The entire drive to the college felt a lot longer than it normally lasted. Even while speeding down the road at 10 mph above what the posted speed limit was, it felt like forever. Sure, Lexi wasn't completely awake yet, the drowsiness still weighed her eyes down a little. But that wasn't what made it feel so long.
Law kept asking her so many questions.
"What are universities like?" He would ponder his own question before asking another one, spacing them all out and yet not really waiting for an answer to any of them. "Are they endorsed by the Government?"
"What sort of medical technology does your world have? Have they figured out the cure for cancerous cells in the body? Are hospitals structured as-"
"Ok, it is way too early in the morning for this." Lexi finally interrupted with a wave of her hand. Sighing, she rubbed at her temple. "I just want to get to class without my brain exploding. Please."
Law smirked from the passenger seat, settling back in the chair. "If you insist."
She relished the silence while she could, concentrating on driving instead. Even with the pirate quiet, she knew his mind was analyzing and thinking over everything he heard and saw. Sometimes it amused her but there were moments, this one included, when it was just irritating.
The large plain shifted into another small forested area, and the sun was blocked by the many trees on either side. Lexi's irritation slowly began to fade at the scenery. She sure did love the look of West Virginia. It was so beautiful, but her favorite time of the year was autumn, when all the fall colors would decorate the plains as leaves fell and blew onto the ground.
She was lost in her thoughts and didn't realize they'd reached the college. With a start, she pulled into the parking lot where all the other cars were currently parked. Luckily there was a spot in the middle of the mass and so she didn't have to go searching for one forever, making her even later for class. Taking a glance at her watch, it was 9:58. She could still make it on time!
Scrambling out of the truck, she slammed the door closed and watched as Law exited as well.
"We gotta go, or I'm gonna be late." She explained, locking the truck with the key and jogging onto the path towards the middle of campus. "I don't have time to answer questions right now so I'll do it later."
He raised an eyebrow, but nonetheless nodded, following her to the lecture hall.
Penguin and Shachi lay lounged on the couch, watching yet another episode of Family Feud. When Lexi had said that the gameshow was the only thing Nana watched, she wasn't kidding. The two were extremely and utterly bored, thus they lay on the couch with agonized groans.
"What are we supposed to doooooo?" Shachi moaned, sinking further off the cushion to the floor. Bepo lay on the ground nearby, catching up on some much-needed rest. But, he too, was getting a little bored of laying around the house all day.
Nana was still sleeping. No amount of yelling or screaming would wake the woman. She was essentially a brick from the deepness she slept. That meant they had to try to figure out something on their own, and they weren't happy with that.
"We could change the channel and see what else is on?" Penguin suggested, and Shachi tossed the idea around for a moment.
"Alright, maybe we can find a channel with those women again." Their mouths began to salivate at the thought of the winged mannequins at the mall. Immediately, they grabbed the remote and stared at the device.
"Hmm…I think Captain pressed this one." Shachi said, clicking a button. The channel changed, showing a man standing with a bunch of numbers and clouds behind him.
"…with the next few days having the greatest chance of a shower. The cold front will hit us by Friday, but immediately be pushed back by a wave of warmer, more humid air."
"This is boring." Penguin said, and they pressed the button again. The screen changed to a show that looked like a child's drawing. It showed a little girl and a small monkey-type animal besides her.
"Uh oh! That sounds like Swiper! We have to watch out for Swiper the Fox. If you see Swiper, say 'Swiper!'" The two looked around to try to find him, and Penguin and Shachi glanced at each other.
"I wonder what this is."
"Baka, it looks like it's for little kids or something." They were about to press the button when a orange fox wearing a blue mask popped up in the corner of the screen. Immediately, and before Shachi could really understand what he was doing, he pointed to the TV. "Swiper! He's there!"
"Turn around, little girl, he's right there!" Penguin joined in, shouting and pointing at the TV with equal enthusiasm. The little girl didn't turn however, but continued looking at them from her fixed spot on the path with the monkey.
"You see Swiper?" She asked.
"Yes!" They shouted, gesturing more and more at the fox now disappearing and popping up in a closer place. "He's right there!"
"Where?" She asked, glancing around.
"RIGHT. THERE!" The music began to pick up and the fox appeared in an even closer spot.
"He's so quick!" The girl said, looking around for the animal. "Let's all say it together now."
The girl and the monkey held up their hands and faced the fox, who was now visible. "Swiper, no swiping. Swiper, no swiping."
"What are they doing? Take out a gun and shoot him or something!" Penguin pulled at the ends of his hat, frustrated beyond belief.
"Foxes eat people you know!" Shachi added. "Look behind you, god dammit!"
The fox got closer and closer, but the two kept shouting the same thing over and over. "Swiper, no swiping. Swiper, no swiping. Swiper, no swiping!"
Then, the fox snapped his fingers and said, "Oh man!" before disappearing into the bushes once again.
"We did it! Swiper didn't swipe anything from us! Great job!" She yelled, before walking away with the monkey once more.
The engineers sat there dumbfounded. "WHAT? HOW DOES THAT MAKE SENSE?"
