Chapter 11: The Predator's Pet

I slide the door to the Student Council room open. It's Friday. The sun is streaming in.

Ayako is at her desk, finishing paperwork.

"You wanted to see me, Kaichou?" I ask, leaning against the doorframe. I'm too sore to stand up straight. I'm trying to sound casual.

"Do not call me that," she says, not looking up. "It is disrespectful."

"Right. Katsumi-san. What's up? More demerits?"

"No," she says, signing a paper with a flourish. "You have not been 'late' to training. Therefore, you have not earned any."

"Wow. I'm a model student."

She finally looks up, and her gaze is sharp. "This weekend, there is no training."

I blink. A weekend? Off? A weekend of... sleeping? My body almost weeps with joy.

"Seriously?"

"Do not look so relieved," she says, her voice flat. "It is because we have the mandatory school 'Village Clean-Up Initiative'. As president, I am overseeing the event. As my classmate, you are participating."

My joy evaporates. "Oh. Right. The stupid... village trip."

"It is a two-day, one-night excursion to Akiyama Village. We will be assisting the local community. The bus leaves tomorrow at 7 AM sharp."

"A bus ride. Great. Just... great."

"Your enthusiasm is, as always, overwhelming," she deadpans. She stands up, gathering her papers into a neat stack.

"But that is not why I called you here."

I tense up. "Oh?"

She walks over to me. I instinctively straighten my spine, my muscles falling into that stupid Kiba Dachi horse stance for a split second before I realize what I'm doing.

A tiny, tiny flicker of... something... crosses her face. Is that... approval? No. Can't be.

"You have become... slightly less pathetic," she says.

"High praise. I'll get it tattooed on my chest."

"But your progress is slow. Your body is stiff. Your muscles are locked from decades of improper use."

"Decades? I'm sixteen!"

"And you have been a clumsy brawler for most of them," she retorts.

She stops in front of me. "Your work is only beginning. But you have... potential."

She's using that word again. Potential.

"Why?" I ask, my voice quiet. "Why do you care? Why are you really doing this? 'Solving me' is a crap answer."

She's silent for a moment, just looking at me. It's the first time she's looked at me, really looked at me, without that cold, analytical distance. It's... unsettling.

"Do you know what the Seidou-kai is?" she asks, her voice low.

"The guys... from the alley? The ones who were shaking down Miki and Kenji?"

"Yes. They are a small, low-level yakuza affiliate," she says, her voice turning to ice. "They are... pests. And they operate in this district. My district."

My blood runs cold. "Your... district?"

"You, Minatawa-kun," she continues, ignoring my question, "have a remarkable talent for finding pests. You are like... a dog that cannot stop barking at intruders."

"Are you calling me a dog?"

"The problem is," she says, "you are a very small, very loud, very untrained dog. You bark at bears and tigers. One day, a real predator is going to hear you."

She leans in, and her voice is a bare whisper.

"I am training you," she says, her dark eyes burning into mine, "because it is inefficient to let good talent go to waste. A... dog... that can be trained, can be useful. A dog that just barks at everything is a liability."

I'm speechless.

She's not training me to be a fighter. She's not training me to be better.

She's... she's house-training me.

I am the school delinquent. The "problem child."

And to Ayako Katsumi, I'm... her new pet.

"I..."

"Be at the bus at 6:50 AM tomorrow," she says, her voice back to its normal, presidential tone. She brushes past me, all business. "And do not cause any trouble in the village. You are a representative of this school. And... of me."

She walks out, leaving me alone in the council room, my mind reeling.

Akiyama Village.

I have a very, very bad feeling about this.