[[=S-H-A-D-O-W+O.F+T.H.E+D-A-Y=]]

[Fantasy]

What had she been expecting? Had she been expecting for him to simply let her take over on her first day and teach the whole class different methods or get more in tuned with the students' feelings on the topic to try and find the most effective way of teaching them? Yes. She had to admit that much. It was a futile wish. A fluttering hope. And all for not. He hadn't let her take even a moment of his teaching time today. It was as if he acted on and on about how his day was without even taking notice to her suddenly being in his room to help him. Still, even if he wasn't willing to let her teach his class, any of the many they had in a single day, he could have at least given her something to do. All he did was keep on his same track of the day. It was discouraging to not be noticed in the least when she had been so blissful this morning to join the man she had been told was Mr. Light Yagami the son of the principle. She had hoped to appeal to him enough for him to give her a chance to show her skill. But no.

The lunch bell rang as students fanned outward from the room screaming and shouting in an unruly manner as most high school students did. Not that she exactly remember an ounce of her high school years but she knew that students were always hyper and happy or at least that's what the movies told her. A soft sigh exited her lightly glossed lips as she looked toward the clock finding it to be exactly one minute after twelve. She had how many more hours of this?

Standing from that plushed chair that she found too be overly relaxing for her to want to sit in for too long, the woman ran her fingers through her hair before closing her eyes only a moment. She then brushed off her black dress which fell right above her knees. The woman straightened her deep green jacket which accented her large emerald eyes before making sure that her black stockings hadn't gotten caught on anything. Luckily they hadn't. Her flat black shoes touched the floor silently as she wondered when the teacher of this class would return to the room.

Cassandra had clearly seen the little feud between two of the students. That girl that was chewing bubble gum loudly and the one that sat beside her with the large bright fuchsia heels on had started a total cat fight that Light broke up fairly quickly before yelling back at her to watch the class while he brought both of the girls to his father to deal with. She had spent the rest of the class watching the students as they finished up their work each standing as if they were afraid of her or the teacher that taught this class each day when they put their papers in the small tray. By the end of the class, she had been nice enough to alphabetize each of the papers from all of his classes along with have them separated by paper clips in a nice neat little stack on his desk. Other than that, she hadn't really moved anything on his overly neat desk.

Now as she look at the dull walls, she wondered if the man would return soon or when the teachers had their lunch even if he would come back before the lunch bell rang to dismiss the students back into their classes. It was just idle curiosity really if he wanted to talk with her about anything. Maybe he'd have some grounds to set for her or possibly he'd want to just talk with someone about how frustrating that fight had been and how breaking it up had been difficult for him, even if it hadn't appeared so.

There was one thing she had noticed at the least about the male who was called Mr. Yagami by the young women. Most of the ones to answer his questions were ones just wanting him to call their name or to hear it in his voice. Apparently the girls were highly attracted to him and purposely mistook answers to ask for him to explain just to keep listening to him speak. He most likely became very hoarse as the day went onward. Another thing she had noticed was how much they gawked if they weren't answering questions, but she also had noticed how the males simply crossed their arms and muttered things under their breaths out of spite for the females that stared at him with big eyes or open mouthes. He must get annoyed by that, she guessed.

[Cloudy]

Today, Light had been feeling pretty good. He apparently had a new assistant, who he figured would be useful in those rare times he needed an extra pair of eyes or an extra set of hands. Not to mention that his work was going fairly well, fairly fast. His job at the school wasn’t bad either. Both were well, though he had to admit, he was appreciating the former much better. This was, of course, his Kira work. Making the world a better place for the good of all people and all of that. After all, who wouldn’t feel a little proud of themselves while they were designing the floor plan for a utopia, and even getting to do it? A frivolous dream for many, and a dream come true for him. So why shouldn’t he be happy? He was going to be the biggest revolutionary the world had ever seen, and it was going to work. All he had to do was play his cards right, and when the entire deck was stacked in his hand, then it would be very hard to seriously make a mistake that he could not fix. His objective was very important to him.

