SCHOOL DAZE
Three siblings walked along the side of the street together. Kasumi skipped pleasantly along the sidewalk, swinging her schoolbag back and forth with each skip. Yasuo looked over at her, laughing lightly as he carried his own schoolbag over his right shoulder.
"You're certainly in a good mood this morning, Kasu", he chuckled. "Something you haven't been telling us?" "Iie", Kasumi giggled. She stopped her skip and walked normally with her brother. "Just feeling good, like every day. It's just good to be up and breathing every morning. To be alive. Ne?"
Yasuo nodded and the two of them laughed. Nami simply glared at her brother and sister, narrow eyed in embarassment. She put a hand on her hip and sighed. "You two need to grow up." "Oh come on, Nami", Kasumi protested. "Can't you be pleasant on the way to school for once?" "Why should I?" Nami huffed. "All I have to look forward to when I get to school is Shino-sensei barking at me to study-study-study! Who needs school anyway? As long as I can read and write, what else do I need?"
"How about a better personality?" A brash voice cut in. The three of them turned to see Tetsuya and Tetsuo walking up behind them. Nami turned back forward and grumbled in annoyance while Yasuo and Kasumi greeted them. "Ohayo, Tetsuo-kun. Ohayo, Tetsuya-kun." Tetsuo gave a big hearty smile and Tetsuya nodded to them respectfully. Nami said nothing and continued walking on as if Tetsuya wasn't there. Tetsuya, however, pursued the issue.
"All you ever do is complain about studies, Nami. Even if academics are NOT your strong suit- ", he made sure to emphasize the 'NOT' in that statement. "-you won't get anywhere if you don't at least make a decent attempt to get an education. There's more to life than sports."
Nami gave Tetsuya a look that could melt ice. "Well there's more to life than SCHOOL too!" She turned forward again with her nose upturned. "I like taking time to get some enjoyment out of my life. Not let it all pass by with my nose shoved in book after book like SOME people I know."
Tetsuya scoffed. "Well, I would rather focus on making sure I have a respectful future than indulge in the type of barbarism you consider athletics!" "You're just jealous because YOU have NO ATHLETIC SKILLS! So YOU have to settle for relying on book smarts! NYAAH!" Nami stuck her tongue out at Tetsuya defiantly and sped up her walking so that she was now walking away from him. But Tetsuya followed. "How dare you! How can you go off saying...." Their bickering voices trailed off as they continued walking ahead. The other three had zoned out the sounds of their argument by this point and simply conversed with eachother.
"So how are you today, Tetsuo?" Kasumi asked. "Fine. Domo", he answered cheerfully. "Except... I had a small mishap again this morning." "Mishap?" Kasumi asked with a slightly confused tone. "Well... uh... umm.... I... uh.." Tetsuo stammered embarassingly. "Don't worry about it", said Yasuo, placing a hand on Tesuo's shoulder, seeming to understand. "Whatever you broke can always be fixed." Tetsuo's reply was a downcast look and a groan. "I'm sure it was just an accident," said Kasumi. "Hai", Tetsuo said, his head still hung. "But it's happened too many times. The costs of repair are adding up and it's getting Oto-san in trouble with Oka-san. I just don't understand why it keeps happening, even when I TRY to be more careful." "I'm sure it'll all be alright, Tetsuo", Kasumi said sympathetically. "It's probably just a phase. It'll pass. Besides, it's not your fault." "Try telling that to Tetsuya", Tetsuo sighed.
They all sighed and kept walking. But they soon stopped when they saw that Tetsuya and Nami had both stopped just a few feet ahead of them. Both of them were looking ahead at something and the eyes of the other three soon shifted to where they were looking.
A couple of yards away, a hovercar was stopped at the gate in front of the school. The driver stepped out of the car and walked around to the passenger door next to the sidewalk. The group watched as he opened the door and a girl stepped out. She wore the same issue school uniform and carried her schoolbag in front of her with both hands. "Whoa", said Tetsuo. "Who's that?" "Don't know", said Nami. "She must be new. I've never seen her before."
The girl remained standing at the gate as the taxi drove off and looked up at the school before her. She never thought it would be so big. The size of the entire campus stretched across for at least half a mile. And the bell tower, the tallest part of the structure, was about two hundred feet high. Her eyes trailed down to ground level again, watching the numerous students walking around and onto the campus. As she stood there, she could feel the eyes of the other five in the distance staring at her. But she didn't let it get to her. Her mother told her it was to be expected. Her appearance alone was enough to make others curious.
