Without a Sound
Disclaimer: I don't own… as much as I love the characters of Disney and Square-Enix.
Thanks to all the people who gave this story a chance. This happens to be the one that I think about most. Unfortunately I don't have much time for it due to my much more popular story Fire. But I think I'll make time for this one. Please review!
Chapter 6
I woke up earlier than my alarm clock…
This never happens…
I sat up in my bed. Did something wake me up? Was there something I forgot? I looked around my bedroom for a clue.
Nothing…
I sighed and got out of bed. There was really no point in trying to go back to sleep. I walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower.
"Today is Friday. At least I have a weekend break away from the students…" I said to myself as I took off my clothes. I walked under the warm water and let it relax my tense muscles.
"Something is off today. What is it?" I asked myself, still shaken by the early rising.
When I was cleaned and groomed I put on my work clothes and walked to the kitchen. Breakfast would help me clear my mind.
I placed two pieces of bread in the toaster and pulled out a frying pan. I then walked to the fridge and pulled out a couple of eggs and a stick of butter.
I turned on the fire on the stove and used a small slice of butter to grease the pan. After the pan was heated enough I cracked the eggs open on it.
I always liked my eggs sunny-side up.
Despite its happy sounding name, I always enjoyed breaking the yolk to let it bleed all over my plate.
I put the eggs on a plate and turned off the fire. I looked to the toaster to see if my toast was done. They were so I took them out and put them on my plate as well.
When I finished my breakfast I looked at the clock. I was six on the dot.
Queue my alarm clock… I forgot to turn it off.
I got up from the kitchen table and headed back to my bedroom. When I got there I silenced my alarm clock and took my satchel.
I might as well just get to school early. There was nothing I could really do at home anyway.
I left through the front door and walked towards my motorcycle. I smiled when I grabbed the handlebars and swung my leg over to the other side.
I took a deep breath when I turned the key and the bike growled beneath me.
I slowly released the clutch and began my drive to the school. I allowed myself to keep it slow. I let myself feel the wind in my hair and the easy ebb and flow of the drive.
I was almost disappointed when the ride was over and I had arrived at my destination.
I was walking towards the door when I saw Sephiroth and Cloud get out of a familiar Volvo. I decided I would wait at the door for them.
"Good morning, Leon. You are certainly here early today." Sephiroth said.
"Hm." I hummed in response and opened the door for the couple.
"Thanks Leon. Oh! I wanted to talk to you about something that happened yesterday so I'll meet you in your classroom okay?" Cloud said.
I nodded and made my way towards my room, the stairwell seeming to get longer and longer with every step.
It was a really good thing that it was Friday. I needed the break, five days was the limit for both the students and the teachers.
I sighed and opened my classroom door with my key and walked inside. I flipped the light switch and placed my satchel on my desk.
I yawned and sat in my chair. I looked to my classroom window.
It was starting to rain.
"Hey Leon?" I heard from behind me and I turned around.
"You wanted to talk to me Cloud?" I asked.
"Yeah. Something happened yesterday and since he's your student I thought you should know." Cloud said.
"Since he's my… Did something happen to Sora?" I asked.
"Some kids stuffed the poor kid in a locker. Judging from the terrified look on his face, he was in there for the entire duration of lunch. He would have been in there longer if I didn't hear this obnoxious whistle sound from down the hallway." Cloud said.
I sighed. At least the whistle helped a little. "Cloud." I started.
"Yes."
"Sora get's picked on a lot more often than he should. It's happened right in the middle of my classroom without my notice." I explained. "I gave him the whistle because I knew he couldn't scream for help. I want to keep an eye on him but I'm not omnipresent… I can't be there for him all the time. Is there any way you could help me out? If you ever hear that whistle, it means he's in trouble." I said.
"Well, I definitely can say that I don't like the idea of a student getting hurt. I can keep an eye out for him too. I'll ask Sephiroth too, is that alright?" Cloud asked.
"That's good. I'll feel less bothered about his safety being disturbed. Thank you for telling me about the locker incident. Did you catch the culprits?" I asked.
"No. Sora didn't know them and I didn't witness them doing it." Cloud explained with a frown.
"We'll get a hold of the little punks eventually." I grumbled.
Cloud smiled. "Do you have classes with Sora today?"
"Yeah. We're finishing up the concept of limits today. I was surprised by how quickly he understood them. The kid never seems to disappoint my expectations." I said with a small smile.
"I'm glad to hear that he's excelling. I'm also glad that you enjoy teaching him. This is probably the first time I've seen you even give a hint of a smile." Cloud pointed.
I shrugged. "I love math, and Sora happens to love it just as much. That makes me happy." I mumbled.
"Good. I'll see you around Leon." Cloud said and left the room.
I sighed before getting ready for class.
-Without a Sound-
When the bell rang and students started filing in I smirked.
"Good morning! Who's excited it's Friday?" I asked with unusual cheer.
The entire class spoke up.
"Well, I know that five of you are gonna enjoy their Friday with me in detention! Isn't that right, Pinky?" I asked.
"Yeah, yeah." Marluxia grumbled.
