Hound of the Dead

Chapter 3: Encounter

Beta read by Kyugan, DerpMaster9000, Maglad, Shigiya and Darklord331.

.

.

.

-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.