Offers

“Please Sasaki-sense!” The man in front of him pressed his hands together in a pleading gesture and bowed his head.
Tsuneo froze in the act of putting some papers into a folder. After studying the man for a few shocked seconds, he sighed and set the papers down.“...Could you stop that, Satou-sensei? I really don’t know anything about kendo. I told you that.”
Satou-sensei looked up again and gestured energetically, “I know, I know! But I can give you the training menu I have in mind! All you have to do is keep an eye on them! It’s nothing, I swear! You’ve dealt with sports teams before, right?”
Tsuneo fiddled idly with the watch on his wrist as he studied the other teacher. Satou-sensei was a handful of years younger than him, and had been one of the first people to be truly friendly with him when he had first joined Kosei’s staff. He really didn’t want to disappoint him, but he didn’t want to take on a job with the students he wasn’t prepared for. Especially when it was something that he knew mattered a great deal to some of them.
“Yeah, I have,” he finally said, “but only when it was a sport I was at least passingly familiar with. I never even paid that much attention to kendo. If someone asked for technical advice, there’s no way I can…”
“Okay, I know you’re right,” Saotou-sensei held up his hands, “but look, I’m not asking you to actually be there coach or anything. I doubt the students expect it either. The third-years honestly probably have everything locked down and know exactly what to do. I just need someone to keep an eye on them for one night. Just one night. That’s all I’m asking” He was looking at him so pleadingly that Tsuneo couldn’t just bring himself to turn him away again.
“I know the school’s new policy means there has to be a staff member with any club staying here overnight,” he finally said, “but why are you asking me?” It was true that he was friendly with Satou. They had even gone for drinks once or twice. But Satou was the sort of person who was friendly with everyone. There should have been more than one other staff member willing to do a favor for him.
“Because you’re the dependable type,” Sato said without hesitation, “and...because honestly I know that your club isn’t doing anything over the long weekend. You know I wouldn’t be asking if they hadn’t changed the rules on me. I had this set up before my family thing came up. My in-laws will not forgive me if I sit out, no matter what the excuse is.” He grinned and put his hands together again, “so, please?”
“You don’t have to ask like that?” Tsuneo said as he thought it over. It was true that the only club he was in charge of right now was the Occult Studies club - which was really more of a club for horror movie fans at the moment. They were unlikely to suddenly decide they wanted to do anything over the long weekend. “...Fine,” he said at last, “I think I can do it. You said it was just for one night?”
“Just one night,” Satou-sensei said, grinning from ear to ear, “and thanks for this, man. I owe you one. I”ll make it up to you!” He was backing up as he was talking, and darted out of the room, calling the last few words.
Tsuneo watched him go, tempted to call after him that he shouldn’t run and set a bad example for the students, but gave it up. He wasn’t even sure that his fellow teacher was still in shouting range. He just shook his head and went back to sorting his papers instead.
His cell phone chose that moment to ring. He froze, then rubbed his head as he grumbled something that he probably should not let the students hear him say, and grabbed for the phone. Glancing at the number gave him another pause. He didn’t recognize it, and it wasn’t coming up as something even remotely familiar. He debated about answering it for a full moment, before he gave in.
“Satsuki here.”
“Satsuki Tsuneo-san?” the voice was measured, deep, and female. It was also not one he recognized.
“Speaking,” he answered, puzzled, “and you are…?”
“I’m Yamamoto Megumi,” was the reply from the caller, “we haven’t formally met, but I’m aware of you. I’m a member of the board of directors for Shujin Academy.”
For a moment he felt like he had been slugged. Shujin. Shujin. He had been trying to not think about that name, had actually been succeeding starting to move on, until about a couple weeks ago when the world had sent it crashing back into his mind again. The news about Kamoshida was something he had just gotten around to processing, but apparently that wasn’t enough for some cosmic force out there.
“I see, “ he said dryly, wondering how the hell she had gotten his number. Old employee records? “But sorry, I’m not sure why you’re contacting me. I don’t even work at Shujin anymore.” ‘Had been fired’ was probably the more accurate term, driven out by a Principal who was willing to sacrifice anything if it meant he could continue to hide the abuses the teacher he had brought on was committing. He just didn’t have the energy, or the desire, to start an argument before he knew exactly what was going on here.
“I’m aware,” was her measured response, “and that is part of the reason that I wish to speak with you. You do know about certain recent events?”
There was a cold lump in his stomach. This wasn’t exactly a topic that he wanted to be talking about ever again. “Kamoshida,” he said flatly, “That’s what this is all about, isn’t it? I watch the news. I know that everyone is finally aware of what he was doing.”
