Test Run Part4

….Chairman Office…..

"Not once, but twice…..twice!" The Chairman said with a hint of disaffection in his tone. Scattered on his desk was his collection of photos of women's asses. 

"I let Mari see my collection twice. I'm a failure as a father…..no not just a father, both as father and a…..teacher!" He said in his once again usual pattern. "Matsuri…..I do hope you become friends with my daughter. I will try as best as I can to help you from the sideline but..." His eyes drifted over to the collection of photos. 

The Chairman had only himself to blame for Mari disdain towards men. While he does understand why the boys are in prison for a reason, but then not getting a day off due to her looking through his stuff, it just made it feel unfair for the boys to an extent. 

But perhaps it wasn't all bad, as Matsuri seems to further challenge her belief in men. He could only hope that Matsuri will hopefully open her eyes to men instead of being cynical. One could only hope.

The Chairman sighed as he leaned back in his chair. "For now I will leave Mari in your hands…..as for me," He said as he grabbed his stack and piled them together in stacks. He then puts them inside a folder. "For the time being, I must become the figure for both my daughter and seal…..this!" He said as he stood up and left to dispose of the photo that he had in his possession.

…..Waste Disposal Area…..

2:00pm

Several hours have passed. Matsuri was fidgeting in his seat. Sweat was leaking against his skin as he eyes were glued to his hands. He was a complete nervous wreck. They were going to perform the test run today. He knew it wasn't the real day, but the idea of doing a test run just bothered him and just didn't sit well. 

"Hey come on don't chicken out now," A familiar voice called from the side. The boy looked to the side of him and spotted Etsuko. "We got this, remember?"

"E-Easy for you to say. It just feels like I'm betraying M-Mari's trust."

"She won't have to know. And besides, you just have to distract Meiko for an hour. Nothing to worry about."

Matsuri makes a sharp turn as he faces her with a pout. "I just don't want her coming after me if she catches on!" He hissed. 

"She won't if you play along. You'll be fine. And besides, I thought you'd be happy being with the Vice President…...alone again I mean~." She said with a sly smile. 

Matsuri's face made a mad blush at her words. He quickly shook his head. "L-Let's just do this already." He said as Etsuko giggled at his reaction. 

The boy looked over to Meiko to make sure she was still watching the other boys from the sideline. He then faces Gakuto and Kiyoshi. 

"I'll go see if I can lead her away." 

The two boys gave him a thumbs up. He took a deep breath and prepared himself for the worst. This was it. He was going to prepare to put the plan into motion. 

"Here I go."

Meiko was watching Shingo, Andre, and Jo perform their task. She had her arms folded underneath her bosom. While she was watching the boys, her thoughts were on Etsuko once more. More particularly her relationship with Matsuri.

"So they're just friends….." She reminded herself. Those words that the shorter first year said to her. 

A faint blush crept upon her cheeks as she shook her head with an annoyed sigh. She really needed to get her mind off of the boy. The more she thought of him, the more she felt a strange warmth within her. 

"Why the hell am I so fixated on him? He's just an ordinary boy with no such outstanding value in him…...I need to focus on the task at hand. We still need to find some proof that he's just the same as the other boys so we can throw him in prison…...but so far he's….."

She remembered the incident again. When he broke down. She wasn't there but Mari did tell her about it. It literally wasn't something she was expecting. And it just made her see just how damaged he was inside….. 

"V-Vice President…." And speak of the devil. The boy that was on her thoughts was behind her. 

"Hitoyoshi…." She breathed out with a small blush. She shook her head and regained her pose. "W-What is it? You're supposed to be watching Gakuto and Kiyoshi!" She said with an attempted commanding voice. 

"S-Sorry. I was just…..well…..I was wondering if you…..w-well…..if we can maybe continue that bonding exercise."

This caught her off guard. Bonding exercise? Again? And of all time he chose this time. She would say she was surprised, but she felt a little curious about what made him bring this up. 

"Well now, this is rather curious…...what brought this up?" She said as she set her hand on her hips. 

"N-Nothing…..I was…..well….." The boy was stumbling on his words.

"Crap! I'm already becoming nervous! Come on, say it!"

"He was wondering if you two could maybe do some exercise because he wants to get stronger!" Etsuko popped between them with her usual goofy smile.

Both Meiko and Matsuri flinched in surprise. Where the hell did she even pop out from!? 

"Huh?" Meiko asked, still wearing a baffled look on her face. Her glasses are halfway off. 

"Yeah! You remember Matsuri," She faced the boy. "You said so yourself. You wanted to train with the Vice President again in hopes of building some muscles in those weak bones of yours."

Matsuri pouted at her choice of words. "You didn't need to say that."

"Is this true?"

"Umm…..y-yes." Matsuri answered as he looked at Meiko. "I uh…...and I also thought that…..maybe we could get to know each other a little better too." 

Meiko blushed. Her heart thumping fast. While true that what she DID say when she thought of using that opportunity to find any hint of him being the same as the boys they were observing. But for some odd reason he seemed...genuine when he said those words. It made her feel a different feeling for him. 

She quickly re-adjusted her glasses and rested her arms underneath her chest once more. "Even though I could go for some exercise, we are supposed to watch over the boys. I am sorry Hitoyoshi, but-"

"I can watch the boys!" Etsuko eagerly raised her hand!

Meiko was caught off guard by her sudden answer. "Huh? Y-You? By yourself?"