But that was not everything there was to Light Yagami. He was still a teacher, and he worked for the students. So when a pair of particularly dumb girls got in a fight right in front of him, then his assistant had come in handy on her first day. How lucky was that? Without someone to watch over it, the classroom would have descended into chaos. Or at least, that’s what he thought it would. The fear he struck in his students was not something he was fully aware of, since most of the time, he only saw the girls gawk and the boys scoff. He had been equally put off by this, of course, and also had his bad mood ruined, when the two offending girls actually tried to flirt with him in the hallway, as they were headed to the principal’s office. If they had been doing with it in passing, he could have just ignored it or maybe found it a little amusing, but honestly, he wanted to start dragging them by their ears instead. Who the hell did they think they were?

Fortunately, his father was almost as strict as he was, and as soon as he relayed the story to the man, he could tell that the girls were going to get a strict scolding, and hopefully detention. They would find their own way back to class, though. For now, he was walking through the halls back to his classroom, and he was highly irritated. By the time he got to the door, he had calmed down enough to fake a completely normal demeanor, but inside he still wanted to tear up a tissue or something equally destructive. He would not, because his temper would never control him. “Well,” he said as he entered the classroom again, “I apologize for the interruption. Shall we get on with our less—” he paused for a moment as he noticed that the room was empty, save for his assistant. “—on. I suppose the lunch bell rang?” he said, glancing over at the whiteboard. He hadn’t gotten back in time, it seemed. Oh well, it was for a good reason. He couldn’t be blamed.

Still, he wished he could have given them some extra homework before they dismissed themselves. He sighed, and sat back in the chair on his desk, already knowing full well the answer to his question. It was one after twelve, according to his watch. Maybe the bell had rung when one of the girls (the one in heels) had pitched a fit about being somehow justified in throwing a pen at the back of her opponent’s head. It was certainly shrill enough to drown out the noise. Light rubbed his temple, trying to relax himself again. Think other thoughts. What about? Well, for one thing, he would have to have lunch. Luckily, he had made himself a little bit of food and wrapped it in cellophane. Right now, it was sitting in his desk, with his name labeled across it. After the… awkward incident of someone stealing his lunch out of the teacher’s lounge fridge, and the little scene he made, he avoided leaving it out for others anymore.

This new girl, however, did not. In fact, she didn’t know much of anything. Maybe he could teach her a bit about this place over lunch? That might be appealing. They were going to be working together, so he may as well get to know her. “Would you like to eat with me, Miss Nerine?” he asked, looking up at her and appearing friendly. She had not seemed particularly interesting to him, so he had no ulterior motives toward it for now. Unless she somehow turned out to be a fascinating person, she was probably going to end up being just another boring coworker. With Light, there was very little middle ground.

[Fantasy]

Silly little Cassandra. She hadn't heard him waltz into the room before his voice startled her heartbeat which pounding in her chest before she turned on the heel of her foot, swooshing her bronze hair around her face, and almost tipping herself over. Luckily for her, of course, she hadn't face planted on the ground so far today, but the again, she had been sitting for most of it in this boring little classroom with next to nothing to do except watch the students when he rushed off with two flirtatious high school girls wanting to step up like they were two people of important. Cassandra saw their little fit more of an inferiority complex against one another. And complexes over nothing were honestly the stupidest thing she had ever seen in her life, if they weren't working toward the same goal or after the same boy why were they fighting? What because one had some wonderful designer shoes or something silly like that? Exactly her point. The bubble-gum chewing blondie with too large hoop earrings and low hip hugging pants saw how the auburn haired mini skirt wearing designer high heel wearing wanna-be princess reacted to that hair pull. She pulled at those earrings while the other one attempted to trip her off her heels.

Either way, the past wasn't important. Currently, she had wobbled slightly and fell back a bit clinching a desk. Her large emerald eyes easily reflected how startled she was, but a moment later she simply set her hand over her chest to slow her heart beat back to a typical level. She did scare easily, but what would you expect from living in a mental hospital for quite a few years? Exactly. The woman even being skilled and composed enough to find a well-paying job was a miracle. It would be terribly degrading to admit such a thing though, but she would none-the-less, if he addressed the situation. Secrets and the past were an unstable topic for her, but he could only push a woman like her so far before she pushed his back against a wall with a desk between them. No. She wasn't crazy. No. She didn't need anger management. Yes. She was overly defensive. Of course, if asked in a truly polite manner, she might be able to answer two or three questions of idle curiosity. That was easy.

