One Year Later

5 | Step One Complete

Kiyotaka held his breath as Jin Kirigiri, standing and leaning against his desk, looked through a stack of paperwork. Chihiro tried to peer at his expression from his position beside the principal, but his height barred him from doing so.

In the chairs in front of the desk, two of Kiyotaka's female classmates waited for Jin to say something. One fidgeted nervously, while the other calmly sipped from a teacup, as expressionless as ever.

Chihiro had worked with Kiyotaka, over the last few days, on researching all of the local breeders and shelters and rescues. They'd narrowed the list down to a few good options, but had found one in particular that looked especially promising. Chihiro had gone to the lengths of getting an endorsement from one of last year's graduates by calling him up. Since said upperclassman was an expert on animals and cared a great deal about their well-being, his approval was likely to go a long way.

"Tanaka-san says he wants to go look at the place himself and write an entry about it for his blog," Chihiro said. Jin hadn't said anything in several minutes. "He thinks that it looks like a wonderful organization."

Jin nodded and set the papers down on his desk, thoughtfully stroking his chin.

"Fukawa-san."

The bespectacled girl stiffened and tugged on one of her braids.

"Y-Yes?"

"You're sure that you want to participate in this program?"

"O-Obviously," Fukawa stammered. "I-I wouldn't have filled out that stupid questionnaire if I d-didn't want to."

"Of course, of course," Jin laughed. "I should have gathered as much, seeing as you're not the sociable type. What about you, Miss Ludenberg?"

Celestia set down her teacup and smiled, that menacing and glassy smile of hers that didn't quite reach her crimson eyes. She didn't comment on the principal's use of miss rather than a Japanese honorific, but that was probably because it suited her European aesthetic.

"I'm not particularly interested in adopting a pet," she explained, "but I was forced to leave my darling kitty at home when I agreed to attend this academy. I've missed him, and I would love to have the chance to introduce him to my classmates, even if the year is drawing to a close."

"I see. I suppose arrangements could be made to allow students to bring over existing pets, so long as they've been trained."

"And I can assure you that he is quite well-behaved," Celestia agreed with a dainty laugh.

Kiyotaka looked at Fukawa, who had switched from pulling on her hair to biting at her nails.

"A-And what about you, Fukawa-san?" he prodded. "Didn't you want to adopt a cat?"

"...Y-Yes," the bookworm admitted. "M-My dorm room gets... l-lonely. A cat might be n-nice. They don't need as much a-attention as a dog."

"We compiled a list of interested students, all of whom agreed to discretion, and had them fill out our survey and application forms," Chihiro announced, beaming proudly. "So far we have over a dozen interested parties! Fukawa-san and Ludenberg-san agreed to come with us because they're very excited about the possibility."

"And the rescue looks like a nice place, yes? We'd want to tour it in person, of course, but using Happy Tails would allow us to secure puppies and kittens without having to use a shop. A large part of their rescue program is taking in pregnant animals, or rescuing puppies from mills," Kiyotaka added.

Jin nodded along. After another long pause, he straightened his back in a way that suggested having reaching a decision.

"Alright," he said. Kiyotaka and Chihiro perked up. "I'll give the owner a call. In the meantime, you should follow up with the interested students. We'll let the disciplinary committee pick the best candidates."