She reached for the tiny brass locket that hung around her neck and grasped it firmly, taking a deep breath. "Alright", she thought. "Mama. Papa. Here I go. I promise to do my best." She let go of her locket and slowly walked through the gate onto the campus.
The five spectators walked up and looked around the gate wall in unison, watching the new girl as she headed for the main building. "I wonder who she is", Kasumi stated inquisitively. "Strange", said Tetsuya. "The academy usually doesn't accept transfer students. Especially in the middle of a semester." "Then maybe she's a special case?" Kasumi asked. Tetsuya slid his glasses off his face and narrowed his eyes at the girl questioningly. "Perhaps."
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"Thank you for calling, dear", spoke the voice of a familiar blue haired woman. "Is there anything else?" "Nothing else at the moment, Ami-chan", answered a voice at the other end of her vid-phone. "Will you be coming home tonight?" "I should be, if things stay quiet", she answered. "I'm not sure what time, though." "That's alright", came the reply. "We'll see you whenever you get home. Aishteru." "Aishteru mo."
The screen went blank as Sailor Mercury hung up her end of the video phone. She sat back in her chair and turned her head to look out the window of her office. From her vantage, high within the Crystal Palace, Mercury looked out over the spanning city before her. From so high, it indeed looked peaceful. Yet in truth, things were not.
Fifteen years had passed since the war with the Black Moon had ended, yet things had still not yet returned to normalcy. Conflicts had been stirred up from time to time by people still outraged at the past war, and each time, it left the senshi feeling uneasy.
She walked over to her desk and glanced down at it. The top surface was scattered with random papers that she had been going through. Most were minute matters, but there were a few that had demanded her attention.
Ami, or rather Sailor Mercury, was designated as Minister of Internal Affairs at the palace, which meant she handled most matters that the Queen had no time for. It was not really the most strenuous job to be had, but it was, at times, time consuming, and took a degree of patience for paperwork that most of the others didn't posess. Though there were times she found some of the work monotonous, she sometimes enjoyed her duties with the paperworking, as it usually left her some time to herself to gather her thoughts.
At the moment, she went about reorginizing the papers on her desk, as she usually did before leaving. When the files were sorted and the desk neatened, she glanced over at the clock attached to the Vid-phone. She smiled to herself. "Good. 15 minutes until the meeting. I have plenty of time."
Mercury then promptly stepped out of her office walking through the marble and crystalline halls of the palace.
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The classroom was buzzing with all sorts of conversation as they all waited for class to start. Five familiar teens chatted with eachother across from where they all were sitting.
"Hope we don't have any surprise quizzes today", said Tetsuo, taking his books out of his schoolbag. "I won't be ready for it." "Ummmm... Isn't that why it's called a SURPRISE quiz?" Kasumi said to him. "Oh. Yeah. That's right", Tetsuo laughed. Yasuo and Kasumi joined in his laugh. "Well one thing that's not a surprise today is the English test", Yasuo sighed a bit. "I just hope I'll get through it. I didn't get to study as much as I'd hoped." "I'm not going there", Nami said, poking fun at him. Yasuo then remembered her comment at breakfast and gave her another displeased look. "But anyway", continued Nami. "Why should we be learning this boring language anyway? I mean, it's not like we're gonna go anywhere that speaks this stuff. It's practically a dead language now anyhow. Like... Latin... or Greek." Yasuo looked at her with an awkward expression. "Because we simply NEED to. Just think that there may be a remote chance you may need to know the language someday. It's better to learn now." "Whatever", Nami scoffed. "But I bet the only one who'll even come close to needing it is Tetsuya. For if he goes to some international book convention or something."
Nami was expecting Tetsuya to respond with an insult of his own, but she was surprised when he didn't even give her so much as a backward glance.
His gaze was fixed on his desk, his violet eyes narrowed with deep thought behind his glasses. But Nami soon finally got his attention when a pencil hit him in the back of the head. "ITAI! Nami!" He looked back at her angrily as he rubbed the back of his head. "What the hell was THAT for?" "Well, I was TALKING to you, baka!" she spat back. "Where were you? Outer space?" Tetsuya sneered at her and then looked back forward, going back into his train of thought.
