Overcome

 Pacing around my room, I worried about what the outcome would be and what my fate would be.

Would I be expelled? Maybe better, would I be only suspended? That I hoped, but it was very unlikely. I tried convincing myself that I was paranoid, but reality always challenged me with facts.

Even in the most merciful circumstances, I should be expelled.

And the judgment came in the form of an announcement.

Through the intercom, the principal’s voice said, “Student Amahiko Yajima, come to my office immediately. I say again, Amahiko Yajimo, come to the office quickly.” Three descending tones marked the end of the message.

Frankly, I didn’t want to go, let alone leave the room. I’d rather hole up and make a fort. My mind told me this was foolish and unreasonable, but my heart told me to fear the consequences.

My heart ruled my mind, and my mind produced various tragedies.

In one scenario, I’d be first humiliated and then expelled, eliminating my chances of ever stepping into a high school again.

In another scenario, everything would be taken away from me—my possessions, my life–everything—since most teachers had their own influential companies. Then, they’d blacklist me from ever working for wages again. They would force me into a life of isolation.

These and the other scenarios I wished not to be in. So, I conjured up a plan—a plan so unrealistically positive that I believed with all my soul.

Firstly, I’d make a fort in my room—locking everyone out from entering my room. Then, I’d protest the grounds of my expulsion. This would force the principal to try to persuade me.

Using my amazing negotiating skills, I would somehow convince her to debar my expulsion in exchange for a long suspension.

That was how I envisioned my future, but I was too cowardly to execute the plan. Instead, I reluctantly went to the principal’s office.

And here I was in a large, cold room. I stood awkwardly on the opposite end of Principal Miyu’s exceedingly long desk. On the opposite side, Teacher Jitan stood menacingly.

After the guards left and closed the doors, Principal Miyu began her interrogation.

“You know why you’re here today, don’t you, Amahiko Yajima?”

The way she spoke my full name was like a mother about to scold her child.

Speechless, I nodded.

“Then, you know what the consequences are for your misdeed.”

I nodded again.

“I’d like to hear your side of the story.”

My eyes danced about. I felt nauseous after staring at her nose for too long. I shook my head and ended up locking eyes with Teacher Jitan. His face had eternal contempt.

He muttered under his breath, “Just confess already.”

I took my time to recall the events that unfolded earlier. In them, I searched for an excuse.

And an excuse appeared before me. I began to speak.

“I saw—” but for some reason, I hesitated. I didn’t want to ruin their high school life. Maybe I should give them another chance. “I didn’t cheat. I studied hard. I would not dare cheat.”

Principal Miyu nodded, seemingly agreeing with me.

And Teacher Jitan disliked that. “He cheated. There’s no way a new student like him would achieve perfect scores for the first test this quarter—heck, this school year!”

Principal Miyu looked at him and asked, “Where’s your evidence?”

“I...” he looked away, unable to find any fault. “I told you, he’s the evidence. He’ll confess sooner or later.”

What? Me? Confess about something I never did?

“How do you know Amahiko will confess?”

“Because his conscience is pure.”

Both of us looked at him in confusion.

I don’t think I have a pure conscience, but if he said so, I’ll take it as a compliment.

“So, Amahiko, will you confess?”

This situation started to irritate me. Both of them should have known by now that I didn’t cheat. Worse yet was that Teacher Jitan ignored my reports of cheating and didn’t bother to look into them.

Well, he may have interpreted it as a futile attempt at a distraction.

Since Teacher Jitan had no true evidence, I saw my escape from this predicament.

“Yes, I confess.”

“See!” he jumped instantly at my words. “I told you that he’ll confess!”

I continued, “I confess that I didn’t cheat.”

Teacher Jitan stared at me in surprise. Principal Miyu’s expression hasn’t changed.

“I wholeheartedly and honestly studied for those tests. I would not cheat, since I’m only a humble scholar. Principal Miyu, you know my performance. You saw my performance in preparatory with your own eyes. Isn’t this why you recommended me in the Rhodium Class?”

