Social Studies 101

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The lights were warm in the April air as Amir sat on the edge of the wooden stage as the other students surrounded a large chest filled with many different costumes and props, a rather common scene as the drama club prepared to begin practicing their next show and the first of this school year after having returned from Winter break. However, despite his vested interest in the club and their activities, the violet-haired boy could not bring himself to join the others in their excitement as they gossiped their hearts out about something that had happened to a fellow student only a few weeks earlier. Wild theories about what had landed the young student council vice president in the hospital were ripe among most of the other students in the school and while Amir had not known the vice president personally, their gossip left a bad taste in his mouth and so he did his best to avoid it.
"Maybe it was some wild animal?" One student spoke as they placed a large feathered top on their head.
"I heard a rumor that there was a monster that roams that school at night" Another chimed in.
"Yeah, because the school was built on some kind of ancient battleground or something like that" The next student continued as they lifted a prop sword into the air.
"Or maybe it was a ghost!" One said, holding up a prop skull and getting a fake scream out of some of the girls in the group.
Amir himself wondered what had happened and while he tried to avoid wild theories, he felt the fact that the teachers seemed to be avoiding the topic altogether meant there was at least something bigger than could be explained or that the teachers knew just as much as the students. Both were troubling thoughts.
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Alysa scoffs as her arrow misses it's mark against the soft target at the end of the range. She wanted to stay after practice a bit to try and sharpen her skills, but her mind seems to be anywhere but in the present. Setting her bow down, she lets out a heavy sigh as she begins packing up her arrows, playing mindlessly with the balance of the crafted tool as she tries horribly to block out the whispers of gossip from her fellow clubmates.
"I bet you she finally just snapped. Little miss goodie-goodie probably just couldn't handle the pressure of classes and clubs. Probably just did it to herself as a cry for attention." One of the more pretentious of the group hypothesized, flicking her hair over her shoulder in disdain.
"Don't say stuff like that Rebecca!" Another girl hisses as she slaps the arm of the forewarned friend. "You know the captain and her are friends on the council together...or they were... errr I don't know, you think she's alright?"
"Psh, who even knows. Probably was just a prank or something. She will be back soon enough and then my parents will finally let me go out at night again. Stupid curfew..." The other says as they pick up there bags and walk out of the archery range, their whispers turning into louder comments and laughs that really got under Alysa's skin.
Alysa's mind was reeling with theories as to what could have led to such a dismal announcement at the start of school. She was almost thankful that she wasn't the one who was on campus prior to the semester's start, or perhaps she could have been the one attacked and left in such a state that... "No! I should have been there... I could have helped...maybe." Alysa said through gritted teeth as she dug her nails into the palm of her skin. She wonders if it even matters now, what she would have done, because the fact of the matter is that no one is telling the students what exactly happened. So who knows if she could have helped or not. There were a million questions she had, but no answers as to what happened to her friend.
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With the sound of a bell, club activities came to an end. While this bell would normally be more of a suggestion, the curfew placed on the students made it an absolute. The drama club quickly began to clean up, placing the papers they'd been given into their backpacks and the costumes back into the large trunk which was then placed in the back room behind the stage. Once this was done and they had all said goodbye to the teacher who supervised their practice they made their way outside of the Humanities building where they gathered and began to talk about the script they'd been given. Despite normally being the most vocal of the drama club, Amir remained distant as they began to speak about their parts. His silence did not go unnoticed and as the others made plans to head into town to continue their conversation at their usual hangout spot, a Cafe by the park they made a specific effort to invite him.
"Hey, Amir. Come along with us, we've got a lot to talk about before we can start real rehearsal next week. Besides, we all have to talk about what we did during summer vacation too. What do you say?" One of the guys asked, holding up the script in his hands.
"Yeah, My family went out of the country for vacation. You'll never guess where though!" One of the girls spoke, also extending the offer.
Amir smiled politely, raising his hands up to chest height and waving them. "Sorry, I'm just not feeling well today. Besides, I promised my Mom and Dad that Alysa and I would walk home together. I guess they're worried after...well, you know..." He declined their offer and his clubmates reluctantly went their separate ways as Amir made his way to the front of the school as he figured it would be the best place to wait for his sister.
