Principal
Kareyoshi read the answer to his request from two weeks earlier. He
sighed. The day had started so well with that vulgar foreigner
offering an opportunity to suspend her on a silver plate.
To be certain he
hadn’t missed anything he read it a second time.
While we respect
your wish to formally withdraw Himekaizen Academy from the
cooperation with our cultural exchange club, your request that we
forbid our students to contact the former members of the Himekaizen
Cultural Exchange Club is unacceptable.
The student union
requested that the headship address the problem. Hence I have to
advice you that I have brought this matter to our board of directors. They have given me their full support, and I have informed the
exchange club here that they are to remain in contact with their
Japanese counterpart as they see fit.
Given that two of
the former members on your side might still be Swedish citizens, the
board of directors have escalated the matter to our embassy in Tokyo
as well as our foreign ministry.
Best Regards
Anneke
Santos-Granstedt
Principal
That was, as far
as Principal Kareyoshi was concerned, a threat. A very blatant
threat. He had been threatened before, and the principal from an
unknown school on the other side of the world didn't matter much.
Just to be safe he had the school checked up.
That was when the
gravity of his situation slowly became evident.
Founded 1869 and
in the same building since 1875. That gave him a start. Your run of
the mill high school didn't have a 150 year pedigree, and
unsurprisingly he found out that it was a private school. One of the
two traditionally high profile private high schools in Gothenburg.
He also learned
that Sony's Chief of Operations Northern Europe had his daughter
there. Apparently she was a third year student and a member of the
Swedish side of the exchange club, and
a member of what passed for a student council there.
Going up against
a global dragon in high tech wasn't Kareyoshi's idea of having a good
time.
A more thorough
attempt to discredit the school by pointing out its poor academic
merits fell flat. Translated into Japanese terms over half of their
student body would have averaged above 90%, in every subject.
When he observed
that a staggering two thirds of the student body averaged 95% or
better in English, Kareyoshi finally understood why they defended
their exchange club so defiantly.
For the time
being he had to do with banning students from visiting the cafe
closest to school. Students who hadn’t joined clubs should go home
rather than loitering after school. He was certain he’d get both
parents and the board of directors to see the wisdom in that.
Forcing students
to join clubs of his choosing proved more difficult though.
Himekaizen had always been too lenient in that department ever since
it stopped being an all girls school over forty years ago.
Kareyoshi lit a
cigarette and moved the letter to the desk drawer he’d put it in
after he read it the first time. The foreign principal had sent it as
registered mail. He could hardly say he hadn’t received the
notification now.
He also couldn’t
do what he wished for more than anything else. Expelling the
half-blood who had insulted him publicly met with immediate refusal.
Worst of all, it met with immediate refusal from the very people who
made certain he received the principal’s chair.
That was
something he couldn’t understand. He knew they wanted Japan to be
in charge of her own destiny just as much as he did, but they still
refused to see the danger foreign influence posed. They even put the
lid on any further attempts at scaring the arrivals to obedience,
which meant his hands were tied when it came to the means he knew
best.
And the one who
spoke on the phone less than ten minutes ago sounded scared. An
arrival from before Kareyoshi built any influence pulled strings in
Japan’s underbelly, dangerous strings from what Kareyoshi
understood.
In the end it
didn’t matter. He still held the power to make the next two years
exceedingly unpleasant for the arrivals and their supporters.
Especially their foreign supporters. Those didn’t have a place in
Japan in the first place, and commons sense dictated they should be
treated accordingly.
Just when
Kareyoshi was about to make a call his phone rang. It was the
principal of Irishima High.
When the short
call was finished he roared in frustration.
Part of his staff
arrived at the door and looked inside.
He could swear a
couple of them smirked.
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