"Yes, the bell rang a moment ago." The bronze haired beauty stated with a clear voice as if she were trying to appear older and more sophisticated. She failed at it with looks that made her look barely older than the young women they were teaching. He would be surprised to know that their ages were equal instead of much different. Her emerald colored haze didn't rest on him after her epically failed attempt at sounding older when it might have just show how young sounding she actually was. Or maybe he might see it as endearing. Either way, she felt stupid. She wasn't trying to win his heart just some R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Like that silly little song goes..

Hearing that little release of air, her head turned back toward his direction to find him at his desk. Might he comment on the neatly stacked papers sitting before him? Apparently not. That was fine. As long as he wasn't the type to accidentally get mustard on someone's test, she wouldn't feel terrible about leaving them on the center of his desk. Hm, he was rubbing his temples in frustration she guessed. It must be difficult being the most attractive male teacher in a school like this. Should she try and comfort him? Possibly. But her train of thought ended with his question. “Would you like to eat with me, Miss Nerine?” Did she just say no? Of course not that would ruin her chance of speaking with him, but she never really ate lunch ever..from what she remembered. But then again, what did she remember now days? Exactly. Next to nothing about herself and only a woman from a distant dream. After that, she didn't even have nightmares anymore. She actually slept very sound most nights, except last night over how anxious she was to arrive here. Wait, oh- answers. "Um..I don't eat lunch?" Her reply was more so as if she was questioning his question even being a question or if it were a statement telling her she must eat lunch with him. Either way. Cassandra never did something she didn't really want to or not mind. He couldn't force her to eat if she said no, but then again the hospital used to say she never ate the first few months so they had to force her at times. Still. Ugh. She hated most of the memories she had at the time.

[Cloudy]

Wow. Light had expected plenty of things when he walked back into the classroom, but it being empty and his new assistant nearly falling over herself for some reason was not on the list. Was he really that startling to her? She should have at least heard him open the door, and really, he hadn’t spoken that loud. Maybe she was just skittish for some reason. The nurse was like that, too. Easily scared. He wondered for a moment if they were related, perhaps, or friends of some sort, but tossed the idea away, deciding it to be useless. So he didn’t show much of a reaction towards her surprise, even though he looked her right in the eyes and clearly saw it. It would not be polite to look thoughtful, curious, or even merely amused about a clumsy movement. He did the same thing with when she obviously tried to make herself sound more dignified or something, perhaps to make up for it. He had to say, so far, she didn’t impress him much. Not that she was bad or anything, he didn’t dislike her, if anything he found her silly behavior to be a bit endearing. A little childish, yes, but he taught children every day. He couldn’t possibly hold that against her.

While he was calming himself down, he ran a parallel thought with this. Maybe she would turn out to be more like a breath of fresh air than an annoyance. Hopefully. Light was an optimistic kind of guy, and so far she seemed nice enough. He would give her the benefit of the doubt until he knew her better. That would be the best way to get along with her, for now. And he would need to get along with her, after all. They were going to be working together from now on. Even if she ended up being an insufferable moron, if he didn’t find some sort of silver lining to look for then a worst-case scenario might end up driving him mad. These days, he couldn’t afford to go mad. Not many people truly got that luxurious escape in the first place, and besides, he had business to attend to. Like lunch. And that’s when he asked her the question, and got a… well, the strangest response he’s ever gotten to a question like that. She seemed to be asking him if she didn’t eat lunch. It felt a little bit insulting to him that she had said that. Did she think he was some kind of gullible idiot? She hadn’t been around for the full school day yet, but she had to know by now that he was smarter than to fall for that one.

He muttered something under his breath, and looked at her with the same friendly expression. “Listen, if you don’t want to eat lunch with me, that’s fine,” he said. “Just tell it to me straight instead of coming up with an excuse. Have a good break.” With that, he turned his head from her, and opened up the top drawer of his desk, taking out the carefully wrapped food. Perhaps it was a bit rude of him to have made it himself, when it would have pleased Misa to no end to make him lunch, but he didn’t want anything fancy or gourmet. It would honestly have been nicer to eat it while talking with his new assistant, because he liked getting into people’s heads learning about somebody new. Unfortunately, it seemed she was not as outgoing as he was, and apparently also a little less than honest. Really, her reason was that she didn’t eat lunch? Honestly? He had heard better excuses from the students who hadn’t done the homework. Oh well, it wasn’t that big of a deal. Not like he had control over her decisions anyways. If she’d rather eat lunch alone or with someone else, that was her business.

