Chapter III

- POV Switch -

“Are they gone yet?” an icy voice asked, impatiently slamming the cane that was in his hands down onto the wooden floorboards beneath.

“Y-Yes, sir, they just left,” another voice stammered its response, closing the door behind the departing figures with a silent click.

“Good, let’s begin our discussion, Principal Yuuko,” the voice commanded, moving closer to the shrouded window and peering through its dusty frames. “I had originally come here for another reason besides the incident that just happened.”

“B-b-but sir, I am not-”

“Let us begin,” he repeated forcefully.

“Y-yes, sir, but b-before we start our meeting, can I ask you something?”

“What is it?” the chilly voice demanded, annoyed.

“Is it t-true that you’ve taken a strong l-l-liking for the girl?” the principal stuttered, taking the seat in front of his own desk.

“Not a strong liking for the girl as you say, but a liking nonetheless, not in the way that you think it, though,” the voice answered, sitting in the principal’s leather, swivel chair. “I’m merely interested in the girl my client is searching for. So it seems she was under my nose this whole time.”

Yuuko cringed as the chair bucked back and watched with dismay as the man in the chair laid his legs upon the desk, crumpling several sheets of paper. He linked his fingers together and said, “Let’s get started.”

“Y-yes,” Yuuko agreed hesitantly.

“That girl, Hiroyuki, is she a sophomore?”

“N-no sir, she is a senior. She was elected Vice President of the Student Council in her second year of attending this school.”

“Which brings to my mind, why wasn’t my daughter elected?”

“I-it wasn’t m-m-my choice, sir! It was a f-fair voting in which the majority of s-students voted!”

“Is that so?” the man pressed.

Yuuko held his hands up as though in defense and replied, “Yes! Your d-daughter wasn’t even n-n-nominated by the majority of the c-class!”

“What are you trying to say?” the man’s eyes gleamed with burning and cruel intent.

“W-w-what I m-meant to s-s-s-say was that H-Hiroyuki is simply p-popular with her f-fellow classmates,” the principal tried to explain, his jaw chattering endlessly in fear.

“And my daughter-”

“S-surely you c-c-can not blame me for these things! S-s-she is so a-absorbed with her g-group that she is, m-more often than n-not, cruel t-towards other students,” Yuuko yelped, innocently. “Even at the s-start of her f-f-freshman year until now as a s-senior!”

The man pressed his fingers to his lips and thought silently to himself.

“Sir?”

“As the head of the Serizawa family and corporations, I want that girl’s background checked out. Who is she, who her family members are, where she lives, what she does every day of the week, I want twenty-four hour surveillance on her,” the man snapped, taking his legs from the table and a stack of paper with it. He leaned forward and continued, “As the principal of this school, I’m asking that you give me a written permission to do so, seeing as how you are responsible for the safety of your students and all.”

“B-but I cannot d-do the things you’ve a-asked me! It is against the r-rules and r-regulations! If I were to g-grant you permission, I w-w-w-would lose my j-j-job!!” Yuuko cried in horror.

“I will get permission whether you agree or not, regardless, but I’m giving you this one chance to tell me your answer.”

“H-how will y-you get p-p-p-permission for such a r-r-ridiculous demand? Besides, I d-don’t understand why that g-g-girl is so s-special, but I r-refuse. My s-student’s safety is m-m-my top priority!”

“You do not care about what happens to you?” the man stood up abruptly, startling the principal.

“I do, b-b-but I-” he prattled, starting to stand up.

“Then do as I say and sign this paper! Or else I will make sure that you suffer ten times over in my personal lab for useless scumbags like you,” the man hissed.

Yuuko gasped and retreated to the door, squealing. “Whatever y-you have in mind w-w-w-w-will not change my m-m-mind!!”

“You are a very determined man, huh?” the man grinned evilly, walking around the desk to confront the shivering man. “You’re going to regret your choice!”

Abruptly, the door opened, smacking the principal in the back, which sent him to the floor where he laid sprawled next to the man’s feet.

“Who dares to interrupt us?” the man roared, furiously.

A young boy stood there, eyes wide open in surprise. His arms carried a load of documents and paperwork. He stammered his apologizes and turned to leave.

“Wait a m-moment,” the principal called, getting up from the floor.

The boy stopped and turned around. He noticed the paleness of his superior’s face and the sweat that dripped down his forehead. He frowned but remained silent.

The principal dusted himself off and held out his shivering hands, saying, “You can hand me t-those and return to where you were before.”

The boy did as he was told and turned to leave, but was stopped once again by a voice that demanded, “You work with the Student Council?”

The boy nodded but didn’t turn around. He wanted to return to the club room immediately to report his discovery to the rest of the members.

“Boy! Look at your elders when they talk to you!” the voice snapped.

The boy half turned and noticed the man inches from his face. He yelped and fell onto his back, fear stricken. The man jabbed his cane into the boy’s shoulder and pressed down. The boy cried out in pain but bit his lips so that no sound could come out.

“Leave the boy alone, Kazama,” a calm voice called out.

The cane retracted but came back one final time with a sharp jab.

“Who do you think you are?” the man inquired, watching in cruel merriment as the boy writhed in pain on the floor.

“I’m the principal of this school,” the voice replied, nonchalantly. “And I do not appreciate the fact that you visited my school only to wreak havoc to my office, threaten my secretary, injure my student, and demand that you acquire permission to stalk the Vice President of my Student Council committee.”

The man, Kazama, looked over his shoulder and examined the young man that stood behind him. He was tall and looked to be in his early thirties. His short, brown and wispy hair made the man look as though he had just gotten out of bed. His spectacles shone in the light of the hallway, concealing the intelligent eyes behind them.

“Ah, I suspected a better principal than the one that stands shriveling behind you, and I supposed my thoughts have been answered,” he insulted, pointing at the secretary with his cane.

“Please stop your insults, sir,” the man demanded patiently. “And please leave, you are a disruption to my school.”

“And what of it, young man? I’m the one who contributes to this school the most. Besides, I am merely teaching this boy his manners,” Kazama responded, placing his hand atop the cane in defiance.

“Teaching the boy manners by attacking him is not what I would call a good example of disciplining. Besides, if I may say so, you are not the best contributor to this school, but rather, the worst. You hardly contribute at all, so I suggest you stop fooling around.”

Kazama paused and narrowed his eyes in fury.

“Alright, you got me,” he said, throwing up his hands in mock defeat. “What can I do to be on your good side again?”

“You never were on my good list, sir,” the principal pointed out. “If you want to make up for what you’ve done, though, leave my school and everyone in it alone. If you dare to make another mess of my school, I will call the police and make sure the news reporters that love to follow you, hear about this. And when they do, I sincerely hope that your name is tarnished beyond repair.”

“Are you blackmailing me, Mr. Principal?” Kazama questioned, his eyes narrowed even further in hate.

“You do the very same thing your daughter does,” the principal commented, cocking his head to the side. “No, sir, it is not just blackmail. It’s a threat. If you dare come to this school again, I promise you, the things I said will happen.”

“Are you putting a restraining order on me?” Kazama demanded, furiously, thumping his cane for emphasis.

“I hadn’t thought about that, but I think that’s a brilliant idea,” agreed the principal, folding his arms and nodding his head. “Yuuko, get the police on the phone. Gato, you can return to the Student Council now. Thank you.”

“Yes sir,” Gato and Yuuko said, simultaneously, hurrying off to do as they were told.

“And now we wait,” the principal announced, staring at the fuming man.