Baku decided to finally knock on the door, and a voice was heard from inside the office.
"Come in.
Just as Baku grabbed the gold-colored metal door handle to open the door, at the exact same time, he flinched when the window behind him was struck by a football. Glass shattered everywhere while Baku stood in place with one hand still on the handle. The door was now half open, and the man inside could be seen.
"What happened just now?
"My assistant must be investigating as we speak, so do not worry about it…
Anyways... Let us skip the small talk. Come.
When Baku turned to look towards the office, he felt a menacing aura that gave him chills. Without thinking twice, he walked inside, and there he was. The principal, a middle-aged man with deep brown hair, short facial hair, and light brown eyes. He was wearing a very luxurious outfit, a Sacramento green blazer and a set of black pants. He was sitting on his comfortable large black chair, holding a glass of wine with his left hand. He looked very muscular and something that made him stand out was his strong chin and his chiseled jawline.
Inside the room, a scent of fresh mint caught Baku's nose. What could be seen was the principal's desk and on top of it his computer, two monitors and a few other utensils such as a pencil case, a feather pen, and a mountain load of paperwork. In front of the desk were two comfy-looking brown leather chairs, on the left side wall were three paintings of the school, while on the right side were a few boxes filled with folders full of even more paperwork, a large bookcase and the school's trophy stand.
As Baku looked around, his head could not ignore the middle-aged man drinking wine at 7:30 in the morning.
"It is such a pleasure to finally meet you in person.
Those words... Baku had heard that voice before.
"Finally…? Do I know you from somewhere?
"You don't remember me? Yoshite… Do not tell me that you don't remember me…
"No. Should I?
"Well... I came all the way to your birthday party last year. And it was quite the trip…
"Wh-what did you just say…?
"Your uncle and I were great friends… He was the one who recommended you.
"He… recommended me?
"Why yes, at your birthday party, we were chatting, and he talked about how smart you are, and how well you would fit into my school.
You see… this is the Uragiru Prestige Highschool. There are two ways to get into this school. Either you take extremely hard exams, or you get recommended.
"Hold on… you called me here. Why is that?
"There has been a change in plans.
"...?
"Yes, you will not be attending the school you assigned to. Me and the principal from that school talked a lot about you. We concluded that—
--Starting today you will be attending the school you are already standing in.
"Here? No way. Are you serious?
"Yes, 100% serious. I am always serious.
"I chose that Academy for a reason. Who are you to change something like that? It is up to me to decide.
"So, you are saying that you want to turn down my offer and go and attend that idiotic police academy? And then what? You will become exactly what you hate. Is it worth it?
Baku was caught off guard... "How does he know?" he thought to himself, that hatred towards the police was only known by his uncle... only explanation would be that they did know each other.
"Let's be reasonable about this. You think I would prefer to spend thirty more minutes walking towards this school? Clearly there is a distance difference, one academy is ten minutes away and the other forty. And you must know how tiring it is to get signed up for a new school. There is so much paperwork that I need to fill in….
Said Baku, ignoring that fact and hiding his shock with his words.
"Since you are giving me childish excuses, I will treat you as one. I Have already finished with the paperwork--
"......
"We have the best teachers in the country. Your career choice will be safe here. We have a vast variety of classes you can take so take this opportunity that is in front of you. That would be what I would originally tell you, though your uncle made that choice for you, hence you will be studying here.
"I never agreed to this.
"Keep your voice down Yoshite-san. You see... this is not a topic to be discussed with you. We the grownups make decisions, and you young children must follow them. As I addressed a minute ago, this was your uncle's decision, not mine. So, bear with it. Now, let me offer some tea as a welcome gift.
Immediately after he made that offer, someone knocked on the door firmly. A male student older than Baku came into the office with a girl beside him following his step. The guy was one of the considered "handsome" ones, tall, with blonde hair, glasses, and emerald-green colored eyes. He wore the same uniform as every other student.
The girl was not short, just a little shorter than him, she had short blonde hair with a set of bright purple eyes. Her body was slim, her eyes very round and her face looked worried as her eyebrows shifted downwards. From the moment she came in, she stared straight into Baku's grey eyes, for some reason she wanted his attention, and she had it. The principal, on the other hand, looked furious.
"Did I order you to come in?
"It is not my fault sir… Let her say what happened.
"Fine… Now, leave at once…
"Yes sir…
Following that order, the tall blonde student left the room.
"Hayashi-san… What have you done again…?
As those words left the principal's mouth, her stare slipped from Baku, and she looked towards the man on the chair.
"You know.... The usual. Accidentally broke a window, the school president thought I did it on purpose, so I tried to run away, though he was faster, and he dragged me here by force~.
