Chapter 6-A Mother's Greatest Worry: Fan Girls

7/22/08

Disclaimer: I don't ever plan to own Yu-gi-oh. What I want to own is the Dark Knight. Heath Ledger was so kickass as the Joker; I did not think he could pull it off, but who would of thought? Plus, the sales for that thing were insane; my bank account would be set for life.

Notes: Keep them Reviews coming! I have wonderful reviewers: KasumiCho, Kermita, Sakura Takanouchi, and Stephan Cardin. Also, it seems that more people are reading than before, so I hope you guys are enjoying the read.

Originally I was answering the reviews by PM replying to reviews. However, it would probably be more convenient for everyone if I answered them at the end. I already answered KasumiCho's and Kermita's, but for those I haven't answered they'll be at the end. If this will get me in trouble in any way, let me know. I've been hearing mixed things about this.

"SETO!"

The six-year-old boy awoke at a sudden high-pitched scream, startling himself as hit his head on the desk. Rubbing his sore head, he awoke to find a chunky dark-haired woman snarling in front of him. Many of the other children cowered at the sight of her in fear of being the next target. The woman was Miss DeVille, the kindergarten teacher. She was infamous for being the strictest teacher in Lincoln Elementary School, let alone kindergarten. There were rumors that she terrified the six-year-olds so much that one kid peed in his pants and immediately fainted afterwards. People spoke of her famous acrylic nails that she liked to tap together when she was annoyed. It was playground legend that her long acrylic nails were given to her by Lucifer himself. Many parents were mystified why was hired to begin with, but there had been gossip among soccer moms that she slept with the Board of Education president. The thick woman was a nemesis of all, but particularly of a very precocious brunette, who was currently in this position. His response to the nightmare in front was to yawn.

"Seto, this is the third time this week! Maybe you should be paying attention instead of sleeping in class! Get up!"

Seto's eyes narrowed. Before his annoying teacher rudely interrupted him, he had been daydreaming about his plans for building his model airplane with his dad. The boy silently stared at Miss DeVille.

"Are you deaf? Get up!" Continue to gaze at the woman, the child defiantly remained his seat. Miss DeVille, highly exasperated by his disobedience, grabbed Seto's arm, pulled him away from the chair, and tugged him towards the front of the class. Attempting to escape from the woman, he wriggled and twisted away from her. However, as general physics will tell you, none of his strength was enough as the blue-eyed boy found himself being roughly pushed to the small chair in a corner of the classroom.

"Sit in the naughty chair. This is where the bad kids go." Turning away from Seto, Miss Deville suddenly smiled sweetly as she faced the class. "Okay. Now boys and girls, who knows what is the color of the light when it says go?"

None of the children raised their hands. They stared back in utter terror. "Hmm. Come on. What's the answer? I'm not going to bite."

The answer to the question is green, Seto thought in aggravation. Why are we learning stuff that I knew when I was four? Promptly Seto slowly edged himself from the seat. Maybe if he was careful enough, he could sneak out of the classroom. He started to tiptoe slowly towards the door.

"Oh come on kids. Anyone?" Silence permeated the room. Many kids looked down, avoiding any eye contact with the teacher. "Green? As in G for Go? Honestly, how can none of you know that?"

Maybe if he could reach the door, he would be able to sneak to the nurse's office, pretend to be sick, and go home. The nurse shouldn't have been a problem, but his mom would be an issue. He reached for the door knob when…

"Where do you think you're going?"

Seto paused. He had hoped that the idiotic teacher would have been so absorbed with her lesson that she would not have noticed. This was an unexpected complication. "Ugh…"

"Seto, do you need to go to the bathroom or something?" She bent towards the child, smiling condescendingly. "When you're in school and want to go to the bathroom, we say 'May I please go to the bathroom?' Right class?"

The class gave no answer. Seto stammered. "Ugh, I…"

"Come with me, boy!" She grabbed Seto's collar, leaving the other students open-mouthed. Opening the door she headed towards the principal's office. Seto writhed at her tight grip with his maximum strength, but it was utterly futile. "I think we need to talk to your parents."

...

"Excuse me, but we don't allow strangers in the building. You need to go to the office to get a school pass," the teacher acidly declared.

