Sorry I haven't updated in a while...so, here is a whole bunch of chapters
all at once!! Aren't a nice? Huh?
Chapter 14: Let Torture Begin
Words flowed from her fingers like ants to sugar. Soon, Terra was done with her paper. She crossed her legs on her bed, watching the others reading their material. Riku stood in the doorway, reading a green, hardbound book with silver lettering. His lean muscles relaxed, aqua eyes alight to the page, he seemed to enjoy each word like a fresh breath of sea air.
Sora sat on the bed with her, his hair trailing into the pages of the book. He was toward the end of the book, probably at an exciting portion. Nose inches from the words, he was completely engrossed.
Blank and Renee were writing away at their own papers, Frankenstein and The Hobbit open wide. Blank's black hair was over on shoulder, just like it usually was when she was diligent and working. Renee's calico hair was splayed across the hardwood floor, her hands holding up a notebook and pen, writing fast and neat. She was obviously almost done with her paper, too.
"I'm gonna go type mine," Terra said. "I'll make some food when I'm done. What do ya'll want?"
"How 'bout your famous double-decked tacos?" Renee asked, glancing toward her. "I can help when I done typing."
"Double-decked tacos?" Sora blinked, not looking up from the book.
"I think you'll like them. Yeah, I'll make 'em. See ya soon."
Terra gathered up her paper and descended the single stair to the family room. She stopped short, staring at the green walls, the realistic sky- slash-ceiling, the castle entertainment center, the painting of her and all her friends with Harry Potter and the gang. This must be the room that Sora and Freda did together with the Trading Spaces people.
Terra loved it.
She walked past it all and sat at the computer desk. A half hour later, she was done with the paper. Printing it out, she stapled it and put it in her schoolbag. Tomorrow was Monday.
In the kitchen, she started up some hamburger meat in the skillet, throwing in some garlic and pepper. She warmed up some nacho cheese and chopped tomato and set out some sour cream. Placing some soft taco shells in the microwave with some crispy shells on top, she waited the minute for it to warm.
Renee walked in and, as if it were a rhythm unbroken, set to work with some lettuce. Both girls spread nacho cheese on the soft taco shells, placing hard shells with that as "glue". Soon, more than three dozen tacos were ready.
"Dinner's ready, guys," Terra yelled toward her room. Sora, Riku, and Blank stampeded out of her room, still clinging to their papers. Ravenous clients soon swarmed the painted dinner table. The likes of which this kitchen hadn't seen since Al's last birthday party.
"So these are double-decked tacos," Sora said, after he'd devoured five of them. "I like these. Can you cook all the time?"
"Mum usually didn't like me cooking in here," Terra said softly, her face warm. "She liked getting Chinese food instead, from Dillons."
"You like cooking, don't you?" Riku asked, pausing politely to ask the question. "You're good at it."
"Thanks. Yeah, I do love to cook," she grinned. "But I love to eat it better!"
"Hear, hear!" Renee shouted, throwing up a fist. She had to be on her eighth taco, at the rate she was eating them.
"So, how are ya'll's papers coming along?" Terra asked. "Out of curiosity."
"I just need to type," Blank said.
"Rough draft it," Riku said.
"What?!" Sora shouted. "I'm still reading! And I started long before you did, Riku. How'd you get through that book so fast? It was bigger than mine?"
"It was an interesting book," Riku shrugged.
"Which one did you read?" Terra asked.
"Chaucer's Canterbury Tales."
Terra choked. "You read the entire thing while we were in there?"
Riku smirked at her reaction, nodding. The whole thing was ludicrous!
"Okay, who are you doing?"
"The wife of Bathe, Chaucer, and the Priest."
Riku had a point. This collection of tales was one she herself had read several times, but it was usually completely separate, the tales by themselves. She particularly liked the one where the knight had to find what women really wanted. But she'd never—never—simply sat down and read the entire thing at once. It was loony to even suggest it.
But there he was, confident aqua eyes and all, having read the entire thing in one setting. Just standing there in the frame of her door, his silver hair draped casually in his eyes, his entire being sucked into the comedic world of Chaucer.
