( Note: There is a slight change in the previous chapters regarding the use of word "ability", so you may revisit them to check it, but the topic itself would be explored further in future, so you would be able to understand it regardless. )
As the footsteps came to a halt, the door to the room opened, and Marvin's father entered the room. He was wearing a maroon colored formal suit with a cream colored turtleneck and brown shoes. He carried a wooden staff, that seemed to be there for the aesthetic only. He stood in front of the desk and looked at Marvin first, who was looking annoyed at the whole situation and a bit scared, then he shifted his gaze at me, and it felt as if he was studying me. After a few seconds, he averted his gaze to Miss Ciel.
"Good Afternoon Miss Ciel. How are you doing today?", he said as he bowed down and greeted her.
" Greetings to you too, Mr. Fletcher. I was doing good until these kids here decided to cause some unnecessary trouble."
Yep, that confirms it. I had my suspicions when he entered the room, but it was truly Mr. Jake Fletcher, One of the biggest merchant of our country. The fletcher family has held a great reputation throughout the years, and they were one of the few who were able to adapt to the changes the tower bought a 100 years ago.
This man here, Mr. Jake Fletcher, is the current head of the family. This also means that Marvin here, is his son. Now, this in turn means that I broke the nose of the son of our country's biggest businessman. This day keeps getting worse with every passing minute now.
"Well, I was informed about the situation over the call and I tried to get here as soon as possible."
"Much appreciated Mr. Fletcher, you arrived just in time. I was about to talk to these boys about their responsibilities just now. As Marvin's father, I hope you will reprimand him regarding his actions today."
"I will Miss. I apologize to you at his place. It's been less than a year since Marvin joined the family. He is still adjusting to the new environment."
"Joined the family you say?", Miss Ciel asked. She was asking the questions that were in my mind as well.
"Ahh yes. Well Marvin here is not my biological child, I adopted him a few months ago. He grew up in a, let's just say, not so civilized society. Thus he still believe in the 'Might makes Right' ideology. However, I assure you he is being educated about the way it works here."
"I see.... well considering your situation and your sincerity, and the fact that there was not much damage done here, I will let him go without any serious action this time. However, he is still suspended for a week, which I hope will give him some time to reflect. Also, bullying is not tolerated here, and if I find his involvement in any such activities again, he will not be let off so easily.", and with that, she wrapped up the situation.
Throughout all this, Marvin was looking down at the ground. I couldn't tell weather it was because of embarrassment or fear, but he was almost looking pitiable.
"Thanks for your understanding Miss, I assure you it won't happen again. Now, if you don't mind, I would be going back. I had to leave an important meeting to come here."
"For sure. You can take Marvin back as well", she said, and then she looked at Marvin, "And i hope you will learn something from this experience."
"Yes ma'am", He said in a low tone, before standing up to leave. That guy was looking at the ground for so long now, Mr. Fletcher never saw his broken nose.
"Marvin, what happened to your face?"
"Uh-...It's nothing", Marvin said, but that answer was not gonna cut it. However, before he could say something, Miss Ciel jumped in.
"Oh the nose? Kisna here, gave that to him", and as she said that, Mr. fletcher was now turned to me. She could've phrased it so much better, but well, luck's not been on my side the whole day, so why now?
"Is that so... and why did you do it young man? I will not tolerate any unjustified aggression against my son.", he said in a very stern voice. It was quite different from the soft tone he was using earlier.
"It was not unjustified Mr. Fletcher, Kisna here was just defending himself when your son here attacked him first. Marvin has also accepted it himself, you may ask him yourself."
Upon hearing this, he looked back at Marvin, who just nodded in agreement. He thought for a bit before speaking to me again.
"I see.... I understand the situation, and I guess I owe you an apology as well."
"No Sir, it's fine it is no big deal."
".....So are you saying beating my son was no big deal?"
".....Huh.....No, that's not what I meant", I said. Would you look at that, the first thing I said to him all this time, and it seems to have gone extremely wrong.
"Well, if that's the case, then why don't you teach him your methods."
"Wait, what?"
"I mean you said it was not a big deal for you to handle him. If that's the case I think you can teach him some things, and maybe' be his friend as well."
Well, I don't understand how this man's brain is working. I literally knocked his son down, and he wants me to be his friend? Marvin over there was looking shocked as well, finally showing a different emotion.
"Are you sure about that Sir?"
"Yes, I don't see anything wrong with this. You seem to be a good kid, and I'd rather Marvin have a friend who can knock him if he does something wrong, then mix up with the wrong crowd down the line"
Ok, Considering the guys he was hanging out with, I guess that makes sense. Marvin was not looking too happy and I can't say that i don't have any complaints.
"Well, so do you agree Kisna?"
"Huh...Oh yes, I don't see any problem with this.", I answered to him, snapping out of my thoughts. Though i was not too sure about the situation, I did not want to offend him in any way. The risk was not worth it.
"Well, that's good to know.", he said while caressing his beard. "We will be taking our leave now."
As he said that, he addressed Miss Ciel again, and then left with Marvin.
"Well that ended well. You were lucky that Mr. Fletcher is a reasonable man. Most of the times when something like this happens, It ends up with some grumpy big shot trying to get the kid expelled. Of course, that has not happened in my academy, but they don't mind taking the grudge out of the academy."
