Crossing Fates : Special Story 3 - The Bean Starts School (BakuDeku)

5 - A Ring To Dissipate

School was every bit as interesting as Iori thought it would be.

Well, actually the schooling bit wasn't very interesting, but Mom and Dad had already warned him that he would know a lot more than other first graders.

"Be patient," they had said. "Your school experience is going to be different from everyone else's."

Everything else was awesome.

His teacher's name was Mrs. Olie Dyer, and she was pretty old. He couldn't tell what exactly Mrs. Dyer was- he wasn't very good yet at identifying other peoples' natures- but she might be part Fae.

Her hair was gray, and she had interesting lines on her face that moved around as her expression changed.

There were twenty kids in his class, and he watched them with fascination.

Some were boisterous and excited, and others seemed timid and shy. One of them cried quietly for a few minutes, hiding it behind one hand.

He felt bad for her, but as he sat across the classroom from her, there was nothing he could do to help.

There was no sign of the Dark Fae girl, so she must be in another class. He was sorry about that, as he liked how her eyes sparkled.

The teacher talked a lot, and he got bored and stopped paying attention. His gaze wandered over to a collection of books she had on a bookcase in one corner, behind her desk.

Those weren't kids' books. Those were adult books, with titles that contained words like learning methodology, and first-grade literacy.

He had never read anything like those books before, and they piqued his interest.

When morning recess came, he slipped out of line, doubled back into the classroom and went to explore the teacher's books.

He had flipped through almost all of them when Mrs. Dyer walked back into the empty classroom.

The wrinkles on her face shifted into an expression of surprise.

"Iori," she said. "What on earth are you doing? You're supposed to be outside with everybody else."

He closed the last book and slid it back on the shelf. "I wanted to read your books first."

She laughed. "You mean you're done looking at them. They're a bit too old for you."

Turning, he cocked his head at her. "No, I read them. I'm done now."

Her eyes narrowed, and her smile faded into something much more stern. "I don't appreciate someone who tells tall tales. You didn't read all of those books in just a few minutes. You should have said that you were just looking at them."

Confused, he blinked. He wasn't telling any tall tales.

Was she... calling him a liar?

Iori wasn't sure. Nobody had ever called him a liar before.

"No," he said again patiently. "I read them."

He waited for her to ask him questions about the books, which was what Mom and Dad would have done.

Instead, her expression turned cold, and her voice sharpened. "Go outside, young man. We'll talk about this later."

Talk about what later?

More confused than ever, and growing a little angry, he did as he was told and went outside.

There were so many kids, many more than just from his classroom.