New Year's Eve comes and goes as quickly as fireworks in the night sky.
Which means it was finally time to get back to school! …For some people.
There was this little pesky thing called the winter flu, and between gorging on Holiday sweets and the lower temperatures, a lot of students had to stay home for the first days back.
But the flu didn't hit anyone harder…
"ACHOOOOOOO!"
…then it did Lunalei.
Confined to her bed in her hand me down plaid pajamas and her sheets a total mess, her eyes looked mucus-y and her face was a grungy, ill shade.
Her sneezes shook her room and she could barely lift her head to look out the window.
Her tenacity manifested in a faint scowl and grumble, "This is bullshit…"
She hasn't been sick since she was a kid, and never THIS badly.
It's supposed to be time for her morning class, but right now she feels like mourning her lack of class.
Weakly reaching out for her phone on the desk, she gave up part way and let out another sneeze that spewed a lob of dark mucus onto the edge of her bed.
"Oooooh, ewwwww…!" She squirmed back in disgust, and then pinched the front of her sheets closer to her nose to wipe it.
Her door was opened and her mom came in, wearing a mask and holding a tray with ginger infused juice, soup, and some saltine crackers.
"This is a really bad flu," She said with her sympathies, "But I need you to try and take some of this, sweetie."
"Will it kick this virus' ass?" Lunalei said in distress.
"No," Her mom said gently, "But the Vitamin C battalion will hold the line until your dad gets back. He booked his flight last night and said he'd be right home."
"Mrrr…" Lunalei pushed her face into her pillow as a headache was also keeping her in agony.
"Ah ah," Her mom raised her voice slightly, "Head up until we get the mucus drained."
Lunalei forced herself up and looked ready to cry, "I'm supposed to be teaching, waaaah…!"
Her mom set the tray aside on the table and sat beside her, gliding her hand behind her head so smoothly she didn't realize her posture was being fixed.
Her mom then pulled off the dirty pillowcase and put it into a bag, along with a few clothes from the night prior.
"Stress does nothing. Get plenty of sleep and you'll be back to work before you know it." Her mom then whipped out some hand sanitizer for herself, after which she put the tray down for her.
"If you get a little soup down, I'll bring in my laptop so you can watch an anime." Her mom promised.
Lunalei looked at her with barely open eyes and a pitiful smile, "...I want to watch an old comedy anime."
"Absolutely! Sub or dub?"
Lunalei pouted, "Sub, duh."
"Ok, I'll get right on it!" Her mom clasped her fists ready to work hard to keep her healthy, and then left the room.
Lunalei then stared at the ceiling and grumbled, "If I had powers, this wouldn't have happened…"
She then dragged her stiff, aching bones upright and looked at the soup. It was chicken noodle with a hint of pepper and onion.
She took a couple spoonfuls and after getting it down, drank some juice. At least she didn't have a sore throat to contend with.
Afterwards, she tried to reach for the phone again and managed to pull it back before she collapsed from exhaustion.
She made sure her mom wasn't rushing back before entering a password in binary to connect with S.A.N.C.T.U.M.
Then she sent him a message, "Still sick. Sorry."
He replied, "From what I can tell of your vitals, Master, you succumbed to this virus due to a lack of sleep."
Lunalei had just enough spirit to glare at her phone, "Don't use succumb! I'm still alive! And yeah, I FIGURED, probably because the pod glitches from fighting the Valkyrie. I'll have to get right to fixing that later…"
"...What should I do in the meantime?"
"Well without the pod our connection is tenuous at best. Just try to keep up appearances with Mark, and don't engage with the Valkyrie."
"The last thing I need is for my identity as S.A.N.C.T.U.M's creator to be figured out from this…" She thought before shutting the phone off and throwing it onto the table.
"Uuuughhh…" But right now she was more worried about the safety of her job, because if she wasn't capable of working, then that could only mean…
Chapter 34: The Substitute Cometh
"Luna's sick?!" Serra exclaimed at Zelene as alongside Leo, they were heading to school.
Zelene, fending off her own irritation, mumbled timidly, "Y-Yes…and it's really bad."
"How did that happen?" Serra wondered, being sincere, but also not imagining how someone could get sick in the first place.
Zelene curled her fingers against her mouth and murmured, "I…don't know. She always gets plenty of rest, and I don't think her diet is that bad…"
Leo remarked, "I did notice she's been having a lot of coffee at school…"
Serra blinked, "Coffee can make you sick?"
Zelene answered with uncertainty, "I…maybe…?"