There was a long moment of silence, “That has something to do with it yes, I won’t deny it,” she said, “but there’s more that I want to explain to you in person. Would you be willing to meet with me?”
He was tempted to tell her no, to just wash his hands of all this and move on. Shujin and Kamoshida had left a sour taste in his mouth he just wanted to wash away. At the same time, he was morbidly curious why this woman had went through all the trouble of contacting him. He knew himself well enough that if he didn’t go, if he didn’t see this to the proper conclusion, there would be a nagging doubt about it. So he bit back a sigh and just agreed to the meeting.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The cafe she asked him to meet her at the next day was the sort of place Tsuneo wouldn’t usually choose to go to. It was the sort of high end cafe the was too...curated. To polished, to...modern to make him feel comfortable. The prices on the menu made his eyebrow raise too, but he had at least expected that. He’d been dragged to places like this before, but at least it was usually by people he liked being around.
The woman he was currently sitting across from was not one of those people. Yamamoto Megumi was a severe older woman, who wore the grey in her dark brown with a dignity he had to grudgingly admire. He might have thought her to be elegant if she wasn’t examining him as if he was an animal at the zoo.
One she was worried was going to bite her.
“Can I ask what was important enough that you were willing to take the time out of your day to speak with me?” he finally asked after an extended silence followed the greeting. Yamamoto took a sip of her tea and seemed to consider it before looking it up.
“I simply felt that this was a discussion that would work better face to face, rather than over the phone,” she said and set her cup down. “But let’s get down to business. You know that Kamoshida is in police custody. He’s confessed to his….abuse,”she said the last word with clear effort. “Principal Kobayakawa has denied that he knows anything about those events.” Tsuneo had to work to keep from snorting in disbelief. “He knew exactly what was going on,” he said tightly instead, “he might not have known the specifics but he was aware of what Kamoshida was doing, and knew to cover for him.” He fixed the board member with a firm stare, “I’m surprised that you let him keep his job.”
Yamamoto tightened her fingers around her cup. “We’re looking into him,” was the lofty reply. He wondered how hard they really were looking. He wasn’t stupid. There had to be at least one or two people on the board who had known, or at least suspected what was happening but had just turned a blind eye to it because of the fame it was bringing the school. They had been perfectly willing to bend to Kamoshida’s own little whims in the past after all. What other reason would they have to give such weight to the voice of just one teacher.
Somehow though, he was sure that she wouldn’t be willing to discuss any of that even if he brought it up.
“I get the feeling you didn’t call me out here to ask me about him then,” he said instead. He would get this over with quickly, “unless you want me to give you my version of events?”
The woman shifted uncomfortably and he had the distinct impression that she had hoped he wouldn’t ask about that. As if she could invite him here, bring up Shujin, and then expect him to ignore it. He was beginning to wonder why she had even bothered to drag him out here, or what she could possibly want to say to thim.
“No,” her voice was even at least, “we’ll contact you through...other channels if we feel your testimony is needed.” Her words sounded practiced, and carefully measured. Like she was dead-set on not responding to anything. “Today, I wished to discuss your….unfair treatment by both Kamoshida and Principal Kobayakawa.”
That she was willing to admit that much was at least a mild surprise.
“Did you just say you didn’t want me to talk about it?” he said bluntly.
The woman kept talking, seemingly set on purposely ignoring him.
“We looked over the reasons given for your firing, and factoring in the testimony of some of the staff as well as some of the….circumstances surrounding it,” she paused at that, as if considering how to phrase something. Tsuneo’s hand curled into a fist as it rested on his knee, a strange feeling twisting his gut
Tsuneo had walked into the meeting expecting next to nothing. Shujin had already made it clear where it stood with him. An apology was something he hadn’t expected to get from them. This...wasn’t quiet that he could tell. But he hadn’t expected them to do anything but sweep his story under the rug.
“While some of your conduct was perhaps a bit….unwise,” she said, and he almost laughed. He was fairly certain that Kobayakawa hadn’t written down what had really happened the evening he had been fired. Even someone as unflappable as Yamamoto-san seemed to be probably wouldn't call him putting his fist through the wall next to Kamoshida’s head ‘unwise’. “I did act a bit rashly,” he said as casually as he could. That had been the first time in….years he had let himself give into that sort of rage. He had been so careful after a certain point in high school, and even into university to control himself. Kamoshida had just been the first person in a long time that had brought out the delinquent buried in him.
At least he had managed to retain enough control to just break the wall instead of the asshole’s face.
