Jin's History Class Part 1 (Second Years Only)

Background music for Class. (Yeah, I know. I can't find the real one. But this will have to do.

Spoiler:

It was just another day that rose from the horizon to illuminate the night sky into morning. The blue sky was ever so majestic and apparent as the streetlights remained illuminated in the twilight. One man trudged through the streets in this cold early morning with a small suitcase. Outfitted in formal attire topping off with a red tie, Jin had finally roused himself from sleep for the first day of work. Japan is a very different country from China and the United States. Of course, this was obvious, but it was fairly unique in itself in many ways.

Days earlier, he had set up to be a substitute teacher for the school in the case one of the teachers would be absent for class. And today, he was subbing in for Class 2-A's World History teacher who had left for reasons unknown except for several key faculty members. Perhaps it was his connections that led to this. But, no matter. Jin just needed to do his job and that would be good enough as to no one would really complain. Hopefully.

Soon as he walked further, the Chinese man noticed a boy wearing what seemed to be the appropriate school uniform. As if heralding what is coming next, more and more teenagers came out into the open in the same uniforms with the only difference designated between sexes. Judging by the influx of students walking on this path, he was going on the right way. Before Jin knew it, he found himself in front of its gates where the flow of teenagers was entering into the campus.

"Kizuna Academy, huh?"

It brought back many memories of his own boyhood and teenage years. The man remembered he once obeyed the conformity through similar means. But today, he arrives on his own individual terms as a teacher. Not a student. It was big with a plethora of forest vegetation besides its boundaries with numerous sloping hills. And it looked utterly modern and clean. It is no wonder this school boasts of being "prestigious". Though, the true meaning of "prestigious" in China would never accept cognitive-inhibited hoodlums in their grounds.

Jin allowed his hand to delve deep into his pockets for his zippo lighter and cigarettes, but then it stopped there upon remembering he was in the school. No doubt that it is supposed to be a smoke-free environment. With a sigh, the hand was drew back empty-handed.

Without any further ado, he finally entered and started to make his way to the offices.


Upon signing in, Jin had introduced himself to several members of the faculty. Some seemed rather welcoming to his arrival. Others didn't seem to care too much of a newcomer in their workspace. He noticed the bell had finally rung for the first class of the day. But, his wouldn't come until the next, giving him some time to relax and enjoy a plastic cup of instant coffee of the morning to somehow relieve the tiredness from his insomnia. As he waited, his eyes skimmed through a copy of Enûma Eliš for the ninth time to indulge himself in its creation mythos.

The bell rang again to signal the end of the first class, prompting him to leave the offices for class. As he traversed through the hallways, numerous students flooded the path as they exited their respective classes for their own reasons. Passing by some, Jin received some mildly interested glances as they knew he was someone not originally here in the school. Walking up the stairs, he finally reached the floor where his designated class is located. Just as his fingers clasped the door knob, the bell rang again to signal the students to return. From the corner of his eye, he could see students of today's class were hurriedly entering from a separate doorway to the left.

Finally opening the door, the sight of teenagers in their seats greeted him. And likewise he returned with a small smile.

"Good morning."

What an odd month this was turning out to be for Lorielle. She had met a celebrity, she went to a sermon, and she also accepted a Faustian contract with a being of chaos. It was needless to say, a massive change for her as far as her life went. Suddenly she was finding a few of the similar doors she had seen in that area around Ueitawa. Those crimson doors would be in many places. Did they lead into that area as well? She would pull her white shirt to the side, on the way to school, showing the tip of the mark the Chaos had given her. ‘Yup. Still there…so is Yhoundeh…’ she would think to herself. There was never a moment since that night that she did not feel her presence. The Persona 'Yhoundeh', remained within her. It was not disharmonious; it just felt like something else was taking up space in her mind, heart and soul. It was rather hard to explain. She would at some point have to get over the fact that supernatural beings are a thing now and try to live with it. ‘Simple life right?’ she thought, sarcastically in her head. Either way, she would have to bother with school for the day, and it would be a long day. She could feel it. She may end up getting distracted from class, trying to inspect the mark on her, or perhaps talk to Yhoundeh once more. She barely said anything in her head, aside from gentle encouragement that was at the same time, passionate. Maybe she will try today after school.  She yawned several times on the way to the classroom, seeing as how she is now in a new class. She did not know why that made her yawn, perhaps it was an innate reaction in the lazy Lori. She would hopefully get to survive the day.