That’s when he noticed the papers. He moved his food to the side and looked again. What was this? Had she sorted his papers when he was out? That was strange. He picked one of them up. Yes, these were the students’ papers. From every class. Sorted and gathered together with paper clips. He couldn’t have been gone for more than ten minutes; she must have worked pretty quickly to do this in such a meticulous manner. Of course, he didn’t even need to ask whether she was the one who didn’t. None of his classes had been lucky enough to score a teacher’s pet, so it wouldn’t be one of the students, and Mikami wouldn’t… well, Mikami probably would have come in here and sorted his papers if he was incredibly bored, but Nerine would have mentioned a creepy man who came in and did the paperwork if that was the case. So it only really left her, and the question why. Had she been looking for something to do? Was this how she amused herself? Or maybe she had been trying to help him in some way? The questions gathering in his head were as plain as day on his face while he flipped through them and looked up at her.

“Thank you,” he said, and looked over her again. Maybe she had done it for her job, and maybe she had done it as a kind gesture, but either way, she had done something productive he hadn’t asked her to. If that was the case, he couldn’t understand why she would refuse to eat lunch with him. Unless she didn’t actually eat lunch. No, of course she ate lunch, that was stupid. Everybody ate lunch. It was a basic aspect of health, and she would wind up being hungry all the time if she only ate twice per day. Then why? It confused him, but it also interested him a little. She had a contradiction that could not be explained. Light had found something to figure out. For her, that could end up being either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on whether she liked his attention.

[Fantasy]

Well.. There went that. Without meaning to she had gotten the male terribly upset with her believing her to be some type of rude woman with no brains to have observed him enough during the day to notice he wasn't gullible enough to fall for some miscommunication about her disliking him and not wanting to eat lunch with him. Wow. Wonderful first day, she concluded to herself within that sanctuary known as the human mind. What a sweet escape it often was from this rotten and decaying world which people seemed to still cherish. Still, she needed to stop going off in "La-La Land" and focus more on the task at hand. The truth. She had to give him the truth so that he didn't go off claiming wild assumptions that she was a rude moron who was an insomniac or something of the sort. No, rumors were bad to have spread already on your first day joining the staff at a school. Did rumors float around between teachers? She didn't know but she hoped not. Still to save her from the possibility, she would have to tell him the truth and stop all of this before it fell out of hand. And how else did one stop a rumor? Confronting it.

The bronze haired female moved from her place across the room to the front most desk sitting in it to look at him. "No, you listen. I didn't bring a lunch, and I'm not hungry. Where do you get that I am making some type of excuse from that?" Was she the first woman to not gawk at him while speaking? Possibly. She couldn't lie and say the man was far from stunningly handsome but openly gawking was degrading even to someone like her. Hm, what did that mean? Someone like her? Oh well. A saved thought to return to later, she supposed.

As she had spoken to him, her large emerald eyes had fallen upon his face carefully searching for not only a false ring to his expression but also a truth to it. Finding neither had puzzled her terribly. Was he openly being friendly all the time while thinking something else or was he very spontaneous person who's emotions weren't plastered on display for the world to see? Hm, either way, she was at once curious about him. Her emotions were clearly on her face. A tad frustrated. A bit concerned. Mostly confused. Of course she was confused. He was openly making some twisted and crazy accusation at her about something he had no idea about. She was frustrated knowing the information above was fairly truthful and of course concerned that he might actually not want to become a friendly co-worker because she didn't want to sit with him for an hour to eat sandwiches and tell secrets. How dull and dull people were terribly boring. A boring math teacher? It wouldn't be uncommon.