Sitting on the steps, he looked out and could see the bustling city bathed in the orange glow of the setting afternoon sun with many buildings becoming silhouettes while others became more prominent as the night began to take over as their neon signs burned brightly. It was a beautiful sight and, if not for the warnings of how dangerous the city could be, he would think the concrete jungle was a modern paradise. After all, it was just as much is home as the actual apartment he and his family lived in was. Spending many hours in arcades, cafes, and the large park by the lake.
The sound of swift footsteps could be heard sauntering up behind Amir as he over his shoulder to see his sister bounding up towards him. Alysa outstretches her hands and places them on her brother's shoulders using them as a boost to jump in place before Amir manages to get up. "Hey! Sorry I'm late! A few girls were hanging around late and I had to wait for them to leave before I could lock up the club room." She said with a slight tone of annoyance as the two twins began their stroll down the sunset kissed streets towards their home. 
Though the streets of their hometown were etched into them like the initials they carved in the drying cement by their house, Alysa felt like they were smeared with a thick sludge that she couldn't trudge through; hiding the safe path that she had become accustomed to walking. Perhaps the words of her clubmates still hung heavy on her shoulders; bringing up hypothetical scenarios in her head of what might have happened to her friend... She wanted to push these thoughts from her mind, as not to worry her brother, but it consumed her and made her sink deeper into the thick mess of uncertainty she felt. She turned to her brother and saw that he too seemed to be staring off a thousand miles away at something he couldn't quite see. 
"So, uh, these girls I mentioned before... they were talking about what happened with Sayaka..." Alysa said as she began to play with the hem on her sleeve. "Though I doubt what they said was true. I mean it's not like they even knew her or anything! Plus I don't think their homeroom teachers have announced anything yet, at least not that I know of. But uh, I was wondering if you heard anything from the teachers or something, maybe? About what happened?"
Amir looked over at his twin sister with surprise upon hearing her talk about the incident but given that it seemed to be the talk of the school he knew his surprise was unwarranted. His eyes fell to the ground in front of his feet as he thought about what to say. "Uh, no, nothing from the teachers but the other students in the drama club were talking about it. Nothing worth repeating, just gossip and made up stories. Aside from telling us not to worry about it at the opening ceremony and the letter they sent home to mom and dad I don't think I've heard any of the teachers talk about it. Not even among themselves." He responded, a look of clear concern on his face as he shifted his backpack as the weight became uncomfortable. "I get not wanting us to worry, I do. But this did happen to one of our classmates, what about her friends? Or anyone else worried about her? Maybe they're just worried that if they talk about it too much people will make a really big deal out of it. Not that it isn't a really big deal already, but you know how adults worry about how people will see them. Maybe they're worried fewer people will enroll in the school?" He continued with his own ideas on why the teachers might be playing down the attack.
The two continued down their usual path home, passing the spring air turning a bit chilly as the orange had begun to give way to the Twilight purple and the shadows began to stretch out as the last bit of sunlight was hidden behind the larger buildings in the horizon. "It just doesn't seem right to me..." He said almost quiet enough to be to just himself. "Even if she's fine and they caught who or whatever did it, they shouldn't just pretend it never happened. I mean, it could have been anyone." He continued once again, a little bit of frustration in his voice but then he let out a sigh. "Maybe I'm just overreacting? I just feel like something is off and I'm sure everyone else does too or they wouldn't be gossiping so much about it, ya know?"
"No, you're not overreacting. Frankly I think people aren't reacting enough!" Alysa says as she throws her arms up in the air as if to beckon the heavens to respond. "Sure the school might be trying to preserve it's reputation or whatever, but hiding the truth isn't the way to go about it in my opinion. It's stupid..." She says with a huff as the lights of their apartment complex come into view. Looking up into the skyline Alysa can see that the windows of their apartment are lit with the soft glow of the studio lights, telling them that dinner would be ready in just a short while. 
