Survival Of The Fittest

(Reika Ishida Introduction)

To say the library was a quiet place would be rather redundant, but at this particular moment in time, it was quieter than normal. A single small figure occupied a chair in the corner, but other than this, no one else was there. Neatly stacked on the table next to her was various textbooks, Math, Science, English, and a few more. A binder was also spread out on the table, and a copy of King Lear opened up.

Reika Ishida, ever the attentive student, was diligently working taking notes, her neat writing filling the page in a dark blue ink. This was how Reika spent many a lunchtime, finishing all her homework she was assigned so she would be able to help the students she tutored when they got around to doing theirs. Looking up from the pages for a moment, she removed her pink rimmed glasses, and rubbed her eyes.

Looking around, she took in the familiar sights. She always sat in the history section, near the books about musical composers. Beethoven, Bach, Rachmaninoff, she had read all of the books. Played most of their music as well. She felt a sort of calm in the presence of these books, and found it a good place to clear her mind, and get her work done.

Placing her glasses back on her nose, she closed her books. Leaning over, she was just able to grab a book about Tchaikovsky form the shelf. Opening it up, she began to read the book, completely oblivious to her surroundings.

((Mia Kuiper continued from Just Passing the Time))

Mia once again found herself in the library, thankfully absent of overly loud peers for once. She thanked god for the silence. Classes were loud, the playground was loud, but in here? Blessed peace.

After taking a moment just to enjoy the quiet, she calmly strode over to her favourite section, which contained her favourite dewey decimal : 822.33. Today, she was going to re-read King Lear. After passing some sophomore or something barely tall enough to register, though admirably quiet, she reached the shelf she was searching for.

She stooped a little to scan the book spines, Cymbeline, Hamlet, King Henry, King Henry, King Henry, King John, Macbeth. Ok, maybe someone had put it out of order. She scanned the entire shelf, a slightly perplexed look on her face. A second later, she noted the conspicuous gap between John and Macbeth. She even slide her forefinger down it to check. It was definitely gone. Vanished like so much... like so much... stuff it, she'd read King John.

She wasn't even sure she'd read King John before; to be honest, she probably hadn't. This would be good, new, a learning experience, like before with that Hicks guy.

Mia closed her eyes and fought down the last of her annoyance. She carefully removed the book from its shelf, walked to her favourite spot, not far away, and sat down in the low, squishy chair that was her usual camp.

She looked at the front cover, "The Life and Death of King John" Ah, a tragedy!

Shimmying a little, she made herself comfortable, and started to read.

Reika felt an ever so slight draft as someone passed behind her. Glancing up from her book, she noticed a rather oddly dressed girl, even odd for a high school, looking at the books in the Shakespeare section. Looking down at the book on her desk, then looking back at the girl, she was able to deduce that she had the book the girl desired.

Sighing, Reika put her book down. Standing up, she stretched out her small frame as much as she could. She had been sitting for a long time, and she needed to work out the kinks. Picking up the copy ofKing Lear she had taken off the shelf for her homework, she walked over towards where Mia was sitting.

"I believe you were looking for this." she said in a whisper as she placed the book on the table gently beside her.

Enter KING JOHN, QUEEN ELINOR, PEMBROKE, ESSEX, SALISBURY, and others, with CHATILLON

KING JOHN: Now, say, Chatillon, what would France with us?


Mia was interrupted mid-stream by a voice that would have been inaudible if not for the otherwise total silence. She'd been fully prepared to politely tell the perpetrator to sod off until what she'd said actually registered.

"I believe you were looking for this."

She was slightly dumbfounded by the kind gesture. Needless to say, it wasn't something that occurred often.

"Oh, Umm, thank you, but if you're reading it I'm quite content with this one." She held up King John's plain linen cover for Reika to see. "I honestly don't mind."

Reika took a moment to read the cover of the book Mia held up. King John. She wasn't a big literature fan by any stretch of the imagination, but she had at least heard of the play. It didn't help that for the last week she had been seeing the book spine every time she came into the library to work on her King Lear homework. A crooked smile crossed Reika's features, the right side of her lips curling up slightly. It was something that Reika did whenever she was talking, but with her it didn't come off as sarcastic or condescending, but rather it came off friendly.

