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"Ya, although it isn't much. The only real furniture I have is appliances, and bureaus, you can't keep clothes in shadowy bureaus. That and it's really small, because there's only me," she said, adjusting her grip around his middle. "So you haven't been successful in your job hunt, huh?"
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"No one wants to take on an employee that already has several other jobs. So no, not much luck," he replied, accelerating when the light turned green.
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"That sucks, like a black hole. Don't they know you'd be a hard worker?" she asked, raising her voice so it wasn't taken away by the wind.
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Brodie hid a quick chuckle under his hand and a fake cough when the first guy answered with "Spleen." With the Xena reference, he was unable to stifle it. He couldn't help but laugh along with the rest of the class. Another student raised his hand, "The appendix." The entire class was roaring, though unsure whether or not he was kidding or not. Though, the boy who answered had was smiling as he blocked a couple of paper balls thrown his way.
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He sighed and crossed his arms over his chest, shaking his head a little. "When the appendix bursts it's deadly when left untreated. This is because it leaves the intestines vulnerable for infection, bleeding, and leakage. You can easily live without an appendix, as it's not really that important. I do hope you were joking, Mr. Linstin. Can anyone else think of what the third most vulnerable body part is?"
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Once the laughing died down, Brodie looked around. A few of his peers were looking around as well, none of them looked like they had any more guesses at the answer. Not a serious one at least. Brodie faced front again. "How about an answer, Mr. Shozii?" he asked as he shrugged.
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"Because I'm asking the class what body part they think is the third most important," he replied. "It's a matter of opinion, though it must be something vital."
A scrawny boy in the back of the class stared at his desk in silence. After a moment, he finally made up his mind to speak. "The eyes," he said quietly. Bright orange immediately turned their attention to the boy who'd spoken. "The eyes?" he asked softly, clearly interested in the boy's reply. "They're the gateway to the soul... If you destroy the eyes, your soul is damaged, and you might as well be dead," he said, his voice quiet. He looked up at Shozii, a look in his eyes fearful that he'd answered wrong. "I see," he said with a slow nod. "That's a very good answer. Who taught you that?" "My father. Just like he taught me how to see past disguises," he replied, his voice stronger now. "Oh? And what do you mean by that?" he asked, feeling rather uncomfortable. "You hid your 'tattoos', and you lightened your skin. Why?" the boy asked. "Tattoos?" a girl asked, furrowing her brow and looking from the boy behind her to Shozii. "You have tattoos?" He couldn't help but smirk a little. "Very good. Yes, I have tattoos. I didn't think the staff here would much appreciate my facial 'ink' so I covered it up. My skin is actually much darker than you see here, though it often raises questions regarding my ethnicity. To make things quick and simple, I hid my skin color." "Go wash it off," the boy told him firmly. "I think you're forgetting who the teacher is," Shozii nearly growled. "We were honest with you, but you aren't being honest with us. Show us what you really look like," the boy argued. "Yeah," the girl who'd first spoken about her mother's recent death chimed in, a determined look on her face. "We told you our secrets, show us what you really look like!" Many more students joined in on the protest against their substitute teacher who they were becoming rather fond of. Perhaps fondness was one of the reasons why they wanted to know how he really looked. |
Brodie's mouth twitched, a slight smile playing on his face. For once, he was glad for the creepy kid in the back of the class. "Yeah," he called out, relying on the fact that his voice would just be one of many at the moment, "Come on, Mr. Shozii. We want to see what you really look like." The thought of how the students would react if Shozii turned into a cat right on the desk struck him as quite comical.
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"Mr. Fisher, it's disrespectful to regard an adult by their first name. I let it slid the first time, but if you do it again you'll be in serious trouble," he said, making his way to Brodie's desk and leaning down very close to the boy.