I cackled and walked to the chalkboard. "I want you all to answer these questions. You have to turn it in by the end of class so don't try to slack off. If you have any questions, I'll be at my desk waiting for you. Also, this is the last day you will be without homework. Starting Monday, the textbooks will be in and we can finally get down to business." I explained.
The class groaned.
When I finished writing the last question, I walked over to my desk and sat. I figured at least one or two people would have a question soon.
The first person to have a question was Demyx.
"Um, for this question, the denominators are different." He said.
I blinked. "Yeah?"
"Well, what do I have to do to combine the numerator?' he asked.
"What do the two denominators have in common?" I asked.
"What?"
"Let me rephrase that, what do you have to do to this expression to get the other?" I asked.
"I'm not sure what y-OOOHHHHHHHHH! I GET IT NOW!" Demyx exclaimed.
I shook my head at his antics. "Go finish the question now." I said and he scurried off to his desk.
"Hey, help me." Larxene said and plopped her notebook on the desk.
"Why don't you go sit back down, walk back to this desk and ask me politely to help you?" I said in irritation.
"Why? It's your job isn't it?" She asked.
"It's my job to educate you. But I have no intention of teaching math to brats that don't know their place." I said crossed my arms.
"Fine!" she snapped and grabbed her notebook and sat down, only to come back up and say. "Can you help me with question five…" she took a deep breath. "Please."
"Alright then, what's the problem?" I asked.
"It says to expand the expression. I don't even know what that means." She said with a grumble.
"It's a logarithm. The log of b over x is equal to the log of b minus the log of x. Thinking about that principle, what can you say about your question?" I asked.
"I see… wow, you actually helped." Larxene said.
"I wouldn't be at this desk teaching you if I wasn't helpful." I said and watched her walk back to her desk.
I leaned back in my chair and waited for my next inquirer. I closed my eyes and when I heard the soft tap of a notebook on my desk I opened my eyes to see Sora in front of me.
"Are you finished?" I asked.
He nodded and turned in the paper. He then started writing on the notebook.
I can't come to calculus today…
"Why not?" I asked.
He seemed shocked by my question.
"Mr. Leonhart, I have a question." A student asked from behind Sora.
"Sora, why don't you explain after class? I won't keep you long." I said and waited for him to return to his seat.
Sora sighed and moved out of the way.
I looked at the kids lined up behind him. They were all staring at me as if I had an extra eye or something.
"What?" I asked.
They kept staring.
"Just because Sora can't make any noise doesn't make him incapable of communication…" I growled.
They all seemed to snap out of it after that.
When everyone seemed to have a handle on the questions, I started to wonder why Sora couldn't come to his calculus lesson.
Did he need to take a test for another class or something? That wouldn't make any sense. He wouldn't deliberately schedule a make up on my time with him, would he?
And why was I so bothered about this?
I sighed and waited for the bell to ring. When it finally did I waited for all of the other students to leave.
Sora walked up to my desk.
"So you want to tell me why you're missing class?" I asked.
Sora gave me a defeated look and wrote on the paper:
I don't feel well…
"What do you mean?" I asked.
Well, I think I ate something bad this morning.
"Then why do you want to miss just this class? You didn't say you couldn't go to any of your other classes…" I pointed out.
What was up with him? He was acting really weird.
He paused to think.
"Are you trying to think of an excuse to miss just this class? Why? You were fine on Wednesday."
No! I'm not trying to think of an excuse! I'm really sick!
"Sora, you haven't looked me in the eye since you got here. I know you're lying to me." I said.
Sora shook his head frantically, looking as if he was caught red handed.
"Do you have a problem with me, Sora? You can tell me. If you have a problem with the way I teach or something, I can fix it. Don't you want to learn calculus?" I asked.
Sora stopped shaking his head and tears came to his eyes. Why was he getting so upset? Why was I getting upset about this?
"Whoa, don't cry! I understand! You don't have to come here if you don't want to." I said, slightly disappointed.
Tears started to cascade down his face. He took his pencil and began to write.
I want you to teach me calculus more than anything! But I have a problem that I need to fix before I come back to class. I don't want to mess things up.
"Sora, I'm not quite understanding what you mean. Does this problem have to do with me?" I asked.
He nodded yes, then his eyes widened and he frantically started to shake his head no.
"You want to write down what you're trying to get at Sora? The gestures aren't working for you today." I said.
He wrote:
It involves you, but it's not you okay? I promise. There's nothing wrong with you or the way you teach. It's my fault and my problem.
I really could not understand what he was trying to say. Was he really sick? I took my hand and put it up to his forehead.
He jerked a little and blushed before leaning into the touch.
"Kid, you're not feverish, but you're acting as if you can't communicate coherently. You don't seem to be thinking straight, I really can't understand what you're trying to s-"
I was interrupted by a pair of lips on mine. My eyes widened and I gently pushed Sora away.
"Sora, you… I…" I was so shocked I couldn't get a sentence out.
Sora made a choking noise before quickly gathering his things and running from the room.
What the hell was going on?
A/N: Now go review and tell me what you think. You can even complain about my semi-cliffhanger, but go review!