"What is it, Tetsuya?" asked Kasumi, noting his very serious expression. "Is something wrong?" Tetsuya looked over at Kasumi briefly and then back at his desk. "It's nothing I suppose", he said. "But I can't stop thinking about that girl we saw earlier." "Oh", Kasumi said, a bit wide-eyed. "Ah! I see it now!" Nami blurted out. "Looks like SOMEONE caught your eye finally!" She laughed and Tetsuya looked back at her with a growl. "Shut up, Nami!" he demanded. "That's not it!" His voice calmed a bit before he continued. "There's just something strange about her." Tetsuo blinked and looked at his brother in confusion. "Strange?" he asked. "You mean besides the fact that she looks like she's got a serious sunburn?" Nami pointed out blatantly. The crew all looked back at her with a blank expression. "What??" Nami shrugged. "It's true isn't it? Her skin was almost as dark as Pluto-san's." "That's not the point, Nami", Tetsuya answered in a tone of agitation. "I mean... There's something... strange about her besides just her appearance." "Nani?" Yasuo blinked. "What do you mean?" "I don't know", Tetsuya answered lowly. "There's just... something very different about her. I just can't put my finger on it." Nami rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I just think you've got a crush. How's that saying go? 'Love at first sight'?" Tetsuya winced in aggrivation. "Nami... Don't you ever know when to shut the hell up?"
Just then, the classroom door opened and a tall gentleman with dusty-blonde hair and glasses entered. "Alright, Alright now. Settle down please", the man adressed the students and they all sat and quieted down. He stood behind his desk at the front of the room and picked up his clipboard with the roll sheet on it.
"Ohayo, everyone." "Ohayo, Shino-san", was the unified response from class. The teacher pushed his glasses up on his nose and spoke again. "I hope that all of you had a pleasant weekend. And a rested one as well. Because now it's time to buckle down. For as you all know, the next quarter exams are coming up, so I hope all of you are studying hard. Today is also the deadline for 'catch-up' assignments so I will be expecting any who have been working on them to turn them in along with the rest of today's assignments."
After roll call, he took out his book. "Alright then... Let's get started. We left off yesterday on chapter 56: World War 3." Everyone got out their books and followed along with the teacher. "Now... ", he got up from his desk and walked back to the blackboard, writing things that corresponded to the lesson. "Let's have a quick review of yesterday. We covered that shortly after the entry into the 21st century, a terrorist group appeared in the Middle East. Over the next six years, there were many joint operations between countries to flush out this group and eliminate them, mainly The United States, England, Japan, and Russia. Who remembers what this joint venture was called?" A student raised their hand. "Yuriko", he acknowledged the girl to speak. "The Four Corners Alliance?" she answered, not quite sure. "Correct", the teacher nodded and the girl smiled proudly. "The Four Corners Alliance was responsible for seeking out all possible threats in several countries besides their own and successfully stopping them before they could carry out more of their terrorism. But it wasn't until the calender year 2008 A.D. that they were finally able to flush out the group and deal with them permanantly. However, in the melee of the battle between the US forces and the Middle Eastern territories, the Russian chancellor and all others in the heirarchy were assassinated in a devastating coup de tat. Who was responsible?" There was a bit of silence before another student slowly raised their hand. "Touma", he acknowledged the student. The student stuttered a bit as he responded. "The Brothers of Blitzkreig?" The teacher shook his head. "Iie. Remember... The Brothers of Blitzkreig were a farce, made as a cover-up so they wouldn't be found out. Anyone else?" Tetsuya raised his hand this time. "Tetsuya", he acknowledged. "I believe it was a German faction known as the Neo-Nazis", Tetsuya answered confidently. "Very good", the teacher smiled. "Hai. This German group, a very large one I might add, had secretly established their dominance in Germany. They had calculated their efforts so well, that not even others from within their country were aware of anything. They pulled a coup in Germany first and moved on to Russia. After the assassination, they quickly overran Russia and took complete military control. Now, If you were paying attention yesterday, tell me what sparked the war." Again there was silence, as no one could come up with the answer. Seeing that everyone else was clueless, Tetsuya raised a hand again. "Hai, Tetsuya?" the teacher once again acknowledged him. "When the Neo-Nazis took military control, the first thing they did was make sure they had control over the nuclear arsenals. So, the rest of the world went on alert." "Correct", the teacher nodded. "Once they had total control, they wasted no time in making their nuclear presence known to everyone."
He set his book down. "And now, this is where Earth's history get's really ugly. From what records were gathered from before the last of old civilization died out, every single major country was on alert, and every single nuclear weapon was made ready. It was like that for two years. For two years, the entire world lived in fear and paranoia. It was obvious that no one slept well. Then the tragic happened. In calender year 2010 A.D., the event our history records as 'Judgment Day'. The press of one button was all it took to set off a chain reaction. First it was Russia and Germany's arsenal. Then America's. Then Japan's. The atmosphere and the planet itself were catastrophically damaged. More than half of of the entire human race was killed in a single day." He leaned against his desk. "Now.... Noone knows for sure how long anyone survived after 'Judgment Day', but we do know that the nuclear fallout is what caused the planet to freeze over in a new Ice Age. Then, of course, as we all well know, Neo Queen Serenity appeared many years later and restored the Earth, giving humanity a second chance. Many people were revived when the Earth's Transition took place and over the course of the next one hundred years, civilization was reestablished over the majority of the planet."
