Prologue
Yasopp stared at his father from his spot in front of the large mahogany desk. He lounged lazily in the seat, seeing no need to be uncomfortable, as he knew he would be there for a while. The light played with the golden highlights in his curly hair, his eyes, the colour of milk chocolate were teasing, but guarded. He had his hands in his lap, fiddling with his green slingshot, his fingers pulling at the band, unconsciously checking for hairline tears.
"Yasopp, get your feet off my desk, they're filthy."
"Aye, Sir," Yasopp mocked, removing his boots from the desk and crossing his legs. He looked down, his curls brushing his cheeks, a frown on his face when his fingers found a tear in the band of his slingshot. With a click of his tongue he undid the ties of the band and threw it onto the desk.
His father observed him while he did this, an almost identical frown on his own face as he watched Yasopp pull another band from his pocket and examine it under the bright light of the desk lamp. "What did you do this time, Yasopp?"
Yasopp looked up for a minute, the expression on his face saying he forgot where he had been, before he shrugged and looked back down at what he was doing, "for telling the truth, I suppose. I don't know Pop, you always taught me to tell the truth. I don't get why I would get in trouble for doing what I was told." He paused for a moment and gave his father a sheepish smile, "oh, and I shot a rock through the window while Commodore Garp was giving his speech to the first year high school students."
His father glared at him, thoroughly unamused with his son's behaviour. "Why you insist on acting like a complete idiot, I will never understand. You need to buckle down or you will never go anywhere in life. No one wants a fuck up and all you ever do now is fuck up. If you don't agree with the Marine methods, fine, but there are other students in this school who do, and as a student of this school, not to mention the son of the Headmaster, you are expected to hold yourself with a manner of decorum fitting such status. That means respecting those with ideas that differ from yours, even if you don't necessarily agree with them."
Yasopp merely stared at his father and blinked, "if you say so, Jasper."
"It is Father to you, or Sir," Jasper snapped. He clenched his fists and took several deep breaths, "listen. Do you think I agree with all of those pirate guest speakers we have around here? Of course not, but I respect them. They are major donators to the school, the same goes with the Marines. We can't have you attacking them, this school would be in ruins if we lost the Marine funding.
"Hell, the only reason your friend Dragon is even in this school is because Garp is a major donator, if it weren't for that he would have been kicked out years ago. All that non-sense he sprouts about a Revolution riles the student body up to the point where there are constant fights in the corridors in between periods. I don't want it on the grounds, but I deal with it because of his father."
Yasopp snorted, shaking his curls out of his eyes, "whatever." He had a small smile on his face as he fastened his new band to his slingshot, fingers deftly tying a secure knot in the string.
Jasper closed his eyes and breathed in through his nose, letting the breath out slowly through his mouth. "We'll discuss more of that later. Who have you been 'telling the truth' to this time?"
A scoff escaped Yasopp's mouth, "that new girl, Giordano." He sneered, the look on his face made it seem as if the mere name left a bad taste in his mouth.
"Banchina?" Yasopp rolled his eyes at the near adoring tone colouring his father's voice, "that girl is the best thing to happen to the science department since its inception! Not to mention she is exceptionally well-behaved, when she isn't confronting you at least. Now that is a girl with a bright future ahead of her, not only are the Marines vying for her, but I am to understand Gol D. Roger is considering recruiting her after graduation. Instead of insulting the girl, maybe take a few leaves from her book."
"Well, they are both out of luck," Yasopp chuckled. "Dragon was practically having a constant orgasm this entire week because she agreed to join him as a lead scientist if he gets the Revolution running." He paused for a moment, frowning slightly, "and I never said I insulted her. I merely told the truth, which was something you taught me to always do."
"Whether that is true or not, is neither here nor there," Jasper responded after a moment, head reeling from the new information. "It is obvious that to you, insulting and telling the truth have become mutually inclusive otherwise, my idiotic offspring, you would not be in here annoying me when I have other work I need to attend to."
"What, your massage?" Yasopp sneered, "terribly sorry to disturb such important work."
Jasper growled, "never mind the massage! You have great potential, but you insist on causing trouble for everyone here. I've had enough of it." He stood from his chair, his eyes straying to a portrait of himself, Yasopp's mother and four children, the youngest of which was swaddled in a blanket in Yasopp's arms.
