Futureverse

[oneblackcat]

PSL with Athena. AKA That Game With Insane Amounts of Worldbuilding.

More here later, yada yada yada.

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[equestre]

It's never a good thing when you receive a video call from your little brother's head master. Of course, the first thing that ran through his head was: is he okay?? By the end of that conversation, Yuushi felt a combination of relief, embarrassment, and disappointment. And hours later, as he sits next to him in the waiting area outside the head master's office, he feels awkwardness too, because this isn't how he expected to return to his alma mater, standing-in for his out-of-town parents. Maybe he does think that sometimes they let Omi get away with a lot, but he always figured that it wasn't up to him. What's he supposed to do now?

Omi clearly doesn't want to discuss things, which probably will make it difficult for Yuushi to see his point of view once they get in there. But then again, is there a point of view to be had that could possibly excuse exploding a teacher's toilet?

He sighs and gets up to enter the office when they're ushered in at last. He nods respectfully at head master Shimizu as he takes a seat.

"No, Professor Shimizu, I understand. A man is in the hospital. This isn't the sort of thing that can wait."

She nods in return.

"I should say that Professor Gilmore didn't sustain any physical injuries. But they're running some tests, just to be on the safe side."

"We will pay for those, and any additional medical expenses that result, of course," Yuushi says.

"I am sure the insurance will cover that, but that is much appreciated, nevertheless. What we do need to discuss further however, is how we can ensure that such a thing never happens here, again." She glances at Omi with a hard look.

"Of course. There is no excuse for such behavior."

[oneblackcat]

The conversation is already turning in a way that makes Omi both uncomfortable and defensive. It feels like a gang-up, too, with Yuushi sitting there in predetermined agreement with the teacher. Which isn't surprising, really, favored as Yuushi is among the staff here, but it is isolating. Did no one care about Gilmore's treatment of Nagi?

Omi feels his jaw tighten.

"Respectfully, Professor, if we're going to talk about what happened this morning, shouldn't we also talk about everything that happened that led up to it? This didn't come out of nowhere."

"If you have a concern or complaint to log about someone not named Honjou Omi we can discuss that separately. It's not pertinent to your rigging the teachers' bathroom."

"It is pertinent, Professor. Gilmore's spent the whole semester bullying another student in the class for not coming from a family of money. He berates him, makes snide remarks about things out of his control, regularly humiliates him in front of the whole class. It's an outright hostile learning environment even though Nagi is smart and studious and well-behaved. We've tried protesting and get punished for it! I've been sent to stand in the hall for standing up to him. I've been given detention for it, recorded for insubordination and disrupting class when it wouldn't be happening if he treated everyone with respect! On Monday he asked Nagi if he washed his clothes in the toilet. I've had all I can tolerate of it-- he shouldn't be allowed to teach if he's going to be like this!"

Shimizu offered no reaction for five seconds. Then: "Have you filed a formal complaint about Professor Gilmore's treatment of another student?"

"...No."

"Have you informed another teacher prior to now?"

"No."

"Are you offering this context as a defense of your actions? It sounds like you consider it a just retaliation that you were entitled to carry out."

"I-- Professor are you really okay with this?"

"As I said previously, any complaints you have about persons not named Honjou Omi are irrelevant here, because you are not the school's disciplinarian-- I am. It is not your job or your right to enact punishments on others for their behavior, especially teachers. Further, you did not attempt to resolve this through the appropriate channels first, as you just admitted. I see little reason to grant lenience to your case as a result. This should have been handled much differently than it was."

[equestre]

Obviously, there has to be some explanation. Yuushi knows his brother isn't just a prankster who would do such a thing for the thrill of it. (Though maybe under Naru's influence, he might...)

The teacher himself sounds like quite a tool, and Yuushi doesn't blame Omi for being angry at the man. At the same time, retaliation seems like a self-defeating reaction. Or maybe it only seems that way to someone looking in from the outside, with the benefit of being in society for a while. Boarding school can be quite the insular universe in many ways, and students often take it upon themselves to create their own rules to handle things.

The fact is, it's landed Omi into this mess that even he must surely see is not the outcome he expected either.

"Disappointed as I am to hear about this professor's behavior, I think even Omi would agree-" he glances briefly at him- "that things got a little out of hand with his...response."

The headmaster kept her face quite neutral. She always was a little difficult to read.

"Regardless of intentions, I can't just let this pass. Omi, I am suspending you for two weeks, and you will report to remedial class, where you will be given additional assignments to augment your regular studies."

[oneblackcat]

Omi does agree with Yuushi: the health and safety angle of the stunt had not been considered and it should have been. He wasn't out to actually hurt the guy, and he manages an abashed grimace and a small nod in the silence from the headmaster that follows.

It's a short-lived agreement, unfortunately. Yuushi understood-- at least Omi thinks he does-- and he knew how to speak in a way that mollified the sense of righteous anger the brothers could share to make room for recognition of error. The professor either lacks that same skill or does not care to use it in the circumstance.

"Remedial class?!" Omi balks. Somehow, that's a far more offensive element than a long suspension. Remedial classes were for people struggling with grades, for those who were not able to keep up with the learning pace of the normal class. Omi's grades aren't Yuushi's perfect record, but they're well above average.

Only after the knee-jerk reaction does Omi recognize the deeper danger.

"What about Nagi and Gilmore? Who's going to do something to make that class somewhere he can go and not be bullied?" Who's going to look out for him while Omi is under suspension?

[equestre]

Remedial class was the boarding school equivalent of writing "I will not blow up the teacher's toilet" one thousand times on a chalk board, except more sobering. It's supposed to teach humility and patience. Of course, Yuushi has never had to do it, so he wouldn't know. But he's heard about this method. He sighs.

"Professor Gilmore will be spoken to, once he returns from the hospital and is able to resume his duties," Professor Shimizu says. "We don't tolerate that kind of behavior from anyone in this institution...even from a professor."

"I'm glad to hear that," Yuushi says. He doesn't really want his brother exposed to that kind of attitude either, especially from someone in a position of power.

[oneblackcat]

"Spoken to," Omi repeats, nowhere near as appeased with that response as Yuushi seems to be. So a verbal slap on the wrist for the perpetrator of this foul behavior, and two weeks of suspension with remedial classes for the people who did something about it!

"Why should he even be allowed to return? Someone who acts like that doesn't belong there in the first place."

This time, at least, he manages to keep his anger more controlled.