Ms Emi

A new school week officially starts again. There is a lot to look forward to. Results from our mid-terms for one. The upcoming Treasure Hunt where three classes clash against eachother is two days away. More activities from the Photography Club and my first meeting in the Newspaper Club. Sometime this week I also have plans to help Aoi. After spending the weekend with her. I think I know why she doesn't speak. It's not that she chooses to ignore everyone. There's a chance she simply lost her voice by external means. More than anything, I was looking forward to see Alice's face. It's been too long since I've last saw her. Lastly I need to have a word with Takeshi privately today. No one must know the contents we will discuss or when we spoke to eachother.

"Scum better has a free schedule".

Mrs Emi P.O.V

All Star Academy, the school that only accepts talented students. Personally, I am not a fan of that rule. To only uplift children who are already a cut above the rest instead of children who really needs uplifting. Most of the students' lives are already set in stone. Some students here will inherit international companies in the near future. Some have already struck it big whether it be inventions, books or films. Though I find most of these kids annoying, they also inspire me. In their own way, they are really hard workers and that's why they show results. This morning, an article popped up on my phone so I read it.

The article states that people are fighting for equality.

"Upupuh". People are only equal at birth. We should just accept that harsh fact and move on. Five years working at this school has truly taught me that people seem to misunderstand success. Stephano Souken for example, easily my favourite student out of the lot. He has proved time and time again that hardwork pays off. Something many people aren't willing to do, take risks, think smart, work hard. Lots of students and even adults write him off as some rich kid who has everything. Ignoring his bloodline, sweat and tears he put into the dreams he holds dear. The hotels, the shipping companies, not to mention school. All of it must be taxing on the body but he still smiles, move forward with an iron will. Whenever someone preach about equality. Ask them this "If I raised a 100 cows and you raise 10. Should we get an equal amount of pay?".

"Of course not! The one who raised a hundred should clearly get more. In this meritocracy society, equality is a fairy tale".

The article got me in a really bad mood so I turned off my phone. On my way to staff office, I saw one of my students knocking on the student council room. He was around 5 foot 8, short blue hair, gloomy face. "Hmm, that's Victor".

Teachers spoke about two first years who constantly associated m themselves with Stephano, Alice and Ricardo. Some are thinking of stopping these first years from distracting the seniors. In the hallway, I heard a beautiful melody that was undoubtedly coming from the student council room. Victor entered the room looking happy by just stepping foot in it.

Victor Cruz, most time during class I have to remind myself that he exists. Not sure why but he is always watching the other students. Could it be that he's studying them? For what purpose? Rarely exhibits emotions until just now. He had a smile on his face when entering the council room. As the months go by, I should learn more about him.

"Morning Mrs Emi".

As soon as I arrived in the staff office on the second floor, Mr. Rune greeted me.

"Morning".

"Have you seen the mid-terms results for the first years yet. It's a huge shock"

Oh right! All the students test scores were recorded last weekend. Wonder which Student got the highest scores. If I were to take an educated guess, it is mostly likely Xavier Foster from Class 1B or Sue Fong from Class 1C. Those two students are the smartest of the first years as far as I know. "No I haven't seen the results yet" I told Mr. Rune.

"Oh my! You should be proud of Class 1B. Here take a look". Mr. Rune is the homeroom teacher for Class 1A. A kind man on the surface but beneath that smile of his holds evil intentions. He cares only for his class so they must have done well for him to be so happy. He gave me a copy of the first years results. Before taking a look, I brewed coffee. After that, sitting on a wheel chair right under the air conditioner was my next priority.

"Alright, let's see how my students performed". This list has every first year student in alphabetical order. Tedious could not begin to describe browsing through this list. Many of these students did not interest me, only those from Class 1B.

"Fugo Almaty got an average of 76% and ranked 25/84". This was a pleasant surprise. Fugo did well for a slacker. Maybe he studied in secret. The Next name that caught my interest was Sue Fong. The only girl of Class 1C. "Sue Fong received an average of 96% and ranked 3/84. Hmm, there are two students who actually scored higher than this". Now I see why Mr. Rune said this was a shock. An average of 96 is almost unheard of and for it to be in third place. Students from C classes normal never produce grades like this.

"Xavier Foster received an average of 83%. Ranked 14/84". Not even in the top ten like I wanted him to be. If he is this low then the chances of seeing any of my students in the top ten is slim. At least he'll receive a nice reward. I continued to search for my students names while keeping an eye out for insanely high averages.

"77, 68, 73, 62, 81, 100, 60, 64,88.... Wait a minute".

I could be mistaken but I swore I saw 100 just now. Rechecking all the grades I just said, I found a student who had a perfect score.

"Hu Almon, an average of 100%. Ranked 2/84". Hu Almon is a student of Class 1A. Many teachers have complaints about him because of his behaviour in class. He always asked teachers dozens of questions about one topic until they eventually slip up. It is his primary move for embarrassing teachers. For him to get second place has to be a joke. There is no grade higher than Hu's perfect score.

