Chapter 10: Worse
Haruhi's point of view:
This morning as I walked to my first class...
"Ohayou, Haruhi!" Tamaki greeted.
"Senpai, why are you here?" I asked, stopping to talk to him.
"I need you to do me a favor," he said, smiling.
"What is it?" I asked curiously.
"I want you to bring Princess Ayami to the clubroom at lunchtime."
"Why?" I asked suspiciously.
"Because," he said confidently, making a fist. "She's going to join us for a family picnic in the clubroom!"
"I decline," I replied flatly.
"Why not?" Tamaki complained; I sighed and turned to head on my way to my class.
"I'll ask her, but I'm not going to force her to come," I said, and Tamaki brightened up.
"Yay!" He cheered, "See you then!" He said, going off to class.
*Sigh*
'I said that but,' I thought, walking through the hallways, 'Aya wasn't in her classroom, and no one seems to know where she went.' I sighed.
"Oh well, I'll just tell Tamaki-senpai that I couldn't find her," I said, walking to the end of the hallway.
"Ahh! Watch where you're going!" a boy shouted from down the hall.
"Sorry." I heard a girl call back.
'I know that voice,' I thought, looking down the hall just as Aya zoomed past me. Her expression was serious and stiff, almost dark in a way.
"Aya?" I said, but she was already gone.
In the club room...
"You let her get away?" Tamaki complained.
"I told you I wasn't going to force her, besides she seemed to be busy."
"Busy?" Honey asked.
"Yes, she was running down the halls in a real hurry to get somewhere, and her facial expression was pretty serious," I replied, pondering on the image of her in my mind.
Mori and Honey looked at each other a bit concerned and confused.
15 minutes later...
"This cake is delicious! Here, you try some Haruhi!" Honey said, holding out a piece of cake.
"No, thanks," I replied.
'So we ended up having this stupid picnic anyway...' I thought, looking it over, 'Although I wouldn't really call eating while sitting on a blanket on the floor a picnic.' I sighed. Just then, a girl burst through the door.
"Haruhi!" She exclaimed out of breath, and we all turned in her direction. She stopped to take a breather and leaned over; she had obviously been running very hard. She had a small bandage over her left eyebrow, and her dress was dirty.
"Princess Shiori!" Tamaki exclaimed, standing, "What is it? What happened?"
"It's Sohma-san," she said, sounding urgent. "It's all my fault!" She exclaimed, tears forming in her eyes.
Meanwhile at this time in the Nurse's office...
Aya
What were you thinking?" the older man screamed, "To participate in a fight on school grounds is completely unacceptable!" He paced around the nurses' office furiously.
Kasanoda sighed and slumped down into the chair as a nurse finished placing a bandage on his head.
"You," The older man said, pointing at him, "You'll be lucky if all you end up with is a week suspension!" Kasdanoda looked away and sniffed.
"It wasn't his fault," I interjected, and both of them turned to look at me. "I was the one that got in the fight first. Kasanoda saw I was outnumbered and was just trying to help even out the odds," I said to the livid vice-principal as a nurse came to inspect my wounds.
"Is that so? Then if I go ask Misawa in the next room about what happened, will she tell me the same thing?" He asked disbelievingly. I sighed, crossed my arms, and looked away from him.
'How on Earth did I end up here again? This day started out crappy enough...'
This morning...
*Tap-Tap* "Miss, are you awake?" Hinata asked through my door; I ignored her and rolled on to my stomach.
"Ahh, wait!" I heard Hinata say to someone.
*Click* I heard my door open.
"Miss," Georgina said, walking up next to my bed. "I hate to do this, but ya leave me no choice." Suddenly my covers were pulled off of me, and it was freezing.
"I don't wanna," I moaned, and I curled up into a ball
"I normally wouldn't do this, but ya have a phone call," she said. I opened my eyes and looked up at her through my messy hair. She was holding out a cordless phone.
"Who is it?" I asked as I sat up, rubbing my eyes.