Walking in, she would yawn once more, and catch sight of a completely unfamiliar face. Namely, the teacher. He was very tall, and his hair was black. He looked very clean, and seemed pleasant enough to the students who gave him a greeting. She did not even notice the man, but she should have. He clearly had never been to the school, no matter how many excuses of forgetfulness she would like to have made, he had never been here before. But it was not a big deal to Lorielle. If anything, it was a nice way to welcome the new teacher. Passing the teacher on the way in, she would give him a smile. “Good morning, sir,” she said, showing him proper respect, before sitting in a desk near the back of the class. Maybe the class would turn out to be interesting, which was once in a blue moon for Lorielle. A class she could do well on because she actually was willing to do the work, rather than shrug it off was a bit unlikely. Nonetheless, everyone deserved a chance, no matter what. So she would sit up, giving another yawn, still tired, and would look around the room, for possibly any new people that might stop by. Who knows, she might meet a new friend here. Lorielle would see.

Weakness:

     It was too early. Too early to be cognizant, at least. Destiny ran a hand over her eye in an attempt to wipe away the drowsiness that was threatening to force her eyelids closed. Against her better judgment, the blonde had picked up her sister’s work hours at the restaurant her father owned. As a result, she had arrived home late, began her homework late, and, consequently, was late getting to bed. It hardly seemed fair, really. But the girl consoled herself with the promise that karma—or something similar, at least—would make it up to her in some way or another. After all, a day that began poorly normally turned out to be rather good.

     Startled by the sudden silence that fell around her, Destiny looked up from her desk, noticing that someone had come into the class. It wasn’t the normal teacher, however. No, this man was quite different than their usual instructor. He met the students’ inquisitive gazes without hesitation, and seemed at ease rather than distraught at the quiet. Yes, he was definitely different than most teachers at Kizuna Academy. The girl straightened in her seat, pushing the thoughts of sleep far away. She didn’t want him to get the wrong idea and assume she was a bad student, after all.

     Apparently she was too focused on staying awake and watching the teacher, for the sudden whining of metal against the school floor made her jump. A quiet squeak escaped her lips at the same time, and she immediately slapped her hands over her mouth. Her cheeks flushed dark pink as she glanced around, hoping that no one heard her. //Oh dear…that was embarrassing…// Turning towards the sound, she realized what had startled her: a classmate taking a seat beside her.

     She wasn’t quite as concerned with looking like a proper student anymore. Instead she raised her shoulders and hung her head, intending to look as small as possible. Her bangs should hide the deep blush on her face, and with enough luck, no one would comment on her little…“outburst”.

Shannon had been in her seat long before she had needed to be. It was part of her determination to return to her primary objective, instead of staying here forever. She didn’t dislike this place or the people; she just really wanted to go home. It was a strange longing she had been getting as of late. The thought could be shaken off with a bit of effort, however. For now, she needed to focus on this life. As the teacher greeted the class, she would nod, not saying anything. He wasn’t the normal teacher, that much she understood. It was a sudden switch that her brain had trouble processing. That’s when her brain began to try and figure out what was going on, only stopping when someone let out a squeak. She didn’t look directly at the person, but turned only her eyes that way. A smirk would have reached her face, if it could, “Amusing.” Was the only thing she said.

“Good morning, sir,”

He heard a girl's voice. Looking back behind, Jin saw a figure of a young teen making her way into the classroom past him. In response, he nodded his head back in greeting just as she sat back down to her designated desk. The student had just arrived around the same time he set foot inside this room, so he didn't give any form of reprimand at all. It would be way too... stingy. Through his honed hearing, the history teacher could've sworn he heard someone making a surprised utter as he scanned his vision through the body of students. It didn't take long to notice a down-cast girl within the group who probably made the sound.

But, Jin didn't waste any time as his feet started to advance forward to the main table that lay ahead the host of smaller desks. Once putting his leather suitcase to the side, his fingers grasped at a black marker that has been conveniently placed aside for him. Uncapping it, he started to write his name (or at least close to it) in large Japanese hiragana.