"Which is why we're here today", Nami said to herself in a bored tone. The teacher, having heard her, looked up at her. "Do you have a problem with this lesson, Nami-dono??" Nami shot up in her seat, her face slightly flushed in embarrasment. "Umm... Er.. I uh..", she stammered. Tetsuya grinned to himself as the teacher continued. "Well? If you have something to say, then come out and say it."
Nami finally recomposed herself and answered. "Gomen, Shino-san. The lesson is very interesting and all... But I just don't understand why we have to sit here and talk about things that happened centuries ago. I mean this stuff doesn't concern us or our daily lives, so why do we even bother?" The teacher took off his glasses and sighed as he walked in front of the desk and leaned against the edge of it. "That is a very good question, Nami. But the fact is that is does concern you. It concerns everyone. And I can answer why quite simply." He picked up the book on his desk and held it up.
"Everything in here is who we are and who we used to be. History explains to us why things are the way they are today and also the steps we took to get here. To use a metaphor, it is like a manual on how we are human beings. How we started as children with no civilized manner, no intelligence, and no purpose... and were able to become the beings we are today." He set the book down. "History also helps us to learn from our mistakes. A plain example of that is what we've covered today. We look back and see how foolish we were as a race. And also how destructive we could be. I mean, just think about it... WE destroyed ourselves. And as a result of our mistakes, our race nearly became extinct. It is ONLY because of Neo Queen Serenity and the power of the Holy Silver Imperium Crystal that any of us are able to be here today. We have the oppurtunity to learn from our wrongs so that something like that never happens again." He folded his arms and looked right at Nami. "In fact, there's an old proverb that defines all of this in a nutshell: Those that forget the past are condemned to repeat it."
There was much silence after this until a knock came on the classroom door. "All of you think about that and keep reading." He put his glasses back on and went to the door. Nami grumbled to herself. "Kuso. I hate it when he puts me on the spot like that." "Well you set yourself up for that one, Nami", Tetsuya chuckled. "Ohhh.. Stuff it, you!" she hissed. "Hey!", Kasumi urged quietly. "Look!" All eyes turned as Kasumi pointed to the classroom door. They watched as the teacher reentered with another person. Tetsuya gasped. "It's her!"
Indeed, it was the red-head the five of them had seen earlier that morning. The teacher brought her in front of his desk and began introducing her. "Alright, everyone. We have been blessed with a new addition to our class today." He looked to the girl. "Go ahead and introduce yourself please." The girl cleared her throat and smiled nervously. "H.. Hajimemashite. Wa... Watashi wa.... Rosette. Dozo yoroshiku." The teacher spoke again. "She is new to the school so I hope that all of you will make her feel welcome." He gestured for her to move. "Go ahead and find yourself a seat." Rosette nodded before proceeding to the side stairwell and went up the steps to find a place to sit. Tetsuya watched every step she took until she found a vacant seat in the third row, four seats from Tetsuo. But Tetsuya wasn't the only one staring.
Every single student had their eyes on her. Rosette felt a bit uneasy because of it, but she remained composed as she took out her books and sat at her chair, as if she had always been a member of the class. The teacher cleared his throat, breaking the silence. "Alright now, Rosette. I hope you are able to follow along with the rest of us well enough." She nodded. "S... Hai, Sensei", she answered, saying nothing more. "Very well", he said. "Then let's continue further into Chapter 56. Now-"
The teacher's words were interrupted as the door swung open and a familiar pink-haired student entered. Everyone stared as she smiled sheepishly. "Heh heh... Ohayo gozaimasu... Sorry for being late."
Tetsuya's eyes, however, remained on Rosette, watching her curiously. He was so focused on her that he was caught off guard as Rosette casually looked over at him, his eyes widening slightly as he saw her stare back at him. Then she turned away from him again casually. He narrowed his eyes again, locked on her with deep interest. Something about this girl had piqued his curiousity..... and he was determined to find out why.
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I would quickly like to say that I hope noone was in any way offended by the portion of this chapter containing the history lesson. I want to point out that I wrote this story a long time ago and it was in no way inspired by the events of 9-11-01. I wrote this particular type of a history to illustrate that things like that CAN happen and I believe that it makes a valid point. So I would first like to say that my heart is with all those who suffered in September and I hope noone is offended by this particular part of the story. Thank you for putting up with my blabbing. May God Bless.
silvermaidenh@yahoo.com
Three siblings walked along the side of the street together. Kasumi skipped pleasantly along the sidewalk, swinging her schoolbag back and forth with each skip. Yasuo looked over at her, laughing lightly as he carried his own schoolbag over his right shoulder.
