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"I hate sports."

The Nancaan Elementary School's 25th Foundation Day was currently in full swing. All throughout the school grounds, various games and athletic events were being played out in front of Heather's bespectacled eyes. The teacher sat on the bleachers of the school's roofed basketball court, her head propped up on one hand as she turned her attention back to the court, lazily watching her boys take on their opponents from their sister class of 5-A.

"Don't be such a sourpuss Helly!" Beside the skulking redhead, a familiar brunette coaxed, her endless amounts of energy unbound not only by her lack of a proper teacher's uniform. "I know for a fact you'd kill it out there if you tried!"

A faint smile colored Heather's face as she turned to face her energetic colleague. Wearing a peach t-shirt and blue jogging pants, Alexa was quite the natural P.E. teacher, having spotted her absolutely destroying the oval track the one time that the redhead actually bothered to watch the faculty event last year. Despite her friend's adamance that she join at least one event, 'to flaunt her goods' as she'd say, Heather refused, citing her 'horrible case of nearsightedness' as a reason to weasel her way out of being caught out in the open wearing a t-shirt.

"For the last time, I'm not going to humiliate myself out there." The white sleeves of her jacket folded as the redhead crossed her arms on her chest. "I'm blind without my glasses." 

Which is true of course, her absolute lack of skill in any sport totally not coloring her decisions whatsoever.

"I don't believe you~" Heather schooled herself to keep a straight face as her fellow teacher refuted her claim with a teasing tone. "I've seen you without glasses Helly~ You can totally see enough to participate in something~"

Sweat ran down the redhead's neck as her friend called out her bluff. She sometimes forgot that for all of her clumsy, and airheaded attitude, Alexa was still very much a teacher in her own right. Can she deflect this?

"You know for a fact that my eyesight is as bad as I make it out to be, Ms. Dabachach." The redhead countered, taking satisfaction at the flinch she got out of her colleague at the mention of her last name. "My lenses are at least half a centimeter thick, if you haven't noticed."

"Stop calling me that~" The brunette whined, hands on her hips as she towered over the currently seated jacket-wearing teacher. "It makes me feel old."

"Then maybe you should stop calling me Helly then?" While not as grating as it once was, hearing the name sometimes still gave her a bad case of deja vu. "I'm just returning the favor till you stop Alexa."

"Never~" Heather chuckled at her friend's teasing cadence. "That's my name for you and that's final."

*BZZZZTTT!!!*

The shrill pitch of the horn blasted through their ears as the basketball game in front of them came to a close. 

"Over already?" She wasn't really paying too much attention, her banter with Alexa taking most of her time throughout the game. "Well, at least your kids finally got a break~"

"No way!" The brunette exclaimed, her naturally toned physique puffing out in pride and accomplishment. "As a P.E. teacher, I refuse to believe my class is gonna be beaten by a bunch of chaotic bookworms!"

"Well, let's find out shall we?"

The pair paused their banter in favor of checking the scoreboard, bragging rights riding on whoever was the victor of this early-morning showdown. Ruby and sapphire eyes squinted as the digital scoreboard displayed a close score of 45 to 47, in favor of class-

"Great job kids!" Heather watched as Alexa descended down to the court, visibly congratulating her class for the win. "You showed 5-B who's boss!"

"YEAH!!!!"

Heh. Well, that was to be expected. At least her kids put up a good fight. 

"You owe me a smoothie Helly!" The celebrating woman beamed at her, both hands still hugging her own little charges as they sauntered off out of the court. "See ya later at the ceremony!"

Deigning a reply, Heather merely flashed an amused smile as she waved at her friend's retreating entourage, before turning her gaze to her own kids, pride still welling within her. They may have lost, but at least they gave it their all.

"Hey." The redhead greeted as she approached her team of little athletes, hands-on her jacket's pockets as she bent down to their level. "Don't be upset, you still kicked their butt out there."

"Bu-but.. we lost Ms. Littman.." Her team captain, Flavian, sobbed. "We- we-"

"It's alright guys." Taking her arms around her team, Heather gathered them into a group hug. "You'll get 'em next year."

"Ye-yeah.."

"Now, let's get out of here." As much as she'd like to console her kids some more, they unfortunately still had a schedule to follow. They had to vacate the area for the upcoming program later in the day. "I'll treat you guys later, how'd that sound?"

"Th-thanks, Ms. Littman~"

With her team in tow, the kind teacher led them out of the covered court, white jacket stained with light tears as they were greeted by the early morning sun. The day was far from over, with more events about to take place later after the opening ceremony. 

Heather sighed in her mind as she mentally put up the itinerary for the day. She still had to gather up her students for the mandatory roll call during the ceremony proper. She just hoped that her kids won't have a stunt planned behind her back, what with the news of a VIP actually showing up later to give opening remarks. 

A principal sponsor of the school.. Now that was someone that was out of bounds for a prank, not if she valued her teaching career.

"Hey, guys?" Apprehension filled her normally confident tone. Heather had no idea if telling the kids to back off on a potential target would either stop, or entice them even further. "I have a favor."

"What is it, Ms. Littman?"

"If you see your classmates, tell them to hold off on any plans for just this one event." Confusion colored the boys' faces when she asked them for the impossible. "Especially Charlie. Please tell him not to pull something during the opening ceremony."

"Why Ms. Littman?" One kid, Julius, wondered. "Didn't you tell us to prank-"

"There's been a change of plans." Heather cut her student off as a black limousine parked just outside of the school gate. "Remember when I taught you all the importance of choosing your battles?"

"Like when we should avoid fights that we can't win?"

"Good Flavian." The redhead praised as she eyed the black-haired man exiting the luxurious vehicle. "This is one of those times that we have to avoid it. We have a very important guest today, someone very powerful."

"More powerful than the school director?" A blond boy wondered in curiosity.

"Yes, Klaus, more powerful than that." The man seemed to not notice them as he walked across the yard on his way to the school building.

"More powerful than you?"

"Yes." Heather doubted that she had the clout to even hold a candle against someone that essentially gives out her paycheck. "More powerful than me."

"Okay, Ms. Littman," Flavian answered, his eyes meeting his fellow classmates as they showed a strong sense of solidarity. "We'll tell the others not to mess with the ceremony."

"Thanks guys.." Breathing a sigh of relief, Heather let the kids split off to the locker room to get dressed. It was on situations like these that the redhead sometimes forgot that for all of their maturity, she was still in charge of 5th-grade students. They sometimes displayed a level of intelligence that exceeded her baseline expectations, a frightening thought considering that they're not even in high school yet. They'll most likely succeed in their chosen fields. Heather can already tell simply from the level of maturity that they occasionally displayed whenever she asked for a favor. Granted, each favor ended with a hefty dent in her monthly stipend, but it was well worth it if it's for the betterment of her students.

"Those brats will be a force to be reckoned with someday.." 

The proud teacher mused to herself as she walked back in to the court. There was no use going back to the faculty room at this point, seeing as some of her other colleagues were already doing last-minute preparations on the stage at the side of the court. Seeing as they'll need all the help they can get, Heather elected to simply aid on the preparations. The others can entertain the VIP in the faculty room, she just wanted to get this over and done with.

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