The Fire Dragon Slayer of Fairy Tail was careful to avoid running into anybody as he sprinted at full speed to one of the many schools in Magnolia, specifically the one where he had been tasked with a job today of keeping the students in the class awake.  It was uncharacteristic of the Fairy Tail mage and he didn't want to admit it, but on this particular morning, he had woken up a bit later than he had intended to and as a result, was about to be late to the school. He had agreed to be there at exactly half past eight, which was, according to Miss Sandine exactly thirty minutes before classes officially started. It was approximately 17 minutes past eight right now, and by the Fire Dragon Slayer's estimate, he should be able to make it in time if he continued at this pace. Eventually, Houren did manage to reach the school grounds at around twenty three minutes past eight, and was inside the classroom at around 31 minutes past eight (it was a big school). He was a minute late, but Miss Sandine didn't mind as she beckoned him over to her desk.  "To be entirely honest, your job for today is actually quite easy. I'm not sure why, but the kids in my class seem to be falling asleep during classes pretty often nowadays. I'd like for you to sit at the back of the class and try to keep the students awake if you feel like they're about to doze off. Something like a teacher's aide, you know?" Miss Sandine began to overthink it, but the Fire Dragon Slayer of Fairy Tail quickly assured her that that was not necessary.

Teacher's Aide, or teacher's assistant or whatever the title happened to be, the Fairy Tail mage was satisfied as long as he knew what his job was, and for right now, in this very moment in this classroom, his job was to keep the students who would be crowding into this room in roughly thirty minutes awake, if it came to the point where it seemed like they were about to fall asleep. It wasn't a job that needed much physical or emotional preparation so he spent the thirty or so minutes waiting for them, killing time by chatting with Miss Sandine or looking around the classroom at the arts and crafts that the various students had done. He had been inspecting a rather peculiar piece that had been done with macaroni shells alone when the school bell rang for the first time, signalling the start of classes. Miss Sandine opened the door to the classroom, and in a mere matter of moments, the classroom that had been practically empty was now full of students of roughly grade school age, and gender wise, the boy to girl ratio seemed to be split exactly down the middle. Miss Sandine gave the Fairy Tail mage a quick introduction before instructing him to take a seat at the back of the classroom.

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The first two or three lessons pretty much went by without anyone dozing off or even looking like they were about to doze off, probably because the first lesson of the day was music, which seemed to be the subject that the students of this class enjoyed the most (and because they enjoyed this class so much, they were less likely to fall asleep. Perhaps that was purposely planned by Miss Sandine?). The second lesson of the day was physical education where the boys and girls were separated into two different sports; the boys would be playing tennis in the tennis courts while the girls would be enjoying a game of soccer. This class happened to be fairly athletic as far as primary school kids went, and they all put effort in their respective sports; nobody looked like they were about to doze off, but of course, physical exertion meant that they would be more likely to fall asleep later on in the day. It wasn't until the third class that the Fairy Tail mage began to experience some problems, in particular, the fact that one of the boys who was further away from the front of the class, and as a result closer to the area where the Fire Dragon Slayer was sitting. He was beginning to do that age old trick where you lie down and sleep, while pretending that you're actually paying attention, and because the Fire Dragon Slayer of Fairy Tail was such an expert in that trick, he knew that the boy was just about to doze off. Getting up from his seat, the Fairy Tail mage outstretched his arm and tapped the boy on his shoulder, shaking him until he woke up. "Don't sleep during your lessons, you'll need them in the future, you know?" the Fire Dragon Slayer said to him, as the boy nodded sheepishly and continued to pay attention to whatever the teacher was saying. It was worth noting that this was actually a history lesson, probably the driest out of all the subjects in the primary school curriculum and while someone like Houren Vanadis would find it interesting, he wasn't surprised that these kids were about to fall asleep. There was not much time at all for the Fire Dragon Slayer of Fairy Tail to rest as just across the room another student was falling asleep, this time it was a young girl who was clearly trying to do her best to stay awake, but it seemed to be more or less futile. Before she could completely doze off though, the Fairy Tail mage was there to remind her that sleeping in class was against school rules and that seemed to wake her up. This sequence of observing, interfering and informing was repeated quite a few times until Houren had finished with the school day. At the conclusion of the school day, and much to Houren's embarrassment, the kids all said their respective thank yous to him as they left the room. Once he was alone with Miss Sandine, she gave him his reward.

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