"Some American girl who claims to know you. We tried to tell her to call back when it was a more reasonable hour, but she insisted on now. Every time we would hang up, she would just call back again. She said it was urgent, so we told her we'd put her on hold until we talked to you." I put on my glasses and blinked a few times, looking at the clock; 5:42 AM.
"Did she give a name?" I asked, looking up at Georgina. Hinata seemed worried.
"Well that's just it, Hinata picked up the phone, and her English is... sub-par," Hinata looked down at her feet, ashamed.
"I-" Hinata started, "I believe she said her name was Mary?" I raised one eyebrow and put out my hand for the receiver.
'There's only one person I know that fits this description. Stubborn, American, and loud...' Georgina placed it in my hand, and I pressed the hold button.
"I had better not be on hold for much longer! SOMEBODY ANSWER THE DANG PHONE!" I heard the girl scream, and I recognized the voice instantly though she was shouting.
"Hello," I answered.
"Hello? Aya?" She asked surprised. I half-smiled.
"Yes, it's me, Anne Marie," I said, giving a thumbs up to the Hinata and Georgina. Hinata smiled gladly.
"We'll give you some privacy," Hinata said, and they left the room.
"Oh, I'm so glad I found you! I've been looking high and low for you; you'll never guess how hard it was to get this number..." Anne started rambling on about her journey to find me.
Anne Marie Haley Joseph. A bubbly, brown-eyed girl with dyed blonde hair who wears make-up and fake nails; a diva and a gossip. I wouldn't really call her a friend, but she hung around me, and I couldn't scare her off. Basically, she thought I was cool because I could beat guys at basketball and decided to stick close to me when she found out that my aunt owned the sweets shop around the corner, as she loves sweets. Now that I think about it, her personality was something like Honey and Tamaki put together with a dash of the twins' fashion sense mixed in as well.
"And your mom wasn't helpful at all. I had to call her like 40 times yesterday! You know this whole crisis could have been avoided if you had just told me your new number in the first place!"
"Yeah, sorry about that, but, um, do you even know what time it is?" I asked.
"Hmm? Yeah," she paused, probably looking at a clock, "it's 3:40-ish, why?" She asked unknowingly, which pissed me off.
"Here I mean, do you know what time it is here," I said irritably, "in Japan?"
No answer.
"You do know there's a 14 hour time difference between here and there, right?" I said, gritting my teeth.
"Really?" she said unbelievingly.
"Yes... here it's 5:45 in the morning!" I said, stressing that she had just woken me up.
"Ohhhhhh, so that's what the lady meant by a bad time to be calling," she said, and she paused for a bit, "Sorry, I'll call back later."
"Like hell, you will! Like I'd be able to get back to sleep and only to get an extra half-hour!" I shouted into the phone.
"Sorry!" she said again.
"You're damn right, you're sorry!" I said, very bothered. She was silent for a bit, and I rolled my eyes and sighed. "Whatever, I'm awake now, so there's no point in me staying mad at you," I said, flopping back onto my bed. I could practically hear her smiling through the phone, "Now, what was this urgent news you had to tell me?"
"Hmm? What are you talking about?" she asked.
*Crack*
"Anne Marie Haley Joseph," I said her full name in a dark tone, "You'd better not have just been making it up..."
"Eeep!" she yipped on the other end.
"Because I know where you live..." I said in a growl.
"No, really, there is something!" she said quickly; I waited for her to start talking.
Quiet.
"Chad asked me out last week!" I was a bit shocked and confused.
"That's the emergency?" I asked disbelievingly.
"It's an emergency." I rolled my eyes.
"Well, that's good, right? You liked Chad," I said, closing my eyes.
"Yeah, but he was dating Cindy up until last month." I took note of the falseness in her voice.
"Is this really the problem?" I asked.
Silence.
"Answer me, Ann, you're not one to lie, besides you called me, so you better make this worth my while." I waited for her to answer.
"It's not really an emergency, but..." she said, sounding sad. "I heard that your Aunt's business was going under."
"Oh," I said, opening my eyes and trying to pay close attention.
"It's just rumors, but they're spreading like wildfire. Some other company was trying to buy her out, and, since she didn't give in, they're trying to make it more difficult by giving her hard competition."