"Hello," Jin began as he sat the marker aside on the metallic threshold, "As you can see on this board, my name is Jin Zong Wu. You can call me "Jin". I shall be your substitute teacher whenever your usual mentor of your subject matter is absent for whatever reason. I hope to work well with you all and perhaps not bore you all to death like my fellow predecessors in teaching."

He bowed down again slightly from the waist to show equal respect before rummaging through his suitcase to recover a piece of paper with numerous scribbles of Japanese hiragana and a large textbook of the teacher's version of the student's text. His pupils quickly grazed through the note left behind by this class' teacher. Judging by what was written, it looks like he just wants Jin to work on where they left off. Egyptian history. Simple enough.

"Please open your texts to page thirty-two, class. We will be going over Egypt."

As they all would follow his command, Jin would likewise open the teacher's text as well. He had already given a quick glance over the subject material. It's fairly sound and shouldn't be too much of a problem. So he finally began his lecture.

"Your book will state that Africa is home to the second greatest civilization in the West, Egypt. The civilization they created was wealthy, religious, and monarchical. Unlike Mesopotamia, this country is politically united under a strong central authority. The kings' desire for immortality in the afterlife led them to create the most common landmark in pop culture. The pyramids..."

As Jin was busy speaking, his hands were busy elaborating his words through manipulating the black whiteboard marker through drawing specific symbols to help improve understanding. And perhaps, of course to help students keep themselves on their toes.

"The height of Egyptian power came under what we call the New Kingdom which lasted from 1569 BCE to 1081 BCE just when the Hittites in Anatolia became their most aggressive rival..."

Lorielle had been hardly focusing on anything, apart from her own thoughts. It was practically ridiculous how she kept dwelling on the issue. ‘But who wouldn’t?’ she thought to herself. It was too much to accept, and it both bewildered and excited her at the same time. Who knows what she could do with this newfound ability? What should she do? Before she could even begin to ponder that, she had heard a high squeak to the side of her when she sat down, apparently a bit noisy. ‘Or she may have been asleep…’ she thought. Though, the alertness of the girl, as well as her scanning the room for the source of the noise seemed to imply she lost her focus. Her face was rather red, and the girl had blonde hair somewhat similar to her own. Though Lorielle’s hair was more pale. ‘I probably look like an old lady …’ she thought. This woman on the other hand had a very healthy shade of yellow in her hair. The girl would quickly try to cover herself up in embarrassment. Lorielle considered saying hello to her, though it may make her feel even worse. In the end, she would reach her hand out to tap the desk she was currently making a hiding spot out of, to try and get her attention. If she did, Lorielle would smile, and wave with the same hand. “Heya. Good morning, how are you?” she would ask. It would be best to act friendly, and possibly meet someone new in the process. It was always nice to meet someone new, as she was in desperate need of something normal to hold on to after what had happened to her until she made sense of it all as best as she could.

She would also hear another voice, and turn to see a woman, taller than Lorielle was. Very nice violet hair and red eyes, quite similar to her own, perhaps more on the pinker side, whereas Lorielle’s had more of a darker tone, to scarlet maybe. ‘Great, another thing to think about…’

She would give a two-finger wave to the other woman in greeting. She would have said hello, however, the teacher, had began to write his name on the board in Japanese characters, and Lorielle would take a look at the blonde girl and give a light smile, before yawning once more and looking on the board at his name. ‘Jin Zong Wu? Come to think of it, I have never actually met someone Chinese while being here before…’ she thought. That was no doubt a Chinese name, which was interesting enough for her. Though she feared the class might not be when he mentioned what they would be learning that day. Not that Egypt was a particularly boring subject, just that Lorielle could not be asked to take it all in. Maybe she would just blindly take notes and look at it later….

She would pull out her notebook and a pencil, and start to jot down a couple lines of the bare bones material that he gave, until she set the pen down, and rested her chin on her hand, now propped up on the desk. She would close her mouth, and yawn discreetly. She took this time to take a look at the other two girls, maybe see if they had the same idea. Maybe she could focus on what was going on within her, but even that could not stop Lori from being the lazy girl she is. All she could think about is battling her eyes, which were already fluttering quickly, trying to remain at the very least, conscious.

     For a few agonizing moments, the blonde sat stiffly, waiting for some snide comment from a fellow classmate. Surely someone heard that silly little sound. It was far too loud to go unnoticed, and teenagers had this strange habit of exploiting the tiniest things.

