Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis or any copyrighted, trademarked, or otherwise owned entity mentioned within this story.
Chapter 3
"No Niou, no principal, could it get any better?"
The next day passed in a frenzy. No one could focus with the looming uncertainty of school. Even the teachers were distracted. One question filled everyone's mind; what was going to happen to the school?
During Math class, Kirihara's normally strict teacher kept getting off topic.
"When you divide two fractions, you need to remember to flip the second fraction because without doing this you will find the answer is incorrect. Incorrect answers lead to homelessness and eating in soup kitchens. People all over the world have to eat canned food, which is usually laden with preservatives. The long term effect of consuming these in mass quantities is unknown. Do any of you potentially want to grow a tail or get heart disease?" She looked carefully at each and every student. "If you do fail then…"
Kirihara's gaze glazed over once she began lecturing about integers again. Who wanted to hear about that when you could potentially become half cat? 'Canned food hmm…'
At lunch, he ate a crunchy soft taco…or at least took a bite and played with the rest. At least the veggies were semi decent, not that he wanted to eat broccoli. It all boiled down to starving during practice after school or eating broccoli.
Practice was at least marginally fun. He was paired against two third years and couldn't help but tear them apart piece by piece. How they could even call their pitiful defense tennis was beyond him. Not even scoring a single point against one opponent was beyond pitiful. It was a defilement of Rikkai Dai's law to always win.
The next morning at practice, Kirihara smirked as noticed a distinct absence of the two senpai. No one needed those no name players. The team was better off without weaklings.
"Kirihara, keep running," Sanada barked at the second year.
Kirihara's eyes instantly widened. Since when did he stop running? Oh right, it was when he started daydreaming about superiority. One couldn't run and gloat in their head.
After practice, he walked into the main building only to be interrupted by the intercom. "All students report to the PAC immediately".
Everyone rushed to the PAC with excitement. They all exchanged whispers along the lines of "I hope our new principal is nice" and "they better let us bring in outside food".
Once everyone settled down, superintendent Keliae strode onstage. "Good morning students. It is my pleasure to announce your new principal and staff. Please welcome your principal, Mr. Marchbanks," he announced.
Scattered applause met the announcement.
A frazzled, yet somehow well maintained man walked onstage. He brushed his hand against flaming red hair as he took the podium. He paused a moment and smiled at the student body. "I am your new principal, Mr. Marchbanks. I hope over the next few weeks we can get to know each other and be friends".
A few students mouthed, "will be eaten alive" to each other.
"After carefully reviewing the policies of my predecessor, I must say certain things must be improved upon. While others believed that a soft approach was necessary for teaching students, I can say they were mistaken. The key to teaching students lies with a combination of mutual trust, discipline, and obedience. A school cannot function without these key elements. You must trust that we have your best interests in mind, just as we must trust that you will respect us.
However much, I would like mutual trust to work; it requires a firm hand backing the ideals we establish. Without order nothing can be achieved. If we want to make a more perfect school, certain 'rights' must be withheld in order ensure tranquility."
By this point most of the student body stared blankly into space. Only a few dedicated students even maintained the pretense of paying attention.
"Furthermore, the most important aspect of student behavior is obedience. If you obey all regulations, all will move smoothly. Resist and we will be forced to act. Know now that any misbehavior will be severely dealt with. Remember that trust is key and I, and my team, will do all we can to make this year productive." Mr. Marchbanks beamed at students.
"I would like to introduce my staff. Your vice principal is Ms. Jean." A surely woman in a plain suit stepped forward a moment to reveal her presence before stepping back in line. Her stern jaw tightened at the sight of children. "She will be responsible for student discipline, so I hope you never need to visit her." He winked at the student body.
"To assist Ms. Jean and myself we have decided to use the councilors in a different way. They will now be known as coordinators and as their name suggests, they will help coordinate student affairs. Their names are as follows: Yamuki, Hatoshi, Rima, Kanin, and Kanome". Two women and a few men stepped forward as their respective names were called.
Mr. Marchbanks turned back to students and concluded, "I am looking forward to this year with you. Dismissed."
A few students stood up hesitantly as their classmates continued staring blankly, observing their fingernails, or watching the occasional enthralling fly.
Finally the students dispersed to their homeroom.
Kirhara sat happily in his seat. The new principal seemed nice, but he did use a lot of big words. His speech was pretty confusing, almost like when Yanagi spoke.
"Class, quiet down," Mr. Boldova, who was also Kirihara's art teacher, ordered. "I'm going to briefly explain the new discipline system. Basically whenever you commit an offense you will be given a single 'mark'. Each mark will be tallied and once you reach a certain number you will have a predetermined punishment. For example, three marks equals a detention. Do you understand?"
The class nodded.
"There are several 'offenses that warrant direct action' according to the new vice principal," Mr. Boldova wrinkled his nose at this, "Basically it means when you do something really bad, you will punished for it and not given a mark," he explained.
"I think that's the gist of it," Mr. Boldova said with a sigh as he sat down. He took out the roll sheet, all the while muttering, "How in the world are the students supposed to understand when they don't even use age appropriate vocabulary. They're in junior high not college."
Kirihara smiled as he continued to live in bliss land.
A/N: This was written at 4 am, so forgive me if it is crappy. I wanted to finish this chapter before my three week trip. I guess I succeeded since I'm leaving in half an hour. I may not be able to write or post over the next few weeks so don't be surprised if this isn't updated for a while.