"Hmm, I see," I said, looking at my hand as I fiddled with the edge of my sheets.
"Like I said, not really an emergency, yet that is. The girls and I go there every weekend, and Mark was saying that he's going to start a fundraiser with the rest of the basketball team," she said, sounding slightly hopeful.
"Heh, and what does my Aunt say about all this?" I asked. "Takako is not one to accept charity from high-schoolers."
"Yeah, she nearly bit off Mark's head when he suggested it," she giggled, "But she hasn't tried to stop us yet, she seems to be letting us help her this time." Pause. "It'll be okay, we'll think of something!"
'She's definitely trying to stay positive.'
"I wish there was something I could do," I mumbled.
It was silent for a bit.
"Anyway!" she suddenly shouted, changing the subject, "I heard you found your father?"
"Yup," I answered.
"What's he like?" she asked curiously, "I heard from your aunt that he's rich."
"Yup, he's rich alright, the two ladies who answered the phone were my maid and cook."
"OMG! You've got your own maid?! Lucky!"
"Yeah, I'm so lucky," I said sarcastically. "I even have a driver who takes me around in a fancy car."
"Really?! That's so cool! It's like you're a princess!" She said cheerfully
"I am not!" I shouted reflexively. "Uh, I mean... don't call me a princess, it irritates me. Anyway, it's not all that great, the only places I go to are home, school, and lessons."
"Lessons?" she inquired.
"I have to take dancing lessons and etiquette lessons. It's a real pain in the ass, to be honest. Plus, I have to wear a uniform to school."
"Well that can't be so bad, I mean from what Shelly says Japanese school uniforms are adorable!"
"It looks like a big, puffy, yellow, 1980's prom dress with long sleeves," I answered flatly, and Ann cracked up.
"BU-WA-HA-HA-HA!" she burst out.
"Shut up," I said, gritting my teeth.
"Talk about change! I can't even imagine what you'd look like wearing that," she replied, still giggling. I sighed.
"On top of that, my dad basically owns the school I'm attending now."
"Seriously, he's like the principal? That's awesome! You could get away with anything."
"More like I get away with nothing! I'm under a microscope. I have to act all proper ladylike now, remember?"
"Yeah, I guess your right." She pondered on that a bit.
"You'd like my school, though; they have a host club."
"What's that?" she asked.
"Basically, it's where a bunch of good-looking guys entertain girls by serving them sweets and tea. Sometimes they dress up in costumes and have theme days."
"That's AWESOME! I'm so jealous right now!"
"You shouldn't be, they're weird. In fact, all these rich people are weird."
"How good looking are they? Have you talked to them? What are they like?" She bombarded me with questions.
"They look like models, yes, I have talked with them, and they're... well, some of them are not so bad, but some are just annoying."
"How so?" She asked, and I thought it over.
'Should I tell her about Tamaki? Would my dad be upset? I don't see how this could affect anything going on here... I guess it couldn't hurt.'
"One of them's my new half-brother," I replied.
"NO WAY!" she said, shocked.
"Yes, way," I said, staring at my wall, "He's really annoying, always touching me and calling me a princess."
"What's he look like?"
"He's tall, blonde, blue-eyed," I said unenthusiastically.
"Talk about a HOTTIE!" she said giggly.
"Who cares what he looks like? His personality is bothersome."
"Yeah, I guess you wouldn't like that; I would though. I wish hot guys would fawn over me." She said with a sigh; I rolled my eyes.
"What about you, what are you up to?" I asked, averting the conversation off myself, which brought forth a schpeel about her school life. Cheer-leading, hanging out with the girls, guys she liked, and random celebrity nonsense. I put my phone on speaker while I started getting ready for school, and as I was headed out to my car, I heard her mom call for her.
"Oh no! I gotta go, mom just got back from work early."
"Wait a sec, just curious, how many calls have you made to Japan?"
"Hmm, I lost count. Why?" she said, clueless; I snickered.
"Because there could be a huge long-distance call fee on your phone bill," I laughed, shaking my head.
"NO WAY! SERIOUSLY! My mom's gonna kill me!" I only laugh harder.