     If she wasn’t so hyper-aware of the sounds in the room, Destiny might not have heard the quip from a girl seated nearby or the faint tapping on her desk. Her eyes darted to the corner of her desk and saw the hand there. In barely any time at all, her brain had jumped to the conclusion that whoever was trying to get her attention was merely going to poke fun at her. Really, who wouldn’t after hearing that ridiculous squeak? Perhaps out of morbid curiosity, the girl’s eyes trailed reluctantly to the female sitting next to her. Already confused by the smile, the friendly greeting made her mind go blank for a moment. By the time she recovered, the girl could only manage a “I-I’m fine.” in reply before the teacher launched into his introduction. The girl managed to shoot her classmate an unsure smile in return before she bent down and retrieved her notebook and mechanical pencil from her bag.

     Anything their teacher—now formally introduced as “Jin”—wrote on the board was immediately copied into Destiny’s notebook along with a shorthand dictation of the lesson. Who knows what the man might consider important enough in include on a test or homework? It was better to be safe than sorry when it came to new teachers, especially after dealing with the majority of the instructors at the Academy. Still, he didn’t seem so bad; the information was concise, the sketches reinforced his points, and he spoke clearly. It was an easy lesson to understand. Still, she was tired, and that impaired her ability to focus for long stretches of time. Hence why, after about five minutes into the lecture, her gaze began to trail away from her notes and instead settled on the people around her.

     The girl from earlier looked about as tired as Destiny felt, if not more-so. It was hard not to feel sorry for the teen, and the blonde wished she could just let her classmate sleep. But that wouldn’t be the wisest decision right now; after all, there was no telling how strict the substitute was, and it was better to not test the man on his first day. It might set a bad precedent for future classes. Checking that Jin was turned away from the students, Destiny used her nails to pry her eraser out of her pencil. In the next moment, she had flicked the white eraser at the girl. Should she have aimed right, it would hit the girl’s arm just enough to get her attention; if she missed, the eraser would land on her desk. Either way, Destiny would turn back to the board, a light smile on her lips. Hopefully her action was enough to keep her classmate awake for just a little longer.

Jin, as the new teacher called himself, was giving a lecture on Egyptian history. Shannon didn’t see how this would be of use to her, but she made a mental note of everything he said. She didn’t write anything, as writing down information while in the field was a big no for her. What if an enemy saw her notes? It was a strange feeling, having to sit in a classroom, but a role was a role was a job. She couldn’t complain, even if she wanted to, and she did. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a woman wave to her. It was a sly movement, one Shannon did not copy. Instead her gesture was very obvious. In this place, she was coming to understand that that the role she would end up playing. It was clear from the start, but now the idea of ‘kind hearted student’ was more concrete. It was strange though, the girl who had just waved to her looked off and was having projectiles thrown at her. Was this a battle? No. This was school. A place of knowledge, not war.

She would have stayed silent for the rest of class, if the teacher hadn’t said something weird. She searched what little she knew about Egypt, which wasn’t a lot, to see if she was mistaken, but she wasn’t. Without raising her hand, an idea that still baffled her, she stood up and spoke to the teacher, “Excuse me, but Egypt is not part of the West in any sense of the word. It is located in the Middle East, with Cairo being located at 30°2′N 31°13′E, and it doesn’t share the customs of ‘Western’ civilization. In that respect, it cannot be the second greatest civilization in the West. I would also like to know what the definition of greatest is. Do you mean it was the second wealthiest, or maybe it was the second longest lasting, or is it a subjective term? It’s difficult to take notes with these kinds of vague statements and inaccuracies.” Her need to make sure her information was correct was fantastic is she was among enemy ranks, but not her and not now.

Jin did not expect much of today in many respects. Most students usually possessed minimal knowledge of the subject material at hand. Consequently, the teacher took his job a little bit lightly by going about with what the book went with. Of course, the text did have information that is somewhat debatable to him. But not like any of these kids would care unless they were going for such a major in college. It seems whoever pulls the strings of fate did want him to have an interesting day today as a student questioned his words.

He paused in mid-sentence of the lecture with a quizzical look. This is a first. Certainly he did not expect someone to have such intelligence in this classroom. Perhaps she is one of the more smarter students around? Interesting. It took him a while to regain himself to look back at the girl sitting in her desk.