Dinner finished, the others completed their papers, tucking them into schoolbags that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. They were all labeled quite clearly. There were even some normal high school boy type clothes in Al's room for Riku and Sora. At least that meant Sora didn't have to wear Terra's clothes anymore, and Riku didn't have to take to it, either. Terra giggled under her breath at the thought of Riku in her "Cutie" t-shirt...
Thinking of which, where was said shirt?
Oh, well.
"Time to go back to Hogwarts," she announced. Sora finally had printed off his paper.
"Imagination lessons?" Renee glanced up furtively, her eyes lighting up like a cat's. Her calico hair mysteriously swung in a sort of dancing wave, like a wound-up cat tail.
"Yup."
Terra imagined the cool stone floors, the torches that lit the halls, Harry's black hair and scar, Hermione's ever-chattering voice, the scent of magic in the air. With a jump, she was back in the hall again.
"We're all back again," Freda smiled. "I feel better, knowing we'll do this every day."
Terra nodded, feeling a faint smile touch her lips. Somehow, she knew this time would be used to its solid advantage.
"Miss Jem, as you're our resident expert on imagination, you'll be our professor tonight," Dumbledore said, handing her a pointer and a bit of chalk.
Terra stopped short, feeling suddenly very small. Like a mote, like the tiniest of the bacterium, set suddenly against the largest of galaxies. Her throat constricted, dry. Then, Riku's calm aqua eyes, eager to learn, met hers. The feeling of inferiority slipped away. Her throat was still a tad scratchy, but not enough to stop her. A lesson began to form in her head.
"Okay," she nodded. "Okay. Well, er...I guess we should start with the simplest of concepts—pencils and paper. Er, Professor, might you—?"
"Of course," he nodded. With a wave of his wand, everyone sat neatly in a flat, smooth desk, several sheets of thick paper before them and sharp HB pencils, all of which mysteriously sharpened again when dull. (Note—HB is a standard #2 pencil.)
"Right. Thanks. Okay, you start with how you hold your pencil. It's a technique, something you need to know. You'll become comfortable in a position sooner or later..."
Terra went on like this, teaching the very basics of drawing. How to draw a line, a square, a circle, three-dimensional shapes, proportions. All in the simple shapes. She taught one-, two-, and three-point perspective. Some learned quickly. Some knew the material well enough already.
But that wasn't the thing. The thing was, when she glanced back at them, talking about the simple squares in the upper, lower, and straight-on perspectives, she noticed something. She wasn't just saying things. They were listening. They were taking in what she was saying. Never, in her life, had she had so powerful a revelation. People listened to what she had to say and used it. This, and only this, was the power of teaching.
"I think that's enough for tonight," Terra said, closing out. "Practice what we did tonight, if you can. The only way to learn imagination is by doing it."
With that, they dispersed.
Sora wrinkled his nose at the bubbling blue potion Dumbledore gave him in the golden goblet. Those who went to Kingdom Hearts had been Sorted as well. Kyle, Blank, Sora, and Al were in Griffindor; Freda in Ravenclaw. They would stay only nine minutes for the first year, after all.
"The Sleep Draught," Dumbledore said, handing the last of the goblets to Terra. "All you need to do is drink it and lay down. I have given you enough to keep you down for nine minutes—nine hours to your bodies. Then you will go back to Terra's dimension for school. Freda and I will sleep naturally tonight."
"All right," Terra said, sniffing the potion. "We'll meet you all in the Great Hall. See you soon."
They separated, all going to different Houses. Sora sank into one of Griffindor's squishy armchairs. Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed his lead.
"Well, bottom's up," Al said, tilting his goblet and pouring the entire contents down his throat at once. "Mmm. Pretty...pretty...gooooooooooood-d..." Al was asleep before he knew it.
Sora pinched his nose and downed the goblet. It tasted like strawberries and milk with a little orange and banana. Strange mixture. The world spun blue, then black. He was walking down a blank hallway, toward a tall, oaken door. It had that strange symbol on it, the black, broken heart. That strange person he'd seen on TV was beckoning to him, those vivid green eyes even slimmer. Malicious...
