FAKE Drabble: Another Milestone

[badly_knitted]

 

Title: Another Milestone

Author: badly_knitted

Characters: Ryo, Bikky.

Rating: G

Setting: Sometime towards the end of the manga.

Summary: Bikky’s about to graduate from junior high.

Written For: The tw100 prompt ‘Milestone’

Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.

A/N: This one’s a drabble and a half.

It constantly amazed Ryo just how quickly Bikky was growing, and now they’d reached another milestone, the boy’s graduation from junior high. He’d be fourteen in just a few weeks and a freshman at high school come fall.

“Why’re you lookin’ at me like that?” Bikky asked. “Do I have something on my face?”

“No, you look fine, Biks. I was just thinking about how much you’ve grown over the past three years. I can’t believe how fast the time has flown.”

“You’re not going to get all mushy are you?” Bikky eyed his foster father suspiciously.

“Probably, but I’ll try to keep it to a minimum,” Ryo promised. “Come on, we should get going, you don’t want to be late.”

“I feel like an idiot wearing this.” Bikky tugged at his tie.

“It’s only for a few hours; you’ll live,” Ryo laughed. “Be thankful you don’t wear a uniform.”

The End

Comments

[but_can_i_be_trusted]

Man, I remember that day, when I was in that position. That was so exciting. :)

[badly_knitted]

That must have been a memorable moment, moving up in the world =)

We didn't have graduation as such. At 11 we took our 11+ exam to see what school we'd go to next. Then we just got told whether we passed or failed, and got told our new school. I passed and went to grammar school. my sister failed and got sent to an all-girl secondary school. Then at 16 I left school and went out to work. My sister got a job too and went to community college to train as a hairdresser.

Thank you!

[but_can_i_be_trusted]

It was such a thrill. :) That, and graduating from high school. Talk about a feeling of accomplishment! I still wear my class ring around the house, 'cuz I earned that thing with a lot of hard, stressful work.

Mom went to beauty college after high school to do the same thing. It's so cool; if we're having a fancy day out, or if it's a holiday/birthday, she'll do neat stuff with my hair. She has so many hair tutorials saved on Facebook and Pinterest.

One thing that totally confuses me about how you guys do school over there: What exactly are A- and O-levels? Are they like our SATs?

[badly_knitted]

O is ordinary level exams, A is Advanced level, they're the sit down kind of exam with a bunch of questions to answer in the allotted time, usually 2 hours, sometimes 3 hours or more. Of course things have probably changed since I was a school. O Levels are at age 16, A levels at age 18 if you stay at school until then, though I think it's usual to stay on now.

My sister was a hairdresser for a long time and still cut mum's hair up until mum passed away, despite being out of the business now. After she had kids, she became a carer at the local old people's home, but now she's a fully qualified Occupational Therapist working at her local hospital.

[but_can_i_be_trusted]

That does sound a little like the SATs, then, or sort of like a cross between those and finals/midterms. Now that I think about it, I think I remember hearing that schools were going to drop the SATs.

I don't think Mom stayed in it for very long; she spent more time waitressing than anything else, along with a handful of years in clerical work. I remember her cutting Grandpa's hair a lot, though. And I'd rather let her trim mine when it needs it than for me to do it, myself; never been good with scissors.

[badly_knitted]

I just hack the ends off mine occasionally. Never see my sister now so I can't ask her.

We had exams at the end of ever year in every subject, so O and A-levels were more of the same, but more important. The grades you got in those would be taken into account when applying for a job or a university place. We didn't have SATs when I was a school, though schools here do seem to have them now. They're not well-liked.