They had a number of high-school aged students, such as Tendo Nabiki
They had college students like Morisato Megumi.
They had graduate students like her brother, Keiichi.
They had students inbetween college and high school, such Urashima(sp) Keitaro.
And they had a host of students with a...less than orthodox education.
And Kenshin seemed more like a canidate for faculty than a student, Sunfire suspected that he was older than he seemed.
And they had a still rather small faculty, and Sunfire's primary team couldn't be expected to come down and teach mundane subjects. Though, perhaps, they could aid in the training with use of powers.
Classes in Ethics were prescribed. Sunfire did not want mere killing tools, he wanted protectors and warriors, capable of understanding and offering opinions. Also, he recognized that in this world of growing globalization and more frequent contact with extraterrestial groups, that understanding other groups was important as well.
As such Bushido was not the only ethical code to be studied (though it admittedly took the lion's share). Some attention would be paid to the ethical systems from both other Asian realms and Western society.
That, and the home economics class, was about the only thing that they would all take together.
As for other classes.
****
Nabiki glanced to her two other classmates, Lain and Shinobu and sighed. Lucky her that those two wall-flowers would be the only other members of her class. She looked around the room.
It was small, but certainly comfortable and practical for a serious student. The wall behind the teacher's desk was taken up by a display monitor, and Nabiki recognized a computer built into the desk along with a light pen reader board.
"Uhh...hello," a voice said, and Nabiki decided that she was wrong as Morisato Keiichi walked into the room.
"Wait a minute," Nabiki said. "What are you doing here?"
"Yes, Morisato-sempai," Shinobu said. "Ummm...isn't this for high school students?"
"Yes, well," Keiichi sounded embarrassed. "Since I've already graduated from the university, and had a year or so of graduate school, and they're still lightly staffed. So they sort of asked me..."
"You're our teacher?" Lain deduced, surprised.
"For math anyway," Keiichi said.
"What is your major again," Nabiki asked.
"Engineering," Keiichi said. Nabiki twitched, she'd met some engineering afficionados before, they had different views on math than she did.
"Really?" Lain responded, becoming very interested.
The look in Nabiki's eyes was clear: "Oh no! There're two of them!"
"Should we call you Morisato-sensei then?" Shinobu asked.
"No, we're both students here overall," Keiichi said after a long thought. "Just, uh, consider me a student tutor or something."
"Got it," Nabiki said, working herself up to a lot of rewriting descriptions from a finance point of view.
****
The next class was the largest.
Megumi, Mutsumi, Keitaro, Masahiko and Miki all sat together in a nearly identical room. Their teacher sat at the head of the room looking them over.
"Now some of you might find these classes rather easy," Yomiko Readman said. "But please do not dismiss their usefulness to your education, and if you've already had the parallel classes of another school, say Nekomi Tech, then perhaps you could put the time to aiding the other students rather than ignoring the teacher."
She stood up then and walked from around behind the desk.
"After all," she said, smiling. "The best way to learn something and retain it, is to teach it to someone else. Am I understood?"
"Uhh, yeah," Megumi said quietly, embarrassed at all the eyes turned toward her.
Belldandy was right so far, it seemed most people were pretty much concerned with their own problems for the moment, and didn't seem too concerned by her monstrous appearance. Actually, the way Ranma and Nabiki had merely glossed over her appearance as if it were commonplace had partially intimidated her for a moment. Nabiki had at least blinked, Ranma hadn't even done that...just treated her like anybody else.
Now she was basically being put in the position of teacher's aide on the basis of being a third year student already. It was weird. Her old friends had been supportive, but she hadn't let them see her, maybe...she should have.
Megumi sighed, no, these were all mutants, her old friends would have been terrified.
"Morisato-san," Readman's voice called out sharply. Megumi snapped out of her reverie and looked up. "Please do not brood in my class, we have things to discuss."
~Don't worry,~ a voice said in Megumi's mind, and she looked over to see Mutsumi offering her a smile.
Well, if she later had her fears about her old friends proved, she could find some new ones.
****
"So," Ranma said. "I guess we're the left-overs."
"This does make sense," Fuujin said. "I was trained for my entire life by my clan. Millia by hers, and Ranma by his...such as it is."