"You're certainly in a good mood this morning, Kasu", he chuckled. "Something you haven't been telling us?" "Iie", Kasumi giggled. She stopped her skip and walked normally with her brother. "Just feeling good, like every day. It's just good to be up and breathing every morning. To be alive. Ne?"
Yasuo nodded and the two of them laughed. Nami simply glared at her brother and sister, narrow eyed in embarassment. She put a hand on her hip and sighed. "You two need to grow up." "Oh come on, Nami", Kasumi protested. "Can't you be pleasant on the way to school for once?" "Why should I?" Nami huffed. "All I have to look forward to when I get to school is Shino-sensei barking at me to study-study-study! Who needs school anyway? As long as I can read and write, what else do I need?"
"How about a better personality?" A brash voice cut in. The three of them turned to see Tetsuya and Tetsuo walking up behind them. Nami turned back forward and grumbled in annoyance while Yasuo and Kasumi greeted them. "Ohayo, Tetsuo-kun. Ohayo, Tetsuya-kun." Tetsuo gave a big hearty smile and Tetsuya nodded to them respectfully. Nami said nothing and continued walking on as if Tetsuya wasn't there. Tetsuya, however, pursued the issue.
"All you ever do is complain about studies, Nami. Even if academics are NOT your strong suit- ", he made sure to emphasize the 'NOT' in that statement. "-you won't get anywhere if you don't at least make a decent attempt to get an education. There's more to life than sports."
Nami gave Tetsuya a look that could melt ice. "Well there's more to life than SCHOOL too!" She turned forward again with her nose upturned. "I like taking time to get some enjoyment out of my life. Not let it all pass by with my nose shoved in book after book like SOME people I know."
Tetsuya scoffed. "Well, I would rather focus on making sure I have a respectful future than indulge in the type of barbarism you consider athletics!" "You're just jealous because YOU have NO ATHLETIC SKILLS! So YOU have to settle for relying on book smarts! NYAAH!" Nami stuck her tongue out at Tetsuya defiantly and sped up her walking so that she was now walking away from him. But Tetsuya followed. "How dare you! How can you go off saying...." Their bickering voices trailed off as they continued walking ahead. The other three had zoned out the sounds of their argument by this point and simply conversed with eachother.
"So how are you today, Tetsuo?" Kasumi asked. "Fine. Domo", he answered cheerfully. "Except... I had a small mishap again this morning." "Mishap?" Kasumi asked with a slightly confused tone. "Well... uh... umm.... I... uh.." Tetsuo stammered embarassingly. "Don't worry about it", said Yasuo, placing a hand on Tesuo's shoulder, seeming to understand. "Whatever you broke can always be fixed." Tetsuo's reply was a downcast look and a groan. "I'm sure it was just an accident," said Kasumi. "Hai", Tetsuo said, his head still hung. "But it's happened too many times. The costs of repair are adding up and it's getting Oto-san in trouble with Oka-san. I just don't understand why it keeps happening, even when I TRY to be more careful." "I'm sure it'll all be alright, Tetsuo", Kasumi said sympathetically. "It's probably just a phase. It'll pass. Besides, it's not your fault." "Try telling that to Tetsuya", Tetsuo sighed.
They all sighed and kept walking. But they soon stopped when they saw that Tetsuya and Nami had both stopped just a few feet ahead of them. Both of them were looking ahead at something and the eyes of the other three soon shifted to where they were looking.
A couple of yards away, a hovercar was stopped at the gate in front of the school. The driver stepped out of the car and walked around to the passenger door next to the sidewalk. The group watched as he opened the door and a girl stepped out. She wore the same issue school uniform and carried her schoolbag in front of her with both hands. "Whoa", said Tetsuo. "Who's that?" "Don't know", said Nami. "She must be new. I've never seen her before."
The girl remained standing at the gate as the taxi drove off and looked up at the school before her. She never thought it would be so big. The size of the entire campus stretched across for at least half a mile. And the bell tower, the tallest part of the structure, was about two hundred feet high. Her eyes trailed down to ground level again, watching the numerous students walking around and onto the campus. As she stood there, she could feel the eyes of the other five in the distance staring at her. But she didn't let it get to her. Her mother told her it was to be expected. Her appearance alone was enough to make others curious.
She reached for the tiny brass locket that hung around her neck and grasped it firmly, taking a deep breath. "Alright", she thought. "Mama. Papa. Here I go. I promise to do my best." She let go of her locket and slowly walked through the gate onto the campus.
