A Visitor

Isla opened the entry way door to her house; a small walk-in closet if you will; for jackets, shoes, boots and other outdoor gear to be stored. She tucked her shoes into a cubby. "I'm home!" she called to her parents, and before they could answer, she was already detailing her plans for tomorrow. "Laura's parents are getting their lake house ready tomorrow. Can Amy and I go with them to help clean it up? Laura said we can use the hot tub as much as we want while we're helping!"

She came around the corner to her parents sitting in the living room talking to a ... wait. Was that a mouse? A baby polar bear? No, that couldn't be. His tail (his TAIL?) was longer than a polar bear. He was definitely small, pure white, and bore a scar over his right eye. He was dressed to the nines; wearing a three-piece suit, complete with necktie.

"Welcome home, Isla!" her dad said, a little trepidation in his tone. "We have a guest with us this afternoon. This is Principal Nezu. He's visiting us all the way from a Hero School in Japan!"

Isla blinked. Usually she knew when they were having company over. She was always recruited by her mom to help tidy up the house. "Oh – Oh, hello," Isla greeted the ... mouse. "Welcome to our home; it's very nice to meet you."

The tiny principal jumped up on an armchair to get eye-level with her. "Why thank you so very much," he said; the hint of a Japanese accent to his voice. "You are so kind and polite; you'll fit right in I'm sure!"

Isla raised an eyebrow, looking between Mr. Nezu and her parents. "S – Sorry," she stuttered. "But. What do you mean? 'I'll fit in'?

Isla's mom addressed her only daughter. "You see. Principal Nezu is from a very important, prestigious Hero school in Japan."

"Yeah. You already told me that," she interjected.

"The administration at the school has heard of your father and I," she continued. "They know all about our Quirks, our class rankings in school, what we do now and our rankings here in America."

"What you do now?" Isla echoed her mom. "You're teachers ..."

Her father gave her a knowing look. "We're very good teachers."

The silence that dropped in the room as ironically deafening. All Isla wanted to do was let her parents know that she was going to get the lake house ready with Amy and Laura tomorrow. They were going to get glaciers at Julia's Java on the way. They were going to sit in the hot tub and talk about the boys they had crushes on. They were going to have the best summer ever before they had to separate and go to different schools.

Principal Nezu broke the silence first. "Oh dear," he said quietly. "Perhaps I should give the three of you a chance to talk about this. Family matters, you know." He hopped off the armchair and adjusted his tie. "I'll just show myself around this beautiful garden of yours, Catherine." He bowed to them, and then to Isla before heading out the door to their deck and down the stairs to their backyard.

It was then Isla noticed the paperwork sprawled on the coffee table between the couches. "What's. Going on?" she choked out.

"Isla. You must understand that this wasn't an easy decision to make," her dad began.

"And we wanted to have time to talk with you about it," her mom continued.

"But we have to leave for Japan at the end of the month –"

Her parents exchanged apprehensive looks. Her father took a step closer to her. "You're coming with us, Isla –"

"To JAPAN?!" she screeched.

"The administration at the school wants to employ higher ranked Heroes to teaching positions," her dad continued. "Principal Nezu personally sought us out and this school turns out more top-ranked Pro Heroes than any other school in the country; almost outranking the school your mother and I teach at –"

"So what?!" Isla shouted. "There are thousands of teachers in America, he can choose someone else!"

"Isla, this isn't for you to decide," her mother attempted to console.

"So you just decided it for me," she replied flatly, crossing her arms over her chest, eyes stinging from the tears welling up.

"It's a family decision," her dad said.

She scoffed at the declaration. "That's funny you say that," tears now rolling down her cheeks. "Last I heard I was part of this family. So where's my say in this decision?!"

She stormed back to the entry way, slipped on her turquoise converse shoes and left the house, slamming the door behind her. It only took a few steps down the driveway to get her breaking off into a sprint (which wasn't easy), sobbing as she made her way to Laura's house. Shoulders shaking and vision blurry, she knocked on the front door and only waited a moment before her best friend was standing before her.