"Well, I was just using it for my homework, but I'm done with it, and I noticed you were looking for it, and you would probably get more use out of it right now, so I thought I would give it to you, since I won't be using it."

After this, Reika just kinda stood there, waiting for a response.

..."since I won't be using it."

Mia paused a moment before replying "Ah, well, thank you very much". She gave Reika a cordial smile and looked back down at the page.

Mia was a little disappointed that this girl wasn't reading Shakespeare for pleasure, though surprised would be an overstatement. Barely anyone ever did that anymore, especially not in Bayview. She supposed it was linked to the overall cultural degradation of the United States, and, well, the world in general. Anyhow, she turned her attention back to reading.

CHATILLON : Thus, after greeting, speaks the King of France
In my behavior to the majesty,
The borrow'd majesty, of England here.

She barely suppressed a chuckle, borrowed majesty? uh oh.

After an awkward moment or two, in which Mia went back reading, and Reika stood there, she headed back to where she was sitting. Checking her watch, she noticed there was about half an hour until lunch would be over. Right at that moment, her stomach gave a small rumble. It wouldn't hurt to go grab something to eat, she figured, even if the food was bad at the best of times.

Reika gathered up her books, and carefully placed them in her backpack. After replacing the book she had taken down to it's rightful place, she slung her bag over her shoulders, and headed out the door, making her way to the cafetorium, hoping to have a nice quiet meal, though that was doubtful.

(Continued in Lunch for the bored and hungry)

((Chris Carlson continued from Lunch for the Bored and Hungry))

Chris shrugged his backpack off his shoulder as he found a computer, creating a deep bass thud on the carpet. He was a bit forgetful sometimes, and knew that if he tried to go to his locker multiple times a day, he would inevitably forget something. Hence the massive weight of his bookbag.

As he sat at the computer and logged in, he pulled his phone partway out of his pocket, just enough to access the keypad. He sent out a text to Kelly, reading "Bored at school. Messing around in library. Whatcha up to?"

The computer logged in right as the text sent, so he slipped his phone back into his pocket and hopped onto Internet Explorer. He opened his email in one tab and the TV Tropes Wiki in another. He had 5 emails already; not very unusual for him, as he often had 10 or 13 when he got home. It was mostly just notifications of forum replies, along with another YouTube friend request from a self-taught electronica musician. Deny.

He quickly found the Troper Tales page for Improvised Weapon and began editing it to tell of his recent tangerine attack in the cafetorium, putting it right after a story of someone pelting an attacker with $30 worth of spare change. Ah, the things one can use to kill people with he thought.

Mia, meanwhile, was thoroughly enjoying her book.

KING JOHN: Let them approach.
Our abbeys and our priories shall pay
This expedition's charge.

Enter ROBERT and the BASTARD

THUD

What men are you?

BASTARD: Your faithful subject I, a gentleman
Born in Northamptonshire and eldest son,
As I suppose, to Robert Faulconbridge,
A soldier, by the honour-giving hand
Of Coeur-de-lion knighted in the field.

KING JOHN: What art thou?

BEEP

ROBERT: The son and BEEP BEEP heir to that sameBEEP BIP BIP BEEP Faulconbridge.

Mia shifted in her seat, pulling her legs under her. She would ignore this distraction.

KING JOHN: Is that the elder, BIP BEEP BIP and BOOP art thou the heir?

Come on... press another button and i will let slip the... no. i'm going to read. you ponse.

Mia waited a moment regardless. Then continued.

You came not of one mother then, it seems. BEEP

Oh this game is UP. She gave Chris her strongest death stare, but it went both unnoticed and unneeded, as he'd stopped his incessant texting and put his phone away. good. some peace.

BASTARD:Most cert TAKKAKAKAKKT TTKAKA TAKATAK TAT TAT TAT TAKKA

Mia snapped her book shut, got up and stretched. Ah, the things i could utilise to kill you...

She'd think of something on the way over there.