The five spectators walked up and looked around the gate wall in unison, watching the new girl as she headed for the main building. "I wonder who she is", Kasumi stated inquisitively. "Strange", said Tetsuya. "The academy usually doesn't accept transfer students. Especially in the middle of a semester." "Then maybe she's a special case?" Kasumi asked. Tetsuya slid his glasses off his face and narrowed his eyes at the girl questioningly. "Perhaps."
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"Thank you for calling, dear", spoke the voice of a familiar blue haired woman. "Is there anything else?" "Nothing else at the moment, Ami-chan", answered a voice at the other end of her vid-phone. "Will you be coming home tonight?" "I should be, if things stay quiet", she answered. "I'm not sure what time, though." "That's alright", came the reply. "We'll see you whenever you get home. Aishteru." "Aishteru mo."
The screen went blank as Sailor Mercury hung up her end of the video phone. She sat back in her chair and turned her head to look out the window of her office. From her vantage, high within the Crystal Palace, Mercury looked out over the spanning city before her. From so high, it indeed looked peaceful. Yet in truth, things were not.
Fifteen years had passed since the war with the Black Moon had ended, yet things had still not yet returned to normalcy. Conflicts had been stirred up from time to time by people still outraged at the past war, and each time, it left the senshi feeling uneasy.
She walked over to her desk and glanced down at it. The top surface was scattered with random papers that she had been going through. Most were minute matters, but there were a few that had demanded her attention.
Ami, or rather Sailor Mercury, was designated as Minister of Internal Affairs at the palace, which meant she handled most matters that the Queen had no time for. It was not really the most strenuous job to be had, but it was, at times, time consuming, and took a degree of patience for paperwork that most of the others didn't posess. Though there were times she found some of the work monotonous, she sometimes enjoyed her duties with the paperworking, as it usually left her some time to herself to gather her thoughts.
At the moment, she went about reorginizing the papers on her desk, as she usually did before leaving. When the files were sorted and the desk neatened, she glanced over at the clock attached to the Vid-phone. She smiled to herself. "Good. 15 minutes until the meeting. I have plenty of time."
Mercury then promptly stepped out of her office walking through the marble and crystalline halls of the palace.
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The classroom was buzzing with all sorts of conversation as they all waited for class to start. Five familiar teens chatted with eachother across from where they all were sitting.
"Hope we don't have any surprise quizzes today", said Tetsuo, taking his books out of his schoolbag. "I won't be ready for it." "Ummmm... Isn't that why it's called a SURPRISE quiz?" Kasumi said to him. "Oh. Yeah. That's right", Tetsuo laughed. Yasuo and Kasumi joined in his laugh. "Well one thing that's not a surprise today is the English test", Yasuo sighed a bit. "I just hope I'll get through it. I didn't get to study as much as I'd hoped." "I'm not going there", Nami said, poking fun at him. Yasuo then remembered her comment at breakfast and gave her another displeased look. "But anyway", continued Nami. "Why should we be learning this boring language anyway? I mean, it's not like we're gonna go anywhere that speaks this stuff. It's practically a dead language now anyhow. Like... Latin... or Greek." Yasuo looked at her with an awkward expression. "Because we simply NEED to. Just think that there may be a remote chance you may need to know the language someday. It's better to learn now." "Whatever", Nami scoffed. "But I bet the only one who'll even come close to needing it is Tetsuya. For if he goes to some international book convention or something."
Nami was expecting Tetsuya to respond with an insult of his own, but she was surprised when he didn't even give her so much as a backward glance.
His gaze was fixed on his desk, his violet eyes narrowed with deep thought behind his glasses. But Nami soon finally got his attention when a pencil hit him in the back of the head. "ITAI! Nami!" He looked back at her angrily as he rubbed the back of his head. "What the hell was THAT for?" "Well, I was TALKING to you, baka!" she spat back. "Where were you? Outer space?" Tetsuya sneered at her and then looked back forward, going back into his train of thought.