"From now on, how about I call you okay," I said, "Later."
"Ugh, later," she said, sounding miserable, making me giggle some more as I hung up the phone.
*Sigh* 'Ann is so clueless sometimes.'
I got up and went through my morning routine, then Chris then took me to school like usual.
I arrived early. I went from class to class, and the girls left me alone. No one talked to me and, even though I was sleep-deprived, I somehow managed to get through my classes without dozing off.
Lunch was coming up soon, and I was trying to decide whether I wanted to sit under the tree and risk meeting a host when I noticed Misawa acting strange. Her expression was similar to when she was irritated at something I had done, like she was trying to kill me with her eyes, but she wasn't staring at me. I followed her gaze easily to Shiori Maeda's seat in front of me.
'Why is she mad at her?' I thought, confused.
I then took notice of Maeda; she seemed nervous; she kept looking over her shoulder towards Misawa.
'Something's up,' I thought, keeping my eyes on them for the rest of class until the lunch bell rang.
Shiori was the first to stand and made a mad dash towards the door. Misawa stood up right after her and caught her at the door. I scrutinized what they were doing.
Misawa put her hand on Shiori's shoulder and said something, but I couldn't hear what it was. By now, everyone in the class was chattering. Shiori seemed reluctant, and she glanced back at me very quickly, then she looked away and exited with Misawa.
"Suspicious," I said, standing up to follow them when I saw a folded piece of paper on the floor under Shiori's desk. I picked it up and unfolded it. It had one word and one word only:
Worse
'Worse? Worse, worse, worse...' I thought then I remembered.
Any girl who talks to Sohma will be ignored or worse.
'Oh crap,' I thought, and I hurried out of the room after them.
I ran through the halls searching for them, but they had disappeared.
'Where could she have taken her?' I thought. 'Maybe to the same place she took me!' I turned down a hall quickly, almost bumping into another student.
"Ahh! Watch where you're going!" the boy shouted at me.
"Sorry," I called over my shoulder; I was already halfway down the hall. I turned to go down another corridor and passed another until I was standing in the garden by the pond. I looked around, searching for them.
"Not here," I said, breathing heavily; my sides ached, and I leaned over to catch my breath. "Damn it!"
"Hey," I heard a familiar rough voice call. I looked up to see Kasanoda walking my way.
"Kasanoda," I said, out of breath.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm searching for someone," I said, standing up straight.
"Who?" he asked curiously.
"Misawa - something or other - and Shiori Maeda, they're two girls from my class; I have to find them," I said, brushing some hair out of my face.
"Ahh, that Misawa girl, I think I saw her heading into the maze with some others," he replied. "Why do you need to - hey!" He started, but I was already dashing away.
"Wait!" he called, and I heard him start running after me.
I jumped a small hedge and ran up to the mouth of the maze then I quickly turned around to face Kasanoda, who almost ran into me from abruptly stopping.
"If you wanted privacy in this maze, where would you go?" I asked sternly.
"Um, what does this-" He started.
"Just answer!" I commanded, interrupting him.
"Uh, well, there are a few fountains and such, but anywhere in there would be fine, hardly anybody goes in there at lunchtime."
"Damn!" I said, frustrated, and I rushed full force into the maze.
"Hey, what's going on?" he said, following me and keeping pace.
"Misawa is the girl who doesn't like me for being friends with Haruhi," I said, dashing around a corner. "She's the one who sent those boys out to chase me down. Recently, she threatened the other girls to stay away from me." I turned another corner.
"Ahh, that's a dead-end!" he shouted. I stopped running and turned towards him.
"She told them to stay away, and Shiori talked to me. Plus, Misawa is pissed because I was visiting with the hosts outside of the club hours." I said, looking him in the eyes, "I fear that Misawa might be taking out her anger towards me out on Shiori." His expression turned serious.
"I see... I know this maze pretty well," he said.
"Then lead the way," I said, and we dashed off down another path. We made a few turns, and suddenly I heard a girl scream.