Chris sighed as he finished typing. Kelly hadn't texted back yet. Maybe it was the reception? He hated his carrier, since he could only get a reception either outside or in three of his classrooms. The library was often very iffy.

BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ

He was mildly startled by the sudden vibration from his pocket. He slipped it out and flipped it open to see the bright blue screen indicating a new text. Two button presses later, and he was looking at the message. "Im bored to. Math" it read. Kelly went to a school in the next city over, so she was on a different bell schedule.

He sent another text, reading "Awww. I like not having a math class this year" and closed the phone. He went back to the computer and started scanning the Troper Tales for more funny anecdotes, finally clicking on Guns Akimbo.

Mia'd only taken a few steps before she'd remembered one of the more creative punishments she'd discovered. She walked nonchalantly to the computer bay and took a seat opposite Mr Carlson. As the Computer whirred into life and the bastard played with his glorified pager, she took the ribbon out of her hair and calmly regathered and tied it into a bun. Finally the machinery brought up it's log-in screen and she entered her name and password.

The first part of her plan was to use up as much of the school's internet bandwidth as possible and hopefully slow it down. She knew perfectly well this was extraordinarily unlikely but it was worth a try regardless.

The second, and central part of her plan, was something she'd discovered during one incredibly boring IT class back in 8th grade. They were doing a "words per minute typing test" or something along those lines, which despite being thoroughly boring had interested the bespectacled girl opposite her immensely. As such, pulling and reconnecting the plug connecting the girl's keyboard to the computer at random intervals had amused her for the better part of half an hour.

This, she could enjoy again.

Ten windows of downloading youtube Chopin videos later (might as well have the number of views increase on something worthwhile), trying to look as engrossed in her monitor as possible, she slid her hand to the plug, gripped it with her thumb and forefinger, and gave it a soft tug.

Chris shook his right arm, lowering the sleeve of his brown hoodie to reveal his watch. He had about ten minutes to go before lunch was over and he was off to Psychology. Well, may as well wrap this up.

As the Guns Akimbo page loaded up, he clicked the "edit" tab to start talking about his own experience dual-wielding lightguns at the local arcade, something attempted by many a gamer. As he was in the middle of a sentence, however, the letters stopped appearing. Hm. He hit a few buttons, confused, and saw that nothing was popping up on the screen. He lifted up the keyboard and pulled the wire a bit. He didn't hear anything clacking around downstairs, so he pushed his chair back and dived under the desk to get at the tower.

He looked through the mess of wires, and began pushing every one he could find tighter, just in case. He didn't know which one the keyboard would be, but he figured that it would work.

He crawled back out, nearly whacking his head for the second time that lunch period, and typed the next two letters of his sentence. Success!

He figured he must have accidentally kicked a wire down there and loosened it. Oh well, still some more to go.

Mia waited a moment after pulling out the cord, listening as Chris's typing slowed

tikka tikka tak tak tik tak... tap tap... tap. "Hm"

And there was her cue to jab the cord back in. Hearing him scrabble around doing the logical thing amused her slightly, but the real fun didn't start last time until the girl opposite had started freaking out a little. Chris didn't seem like the type, but might still do something funny.

She pulled the cord out again and replaced it just as quickly. Four or five missing letters between perfectly written sentences tended to bewilder.

As the flow of letters on his screen stopped once more, Chris' fingers ceased their rapid movement. He looked back down at the keyboard and hit a key. Bizzarely, the letter came up in the text box. "This is one shit keyboard," he muttered under his breath. He sighed, checking his watch. Not enough time to finish what he was doing with this piece of crap, so he just clicked out of the window and logged off the computer.

He got up, stretched his back a bit, and pulled his oversized backpack onto his shoulders, walking out of the library. He had just enough time to hit the bathroom before he had to head to class.

((Chris Carlson continued elsewhere))

Once Chris was out of earshot, Mia would have cackled maniacally. If that was her thing. Which it wasn't. Instead she just smirked, turned off the computer and dashed back to her chair to read some more King John.

She'd successfully seen off yet another distraction, so she savoured victory by spending the remaining 10 minutes of her lunchtime reading voraciously, before checking the book out and heading to class.

((Mia Kuiper continued elsewhere))