"What is it, Tetsuya?" asked Kasumi, noting his very serious expression. "Is something wrong?" Tetsuya looked over at Kasumi briefly and then back at his desk. "It's nothing I suppose", he said. "But I can't stop thinking about that girl we saw earlier." "Oh", Kasumi said, a bit wide-eyed. "Ah! I see it now!" Nami blurted out. "Looks like SOMEONE caught your eye finally!" She laughed and Tetsuya looked back at her with a growl. "Shut up, Nami!" he demanded. "That's not it!" His voice calmed a bit before he continued. "There's just something strange about her." Tetsuo blinked and looked at his brother in confusion. "Strange?" he asked. "You mean besides the fact that she looks like she's got a serious sunburn?" Nami pointed out blatantly. The crew all looked back at her with a blank expression. "What??" Nami shrugged. "It's true isn't it? Her skin was almost as dark as Pluto-san's." "That's not the point, Nami", Tetsuya answered in a tone of agitation. "I mean... There's something... strange about her besides just her appearance." "Nani?" Yasuo blinked. "What do you mean?" "I don't know", Tetsuya answered lowly. "There's just... something very different about her. I just can't put my finger on it." Nami rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I just think you've got a crush. How's that saying go? 'Love at first sight'?" Tetsuya winced in aggrivation. "Nami... Don't you ever know when to shut the hell up?"
Just then, the classroom door opened and a tall gentleman with dusty-blonde hair and glasses entered. "Alright, Alright now. Settle down please", the man adressed the students and they all sat and quieted down. He stood behind his desk at the front of the room and picked up his clipboard with the roll sheet on it.
"Ohayo, everyone." "Ohayo, Shino-san", was the unified response from class. The teacher pushed his glasses up on his nose and spoke again. "I hope that all of you had a pleasant weekend. And a rested one as well. Because now it's time to buckle down. For as you all know, the next quarter exams are coming up, so I hope all of you are studying hard. Today is also the deadline for 'catch-up' assignments so I will be expecting any who have been working on them to turn them in along with the rest of today's assignments."
After roll call, he took out his book. "Alright then... Let's get started. We left off yesterday on chapter 56: World War 3." Everyone got out their books and followed along with the teacher. "Now... ", he got up from his desk and walked back to the blackboard, writing things that corresponded to the lesson. "Let's have a quick review of yesterday. We covered that shortly after the entry into the 21st century, a terrorist group appeared in the Middle East. Over the next six years, there were many joint operations between countries to flush out this group and eliminate them, mainly The United States, England, Japan, and Russia. Who remembers what this joint venture was called?" A student raised their hand. "Yuriko", he acknowledged the girl to speak. "The Four Corners Alliance?" she answered, not quite sure. "Correct", the teacher nodded and the girl smiled proudly. "The Four Corners Alliance was responsible for seeking out all possible threats in several countries besides their own and successfully stopping them before they could carry out more of their terrorism. But it wasn't until the calender year 2008 A.D. that they were finally able to flush out the group and deal with them permanantly. However, in the melee of the battle between the US forces and the Middle Eastern territories, the Russian chancellor and all others in the heirarchy were assassinated in a devastating coup de tat. Who was responsible?" There was a bit of silence before another student slowly raised their hand. "Touma", he acknowledged the student. The student stuttered a bit as he responded. "The Brothers of Blitzkreig?" The teacher shook his head. "Iie. Remember... The Brothers of Blitzkreig were a farce, made as a cover-up so they wouldn't be found out. Anyone else?" Tetsuya raised his hand this time. "Tetsuya", he acknowledged. "I believe it was a German faction known as the Neo-Nazis", Tetsuya answered confidently. "Very good", the teacher smiled. "Hai. This German group, a very large one I might add, had secretly established their dominance in Germany. They had calculated their efforts so well, that not even others from within their country were aware of anything. They pulled a coup in Germany first and moved on to Russia. After the assassination, they quickly overran Russia and took complete military control. Now, If you were paying attention yesterday, tell me what sparked the war." Again there was silence, as no one could come up with the answer. Seeing that everyone else was clueless, Tetsuya raised a hand again. "Hai, Tetsuya?" the teacher once again acknowledged him. "When the Neo-Nazis took military control, the first thing they did was make sure they had control over the nuclear arsenals. So, the rest of the world went on alert." "Correct", the teacher nodded. "Once they had total control, they wasted no time in making their nuclear presence known to everyone."
He set his book down. "And now, this is where Earth's history get's really ugly. From what records were gathered from before the last of old civilization died out, every single major country was on alert, and every single nuclear weapon was made ready. It was like that for two years. For two years, the entire world lived in fear and paranoia. It was obvious that no one slept well. Then the tragic happened. In calender year 2010 A.D., the event our history records as 'Judgment Day'. The press of one button was all it took to set off a chain reaction. First it was Russia and Germany's arsenal. Then America's. Then Japan's. The atmosphere and the planet itself were catastrophically damaged. More than half of of the entire human race was killed in a single day." He leaned against his desk. "Now.... Noone knows for sure how long anyone survived after 'Judgment Day', but we do know that the nuclear fallout is what caused the planet to freeze over in a new Ice Age. Then, of course, as we all well know, Neo Queen Serenity appeared many years later and restored the Earth, giving humanity a second chance. Many people were revived when the Earth's Transition took place and over the course of the next one hundred years, civilization was reestablished over the majority of the planet."