"Crap!" I said as we rounded the last corner. There standing in the clearing was Misawa, one of the girls who threw me in the pond, and two other boys, obviously Misawa's new lackeys.
Misawa looked pleased as she and the other girl watched as one boy held Shiori by the hair.
"Hey, you!" I shouted. The group looked my way, "Let her go."
"Why hello there, Sohma," Misawa said with a grin, "Miss Maeda and I just went out for a little walk."
The boy released Shiori's hair but still held her by the arm. Shiori turned slightly towards me; her clothes were dirty, and I could see a small cut on her forehead, probably from being pushed down.
"Yeah, right," I sneered. My hands were balled into fists, and I was shaking out of anger. Misawa's smirk remained, GOD did I want to smack it off her face!
"Why are you out here, Sohma-san? Sneaking around with your boyfriend?" Misawa teased.
"Ahh! No, we're-" Kasanoda exclaimed, probably blushing from ear to ear, but I didn't look.
"No," I answered flatly. "I was looking for you."
"Is that so?" she said, still high and mighty.
"Yes, because I have something that I want to tell you," I said through my teeth. Misawa looked at me impatiently as I took in a deep breath.
"I don't care if you hate me, or if you bully me, I don't even care that you told the other girls to stay away from me," I said my voice like acid, "but there's one thing I do care about."
"And what's that, deary?" Misawa asked; I gritted my teeth and took a deep breath through my nose, keeping my anger on simmer, but just barely.
"If you so much as think of hurting others out of your hatred towards me," I said, narrowing my eyes on Misawa, "You'd better be prepared for an ass whopping." Misawa looked at me, disbelieving, and began laughing.
"Ha ha ha! What are you going to do, throw cookies at me? Ah ha ha ha!" she chuckled; that did it.
"Kasanoda," I said, tilting my chin slightly towards him but keeping my eyes on Misawa and her gang. "It's fine if you leave, but just so you know, I'm about to break her nose."
"Heh, I'd like to see you try," Misawa said with a laugh, and she snapped her fingers. The two boys looked at her. "Get her," she commanded them.
They grinned, and the one holding Shiori shoved her away, and she fell to the ground, then they turned towards me.
"You know there's one thing I know about rich kids," I paused, grinning and took an attack stance, "They don't have street fighting skills." I lunged forward, and thus the fight began.
I quickly ducked under the first boy's punch and zipped around him to kick him in the rear. He landed face-first in the dirt. Then the second boy attacked, and I blocked his move and gave him a crotch kick. He fell to his knees out of pain, and I heard the first boy starting to get up, but I didn't care; my target was right in front of me, and the look on her face was priceless.
I dashed forward. I heard the other girl scream as Misawa put her hands up. I smacked them out of the way, and, with all my frustration, I punched Misawa square in the face.
Misawa fell, I was hoping unconsciously, to the ground as the first boy charged to grab me from behind.
"I'm getting a teacher," the random girl said, rushing away.
"Don't you ever pick on my friends again!" I yelled as the boy tried to contain me.
"Hey! Get your hands off of her," Kasanoda yelled as he joined in the fight.
"What were you thinking?" the older man yelled, using his hands to display his anger. "To participate in a fight on school grounds is completely unacceptable!" He paced around the nurses' office furiously.
Kasanoda sighed and slumped down into the chair as a nurse finished placing a bandage on his head.
"You," The older man said, pointing at Kasanoda, "You'll be lucky if all you end up with is a week suspension!" Kasdanoda looked away and sniffed.
"It wasn't his fault," I interjected in Kasanoda's defense. "I was the one that got in the fight first; Kasanoda saw I was outnumbered and was just trying to help even out the odds," I said to the livid vice-principal as a nurse came to inspect my wounds.
"Is that so? Then if I go ask Misawa in the next room about what happened, will she tell me the same thing?" He asked disbelievingly. I sighed, crossed my arms, and looked away from him.
The nurse sat down and smiled, then began treating my busted lip.
"As a vice-principal, I'll see to it that you're in afterschool detention for a week!" the man continued. "You just wait until we talk to your father about this!" He said, looking down at me; I looked up at him wide-eyed, turning away from the nurse.
