Volume 14 - Onward and Upward, Chapter 103 - Iormu-sensei

"Iormu-sensei, Iormu-sensei!" called a young boy in a slightly raspy voice.

Iormu marked her spot in the book she'd been reading aloud and looked up at the children gathered around, sitting on pillows. "What is it, Taky?" she asked, even though she was pretty sure she already knew.

"I'm cold!" Taky proclaimed. He had spiky light brown hair, wide dark-irised eyes, and black and yellow scales on his cheeks. A prominent stripe ran down his neck and all the way to the tip of his thick tail. "Can I sit over there in the sunlight?" he asked, pointing to a spot by the window where a sunbeam was shining.

Iormu had to fight to not roll her eyes. She knew that if she let the lizardboy sit in the sun, he'd immediately fall asleep, just like he did every day.

Taky looked up at her with his best pitiful begging expression until Iormu finally said, "Fine, but only sun your tail. I can't have you falling asleep again."

With that, a wave of giggles ran through the group of children. It had only been a few days since class started, but the other kids had all noticed Taky's napping habit.

Taky scampered on all fours to the sunny spot, realized he had left his pillow behind, then returned to grab it. The other kids' giggles escalated until Iormu raised her free hand and cleared her throat.

Once the kids had quieted down, Iormu continued reading aloud from her book, which was about the culture clash of a lamia village's first encounter with humans. Since it was written for kids, the story avoided mentioning the sexual tensions that had surely occurred in such a meeting.

When the story had finished, Iormu was pleasantly surprised to see Taky still awake. She couldn't be sure whether it was her tail-sunning restriction or his keen interest in other reptilian liminals that did it.

She closed the book and made brief eye contact with each of her six liminal students. Then she said, "Now who can tell me why the humans returned to the village with a ship full of random objects?"

The children hummed and whispered, but only one raised her hand, a kobold girl. Iormu nodded at her and said, "Yes, Karli?"

"I think it was because they hoped the lamias would be dumb and think it was rare treasure and buy it all from them," Karli answered, her fuzzy brown ears raised proudly.

"That's partially true. Remember that these lamias had never been off their island. To them, even simple trinkets actually were rare treasures." Iormu decided to go a bit deeper with the explanation, even if some of the kids might not fully understand, "And depending on which things the lamias thought were special, the humans could learn how advanced the lamia society was."

Pwess, who was sitting closest to Iormu's left, nodded slowly like she partially understood, but the rest of the children looked lost. Pwess was quicker to figure things out than the other kids and she knew it, so she usually avoided answering questions until the others had caught up.

Iormu said, "Here's an example to help you understand. Do you think televisions are interesting?"

The children all smiled and nodded enthusiastically. They thought TVs were awesome, and none of the kids knew exactly how they worked.

"How about rolling pins? Are they interesting?" Iormu asked.

The response was much more subdued. To the children, rolling pins were just some boring kitchen tool. Even their association with making tasty pies and cookies didn't help much.

Iormu smiled. "Now I've learned that your society has advanced past rolling pins, but not past TVs, which are still interesting and modern to you. In that same way, the humans learned how the lamia civilization compared to their own."

"Ohhh," came the response from the kids as they started to get it.

Karli even blurted out, "So next time, they should come back with a ship full of TVs, instead of rolling pins! Then they could make the big bucks!" Karli's mother was Korbin's cousin, and it seemed that kobold-kind's world famous entrepreneurship ran deep in her family.

"Exactly," Iormu said, ignoring the fact that TVs didn't exist when the meeting took place. "The humans returned again with more of their best selling items, and soon they had a great trading relationship with the lamias. That relationship was an important step on the way to the Interspecies Exchange Act that brought you all here."

A small girl with green skin and bright pink hair raised an arm and a couple leafy vines too. "That's not what brought me here," she said matter-of-factly. "The bad men did, in their sneaky boat. And my aunties all rescued me!"

Iormu scrambled to find a way to redirect the conversation. The young alraune, named Cissu, had a pretty dark past that Iormu didn't want discussed in class. Cissu had been taken from her parents and smuggled into Japan to be sold on the black market as an exotic pet. She was rescued by M.O.N. nearly a year ago, but the elite task force had yet to find her parents, so they were presumed dead.

