Sounds Like a Hero

Ch 39 - Sounds Like Honesty

Five more minutes...Just five more minutes...

Neon's feet tapped anxiously on the floor while she finished marking one paper and then placed it face down on a pile that she had to stretch her arm to the fullest to get to. A quick glance at the clock on the side confirmed her guess. She had mere minutes left until she was free from this punishment.

Yes! Almost over!

She returned her attention to the stack of unchecked homework and attacked them with a red pen in hand and a restored vigor in her spirit. The loud instrumental music from her headphones drowned out the squeaking of the felt tip pressing unnecessarily hard against the paper.

Nope. Got the year wrong. What? Do you think that's why he's historically significant? Geez! They covered this at the start of the semester, idiot! Strength Man wasn't the first Hero ever. There were many of them but they were all unchecked and unregistered. Strength Man was the first Hero to register with the government, thus making him the first Pro-Hero and he spearheaded the foundation of the Pro-Hero training and development system we have today. God! Go reread pages 10-22 in your textbook, you moron!

When that paper had more red ink than black, Neon added it to the finished pile and grinned victoriously at the clock.

"Yes! 3:30 pm! School's over. I'm done!" she yelled, leaping out of her chair and punching the air. She flung her headphones off and tossed them haphazardly onto the desk.

"Wait."

Like a splash of cold water, her homeroom teacher's ominous command made her heart stop cold and washed away her excitement. She turned slowly and hesitantly, as if in fear of what she would see nestled in that damn yellow sleeping bag in the corner of the office. To her relief, Eraser Head looked quite human and calm but to her confusion, he wasn't looking at her. Instead, he was pointing a finger at the door.

"You have a visitor," he said and then burrowed back into his bedding.

"Kirishima?" Neon raised an eyebrow at her flame-haired classmate. He was smiling sheepishly at her while holding a savagely marked paper in his hand.

"Yo. I wanted to talk to you about this art history paper you graded."

Neon sighed. This was not the first time a student had come to her with complaints about her unyielding corrections. Thankfully, it was the last. However, it still stung a bit that the person complaining was someone from her own class. "I only marked it up. The teachers give the final grade so if you want it changed you should —"

"No. It's not that. I'm asking for your help and explain this stuff to me."

"Huh?" Neon asked incredulously, "I'm just about to go back to the dorms. Can't it wait until then?"

"I...didn't want to discuss it with everyone around," Kirishima said, his cheeks reddening at the thought, "I know no one thinks of me as a smart guy but I also don't want to be seen as the bottom of the class."

Neon groaned and tried a last-ditch effort to claim her freedom. "I mean, if it's Modern Hero Art History, why don't you ask Midnight Sensei? She's right over there."

Neon glanced over her shoulder and then glared at the dark-haired teacher, who smiled brazenly at her with nothing on her desk. "I'm completely swamped, Nagano-chan," Midnight sang out, "Go help out Kirishima-kun for me."

"Actually...I'm specifically asking for your help, Neon, because of this..."

Kirishima held up the paper and tapped a lengthy paragraph written along the edges in red ink. Neon squinted her eyes and tried to decipher her own handwriting. She was suddenly very aware of how much she had written on a straightforward multiple-choice quiz.