Mr. Abrams: “Why should you be the only student I allow to leave? Wouldn’t such a blatant showing label me as showcasing favoritism and have the other students accusing me of unfair treatment? It wouldn’t be ‘fair’ to them, would it kid?”

Noel: “Excuse me? Umm, I… don’t see a problem with that, actually. If they wanted to go, then they could’ve also come to ask you. I only wanna leave because I’m not going to benefit staying behind inside of that classroom for so many hours. Whether I study the materials you people gave to everyone in class or sleep away the ‘free period’, both options lead to a waste of my time… with the last option directly ruining my sleep schedule. As you can see, it would actually be counter-p my school experience here.”

Mr. Abrams: “Is that all that’s troubling you? Haha: then you should feel at ease. Next Friday I will bring higher level material for you to study. The kind that our senior Hero High School students are forced- errm…

*Cough – Cough*

*Ahem*

…are required to learn. In this way, you will have something productive to do, without bothering the other students, and during your free period time, there will be no reason for you to disturb your sleeping schedule by sleeping. Everybody wins~”

Noel: “...No, NOT everyone wins- I don’t win! There isn’t a chance the class won’t be disturbed by me casually learning from FOURTH grade school materials! I’ll be isolated form the rest of the class, and they’ll instantly start making a big fuss over the matter! Besides-”

Mr. Abrams: “That problem is easy enough to solve. Who do you take me for? I can just disguise your books as 1st year reading materials. If anyone asks you for guidance, just have them explain the problem to you, instead of handing over your higher level-but secretly disguised workbook.

You see? Not that big of a deal.”

Noel: “...Even if that’s the case, that isn’t the problem! First there isn’t any guarantee that I won’t already know that stuff, or pick it up quickly and get bored again. Even if you hand me 5th year work, then what will I do after my freshman year? Should I never get a free period again?

And besides! If I only study this year, I will have wasted my first year of high school!”

Mr. Abrams: “…”

Noel: “I-It’s true!”

Mr. Abrams: “...Explain it to me, then. Because right now, I don’t follow.”

Noel: “Fine…! You said it yourself, didn’t you? That I was missing a lot of knowledge about ‘normal people’ and that MY personal standards are too far apart from society’s normal standards...right?”

Mr. Abrams: “Which ‘Society’ are you referring to? regular earth society or ‘Hero Society’? And well, yes, I did say that, but that doesn’t mean I can give you the right to-”

Noel: “SHHHHH! Mr. Abrams, I would appreciate it if you did not interrupt. That’s highly rude.”

Mr. Abrams: “…Okay. Go on then.”

Noel: “Thank you. Now, where was I…

*Clears throat*

Our schedule is already COMPLETELY full and we have NO breaks in between. You guys are absolutely trying to kill us!! But, I can relent that full schedule because I’m smart enough to finish everything in one sitting.

HOWEVER!! I still need time to learn and adjust to the other students’ pace here, and I have too too much I’ve never seen before, or only vaguely gained a rather shallow understanding of. I’m not allowed to leave the Dorms after school is done and we freshman aren’t being given the right to join clubs after-school, so WHEN exactly do you plan on letting me have free time...hm? I’m… not like them. I have other things I want to-- I need to study. And this free period is the only time I can use it to study the thing I don’t understand the most.”

Mr. Abrams: “...(Dammit, when he puts it like that, we definitely seem like a prison school! This would probably be illegal anywhere except here in Herotopia, and for any other school in this country except for those that produce Heroes or literal super soldiers that protect the country’s borders.)

And what is this… thing… that you wish to study during free period?”

Noel: “People.”

Mr. Abrams: “…”

Noel: “I-I mean...well, yeah, because my ‘family’ is different… I don’t want to screw something up. Besides, my big brother, Aeron taught me things, but he mainly leaves some stuff out on purpose because he wants me to learn on my own. The problem with that is… I don’t know what he left out! So I- well, I want to learn from the other people around this school. Learn from them, and I won’t mess things up when I’m with others from class. So… can’t you see how pitiful I am??