"I already talked about this in the opening ceremony...
"'If you break something… you pay for it…'
"And I am terribly sorry about this. It is the first time (this year), and it was just a cute little accident...
"Come closer…
The girl walked towards them. She stopped close to Baku, and now they were standing next to each other.
"Your 'cute little accident' injured our new transfer student. Look at his right cheek.
There was a small cut on Baku's face, the blood droplets were slowly pouring, and he had not noticed it this whole time. The girl immediately searched her pockets and with a small silky handkerchief she wiped blood off his face. Then she apologized and bowed.
"Hey… Don't bow like that. You don't have to apologize; it's just a small cut. You said it yourself; it was an accident.
"No. It is my fault that you got hurt and I must apologize.
"So, I am deeply sorry.
"Well then if you must… I forgive you.
Her face lit up when he said that. The principal then argued with that strange girl. While this was going on, Baku noticed that she had one arm behind her back. She then discreetly touched Baku's back, and he was caught off guard, but this time he did not react. While she was still talking to the principal, Baku cautiously looked at her. She was trying to make him look behind her. She was holding a piece of paper with something written on it. The girl stepped closer to the principal, as the conversation got heated, while Baku stood behind her to read the message.
*WARNING*
*Hello stranger. Do not trust the principal… do not act friendly to him… he is a real piece of shit. If you let your guard down, terrible things will happen…*
"(Huh?! Is this a joke?)
She then turned the paper around, to show another message.
*Had to break a window to save your ass…hehe. *
*PS. Stop staring because he will think you are looking at something else… *
He looked a little lower, and he understood what was happening.
"(shit..._)
"… Yoshite-san… you just met the girl. What is wrong with you teens?
"I…. I wasn--
"PFFT...
The whole scene made her start laughing.
"AHAHAHA Chill out Grandpa. His eyes. He can look at whatever he wants…
"MANNERS.
"You are making it odder than it already is…
"Could you both stop spouting nonsense for a second? Baku Yoshite. From this day forward, you will be attending this school. Like it or not, that is the bitter truth that you will have to accept. If you don't obey you will get punished.
Now Hayashi-san, about your window-breaking thing. If you ever do something like that again… You will suffer the consequences…
"Wait. So, I don't have to pay for it?
"Well, I know how hard it is for your family to get by--
"--Okay, okay stop.
The girl clenched her fist as her left-hand shook.
"Don't you dare talk about my father here…
"If you raise your voice against me, I will take one of two actions: Either expel you or make you pay double the window's worth…
"F-fuck…
Baku could clearly see how afraid she looked. The conversation died right after the bell rang. The principal's eyes were filled with anger. Baku was in disbelief since he was unable to undo the principal's decision. So, he decided to just accept it and attend this school. It would be what his uncle would have wanted. As for the girl, she looked happy that everything went just as she planned.
"Your nonsense wasted my time...
"Baku let's go; we'll be late." said the girl in a hasty manner.
"Wait, you didn't even tell me what class I'm in.
"Follow her, and you will find it. Now leave, and never come back unless I order you to.
"Fine.
"Let's go!" Said the girl as she dragged Baku out of the principal's office. Then she stopped and gave him a soft smile. Baku felt confused. "Why is she acting so nice to me?" he wondered…
"What...?
"Nothing, let's go, we will miss our class.
"OUR class she says...
"I didn't have a choice either... And I had to learn the whole stupid schedule this school has...
"What is it about the schedule that you don't like?
"Oh, nothing, JUST the fact that we have all our classes straight one after another and get only some small lunch breaks here and there that are just long enough to eat and then return…...
".....
"You will get used to it… Anyways. Before we start our first class you need to get yourself changed…
"Changed? Into what?
"Yes, I will take you to the room where they give out your school gear. There will be two bags, one for gym class and another for your regular daily classes. The first bag contains sets of your school uniform and gym clothes. Also, there should be shoes in there, both for the outside and separate ones for inside the school. In the second bag, you will have your new books and school gear, pencils, pens etc. The only good fact about this school is that everything they give you is completely free. Except for the food which you will have to pay for, with your own money…...
"What did I just get myself into...
"Come on... Don't be sassy about it. If you don't count the stupid schedule, you will have fun here!
(Great… Now I really have a bad feeling about this)
Erity chuckled a little and started walking towards the class. Baku was very skeptical. He liked something about her, he didn't understand what it was tough. "She came all the way, got herself into trouble just to warn me, for what?!." "The principal?" "He did say that he was at my birthday party." "Does he know about my uncle's death?" "Or was he the one who killed him?" Baku wondered.