Yamamoto just graced him with a slight nod and something that might have been a smile before her face went back to normal. “Perhaps a bit,” she said, “but as I have said, review of the records suggests that we can say that you were provoked. Your own objections about Kamoshida’s conduct were well known amongst the rest of the staff. Principal Kobayakawahas sworn that he had no idea of the truth of it, and thus had no choice but to let you go in order to avoid discord in the rest of the staff since he didn’t have proof of your claims.”
That at least answered the question of how much the rest knew. He had thought Kamoshida might have let slip the truth behind it as some last sort of dig at him or Shujin in general, but apparently he had kept even that to himself.
“However,” the woman said heavily, “given Kamoshida’s recent confession…..”
“You know I wasn’t just blowing smoke,” Tsuneo said, “I brought it up because it was my responsibility to look out for those students. I wasn’t about to keep silent about it.” He met the woman’s eyes squarely as he spoke. After a moment she looked away.
“We’ve heard that about you,” she said at that, “and that was why, after careful consideration, the school board has decided that Principal Kobayakawa acted too hastily when he made his decision.”
Tsuneo went still, and drew a shuddering breath that he hoped wasn’t obvious. “Just what do you mean by that?” he said carefully.
“I mean that the school board is prepared to hire you back on as a counselor at Shujin,” she said, and he barely heard her add, “with some stipulations of course.”
He felt oddly light-headed, his heart beating loudly enough he was surprised that she couldn’t hear it.. Tsuneo let out a breath and focused on what she had said. ‘Stipulations’ she had said. He wondered what those were. But first…
“You’re offering my job back?” he was still faintly stunned. Of all the things he had ever expected this was one of the last on the list. Kobayakawa had made it very clear he wasn’t welcome back.
“Under certain conditions, yes,” she said firmly. Apparently this was very important to her. “Aside from the...issues with Kamoshida, your record was rather positive and the students seemed to like you.”
His mind was beginning to work it’s way out of the stunned stupor and he was beginning to get the shape of this now. It wasn’t that they had been awed by his commitment to his work, but they were trying to clean up their image. Take steps to clean things up without admitting outright how complicit they were.
Still, if they were serious about it, and he thought they were, this was a chance to get back into Shujin. It had been the job that had brought him and his family to Tokyo in the first place. He’d had friends on the staff that had been as stunned about his dismissal as he was. There were students there that he had been worried about, and still felt guilty about leaving behind. They’d been in a very vulnerable place, some of them, and he hadn’t been able to have contact with them. Not with the ‘conditions’ that the Principal had insisted on.
The last time he had seen Kobayakawa flashed across his mind, like a dose of cold water along his nerves. The man had looked both relieved and smug, pleased with himself that he had managed to find a way to both get rid of him and take care of any complications that might arise. He took a deep breath and leaned forward a trifle, staring at the woman over steepled fingers. “Does Principal Kobayakawa know about this?” he said quietly, “Or, let me rephrase that: Do you think Kobayakawa would be okay with this?”
She glanced at him for a moment then took a sip of her tea. “We’ll make him see reason,” she said confidently. He raised an eyebrow but straightened back up.
“So you didn’t even tell him that you were talking to me” he made it a statement, not a question. Yamamoto glared politely at him over the rim of her cup before she set it down, but didn’t refute the question. He wasn’t surprised.
He did think that she was serious about what she had offered. Kobayakawa probably wouldn't be able to stand up to the entire school board, especially with the state Shujin was in right now. So it was a real possibility that he could get his job back if he only agreed to it.
But….that would mean he would have Kobayakawa as a boss. Again. And this time he would remember anything. He didn’t think that the Principal would try anything against him right away. Not when he was probably already being watched. But he would have to put up with knowing that the man that had sheltered someone who had heaped up so much abuse on students, who had been willing to fire him just to cover up what was going on was his superior again. Did he really want to walk into work each day where under the eyes of a man who either disliked him or outright hated him? Both of them knew that the only reason there wasn’t a story about ‘a teacher previously fried for suspecting Kamoshida’ was because of the agreement between them and the rest of the school staff apparently not wanting Shujin to get anymore negative attention than it already had.
And that thought made him pause for a moment.
It wouldn’t just be Kobayakawa he would have to deal with if he went back. Some of the other staff members had been just as bad.
Oh, he knew that there had been some of the staff that had guinelly not known what had been going on. Kamoshida had been careful, at least at first, and had generally taken pains to be friendly with the staff, after all. They hadn’t seen what was happening, and had believed that the Principal would never willingly allow such heinous acts to happen.
Well, someone of them, he was sure, had suspected something was going on, but managed to convinced themselves that nothing like that could be happening at this school. So they had ignored anything that would make them see the truth. Those had made him almost as mad as the few who had clearly known what was happening and turned a blind eye to it, because like the Principal, as long as Kamoshida brought results to the school that was all that mattered. It was those few who had been the most vocal about denial when he had first brought up his concerns about Kamoshida. Who had been the most frantic to deny that any wrong-doing, and would eagerly latched onto the excuse that he was ‘jealous’. There were very few that had been willing to listen to him when he’d tried to point out the danger.