"You can't just yell at a fox to make it go away!" Shachi shouted, making all sort of confused and frustrated gestures at the tv.
"Change the channel before something else happen!" Penguin pleaded, and Shachi complied.
At 10:03, Lexi and Law entered the large lecture hall where her medical anatomy class was taught. The room was slightly darkened, as usual, and the platform down at the front was brightly lit, where the teacher wrote notes on the board.
Quietly walking down to the rows of seats, Lexi and Law chose the ones at the back so no one would give her strange looks. Besides, she didn't really want the professor to know that she'd brought someone who wasn't taking the course with her.
"…so the functions of the microvilli are to increase the surface area of the cell and to absorb and secrete." Professor Hauser drawled, and Lexi internally groaned at the man's voice. It was so slow and boring. She realized now that she was in danger of falling asleep if this went any longer. Digging out all her note taking things, she settled in her seat and began the arduous process of copying everything he wrote.
Beside her, Law was eyeing the whole hall with curiosity and confusion. This was an institution? He glanced around at the other students, silently taking down notes with dutiful patience. No one asked questions. No one spoke. There was no debate or discussion, both essential elements of learning. How was this a learning environment when no learning could be done?
It came as no wonder that Lexi was having such a hard time memorizing everything from the class. The teacher was so inept at teaching the material that even Law was getting bored. Which was saying something since the human body intrigued him so much.
Daring a glance at Lexi, he saw her yawn and scrawl a few more words on the paper before looking back up to the professor. He continued writing out the information on the board, and despite Law's good vision he had trouble reading what the man jotted down.
With a tiny sigh, he leaned back in the seat and rolled his eyes. This boring recitation of medical information was not okay with him. It was appalling to see that the future doctors of the world were learning from people like this. He'd had better education when he was a child from his father than these young adults had from a 'professional.' It was too much for the pirate, and he looked to Lexi.
"How can you stand this degrading environment?" He questioned quietly, and she waved him aside.
"Shh. Gotta write this down…" She went back to her notebook.
Irritation slowly gave way to anger. Law was having none of this nonsense. He'd had enough. Standing, he started heading down to the front of the lecture hall.
Law stood, immediately catching her attention. Lexi's eyes widened when it became quite obvious where his intended destination was, and she tried scrambling out of her seat to stop him.
"Law! Don't you dare." She whispered harshly. Her notes and books weighed her down, and she couldn't rise from the seat.
He only smirked, continuing to head towards the front. She watched in morbid fascination as he got closer and closer to the front. People began to notice as he walked down the aisle. Their heads turned towards the pirate, and she could feel their curiosity and confusion as he stood on the platform.
'Oh my God, why?' She asked herself, praying that whatever he was about to to wouldn't get her kicked out of school…
"…likewise the flagellum has the sole purpose of moving the cell, which is often confused with the villi."
She heard people mutter as he went up to the professor and spoke a few quiet words. Professor Hauser looked confused, then angry, then outraged, and he was about to retort to the pirate, but Law turned to the students gathered there.
"It has come to my attention that many of you in this class have difficulty understanding the material due to the inept ability of your instructor." He said, catching the attention of everyone in the room. It was deadly silent, save for a few gasps or whispers of 'Did he really just say that?'
Law, satisfied that he'd garnered full attention, smirked widely, strutting slowly across the platform. Behind him, Professor Hauser only stared in bewilderment.
"You." Law pointed to a girl in the front row, and she looked around in fear.
"Uh…me?" She pointed to herself, and he nodded. Her apparent mortification of being singled out was amusing to him.
"Tell me exactly what he just explained to you." She paused for a moment before looking down at her notebook. Law narrowed his eyes, growling. "Without looking at what you wrote."
She gulped, looking around for any sort of help. There wasn't any.
"Um…" She floundered, biting her lip. "Something about flagellum."
"And what do they do?" He questioned. With a sigh she shook her head.
"I don't know honestly."
He nodded, expecting this answer. Turning to the professor, he held his hands behind his back. "It appalls me just how much of a failure you are as an instructor to your future medical leaders. If they can't even repeat information you've just given them, their failure is most assuredly your fault. Perhaps you should go back to being the student yourself."
Professor Hauser's face turned red, before he seemed to compose himself and walk towards Law with a purpose.
"Now, listen here-" Was all he managed to get out before Law gripped his arm and twisted it behind his back, effectively stop whatever sort of scuffle he'd intended of starting.
There were several gasps throughout the hall, and even a few laughs. Law then proceeded to lead a cursing Professor Hauser to the small storage closet on the edge of the room. Throwing it open, he shoved the man inside and closed it, locking it deftly. Inside, he banged against the door.
"How dare you! I'll have you reported and expelled for this insolence!" Law ignored the man, walking up to the platform once more.
"I shall take on the responsibility of teaching your class today. Now, if one of you would please inform me as to which chapter you're currently studying."
There was long silence, before the whole hall erupted into a thundering applause, student whooping and whistling their approval and amusement at Law's actions. Looking thoroughly confused, he glanced up at Lexi who was trying her best to shrink as far into the seat as possible.
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