A Second Life

The day after the acceptance letter was delivered.

Sumire was in the principal's office, sipping tea.

"You brew nice tea, sir." Sumire honestly voiced her thoughts.

"Thanks for the compliment, Azumi-san." The principal, Nezu replied. "What brings you here Azumi-san?"

"About my admission, sir." Sumire politely replied.

"What about it? Do you have any problem, Azumi-san?" Nezu decided to play dumb.

"Yes, there is."

"What might it be?"

"Scholarship."

"Scholarship?"

"Yes. The further details are precisely in this file."

Nezu looked inside the file Sumire gave him. His brows couldn't help but raise at the contents. He casually looked at the girl sitting in front of him, sipping tea as gracefully as ever.

"...In an extreme case, your demands can be counted as a challenge to the school authorities, Azumi-san."

"I am aware of that, sir."

"Then you should know I cannot permit this." Nezu said thoughtfully, pointing at the file. It undoubtedly contained ludicrous demands.

"That is why I'm over here to negotiate."

"What negotiations?" Nezu asked, interested.

"You've already found me touring at the campus on the day of entrance exam; I presume."

"I have no idea what you're talking about Azumi-san." Nezu genuinely enjoyed playing dumb.

"If even I can roam inside the grounds of the school freely as I wish, then what about others?" Sumire said enjoying the tea.

"Oh, would you care to elaborate?" Nezu asked but with a glint in his eyes that whispered 'danger' more than anything else.

"Hence, the negotiations or the deals, to be more blunt, sir." Sumire stated as a matter of factly.

"Continue."

"You will comply with the demands. The scholarship would be nice cover for it. And I will do what I can do. A win-win."

"....ha."

"?"

"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" Nezu cackled hard with a crazed, near insane expression on his face.

'So this is his true nature...what a perfect facade...I was almost deceived by it.' Sumire thought.

Seeing the girl sitting unperturbed, Nezu laughed even harder, the fierce gleam in his shrewd eyes was very disturbing.

"What are your motives now, Azumi-san? I can't promote you if they intend any potential harm, no matter how tempting your proposal might be~"

"They mean no harm; I just want to be strong and get stronger. To protect myself and those who are dear to me."

"Terribly interesting, but if I find it otherwise? What should I do? I wonder~"

"I'm thoroughly aware of the consequences."

Sumire said in all seriousness. Nezu too, stopped his sniggers. He looked at her for a long time. His gaze, hair-raising.

"Fine then, Azumi-san. Since you topped this year's entrance exam, I shall grant you a special scholarship, the best, our school can offer." (I'll agree to your deal, kid.)

"It is very much appreciated."(You wont regret it)

"But you must remember that this is not permanent and naturally depends on your performances in the future, Azumi-san." (I can back off whenever I see it fit.)

"I understand." (you won't have the chance to, I promise.)

"Very well, then please take care." (let's see.)

"Yes, sir. I will be taking my leave then." (you jest.)

Nezu watched the girl leave his office. Many thoughts raced his mind. The meeting with the girl had shocked him to core.

On the day of entrance exam, he watched her prank and merely felt amused. Trespassing into the campus without anyone noticing it, he knew the girl was not as simple as she showed herself to be. Her background showed she was anything but normal.

But he never thought she would bring such a deal on the table. Her deal had such intricate planning, right amount of deceit and trickery. He couldn't help but appreciate such thoughts. It was rare to see someone young and meticulous to this extent.

Her guts aren't to be scoffed at either. He liked the girl for her dare. To set this plan to motion alone would be trading her life to imminent death with the slightest mistake. She herself hung the Sword of Damocles on top of her neck. A mad and queer woman. Well, he was a madman too, so he couldn't say much about it either.

Nezu wanted to give her a chance. A chance to the change. He wanted to see if she can succeed. He was betting, for the first time in his life. For the first time in his life, he was trying something for which he can't predict the direct results at all. Hence, it was too fun to pass. Nezu wondered if the girl planned this too.

'Let's see what she can do. Would she win or lose it all? It's so much fun...huhuhu…' As expected, Nezu's thoughts were not the most pleasant things on a habitable earth. None denied indeed.

…

Sumire got to her dorm in a daze, still not believing he agreed to her ridiculous plan. It was clearly a double edged sword, no, it was playing with death...Even she, a former shinigami wouldn't dare to do it so easily.

What frustrated her the most were the numerous plans and grand schemes she created to compel him to agree. They all were wasted, without being put into use at all.

How much more annoyed would Sumire be, when she would know that Nezu thought all of them too, just in 15 minutes? She would lose her cool and destroy all the cheese in Japan. That would be both fun and sad to watch, though let's hope the day wont come and Sumire would become m.a.t.u.r.e enough to slide it off...probably. Anyway, she can stop worrying about Shika-chan now.

"Sumire-chan, is all the official paperwork done?" Mrs Sakaki pulled Sumire from her thoughts.

"Ah? Yes, they're all done. I gained a scholarship too."

"What? Let me see…"

"Here."

Sumire handed the papers to Mrs Sakaki, who was staring at them in awe and pride.

Inside her room, lying on the bed Kiyoko, taking an afternoon nap. She woke up at the noise caused by the intruder, Sumire.

Still half-asleep, her large hazel eyes were misty and unfocused. Her cheeks dusted with pink and hair replaced with bed hair. In short, the little girl looked adorable enough to kill…

Without wasting the chance, Sumire quickly took a shot of the rare sight, like she always did in her phone.

'Kawaii desu~'

"Sumire nee-san?" the girl asked in drowsy voice.

It took immense control for Sumire to not to squeal and hug. She barely stopped at ruffling Kiyoko's hair.

"Where were you? Did I not tell you to go anywhere without informing me?"

"Sorry about that, you always sleep the best in the mornings, so I didn't want to wake you up."

"It's fine for now. But next time, at least leave me a note okay?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"So where were you in the morning?"

"Dealing with school stuff."

"Why do I feel that you're into some kind of shady deal?"

"Shady deal? You're watching too many movies, Kiyoko-chan."