"C'mon, Sora, sleepy time's over," Kyle shoved him to his feet. Stretching, Sora felt like a million munny. He'd slept great! That strange dream was already slipping from his mind. Before he knew it, he'd forgotten even what it was about.
He followed Kyle down to the Great Hall, ready for his first day of school.
Once again, Sora bowed his chin to his chest and leaped into the air. By now, the foolish feeling he'd had with it before was gone. In fact, the entire thing seemed tedious. The plan was an interesting one. One that he liked, because it meant a lot of time that most people thought was lost in the day. He really wondered how he was going to fit his homework from this dimension in with fighting off the Heartless in Wonderland. What little he'd glimpsed of it, anyway.
When they landed, he heard a loud CRASH! Sprawled on the floor, Terra blushed sheepishly. She'd fallen on landing. A white glove descended and caught her hand, tugging her roughly to her feet.
"All right, guys," Terra grinned. "Er...Mom, can we get some breakfast?"
"Right," Freda nodded. "You all go get changed, I'll get food."
Ron, Riku, Harry, Sora, and Al left the girls to Terra's room. As they traveled traversed the family room, Harry stopped short. Sora flushed, knowing he'd seen the painting Blank had done for the room.
"Is that...us?" Harry touched his own face, Hermione's, Ron's, Terra's, Riku, Sora, Freda, Renee, Blank, Al. Like he was searching for something, some magic to jump out at him. It was just a painting, but it seemed so alive. Even Sora had to admit that.
"Yes." Al smiled. "Blank tried for realism. See? I told you. Images are everything here."
Mysterious, shrouded in a sort of boyish fantasy, he walked into his room. Sora didn't know what he felt just then, but somehow, he knew that Al was right. Something was amiss. And it all fell to these images, these paintings.
Shrugging, Ron followed Al into his room, breaking the moment. Mirroring Ron, Sora walked in to find his pack, bright red with neatly folded blue jeans and a t-shirt nestled atop it. The five boys changed into their clothes in silence, all wonder and thought.
Sora felt more like himself again, wearing a red, hooded jacket over his t- shirt again. He took the silver chains from Terra's old black jeans and attached them in the same manner to his blues. The familiarity of both these things comforted him.
"Be wary," Al said. "Terra says high school is like diving into molten blue fire."
Sora felt so much better.
Instead of answering, Riku shouldered his white pack, stuffed his now-bare hands into his black jeans pockets, a silver t-shirt bearing the title "King Krikkit" loose on his muscled form. Harry, his green t-shirt and blue jeans fitting for once in his life, followed nervously. Sora nodded at a tuscan-red Ron and tried to maintain his normal gait under the weight of the thousand-ton pack.
Freda slapped runny eggs, burnt bacon, and blackened toast into each of their hands on paper plates, stuffing a twenty-ounce bottle of Pepsi into each pack without a word. Giddy, she waved several times in a nanosecond, shoving them all out the front door.
Blinking, Sora glanced at the plate in his hand, confused.
"Mum isn't the greatest cook," Terra said, chagrined, almost sheepish. "If you want to dump it and get real food at school, I'm sure we can manage."
"Nah," Sora shook his head. "I'll eat the eggs and bacon. Just don't ask her to cook again. Agreed?"
A general rumble of approval ran through them. Ron was still having the early-morning confusion often associated with not-morning-people. Al broke from the group at the end of the street, heading for a small elementary school in the distance. At least, that's what the sign said. Sora couldn't be sure.
The only school he'd gone to was the community one, where all the kids learned different things at different times. Kairi had been the only other person his age. Riku always hung with them anyway. They were really close, the three of them. What had happened to Kairi? Would they ever find her again?
"Our school is just up here," Renee said. "Isn't it pretty?"
Sora stared at the red brick building. It was three stories tall and covered about three city blocks. The front of the building was filled to the brim with other students, all different, all staring at them. All staring directly at him.