Ah! Yay! He noticed the alphabetized papers. Goodie. Maybe he wouldn't be so mean to her and make useless guesses on why she did what she did. But as she watched him flip through them, she wasn't exactly sure what he was searching for. Cassandra had simply found the class rosters in his desk and alphabetized them from that before replacing the roster in its correct slot and waiting for him to return. But what was he looking for so intently as if he were wondering..if she really did it? What a silly thought for him to conclude. She was the only person in here during his absent period to be in here that would have any access, if any, to his desk and the items on top of it. Why would she allow some annoying little brat to touch his things or put papers in order? Exactly. She wouldn't because the desk wasn't hers nor did she had full access to it simply because she wanted it. No, she had only looked through his things to help out a bit. It was just for an added bonus possibly to try and make him want her around? Maybe. Just maybe.

A small smile crossed her light lips. "You are very welcome, Mr. Yagami." She wasn't exactly sure if she had been allowed to call him by his first name or if he just didn't know hers and thought only of calling her by her first name. Either way, she was going to ask if she could call him by his first name because his last name was the same as the principle's and she didn't want to be calling two people or possibly three, if that blonde woman that had been glaring at her when she arrived had anything to do with their family. No. You don't just blurt out asking if someone is married. She glanced toward his hands. No ring. Hm, surprising. He was single or just not ready to tie the knot with his sweetie. Ugh. She hated the word sweetie for some reason. But she couldn't recall why it made her want to vomit. She always heard it in one of those street thug ways when it popped into her mind. Like the "Hey Sweetie, How about you show us what's under that" perverted way that made her stomach lurch as if she did remember that which she didn't.

[Cloudy]

He had to admit that her response to his remark came as a surprise. When he said something a bit scathing, more often than not, the person fell silent, or got furious, or changed the subject. He wasn’t used to people being… well, assertive. Light often seemed to command some sort of respect just by being present, and it wasn’t often that someone stood up to him in a dignified manner like this. For a few moments, he simply stared at her, trying to make sense of it. Her expression seemed genuine. Conflicted, but genuine. She had been telling the truth about her lunch. But the way she said it before made it seem like she was saying she didn’t eat lunch at all, not that she had skipped bringing one just for today. No matter how he looked at it, though, he had misunderstood. Light Yagami misunderstood something. And to him, it felt… wonderful. Not that he liked being told off, of course, in fact it annoyed him a little, but his curiosity about this girl skyrocketed. Anybody who spoke to him like that and treated him as an honest-to-goodness equal being, even if she hadn’t known him long, deserved learning about. Just for the rarity of such a person. It was almost as if he craved someone on the same level as him, who wasn’t an enemy. But that was silly.

“Oh, well, pardon my assumptions, then,” he said, keeping his fake-yet-not expression of friendliness on. He actually was feeling a bit happier, now, despite the slight annoyance he had as a natural reaction to her words. “I’ve just heard excuses ever since I’ve started teaching, and tend to expect them. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you.” Well, actually, he had, but at the time he also thought she was making up a rude lie for not wanting to eat with him. Not having actually brought a lunch, and having no desire for one, that was something different, and definitely an honest decision. Maybe she was trying to stay thin or something. Misa had gone on a few similar diets before, and often lasted on them; one would expect a person as frivolous as her to give in easily, but really, she seemed to be good at it. Models probably had to train themselves for that, and even though she had retired from that business, she still seemed to keep herself in the best shape possible. But he didn’t want to think about Misa right now, he wanted to think about this assistant girl, and try to figure out as much about her as possible in the time he had before class began again. An idea struck.

Well, before he could put the idea into action, she had told him he was welcome. But she had called him by his last name. Which was good, really, it meant she knew how to be polite, but he wanted to know more about this strange woman who had told him off, and to do that they would have to speak on a slightly more personal level. After all, he had addressed her by first name. It was only proper that she should do the same. “Please, when the students are out, call me Light,” he said, smiling a bit and reaching into his desk to pull out a manila folder. He flipped through the papers in there for a brief moment, before pulling out a small stack of differently handwritten papers, and then what looked like an answer sheet. These were yesterday’s tests, so far ungraded, and also a useful way for him to keep her in the room during the lunch hour. He set them on the desk and took out a red pen that looked like it had seen quite a lot of valued use in its days. This was not his pen for justice, but it was a pen for judgments, of sorts. Homework judgments.