"Uh huh! I can watch the boys! You won't have to worry about me. I can handle myself!" 

Meiko wanted to say something, but if she truly felt that she could handle this by herself. But it all just felt a little strange to her. Considering that this is just her first day on the job. She would be *somewhat* okay if it was just Matsuri or even herself, but Etsuko. 

She looks at the brown hair boy for some answer. Matsuri just gave her an equally confused look and just shrugged. If she was so willing (and Matsuri knows this) to watch over the boys. 

"W-Well…..okay then…..if you're so willing to watch over the boys…..then I will allow it. But I still feel uncomfortable leaving you with these scumbags. 

"Um….i-if it makes you feel any better. We can come back in an hour to see if everything is fine." Matsuri proposed. 

"An hour?" Meiko raised a brow. She pondered for a moment or so. "How about 50 minutes? Just so I can see if she's alright with these perverts."

"Um…..s-sure. That could work."

"Well then what are you guys waiting for! Go on! I can handle this! They can't escape through my all-seeing eye of justice!" Etsuko said as she did a pose. Her hand covering her eyes with her fingers spread and revealed her one eye.

Meiko just raised a brow. Weird girl. But she has to give her credit for her devotion. She gestured to Matsuri to follow her to where they were going. But before they took their leave….

"OI! YOU PIGS!" 

"Y-YES MA'AM!" The three boys saluted. 

"Me and Hitoyoshi are going off somewhere! Meanwhile, Kamishoya will be in charge of all of you until we get back! Got it!?"

"YES MA'AM!

"Come Hitoyoshi." 

"Yes Ma'am." He quickly said as he followed her. 

Without anyone noticing, Matsuri gave a sigh of relief. That worked out just fine. Now he'll have to keep her distracted long enough before she realizes that Kiyoshi is gone. 

Etsuko watched the pair take their leave into the forest area towards the track field. Still wearing the goofy smile on her face, she looked over her shoulder and spotted the familiar glasses wearing boy poking around the building. 

The short first year gave a thumbs up. "All good to go."

"Excellent," Gakuto turns over to Kiyoshi. "The rest is up to you Kiyoshi-dono." He whispered to his friend. 

Kiyoshi nodded and walked over to where the hole was. Once he had removed the wooden planks, he gazed upon his exit. It was big enough for him to slip through. This was it. The moment has finally come. 

He took a deep breath before he got on all four of his limbs. He crawled towards the small hole. Taking a few small inches. The beating of his heart pumped faster as he entered the small space. And before he could blink…..he was outside.

…..Track Field….

Matsuri and Meiko made a stroll towards the track field. It wasn't far from where the boys were working, so it didn't make Meiko worry too much. 

Matsuri on the other hand was feeling nervous. He remembered a similar memory when Meiko brought him out here as she was attempting to bond with him through exercising the other day. Despite it being an attempt to try to find any hints or trace of him being the same as the boys. But then that backfired as the two just spoke with another.

He remembered when he witnessed her do that perfect arch of bringing her leg up to her shoulders. It amazed him that he nearly lost himself. 

"Meiko sure is strong…..I really wish I had that strength."

"Hitoyoshi."

"Gak! Y-Yes!" He flinched as he was interrupted from his thoughts. 

The voluptuous vice president looks at him over her shoulder. "Are you sure about this?"

"Huh?"

"Exercising." Meiko said as she stopped in track and faced the boy. "I don't want this to become too stressful for you if it's too much."

Matsuri just blinked at her. This was surprising. Was she worrying about him? Was it a trick? Or was he…..Just to make sure. He quickly pinched his cheeks and stretched them. He flinched from the release as they smacked against his face. Welp, he wasn't dreaming. That was both a relief and a bit sad. 

"Wait, what?"

"Hitoyoshi."

"Oh, um….s-sorry. I had to make sure."

Meiko just raised a brow. "What are you talking about?"

"N-Nothing. Um…..thank you for the concern but…...I just feel like I can learn from you."

At this point, Meiko's eyes widened. "L-Learn from me? What do you mean?"

"It's just that…...I never really have much confidence in me…...but when I see you at work. You always show an attitude of determination. You feel so confident in your abilities whenever you put the boys in their places. I just thought to myself that…..maybe if I can train with you more…..I can be more determined like you."

Meiko blushed from his words. Is this the reason why he wanted to train with her? She felt a little conflicted honestly. The first time around she did this because of her plan to expose him. But this time she didn't know what to feel. Part of her feels sympathy for the boy, the other part feels that he was just saying this just to attack at the right moment. 

Matsuri on the other hand, knows he is just doing this so he can buy Kiyoshi sometimes so he can find his escape route. But for the most part, he really did mean it. He felt that if he trained himself just as hard as Meiko, then he may just borrow some of her confidence and use it for himself. 

"I must say Hitoyoshi," Meiko said as she raised her glasses once more from her nose. "I am surprised by your answer. I would've imagined you were trying to use this as an opportunity to be alone with me." Matsuri blushed as he looked the other way. "But…...I do sense some genuineness in your response."

The boy looks back at the grey hair vice president. His eyes widened. Again, he was expecting her to completely disagree or just outright lash at him. But nothing. Was he sure he's dreaming again? What has gotten into Meiko?

The vice president turns to face him. She thrust her fist onto her hips as she looked at Matsuri with a look of determination.

"Very well then! Then for this short time! Let us train together, Hitoyoshi!" 

"Y-Yes!"