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

6 - Warning

Tetsutetsu asked in a gentle, easygoing tone of voice, "Hi, Iori. What are you doing, buddy?"

Just the fact that he asked that question made Iori think Tetsutetsu knew what he was doing.

Iori lifted his head and looked around. He couldn't see Tetsutetsu, but that didn't mean that Tetsutetsu couldn't see him.

Rubbing the back of his head, he said, "It's kind of hard to explain."

"Everything all right?"

"Sure, I guess."

Turning on his heel, he looked around. Everyone was gone except for the Dark Fae girl, who watched him with large, wary eyes.

He told Tetsutetsu, "I got really mad at somebody, and I almost lost my temper."

"But you didn't."

"No."

But he could have. He had been awfully close.

Did that make him bad?

Honesty forced him to admit, "Not this time anyway."

Tetsutetsu didn't sound shocked or worried. In fact, he sounded as mild as ever.

"Good job, sport. You okay?"

"Yeah. I think so."

"Call if you need to."

"I will."

He hung up and said to the Dark Fae girl, "Hi, my name's Iori."

He kind of wanted to add the Double Oh Bean and Rock Star stuff, but he didn't think she would find it as funny as he had the first time.

She didn't say hi back.

She said, "I'm Ezumi," she pointed to the phone. "First, that's gonna get you into trouble. You're in Mrs. Dyer's class, right?"

"Yeah."

"She can be really mean if you get on her bad side. She's made kids cry before."

He pocketed it. "I'm supposed to carry my phone at all times, so it's gonna have to be okay."

Shaking her head, Ezumi said, "Second, those boys? They're not going to forgive or forget what you just did. You're just a first grader, and you're really, really fast. In fact you might be faster than any kid I've ever seen, plus you look strong. But they're third graders, and now you're on their shit list, and that's not a good place to be."

She scowled and muttered 'damn it' under her breath. "Sorry. I know I'm not supposed to swear at school."

Starting to feel entertained, Iori put his hands in his pockets again and rocked on the balls of his feet.

"It's okay," he told her, thinking of the sentinels, and of Tetsutetsu and Ochaco. And of Mom too, on occasion, but especially Dad. "I live with a bunch of people who swear a lot."

Ezumi looked at him sidelong again, as if she wasn't sure he had all his marbles. "Look, I'm trying to tell you something. You made some bad kids really mad at you just now."

Actually, he wasn't sure how to respond to that. He was running into a lot of new situations today. Rubbing the back of his head again, he thought about it.

Cool didn't seem like quite the right thing to say, so his mind wandered off on a different tangent.

"Who were they, and why were they bullying that other boy?"

She paused as if he had surprised her.

Then she said, "Orito is the guy who tried to punch you. He's the leader."