Stopping in her tracks Alysa's determination seeps out through her clenched fists. With her eyes cast at the ground she reaches out her voice to her brother's ear. "You know she was a friend. Albeit not a very close one... we only really saw each other at the club council meetings, but I still knew her. And the fact is that all this privy gossip is only spreading doubt and worry, but no one actually knows anything about what might have happened to her. Someone needs to tell us what's going on." She said as she raises her head to meet Amir's eyes. The fire in her eyes was ablaze with the desire to fight for the truth and get down to the problem that was plaguing their school. "These stupid rumors have been going on for almost two weeks now since school started, and I'm frankly sick of it. We need to find answers so all this hearsay can stop. What do you say?"
He could tell that something had lit a fire in his sister's heart and while her enthusiasm was often infectious, he couldn't help but be nervous that she might have something a bit over the top in mind. "I-I guess that makes sense, but what do you have in mind? It's not like we're expert sleuths or anything like that." He said, but then he thought of what he would do if it had been on of his friends or someone he cared about. He gripped the strap of his backpack and took in a deep breath before trying to match the fire in his twin with one of his own. "You're right though, we can't just do nothing." turned to face Alysa with a smile that said he would follow through with whatever she had in mind just as the two reached the outside of the apartment building. "Let's just try to avoid getting in trouble though..." He added with less confidence than before as he pressed the elevator button.
Alysa nodded her head with gusto in agreement with her more level-headed brother. If they were going to go about figuring out what happened, they were going to need to avoid stepping on toes or arousing any concern that may land them serving some major time being grounded; or worse, they could be expelled... Though terrifying, Alysa waved off the thought of the latter as it was highly unlikely that it would come to that just for wanting to find out the truth about one of their classmates. The gentle beat of the elevator music served as the backdrop to her ponder as she tried to deduce a way to get some answers to the rumors that were circulating their school. 
"Well I mean we could always go the direct method and just ask one of the teachers." She said as she looked at Amir with a shrug of her shoulders. "Though it would have to be someone we really trust and would tell it to us straight if we were persistent enough. It can't be Master Inari, she's much too weary about the safety of the school and what not. Plus, she would totally tell mom on us." She says with a nervous giggle. Sure a teacher can be scary when they scold you, but the wrath of their mother when she is angry is on a whole other level that the twins have learned to avoid at all costs. "Maybe Ms. Amari or Mr. Aswad? They seem fairly nice and we both do well in their classes, so I would think they would like us enough to at least give us some form of comfort in what happened?"
Amir nodded as the elevator opened onto their floor, "That would be pretty direct...but sometimes the most direct route to your destination is the best one." He scratched his head as he thought about his sister's idea. "It's about a fifty-fifty shot that we don't get scolded for prying into things 'better left to the adults.'" He mocked the words once spoken to then by another teacher in their younger years. Though, that memory also reflected that they both seemed to have a habit of snooping long before this point. "I suppose it couldn't hurt to try. Hopefully, if we ask nicely we'll get finally get an answer and can put all those terrible rumors behind us." He continued before quieting down once the two reached the door to their apartment. Upon opening the door the two were immediately hit with a delicious smell coming from the kitchen and while he didn't have the nose cooking like his sister he found the smell familiar nonetheless. "We're home!" Amir announced he took off his shoes and placed them beside the door before turning to Alysa, "We can talk more about it before school tomorrow. Don't want Mom and Dad worrying or they might give us an earlier curfew than it already is."
"Mhmm." Alysa nodded with vigor at her brother's warning. If they were going to avoid getting in trouble they were going to have to be somewhat secretive about it. Maybe Amir and I should develop a secret language... Oh! Or maybe we could pass messages in code like the spies do! Alysa thought humorously as she dropped her bag by the door and bounded in towards the kitchen before giving her dad a hug on his back. Her nose was filled with the sweet scents of garlic and rosemary wafting from the roasting potatoes on the stove; not to mention how her ears perked at the sound of the sizzling fat from the steak that her father was basting in a pan. "Aw man, Dad! Why'd you have to start without me! You know I would have helped! I love preparing the spices and seasonings, you know that!" Her mother could be heard giggling from the other side of the kitchen's island. The petit blonde pointed to the cabinet with a taunting smirk on her angelic face. "Well dear, if you really want to help, how about you and your brother finish setting the table now? Think of it as penance for being a little late tonight." Their mother, Theia, said with a giggle as she turned towards her son and gave him a quick hug and kiss on the head. "Now how was school dears?"
