Lesson Learned

Something's wrong...

Mitsuko shifted uncomfortably, sharing an apprehensive look with her mom. Her brother gripped his fork tight like he'd snap it, staring at their dad warily.

"As a result, standards have slipped," dad said lightly, speaking to them like this was a facility and not a family.

"S-standards?" Mom repeated with a frown, holding Gakushuu tighter.

"That changes from today." Dad spoke like this was meant to be reassuring. "Once things have been put back in order at school, things will return to normal at home."

Mitsuko tried to discreetly inch away from him. "What do you mean by normal?"

Dad stared at them in silence for a moment, making Mitsuko's stomach twist from dread.

"As I said, standards have slipped in my lack of attentiveness," he replied lightly. "Therefore it is overdue that things return to how they should—"

"No." Mitsuko stood up and glared at him. "You're crazy."

"Mitsuko!" Mom chided while Gakushuu looked up in alarm.

"You can't just stop change, dad," Mitsuko told him, while he looked back at her coldly. "That doesn't...it's ridiculous!"

"Mitsuko." Dad's voice tightened but she ignored it.

"People change, dad," she snapped, glaring at him. "And you can't stop it just because you don't like the end result!

Dad's hand slammed on the table so suddenly it made all of them nearly jump out of their skin. "That's enough!"

Mitsuko took a step back when she saw something very dark and unstable leak out of the Principal's normally calm façade.

He shouted. He never did that. She'd only heard him raise his voice maybe a handful of times, but never as loud as that.

The crack in his composer sealed back up a second later as he took a deep breath and looked back at his family who were all staring at him like he was a ticking time bomb about to explode.

"I understand this has been a stressful year so far," dad said calmly, while Mitsuko drew closer to her mom who curled an arm around her protectively. "But things will be set right."

Mitsuko grimaced and moved closer into her mom's hold, watching the Principal worriedly when he smiled calmly like everything was fine.

Mom was staring at her husband like she couldn't even recognise him properly. "Gakuhou..."

"Do you all understand?" he asked them as if they'd just had a pleasant conversation.

The three of them remained silent as they stared at him.

"Good," he replied like their silence was some sort of confirmation in agreement. "This is for the best." He stood up and slipped his laptop into his briefcase while his family watched his every move cautiously.

Mom held the two of them closer when their dad approached. Mitsuko flinched when he patted her on the head and kissed mom on the cheek.

"We'll talk more when I come back." Was all he said before he finally left.

Gakushuu dropped his fork, making a clattering noise as he curled his hand into a fist. "We need to go." He pushed his full plate away and stood up as his mom loosened her hold. "Come on."

Mitsuko shared a concerned look with her mom before grabbing her school bag as well. "Bye, mom," she muttered, following her brother out of the kitchen.

When they were both outside the house, dad's car had just pulled away.

"Gakushuu!" Mitsuko grabbed his arm. "What...what is happening?"

He grimaced, stopping to face her. "It's...it's okay. I—"

"I swear if you say you have everything handled, I will punch you in the face," Mitsuko warned him darkly. "Now what is going on?!"

Her brother sighed, looking down. "The Principal is...he was disappointed with A-Class's victory in the festival," he explained evenly. "And as a result, he...he decided that I was..." He swallowed, letting out a deep breath. "That I was not fit to lead A-Class anymore in the finals."

"What?" Mitsuko stared at him in disbelief. "He can't just do that—why...? This is crazy." She ran a hand through her hair. "He's completely lost it."

"It'll be fine." Gakushuu didn't sound like he actually believed that. "A-Class...they'll be fine."

She stared at her brother worriedly. "You really believe that?"

He grimaced, not meeting her gaze. "...Well, what else can we do?"

"We..." Mitsuko tried to think. "Okay, I don't know, but we can't let dad go off the rails like this." She took a deep breath. "We need to stand our ground and stop him from trying to control everything again, especially with mom, okay? If he tries to push us, then we have to push back."

There was no way in hell things were going back to what their father classed as 'normal'.

As terrifying as their father was, she was more afraid of letting him push them all back into their boxes. That was worse.

"...He's desperate right now," Gakushuu said.

"What?" She frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"The Principal," he replied, looking deep in thought. "He's clinging on to whatever control he has left because without his education values will finally be defeated. And he knows it." He looked at her intently. "Your class is competing for top spots, correct?"

"Well, yeah, obviously," she muttered, growing uneasy.

Her brother looked annoyed and also disgusted. "Then there's only one thing left to do."