Liar, Liar, the Mage's Desire Vol. 1 (A New Oumeno)

The Mean Teacher (1)

     It was the middle of math class, and the teacher, Miss Orudanminu, was writing problems up on the board. Himiko dreaded what was coming next; every time Miss Orudanminu wrote problems on the board, it meant she was going to call up on some students to solve them. Himiko sunk lower in her chair, hoping Miss O wouldn't call on her. To make matters worse, Miss O was an ill-tempered, old woman who was always strict and in a bad mood for some reason. Why she worked with teenagers, Himiko never knew. All she knew was not to get on Miss O's bad side. There were times when Himiko had been scolded by the mean, old bat for having trouble in math. Himiko had cried every time, and when she did, it only seemed to make Miss O more furious. Thanks to the help of Tenko, Angie, and Kokichi, however, Himiko felt a bit more confident in math. It didn't make her hate it any less, though.

    "Okay, which one of you turd-eating maggots is going to wow me with your 'superior math skills,' today?" Miss O spat nastily. The class was silent, careful not to make eye contact with her. Seeing that nobody wanted to volunteer made Miss O explode into a fit of rage. "WELL, SINCE NOBODY HAS THE GUTS TO RAISE THEIR HAND, I GUESS I'LL HAVE TO CHOOSE SOME SPINELESS COWARDS MYSELF!!!" She looked around the room and pointed viciously at Ibuki, Kazuichi, Mikan, and Himiko.

   "You four! Get up here and solve these problems before I create more for you!! Chop, chop! We haven't got all day!!" Miss O shouted. The four quickly got up and raced  to the board, not wanting to anger Miss O any further. 

   "Um, is this the right answer?" Ibuki asked, twiddling her fingers after she finished her problem.

   "THE RIGHT ANSWER IS 'SIT DOWN!!'" Miss O boomed. Ibuki hurriedly ran to her seat. "Well, there's a problem that Miss Ibuki Mio-DUMB managed to get right!" Miss O scoffed as she erased Ibuki's correctly-answered problem off the board. Then she went to Kazuichi to see if he solved the problem correctly. 

   "Um...so, to solve for x, I had to divide by 18, and-" Kazuichi began.

   "LEAVE!!! Miss O demanded.

   "Yipe!" Kazuichi yelped and headed back to his seat. 

   "I know the answer's right," Miss O grumbled. "I didn't need some turd-eating explanation from some turd-eating maggot."  She went to Mikan who was trembling. "STOP TREMBLING!!!" Miss O shouted. 

   "I-I'm sorryyyyyyy," Mikan whimpered.

   "And stop whimpering, too!" Miss O said. "Pfff, you're a nurse AND a nuisance! You know what that is combined? A 'NURSANCE!' You should have been called the Ultimate 'NURSANCE!' Now get back to your seat before you make me puke!" Mikan sulked all the way back to her seat. Lastly, it was Himiko's turn. Miss O gave Himiko a hateful glare.

   "Nyeh...um...I-" Himiko began.

  "Shut up! I didn't ask you to speak!" Miss O scolded. She looked over Himiko's problem and began clapping sarcastically. "Well, look, class, the so-called 'MAGE' has a brain, after all! In the past, you wasted countless hours of my life not knowing how to do something as simple as math, only to finally be able to do it NOW?! Unfortunately for you, I can't get all those precious hours back, so you know what I'm going to do?" She went to her desk and handed Himiko a pink slip. 

   "Y-You're giving me detention?" Himiko whimpered incredulously, trying not to cry in front of the whole class. "Wh-Why?"

   "FOR WASTING MY TIME!!!" Miss O yelled. "You know what your problem is? You spend all your time with your head up in the clouds thinking you're some kind of powerful mage when you're really just a worthless, BRAINLESS, little girl!" She took her index finger and repeatedly jabbed Himiko's head. "Maybe if you spent more time using your brain for meaningful things, you wouldn't be wasting MY time AGAIN, by having me yell at you in front of the entire class! I suggest you get your crap together, Miss Yumeno! Because if it were up to me, if I were in charge of this school, you wouldn't be WORTHY of entering! You have detention every day after school, starting today, for a whole month! Don't be late, and don't disappoint me more than you already have! Now get out of my sight, you cowardly failure!" 

   Tears streamed down Himiko's face as the bell rang for lunchtime. The class looked at her with pity and sympathy, even the students who weren't all that nice to Himiko to begin with. Without gathering her backpack, Himiko just left the classroom, sobbing. She spotted an empty table at the far end of the cafeteria away from everyone else and buried her face in her hands as she sat slumped in her chair, crying in anger, sadness, and frustration. 

   "Heeey, Himiko," a cheerful voice came from behind her. She looked up to see her boyfriend, Kokichi, whose smile faded when he saw her tear-stricken face. "Hey, what happened?" he asked with concern as he sat down next to her.

   "I...I...I-I...I" Himiko was crying and gasping so hard that she struggled to speak. Kokichi wrapped his arms around her, trying to comfort her. He removed her hat so that he could cradle her head easier against his chest.

   "Was it Leon, again?" he asked in a low voice, shooting a glance at Leon, who was standing in line waiting to get his lunch. Many of the other students, he noticed, were looking in their direction. Suddenly, he noticed Fuyuhiko walking towards them with Himiko's backpack and her other belongings. His seat was right next to Himiko's in math class, so he was able to collect her stuff before Miss O had the chance to do anything about it.

   "Um...Himiko? Here's your stuff," he said quietly, setting her belongings down on the table. Himiko was too distraught to notice him. 

   "What happened to her?" Kokichi asked Fuyuhiko in a tone that made his question seem more like a command. 

   "It's Miss O," Fuyuhiko explained. "She gave Himiko a hard time for answering a question correctly." Kokichi stared at Fuyuhiko dumbfoundedly. "She also gave her detention."

  "She what?" Kokichi asked quietly, finding it hard to believe the words that were coming from Fuyuhiko's mouth. He looked down at Himiko, who wasn't crying nearly as much as before. "Is this true, Himiko?"

   "Yes," she nodded. Kokichi felt his blood boiling, but didn't allow his anger to show.

   "How long does she have detention for? Do you know?" he asked Fuyuhiko. 

   "She has it starting after school today, and it lasts for a whole month," Fuyuhiko replied grimly. Kokichi felt his fists clench harder as he held Himiko tighter.

   "Thanks," Kokichi mumbled to Fuyuhiko. Fuyuhiko simply nodded and walked away. Kokichi rested his chin on Himiko's head, while his own head began concocting schemes to defeat the tyrannical teacher.