Only now everything was out in the open, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to be around them. He wasn’t sure they would want him around either.
He realized that it has never really been a choice beyond a passing fancy. Besides, he couldn’t leave behind the Kosei students right now, even if he did miss the Shunjin ones. Wasn’t he just worrying about how his sudden departure had affected the kids at Shujin? He couldn’t in good conscience inflict that same thing on the kids at Kosei that counted on him.
So he let out a breath and looked up at the woman.
“I appreciate the generous offer,” he said evenly, “but I must decline. I have responsibilities that I can’t abandon.”
He would remind her that even if Shujin had abandoned him, he had been forced to move on. He wasn’t going to be dragged back to that.
She studied him for a moment, looking far less surprised than he had expected. “Are you sure?” she said, “this would be a good opportunity.”
“I’m sure,” he said, more firmly, “I have at my current position to consider after all,” he feared the smile he gave her was more of a smirk.
“I see,” she said and straightened up slightly, “very well then. Since you do seem to be serious about this, I won’t press you anymore.”
“Thank you,” he said and took a closer look at her, “is this what you called me all the way out here to ask?”
“Yes,” she said, “Given the...severity of what Kamoshida had done, we felt it was only prudent to talk to you about it face to face.”
But not apologize he couldn’t help but notice, at least not directly. Still he supposed that this was all that he was going to get.
“Since our business has concluded,” Yamamoto siad, “I must excuse myself. I trust you’ll understand.”
“Of course,” he answered automatically. There were so many more questions he had, but he knew that he probably wasn't going to get answers for them. Besides, he would much rather get out of here sooner rather than later.
She swiftly gathered her things and gave him a nod before she started to leave. But she stopped as she started to pass him.
“Sasaki-san,” she said evenly, “I wish you the best in your new position. And I trust that you would remember the agreement you had with Principal Kobayakawa.”
The words struck him like a thunderbolt. He twisted around in his chair as she walked past him.
“Wait, what do you know about that?” he demanded, but she ignored him and kept moving. He stood up, “I said wait!” he called after her, but she didn’t even flinch. A few of the other cafe patrons looked over at him in shock, and their stares were the only thing that kept him from starting after her.
Slowly he sank back down into his seat, sitting sideways for a moment as he stared after her, before he ran a hand through his hair and looked up at the ceiling for a moment.
He had thought that she didn’t have any idea what had really occurred between him, Kamoshida and Kobayakawa. No one else should have known about that. Kobayakawa had been very eager to keep it quiet. Yet apparently at least one person on the school board was aware of it.
It was a subtle threat, but a threat all the same. Even the mere rumor of him using violence would make the position he did have now at Kosei shaky. Kobayakawa had promised that he wouldn’t let Kamoshida drag him up for assault, if he agreed to just quietly leave Shujin, have no contact with any of the student body, and never mention this again.
He was sure that was why they had called him out here today, to remind him that they could ruin him. Kamoshida might be gone, but those that had allowed the abuses were still in place. They might not know the specifics of what had transpired, but they were clearly hoping that it would keep him from telling anyone else about it.
Plus, they had tried that bribe.
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Part of him wanted to go to the tabloids with this. Which he knew was stupid but still.
Though, he knew there was nothing more he could do. Not without getting a legal fight that would drag his family into it, and he was not going do that to him. All he could do, he supposed, was do what he should have done in the first place and tried to put Shujin entirely out of his mind. There was little enough he could do for them now, even though he wished there was something.
As he left, it suddenly struck him that the woman had been talking about just...getting his old position back as if it was nothing. Had she been willing to just...fire whoever had been brought into replace him just to bribe him? Or, was it that he had never been replaced in the first place?
With a sinking heart he realized that the last was probably the more likely possibility.
Kobayakawa might not want to risk another counselor coming in to listen to the students' problems. Couldn't risk anyone else realizing what Kamoshida was doing after all, and that would happen if you had someone else the students could talk to.
His hand curled into a fist of its own accord. To leave them alone without any support, while Kamoshida was able to do what he liked to them just so Kobayakawa could make his own star rise higher….that was something that Tsuneo knew it was another thing he could never forgive him for.
“Still,” he muttered to himself as he made, “she came to rehire me.” Maybe that was a sign that they were going to get a real counselor in again. He hoped that was the case, and he hoped it was someone the students could actually trust after all they had been through.
They deserved that much at least.