His throat went dry for a moment. So many people, all together like this. Never, in his whole life, had he seen such a sight. They were all about his age, perhaps older by maybe four years on some parts. There were so many of them. Did Terra know them all? Renee, Blank, and Terra walked through the front doors, leading them carefully through the wide halls. A tiger grinned down at them from nearly every wall, its eyes gleaming in the sun streaming through the clear windows.
"Here's the office," Blank said, pushing open the door. Everyone filed into the small room, where the office proctor promptly dropped her work to stare at the large group.
"Ah, Ms. Jem, I was told you'd be bringing our new students." A large woman squeezed through the door frame of the nearest office. She had pasty white skin, which was sharply contrasted with her billowing, brightly-colored flower dress. Sora didn't know the name of the colossal flowers that the dress depicted, but he knew they didn't belong on this particular whale—er, lady.
"Yes, Mrs. Deckman," she said politely. The sound of grinding teeth fell. "I was wondering if you had their schedules made out yet, ma'am."
"Of course," Mrs. Deckman pulled several sheets of paper from the proctor, whose face had gone ashen. "Renee, Blank, I expect you two to take Sora to his classes. Jem, I expect the same from you for the sophomores."
The three chorused: "Yes, ma'am."
"Harry Potson, Ron Wessling, Her-er...hemorrhage? Grapler is the last name."
"It's Hermione."
"Oh, yes, Hermes," Deckman said, messing it up again. Her eyes screwed up as she glared at the paper, daring it to make her wrong again. "Well, Sora Ku...Kusha..."
"Sora Kuwabara and Riku Sawaguchi," Terra corrected her, still with the same air of polite submission. "Ma'am."
"Ah, thank you, Jem. Well, here are your schedules. Off the class with you, then."
Sora gulped, watching as Riku, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Terra walked off in one direction. Renee leaned over his shoulder to see what classes he'd gotten.
"Ooh, English right off, not good, mate," Renee grinned. "You got Flint, with both of us. He's got it in for the girls in his class. You're lucky you're a boy again."
Sora paled, his face white as a ladies kerchief.
This was going to be a long day.
Chapter 14: Let Torture Begin
Words flowed from her fingers like ants to sugar. Soon, Terra was done with her paper. She crossed her legs on her bed, watching the others reading their material. Riku stood in the doorway, reading a green, hardbound book with silver lettering. His lean muscles relaxed, aqua eyes alight to the page, he seemed to enjoy each word like a fresh breath of sea air.
Sora sat on the bed with her, his hair trailing into the pages of the book. He was toward the end of the book, probably at an exciting portion. Nose inches from the words, he was completely engrossed.
Blank and Renee were writing away at their own papers, Frankenstein and The Hobbit open wide. Blank's black hair was over on shoulder, just like it usually was when she was diligent and working. Renee's calico hair was splayed across the hardwood floor, her hands holding up a notebook and pen, writing fast and neat. She was obviously almost done with her paper, too.
"I'm gonna go type mine," Terra said. "I'll make some food when I'm done. What do ya'll want?"
"How 'bout your famous double-decked tacos?" Renee asked, glancing toward her. "I can help when I done typing."
"Double-decked tacos?" Sora blinked, not looking up from the book.
"I think you'll like them. Yeah, I'll make 'em. See ya soon."
Terra gathered up her paper and descended the single stair to the family room. She stopped short, staring at the green walls, the realistic sky- slash-ceiling, the castle entertainment center, the painting of her and all her friends with Harry Potter and the gang. This must be the room that Sora and Freda did together with the Trading Spaces people.
Terra loved it.
She walked past it all and sat at the computer desk. A half hour later, she was done with the paper. Printing it out, she stapled it and put it in her schoolbag. Tomorrow was Monday.
In the kitchen, she started up some hamburger meat in the skillet, throwing in some garlic and pepper. She warmed up some nacho cheese and chopped tomato and set out some sour cream. Placing some soft taco shells in the microwave with some crispy shells on top, she waited the minute for it to warm.