Iormu smiled warmly and said, "That's true, but the Interspecies Exchange Act is why you get to stay here and meet humans and other liminals. The Exchange Act is all about meeting new people and sharing culture, just like the lamias and humans in the story."

Then Iormu made an elaborate show of looking up at the clock. "Oh, look at the time! What does that mean?"

The children were all learning how to read an analog clock, to varying degrees of success, but they all recognized the current time and knew what it meant. "Recess!" they cheered in unison.

Before Iormu could even set the book aside, the six kindergarteners had jumped to their feet, or vines in Cissu's case, and bolted to the door. The ever-energetic Karli got there first, with Pwess and Taky just behind. Cissu was still a little slow at her vine-based locomotion, but that was nothing compared to Mona's slow pace.

Mona was a papillon, a butterfly-woman, or at least she would be someday. At the moment, she was a very chubby, very shy girl with insectoid eyes and four arms, but no wings. She was so slow to get to the door that another student, a white-haired nekomimi named Sam, stopped to help her.

"Are you alright?" Sam asked in a sweet, high voice. Despite appearances, which also included long hair, long eyelashes, and a penchant for wearing dresses, Sam was a boy. He didn't seem to mind when people mistook him for a girl, and he seemed far more comfortable in a dress than pants, so Iormu let him be.

Mona nodded, sending her drab brown hair sliding across her face. She wore it long, perhaps to hide her face, which was very round and plain. "I'm fine, but thanks for asking, Sam," she said quietly.

Iormu caught up to the children, opened the door for them, and followed them out into the courtyard. The liminal kindergarten was using an older side-building of the elementary school and they took recess at the same time as the human kindergarten class, which meant the children got to interact with human students every day.

However, the young liminals weren't very experienced with their often superhuman abilities, so Iormu had to watch them very closely and make sure no one got hurt. There was also the issue of misunderstandings between the human and liminal kids, often resulting in fights that Iormu had to break up. All told, recess was by far the most stressful part of her short workday.

Late afternoon sunlight streamed into a classroom onto desks that had been arranged into a large circle. A dozen business-dressed adults and a couple teenagers sat around the outside of the ring. A woman with a stern updo hairstyle and serious square-framed glasses stood up from her seat. Her gray skirt and white button-up shirt added to her look that screamed 'no nonsense'. She pushed her glasses up her nose, then recited, "Let the emergency school board meeting begin. I'm Akita Sakamoto, the Principal of Okayado Public High School."

Akita lifted a clipboard and read off, "Our first and only topic for today's meeting is 'The accommodation of the surge of liminal students'."

She sat down and glanced around at the other members of the meeting, then said, "As some of you may know, this school year brought with it a surprising number of liminal enrollments. When classes started on April 1st, we had six new liminal students in the high school, and several more have enrolled since then. I assume the high school is not alone in that regard?"

A brown-haired man who looked to be in his early thirties nodded and said, "The middle school has seen similar numbers. Well, slightly higher, due to the quadruplets." His eyes were tired and frazzled and just mentioning 'the quadruplets' sent a nervous shiver down his spine.

A girl meekly raised her hand. She was dressed in a formal skirt and jacket, but it didn't make her look any older. If anything, it made it even more obvious that she was just a teenager, seventeen at most.

Akita nodded in her direction. "Go ahead Keiko, Senior Class President." Akita always made a show of introducing her student representatives in meetings, because they weren't likely to get the respect they deserved otherwise. Adults, particularly those in government, had a terrible habit of underestimating young people.

The girl smiled nervously, since this was her first major meeting since becoming class president, then she said, "What about that report from Mister Korbin a couple months ago? He warned us he'd be hiring over forty liminal families, some with school-age children."

A man leapt to his feet, red-faced and flustered. "Don't go blaming this on me again! My department wasn't even aware of that report until—" His voice cut off when he noticed Akita's laser-sharp glare upon him. He sat down silently, still red in the face.

Akita leaned forward, her hands folded in front of her in a way that should have looked casual, but seemed menacing instead. "No one is blaming the City Council here. Our failure to process that report and act on it sooner was the fault of no single person or organization. Communication certainly broke down, but how we can avoid that in the future is a topic for a different meeting."