"And I swear, if you snore in my ear all night again tonight I'm going to keep you up all night," he growled in a very low voice, a smirk on his face. He stood back up fully, turning and going back to his desk. "You want to see what I look like? Very well." Several of the students cheered a little with their victory. "However," he continued, turning to face the class again. "If I do, you will follow my instructions perfectly. You will not give me any attitude, and you'll be perfectly behaved until your regular teacher comes back, after which, I don't care how you act." A few of the teenagers blinked, then nodded. "That's a fair trade," the creepy boy in the back said with a nod. "Fine. Do as you wish while I'm out of the room. But if there's a mess, you'll be sorry." He went to the door and slipped out into the hallway, going into one of the bathrooms at the end of the hall. |
Brodie shivered slightly as Shozii walked away. 'Well,' he thought, trying to keep up his defiant demeanor, 'at the very least in class I can call him by his last name.' At home was a completely different thing.
The class was left eerily quiet upon the teacher's departure, both out of anticipation and fear. A girl next to Brodie waved her hand to get his attention, he looked over to see her mouth the words, ''How do you know his name?'' "Uh, well, he-" the girl shushed him quietly. He tried not to roll his eyes as he wrote on a piece of paper, 'I think he said it Brodie looked around, grasping for some response besides the truth. He noticed that several girls turned to look at them, deeply interested in what could be called a conversation. A couple boys watched out of the corner of their eyes. 'Something about respect and rule breaking and how I'd have to @#%$ sideways,' he scribbled the first thing that came to mind. 'The last part was a joke,' he hastily wrote after her wide-eyed reaction. |
After several minutes, Shozii returned to the class, his skin the deep bronze tan it always was, the markings under his eyes perfectly visible. His face was a bit more angular, too. Though perhaps they'd just think his face looked smoother when pale. His eyes looked much deeper and brighter with his tanned skin than pale skin.
"Alright. I kept my end of the deal, now you sure as hell better keep yours," he said firmly, his eyes slightly narrowed as he looked over the class. The students jumped at the sound of his voice, having not heard him reenter the room. "Mr. Fisher, your note," he called, leaning back against the desk and holding his hand out for Brodie to bring him the note. |
The class gasped in unison. Excited whispers and looks were exchanged throughout the room, most of the boys commenting on his tattooed face. The girls, were more interested in this "tall, dark, and handsome" man who now stood before them. The students quieted down quickly, trying to keep up their end of the deal, though many were still thinking of what they'd tell they're friends once the lunch break came and still smiled at each other.
The boy in the back folded his arms and looked straight ahead, as if to say, "My work here is done," in that creepy way he does. He and Brodie were the only two not involved in this sudden enthusiasm, the latter of which rolled his eyes and stood up. One boy on the other side of the room ventured a low, "OOOOoooooh..." as Brodie walked up the aisle to the substitute teacher. "Mr. ShhhzzmmMMarez," he stumbled over the name, he'd have to get used to calling Shozii by his last name. He held out the note. |
"You're lucky you didn't finish that, Mr. Fisher. I'll be seeing you after class when you stay behind," he replied, taking the note, pulling a lighter and setting fire to it in front of the entire class. When the flames reached his long, thin fingers, he simply dropped the note and allowed the remaining note fall to the floor and reduce itself to ashes.
"Anyone else?" he asked, looking over the class with his eyes. |
"Yes, Mr. Marez," Brodie said as he returned to his seat. The rest of the class stared at the burning piece of paper, sat up straighter and shook their heads, no. As easy as it was to talk to him, not one of them even considered disobeying his rules. Well, just one.
Despite whatever amount of rebellion they carried, each student sat still and focused. Waiting for Mr. Marez's next topic. |
"No one cares how hard a worker I am. I'm seventeen and already biting off more than I can chew. No one wants an overworked teenager," he called back to her, turning onto another road and soon into the familiar parking garage that belonged to Andrew's building. He drove until he found Zaitsu's car, parking next to it.
"No matter how hard I work, I'm pretty much useless to the world," he sighed, killing the engine and getting off the bike. He pulled his goggles off and took the bag from Tessan's back, stuffing his facial gear into it and throwing it over his shoulder as he headed towards the elevator. "Alright. What should we discuss next?" he asked, looking over the class. He smirked somewhat, amused by how well behaved they were being for the most part. It seemed he'd put the fear of god into these little beasts, as well as earning their trust with the first topic of discussion. |
The students look at each other. Most teachers had whole discussions planned out ahead of time, knowing where each topic would go and when. They weren't usually given the choice. Before any of the other girls could start asking about the dashing new teacher's personal life, one girl stood up slowly, brushing her black hair away from a dark face.