“What!?” he exclaimed. It seemed that this was his first time hearing this.

“Yes, actually he was our top candidate during preparatory. Or if I could say, the ‘perfect candidate’ because of his perfect scores. This is why he became a scholar in this academy. I couldn’t miss this chance.”

“W—why didn’t you tell me about this?”

“Because I think Amahiko wanted a normal, undiscriminating treatment.” Miyu got up from her chair and stood beside me. “Amahiko, tell me, has Teacher Jitan Ono been treating you well?”

This question made me gulp with my parched throat. I glanced at Teacher Jitan who was pale in nervousness. His form was stiff; his fists were clenched. He was praying that I wouldn’t tell on him.

But Principal Miyu forced me to focus on her. She held my chin with her fingers and pulled me close. “Amahiko, has he been good to you? I can’t let my precious student—you are precious. I can’t allow corruption to corrode you.”

My breaths shortened in due respect. Her face was too close for me to breathe normally. I felt my cheeks becoming heavy. This was the psychological reaction of a male. I don’t think I’ve ever been this close to a woman other than my mom. I started breathing with my mouth. She started feeling my chest with her hands. I cringed and shivered.

Just what in the school was she doing?

“He’s had some misconducts, doesn’t he?”

I nodded reflexively. But I froze my head in place. I unintentionally responded with the truth.

After she had pressured me into confessing against Teacher Jitan, she returned to her seat.

“So, what has he been doing? Harassing you? Threatening you? Or maybe he’s asking sexual favors—”

“Hey! I’m not that kind of person! I won’t do any of those!” he yelled.

“Shut up, Teacher Jitan, if you’d like to keep your job.”

Now, they both stared at me waiting for my response.

I realized a great opportunity had descended in front of me—into the palms of my hands. I could choose whether to save Teacher Jitan’s pride or the class’s future.

Of course, I made the obvious choice.

So, I told Principal Miyu of Teacher Jitan’s negligence of duty.

“I see…” Principal Miyu slowly stood up, trembling in anger. She wore glasses to read some papers while I spoke. She was now shakingly removing them to emphasize her indignance. “Teacher—not anymore, Jitan Ono. You’re a disgrace to our school.”

Swiftly, he bowed down to his knees and wailed, “Please forgive me for my laziness, Principal Miyu!! Please don’t fire me!!”

He begged a couple more times. I wondered if I had to endure the pitiful sight. But Principal Miyu seemed pleased for me to witness his suffering. She might be a sadist.

After he dried his tear reserve, he raised his head, still keeping his humbling position.

“No, you’re fired,” she coldly said. “Now, please leave the academy in an hour. I don’t want to see your face any longer.”

“B—but!”

“I’m going to call the police for trespassing if you loiter any longer.”

He reluctantly stood up. His posture was broken; his arms hung lifelessly. Every step seemed heavier as he approached the door.

He whispered, “I’m sorry” before opening the door.

He deserved this; no doubt about it. To let students roam free, doing whatever they wished, and not teaching them a single letter of education was a shameful thing a teacher can do. What he did was the opposite of teaching. It was regression and stagnation. One must train their mind in any exercise to keep their sanity lest they fall into the abyss of mediocrity.

Applying that philosophy, it wouldn’t be right to throw Teacher Jitan out of his position. Where would he go from there? I doubted any school would accept him after being fired by the most prestigious academy in the nation. He would end up doing nothing and die accomplishing nothing—dissatisfied with everything.

Teacher Jitan had one redeeming quality——his talent for memory. I remembered when he didn’t reference his answer keys to check my paper. If he were to put that to good use, I was sure the class would excel.

If I were to throw perhaps the only chance of success, I would probably regret it for the rest of my high school life.

“Principal Miyu,” I called out. Teacher Jitan expected nothing. He expected no mercy. So, he didn’t bother paying attention to my words. As he was about to close the door, I pleaded, “Would you please not fire him?”