Chapter 5: The Parent-Teacher Meeting Disaster

  Scene 1: The Dreaded Invitation

  Morning sunlight streamed through the classroom windows, casting long, lazy shadows across the floor. The scent of chalk dust lingered in the air as students filtered in, slouching into their seats with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

  Kenji Fujimura, however, sat at his desk, chin propped up on his palm, eyelids drooping dangerously. He hadn't even mustered the energy to slouch properly. Another school day, another struggle to stay conscious.

  A timid cough broke through his half-sleep state.

  "Ignore it. Maybe it’ll go away."

  The cough grew more insistent.

  "Not my problem."

  A shadow loomed over his desk.

  Kenji cracked one eye open. Mr. Tanaka stood before him, gripping a clipboard so tightly his knuckles had turned white. Beads of sweat dotted the teacher’s forehead.

  “F-Fujimura-kun…” Mr. Tanaka’s voice wavered as though he were delivering a death sentence. “About tonight’s… parent-teacher meeting…”

  Kenji blinked slowly, trying to process the words through the fog of exhaustion.

  “What about it?” he asked, stifling a yawn.

  Mr. Tanaka licked his lips. His eyes darted around as if checking for exits. “Your… father… is coming?”

  Kenji sat up straighter. His mind caught up.

  "Oh. Oh no."

  A heavy silence stretched between them.

  His father—or rather, the man the school believed was his father—was Genzo Sakamoto. A name that, when uttered, sent shivers down the spines of seasoned criminals and law-abiding citizens alike.

  Kenji’s stomach dropped like a rock into a bottomless pit.

  "I am actually going to die."

  “Wait, he’s coming?” The excited voice of Reina Kisaragi cut through the tension like a blade.

  Kenji turned just in time to see her lean forward, practically vibrating with barely-contained glee. Her eyes gleamed with the thrill of an impending revelation.

  "This is perfect!" she announced. "This is my chance to finally expose your criminal ties!"

  Kenji stared at her, then at Mr. Tanaka, whose face had gone paler than a sheet of printer paper.

  “PLEASE DO NOT,” Kenji deadpanned, his voice carrying the despair of a man watching his own execution approach in slow motion.

  “Ah, I see now,” Tetsuya Nakamura mused from the seat beside him, nodding sagely. “The boss plays the long game.”

  Kenji slowly turned to his best friend. “What?”

  Tetsuya leaned back, arms crossed, looking as though he had just unraveled the secrets of the universe. “By inviting Genzo Sakamoto to the meeting, you’re making a power move. A flex of dominance over the entire school.” He smirked approvingly. “Truly, a strategist.”

  Kenji wanted to scream.

  “No! There is no strategy! I am not playing any games!” he hissed under his breath.

  Across from them, Akari Tachibana rested her chin on her hand, smirking. “You should be honored, Ryuji.”

  Kenji’s eye twitched. “That’s not my—”

  “Not everyone gets a personal visit from Genzo Sakamoto,” she continued, tone dripping with amusement.

  Kenji felt a sudden and overwhelming urge to crawl under his desk and never emerge.

  "I don’t want it!"

  Mr. Tanaka let out a whimper. “F-Fujimura-kun… please… j-just make sure nothing… happens tonight.”

  Kenji exhaled through his nose. That made two of them.

  If he had any luck left in the world, tonight would be nothing more than an awkward but manageable meeting.

  Of course, Kenji Fujimura had never been particularly lucky.

  And this night would be no exception.

  Scene 2: The Teachers Prepare for Doom

  The faculty office at Fujihama High was in utter chaos.

  Papers were shuffled with frantic urgency. Cups of tea remained untouched, trembling in the hands of panicked teachers. Principal Hoshino dabbed his forehead with a handkerchief, his usual composed demeanor shattered like glass.

  Tonight’s parent-teacher conference was no ordinary meeting.

  Tonight, Genzo Sakamoto was coming.

  “Stay calm,” the principal muttered, though his voice suggested he was barely holding himself together. “We just need to be… professional.”

  Mr. Tanaka, Kenji’s homeroom teacher, wasn’t listening. He sat stiffly in his chair, staring blankly at the wall like a man who had glimpsed the abyss and knew there was no return. His fingers twitched around a pen, the tip pressing deep into the notepad on his lap.

  One of the teachers leaned forward, whispering like they were planning a hostage negotiation.

