Chapter 50: Capital Punishment

Volume Two – Vampire, Assemble.

Suit, no crease, no visible dirt, comfortable to use and to be seen—-ready. Shoes, black and shining, look professional and prepared—-ready. Necktie, fine, wait, didn't Nelia mess with my necktie? Just to be safe, I fix it again. Okay, necktie--ready.

Face, full of smiles, ready to absorb stresses—-check.

A gulp hides in my stomach when I look at the big wooden door with a golden nameplate that says, 'Principal Room.'

Long story short, I did something bad and now the principal wants to meet me. In other words, she is going to give me some kind of punishment. Rumor has it that she would punish someone twice for what they did.

What did I do?

Disobedience.

"Ah..."

Sure.

Do I deserve what may come? I don't know. What I did was wrong to her but not to anyone else. I was trying to keep the world safe. I don't bother telling her that. Even if I make that as an excuse, she'd not believe or care. Not every person knows how heavy 'their' responsibility is. Or they just chose to ignore it.

"This is not your first time seeing this door, Senpai." Beside is Alyssa speaking, apparently.

"Why are you here?" I ask.

Alyssa raises her thin eyebrow, "What do you mean, why am I here? Don't you see I'm clearly worried about you? What if your punishment is death? Don't I have to speak for you? Ah, don't you say you don't need my help. No no, I'm clearly better at words than you, given that I'm the best English teacher here."

I look at her blankly for a while, and she does the blank face better. I respond to her last remark, "She's not going to give me the death punishment."

And I'm also good at negotiating too.

Now both of her eyebrows raise as if she's showing a true genuine an expression, "See? It's called capital punishment, not death punishment."

"Oh, shut up."

"Then how can I speak for you?"

Okay, I don't have time to deal with her here. Before I open the door, I give her a smile. She did what a friend could do best. To be there.

I close the door before Alyssa can get in. "Senpa--"

Thud.

She doesn't have to speak for me. I have my own words.

In front of me is the Madam. I can see horns growing out of her head, sharp and violent. That is not a metaphor. There are, literally, two horns on top of her head.

"Do I look scary with these horns?" Her lip creaks up.

I shift, "Er, I guess?"

"Good," she tears off her horn and puts it on top of her gold-brown stretched table. What? Didn't I mention it's just a prop?

Her hand steeple together as she hints me to sit in front of her.

I did so.

"You know what you did," is what she starts with.

I nod, "I do. And I'm very sorry about it."

"As long as you know. Now, we'd start with your punishment."

I remain straight, "I will take them responsibly."

She chuckles, "That's what I like about you. I knew you'd be a great teacher at Black Book High. You'd always try to be a great person. But just like what you did, great is of course don't pass the bad."

I nod my head, "I understand."

She slides me a paper after a long smile, "I assume you know of this."

"I…"

In front of me is a paper… full of pictures of… goth girls? Holy god, so much thigh. Hold up, are those panties? I rub my eyes for a while just to stare at them again. Hm, this girl looks a bit similar to…

The pictures disappeared when Madam hand traveled across them.

Her wrinkle is bright red now. "Ehem, of course you don't know about that. Wrong paper."

"Is that daughter of yours, Madam?"

"Ah, yes. She… likes those kinds of things."

Oh, understandable. Not! Why are you keeping your daughter's pictures in your office? I understand the basic context of it, but why those kinds of pictures? And how can you mess that up with something else?

I don't know whether to be lucky or unlucky right now.

Madam's eye pushes me on the chair.

She looks mad now. "Now I have to put some more weight in your punishment for looking at me in question."

H—hey, this is just unfair. Of course I have questions after what you showed me? "I—i swear I'll forget it. In fact, what the hell did I just see. Right? Haha... Ha."

But my last effort is replied by her glare. "You can't just forget my daughter's sexiness."

Wh—what?

"It's engraved in your mind forever. Those smooth light skin and cute underwear. You simply can't."

Oh god.

She sighs and, again, pushes a paper (after she made sure it's the right one now.)

I read: 'Black Book High twentieth Cultural Festival.'

Cultural… festival?

I look up at her in question, "Is this..."

"Hm? Do I have to explain this to you? I'm ordering you to prepare your club for this event.

What?

"A—Are you serious? My club? The occult clubroom?" It is known that the occult clubroom never joined any of the cultural festivals that ever happened.

And it seems this year is going to be the first one.

And this is not negotiable. Maybe I should have Alyssa come with me. Huh, I doubt she'd help with that.

Madam nods, "I don't look kidding. This is your punishment. If you do not perform well in the event, I will have to put you in a tighter punishment."

"Ah—"

When I was about to speak, Madam cuts me with a wave. "You only have 26 days left. Save your words for your students. Good luck."

Thud.

The pressure from Madam pushes me out of her room and closes the door.

Alyssa looks around me as if I'm a car, "Hm, you've come unscratched. How did it go?"

"Bad."

"But you're still alive. I call it a successful meeting."

My hand kissed my burning forehead. "How am I to make my club look good at the Cultural festival?"

Alyssa smiles, "That's it, your punishment? It's not that bad. You can always google how the occult club in other schools do it."

"But my club is not anywhere like them."

"How come?"

I look at her seriously. Her deep grey eyes wait for my reply. But it'd never come.

So, I can only say it in my heart.

That one of my students is a vampire.

One? Oh, I think that's going to add up. Sooner or later. In fact, I'm getting a message from Ayane.

'Sensei... did you take in another girl as a new member of your club? And why is she acting like a maid-- Uh, I mean, she's literally wearing a maid uniform.'

Oh god.