"No, that shouldn't be possible unless she was gulping it down in excess." Leo commented.
Serra then threw her fists up, "Wait. So shouldn't we not have to go to class today?"
Leo shook his head, "No, they'll bring in a substitute."
As Serra blinked some more, Leo answered, "A temporary replacement, in other words."
"Temporary…yeah…" Zelene mumbled her doubts with a hiss of scorn.
"Are you worried?" Leo spoke up for her peace of mind.
"T-That ba-bas…vice principal has been looking for an excuse to get rid of my sister the whole school year."
Leo put his hand on her shoulder, "We'll fight for her job if we must."
"Thanks Leo…" She said with heavy shoulders.
"Besides, I bet it won't be so bad having someone new for a bit!" Serra said.
"That's not the point…" Zelene mumbled under her breath.
Leo then pressed his lips like closing a zipper, and Serra dropped the topic for now.
"Hey come to think of it, where's my good ol' buddy at?" She then wondered.
Leo winced, "Oh, right, he sent me a message telling me that he caught the flu, and wanted you not to worry."
Serra puffed her chest with determination, "Well that won't do! Imma gonna drop in after school and push him to get better!"
"You ARE a natural born germ repellent, sis." Leo said with pride.
"Hee hee!" Serra returned, smiling, beaming with pride.
Zelene then commented, "It's…not like you to forget, Leo."
"Mmm…"
Serra noted, "He was probably up late texting Curly!"
Leo blushed and decided to confess, "I was, a little, but I didn't get Damian's message until I was on the bus."
Zelene then took on a slightly disappointed tone with him, "Leo, don't let your grades slip."
"Haa…" Leo almost felt like he was being viewed as the bad boy of the group.
They finally made it to class, and while it was a couple seats empty, there was a lot of buzz going around regarding a certain teacher's disappearance.
"Did you see her?"
"Nah bro, she's not in the office."
"She's so short how'd you see her anyways?"
"Come on, the short jokes were dead months ago."
"Ooooh, when'd you become teacher's pet?"
"I-I just like how she teaches…"
"Honestly, I bet she got tossed wholesale."
"No way. Why? She got the best grades in our school."
"I heard The Hog wanted her out, and he squealed to the upper brass."
"Or maybe she insulted his ugly hairdo. You know what they say about short people, they have huge tempers."
"I hope she comes back and punches you."
"What did you say fucker?"
"Wow. Big language for third bottom in the class."
Opinions, needless to say, were divided on how good this was.
"Honestly, it'll be nice to have someone with a little…" After a student made a crude gesture in front of their chest, Zelene went over and slammed her hands down on his desk. The wood was heard cracking.
Leo then coughed through the silence that formed and remarked, "She's not fired. She's just at home sick with the flu."
Then the students collectively whispered with interest about who the substitute would be.
Zelene gave the student a quick glare that made him look ready to pass himself, and then went to her seat with a deep, long breath.
At that moment the door opened, and the new teacher waltzed right in with a confident strut.
They were a red head with a ponytail tied behind their head, and rectangular glasses.
Their clothing bordered on professional and alluring, with a green cloth vest and black leather button shirt that was a size just small enough to start pressing against the buttons, even though her chest was not that big.
They had a black low cut skirt and stockings, along with a dash of red lipstick, giving them the proper air of maturity to instantly snag the attention of those against Lunalei.
Despite the fact that, all this aside, she must be in her mid 20s, and thus not that much older.
With a French fashion bag at her side to hold her books, she stopped behind the desk and took a deep breath.
"Sorry if I seem a little weary in class, 'tis was a long Winter, and I came on rather short notice." She spoke naturally as a teacher, with a hint of an accent.
She stretched her arms and yawned, "The trains aren't very cozy around here."
She then looked to her attentive class and smiled, "Ah, my apologies, you don't care. You want to learn, no?"
On that last word, her accent was more pronounced, and Leo guessed she might be from a European country.
The lady took a piece of chalk and quickly wrote her name in a slanted, fancy way, "My name is Claire."
Serra raised her hand, and the lady flicked her finger out, "Yes?"
"Where's your last name?" Serra asked a surprisingly good question that got the whole class stirring with curiosity.
Claire crossed her arms and hummed, "Truthfully, I don't have a last name."
Serra gave her a blank stare, "That's possible?"
"Of course. Many countries do it." Claire answered.
"Huh…" Serra would forget about this probably minutes later.
Leo, however, whispered to her, "Come to think about it, don't we have a classmate without a last name? Or...was she in the afternoon course?"
