Chapter 5: The Class of the Long Absences (Inuyasha w/Visions of Escaflowne, Haruhi Suzumiya, Bleach, Fate/Stay Night, Evangelion)
After a more pleasant exchange with Kaoru, Shiho, Aoi, and Minamoto, I head upstairs for my second teacher's assistant assignment. I do not know why I agreed to … ah yes, I wanted to get experience working with more normal students as a teacher's assistant. Which is what I got… sort of. This high school math class has many abnormalities but there are two that stand out… if you do not include the daily insanity wrought by one Haruhi Suzumiya and her band of hooligans. Well, I guess Haruhi is the only hooligan. The rest are fairly well-behaved in class.
Though what I allude to are the two cases of Higurashi and Kanzaki. First, Hitomi Kanzaki: member of the track team, known particularly among the girls for her fortune-telling which has uncanny accuracy. She came consistently to class for the first several weeks and has now been missing for the last two months. There is not good explanation and even her friends cannot explain the disappearance. And today is no different, another 'X' on the absentee list. The second case: Kagome Higurashi. She was doing excellently, both in attendance and grades, despite the fact that she was in a math class ahead of her class. Then her attendance and her grades dropped off dramatically. When she has come to class, I have had to personally assist her in re-learning the material. Which has been periodically interrupted by her boyfriend: Inuyasha.
However, Higurashi is here today and Suzumiya is actually behaving normally for once. Yosha! This might be another normal day. Sensei goes ahead with the lesson. I see the classic blank look on Higurashi's face, the gears of mischief turning in Suzumiya's head, the snoring of Keigo Asano and the reserved composure of Rei Ayanami. The last two. Keigo Asano, your average student who apparently is also close friends with Yasutora Sado from my Music Seminar. Rei Ayanami: quiet and anti-social, but interacts with Shinji Ikari, who is also in this class, possibly the third Evangelion pilot, but also has an abnormal absent pattern that extends beyond the Angel attacks.
Being a math class, the blending between grades generally contributes for a more rigorous learning environment, but when Kuzuki-sensei steps out (which he has done more often in these last days) the groups start forming and the talking begins. I sigh because talking means I am usually not asked for help. Though, I am surprised because Kagome asks me to explain the problems. Working through the algebra, I try to show her the critical part of the problem when she says, "Osuwari!"* "Osuwari?" I say, confused. I look out the window just in time to see a flash of red disappear. "Inuyasha, again?" I say with a bent expression. Kagome laughs nervously. I sigh and say, "Go to the 'nurse's office' Higurashi-kun. It would not be good if the other students caught your cold." "Yes, Hanashimoto-san," said Kagome, rising and gathering her things.
As she left the classroom, I thought back to when I found out the truth about Kagome's long absences and the true nature of Inuyasha. It was back earlier in the year. Kuzuki-sensei had stepped out early again and I was left in charge of the classroom when I heard the door slam open and a red-robed individual charge in grab Kagome and start to head out. I caught him and confronted him in the hall, shutting the door behind me. "Hey!" I said, grabbing his arm, "Don't go dragging my students off without my permission!" He yanked away from me with almost superhuman force and, dropping Kagome, bared his teeth at me, "You want to start something?" His head was covered by a bandana and his hair was silver. This was odd but I had seen stranger things. I crouched into a fighting stance and he stiffened his hand. "Sankon Tessuo!" he yelled, throwing his arm toward me. "Too slow!" I said, dodging to the side, but my sleeve was torn by the wind. I spun behind him, twisted his arm, took out a knee and pinned him to the ground. "Hanashimoto-san! Stop, please!" Higurashi yelled. "Punishment," I said, with a sadistic grin.
Admittedly I have a bit of a sadistic side whenever I start street-fighting, but I keep it to little things. This time, it was taking off his bandana. And I saw dog ears. Then he broke free with the strength of a demon from a sure hold. He grinned at the turn in fortune but before he could rend me, Kagome shouted, "Osuwari!" He stopped in his tracks and was pulled, face first, into the floor by a rosary around his neck. "Damn it, Kagome!" he groaned. Then, on an impulse, I grabbed them both by the collar and rushed out the building. Hiding in a shed, I let them go. "What are you!" "What's it to you, you bast-" "Inuyasha, osuwari." he was pulled into the floor again. "Let me explain Hanashimoto-san," Higurashi explained, then tried to explain using a lame cosplay excuse. "Don't mess with me, Higurashi-kun," I said angrily after she finished. "If you cannot explain, that is fine, but at least say that." Putting my hands on my hips, I frowned and looked away, "Go. I'll just say you got sick and had to leave for today. I'm sure there has to be a good reason behind this. I will expect to hear the whole story someday, alright? Go!" And they went. I haven't heard the whole story to this day but if there is anything I have learned from this school it is accepting people where they are at and trying to be understanding to all.
The class ends and Higurashi doesn't come back except to grab her bag and depart again. No one notices. Suzuki-sensei hasn't return. Asano finally wakes up. Suzumiya has managed to control herself in a rare moment of cogency. Ayanami is Ayanami. And I chalk this one up to be a normal class period. And to my next class which is sure to be normal: math.