Then she turned to Keiko. "The report is part of why we're holding this meeting. While we have missed the window to react to the very first liminal arrivals, the report also indicates that many more will be coming. Ski Lodge Kobold is a winter sports facility after all, and by this winter Korbin expects to employ up to 60 additional employees that have children." She let that number sink in, then stated, "We need a long term solution."

Murmurs of agreement rumbled through the group. When they stopped, a very young looking woman raised her hand.

"I've been teaching two liminal children in my first-grade class, and while it's been a learning experience, I think we'd be able to manage a few more as well," she said. She had bob-cut blonde hair and a very kind, round face.

The middle-aged man from before, apparently a representative of Okayado Middle School, said, "A few more, sure, but what happens when your class hits capacity? Even if these were just regular human students, the current middle school facility can't handle many more kids."

Keiko spoke up then. "We must also consider the curriculum. Liminal needs may be different. For example, someone who grew up without electricity or gas might need a course more basic than Home Economics 1."

A man in the corner of the room was typing furiously on a laptop, presumably taking notes. He stopped typing, then raised his hand and said, "On a related note, we must also modify the curriculum for the human students, adding liminal history and social studies courses, in order to explain the non-human perspective and lay a groundwork of understanding."

A few people nodded in agreement with his eloquent point, but several more looked at the man in confusion. Not a single person in the room recognized him. Other than the new student council members and the mysterious man, the meeting's participants had all attended meetings together before and knew each other well.

Akita took action. "Excuse me, sir, but I don't believe you've been introduced."

He wore a slight smile as he pushed his long blonde hair back over his ear. His elongated and pointy ear. "My name is Elatha'ian, but you can just call me Ian. I'm with the Interspecies Exchange Program, and I was sent here to ensure there was some liminal representation in this meeting."

Several people cringed at that. Their meeting about liminal integration had very nearly been devoid of liminals in the decision making process, which certainly didn't seem fair.

The young elementary school teacher raised a hand and said, "They aren't present in this meeting, but we have hired liminal teachers. We just hired a, uh, jormungand"—she pronounced the word very slowly and carefully—"as the liminal kindergarten teacher."

The middle school representative added, "That's right, Tania. And we aren't just hiring them to teach liminal students!" He seemed determined to not come across as biased or racist. "An oni just started as a math teacher at the middle school."

Ian nodded and gave an approving smile. "That's wonderful. However, I advise you to invite those teachers to participate in any future council meetings that deal so heavily with liminal issues. I'm sure we can agree that representation of all involved groups is important." With that, he gave a knowing glance to Keiko, in reference to her representing the student body.

The teenager nodded, then tried to hide her face as she blushed at receiving recognition from the handsome and exotic man.

Ian still held everyone's attention even though he hadn't moved an inch from his seat in the corner. He said, "I won't dictate the specifics of your solution, but based on some upcoming legal requirements that I am privy to, I would recommend creating high school elective courses for liminal history and social studies, at least to start."

No one voiced any objection, so he continued, "For the history class, I'm sure there are some other long-lived liminals around that could provide the right big-picture perspective." His phrasing and elven features suggested that he was one of those long-lived liminals, while also implying that he wasn't available for the position.

"Um," Tania started cautiously. "The jormungand woman might fit that criteria. She seemed very well read, and, um, I saw her age during the hiring process." She lowered her voice, then said, "She's very old."

Akita stood up suddenly, drawing the meeting's focus back to herself. She didn't disagree with Ian's points, but she didn't seem to appreciate the way the elf had hijacked the agenda. She said, "All those in favor of adding those elective classes at the high school level?" As if we have a choice, she thought snidely. It sounds like they'll be required by law before long.

"Aye," the room voted unanimously.

Akita nodded sharply, then said, "As Ian suggested, I think we should start with just those high school courses for now. I'll report on the degree of their success in the next planned meeting, and we can discuss adding similar classes to the middle and elementary schools at that time."

Contented rumbles of agreement ran through the room and that topic of discussion came to a close. The next topic involved the budget and related concerns due to the incoming students, but it was resolved without contention. When it came to the finances of adding new students, whether they were liminal or human didn't matter much. If anything, the fact that the new students were liminals would make it easier to get financial support from the government.

