'That shut her up real quick.' Fuzen was walking behind the secretary absentmindedly while playing with his hair. The Secretary stepped to the side and nodded towards a metal door that had the words, 'second grade classroom written on it in big bold letters, just as Fuzen was going to slide open the door he heard a scream from inside.

"What do you mean a warning!? How can you let this little beast get away with this!? You need to at least suspend her, Look at Chizu, she's been beaten black and blue! It doesn't matter that she's in second grade! Will this school look away from bullying to such a degree!" Fuzen's eyes narrowed, the owner of that voice was probably... an older brother. Its obviously male, but the pitch is pretty high. That's not what Fuzen is worried about though. Suspension would mean he would be stuck babysitting that little rascal Aiko for however long. That was unacceptable. Just imagining trying to sleep while she fumbled through the house already had him irritated.  He glanced down at Aiko, and she had her eyes planted on the ground. She was clumping up her dress in her hands and her knuckles were white. Her whole body was shivering. 

Fuzen looked away and slid the door open. When he did so he heard an audible gasp. He could see the inside of the room. It is what you'd expect. Desks and carpet maps. The floor was carpet and the walls were white. Inside, a little girl with a bloodied nose and a bruised face sat next to an older boy around Fuzen's age. In fact, Fuzen knew this boy. His name was Kubo Daichi, and they went to school together. Daichi had short hair and rounded eyes. The teacher who sat across from them had long braided hair that went down the length of her back. She wore thin glasses and had a small pearl necklace placed around her neck. She was the one who let out the gasp. 

You would do well to remember what Fuzen looks like. Pink hair, and closer to a skeleton than a man. His eyes were bloodshot and baggy, while not used currently, he also had piercings in his ears. His appearance screamed delinquent and the little second grade teacher was not ready for it. 

Daichi on the other hand was shocked for a different reason. He hadn't seen this classmate in a year and for him to show up now... Daichi's face got darker and the anxiousness and uncomfortableness in his expression was apparent for all to see. The secretary left as her duty of guide came to an end. Aiko weekly followed her brother into the room. Fuzen looked around and said, 

"There is no need for suspension, Aiko knows she is wrong and will apologize." He placed his hand on her head and forced her to bow. He bowed with her, and at the same time they said, 

"I'm sorry." Fuzen's words were soft and uncaring, while when his sister said the same thing, she could hide the crack in her voice. Fuzen straightened back up and looked throughout the room and asked disinterestedly, 

"we good?" In this time, the teacher got over her shock and looked over to Daichi. Daich's face was conflicted, and his sister was pulling on his hand. After some thought, his face become determined, and he said,

"Fuzen-kun, while I appreciate your apology..." seeing the disappointment in Fuzen's face, Daichi stopped for a moment, took a breath and continued. "Fuzen-kun, your sister is bullying at such a young age, she needs to learn." Fuzen's face contorted for a moment before it slacked as he calmed down His expression became aggrieved as he spoke,

"Daichi-san, do you know this is the modern era?" Everyone in the room was confused, but Fuzen continued nonetheless, "You have already killed my father, and now you want to hurt my sister too? I don't know what my family has done to earn such resentment from you. I thought that the targeting of whole families stopped long ago." Daichi was shell shocked and did not know what to say. Ever since Ogawa Botan saved him from that truck, he had felt guilty. Fuzen stopped talking to him and even dropped out of school. Seeing Fuzen again he was conflicted about what to do, but eventually decided he had to protect his sister. Now that Fuzen accused him of killing Botan, Daichi wanted to defend himself, he wanted to scream to the heavens it wasn't his fault, but looking at Fuzen's gaunt face, he did not have the heart. The guilt overshadowed the defensiveness in his heart.  He lowered his head and whispered, 

"I'm sorry, forget what I said." before pulling along a very confused Chizu, and he left the room.

Seeing them leave, Fuzen heaved a heavy sigh of relief in his head. If it were anyone else, it may  have been difficult to get them to relent. Luckily, Daichi felt guilty that their father died while he lived. 'Now then, I need to deal with this teacher'

"Well," Fuzen said, "since they don't want to push this issue any further, and Aiko apologized sincerely, I think we can call this a day."

"No," the Teacher said sternly, "I only asked for them to warn her because I know that her father passed away recently, and children can act up like this when the situation at home isn't right." She pointed at a couple of desks in front of her and said, "Sit, we need to talk about Aiko-chan, her future, and her home environment. She cannot continue to act like this, and I suspect you are not doing your part as a guardian."

Fuzen followed her direction and sat down, Aiko followed along and sat behind him. Fuzen waved his hand towards the teacher and said, 

"Ask away." He took the disguised Sake out of his jacket pocket and began to drink. The teacher wrinkled her nose and asked with some derision,

"is that alcohol?" Fuzen's face had an expression of shock as he said,

"No, Teacher-san," he pointed at the label, "It's a healthy fruit drink," he shook his head, "You have glasses, you should learn to use them." The teacher rolled her eyes and replied, 

"You think I don't know you poured Sake in that bottle?"

"How could I know about the delusional delinquent thoughts in your head? Are you targeting me because my hair is pink?" He then pointed to the bottle again with an expression of, 'this isn't hard, is it? Read the bottle.'

Exasperated, the teacher said under her breath, "Rice isn't even a fruit, it's a grain, at least use a better container."

Fuzen nodded and said, "If you ask cooks, I'm sure that's what they'll say. Scientifically, rice is both a fruit and a vegetable." Then he looked at her with an expression that said, 'you're a teacher, and you don't even know that?' The teacher grit her teeth and could not hide the annoyance in her words,

"Let's get back to the topic, how is Aiko's home life?" Fuzen raised an eyebrow and took a swig of his 'fruit drink.' He stared at her for a moment before he replied, 

"Fine." The teacher slammed her hand on the table and Aiko jolted, 

"If you aren't going to take this seriously, I have no choice, but to call the police and remove Aiko-chan from your care." Fuzen's eyebrows jumped and he stood up. He grabbed the teacher's hand and shook it, with a huge grin on his face he said,

"Please do, it would take a load off my shoulders. Are you going to take her in? I hate to see her go, but she would have better opportunities elsewhere. Your such a good teacher, even taking students into her home!" He paused and looked out a window into the distance with a far off look, "I'm glad you're the one to bring this up, Other people with less foresight would just want to separate her from me without taking responsibility." Fuzen sat down and held his head up with his palm, "They would take her away from her family to throw her in foster care where abuse is rampant, and the children there are statistically likely to become addicts and commit crime. Imagine, her losing her future and becoming a drug addict or some other kind of criminal because of the thoughtless action of a teacher who thought she knew better." Fuzen reached into his jacked and pulled out his E-cigarette. "I'm glad you're not that type of teacher, I'm glad you think through what you say and do. I'm glad you care so much for your students." Fuzen lit up his E-cigarette, blew smoke in her face, and said, "Isn't that right?"

With a face full of smoke, all she could do was cough.