Seiji, who had been waiting by the door of the empty classroom for the past half an hour on behalf of his parent-teacher appointment, stopped leaning on the wall and straightened himself. "Oh, I have a meeting with you. I'm Mr. Nakamura. Seto's father." He held out his hand for a handshake.

Miss DeVille frowned, not taking the hand. "I didn't know Seto was half-Korean. Now I think about it his eyes are bit slanted, but…"

"Japanese," Seiji weakly mumbled. The chubby woman did not hear as she seated herself at her desk. "So, I called an emergency meeting with you to discuss your son. He's on a different level from the other students, and I believe it is important that we discuss his educational opportunities."

"Of course." Seiji grabbed a chair and seated himself across from her.

The woman put down a manila envelope on her desk and pulled her hands together, clicking the long, thick acrylic nails together. Pausing for a moment dramatically, she took a deep sigh. "Your son may be retarded."

Pause.

Rewind.

Like WHAT?

Seiji's eyes widened. "Eh-excuse me?" He gasped, almost expecting the woman to scream 'Gotcha' or 'Just kidding.' However, Miss DeVille's expression showed no signs of possible humor and continued to bear a stern expression.

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but your son may be mentally incapable. I understand that this is disappointing. It's hard for any parent to learn that their kid isn't bright."

"I th-think that there's a mistake," started a bewildered Seiji. "My Seto learned to read and write by the time he was two-and-half. He's also very fond of computers and highly proficient. My wife's teaching him, and he picks up on it extremely fast."

The teacher sweetly smiled, tapping her acrylic nails a couple of times. "Of course, every parent wishes that their child is the next child prodigy, but, sir, you need the face reality." Seiji gasped as her honey-dripped voice took another dramatic pause. "He's not up to par with his peers. Your son's got behavioral problems, which are probably due to his frustration in lacking the ability to keep up with his fellow classmates. He is so slow that he has trouble following simple directions. Just the other day, he couldn't understand when I told him to get up. Very pathetic. He also rarely participates in class. I feel saddened that he feels unintelligent enough to answer questions. As a teacher, we deal with all kinds of students, and, naturally, it breaks my heart to see such dumb child struggle."

"Listen lady!" Seiji fumed, loosing his usual calmness. "You better stop talking about my kid that way! Seto has never shown any behavioral problems to any of his previous teachers before. In fact, he's only been praised for his brightness! You better re-check who actually has the problem: Seto or you!"

"Ah." Miss DeVille sighed. "I see he takes after his bad behavior after you. I suggest you see a counselor to control your temper. Although Seto is quite slow, he does learn from your example."

Seiji stood up in anger. "Take that back, ma'am!"

"Sir, if you do not calm down, I will be forced to call school security. Now, in my hands, sir, are the results to your son's test." She clutched the manila envelope tightly in her hand with an all-important expression on her face. Opening the envelope, she smiled. "When you see these, scores, I am sure—" Her eyes enlarged as she glimpsed at the paper.

...

"Our son's a genius, huh?" Laura repeated for the fifth time.

"Yes." Laura and Seiji were sitting in the empty waiting room of the special education specialist that the school had recommended. Currently, the specialist was talking to Seto to evaluate his psychological state and assess his capabilities. Laura absentmindedly nodded, quietly returning to her thoughts.

Seiji was perplexed by her silence. "I thought you'd be more thrilled."

"Huh?" Laura looked dazed. "Oh. Right. Him being a prodigy and all."

"What's on your mind? Where's my drama queen today?"

Laura frowned. "Hey! I resent that! I don't always overreact, you moron!" Seiji snickered as she stuck her tongue at him. After a moment her expression sobered again. "I mean, naturally, I'd like a bright kid, but genius. Genius means a level of intelligence that you and I can't fully understand. Can we give our kid a normal life?"

"Honey, you worry too much."

"I know," Laura answered anxiously. "But he's going to be forced to grow up faster because of his intelligence. People are going to have high expectations on him, and I don't want him to be crushed from the pressure."

"Laura, we can take the option for him to study in the gifted program at his school. He'll be with people his own age. Along with that, he can have extra tutoring, so we don't stunt him intellectually."

"That's right, but there's more to Seto than his intelligence!" Laura cried. "I want him to be a well-rounded person. Remember at college? Remember those brilliant kids that always got 100s but knew nothing else? I don't want him to be one of those prodigies that can't joke with regular people and would rather be with machines."