The sun had fully set by the time the meeting came to a close. As everyone filed out of the room, Akita placed a perfectly manicured hand on Tania's shoulder. She smiled in a businesslike way and said, "Tania, I think I will take your advice from earlier. At your earliest convenience, could you introduce me to that jormungand teacher?"

Tania shrugged and said, "I can try, but she only works in the morning, since the kindergarten lets out at noon, and I'll be busy in class. Perhaps you could visit her yourself, at her classroom? It's the outbuilding on the east end of the school."

"Ah, that would work fine. Thank you."

The next day, as Iormu was making her way through the morning chill to her classroom, a woman she didn't recognize waved her down. The woman looked very professional in a blue pantsuit.

"Hello. Can I help you?" Iormu asked as she slithered to a stop. Whatever the woman wanted, Iormu hoped it wouldn't take long, since the chilly spring morning was sapping her precious body heat. It didn't help that the Iminu river ran right past the elementary school, bringing cool, damp air with it.

"I'm Akita Sakamoto, Principal of the high school," the woman said, then she pointed north toward the high school campus. It was only separated from the elementary school by some sports fields and a small creek, so Akita had likely walked over.

"My name's Iormu. Pleased to meet you," Iormu said.

"Likewise," Akita said, then she waved a beckoning hand and started towards Iormu's classroom. "Let's talk inside. It's a little cold out here." She was always observant and had seen Iormu shivering.

Once inside, Akita explained the high school's urgent need for a history teacher, and she asked if Iormu was interested in the position. Akita stressed that the job paid pretty well and that classes would only take two hours in the early afternoon while Iormu was already in the area.

After her pitch, Akita leaned against the doorframe and said, "Of course, the job only really makes sense for you if you like history…" Akita was feeling out how much Iormu actually wanted the job, since she'd rather hire a good fit than settle for the first option that presented itself.

Iormu's eyes lit up and she grabbed Akita's hands, engulfing them in her larger scaly ones. "I love history! It helps that I've lived through so much of it, but I've also read a lot about the time periods that I missed while hibernating."

Akita flinched in surprise, both at the sudden contact from an intimidating liminal and at the confusing info Iormu dropped. "Hibernating?" she asked.

Iormu let go of Akita's hands and scratched her chin bashfully. "Uh, when nothing's holding my interest, I hibernate for decades at a time, then I wake up during times of global turmoil. The huge reveal of liminal-kind woke me up this time." Iormu's red eyes met Akita's grey-green ones and she quickly added, "But I won't be hibernating any time soon. I've got a fiancee and daughter now!"

Akita nodded slowly, still processing the surprising information dump. Then she glanced at her watch and said, "I'd better go. I'm sure your students will be arriving soon. Please give me a call when you know whether you'd like the position. Sooner, rather than later would be nice, since the semester is in progress and I need to fill this position quickly."

Iormu took a deep breath, then blurted, "No need for the call. I'll take it! I'd love to teach that history class." She'd been loving her new job as a kindergarten teacher, but it only took a few hours of her day. She was also eager to try teaching older students, and being able to earn more money to pay down Quess's home loans was a major draw as well.

Akita blinked a couple times, then smiled and said, "Alright. Can you visit my office after your class? You finish at noon, right?"

Iormu smiled back. "That's right. See you then, Principal Sakamoto."

Akita left just before the first children started to arrive, walked up to the door by their liminal parents. Even Quess dropped off Pwess, on her way to her flower shop. The one exception was Cissu, who arrived in the arms of a massive blonde woman in a flowery sundress.

"Have a good day at school, Cissu," the woman said as she set the little alraune down on the path. "I'll be here to pick you up after class so we can continue our visit."

"Okay, Auntie Tio!" Cissu cheered, then the little alraune clambered through the door into the classroom.

The blonde ogre watched through the window as Cissu hugged her teacher then laughed with a young slimegirl. Tionishia turned to leave, knowing that Cissu was in good hands. As she strode away, she brushed a bittersweet tear from her eye. Being Cissu's 'auntie' was a wonderful feeling, but her visit to Okayado was almost over: she had to return to Tokyo that night for a special M.O.N. operation.