"What?" I asked.
"I sent your father a message, and we have a conference call with him as soon as you've been treated," he said, adjusting his glasses, a sneer on his lips. I moaned under my breath, and the irritated nurse turned my head so that she could continue her treatment.
'Dang it! This just keeps getting better and better! What's next, the host club gonna burst in here to save the day?' This thought disturbed me, and I scowled at the chair where Maeda had been sitting, but the chair was empty.
"Just perfect," I groaned. The vice-principal looked at me, confused, then turned to look at the same place I was looking at.
"Ahh!" he exclaimed, "Where's that Maeda girl?" He rushed to the door and looked into the hall.
"Probably off telling others about how she was almost mauled by a dog," I said loud enough so that Misawa in the next room could hear it.
"I heard that you bi*ch!" she answered, and I chuckled under my breath.
"Stop bickering!" the vice-principal commanded loudly.
The nurse finished her treatment on my lip and motioned for me to give her my hands. I uncrossed my arms and looked at them; there were several superficial scrapes on my fingers. I rolled my eyes and, with another sigh, handed her one of my hands. The nurse smiled at me again and began treating the scrapes.
"Excuse me," I heard someone from the hallway say, "but is Ayami Sohma in there?" I now recognized the voice as Haruhi's. The vice-principal turned to talk to her.
"Please, all of you,"
'There's more than just her? Crap it must be the happiness brigade.' I groaned.
"Go back to your classrooms, lunch break is nearly over, and it's almost time for classes to start."
"Please," I heard Honey say, "We just want to talk to her and see if she's alright."
'He sounds upset. I'm sure he must be worried.'
"She's still here, right?" I heard Maeda ask.
'Ah, and the betrayer shows her true colors,' I thought, glaring at her through the dividing curtain. The nurse finished with my left hand and motioned for the right; I gave it to her with another sigh.
"You," the vice-principal said to Maeda with irritation, "I'll need to speak with you after I deal with Miss Sohma. The rest of you go back to your classes!"
"I'm not leaving until I see my darling daughter!" Tamaki demanded.
"Tamaki, I won't have any of your antics," he said irritated; I chuckled under my breath.
"Could we perhaps just talk with her, see if she's alright?" Haruhi asked. I sighed and turned my head towards to door.
"I'm fine, you idiots," I called through the curtain; I heard a few sighs of relief.
"Princess!" Tamaki said.
"Aya!" I heard Haruhi say, "Are you alright?"
"Didn't I just answer that question?" I asked sarcastically. "I'm fine - at least - I can say I've been through worse." Then a thought hit me, and I began laughing. "You should see Misawa! I definitely broke her nose," I called loudly.
"Why you-" I heard Misawa shout, stirring in the next room, and I couldn't help but laugh a bit more.
"This- you're not supposed to- please, you all need to go back to your classes," the vice-principal said bothered.
"There, all set," the nurse said, "unless you're hurt anywhere else?"
"No, I'm good," I said, standing. I walked out from behind the curtain into view of the hosts who were crowding the door.
"Aya-chan!" Honey exclaimed, looking distraught.
"Princess!" Tamaki exclaimed again, and I gave him an irritated look.
"From what Maeda had said, we thought you were dead." The twins spoke in unison. I gave a bothered look to Shiori, who turned away from my irritated glare.
Mori and Kyoya were standing back from the door, but both looked a little relieved. Mori watching me closely, as always.
Haruhi seemed to be a bit worried, but when she saw me walk out from behind, she smiled and released the breath she was holding.
"You didn't kill anyone, did you?" Haruhi asked jokingly; I grinned, walking towards her.
"Nah," I said in the same joking tone, "The boys may have bruises, but they'll be fine." I motioned to the other room where Misawa was, "She'll live, but she'll have a big ass bandage for the next month or so."
"Miss Sohma," the vice-principal said, putting his arm between Haruhi and me. I looked up at him; his expression was firm and furious. We stared at each other, both seeming to be daring the other to say something.