  “This is our most important meeting. If we offend Sakamoto-san… the school could disappear overnight.”

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  The staff nodded grimly.

  “I-I wouldn’t say he’s unreasonable,” Mr. Tanaka stammered. “F-Fujimura-kun himself is… relatively well-behaved. But the aura… It’s terrifying.”

  The room collectively shuddered.

  In the corner, Reina Kisaragi rolled her eyes so hard they nearly left orbit.

  “You’re all overreacting,” she scoffed. “Kenji isn’t some crime boss. He’s just a reckless delinquent!”

  The teachers stared at her, expressions hollow with despair.

  "She has NO idea," was the unspoken thought hanging in the air.

  A tense silence followed, only broken by the sound of a pen snapping in half in Mr. Tanaka’s grip.

  Then, a nervous voice piped up.

  “Maybe we should… prepare for the worst?” one teacher suggested, voice barely above a whisper.

  Another nodded. “Yes. If we just make sure the meeting goes smoothly, maybe nothing catastrophic will happen.”

  Principal Hoshino swallowed hard. “How do we do that?”

  An older teacher hesitated, then slowly raised a hand. “Perhaps… we can encourage Kenji Fujimura to be on his best behavior?”

  The room collectively leaned forward.

  “You mean… bribe him?”

  Another teacher gasped. “W-We could… raise his grades automatically?”

  “Or make him student of the year?” someone else blurted out.

  Reina shot up from her chair. “ARE YOU SERIOUS?!”

  “Think about it!” one teacher whispered frantically. “If we give him good grades, he won’t need to lash out! He’ll be happy!”

  Another teacher wiped sweat from his brow. “Yes, yes. Happy students don’t start conflicts.”

  “DO YOU HEAR YOURSELVES?!” Reina snapped. “HE DOESN’T EVEN WANT TO BE HERE, LET ALONE BE STUDENT OF THE YEAR!”

  Principal Hoshino pinched the bridge of his nose. “Fine. No bribery.”

  The teachers collectively deflated.

  “We’ll just have to pray we all survive this night.”

  The entire room nodded solemnly.

  A clock ticked on the wall.

  The countdown to disaster had begun.

  Scene 3: The Parent-Teacher Meeting from Hell

  The air in Fujihama High’s conference room was thick with tension. A long table stretched across the center of the room, occupied by nervous teachers, wary parents, and a single oblivious student representative—Reina Kisaragi, who, for once, wasn’t the loudest person in the room.

  A hushed murmur swept through the gathered parents as they exchanged uneasy glances.

  They were waiting.

  Dreading.

  Then the doors opened.

  Genzo Sakamoto had arrived.

  The moment he stepped inside, the entire atmosphere shifted.

  The usual hum of polite conversation died instantly. Parents clutched their paperwork tighter. Teachers sat up so straight they might’ve turned to stone. Mr. Tanaka swallowed audibly, and Principal Hoshino visibly shrank behind his clipboard.

  Kenji felt his soul leave his body.

  Genzo moved with practiced ease, exuding a calm, calculated authority that was more suffocating than any overt show of power. His suit was immaculate, his expression unreadable. His mere presence dominated the space.

  "Maybe if I don’t move, he won’t notice me," Kenji thought frantically.

  Principal Hoshino forced a trembling smile. “W-Welcome, Sakamoto-san. It’s an honor to have you here.”

  Genzo took a seat beside Kenji, his movements slow and deliberate. “Let’s keep this simple.”

  A single sentence, and the entire room seemed to exhale in relief.

  Somewhere across the table, a parent leaned in to whisper.

  “Wait. That’s Kenji’s father?”

  “We should transfer our kids,” another parent muttered.

  Kenji pressed his palms against his face, feeling the beginnings of a migraine.

  Then, breaking the uneasy silence, Reina sat up straighter, clearly misreading the situation.

  “Kenji has been disrupting school order,” she declared boldly. “He should be disciplined!”

  The silence that followed was absolute.

  It was the kind of silence that preceded great disasters.

  Every single teacher stiffened. Principal Hoshino looked like he’d stopped breathing.

  Mr. Tanaka’s pen slipped from his fingers, landing on the table with a barely audible clack.

  "SHE’S GOING TO DIE," every teacher internally screamed.

  Genzo turned his gaze toward Kenji. His eyes, unreadable as ever, settled on him with unnerving patience.