"That is true. But The concept of what is "west" on the world, has been debated and actually has several different opinions in the past. Especially when historians try to decide when exactly does modern history begin. Your text covers the first known "civilizations" in Western history. Of course, we say history if there's written remains of the civilization in question to divine what and how they lived. If you do not have text, then you do not have what historians would actually call "history". Archaeology is a different story, but this really won't be in the text. However, if you wish to learn more you can come see me after school."

Jin slowly closed the book as he was starting to get into the discussion with this curious student. He was almost done with the lecture and just needed to hand out the worksheet for them to work on here and take for home. Walking around the table set ahead of the desks, he leaned on it leisurely as if positioning himself to begin speaking once more.

"Hm, well I agree with your concern. Now allow me to state this. You're right that Egypt is within the Middle East. But it doesn't discount the fact it's also a part of Africa. And therefore it doesn't fit our definition of what many would call the West."

To support his point, the teacher rose from his posture and walked back to the board to draw down a huge map that has been supplied through the courtesy of the school. With a finger he pointed where Egypt would be.

"There. You can see Egypt is on this part of Africa. But it's also just right where we'd call the Middle East."

With a flick, Jin let go of the tassel that he used to bring the roll down to allow it to disappear back up to reveal the whiteboard again. Promptly he walked around the desk once more to retake the same posture on the desk. And this time with arms crossed over his chest to show some interest.

Most of our Western Civilization of the past, has derived some parts of Egypt as such in the instances of religious worship during the Hellenistic era with the goddess, Isis with what of the Ruler Cults in the Antigonid, Seleucid, and Ptolemaic kingdoms. And of course the idea of autocracy. Divine right of a ruler in the instances of pharoahs and some of the Byzantium Emperors. Julius Caesar was "inspired" by the Egyptian calendar to create the Julian calender which eventually was modified into the calendar we use today. Of course, he had the astronomer Sosigenes do this task anyway. Also please also note when I said that "it is the greatest second civilization in the West", I was somewhat regurgitating from the text and misspoke. Admittedly. I meant to say the 'second great civilization'."

He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly with a whimsical grin as certainly some of the students around would now be more astounded by the fact a teacher admitted a mistake. Jin ignored them to keep talking. Perhaps some teachers are a bit more snot-nosed around here in this school.

"They had their own fair share of accomplishments, of course, in architecture and along with the hieroglyphs where they probably have gotten the idea from the Sumerian Cuneiform. And remember when I said what is "west" is debatable and what history actually means? It has been agreed that what we know of Western history began with Mesopotamia and Egypt. They are one of the first known civilizations in the "west". If there were other civilizations earlier in the part of Europe, I would've told you otherwise."

Then he stopped to finally get a breath from his long-winded lecture.

"Good questions. Keep bringing them up. It'll actually help me from degenerated from boredom. Hahaha..." Jin chuckled, Oh and what's your name?"

OOC: Oh jeez. I had to go through history notes for this. Don't go too hard on meeeee! T_T

Lorielle would give her a smile back when she put on the best one she could muster. Probably still embarrassed, or rather, what Lori would like to assume, not eager for the class. Though the same could be said for Lori, as she began to rest her head on the desk, not really trying to hide that she was clearly sleeping. Her eyes were fluttering very slowly, and her eyes began to close. However, it would not be long before she felt something small hit her arm. She was agile sure, but surely not while asleep and for the most part, not mobile. She would lift her head almost immediately and shake it, looking to the side where the object hit her. A small white eraser from the end of a mechanical pencil would roll off the desk after bouncing off of her arm, and she would look at the source, presumably the same blonde from earlier. ‘Too tired…..think….can’t…..Marker…..no eraser…’ her thoughts jumbled. The eraser at least got her up. Hopefully she could hang on longer due to her “signal” whether it was intentional or not. Her eyes still fluttered very slowly as she sat back up, leaning against the back of the desk, crossing her arms and squeezing her forearms to try and get some reaction from her body. She had to do something while the Professor would drone on. Not that he was boring per se, but Lorielle did not need a lesson so early in the morning.

