Transition And Restart

There were times when he wanted Yukio by his side . Most times were those times . This time, however, wasn"t .

Ulf had stolen inside Red Rose h.e.l.l, or Red Rose Academy as the clowns running it preferred to call it . It even had a bra.s.s plaque nailed to the gates stating the lie . He wore a stolen senior high school uniform . He was the thief . Now he was on the look for a certain fictional second year student of the Himekaizen Academy .

There was a certain symmetric irony to the exchange of uniforms . One bad deed balanced by another .

If he had been told early October that he would ever set foot here again, he would probably not have believed it . What was probable was that he"d club such a person to the ground for suggesting anything that distasteful .

Last October he had still been scared enough to willingly resort to violence . It wasn"t that he had developed gloriously as a person since then . Fifty year old people seldom did . But he did feel a lot more comfortable now, and that made clubbing people to the ground a less appealing option . Which was probably lucky for the student he tried to find .

He wasn"t about to use violence if he found him . He was about to hurt the b.a.s.t.a.r.d much, much worse .

Nakagawa wanted the problem to vanish permanently . Ulf planned to oblige him .

Ulf had only attended the Red Rose middle school for about half a year, and this was the high school section, so in the end it took him an hour of skulking around in the school . One hour for catching a glimpse, and another five minutes to make it out of the school-grounds .

Ulf waited for his prey a block away from the school . He stalked it for another five . Then he opened up his ambush .

"Sempai, could you please help me?" he said .

The prey stopped, obviously unaware of the a.s.sault that was about to follow . "Yes?"

"I"m looking for a second year student from Himekaizen Academy . "

"From where?" But there had been a tell-tale glimmer in his eyes .

"It"s this student," Ulf said and flashed his smart phone to the prey . The photo was a perfect face shot . Much better than anything Ulf could have dared to hope for without the object noticing the photo shot .

Nakagawa"s gift was enlightening .

The prey stared at him with the eyes of a deer facing headlights of an onrushing car .

"Within two weeks that person has dropped out of high school, or these pictures will start circulating among the Red Rose parent community . "

Ulf flicked to photos where his prey received a large sum of money from a Red Rose teacher . They showed the prey in a Red Rose uniform, with what was clearly a Himekaizen uniform in his hands .

The prey stopped breathing .

Nakagawa"s gift was profitable .

"After dropping out, this person will never, ever, attend any education of any kind again . That is a lifetime condition . "

Ulf flicked from photos to a film where a second year male student hammered Christina Agerman into a locker room wall . The face of that student was splendidly captured .

"This film, and a lot of other interesting data will find its way to the police should that condition not be met . "

The prey was on his knees sobbing .

Nakagawa"s gift was instructive .

Ulf called Nakagawa and reported that the gift had lived up to all its promised attributes, and that he had recognised the student after all . It was the limping that gave him away, the limping Ulf had inflicted on him half a year earlier .

All in all it took Ulf the better part of three hours to permanently destroy the life for an eighteen year old school kid . The deed left him with a deep sense of satisfaction .There were times when he wanted Yukio by his side . Most times were those times . This time, however, wasnt . Ulf had stolen inside Red Rose h.e.l.l, or Red Rose Academy as the clowns running it preferred to call it . It even had a bra.s.s plaque nailed to the gates stating the lie . He wore a stolen senior high school uniform . He was the thief . Now he was on the look for a certain fictional second year student of the Himekaizen Academy . There was a certain symmetric irony to the exchange of uniforms . One bad deed balanced by another . If he had been told early October that he would ever set foot here again, he would probably not have believed it . What was probable was that hed club such a person to the ground for suggesting anything that distasteful . Last October he had still been scared enough to willingly resort to violence . It wasnt that he had developed gloriously as a person since then . Fifty year old people seldom did . But he did feel a lot more comfortable now, and that made clubbing people to the ground a less appealing option . Which was probably lucky for the student he tried to find . He wasnt about to use violence if he found him . He was about to hurt the b.a.s.t.a.r.d much, much worse . Nakagawa wanted the problem to vanish permanently . Ulf planned to oblige him . Ulf had only attended the Red Rose middle school for about half a year, and this was the high school section, so in the end it took him an hour of skulking around in the school . One hour for catching a glimpse, and another five minutes to make it out of the school-grounds . Ulf waited for his prey a block away from the school . He stalked it for another five . Then he opened up his ambush . Sempai, could you please help me? he said . The prey stopped, obviously unaware of the a.s.sault that was about to follow . Yes? Im looking for a second year student from Himekaizen Academy . From where? But there had been a tell-tale glimmer in his eyes . Its this student, Ulf said and flashed his smart phone to the prey . The photo was a perfect face shot . Much better than anything Ulf could have dared to hope for without the object noticing the photo shot . Nakagawas gift was enlightening . The prey stared at him with the eyes of a deer facing headlights of an onrushing car . Within two weeks that person has dropped out of high school, or these pictures will start circulating among the Red Rose parent community . Ulf flicked to photos where his prey received a large sum of money from a Red Rose teacher . They showed the prey in a Red Rose uniform, with what was clearly a Himekaizen uniform in his hands . The prey stopped breathing . Nakagawas gift was profitable . After dropping out, this person will never, ever, attend any education of any kind again . That is a lifetime condition . Ulf flicked from photos to a film where a second year male student hammered Christina Agerman into a locker room wall . The face of that student was splendidly captured . This film, and a lot of other interesting data will find its way to the police should that condition not be met . The prey was on his knees sobbing . Nakagawas gift was instructive . Ulf called Nakagawa and reported that the gift had lived up to all its promised attributes, and that he had recognised the student after all . It was the limping that gave him away, the limping Ulf had inflicted on him half a year earlier . All in all it took Ulf the better part of three hours to permanently destroy the life for an eighteen year old school kid . The deed left him with a deep sense of satisfaction .