Renee walked in and, as if it were a rhythm unbroken, set to work with some lettuce. Both girls spread nacho cheese on the soft taco shells, placing hard shells with that as "glue". Soon, more than three dozen tacos were ready.
"Dinner's ready, guys," Terra yelled toward her room. Sora, Riku, and Blank stampeded out of her room, still clinging to their papers. Ravenous clients soon swarmed the painted dinner table. The likes of which this kitchen hadn't seen since Al's last birthday party.
"So these are double-decked tacos," Sora said, after he'd devoured five of them. "I like these. Can you cook all the time?"
"Mum usually didn't like me cooking in here," Terra said softly, her face warm. "She liked getting Chinese food instead, from Dillons."
"You like cooking, don't you?" Riku asked, pausing politely to ask the question. "You're good at it."
"Thanks. Yeah, I do love to cook," she grinned. "But I love to eat it better!"
"Hear, hear!" Renee shouted, throwing up a fist. She had to be on her eighth taco, at the rate she was eating them.
"So, how are ya'll's papers coming along?" Terra asked. "Out of curiosity."
"I just need to type," Blank said.
"Rough draft it," Riku said.
"What?!" Sora shouted. "I'm still reading! And I started long before you did, Riku. How'd you get through that book so fast? It was bigger than mine?"
"It was an interesting book," Riku shrugged.
"Which one did you read?" Terra asked.
"Chaucer's Canterbury Tales."
Terra choked. "You read the entire thing while we were in there?"
Riku smirked at her reaction, nodding. The whole thing was ludicrous!
"Okay, who are you doing?"
"The wife of Bathe, Chaucer, and the Priest."
Riku had a point. This collection of tales was one she herself had read several times, but it was usually completely separate, the tales by themselves. She particularly liked the one where the knight had to find what women really wanted. But she'd never—never—simply sat down and read the entire thing at once. It was loony to even suggest it.
But there he was, confident aqua eyes and all, having read the entire thing in one setting. Just standing there in the frame of her door, his silver hair draped casually in his eyes, his entire being sucked into the comedic world of Chaucer.
Dinner finished, the others completed their papers, tucking them into schoolbags that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. They were all labeled quite clearly. There were even some normal high school boy type clothes in Al's room for Riku and Sora. At least that meant Sora didn't have to wear Terra's clothes anymore, and Riku didn't have to take to it, either. Terra giggled under her breath at the thought of Riku in her "Cutie" t-shirt...
Thinking of which, where was said shirt?
Oh, well.
"Time to go back to Hogwarts," she announced. Sora finally had printed off his paper.
"Imagination lessons?" Renee glanced up furtively, her eyes lighting up like a cat's. Her calico hair mysteriously swung in a sort of dancing wave, like a wound-up cat tail.
"Yup."
Terra imagined the cool stone floors, the torches that lit the halls, Harry's black hair and scar, Hermione's ever-chattering voice, the scent of magic in the air. With a jump, she was back in the hall again.
"We're all back again," Freda smiled. "I feel better, knowing we'll do this every day."
Terra nodded, feeling a faint smile touch her lips. Somehow, she knew this time would be used to its solid advantage.
"Miss Jem, as you're our resident expert on imagination, you'll be our professor tonight," Dumbledore said, handing her a pointer and a bit of chalk.
Terra stopped short, feeling suddenly very small. Like a mote, like the tiniest of the bacterium, set suddenly against the largest of galaxies. Her throat constricted, dry. Then, Riku's calm aqua eyes, eager to learn, met hers. The feeling of inferiority slipped away. Her throat was still a tad scratchy, but not enough to stop her. A lesson began to form in her head.
"Okay," she nodded. "Okay. Well, er...I guess we should start with the simplest of concepts—pencils and paper. Er, Professor, might you—?"
"Of course," he nodded. With a wave of his wand, everyone sat neatly in a flat, smooth desk, several sheets of thick paper before them and sharp HB pencils, all of which mysteriously sharpened again when dull. (Note—HB is a standard #2 pencil.)
"Right. Thanks. Okay, you start with how you hold your pencil. It's a technique, something you need to know. You'll become comfortable in a position sooner or later..."