Though, it would get fairly interesting when the girl with the pinkish eyes spoke up. She could not tell specifically what she said, as she was too busy trying to yawn, and stop her head from slowly lowering herself back to sleep. Though the teacher did not seem too frizzled, and went on to explain how west wasn’t west or something. ‘I suppose I might be western to those who are native to Japan. England England!’ she thought. Lorielle yawned, her thoughts starting to get less and less coherent due to her weariness. She would rub her eyes and keep her eyes wide open, trying to hold on. She did manage to stay up a bit longer, and she would turn to the blonde, lowering her head behind the student in front of her and made a grin, her lips mouthing the word “Thanks”.

Looking outside the window past the blonde, she saw the little snow that would be on the ground, though the word “snow” may be too generous. It was barely frost, and even the weather was starting to warm up. Winter was slowly coming to an end much to Lorielle’s distaste. She would not be looking forward to the heat that would be coming when the snow finally left Ueitawa.

     // Impressive. // Destiny glanced at the girl who had posed a rather complex question to their substitute. How did she know the exact location of Cairo? True, that information was readily available for any and every one online or in an atlas, but the blonde had never heard anyone rattle off coordinates that easily before. Even some of the most well-traveled people she’d ever known had trouble recalling the difference between latitude and longitude. Perhaps her classmate was a geography buff? Or perhaps Egypt in and of itself was a point of interest for the girl? With these thoughts littering her head, Destiny continued writing down what Jin said, even though she was hardly paying attention to the meaning of the words anymore. By the time he’d finished his short speech, the girl was staring intently at her notes, her head tilted to the side. Scanning the characters on the page, her lips twitched as she read quietly to herself. It took a minute before the information actually made sense, but she didn’t mind taking the time to solidify the facts in her head; after all, their teacher had moved on to the typical “so, tell me about yourselves” phase that substitutes loved to kill time with, so the girl took that as a signal that a majority of the lesson had been presented already. Finding nothing else to occupy herself with, Destiny glanced at the girl next to her, curious as to whether or not the girl had taken the hint.

     // Oh good. She’s awake. // She felt her lips twitch slightly, a hint of a pitying smile present on her features. The poor student still looked ready to pass out. Destiny only hoped that the girl could stay awake just a little longer; after all, her eraser was lost now, and there was nothing left for her to throw in order to keep the other girl on her toes. Well, she could always tear off bits of paper as projectiles, but Jin would probably get suspicious if a miniature mountain of paper balls suddenly appeared on the floor and on a particular desk. It was better to let the student handle herself. Still, the blonde couldn’t help but feel bad, as if there was something else she could do if she just thought hard enough. The small, soundless “thank-you” aimed at her, however, made her feel just a bit better.

     With the lecture at a sudden end, the teen took to doodling in her notebook. It was all purely class-related things, of course. A pyramid here, the Egyptian flag there. Still, her eyes glanced up every few seconds, making sure that the teacher wouldn’t catch her off guard should he have the sudden desire to hear everyone’s names or some other piece of personal trivia in an attempt to better understand the class. A typical substitute used icebreaker methods like that. Then again, Jin didn’t act like a “normal” substitute; perhaps they’d be doing something entirely different? Destiny supposed she’d just have to stay alert and tune into the conversation going on at the front of the room to find out.

“Shannon.” The answer to his question was short and to the point, “I wasn’t aware of this information before. Thank you, Jin-sensei.” She didn’t understand the explanation completely, but at least she now knew. Though, she did wonder when this would be useful. Maybe if she ever tried to infiltrate a museum of history, “Though I also believe that it would be better to have a set definition instead of a vague one. It would help with taking notes at least.” By notes, she meant mental notes. She didn’t carry a single notebook with her, “In all honesty,” She was switching topics suddenly, “perhaps you shouldn’t teach something that bores you. Or, if you need more excitement, maybe it would be best to spice it up.” She didn’t know what she meant by that, but it seemed like something a normal teenager would say.

"You're welcome, Shannon," Jin smiled back gently.

What an interesting girl. It was one thing to disagree the teacher with concern about something, but it was another thing to state out the exact coordinates of Cairo. Certainly he would have to keep an eye on her. Maybe this school won't be too boring after all. Maybe there's more kids like this one?

"Well..." the Chinese man paused for a moment as if collecting his thoughts. But finally he smiled a bit as he replied, "I guess you can say it's a bit complicated. I'll keep that in mind, Shannon. Thank you."

