Kiss Kiss Go to Hell (OHSCH fanfic)

13 - The Test of Dreams

Normal life resumed and no more crazy trips were made. I hadn't seen my parents for more than a month and as apologetic as they were, I didn't mind. I dreaded when I'd see them again because all they'd do would be worrying about Niko, but the only thing I saw from Niko were a couple flares in the hallway when classes moved for lunch. He obeyed the restraining order.

Another good reason for my parents not being home was because I had the twins over constantly. Maybe I was lonely because my parents left so I wanted my closest friends around me, but if my parents were home and the twins were over, my dad would blow a gasket. He didn't despise the twins, he just didn't trust them as much since the article. Sometimes Kazuna came over too, sometimes Haruhi, but they had lives, the twins didn't apparently. It was fun having them around, I grew used to it. They would sleep in the guest bedrooms, but sometimes Hikaru snuck back to my room so we could talk without Kaoru. It wasn't like we were admitting feelings. Maybe we kissed, maybe we didn't. At this moment in time we were platonic.

I was beginning to enjoy life, looking at possibilities for my future, accepting some acting jobs on the side to do during Christmas and summer. It felt right.

It was a hazy Wednesday afternoon at the beginning of October. The leaves were falling slowly, all warm colours and crispy leaves. A gentle breeze passed through them, rustling the dried leaves and hurrying some to fall sooner than planned. I watched from the window of the class 2A classroom, sitting in my regular seat beside Hikaru. I was glad Kazuna managed to switch seats to the one in front of me so we could talk more often. I had all my friends close, where I wanted them.

I began drifting to sleep for my usual fourth period nap before lunch when a bang on the teachers desk awoke me.

"WAAAAAAAAH!" I squawked, jumping up in surprise.

An unfamiliar teacher face looked at me with stern eyes before looking down at their desk at the register.

"That's not our geography teacher..." I mumbled to Hikaru "...Is it?"

Before he could reply, the scary substitute teacher slapped their hand on the desk and demanded complete silence. Hikaru and I exchanged glances, knowing this period would be hell.

"Now your teacher may be incapacitated and laying in bed at home today, but the rest of you are not," the teacher growled, glaring at all of us. "Therefore, you will be doing a test today, proving your progress to your teacher when she gets back."

"She honestly doesn't care," Hikaru mumbled to me.

"Yeah," I sighed. "This is rich people school. The only thing the teachers care about is the happiness of the students in case they get them fired."

"You know you're rich too?" He said.

"Well, yeah," I sighed, "I'm self aware."

"The first of her kind," Haruhi mumbled.

"Hey!" Kazuna jabbed her.

"IF you fail," the substitute glared in our direction. "I will let your teacher know that you may not be able to cope with this coursework and you will be dropped down."

"You can't do that!" Someone at the back yelled.

"Oh, young man, I can," the substitute smiled rather menacingly. "You may be treated like royalty and babies by the usual teachers at this school..."

"Some of us are royalty," Princess Kaori sniffed from beside the 'young man' at the back of the room.

"BUT I am a substitute; employed to stand in when your teachers are away. I am one of the best. I studied at Harvard, and then Yale. I became a lawyer at the age of twenty-two. I crossed over to the sciences at thirty-five. I became an environmental lawyer and now I am teaching. Life does not always go the way you deserve or want," He scowled. "Deal - With - It."