  Kenji, sweating bullets, knew one thing for certain.

  One wrong move, and this room would never be the same again.

  Genzo’s voice was calm. “Is this true?”

  Kenji's heart was in his throat.

  Think. THINK.

  If he said yes, he’d be dead.

  If he said no, he’d also be dead.

  "DO NOT SAY THE WRONG THING."

  He forced a strangled smile. “Uh… I’m working on self-improvement?”

  The tension in the room snapped like a frayed wire.

  Genzo nodded once, satisfied. “Good.”

  Principal Hoshino nearly collapsed in relief.

  Then, Genzo turned his gaze toward the trembling staff. “This school treats my son well, correct?”

  The principal let out a noise somewhere between a gasp and a hiccup. “O-Of course! Kenji is our finest student!”

  Reina shot out of her chair. “EXCUSE ME?!”

  Genzo gave a small nod, standing. “Good. That’s all I needed to know.”

  Just like that, the meeting was over.

  Genzo Sakamoto walked out, leaving behind a room of stunned, traumatized individuals.

  Kenji felt himself slump in his seat, barely holding onto consciousness.

  He had somehow survived.

  But as the realization set in, a new horror dawned on him.

  He turned to the teachers, who were still staring at him with thinly veiled terror.

  He turned to the parents, who now saw him as untouchable.

  Even Reina looked rattled, her hands clenched into fists.

  Kenji’s head hit the table.

  “I think I just became untouchable.”

  Scene 4: Reina’s Meltdown (And Kenji’s Unwanted Influence Grows)

  The next morning at Fujihama High, the air was different.

  Something had changed.

  Kenji Fujimura felt it the moment he walked through the door.

  The usual classroom chatter had vanished. Instead, students sat at their desks in unnerving silence, their backs straight, their gazes carefully averted. A few whispered in hushed tones, barely daring to make eye contact.

  Kenji had seen this before.

  It was the way underlings acted when a new boss had taken over.

  "Oh no."

  The whispers were already spreading.

  “Did you hear? The principal practically bowed to Kenji’s father.”

  “That means Kenji can do whatever he wants, right?”

  “At this point, he might as well run the whole school.”

  Kenji gritted his teeth. He just wanted a normal life. Was that so much to ask?

  Apparently, yes.

  Then the door slammed open.

  Reina Kisaragi stormed in like a woman possessed, dark circles under her eyes, her grip on her notebook tight enough to bend the cover.

  She marched straight to Kenji’s desk, slammed the notebook onto it, and pointed a shaking finger in his face.

  “I. REFUSE. TO. ACCEPT. THIS.”

  Kenji blinked. “…What exactly are you refusing?”

  Reina leaned in, eyes blazing.

  “I saw it with my own eyes!” she declared. “The principal, the teachers, the parents—they were all too scared to stand up to you!”

  Kenji’s soul left his body.

  "I WANTED THEM TO STAND UP TO ME!"

  On the sidelines, Tetsuya Nakamura nodded in approval, arms crossed.

  “The boss moves in silence, yet controls everything,” he said with deep admiration. “A true ruler.”

  Kenji whipped around. “THAT IS NOT WHAT’S HAPPENING.”

  But Tetsuya had already decided.

  Akari Tachibana, who had been watching the scene unfold with undisguised amusement, smirked. “I’m enjoying this way too much.”

  Kenji pinched the bridge of his nose.

  Reina slammed both hands onto his desk, leaning forward so aggressively that Kenji instinctively leaned back.

  “I am making this my new mission,” she declared, voice ringing with absolute conviction. “You will be reformed, Kenji Fujimura. I will purge this school of its criminal influence.”

  Kenji groaned. “I AM NOT A CRIMINAL.”

  The classroom gasped.

  “Did she just declare war on Kenji?!” one student whispered.

  “Brave,” another murmured, shaking his head. “But foolish.”

  “This will be legendary.”

  Reina stood straight, crossing her arms. “Mark my words, Kenji. By the time I’m done with you, you’ll be a model student.”

  Kenji slumped in his seat, defeated. “I just wanted a normal life…”

  Reina snatched up her notebook and scribbled furiously.

  "Plan to Reform Kenji Fujimura – Phase 1: Student Council Infiltration."

  Kenji dropped his head onto the desk.

  His nightmare had only just begun.