A Simple Experiment [Private]

Another Monday. Another week of monotonous classes that would eventually give her something useful for her future. Today had been their first day back from winter break and she had already overheard a ton of kids talking about what new things they had gotten for Christmas or Hanukah or whatever they celebrated. One girl had gotten a new phone, another had gotten tickets to a concert… One had even gotten a car. All the conversations going on in the room were extremely mundane and she didn’t even feel up to trying to partake in them.

Maybe she was just tired of everything that was happening lately. Her life had flipped and she wasn’t sure how to get it back on track… In all honesty, she wasn’t even sure if she wanted it back on track. “Pair up everyone. In light of it being our first day back in school, we’re taking a trip down to the lab.” Jumping a bit, the girl hadn’t realized that Nakamura had already entered the room. Their teacher was a slim lady with plain Japanese features. Her subject? Chemistry.

Looking around, the girl could tell that this teacher had successfully gained the favor of almost every one of her classmates. While Chemistry wasn’t exactly the best subject to be studying, nor one of an immense amount of interest, taking a “field trip,” even one to another part of the school, was better than just reviewing what they had been learning before Winter Break. “C’mon people, I don’t have all day.” Taking a breath as she looked back up at the teacher, the girl turned her head to look around the classroom, noting that almost everyone had located one of the friends and were huddled together just as they were in the beginning of class.

It’s not as though you didn’t see each other over Winter Break. Her expression was dull as the thought ran through her head. Her vacation had been pretty dry, bar that one day in the park when she had met that confused man.

Standing up from her desk, her light green eyes looked scanned the room, hoping to find someone who didn’t have a partner, anyone who didn’t have a partner. Even though she was a Marchant and supposedly had a lot of friends, she hadn’t really connected very much with anyone in her class. All the girls were into fashion, sitcoms, and art, while all the boys seemed to avoid her like the plague. Still… She would try… She had to at least try. Walking up to one of the more quiet-ish girls in her class Isabelle put on her most charming smile… She wouldn’t be last picked for this. “Excuse me Sara? I was wondering if you had a partner already?” Her voice was light and airy as she talked to the girl. “Sorry Isabelle. I already told Sachie that I’d be her partner. Maybe next time?” Isabelle could hear the sincerity in the girl’s voice as she went up to meet with her friend.

Looking around the room, it looked as though everyone had a partner... Everyone was a part of some group in which they belonged.

Am I really that undesirable to have as a friend? She knew she was being ridiculous. That everyone had these kinds of days, but it wasn’t supposed to happen to her. Even in her Youth Group she didn’t have this much of a problem pairing up with someone and she didn’t even believe in anything they were spouting. Returning to stand by her desk, the girl smoothed out her grey pleated skirt and picked her blazer up from her chair as she waited for the teacher to ask if there was anyone who didn’t have a partner yet… It would happen eventually.

In the back of the classroom, shadowed from the morning sun, sat one student who hand't moved since the he sat down. His head was low, the hood to the hoody he wore under his school uniform was pulled low, concealing most of his face. He sat with his chair leaning on its two back legs, his back resting against the back wall of the room. The steady rise and fall of his upper body indicating that he was sound asleep. When he got to the classroom earlier, no one noticed him as he weaved his way through the classroom to his seat. And yet, everyone know his name: Kazuhiko Tatsuma. He had earned a reputation in the school since moving to Karakura town. Everyone either respected him, or hated him. Most of the schools delinquents tried to fight his since his first day here, and by beating them, and standing up for those they targeted, he had earned the respect of just about everyone in the school. But no one every went out of there way to get to know him. Which may be due, in part, to his quiet demeanor, or that he spends most of his time alone.