"Which is why we're here today", Nami said to herself in a bored tone. The teacher, having heard her, looked up at her. "Do you have a problem with this lesson, Nami-dono??" Nami shot up in her seat, her face slightly flushed in embarrasment. "Umm... Er.. I uh..", she stammered. Tetsuya grinned to himself as the teacher continued. "Well? If you have something to say, then come out and say it."
Nami finally recomposed herself and answered. "Gomen, Shino-san. The lesson is very interesting and all... But I just don't understand why we have to sit here and talk about things that happened centuries ago. I mean this stuff doesn't concern us or our daily lives, so why do we even bother?" The teacher took off his glasses and sighed as he walked in front of the desk and leaned against the edge of it. "That is a very good question, Nami. But the fact is that is does concern you. It concerns everyone. And I can answer why quite simply." He picked up the book on his desk and held it up.
"Everything in here is who we are and who we used to be. History explains to us why things are the way they are today and also the steps we took to get here. To use a metaphor, it is like a manual on how we are human beings. How we started as children with no civilized manner, no intelligence, and no purpose... and were able to become the beings we are today." He set the book down. "History also helps us to learn from our mistakes. A plain example of that is what we've covered today. We look back and see how foolish we were as a race. And also how destructive we could be. I mean, just think about it... WE destroyed ourselves. And as a result of our mistakes, our race nearly became extinct. It is ONLY because of Neo Queen Serenity and the power of the Holy Silver Imperium Crystal that any of us are able to be here today. We have the oppurtunity to learn from our wrongs so that something like that never happens again." He folded his arms and looked right at Nami. "In fact, there's an old proverb that defines all of this in a nutshell: Those that forget the past are condemned to repeat it."
There was much silence after this until a knock came on the classroom door. "All of you think about that and keep reading." He put his glasses back on and went to the door. Nami grumbled to herself. "Kuso. I hate it when he puts me on the spot like that." "Well you set yourself up for that one, Nami", Tetsuya chuckled. "Ohhh.. Stuff it, you!" she hissed. "Hey!", Kasumi urged quietly. "Look!" All eyes turned as Kasumi pointed to the classroom door. They watched as the teacher reentered with another person. Tetsuya gasped. "It's her!"
Indeed, it was the red-head the five of them had seen earlier that morning. The teacher brought her in front of his desk and began introducing her. "Alright, everyone. We have been blessed with a new addition to our class today." He looked to the girl. "Go ahead and introduce yourself please." The girl cleared her throat and smiled nervously. "H.. Hajimemashite. Wa... Watashi wa.... Rosette. Dozo yoroshiku." The teacher spoke again. "She is new to the school so I hope that all of you will make her feel welcome." He gestured for her to move. "Go ahead and find yourself a seat." Rosette nodded before proceeding to the side stairwell and went up the steps to find a place to sit. Tetsuya watched every step she took until she found a vacant seat in the third row, four seats from Tetsuo. But Tetsuya wasn't the only one staring.
Every single student had their eyes on her. Rosette felt a bit uneasy because of it, but she remained composed as she took out her books and sat at her chair, as if she had always been a member of the class. The teacher cleared his throat, breaking the silence. "Alright now, Rosette. I hope you are able to follow along with the rest of us well enough." She nodded. "S... Hai, Sensei", she answered, saying nothing more. "Very well", he said. "Then let's continue further into Chapter 56. Now-"
The teacher's words were interrupted as the door swung open and a familiar pink-haired student entered. Everyone stared as she smiled sheepishly. "Heh heh... Ohayo gozaimasu... Sorry for being late."
Tetsuya's eyes, however, remained on Rosette, watching her curiously. He was so focused on her that he was caught off guard as Rosette casually looked over at him, his eyes widening slightly as he saw her stare back at him. Then she turned away from him again casually. He narrowed his eyes again, locked on her with deep interest. Something about this girl had piqued his curiousity..... and he was determined to find out why.
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I would quickly like to say that I hope noone was in any way offended by the portion of this chapter containing the history lesson. I want to point out that I wrote this story a long time ago and it was in no way inspired by the events of 9-11-01. I wrote this particular type of a history to illustrate that things like that CAN happen and I believe that it makes a valid point. So I would first like to say that my heart is with all those who suffered in September and I hope noone is offended by this particular part of the story. Thank you for putting up with my blabbing. May God Bless.
silvermaidenh@yahoo.com