Seiji sighed. "I doubt he'll be antisocial. He's got you as his mother. You're a social butterfly."

"But I worry. I can't help but do so. I'm a mother." Fidgeting with her hands, Laura played with the ends of her hair.

Seiji squeezed her hand comfortingly and reassuringly smiled. "We'll protect him. Don't forget that."

"I suppose." Laura smiled sassily. "I suppose if he ever gets arrogant I could always clock him. Now I can't have any of that behavior!"

Seiji shook his head. "Laura, he'll probably die of embarrassment from your antics! I'm more worried that our kid won't have proper self-esteem."

"Oh, shush, Your Lameness!" Laura pouted. "I just wish I met his teacher. I would have scratched that bitch's eyes out!" Seiji smiled. It seemed that Laura was back to herself again.

"Hmph. This could pose as a problem though." Laura thoughtfully tapped her chin. "Genius, handsome, and athletic? My son's going to have tons of fan girls, isn't he?"

"Well, I suppose he might be a bit popular—"

"Seiji," Laura replied, holding her hands expressively. "You are utterly clueless about the female gender. Popularity is something I can easily accept, but fan girls are a whole different level of worshipping. They can be a mother's greatest worry. Fan girls are a dangerous breed of women that throw themselves at men, and my poor Seto will be a target by them all."

"Don't you think you're exaggerating a bit?"

"Ah!" Laura cried, dismissing her husband's words. "Rabid fan girls are a bunch of highly idiotic women who chase men as sex objects, throw themselves at them at any tiny gesture, and ward off all forms of non-familial female relationships at any costs. If their worshipped idol says 'Excuse me,' they'll stutter, think the sex god loves them, and possibly mail their underwear. And I really don't want to deal with sorting through random underwear when I go through the mail. They mindlessly obsess over every tiny action of their beloved hero, who will never waste a moment's thought on them."

"What are you—?"

"The issue, of course, is extermination." Laura paused deeply. "I suppose I should equip myself with some sort of weapon to deal with those creatures. Hmm. I suppose I should probably arm myself with a broom. That way, when I'm by the door, I can sweep them as they come. But they're like cockroaches. They keep popping back. And it's nearly not creative and efficient enough. What do you think, Seiji?" She paused to look at him.

Seiji stared at her. "Sweetheart, I think you're an absolute idiot."

"Then, why did you marry me?" Seiji rolled his eyes at her as she laughed girlishly. She moved toward him for a moment, beaming at him. "We have such a great kid."

"Yeah. We're very lucky."

"Hmm. Maybe we can be even more lucky." Leaning closer to his ear, she whispered softly, "I'm pregnant."

Notes:

Laura and Seiji went to M.I.T. (Massachussets Institute of Technology) For those of you that have never heard of that school, know that the some of the country's (and world's) brightest go there. If most Americans heard that you went there, they would automatically assume that you were ridiculously smart. Therefore, Laura does have a point because she was surrounded by various kinds of intelligent people. M.I.T. has the highest (or one of) suicide rate; random fact that I learned and remember b/c my brain thought it was interesting.

No offense to Kaiba fan girls or any fan girls. I tease my friend all the time for being obsessed with some British actor. But there are some fan girls who become so extreme that I wonder about their sanity.

To Sakura Takanouchi, aww. Glad you like the story. The reason why it was named 'Keepin' up with the Jones' is more symbolic than anything else. Laura's maiden name was Jones, which I chose because I wanted a common American name and that phrase. You already seem aware of the phrase. For those of you who don't know, it was an American 1950s phrase of trying to keep up with the neighbor in material goods. Basically, if your neighbor had an 18" flat screen TV, you bought a 20". It's ironic if you look at Brian's life. Beyond that stuff, I just really liked the phrase, and I wanted to name a chapter that also.

To Stephen Cardin, you just made my day when I saw that. You reviewers sure know how to make a girl feel amazing. Of course I plan to update soon! I already have a full plan for this story and know exactly what direction I'm going in.

Don't hesitate to leave a review! I tend to write better chapters and update faster with more reviews. I welcome Constructive Criticism as well. I won't what I'm doing wrong without it.