His running hastened, breathing heavily, Kinnosuke Hiro tried to pass the school gate before it was closed.  He didn't want to be late on Monday. Everybody knew that Ogasaki High School never tolerated tardiness, especially on Monday. Running ten to twenty laps was the punishment. That was not the only punishment—those who were late were also asked to write an essay on the topic assigned by teachers or probably the headmaster.

Matsuoka Shingo—the headmaster—was the one responsible for that day's punishment. He counted backward while slowly closing the school gate. Kinnosuke fastened his pace. He cursed the long pathway to his school.

Dammit!, Kinnosuke cursed again. Some students abruptly stopped to tie their shoelaces. He thanked God he didn't trip. He finally tripped after bumping into two students. Fell down, almost punched those punks, but suddenly realized he was in a rush.

The headmaster blew his annoying whistle and the gate was slowly closing.

Just one more step!

Kinnosuke slightly moved his body in between the gate and the wall before the gate was fully closed. Just how unlucky he was when Mr. Matsuoka tried to stop him from coming inside the school. He and Mr. Matsuoka collided and in a split second, Kinnosuke was on top of Mr. Matsuoka's body.

This was supposedly a romantic scene in the drama, but it turned out to be so horrible. Kinnosuke didn't have the guts to see Mr. Matsuoka right in the eyes. He was too afraid.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Hysterically, Mr. Matsuoka blew his whistle a thousand times.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Matsuoka. I didn't mean to."

He stood up and held his hand out to help Mr. Matsuoka. And he knew all of his friends had already taken some pictures of him and Mr. Matsuoka in the so-called romantic position.

After this, the photos were going to be the hottest topic among students. If he wasn't lucky then the photos or videos were going to be spread on the internet.

"Nice position." One of the students mocked him. Kinnosuke showed his middle finger to him.

Mr. Matsuoka was so pissed. He shouted and endlessly blew his whistle, “DELETE THAT PHOTOS AND GIVE ME YOUR GODDAMN PHONES!

Kinnosuke knew some of them weren't that stupid and already protect their phones with passwords or probably hid the photos inside super-secret folders.

Two teachers helped Mr. Matsuoka to take their phones away and gave them the punishment they deserved, running ten to twenty laps. Kinnosuke didn't dare to say anything. He was hoping Mr. Matsuoka was nice enough to free him from the punishment. It was already an embarrassment to be put in such a position in front of his friends.

"And you!" Mr. Matsuoka pointed at him. He gulped, "Go to my office. Now!"

***

He was bored waiting for nothing in the Headmaster's office. From the window, he could see other students were running around the school field as their punishment. He should be thankful for not getting a physical punishment, but no, he wasn't. He'd rather run thousands of times than sit there and wait for Mr. Matsuoka to change his clothes just because Kinnosuke fell on top of him. Kinnosuke wasn't dirty. Why would Mr. Matsuoka change his clothes, though?

He huffed, then checked his phone which had been vibrating since the awful event that morning. He bet he got hundreds of notifications. He didn't know what happened yet. Until Inagaki, his best friend sent him a photo of him with Mr. Matsuoka.

From: Inagaki

Message: You're so disgusting. Single doesn't mean you had to do THAT with that bald headmaster!

He was speechless. He didn't even know how to react.

To: Inagaki

Message: You jerk! It was an accident.

From: Inagaki

Message: But the video has been spread all over Misaki's Instagram and also on Twitter. I might have mentioned your name too. Oops.

If Kinnosuke hadn't waited in the Headmaster’s office, Inagaki would have died in his hand.

To: Inagaki

Message: What kind of best friend are you, huh? You weren't helping but just made it worse.

From: Inagaki

Message: Hey, it’s rare to see this kind of entertainment. We’re blessed.

To: Inagaki

Message: Damn you.

When he heard someone open the door, he put his phone inside his pocket. He didn’t want his phone to be confiscated by Mr. Matsuoka. The headmaster just came in—it seems he forgot that Kinnosuke had been there all the time. Kinnosuke slightly bowed towards him.

“Forgive me, Mr. Matsuoka. I didn’t want to be late, but I never thought that I would-”

The older man held his hand up, trying to stop Kinnosuke from explaining further, “Enough. I don’t want to hear anything from you. Sit.”

He sat and kept his mouth shut. Mr. Matsuoka also sat in his leather chair. His petite body sank into it, covered by the desk and all Kinnosuke could see was the headmaster’s face.

“What’s your name again?”

“Kinnosuke Hiro. Class 3-C, second seat from the back, third from the window, and-”

“Stop, just stop. Is it your habit to speak like this?”

Kinnosuke shook his head nervously, “I’m sorry.”

Who wouldn’t be nervous talking to the headmaster? Besides, he is known for his cold and firm attitude toward the students. Even though some said that Mr. Matsuoka looks cute based on his appearance, nothing's adorable about his personality. It was also difficult for that man to befriend teachers and school staff. Every time he walks, there will be dark clouds surrounding him.

“I should’ve given you worse punishment, but I’ve been monitoring you for a while through those CCTVs,” Mr. Matsuoka pointed to two CCTV cameras near the door and his desk. Kinnosuke shivered, “I could say that you aren’t that annoying because I think you would’ve walked around my room out of curiosity, right?”

Kinnosuke gulped, “I wouldn’t dare to do that, Sir.”

“Hmm, that’s great. So, as punishment, you only have to wait in this room until some people come here to put my antique goods.”

“Excuse me?” It was worse than running twenty laps on the field, “So until when should I wait here?”

Mr. Matsuoka just shrugged, “I don’t know. The delivery service should be here by ten, but I’ll have a meeting with teachers and staff. So now it’s your responsibility to wait for my antique goods. That’s such an important task, for your information.”

Kinnosuke was so pissed. Mr. Matsuoka must have seen the change in his expression because he asked, “Is there something wrong?” Probably just to make sure that Kinnosuke agreed to this task.

“No, Sir. I feel honored to have this task.” Oh sure, he wasn’t as honored as he said.

Mr. Matsuoka looked content, “Good. Then let me ask your teacher for permission. You know Kinnosuke, this task is like being given by the President. Understood?”

Kinnosuke had no choice.

--