"But I was not in the wrong here miss."
"They don't care about who is wrong or not you know. I commend your bravery and decision to take a step, but it was foolish nonetheless. If it was someone else, it would've been bad, and I am not sure your family could've handled it well."
I hate to admit it but she was right. I really did not think about this much, but one thing is certain, this type of things are bound to get mom involved. I can't cause her any more problems than she already had. I don't know exactly how I got in this academy, but I am here, and I can't be careless here.
"So, the next time, if you see something like this again, you can let any teacher know. In case they are not helpful, you can come to me as well."
"Yes ma'am. Sorry for the trouble"
"It's fine."
"So should I go now?"
"No, wait for you mother. She said she was coming, and I'd rather not have you miss her."
In the whole ordeal with the Fletchers, i had totally forgotten that mom was coming here as well. I waited in the office for 20 more minutes before she arrived.
"May I come in ma'am?"
"Yes, Mrs. Ventus. We were waiting for you only."
Mother entered the room, and greeted Miss Ciel. Then she looked at me, who was sitting on a couch in the corner, with a gaze that clearly meant 'You are in trouble when we get home, young man'.
"I am sorry for being late miss, I got the call from the academy that Kisna assaulted some kid. I tried to get here as fast as I could but there was just a lot of traffic.", she said while she panicked. That's why I didn't want them to call her, and what's up with 'assaulting' someone. Who told her that?
"It's fine ma'am, Kisna here did that in self defense, and that matter has been dealt with as well. The kid's father talked with Kisna, and he was understanding of the situation"
"Oh, Is that so? So you are saying Kisna is not in trouble?"
"Well, Yes, he's not in any trouble."
"This is new.", She exclaimed in surprise. "This kid has been picking fights since he was young, and most of the time it ended with me or his father apologizing to the other kid's family or having a heated argument depending on the situation. This seems anti-climactic."
"Mom, stop it, you are embarrassing me like this.", I said, trying to make her stop. It does not mean I did not knew it was gonna be useless.
"Huh.... I am embarrassing you? would you look at this kid, the audacity. And what are you doing standing there? Get your ass here and apologize to Miss Ciel for all the trouble you caused today."
"Ahh..... Yes, Yes..." I said, as I walked to her side, and apologized to her again.
"It's fine. Again, he was not the one at fault, plus he had his share of hard time. However, it seems he has given you a lot of trouble before.."
"Ahh yes. However, most of the times it was his dad who took part in most of these conversations, before he passed away...."she said, her tone becoming more melancholic. She always gets sad whenever it's about dad. It's natural though, can't blame her.
"Ahh....I am sorry for your loss."
"No, No ma'am, it's fine. It's been a year now, and we have been adjusting to his absence..... Also, If everything's fine, can i take him back home now?"
"For sure, he is free to go."
"Thanks ma'am and goodbye. Say bye to her Kisna"
"yeah, yeah, i am doing it.... sorry for the trouble again ma'am . goodbye."
"Goodbye Kisna, and I hope you will remember my words", she said in a soft tone with a warm smile.
"Yes miss, I will", and as I said that, we left her office and were on our way back to the car. However, we would've just crossed the main gates of the academy, before we heard a voice a voice calling me. It was Miss Smith.
"Ah, I am happy i did not miss you Mrs. Ventus. I am Miss Bailey Smith, Kisna's new homeroom teacher. I met Mr. Fletcher earlier, and when I learned you were here as well, I wanted to meet you."
"Oh, Nice to meet you Miss Smith. How can i help you? Has Kisna caused you any trouble?", mom asked. I guess it's the first question that comes to any parent's mind when meeting their child's teacher. But I was really hoping for mom to not meet Miss Smith today. I knew what she was up to here.
"Well, no he hasn't caused me any trouble. He is a good kid. I wanted to ask about why is he not going to the trip next week?"
Yep, She want straight for the head, unlike a certain blonde.
"Umm, what trip?"
"Huh.... Kisna hasn't told you about it? There's a trip to the national Awakener's museum on Monday to help students learn more about awakener history. It is compulsory for every student but he said that he can't go because of some family issues."
"Oh, is that what he said?", mom said with a big smile, but at that point I knew I was a goner. "I did not knew about this, but if it's for the students to learn something, you have my word he will be there."
"But Mom-"
"No, I will not listen to your excuse", she said. I was annoyed at this, but then she continued, "I understand that you need your space and I am ok with you causing trouble or getting into fights to a point, but I don't want to see you end up alone Kisna, I can't see that as a mother. I don't want you to avoid things like this. If you father was here, he would agree with me."
"I... I understand. I will go.", I said. I understood where she was coming for. I have been keeping my distance with people for some time now and she knew it, but she didn't say anything about it. I guess she was giving me my space, but she was worried as well....
"Well..... that ended up well. So now that this issue is solved, I wanted to talk to you about something else as well.", Miss Smith said. I wondered what else she wanted to talk about, but oh boy, was it bad.
"What is it Miss?", Mom asked.
"Well, his grades.", answered Miss Smith.
They talked for an hour. I got around 10 deadly glances in between that time. On our way back home, I got the scolding of a lifetime. I guess for mom, my grades mattered more than who I was punching. Don't know weather that's a good thing or not.
Then the weekend passed in a flash, and it was the day of the Trip.