“If you’re not going to have lunch, would you mind helping me grade these?” he asked, pushing half of the papers over to her. “You seem to be good at paperwork, and I could use the assistance.” Of course he could use the assistance, she was his assistant. These were the sorts of things his father had given her to him for. Why he had done so when Light was doing perfectly well on his own, he still didn’t know, but it would be of use anyways. With less work to do, it would ease some stress from his mind, and ease of stress lead to a better mental state, which he had to preserve with his life. So it wouldn’t be unreasonable for him to at least ask, right? No, of course not. After all, if he could eat on his lunch hour and grade homework at the same time (without getting so much as a crumb on the papers), then she could grade with nothing else to do. And in the unfortunate case where she wasn’t familiar enough to be certain of each answer, well, that was what the answer sheet was for. He had never had to use one himself, but she might end up being a reason to break them out every now and then. For some reason, though, he really hoped not. He wanted her to be smart enough not only to treat him as more of a coworker than a boss, but also be able to match with him intellectually. This was an unpromising thought, of course, since he had never met a single person who could, but he might still hope.

[Fantasy]

Under his appraising eyes, she felt a bit self-conscious. Why did people stare at her like she did something phenomenal fifty percent of the time? She wondered quietly if she had said something wrong. What had she said that he might take in a manner that made him stare? Hm. Maybe she had been a bit too direct and commanding when she responded to his reaction about her not bring a lunch? Of course. It made her want to laugh aloud. Did this man never get told he was wrong or was he sexist? The last one wasn't too appealing..

His response had been expected to say the least. She gave him a soft smile. "Oh, that's alright. I assumed that was why, but I have no reason to feel ill toward you. We barely know one another aside from names." Yes. Cassandra was very polite, and she would politely tell someone to go die if they made her mad. She was polite even if she was a memory-less happy-go-lucky woman, who recently got let out of a mental hospital. Just peachy, now wasn't she? Strange girl. He didn't know the half of it. "But, don't compare me to students, if you would. I haven't been a child for what seems like forever." Her pale hand lightly brushed back her bangs for a moment when they had fall across her face. She might need to get a hair cut soon or a new style. Cassandra knew that her eyes were a bit appealing, so why not flaunt her best feature? With the way her hair fell sometimes, she only ended up covering her eyes or getting them between the strands of her bronze colored hair. Yes, a haircut might be nice. Hm, what would she look like with short hair?

Oh. Perfect. She was allowed to use his first name. "Thank you, Light. You're name is very unique." Common for her to voice her thoughts, she often did so without thinking as she had on his name. What she said had been completely truthful, but the fact that she voiced these thoughts without thinking was something some people might see as a total turn-off on her cute and optimistic personality. It might even make her seem like a complete bitch at times, but she didn't mind. She was who she was, and no one could change her.

A smile crossed her face right when he asked for her help. "Of course, I am your assistant after all. You don't really have to ask me to do anything, but it's polite of you to ask instead of commanding." Her nice heels made that soft clicking now against the tile. Not a loud trampling sound, but a soft musical clicking it sounded. She found heels to be fun to wear, but she often wished they could be silenced. Oh well. She made it to his desk fairly quickly before taking the papers he had been wanting to give to her for grading. "Hm.. I don't want to sound like I have an ego," She said scanning over the first paper to see each question finding answers in her mind as her teacher back in the eighth grade had taught her, not that she remembered much about the eighth grade or even about the teacher, just the skill.

It was easy. A simple thing for her to remember skills but not the places or faces connected to the teachings of certain skills. Sure, she would love to know who had taught her such things or why she remembered them so well even without the memories of actual teachings, but she didn't choose her memory. She didn't choose what was still waiting to be brought back to the surface and remembered while everything was still retained in her mind waiting to be pushed forward. Of course, a certain event kept most memories pushed behind a wall and, supposedly, forgotten. It was a lie. Cassandra hadn't forgotten anything. The woman had simply forced herself to push such thoughts and memories back as if they were forgotten. She forced herself to 'forget', in a matter of speaking, and she didn't mind not remembering. It was easy. No past. No worries. No nightmares, since she left the hospital. "But, I don't need an answer key. However," She simply placed the papers on the small computer workstation the students usually used that she had been sitting at all day before turning toward him once more. "Are there certain ways you grade papers, if so I'd like to not break your habits that the students have gotten used to?"