"Conference room one," he commanded, stepping into the hallway and pointing down the hall, "now." I clenched my jaw as I walked slowly out of the nurses' office. I stopped just outside the doorway and made a glance over his shoulder at the confused and concerned host club.
Haruhi, Honey, and Tamaki looked the most worried. The twins appeared to be indifferent, but Kyoya seemed to be speculating my every move. Mori was looking directly into my eyes, his expression stiff. His stare made me nervous, and I looked away from him.
Maeda was there too, her expression that of deep worry. I looked over my shoulder at Kasanoda and even he seemed a bit worried as well. I sighed and turned on my heels to leave.
"My goodness, you people are all so serious," I said, starting to walk away. They all looked after me still concerned, I'm sure, but I didn't look back to see.
The vice-principal walked alongside me through the halls, not saying a word until we reached the door to the conference room.
"Don't try to downplay your actions just because your father is the chairman of this school. You will be treated the same as any other student here, understood?" he said stiffly.
"Yeah, I figured," I said with a sniff. He gave me a final glare and opened the door. The room had a large oval-shaped table with black chairs all around it, there were four big windows with tall blinds on the right wall, and a large projector screen on the wall across from the doors.
"Take a seat," he said, and he closed and locked the door behind him. I sat in an empty chair as he went to the far end of the room and turned on the projector. It loaded up, and there appeared an image of my father sitting at a desk in some fancy hotel room.
"Hello, Chairman Suoh," he greeted.
"Hello, Zennosuke-san. Ayami," he said, greeting us with a smile.
"Otoo-san," I greeted him.
"Now," He said, putting his hands together, "Why am I being dragged out of an important meeting?" I sweatdropped.
"Your daughter started a fight and ended up injuring three students and getting two others hurt as well." The vice-principal stated.
"I did not!" I shouted. "Misawa started it. I only finished it." My father looked at me, debating for a bit, then he sighed.
"Zennosuke-san, could you give my daughter and me some privacy?" He asked the vice-principal, who looked a bit reluctant but left the room.
"Now," my father said, "Explain what happened."
I told him from the beginning of the bullying, leaving out only the pond incident. He listened carefully; his expression never changing. When I had finished, he closed his eyes and thought for a bit.
"Ayami," he mumbled, opening his eyes, "I thought I told you to keep a low profile." I looked down at my hands, and we sat silently for a while until he sighed. "What a mess you've left for me to clean," he sighed.
"I'm sorry, father," I replied, keeping my eyes down.
"I'm not too terribly mad, but I did hope you wouldn't draw attention to yourself, at least for the next month or two, but seeing as how you've done exactly what I feared might happen, you leave me no choice." I looked up at him, confused.
"You're suspended for the next week," he said, looking very disappointed in me.
"I understand, father," I replied.
"Go call, the vice principal back in," he said; I stood and went to the door.
I opened it, and the vice principal was waiting there. He looked at me and walked into the room.
"I have suspended Ayami, until the end of next week. The same goes for Kasanoda Ritsu and the others involved in the fight. Miss Maeda, I find the victim in this and will not be punished. As for Hanami Misawa, we'll need to have a discussion with her parents before she can return to school. Same with Kyoko Sato."
"Of course," the vice-principal replied, "I already called the other's homes, and they've already gone home for the rest of today. Would you like me to do the same for Miss Sohma?"
"Yes," my father replied; the vice principal nodded.
I was sent to the front office, where I waited for Chris to come and pick me up from school.
The ride home was silent, and when I walked through the front doors, the maid looked at me, worried. I ignored her and went straight up to my room.
I locked myself in there and stayed there for the rest of the day, skipping dinner.
'I've failed my father...' I thought, grabbing onto one of my pillows from my bed, 'but Misawa was being such a jerk!' I thought, rolling off my bed and onto the floor.
"Urgh, I hate this! Life with a father sucks!" I screamed, throwing the pillow across the room; it knocked over a floor lamp.
Okay, there's chapter 10... Please tell me what you think of this, not that I'm going to do the switching people a lot, but I just wanted to try it and see how it went. Personally, I think this chapter came out great, but I would love your opinions!
~Thank you for reading~
~MiraCarpathia