From the corner of his eye, he noticed one of the students had been yawning from the verbose lecture. This prompted him to look up at the clock. It was getting closer to nearing the period's end. A quick lecture and break down would have to do. After all, they are assigned to read up on this subject matter for themselves as homework... and with a worksheet to boot.

"Yeah, I know. My lecture's a bit boring. I don't blame you. Just bear with me and we'll get it through as fast as I can. Ok? Oh and whenever I'm teaching, you can drink or eat in here. At least it'll stop you from going to sleep. Just remember to clean up any mess you happen to make."

With this said, he finally began the lecture again. The figures he drew on the board were drawn more quickly, but a slightly sloppily. But occasionally he made corrections to make it much clearer for understanding.

"The geography is what had a great impact in Egyptian history. The people that lived there were grouped in farming villages in a narrow band of land along both sides of the Nile. Irrigated farms extended several miles away from the river's banks. The Nile overflowed these banks once every year for several weeks. This flooding is attributed to the melting snow from the mountains of central Africa. Such predictability and gentle flooding enriched the soil near the river with nutrients with silt and diluted harmful deposits of mineral salts..."

At the corner of his eye as Jin kept speaking, he noticed the clock was quickly ticking near the end with his lecture. There was still a lot of time. So the lecture continued regardless.

"Unlike the random deluges in Mesopotamia, the Nile's flood occurred at the same time every year and benefited the land. Trouble came only if dry weather in the mountains kept the river from overflowing. Deserts east and west of the Nile protected Egypt from invasion, except through the Nile delta in the north and on the southern frontier with Nubia..."

He stopped abruptly to begin drawing out a sizable stack of papers from the suitcase. Quickly, with one eye still on the dual hands of the clock, the teacher started to pass out the worksheets to them.

"This is your homework due in two days. I decided to just pass them out to you right now since the clock is ticking. I'm done with the lecture. Just read the section on the Nile river along with working on the worksheet. I already summed up its importance at the start."

Lorielle remained locked into battle with sleep and being awake. Good thing that eraser gave her the incentive, or she would have never started to rub her eyes again like she did just now. The girl who was questioning the teacher seemed to know what she was talking about. But to Lorielle, it was not the teacher’s fault she was extremely tired. Nothing could save her really. She could not do much in her mind, until the teacher had spoken up gesturing to the obviously sleeping girl. “No….” she said at a slightly hushed tone. “Sleep…not well….” She managed before she yawned once more. She would lightly headbutt her forehead on the top of the desk and shook her head. ‘Dammit all. Not enough,’ she thought.

She would lower her head deciding to give up in a second and just sleep through it all, until she heard the magic word: “homework”. ‘Oh bullshit. Can things just die in a hole somewhere…?’ she thought. Madness seemed to be never truly far off from her mind lately, whether she was tired or not. She would not grab the homework unless she felt it on her desk, or if she felt it flutter to her feet. She had no choice after all. Maybe that one girl she could say hi to after class. She did save her for a moment after all.

     When Jin suddenly tumbled back into a lecture, Destiny fumbled with her pencil, hurriedly returning to her notes. He was speaking a bit faster than before, probably since the class was nearly over. Still, the girl almost felt dizzy as she glanced back and forth between the board and her paper, and her Japanese characters were getting a little sloppy.

     // Thank goodness… // A small, relieved sigh escaped her lips when Jin’s lecture finally came to a close. Despite the cramp in her hand, she finished copying one of the sketches on the board before she set her pencil down. She opened her dominant hand, flexing the fingers lightly. Hopefully the other classes today wouldn’t be this intense writing-wise; the girl feared her hand would fall off otherwise.

     Destiny glanced through the worksheet the moment it landed on her desk. It didn’t seem so hard, really; a few short answers, some multiple choice, nothing extremely in-depth. She suspected it would take only an hour or so to finish. She was pleased, however, that some of the answers were already in her notes. Either the substitute was very good, or he was aiming for brownie points with the students; either way, he made the blonde’s life much simpler, and for that she was grateful.

     Seeing as the lecture was finished, Destiny began to put her notebook and homework away, taking care to keep both from getting crushed in her bag. With nothing else to do once she was finished packing, the drowsiness from earlier was started to poke at her again. In an attempt to keep herself occupied and off of the subject of sleep, she fiddled with her fingers, hoping the dismissal would come quickly.