Amir's cheeks appear red with embarrassment from his mother's affection, never quite getting used to it despite the near everyday occurrence. "School was fine, now that it's the second week of the semester we've started getting homework and the clubs have started meeting again." He explained, moving to help his sister set up the table. The two set out the dishes and silverware onto the able as they often did, finishing quickly before taking turns washing up before dinner.
"Dinner will be ready soon, just need to add some finishing touches. I'll be sure to let you help out tomorrow, Sweetheart. But I got home early today and couldn't help myself," Izar spoke with a soft smile and a small feeling of guilt as he knew how much his daughter enjoyed helping him prepare meals. "I'll even let you prepare the entree, maybe Amir could join in too?"
The violet-haired boy shook his head, remembering burning his fingertips the last time he had tried to help out with dinner. "Thanks, but if it's all the same to you I think I'll keep my distance from the Iron chefs." He voiced his concern for his safety in the somewhat competitive kitchen his father and sister seemed to rule. "What about you two? How was your day?" He asked, knowing his parents had rather interesting jobs.
Izar exited the kitchen, placing food on plates as he moved around the table, "Fantastic! I only had a few meetings today and some paperwork I could do from home so I was able to get here before you two got out of school, a rare pleasure indeed." He said, placing the last steak down onto Theia's plate and kissing the top of her head before moving back into the kitchen to set down the hot skillet.
Theia gives a slight blush at her husband's sweet affections as she grabs the salad bowl and pitcher of iced tea as she sets them down on the table and serves out some salad to her two children. "My day was pretty delightful, thank you for asking. One of my mages is making great progress in his magic, so I think I may recommend him for a rank promotion soon." She said with a shining smile as she takes her seat on one end of the table while her husband comes to join them. "I hope you both know that, now that your club meetings have started, I hope you both won't fall behind on your studies and let your grades slip."
"Don't worry Mom, we are both more than capable of handling what's on our plate. No need to worry!" Alysa chimes in with a million dollar smile to ease her protective mom's worries. As her dad sets the meat and potato dish down on the table, and the respective members each served themselves a hardy serving, the sound of clinking dishes and lively laughs through conversation filled the humble apartment of the Tasya family. When the plates were nearly clean and the conversation had begun to die down, Alysa pipped up, "Do you think I could be excused? Mr. Aswad gave us a pretty big paper to write about magic theory and I wanted to get started on it. I promise I will help clean the dishes tomorrow!" She says as her hands come together in a pleading motion.
"Could I be too? I'll help Alysa with the dishes tomorrow, gotta give it our all on our homework, right?" He echoes his sisters request to be excused with one of his own.
Izar looked at them for a moment as he thought before turning to his wife, the two nodding at each other before Izar spoke up. "Your grades certainly take priority over dishes, so sure. You two study hard, your mother and I will clean up." His lips curving into the warm smile of a father proud of his family, even though his lenience meant a lot of scrubbing and dirty dishwater.
The twins nodded and thanked their parents before heading grabbing their bags and heading to their separate rooms so that they could attend to their school work and think about how they might tackle the problems that might face them in digging into things they should probably leave well enough alone. The night passed quietly, the two eventually finishing their work and finding their way to bed after their own recreational activities and rising early the next morning to head to school and put their less than well thought out plan into motion.
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Amir was restless in his seat for the first half of the day, meeting with Alysa during lunch in hopes of finding either Mr. Aswad or Ms. Amari and finally get answers. He found his sister just outside of the lunchroom as they had planned. "I saw Mr. Aswad headed to the library and I know Ms. Amari likes to spend her lunch period in her classroom, so now we just need to decide which one we'll talk to..." Amir said, unsure of which they would have the best chance with.