"Thanks for putting it politely," Ranma muttered irritably.
"Yeah," Millia said. "None of us have exactly had a conventional education."
"It will most likely be a series of tests to determine our ability so they can place us in one of the other classes," Fuujin said.
"That's what Nabiki said," Ranma agreed, nodding. Then his brow furrowed. "Then she said something about me getting a class of my own..."
The two girls snickered at that. Ranma's unorthodox education, after all, had been far less rounded than either of theirs. About the only time Ranma applied his somewhat high intelligence was in a fight or fight-related situation.
****
Classes on power-use were relatively easy after that.
****
The classrooms for these classes were much larger, more like gymnasiums than classrooms. They were nothing compared to the school's danger room, which the original six ascertained was nothing compared to the Xavier school's danger room, but they were still excellent for the practice of potentially dangerous powers.
"Concentration and control are highly important to the use of the majority of mutant powers," Yomiko Readman insisted firmly. "Some of you," she eyed Mutsumi, Ranma, Lain and Keiichi. "Have much greater need for it than others. I shall be spending as much time as possible with you discussing advanced techniques of control. But you will all be firmly capable of maintaining your concentration."
****
Nabiki was huddled in the back, trying to avoid being noticed.
"Good afternoon," Kasumi said, bowing politely. "Now, I shall spend most of my time with Yanagiba Masahiko as a fellow shapechanger, but I believe most of you shall spend at least a little time with me."
"Tendo-sensei," Lain said, raising her hand hesitantly. Kasumi favored her with a beaming smile.
"Yes?" she asked. Lain seemed to hesitate and try to beg off. "Do not be afraid, dear, go ahead and ask."
"Uhh...What can you teach us if we're not a shape-changer?" Lain asked, after taking a deep breath. Kasumi nodded, having expected the question.
"Quite simple," Kasumi said. "I have three basic powers really, I can change into animals, speak to them, and to a small extent command them. I am not a werecreature out of the western myths, bullets will kill me as surely as anybody else."
"So what good is it to become a tiger if all it takes is a bullet to take you down?" Keitaro asked.
Kasumi gave one of her smiles.
"Well, quite the point isn't it," Kasumi said. "What facet to use of your powers, and when. Quite a puzzle. As is trying to find new ways to use those powers. Teaching these skills, I believe, is my assigned task."
"And baking too," Mutsumi quipped, drawing a quiet groan from Nabiki.
"How can you just sit there like that, Ranma?" Nabiki whispered to the martial artist.
"What?" Ranma asked, confused.
****
"Question," Nabiki said.
"Yes, Tendo-san," Sunfire asked, gesturing in a way to encourage her to continue.
"I suspect I know the answer," Nabiki said, confidently. "But why do we all attend classes on energy projectors?"
"Of course that is to know the ways in which your teammates and some possible opponents operate," Sunfire responded. "Is that the answer you were expecting?"
"Yes, Yashida-sensei," Nabiki said nodding.
"However," Sunfire continued. "Most of you will only see me occasionally, having one of the other faculty teach you in your inborn specialty."
****
"It's pretty simple, isn't it?" Masahiko asked. "You just hit stuff right?"
Ranma, Fuujin, and Millia all turned a look on Masahiko that suggested that he may have said something untoward.
"Just hit stuff?!" Fujisawa responded. "You think that's all there is to super-strength and speed? You have a long way to go."
"I don't have super-strength or speed," Masahiko said.
"But you'll still need to know how to fight," Fujisawa said. "Now while they're not in other classes, Ranma, Fuujin and Millia shall be my teacher's assistants for this class. At least for the fighting aspect."
"What other aspect is there to super-abilities like that?" Nabiki asked idly.
"Nabiki," Fujisawa said. "Could you get me two of those glasses over there?"
Nabiki blinked and looked to the items in confusion. Though she had been wondering why they were there. She shrugged, appearing a little uncertain, as she stood up and walked over to pick up two of the glasses.
They shattered in her hands to her surprise.
"Fancy yourself clapping someone on the back and accidentally shattering their spine?" he asked the suddenly pale Nabiki.
****
"And what about Kenshin," Readman asked.
"He is a difficult case," Yashida commented.
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(Posted Mon, 16 Dec 2002 19:11)
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