late appearance in class?" she asked grumpily, indicating the teacher, determined to be annoyed about everything possible.
"Because it ain't important," said Inu-yasha casually. When she gave him a quizzical look he sighed and reluctantly elaborated,
"It's your own stupid fault if you're late to class, you won't learn as much and you'll have more to do to catch up. He doesn't note it because it's up to yourself."
Sango thought about this for a while.
"What about talking in class? Doesn't he care about that either? And bullying, I just realized, who sees to that things like that don't happen if the teachers don't?"
"Well, the rest of us, of course. If anyone sees something that is seriously off – a bunch of kids picking on another kid, for example – they will break it up. And the punishment for serious bullying is just a little bit worse here than just writing lines in detention. As for talking in class, well, the school builds mainly on respect. You just don't do stuff that might bother others. And if you do – "
"Yasha, shut it!" shouted a voice from the back of the class.
" – someone will sooner or later get on your ass about it," Inu-yasha finished in a whisper.
Sango grinned to herself. This school seemed weirder by the minute, but she liked it. She liked the way it built on respect for others. She liked the way everyone was free to solve their problems in their own way. She liked the way the school – although it was very different from her earlier schools – still offered proper studies and for her, the chance to go to a college if she did well.
What she liked most of all was the freedom.
'I think I might be happy here,' she thought.
"Hey dearest, are you as smart as you are pretty? Can you help me understand what this means? Have a…private lesson with me, maybe?" She turned to see Miroku grinning at her.
…then again, there were things about this school she could definitely do without.