Terra went on like this, teaching the very basics of drawing. How to draw a line, a square, a circle, three-dimensional shapes, proportions. All in the simple shapes. She taught one-, two-, and three-point perspective. Some learned quickly. Some knew the material well enough already.
But that wasn't the thing. The thing was, when she glanced back at them, talking about the simple squares in the upper, lower, and straight-on perspectives, she noticed something. She wasn't just saying things. They were listening. They were taking in what she was saying. Never, in her life, had she had so powerful a revelation. People listened to what she had to say and used it. This, and only this, was the power of teaching.
"I think that's enough for tonight," Terra said, closing out. "Practice what we did tonight, if you can. The only way to learn imagination is by doing it."
With that, they dispersed.
Sora wrinkled his nose at the bubbling blue potion Dumbledore gave him in the golden goblet. Those who went to Kingdom Hearts had been Sorted as well. Kyle, Blank, Sora, and Al were in Griffindor; Freda in Ravenclaw. They would stay only nine minutes for the first year, after all.
"The Sleep Draught," Dumbledore said, handing the last of the goblets to Terra. "All you need to do is drink it and lay down. I have given you enough to keep you down for nine minutes—nine hours to your bodies. Then you will go back to Terra's dimension for school. Freda and I will sleep naturally tonight."
"All right," Terra said, sniffing the potion. "We'll meet you all in the Great Hall. See you soon."
They separated, all going to different Houses. Sora sank into one of Griffindor's squishy armchairs. Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed his lead.
"Well, bottom's up," Al said, tilting his goblet and pouring the entire contents down his throat at once. "Mmm. Pretty...pretty...gooooooooooood-d..." Al was asleep before he knew it.
Sora pinched his nose and downed the goblet. It tasted like strawberries and milk with a little orange and banana. Strange mixture. The world spun blue, then black. He was walking down a blank hallway, toward a tall, oaken door. It had that strange symbol on it, the black, broken heart. That strange person he'd seen on TV was beckoning to him, those vivid green eyes even slimmer. Malicious...
"C'mon, Sora, sleepy time's over," Kyle shoved him to his feet. Stretching, Sora felt like a million munny. He'd slept great! That strange dream was already slipping from his mind. Before he knew it, he'd forgotten even what it was about.
He followed Kyle down to the Great Hall, ready for his first day of school.
Once again, Sora bowed his chin to his chest and leaped into the air. By now, the foolish feeling he'd had with it before was gone. In fact, the entire thing seemed tedious. The plan was an interesting one. One that he liked, because it meant a lot of time that most people thought was lost in the day. He really wondered how he was going to fit his homework from this dimension in with fighting off the Heartless in Wonderland. What little he'd glimpsed of it, anyway.
When they landed, he heard a loud CRASH! Sprawled on the floor, Terra blushed sheepishly. She'd fallen on landing. A white glove descended and caught her hand, tugging her roughly to her feet.
"All right, guys," Terra grinned. "Er...Mom, can we get some breakfast?"
"Right," Freda nodded. "You all go get changed, I'll get food."
Ron, Riku, Harry, Sora, and Al left the girls to Terra's room. As they traveled traversed the family room, Harry stopped short. Sora flushed, knowing he'd seen the painting Blank had done for the room.
"Is that...us?" Harry touched his own face, Hermione's, Ron's, Terra's, Riku, Sora, Freda, Renee, Blank, Al. Like he was searching for something, some magic to jump out at him. It was just a painting, but it seemed so alive. Even Sora had to admit that.
"Yes." Al smiled. "Blank tried for realism. See? I told you. Images are everything here."
Mysterious, shrouded in a sort of boyish fantasy, he walked into his room. Sora didn't know what he felt just then, but somehow, he knew that Al was right. Something was amiss. And it all fell to these images, these paintings.
Shrugging, Ron followed Al into his room, breaking the moment. Mirroring Ron, Sora walked in to find his pack, bright red with neatly folded blue jeans and a t-shirt nestled atop it. The five boys changed into their clothes in silence, all wonder and thought.