Alysa adjusted the straps on her bag as she thinks over their two options and decides for the best plan of action. "I think we should head to Ms. Amari's classroom. If we want the honest truth it would be best to do in someplace private. So an empty classroom is the best option when compared to a potentially occupied library." She says with certainty as she begins walking through the hall towards their teacher's classroom, motioning for her brother to join. Reaching back into her bag she pulls out a plastic bag filled with baby carrots and pops one into her mouth and offers the bag to her brother. "How do you think we should approach this? Don't want her to get defensive and shut us out, ya know?"
Amir follows his sister, taking one of the offered carrots from the bag, "Thanks," he says before bitting into it. He drew out how long it took to chew the carrot to give himself time to think about Alysa's question, "Mother always said honesty is the best policy, so maybe we should just tell her we're worried about the vice president and want to know what happened? Ms. Amari seems like an empathetic person so she might be willing to give us more than what any of the other teachers would. But at the same time, she might try to lie to us to spare our feelings." He seemed to begin thinking out loud as the two moved up the steps toward the second floor where Amari's classroom was. "I don't really like the thought of lying but I guess it would be a half-truth to say that the rumors going around have really been bothering us and hope she's willing to put our worries to rest with the truth. Then, while I don't like to think about it, there's the chance that the teachers don't really know either..." He continued but trailed off right before they reached the classroom door. "So, now's the moment of truth, honesty or sob story?" Amir turned to his sister, trusting her with the final decision on their plan of attack.
Pausing with her hand on the doorknob, she turns to her bother with a smile. "Although I know you wouldn't disappoint if we went with the flare of dramatics; I think it is better if we go with the honest approach and say we are worried about the VP. Well let's see how this goes..." She says hesitantly as she turns the knob to open up their way to the classroom. The class was a very welcoming place, the large windows letting in light to illuminate the subtle decorations and eraser shaving left on the numerous desks. Ms. Amari was sitting quietly at her desk, nibbling softly on her sandwich as her eyes glance up to meet the two students that had entered into the space. "Well hello there, what can I do you for?" She said with sincerity and kindness laced in her voice.
"Hey Ms. Amari, sorry to bother you on your lunch, but we just wanted to ask for your help." Alysa says in the most polite manner she can while giving a slight bow to her teacher out of respect. Making sure the door was closed behind them the two twins approach the desk warily, still a bit unsure in their approach to the seemingly taboo topic of the school. Rubbing her arm as she cast her eyes down, Alysa began, "Well you see, Sayaka was a good friend of ours and we spent a lot of time at the club council meetings together. And well, I noticed she hasn't been around school lately... So I am just wondering what happened, or if she is doing ok? We are just really concerned about her well being..." Alysa said as she looked towards her brother for support.
Amir nodded, "Yeah, I admit that I've been worried as well but between the two of us I would say Alysa has taken her absence the hardest with the two being close friends and all. So she asked me to come with her to ask one of the teachers we trust most what was going on." Amir backed up his sister's story, trying to look like a bit distraught. "So we were hoping you could tell us what happened to our friend." He continued, glancing up to see how Ms. Amari was taking their words.
The purple haired teacher bit down nervously onto the nail of her thumb as she looked at the two twins and decided how to go about answering their concerns in a way she was allowed to. "To be honest, I don't know much about what happened that week before the semester began. But I do know that your friend is okay, she's in the hospital recovering but I hear she doesn't remember what happened either. The poor girl is a bit traumatized I'm afraid, but once she begins to remember what happened the Knights will be able to take care of things. So, while I understand your concern for your friend, the teachers and the proper authorities are handling everything so it would be best to just focus on your school work for now." Ms. Amari spoke kindly, though he words carried a bit of a bite to the Twins who felt that once again they were being given the run around about the situation.
Amir spoke up, "The thing is, there are a lot of rumors going around about what happened and none of them are very nice. So another reason we wanted to know more is to put those rumors to rest. So while we know the teachers don't know much about the case either, could you at least tell us everything you do know? Like who found her, or if there was anyone else who was supposed to be on campus that day?"