Today, he sat quietly in the back of the classroom. He didn't have much of a 'break' the last few weeks, he spent most of the time either training, or chasing down hollows. He wasn't sleeping, not really. He was aware of what was going on in the room, but he didn't really care. He had little in common with just about all the kids his age, and none of his classmates knew that he had no family. "Kazuhiko." the teacher said sternly from her desk. "Kazuhiko Tatsuma did you hear what I said?" Kaz didn't move, didn't say anything, but under his hood he had a smirk on his face. "Kazuhiko Tatsuma! Are you sleeping in My classroom?" Again the teacher asked, as she stood. Kaz let his head roll to one side, and let out a light snore. This brought giggles and laughter throughout the room. The teacher walked towards Kaz's desk with a ruler in her hand, clicking of her shoes ringing out in the classroom. "Kazuhiko Tatsuma, This is your last warning." the teacher said, to which Kaz replied with another light snore. The teacher raise the ruler and brought it down to smack Kaz's desk. But, Kaz's gloved hand shot out and caught the ruler, stopping it completely. "Mrs. Nakamura, That would have made a loud noise. And could have hurt my ears." Kaz said softly, not trying to provoke the woman further. He glanced out from under his hood, eyes darting around the room. He released the ruler and pointed to the girl standing by her desk. "If its okay with you, Ma'am, She'll be my partner."

A small laugh escaped the girl as she listened to the teacher question the sleeping boy. Turning her head slightly, she could see the desk she was standing in front of and it didn't surprise her at all. So he actually showed up to class? The boy had a reputation... Whether that was a good one or a bad one depended on the person you were talking to. Personally, she didn't have a problem with him... She had never spoken to him... Nor had she actually seen him get into a fight. From what she gathered, the boy was the type that did whatever he wanted whenever he wanted to do it.

"If it's okay with you, Ma'am, she'll be my partner." Turning her head to see the poor girl he was pointing at, her eyes widened as she saw that it was pointing directly at her... Watching as the teacher turned her head in her direction, she stared at the ground, a part of her hoping that he wasn't actually pointing at her. "Ms. Marchant?" There was a questioning tone in the teacher's voice... The boy had no reason to want to be her partner. "I don't see a problem with that if she doesn't already have a partner." Glancing up, the girl moved to let another student obscure the view of the teacher, but to her dismay the entire classroom seemed to shift along with her. Blinking a few times, it took the girl a moment to process what had just happened. She had figured that she had one of two options when she hadn't found a partner... Either Mrs. Nakamura would let her do the experiment herself of she would be that awkward third wheel on someone else's experiment.

She hadn't actually thought about what would happen in the event that the class actually had an even number of students in it.

"Ms. Marchant?" Hearing the teacher say her name again, the girl let out a breath as she looked up at her. "Mrs. Nakamura?" Her tone matched the teacher's perfectly, almost mockingly, though the look on her face screamed innocent. "Do you have a partner?" Smiling as though in recognition, the girl tucked a few strands of her hair behind an ear before replying. "No Ma'am." Watching as a smile lit the teacher's face, the girl could only smile back, though she had no idea what she was so happy about. "I guess it's settled." Nodding her head, the girl picked up her things as she slowly weaved through the desks of the students, a smirk crossing her face as she stood in front of her troll of a partner.

"If you think I'm going to be doing this entire project... You're wrong." There was a note of sarcasm in the girl's tone as she smacked her notebook down on the boy's desk in the same manner the ruler would've have hit. If you were looking for an easy lab... You choose the wrong partner. Chemistry was hardly one of the girl's strong points. Did she enjoy it? Yes. But enjoying something and being good at it were two very different things. Picking up her notebook, the girl held a small smirk on her face as she heard the teacher asking if anyone else needed a partner... No one. Even if the boy hadn't made a spectacle of himself, they would've been paired together. "Were you actually sleeping?" Looking at the boy, she almost wished she had the same mindset he did. He stood up for what he believed in and didn't care about societal rules where she on the other hand cared a lot about what society expected of her. She had grown up on those expectations and every year the bar was raised higher and higher... What would happen if she no longer cared about reaching it?