"Huh…" Serra would likely also forget that later.
"Ahem…" Claire coughed at the chattering going on in front of her, "You'll have a lunch break in three hours. Please refrain from being too chatty unless it relates to the class."
"Now then…" She pulled out a pen from her vest and gave it a click, holding it beside her face, "Let us take attendance, no?"
After getting everyone's names, she remarked, "So, we have one out of class with a flu. Winter does ambush you when you least expect it, no?"
"Helas, helas…" Claire then saw Serra raising her hand again and gestured her pen at her, "Yes?"
"He's my neighbor, and my buddy! I can bring him his homework after class!"
"Thank you, Serra," After Claire put her pen away she swept up a book from her bag and pulled it open right to the page she wanted without moving an inch, "Now, enough formalities. For the next three hours, I want to see just how well you're being taught."
And indeed, it certainly was…three hours of learning.
The cold wintery air outside really didn't help the mood. Claire spoke very eloquently, and addressed every topic she needed to discuss without distractions.
She was the perfect classy teacher, not even batting an eye at the gazes of her more immature acting students.
When she was done with one subject, she moved right on to the next, her hands exchanging books like they were as quick as lightning.
Easy to digest, and even easier to ask her questions on.
And when the bell rang for lunch, she closed the book on the dot and seemed proud of herself for making time, "That was a very smooth morning period. Thank you very much, class. I can see how your teacher has helped you achieve the top average in this school."
"Now, feel free to go to lunch, and I hope to perhaps see you again tomorrow."
But before her class vacated the premises, Claire approached Serra and tapped the front of her desk, "One thing, before you go."
Serra applied the brakes and turned back, "Yeah, wassup?"
"I didn't try to draw attention to this during class, but…you seemed to be distracted constantly. Is something the matter?"
Serra shook her head, "Not at all!"
Claire laid her arms gently under her chest and curled her lip, "I doubt that…very much."
"...It's me, isn't it? If there's something I can do to improve, tell me."
Serra gave her the blankest of blank stares, "Uhhhh, well I wouldn't know what to say. I'm not a teacher. I don't think you did anything wrong?"
"Hmmm…" Claire nodded along as she responded patiently, "You seem to be full of spunk, but lacking in focus…As a teacher, it's my job to bring out your full potential. So tell me…how does your usual teacher keep you engaged?"
Serra lit up, "Oh that's easy! She told me that learning is a competition between you and your students! So I wanna try and do better so my classmates will do better too!"
Claire propped two fingers against her cheek and stroked it, deep in thought, "That is…an interesting way of communicating a point, but I do see the logic behind it."
"The world of adulthood isn't kind to underachievers. They seek only the best of the best, or exploit the utter failures."
"And even if you're at the top of the world, you could still be brought down by the luck of the draw…Or be dealt a bad fate…" Claire frowned, then coughed, "Ahem…I'm drawing this out."
She crossed her arms and smiled, "Whatever beliefs you hold onto, hold onto them tightly, Serra. I will do my part to help while I'm here."
"Uhhhh, you got it!" Serra then politely asked, "Can I go now?"
Claire nodded, and let her fly out the door.
It didn't take long for Serra to catch up with Zelene and Leo on their way to the cafeteria, where her straightforward personality got right to the point they were all thinking, "Is it just me…or is the new teacher a bit funny?"
"Not in a…Luna funny kinda way either."
Her words were weirdly picked, but her relatives got the message. Leo spoke up first, "It's not that she was…terrible as a teacher. Lunalei would handle the subject matter the same way if she was in her shoes, but-"
"Y-You can stop sugarcoating it, Leo, she's NOT a good fit here." Zelene spoke up quietly, but with a growing bitterness.
"...I get why you feel that way, Zelene, but logistically speaking, all she's doing is her job."
"T-That's the…problem! She's going through the motions, anyone with half a brain could see that…" Zelene was getting to the point that she was biting down on her teeth, her eyes darting around the hallway.
It tuned Leo in to the murmurs of their classmates, with gossip quickly spreading about how Claire is the "new and improved Lunalei", and it was obvious as to what features on her mattered more to most of them.
"Ghhh…!" Zelene's eyes flared briefly as she grumbled to herself, "It's ok to BULLY my sister when she can't defend herself?!"
Leo reached out to cup her fist before it became too tight by her hips, "Zelene, I told you, there's no way Lunalei will get replaced."
Zelene was left with no choice but to throw all her frustration onto the one person who touched her first, "You don't get it Leo! If sis gets fired here, she'll probably move away to get a new job!"