Amari seemed to get a bit irritated, unable to think of a way to explain things in a way that would satisfy the children and not violate the promise the teachers had given to the headmaster about keeping things unwraps until they knew everything. She knew the headmaster wanted to avoid scaring the students but it also seemed to breed mistrust between the students and adults at the school. She let out a sigh, "You didn't hear it from me, but it was Mr. Hayakawa that found Sayaka and got her to the hospital. I don't know anything else about it, and I doubt Mr. Hayakawa will be as open about the subject as I have been so please just leave things to us? You all will know what happened as soon as we do." She smiled kindly, hoping the twins would leave her be.
Amir turned to his sister, "See, we both knew none of those rumors were true. No one knows what happened yet, so we'll just have to wait until the knights finish their investigation." He said, knowing that trying to pry anything else out of Ms, Amari would likely be met with a full wall between them. "Lunch period still has about ten minutes, what do you say we find a place to eat and chat?" He asked his sister, knowing she would want to talk about what they learned.
Alysa let out a visible sigh of relief to show their teacher that they had accepted those answers and wouldn't pry further; though in the girl's mind she had many more unanswered questions but didn't want to risk putting a red flag over her head. "Yeah let's let Ms. Amari be," Alysa said with a soft relaxed tone as she turned to her superior, "Thank you so much for easing my worries, and I promise this'll stay between us." Giving a slight bow, the two kids walked out of the classroom while closing the door behind them and made their way to a bench in a deserted hallway; far away from the rambunctious noise of the students enjoying lunch outside. 
Alysa gave a small slap to the arm of her twin, giving him a look of misunderstanding. "What the heck was that, you sounded like you were a police detective interrogating a witness! You're luck Ms Amari didn't fully shut down and report us to the headmaster, geez..." Alysa said with a sigh, knowing that her brother's intentions were to get the truth, but playing this whole subtly game would be a lot more difficult if they were to get the watchful eyes of the teacher's on them. Mulling over what their teacher did tell them, Alysa seemed to be at a bit of a loss. "Well I am relieved that Sayaka is doing well, relatively. But if the word that she lost her memory about the incident is true, then going to ask her about it would prove pointless. But maybe if we go and see her we can at least see what happened to her; and honestly I do want to show her she's not alone... But I doubt anyone will let us in if the Knights are investigating what happened to her. And Mr Hayakawa isn't the most open guy, so he's a no-go for answers as well. I'm not quite sure what to do..." She trailed off as she was busy pulling out her lunch and setting it on the bench space beside her.
Amir rubbed his arm where his sister had slapped him. "Sorry, it just seemed like she was about to shut us out. I just wanted to see if we could get a few more things out of her before then." He said, not having thought about the repercussions of his final push for information. "You're right though, Mr. Hayakawa seems pretty tight-lipped and I don't think he'll talk if he's been told not to no matter what we do." Amir joined his sister in silence as he pulled out the lunch their mother had prepared for them, nibbling on things here and there but finding little in the way of appetite as he thought of their next step. "Hm, No matter the rumor, the place she was found always remains the same. So we could try looking around that side of the outside of the gym. I know most of what could have been left there was probably cleaned up but maybe if we use our light magic to look for things that other people can't see we could find something? I mean, it's worth a shot, and we have clean up duty today and the gym isn't too far from the incinerator. I doubt anyone will notice if we head over there for a quick look around." He countined, knowing it was a long shot but that they didn't have many options left.
Alysa crumpled up the bag that her sandwich came in, holding it tightly in her hand. "You're right, that is the only real consistent place in all the stories and rumors, so let's definitely check it out when we go take out the trash today." Her last word was drowned out by the loud toll of the school bell, signifying to all around that the lunch period was over. Doors opened and the hall was filled with the gentle buzz of conversation as the students made their way to their next class. Standing up from the bench, Alysa gave her brother a silly salute, "Alright boss, we have ourselves a plan! Now let's go, we don't wanna be late for class!" And with that the twins made their way to the next period with hypothesis' of what they'll find outside at the end of their day.
Category:Chapters