*Breaks out puppy dog eyes*”

Mr. Abrams: “...Honestly?

...No. But I DO understand what you’re telling me. Your goal is to ‘adapt’ properly (And cause less problems…). For that reason ALONE...I’ll grant you permission…”

Noel: “…! Y-!”

Mr. Abrams: “BUT! There are a few rules you must always follow before I can allow you your freedom.

1st Rule:) You can not leave if you still have school work to complete. After all, you come here to ‘learn’ and not to play.”

Noel: “I am NOT playing…! Technically speaking, Mr. Abrams, this is also a form of studying. Since Free Period is for us to ‘study’ then my ‘studying humans’ still counts and I should be allowed to go ahead with the proper ‘studying’ procedure. Don’t you think?”

Mr. Abrams: “...No. that technicality isn’t worth thinking about, because… *Ahem* I could just casually hand you a diagram describing the full anatomy of both the male and female gender human bodies. And a couple of high level psychological books can take care of your mental or emotional worries. Maybe a few modern sociology and communication books in case you’re interested in how humans interact together. Somebody can even practice with you after they finish their work as well.

See? You would never have to leave the classroom.”

Noel: “...That’s dumb and really boring.”

Mr. Abrams: “...2nd rule:) I will assign student chaperones for you. If THEY haven’t completed their school work… then you can’t go.”

Noel: “WHAT?! WHY??! HOW is that even fair?! I don’t need others to watch over me! I’m TWELVE for crying out loud!”

Mr. Abrams: “…That isn’t a very convincing argument. In other people’s eyes, a twelve year old is still a baby.”

Noel: “Mr. Abrams. I can crush this school’s top freshman with ease. If you hadn’t intervened back then, that old guy would’ve been beaten by me!”

...

The air around the two of them changed in a second. Mr. Abrams overlooked this before, but it seems that fight on the freshman orientation day really struck a nerve within this pint-sized hit-ma...child.

That’s right, by completely focusing on the ‘trouble’ he brings, Houdini easily forgets that Noel, despite being related to that family – is still only a child. Was this the result of their ‘special situation’ where failure to achieve victory is not tolerated in the slightest? Who knows. But, being as old as he is, Mr. Houdini Abrams himself has a plethora of first hand experience dealing with these ‘runaway’ children. Every single one of the 12 families-- or should he call them the TEN families at the moment, has some.

The problem is, each of them are tricky to deal with, and have unique cases. Luckily, it seems noel’s case isn’t so dire.

Mr. Abrams: “Beaten? Don’t you mean ‘killed’?”

Noel: “!!”

Noel’s blood ran cold as he came to the realization of that night’s intensity. That’s right… he was so caught up in the bigger picture, the end result and that guy’s numerous trump cards that it actually slipped his mind about how hard they were fighting.

That’s right…

Back then, he was about to run his hand straight through the old mercenary.

He would have killed… again…

Noel: “I… didn’t mean that I wanted to… …… forget it.”

The mood soured into an awkward atmosphere and left the teacher confused over what to say next. This kid was obviously going to become gloomy, being that he clearly wants to avoid killing from now on, but isn’t he a little bit TOO depressed? Was this the result of some sort of trauma?

.

.

.

DAMN that family! They traumatize a brat family member, then throw him to others to deal with?? Why are they ALWAYS shirking their responsibility?! Such aggravating, stupid, useless--

Mr. Abrams: “Haah. Don’t worry. I understand that you didn’t intend to kill him. You were too caught up in protecting the class, and avenging poor Leos’s unjustified death that you developed a tad of tunnel vision. Now, enough with the moping! That day is done with – so quit zoning out already! Besides, it will be your duty to protect them if something unexpected happens, Noel. Can I trust you to do this for me?”

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