Beta read by Kyugan, DerpMaster9000, Maglad, Shigiya and Darklord331.
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-Tokonosu-
"What do you mean I'm out of the club, Tajima-sensei?" Miyamoto Rei repeated in disbelief as she stared at her now former mentor in disbelief, his words reverberating like a thunderclap inside her head as the bag containing her equipment dropped from nerveless fingers to the floor of his office.
A desperate part of her wondered if all of this was just a stupid prank from one of her older seniors after getting their ass kicked by her, only to slowly be replaced by anger as the middle-aged man continued to sit in silence, his expression never changing. "Why am I being kicked out in the first place!?” she demanded, slapping her hands on his desk in frustration, slamming her hands on the desk, causing her high E-cups to jiggle from the action. “I didn't break any rules!"
“This isn’t about breaking rules, Miyamoto-san.” Tajima-sensei sighed, his words tempered with a mixture of solemn regret and shame, as he met her gaze with a pained expression “This has been the topic of discussion amongst the staff for some time now.”
“As you know, our Dojo is a minor school with a handful of students.” he elaborated at Rei’s stunned expression, gesturing for the girl to take a seat. The well-developed brunette decided to sit down, hoping that her former teacher would at least explain why he was kicking her out. “All of whom you have already far surpassed for a while now, as is evident in your most recent spars.”
Rei flushed in embarrassment and averted her eyes at the look of pride in Tajima’s eyes as he said that, some of her earlier irritation vanishing as she sat up straighter in her chair, only to blink as he shook his head with a sigh.
“But that, in itself, is part of the problem.” Tajima continued solemnly, looking back up to his star pupil, “The gap between your skills and those of your peers, particularly the older ones, has begun to damage their self-confidence, which in turn has led many to consider dropping out.”
“And so, to ensure the dojo's best interest, the other instructors and I eventually decided that this was the best course of action.” Looking at the stunned girl with a hint of regret, Tajima concluded, “Rest assured, it wasn’t an easy decision to make.”
For a moment Rei sat in silence, her mind whirling as she tried to process Tajima’s words, torn between her pride in her skills and her disgust that her peers would feel so insecure that they would demand her expulsion just to avoid being bested by a girl half their age.
It just didn’t make sense no matter which angle she looked at it, she’d sensed absolutely none of that hostility during their sparring matches, and the staff certainly hadn’t treated her any differently prior to today, so something had to be up.
“Sensei…you’re lying.” she accused, her eyes narrowing with suspicion and anger as she glared into Tajima’s eyes from across the desk, recalling a warning her father had given her back when she first joined the club “Isn’t your brother a member of the Shido-Party?"
Shido Ichiro was a debater in the National Diet who was currently aiming for the position of Cabinet Minister, a ruthless, immoral man who wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty if it meant protecting his public image.
A fact that Rei was sadly all-too-familiar with, given how the fat bastard had used his influence to have her forcibly held back at school for a year in order to threaten her father to drop his investigation into the man’s corruption.
Not like that fat slime ball had succeeded mind you, Rei having urged her father to continue the investigation, enduring the humiliation to support her father alongside her mother to bring that man to justice, knowing that if Shido’s corruption was brought to light then they would be vindicated.
And it seemed their faith was justified since apparently Shido was so intimidated by her father’s resistance that he had once again seen fit to lash out at her using their connections if the look of shame in Tajima-sensei’s eyes were any indication “It’s not like th-!”
"—Not like that my ass!” Rei snapped, cutting the man she once saw as a mentor off by getting out of her seat and slapping her hands onto his desk, once again making her bountiful orbs jiggle erratically. “ You're just trying to curry favor with that fat bastard by getting rid of me and using it to join his inner circle!"
“Enough, Rei!” Tajima barked, his frustrated expression actually giving the girl pause, as if her words had actually caused him pain. “You shouldn't speak about people like him in such a tone, do you have any idea of the problems we'll face if others heard you?”
Rei bit her lip, already knowing what he had said to be true. She wouldn’t be surprised that Shido would ruin someone if they even said a bad word about him. The two stared at each other in silence before Tajima rose from his seat with an exhausted sigh “I understand your frustration, but you can’t just go around hurling accusations like that. If the other instructors were here, you could have been charged with defamation.”
“How am I wrong!?” Rei demanded, a part of her enraged due to the revelation that at the very least Tajima seemed to understand how unfair this all was “I'm the one suffering because you all want to get close to that corrupt pig!”
“I do not expect you to forgive me.” Tajima confessed, startling Rei with his defeated tone as he gazed at her with regret “I am simply looking out for the best interests of the club and its members. You of all people should know why we can't afford to get on the bad side of Shido.”
Rei bit her lip in frustration, her emotions whirling inside her head as she glared tearfully at one of the few men aside from her father she respected before gathering her gear from the floor and storming off, only to almost bump into another instructor.
"Is everything okay here?" He asked, glancing between Rei and Tajima, only to flinch back as if being slapped in response to the sheer intensity of the glare that Rei was giving him, before averting his eyes with a look of shame.
“Miyamoto-san was just leaving.” Tajima cut in, earning a heated glare from Rei that soon transitioned into a blink of confusion as he pulled out a letter from his sleeve, “Rei-san, while our time was short, I hope you will look back on your time with us fondly.”
“And it’s not like this is the end of your career in Soujutsu. I know that if you continue your training, you can end up being one of the best Soujutsu in the country.” he assured her, handing over the letter “This is a letter of recommendation to another Dojo in town that will help you in your training.” he explained, gently handing over the letter of recommendation, “One with no connections to…certain parties. I am more than certain they will be happy to have you.”
Rei narrowed her eyes but nodded, fighting back the hot tears that were forming as she wordlessly accepted the folded letter. Clenching her bag tightly, she turned and stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind her with all the strength she could muster.
“Was that the right thing to do?” the instructor queried, wincing as he listened to Rei’s footsteps echo down the hallway, turning to face Tajima as the owner of the Dojo returned to his seat behind his desk “There could be backlash for her expulsion, Miyamoto was very popular.”
“Our dojo needs that sponsorship from the Shido Party.” Tajima reminded him with a resigned sigh, his expression unwavering “It will allow us to expand our facilities and increase the number of students.