Sora felt more like himself again, wearing a red, hooded jacket over his t- shirt again. He took the silver chains from Terra's old black jeans and attached them in the same manner to his blues. The familiarity of both these things comforted him.
"Be wary," Al said. "Terra says high school is like diving into molten blue fire."
Sora felt so much better.
Instead of answering, Riku shouldered his white pack, stuffed his now-bare hands into his black jeans pockets, a silver t-shirt bearing the title "King Krikkit" loose on his muscled form. Harry, his green t-shirt and blue jeans fitting for once in his life, followed nervously. Sora nodded at a tuscan-red Ron and tried to maintain his normal gait under the weight of the thousand-ton pack.
Freda slapped runny eggs, burnt bacon, and blackened toast into each of their hands on paper plates, stuffing a twenty-ounce bottle of Pepsi into each pack without a word. Giddy, she waved several times in a nanosecond, shoving them all out the front door.
Blinking, Sora glanced at the plate in his hand, confused.
"Mum isn't the greatest cook," Terra said, chagrined, almost sheepish. "If you want to dump it and get real food at school, I'm sure we can manage."
"Nah," Sora shook his head. "I'll eat the eggs and bacon. Just don't ask her to cook again. Agreed?"
A general rumble of approval ran through them. Ron was still having the early-morning confusion often associated with not-morning-people. Al broke from the group at the end of the street, heading for a small elementary school in the distance. At least, that's what the sign said. Sora couldn't be sure.
The only school he'd gone to was the community one, where all the kids learned different things at different times. Kairi had been the only other person his age. Riku always hung with them anyway. They were really close, the three of them. What had happened to Kairi? Would they ever find her again?
"Our school is just up here," Renee said. "Isn't it pretty?"
Sora stared at the red brick building. It was three stories tall and covered about three city blocks. The front of the building was filled to the brim with other students, all different, all staring at them. All staring directly at him.
His throat went dry for a moment. So many people, all together like this. Never, in his whole life, had he seen such a sight. They were all about his age, perhaps older by maybe four years on some parts. There were so many of them. Did Terra know them all? Renee, Blank, and Terra walked through the front doors, leading them carefully through the wide halls. A tiger grinned down at them from nearly every wall, its eyes gleaming in the sun streaming through the clear windows.
"Here's the office," Blank said, pushing open the door. Everyone filed into the small room, where the office proctor promptly dropped her work to stare at the large group.
"Ah, Ms. Jem, I was told you'd be bringing our new students." A large woman squeezed through the door frame of the nearest office. She had pasty white skin, which was sharply contrasted with her billowing, brightly-colored flower dress. Sora didn't know the name of the colossal flowers that the dress depicted, but he knew they didn't belong on this particular whale—er, lady.
"Yes, Mrs. Deckman," she said politely. The sound of grinding teeth fell. "I was wondering if you had their schedules made out yet, ma'am."
"Of course," Mrs. Deckman pulled several sheets of paper from the proctor, whose face had gone ashen. "Renee, Blank, I expect you two to take Sora to his classes. Jem, I expect the same from you for the sophomores."
The three chorused: "Yes, ma'am."
"Harry Potson, Ron Wessling, Her-er...hemorrhage? Grapler is the last name."
"It's Hermione."
"Oh, yes, Hermes," Deckman said, messing it up again. Her eyes screwed up as she glared at the paper, daring it to make her wrong again. "Well, Sora Ku...Kusha..."
"Sora Kuwabara and Riku Sawaguchi," Terra corrected her, still with the same air of polite submission. "Ma'am."
"Ah, thank you, Jem. Well, here are your schedules. Off the class with you, then."
Sora gulped, watching as Riku, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Terra walked off in one direction. Renee leaned over his shoulder to see what classes he'd gotten.
"Ooh, English right off, not good, mate," Renee grinned. "You got Flint, with both of us. He's got it in for the girls in his class. You're lucky you're a boy again."
Sora paled, his face white as a ladies kerchief.
This was going to be a long day.