....

I spoke too soon. After looking at all the names, I saw who claimed the top spot for this mid-terms.

"Sayaka Souken, average of 100 and ranked No.1". Sayaka, one of my beloved students claimed first place.

"You Go Girl!!".

Containing my excitement was impossible. I charged to our classroom hoping to see her right away. Sadly she was not present as of yet, only two students were in the classroom reading a book together. Aoi Quin and Victor Cruz. The two students stared at me surprised by my early visit.

"Morning Mrs Emi" Victor greeted. Aoi nods at me as usual. Seeing these two's faces reminded me of their rankings. Aoi Quin with an mid-term average of 60.9. Just barely above the pass mark and her ranking is 70/84. Never expected much from her but still, I wish she had done better. As for Victor....

What was his score again? Don't recall seeing his rank either. I searched for Victor's name again and again but it was nowhere to be seen. "Victor, did you sit your exams?".

"Yes, I sat all of them" he confidently answered. What is the meaning of this? Did they forgot to mark his paper? This has never happened before. This needs to be addressed. Our principal Mr Raihan, I headed to his office. When I told him about Victor's missing grade, he simply laughed at my worries.

"Hahahaha, Victor Cruz. That boy is not forgotten Mrs Emi. Your class did splendidly this semester. Be sure to encourage them to work even harder".

"Of course Raihan. What's the reason for excluding him from this list?".

"Among the freshman, five students did remarkably well. Fifth place Sosuke Hawkins from Class 1A scored 90 in every subject. Aphrodite Giovanni claimed forth place among the first years despite being suspended for a whole week. A member of Class 1C actually made it in third place. That one was unheard of until today. Second and first place scored 100. I decided to give Sayaka first and Hu second because of their attitude towards teachers. These students are all impressive but there's one that almost gave me an heart attack".

"That one being Victor I believe"

"Yep, a boy from Class 1B. Not only did he get a perfect score like Sayaka and Hu. In every paper he sat, he finished them all with half the time given to do them. This boy has the audacity to answer a question correctly then proceeded to restructure those same questions on the back of every paper. The part which hurts is that the questions he wrote were better than the ones on the test and really makes a person think critically. What he wrote as notes under each page was advice on how to tackle the students mind. His perfect score along with his attitude towards these tests. He's going to be granted a special position starting tomorrow when the award ceremony starts along with the promised awards. Sadly the other reason he was removed from the list is because he forgot to write his names on most of the exam. Technically he should be getting zeros, keep that a secret ok. I bet he simply rushed to the questions because of how easy they were". Mr Raihan held my hands tightly, staring deep into my eyes.

"I heard from Alice that he was bullied. Be sure that does not happen again. Look out for him" he told me. His grip on me tightens as he spoke those words. Does he want to squish my hand?

"I understand. This is a lot to take in ya know. Never thought Victor of all people would receive so much of your praise. So you removed him from the ranking list because? Him forgetting his name, you could've still placed him there".

"Oh right! Having three students scoring 100 has never happened before. We got rid of his name to add shock value for the ceremony tomorrow. It's already a shock that two persons got a perfect score so imagine when the students hear of a third. And it's from the boy who's been on the newspapers no less".

After school, I visited my class before they went home. Tomorrow was going to be a big day for all of them. Everyone I class managed to pass their mid-terms. Orders state that I mustn't tell the students about their test results at any cost. Saying no to the rules from time to time is my jam. "Students! Just so you know none of you failed your mid-terms. Everyone passed".

....

Most of them hardly reacted to what I said. No scream of joy, no sigh of relief or even a change of expression. "Arent you guys excited?".

"I already know I passed those exams. It was never a matter of pass or fail. I just don't want to rank near the bottom" Nayeli admitted. I see, the students already knew they passed the exams after sitting them. Nayeli got an average of 68 and ranked 56/84. Brilliant! Just brilliant! I want to bring these students to Class A. They aren't fit to be Class B. Once the students left the classroom, I made my way to the school gates. Stephano Souken was there waiting for me. We had plans to see each other after school. When I arrived at the gate, Stephano was already there texting on his phone.

"Stephano!"

"Ms Emi, hey".

We headed to a coffee shop near All Star Academy. It was our regular spot for simple chit chat. Stephano is the only student I know who likes caffeine. With all the work he does at a young age, he can't be blamed for it. He ordered a cappuccino while I simply wanted black coffee. "Turns out my mom's gone missing again". To open a conversation with something as horrible as that. That's my boy.

"What happened this time?".

Stephano is cursed to have a selfish bitch for a mother. If it weren't for the strong attachment Stephano has with her. She would have died by my hands months ago. Always giving my dear Stepheno more stress than he already has. She has disappeared on multiple occasions. Most of the time, she was just hanging out with some random man without contacting her worried son.

"I don't think men is the issue this time. Before mom disappeared she told me that I was a mistake. She never wanted to see my face again. Why would she say that though? I'm a millionaire who can care for her. She has what many mother's don't. I thought she was joking when she uttered those words. She always made jokes like that in the past but ends up coming back two days later".