"You said something about hiding your skin color earlier," she said with a serious face, "why should you have to do something like that?" she was notoriously anal about such subjects. ((Rawr, racial tension.)) |
"That's not true," she said, jumping off the back of the bike. "Nobody is useless to the world; everyone can be a part of it somehow. I mean, there are lots of things you can do that most people can't, right?" She quickly walked to stand beside him, looking sideways at him. "Are you always this impatient with people?"
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"On workdays I am," he sighed, pressing the button for the fifth floor.
((Sorry it's short, I'm trying to cook something to settle my stomach.)) |
"But don't you work, like, everyday?" she asked, leaning against the back of the elevator.
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"I try to. But there are days when I work at three or four jobs and do nothing but work. I tend to be impatient on those days," he said, stepping out of the elevator as soon as the doors opened.
"I was hiding my skin color because it attracts attention. I was concerned it might lead to speculation and distract this class too much." "Well, since we already see your skin, where are you from?" a boy asked, staring up at Shozii. "I don't see why that's really all that important. It seems I was right about my skin color distracting you all." "Are you a Muslim?" one girl asked, staring at him. "Ah, see, that's assumption now," Shozii said, turning his eyes on the girl who'd asked about him being a Muslim. "First of all, 'Muslim' isn't a race. Being a Muslim means that you follow the teachings of Islam, it's a religion. Muslims can be white, black, Asian, or any other race." "Fine then, are you Middle Eastern?" the girl asked. "Yes, I am." "Where are you from?" she asked stubbornly. "That doesn't concern any of you, though since this obviously isn't going to go anywhere until I say it..." He sighed, sticking his hands in his pants pockets. "I'm Egyptian." |
Adalia let Kay push her to the side, not wanting to have to put too much effort into any physical resistance when the emotional one would already drain more than enough energy. She stood to the side and observed the tortured spirit as she wondered just how to convince this girl to accept her fate.
But then, something else caught her attention. After the girl's brother said goodbye to Kay's body, it looked as if he called vines to grow and cover the corpse. "He...hasn't used his powers since I was young... Why...? Why now, Ita?" Kay whispered in amazement. With the girl's words confirming Adalia's suspicion, the reaper began to wonder just who or what these people really were. As Itami left, Adalia was torn over following him out of curiosity or to lay the spirit beside her to rest. She glanced at the other being in the room. "The longer you stay here, " she began, "the more pain you'll feel." The reaper moved to stand between the girl and the door. "He's already said goodbye, will you?" |
"Nothing can be as painful as him not being able to see me. I refuse to leave until I get a message to him," she replied stubbornly.
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"So today is one of those days?" she asked, trudging after him; as if he had sapped all her energy. "Because I'm feeling some seriously impatient vibes from you right now."
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"Yes, this is one of those days," he sighed, walking up to the door to Andrew's apartment and pulling out his keys. He unlocked the door and walked inside, glancing around.
"Where's the kid that was here?" he asked, spotting Andrew. "Don't know," he replied, not bothering to look at Amani. "That's unlike you. Where's Zaitsu?" "Sleeping." His voice was quiet, and sounded like all the joy had been sucked out of him. He wanted to ask Andrew what was wrong, but had learned long ago that it would be best just to leave him be and try to get answers out of Shozii later. He walked through the living room and to the guest room - which had once been the room he and Zaitsu had shared - and let himself into the room. Pushing the door closed behind him, he went over to the bed and sat down on the edge of it, reaching over and gently shaking Zaitsu. "Hey, wake up. Let's go home." |
'What am I? A messenger?' Adalia thought in response.
"Why don't you wait to tell him yourself?" she replied out loud. "Everyone dies someday...I'm sure you'll both meet soon enough." Adalia finished with a smile, almost as if she knew something the girl did not. |
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