A Fateful Meeting

It came to be known by many names and all instilled an equal amount of dread in a certain Legendary Dark Knight.

Review Day...Parent's Evening...Parent/Teacher Night...

He had tried so hard to find a way out, any excuse however small which he could use to convince Eva to leave him behind, but she had insisted this year. He had managed to evade all of the previous ones by knowing the date and pre-planning to have something highly important that needed to be done, but this time she had caught him by surprise. She had kept the date secret from him until it was far too late to back out.

He was doomed.

The twins weren't at all happy to be there either, more so than Sparda as they knew full well what they had been up to, but flanked by both parents there was no way that they would be sneaking off.

After a long, anxious wait they were finally called over to the boy's class teacher, Mrs Abigail Dancy, who greeted them with a smile so warm it had to be false and a handshake gone limp from overuse that day with so many parents and guardians coming ad going.

"Hello, it's nice to see you again Mrs Sparda." she said to Eva and then turned to the nervous, tall man beside her who was being used as a shield by his sons. "And finally I get to meet Mr Sparda. Pleased to meet you, I'm Mrs Dancy; your boys' tutor."

"I assumed that you would be." he commented, which earned him an elbow to the side and a sharp glare from his wife.

"Yes...well...please take a seat." Mrs Dancy said and waved to the chairs set out in front of the desk that she was behind. She began to flip through a couple of registers and some reports. "You should be pleased to hear that Vergil is going from strength to strength in all subjects...but I'm afraid to say that the same cannot be said of Dante."

Sparda's eyes narrowed and he picked absently at his fingers while Eva, concerned, leaned in to peer at the records that were being indicated.

"As you can see," the teacher continued, "He hasn't slipped back at all but neither am I seeing the progress I would expect. He is bright enough but he seems loathe to apply himself. He's behind in his homework and only does enough class work to prevent a letter being sent home."

"Oh really?" Eva said and glared at Dante who had the decency to look apologetic.

Mrs Dancy continued. "Other than his lack of enthusiasm he's doing well enough. Both boys excel in PE and Vergil is every dedicated in everything he does. Unfortunately...there are a few things that do need to be brought up about them."

At these words even Sparda shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The twins seemed to shrink back in their chairs and shared a silent mutual prayer to any god or devil (father gladly included) who might take pity and bail them out.

Eva, with blanching features, braced herself for the worse. "Alright, what have they done?"

"Vergil hasn't done anything too drastic. Most of his problems seem to stem from how knowledgeable he is and how quickly he learns. I feel that having him moved to a more advanced class might be beneficial to his education. He keeps interrupting and picking holes in my lessons."

"How do you mean?"

"He doesn't like how I have to simplify things for most of the class to understand and so sometimes takes it upon himself to attempt to rectify this, also, I cannot have the lessons progressing as fast as he would like because the other children cannot keep up that pace and still take it all in. All of this adds up to him becoming quite frustrated and snappish...it gives him a habit of taking out that stress on school property and anyone who provokes him in the slightest. He tends to pick fights on Dante and Dante doesn't help as he keeps winding Vergil up and deliberately setting him off. The two of them, as you will know by the letters, are still notorious for instigating food fights in the dinner hall."

Eva nodded glumly. she remembered every school crest headed letter and every single gravy and custard stain her sons came home with...not to mention the mashed potato clinging to Dante's hair like the most stubborn of glues and the bits of chocolate pudding Vergil later found had worked its way into his shoes.

While Sparda sniggered to himself while recalling the very same memories, Mrs Dancy carried on with the meeting. "Dante, I'm afraid, is another matter entirely. On top of all the practical jokes he is still playing I have never, in all my years, seen a boy his age flirt so much...I honestly despair sometimes."

Dante had the almost lecherous smile wiped off of his face by a solitary look from his mother. Vergil made a disapproving tutting sound while his father went about trying to surreptitiously make a paper crane out of an extremely out-of-date buss pass he'd fished out of his jacket pocket.

"As well as that," Mrs Dancy proceeded, sliding a couple more reports out of a pile, "there's is the matter of the little protection racket he seems to have set up."

"I beg your pardon?" Eva exploded as Dante sank even further down his chair (which was quite an achievement seeing as how his backside had already been halfway off the seat).

"Perhaps that isn't the best way of explaining it. What he appears to be doing is providing protection from bullies and even picking pre-emptive fights with them for a price of sorts."

"Oh," Sparda mumbled absently while making a reverse fold, "I wondered where all those Yu-Gi-Oh cards were coming from."

But Mrs Dancy wasn't quite done yet. "The last thing I aught to bring up is the incident with the bathroom...you see...Dante decided that he wanted to do a little decorating by marking out a very large pattern on the ceiling in toilet paper." she then produced a photograph that a very astonished caretaker had snapped to prove to himself that he wasn't seeing things and that is wasn't a dream.

Eva and Sparda both stared at the shot of the intricate arcane design that had been plastered over every last inch of the boys' bathroom ceiling with wads of wet loo roll which he had thrown at it.

Sparda turned to Dante. "Wow! That must have taken ages! How did you get it so accurate?"

Eva gasped and elbowed him very roughly.

He rubbed his side and coughed. "Err...eh-hem...I mean, don't do it again." but he couldn't wipe off the lingering smile.

The meeting with Mrs Dancy soon wound to a close after the discussions about whether Vergil should be moved or not had been made. It was eventually decided that going up a year might be too much but a transference to a more quiet, dedicated and smaller class could be beneficial where the teacher would be able to help him and go into further detail while the rest of the class studiously got on with what they were set. They also hoped that separation from his brother would keep Dante focused on his schooling rather than where the next thrill was coming from.

They said their goodbyes and went on hope with the boys feeling relived about it all being over and Sparda nursing a very sore set of ribs as well as suffering Eva's wrath because of the procession of buss pass, sweet wrapper and paper animals that had ended up on Mrs Dancy's desk. It hadn't helped when he had tried to take a report card to make the elephant.

End

Author's Note – Well…I tried…the imagination fairy doesn't seem to be paying me many visits anymore. But I'll carry on as I've got a couple or so more ideas floating in the back of my skull. I've started a Christmassy one but it's a lil bit early for that. I'll go back to the other idea's people have passed my way…like job seeking.

Bye for now. Reviews always appreciated and thank you all!