"I can't punish you anymore, it does no good. You know breaking the window was wrong, you know whatever you said to Bachina was wrong. I know that keeping you out of classes only gives you an excuse to get into more trouble. As much as I hate to do this, especially to my own son, my hands are tied. This is your last warning."
"Until what?" Yasopp asked charily, sitting just a bit straight in his seat. His fingers stopped playing with the slingshot, allowing it to lay in his lap.
"Expulsion," Jasper answered coldly.
Yasopp chuckled and shook his head, pulling himself from his seat. "Sure, Pops. Great talk, I'll see you at dinner and we can discuss my impending expulsion further." He laughed more as he strolled out of the office, leaving his father to glare at his back.
"Fucking kid is going to send me to an early grave," Jasper muttered, opening the cabinet beside his desk and pulled out a bottle of scotch. He poured himself a generous glass and drank it in one go, wincing as the liquid burned his throat.
"He used to be such a good boy."
Jasper turned to see a woman in her late thirties standing before him. She was smiling widely at him, bouncing on the tips of her toes.
"What do you want, Marlena?" he asked the psychology professor, who was making herself at home in the seat Yasopp had vacated.
"In regards to Yasopp, I may have a solution to your problem. It is a bit unconventional," she warned, "but I think it'll prove helpful."
"I don't want the boy dead, Marlena."
Marlena scoffed and rolled her eyes, "please. Nothing so pedestrian. The Giordano girl, Banchina, she is the key."
"They hate each other."
"This is where it becomes a bit unconventional. See, my psychology class next week will be starting a 'practice marriage' of sorts. They will be forced to live with each other, and do things married couples do. Things like make a budget, cook dinner, grocery shop, pay bills
"I was going to allow the students to choose their partners, but I could instead, and place Banchina and Yasopp together. This could wind up benefitting everyone in the end. It could help her come out of her shell more, calm him down, and maybe even give us a break from their fighting."
Jasper stayed silent for a minute, pondering the idea before suddenly raising an eyebrow at her, "wait a minute, I never gave permission for such an experiment to be run. I doubt many of the parents would approve."
"An experiment that teaches their kids responsibility, thinking things through and the importance of safe sex? I don't see many parents being against that. It is not as if they are legally married, and it will all be done under the supervision of myself and the heads of house."
He gave her a cynical look, "are you certain this will work?"
Marlena gave him an almost pitying smile, "humans are peculiar beings. They take their cues from other humans, one should never underestimate their psychological connection. It is an important lesson, not only for Yasopp, but the other students as well."
Jasper sighed and leaned back in his leather chair, considering his option. He turned to stare out of the wall length mirror behind him, watching as Yasopp jumped down the last of the front steps and raced to meet his friends at the school entrance. He could not help but wince as his son was tackled to the ground, and was unable to help the small smile at hearing his son's laughter, rarity that is was nowadays. He moved his eyes to the Chemistry building, locking on the window where Banchina was lifting up her goggles to glare down at the gaggle of boys fooling around outside.
He nodded to himself, "very well." His voice sounded slightly defeated as he turned back towards her. "You have my permission to go ahead with the project- I'll have my secretary write up the permission forms and send them out to the parents. I am not expecting much, mind you, except maybe him shooting a rock or two through your classroom window. If he acts up during the project, I will be forced to expel him."
"You can't do that!" Marlena said, worry lacing her tone. "If you were to expel him during the project I will have to fail Banchina. She is here on scholarship, failure in a class is not an option for her!"
Jasper scowled, now seeing what her true plan was. "Then I suggest you keep him in check."
"He's your son, why don't you keep the kid in check." Marlena muttered to herself as she stood, smoothing down her skirt.
"What was that?" Jasper asked pleasantly, his eyes flashing dangerously warning her that she was on thin ice.
"Nothing, Sir," she responded sweetly.
"You have a month, if he hasn't changed by then, my son or not, he is out of here. Now, you get out. I've things I must attend to." Jasper waved blindly towards the door, already having turned back towards the window.
"Aye, aye, Captain," Marlena mocked saluted. As she stepped out of his office, she could not keep herself from rolling her eyes at the ceiling. Yasopp was by no means a bad child, he just needed to be pushed back in the right direction. She chuckled to herself, Jasper may not believe her plan would work, but he will soon learn that nobody should underestimate the effectiveness of outside influence, or the psychology behind it.
To Be Continued