High School

„Don’t worry Ma’am this is perfectly normal. Many of our students don’t develop their specializations, until the second, maybe even third year. Also, we’ve always had the occasional late bloomers who transferred here from a normal school in fourth year.”

Mister Sato tapped his ballpoint pen on the paper. His cold eyes stared unblinkingly at the couple that sat nervously before him. The woman clutched her bag with long fingers, while chewing on her upper lip. She looked back and forth between Sato, her husband and the document lying on the table. The man beside her had his concentration on the document which he would have to sign. Deep in thought he scratched the stubbles of his beard.

Sato folded his hands. “I can assure you; this is the best thing for your son. Given your family history it is not unlikely that he will specialize soon, and then he will need immediate attention.“ he hissed coolly. Silence echoed from him. It polluted the room, darkened the atmosphere, thinned the air.
“So …what if we don’t want him attending here…until he specializes?” the husband looked at Satos blue eyes, unsure what to make of the mans words.

The vice-headmaster distorted his face in a chilling manner. Death itself could have looked nicer than he. “And tear him away from his known environment; shove him here where he has to define himself all over again? I’m sure you want what’s best for him, so please trust us.”
The following smile made the couple shiver. They exchanged glances. It was always hard to tell if someone like Sato was genuinely evil or just looked the part too well.

“Maybe a tour of the school grounds will help you decide?” Sato proposed. He was about to get up when the husband shook his head.
“No, we’ve seen the school. It’s okay, we trust what we know…”
“So then, why not trust us to take care of your son?” Sato questioned their resolve as he seated himself back in the enormous black leather chair. The contrast between his figure and the chair was almost comical.

“We…just need to think about it.” the woman's voice shook. “He’s never been away for that long and it… feels strange to send him away like that.”
Sato smiled yet again. “You can take him home at any time if you think it best. But… well, you know why we do this. You both should know why it would be best to send him here. Don’t worry… we’ll take care of him…”