Serra was taken aback, cause she had never acted like this before.
Yet just as soon as Zelene's rage showed through her normally tired and timid face, it was gone, and she turned away and ran down the hall.
"Zelene…!' Leo raised her hand, and then with a quick sigh turned back while starting to chase after her, "Sorry Serra, have lunch without me."
Serra was left blinking and wondering, "Gosh, everyone's acting funny today…"
Beyond Zelene's outburst, it was a relatively quiet afternoon in the school. A lot of the students were huddled indoors to hang out and chat.
But the crowd and chatter were cut down when afternoon classes began, and despite the whispers going around about the substitute teacher not everyone had managed to hear about them.
Fresh off a messy lunch of reheated enchiladas and chips, Violet was the last to waltz into the classroom with her hands in her pockets and a weightlessness to her steps.
"Afternoon, teacher!" She proclaimed.
"Ah, there's our final student. Welcome." Violet immediately heard a different voice and jerked to face the desk.
"Hey…! You're not our teacher!" She said, putting her hands up on guard around this stranger's presence.
Claire gave a dainty, unassuming smile and remarked, "I'm substituting for her for a little bit, since she's out sick with a bad flu."
"SHE IS?!" Selina suddenly gasped loudly, causing some of the other students to laugh, Erin especially.
"Ha, well at least now we finally got an adult in our classroom." The punk girl remarked, leaning back against her chair.
Claire stared at Erin and a little sweat seemed to form on her face, "...Y-You there, what's your name?"
"Erin Dark." The girl answered quickly.
Claire closed her eyes and smiled a little wider, "I see, I see. You have the top grades in this class. Congratulations."
Erin shrugged, "It's not that difficult."
"You must really pay attention to your teachers." Claire pointed out.
Erin spat at her and rolled her eyes to the right, "Pfft, nah, I'm a natural genius."
"You sure do have a lot of pride, but given your name, I'm not too surprised," Claire spoke all this calmly, and then clicked her pen and held it beside her face, "I'll try not to make this class too boring for you."
Violet tried to sneak out the door, but a loud cough from Claire put an end to that, "Ahem…!"
Violet slowly turned around with a guarded expression and a curled pout as the teacher remarked, "I get I'm not what you're used to, but please give me a chance. I'm not going to be here long."
She then gestured at her desk, and Violet dragged her feet over and plopped down.
"I got my eyes on you" is what she mouthed next.
Yet for the next three hours, the sub didn't do anything sus. She was a proper, well-mannered, and very educated teacher.
But maybe that was worse than if she had been a bad apple in disguise.
Cause by the time class was out, thanks in part to Erin's put down of Lunalei, a lot of the students were showing more appreciation for the maturity of Claire than they would have otherwise.
Violet pushed between the crowd of her boorish classmates leaving the room, not even letting Claire's goodbye enter her ears.
She ran after Selina and grabbed her by the arm, dragging her along to a more secluded location, "Come with me, magical girl! We got plans to plot."
"W-What…? B-But I need to hurry home…" Selina shuddered in worry.
"It can wait!" Violet announced.
Once she got them into a room all to themselves, she put Selina down in a chair and then started ravaging her hair with her hands, "OOOOUGH, this is soooo frustrating! Who does that mademoiselle porn parody wannabe think she is?!"
Selina held her hands together and flashed a marvelous smile, "I thought she was wonderful!"
Violet swung her hand out and leaned in with a passionate cry, "She's TOO good! Think of the bigger picture here, Perlwhite! The students are already drooling out the jaw at her appearance. That's all the edge she's got over Lunalei, but that's enough to make her a threat to her job!"
She then pressed her finger against Selina's chest a few times, "And I don't think that's very fair! Do you?!"
Selina didn't take long to jump to her side and pump her fists in outrage, "Y-You're right, Violet! I don't want my big sis to get replaced by a hotter woman!"
Violet slacked her jaw to the side, "Huh?"
Selina folded her arms between her legs and tilted her head with a ditzy glare, "Y-You know…hypothetically speaking…"
"Oooookay," Violet then put her hands smack dab on Selina's shoulders and looked her in the eyes, "Then y'know what we gotta do, right?"
Selina put on a very confident smile before declaring, "Not. At. All!"
Violet let out a quick sigh and then patted her on the shoulder, "We're gonna show this low-cut skank that there's only one teacher worthy of filling these shoes!"
With an impish grin, Violet declared, "Let's get loud…!"
Next Time: Cry for Education