"I-I don't want her to go" . We just sat down and he's already in tears.

"To top it all off. I have a meeting tomorrow with the school's Board of Directors. I have to take part this time because I skipped last meeting. Heathen Souken Hotel needs some serious renovation and expansions fast and I haven't even drawn a blue print yet. My team for the game I'm developing is useless too. I had to do 80% of the work. Cruz's Path, I intended on buying more shares this month but---"

He's crying again. Has anyone ever seen this side of him besides me? Stephano walked on this path when he heard of the money needed to save his mother from a dire illness. Afraid to lose her, he invested in a camera. Stephano visited every tourist site that would accept him. He took pictures of the tourists and gave them hardcopies of them in exchange for little change. He eventually saved enough money to buy a computer and that's when his finance truly flourish. Streaming entertainment on social media, he was good at acting so he mostly made skits. The videos he created had a ton of views, filling his pocket enough to a point where he bought shares from Souken Family companies. Within two years he became a millionaire all on his own without his family's inherit wealth. A hard worker such as him deserves someone better. He even learned skills such as painting and singing. Someone who truly cares for him, love him from the bottom of their heart. I can be that person if he lets me.

The boy crying before me needs to be a man and let go of the bitch who he's attached to. I patted his head and hummed softly in his ears. He adores the sound I make when humming, he always stopped crying without fail. "Mrs Emi. I need your help".

"Anything for you dear"

"I am quite busy as of late. The law enforcers, I need first year Law Enforcers asap. My midterm average is 72, that is not good for the student council president. I need to study more. Also, I'd like you to search for my mother. You don't have to make contact with her, I just want to know where she is". Trust me Stepheno, you don't want me to find your mom. If I do, I'll bury her 8 feet under.

"Come on, ask more of me. I know you want to".

Stephano rests his hands on my shoulders ready to start the waterworks once again. "Three girls confessed their love to me today. I like all three, what should I do?".

"Reject all three! Lie to them, tell them you already have a girlfriend or your family is arranging marriage for you. They will believe you". How dare he ask me for advice over a matter like that. That is so inconsiderate of him, doesn't he have any hint of my feelings towards him? Teachers and Students must not have romantic feelings but once that student graduate. It should be fine by then, Stephano must remain single until he's of age.

"Man, sometimes I feel like having a eternal sleep and forget about everything. All my responsibilities, ties and the people around me. Give up, I have a long life ahead of me. Maybe I should stop all of this" Stephano said without thinking.

"No! Give up now and all the work you did will be for nothing. Continue on the path you're in and I'm sure you'll leave a big impact on the world. Please! Continue to pursue your goals. You're my inspiration to pursue mines". The sincerity in my voice could be heard. Thinking of giving up now is absurd.

"Your goals? Are you still on the Human Evolution Program (HEP)? Found any willing subjects yet?" he asked me.

"No, I am still scouting the students. Today I learned something new about one of my students. Maybe he can be is some use in my research". The student I was referring to was none other than Victor Cruz.

"Victor is apart of your class. As his teacher you should know something Vital about him. He has a secret which he has only told me. I trust you'll keep it a secret too" Stepheno said strongly. I nodded yes in reply.

"His secret, what is it?".

"The guy has a huge crush on my cousin Alice. He said he loves her and will do anything to make her smile. To me that's very strange, he only knows her for a short while and he's already blinded by love. Keep an eye on him please, he might commit unforgivable acts behind everyone's back. On the first week of school, I gave him the addresses of all the students. I am starting to regret my decision".

Stephano, this is not what you wanted to tell me. I'm sure the secret he mentioned was far deeper and scarier than this judging from his tone. At the last second he changed his mind and told me something else. Is Victor's secret so severe that he won't tell me of all people? Stephano always tells me everything.

"Fine, you don't have to tell me his secret yet. Right now all I want you to do is drink your coffee before it gets cold"

"Before that, there's another matter I'll need your help with Mrs Emi. Someone made complaints to the school's board about the dormitories. I'd hate for the school to open dorms, it would affect my hotels. Many students come from across the world to attend our school, they pay rent and live on their own. So many hotels and apartments are in this city and its crowded with our students. Last Saturday one of our freshman almost got raped. I believe her name is Aoi Quin. The students safety are not ensured outside of school. Please, I'll give you the finances. Just deal with that for me, Principal Raihan is very unreliable.....Damn it, i really wished i did not have to do this". When this boy ask me for favours I can't refuse. I happily took on the task of building dorms for the students.

My sweet boy, he even cares about his fellow students. We have a five year gap between our ages but our feelings for each other blossoms after each conversation we had. "Like I said, I'll help you with anything. To ease that pain of yours". First I'll find his mother and kill her, anyone who holds back my darling should just perish.

And as for Victor Cruz, he has definitely caught my attention now. Maybe he's the test subject I've been waiting for.