School Council Warnings

The Vice Principal's office at Black Fang High was a world apart from the rest of the school. Where the hallways were grimy and chaotic, this room was a sanctuary of sterile order. The floor was polished cherry wood, the walls lined with bookcases filled with leather-bound volumes that had never been opened. A large, immaculate desk stood like an altar in the center of the room, and behind it, floor-to-ceiling windows offered a panoramic, god-like view of the entire school campus below.

Behind this desk sat Vice Principal Kaido Makunagi, a viper coiled in a perfectly tailored suit. He was observing the schoolyard through his window, but his focus was not on the students. His gaze was turned inward, his mind a labyrinth of plots and calculations. On his desk, a single file lay open. The name on the tab read: SHARMA, RAVI.

The file was thin, almost insultingly so. It contained a generic transfer form, a forged medical history, and a list of previous schools with no disciplinary records. It was a blank slate, a ghost's resume. Kaido knew it was a complete fabrication. A boy who could hospitalize Riku Sato and dismantle the entire Black Fangs gang should have left a trail of chaos in his wake. The fact that he hadn't was, to Kaido, more alarming than any list of prior offenses. It bespoke a level of control, or a clean-up crew, that was far beyond the scope of a high school delinquent.

A respectful knock came at the door.

"Enter," Kaido said, his voice smooth and cold as polished steel.

The door opened to admit the members of the Black Fang High Student Council. There were four of them, led by their president, a tall, stern-looking senior named Takeda. Takeda was a skilled fighter in his own right, the official "#1" ranked student in the school before Ravi's arrival, a title now rendered meaningless. He and his council were, in theory, the student body's governing authority. In reality, they were Kaido's pawns, maintaining a semblance of order while he pulled the strings of the true underworld that festered beneath the surface.

"Vice Principal Kaido," Takeda said, bowing deeply. The other three followed suit. "We've come to report on the Sharma situation."

Kaido gestured to the chairs in front of his desk without turning around. "Report," he commanded.

Takeda sat, his expression grim. "The situation is escalating. The power vacuum left by Riku Sato is becoming unstable. Several smaller gangs are starting to make moves, testing the waters. There have been skirmishes near the west gate and behind the old gym. They're all trying to see who will fill the void."

"And what of Sharma?" Kaido asked, his tone betraying no emotion.

"That is the primary issue," Takeda said, frustration lacing his voice. "He does nothing. He has the absolute loyalty of the former Black Fangs, who now follow him around like lost dogs, but he gives them no orders. He has the fear and respect of the entire student body, but he shows no interest in leadership. He has toppled the school's strongest pillar and simply walked away, leaving the entire structure to collapse on its own."

A council member, a girl with sharp eyes named Emi, chimed in. "He's a destabilizing agent, sir. His passivity is more chaotic than Riku's aggression ever was. He's an anomaly. We believe he needs to be… managed. For the good of the school."

Kaido finally turned, swiveling in his high-backed leather chair to face them. He steepled his fingers, resting his chin on them, his eyes hidden behind the glare of his glasses.

"And how do you propose we 'manage' a boy who puts other boys through walls?" he asked, a hint of mocking amusement in his voice.

Takeda flinched slightly but held his ground. "We declare him a threat to school order. The Student Council has the authority to issue an official warning, followed by a recommendation for expulsion. We can brand him as a public enemy. Isolate him. Make it clear that associating with him will have consequences."

"Bold," Kaido mused. "You believe you can intimidate a force of nature with paperwork?"

"It's not about intimidating him," Takeda argued, leaning forward. "It's about controlling the narrative. Right now, he is a myth, a legend. If the Council, the highest legitimate authority among the students, officially designates him as a dangerous element, it will galvanize those who fear him. It will give the other gangs a legitimate reason to unite against him. We can turn the entire school against him."

Kaido was silent for a long moment, appearing to consider the proposal. In truth, his mind was leagues ahead of them. Takeda's plan was crude, predictable, but useful. He saw the students as chess pieces, and Takeda was proposing to sacrifice a few pawns to test the strength of an unknown queen.

Kaido had spent years cultivating Black Fang High into his personal fiefdom. The gangs, the fighting, the fear—it was all a finely tuned ecosystem that generated income and influence for him in the city's real underworld. Riku Sato had been his prize bulldog, violent but ultimately controllable. This Ravi Sharma, however, was a cancer. An unknown variable that threatened the delicate, profitable balance of his system. He could not be controlled, he could not be predicted, and therefore, he had to be eliminated.

But a direct approach was crude. Why bloody his own hands when he had an entire school full of willing, foolish instruments?

"Your plan has merit, Takeda," Kaido said finally, his voice giving nothing away. "But it is also dangerous. You will be painting a target on your own backs."

"We are prepared for that, sir," Takeda said, his jaw set with determination. "Order must be maintained."

Kaido's lips curved into that thin, serpentine smile again. It was a smile of a predator watching its prey walk willingly into a trap. "Very well. You have my tacit approval. Proceed with your… warning. Let us test the foundations of this new king's silent reign."

He waved a dismissive hand. "You may go."

Takeda and the council stood, bowed once more, and exited the office, their minds filled with plans and a sense of righteous purpose. They believed they were acting to save their school. They had no idea they had just been given permission to throw themselves into a meat grinder.

Once the door clicked shut, Kaido swiveled his chair back to face the window. He picked up the phone on his desk, not his official school line, but a sleek, untraceable burner phone. He dialed a number from memory.

"It's me," he said into the phone, his voice losing its professional smoothness, becoming colder, sharper—the voice of a crime lord.

A gravelly voice answered on the other end. "Kaido-sama. What are your orders?"

"There is a new element at the school," Kaido said. "A boy. Name is Ravi Sharma. The student council is about to make him a public enemy. It will get messy. I want you to observe the fallout."

"Observe, sir?" the voice on the other end asked, a hint of confusion in his tone. "Not… intervene?"

Kaido chuckled, a dry, humorless sound. "Oh, no. Let the children have their fun. Let them throw themselves at the mountain and see if it moves. They are a useful distraction. While they are busy making noise at the front door, I want you to find out everything there is to know about this boy. His real background, his family, his weaknesses. Dig. Use any resource necessary. I want to know where he sleeps, what he eats, who he talks to. I want to know if he bleeds."

"Understood, Kaido-sama."

"This boy is… different," Kaido added, his gaze drifting to the rooftop, where he could just make out a lone, seated figure. "He's not a delinquent. He's something else. Be careful. And be thorough."

He ended the call, placing the burner phone back in a locked drawer. He looked down at the schoolyard, at the students milling about like ants. They were all pawns in his game, pieces to be moved and sacrificed. Now, a new, powerful piece had appeared on the board, one that moved in ways he didn't yet understand.

A lesser man would be afraid. But Kaido Makunagi felt only a thrilling, cold excitement. He loved a challenge. He loved puzzles. And he especially loved the part where he got to take a beautiful, complex puzzle and smash it into a thousand pieces.

He smirked. "Let's see what you're made of, Ravi Sharma," he whispered to the glass. "Let's see if you can survive the bite of the viper."