Ryunosuke arrived at the chairman's office and knocked softly. From inside, Narumori's voice came back sounding distinctly worn.
"Come in."
Ryunosuke pushed the door open without hesitation and walked in. He was about to say something when he noticed Narumori looking thoroughly exhausted, his hair sticking out in every direction like an abandoned nest. Without thinking, he said:
"Did my father-in-law change his hairstyle?"
Narumori's jaw tightened with irritation, and he threw his pen. Ryunosuke tilted slightly to the side and it missed him cleanly.
"Who do you think caused all of this?!" Narumori snapped. "My workload has been buried because of you!"
Ryunosuke scratched his head with genuine confusion. "What happened?"
Narumori reined himself in and sat back down. He adjusted his black-framed glasses, his tone still carrying a bit of an edge.
"You forgot that you got the entire second year expelled? The reason I look like this is entirely your doing."
"I still haven't managed to find enough students to fill the second year."
Ryunosuke immediately felt awkward and rubbed the back of his head. "That I'm genuinely sorry about. Out of curiosity, how many have you found so far? Could I take a look at their files?"
He walked over closer. He was curious what kind of seniors his future father-in-law had managed to recruit.
Narumori didn't mind him looking through the new second-year student documents while he continued with his own daily work, which was still, very much, recruiting students.
He made a phone call.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
Elsewhere, Hanma Yujiro was in the middle of thoroughly thrashing his son, drawing out the boy's hidden potential. He was about to follow up with his next move when his phone rang.
"Hm? Who's this? Calling while I'm in the middle of having fun."
He grabbed Hanma Baki by the ankle, dragged him along the ground like a handful of straw, and tossed him into a car hard enough to crumple it. He reached into his pocket for his phone, which looked about the size of a pinkie finger in his palm, not because the phone was small, but because his hands were simply that large.
"Yeah? Old man, what do you want?"
"Tsk, still no manners. I was your teacher, whatever else you think of me."
The two of them did have that history. Hanma Yujiro had once been a student at Advanced Nurturing High School.
Yujiro scoffed with perfect arrogance. "I graduated from that junk heap a long time ago. You don't have any authority over me anymore, old man."
Narumori didn't take the bait and got straight to the point. "How old is your son now? Old enough to be in school?"
Yujiro wedged the phone between his shoulder and his ear, both hands in his pockets, absorbing his son's punches and kicks without moving an inch.
"What's that about? Old man, don't tell me you want to drag my kid to school. That's not happening. My son is my training partner, not some student at a junk heap school."
Ryunosuke was holding a folder up in front of his face, listening to every word. Without any names being mentioned yet, he hadn't placed the voice. It just felt strangely familiar, the way something sounds when you've heard it before but can't remember where.
Narumori tapped the desk with his pen and said with quiet resignation, "Out of the respect you still owe me as your former teacher, send your son, Hanma Baki, to our school."
Ryunosuke lurched so hard he nearly fell out of his chair. He sprang to his feet and thrust one hand toward his future father-in-law like a character in a period drama.
"Do not do it, Your Majesty the King! I mean, Father-in-law!"
He immediately corrected himself. Apparently the Chuunibyou episode from a while back had left some lasting residue. He rushed forward to try to end the call, but Narumori simply raised the receiver above his head where Ryunosuke couldn't reach.
"Consider it seriously. Give me a clear answer, Hanma Yujiro."
*Tuut. Tuut. Tuut.*
The line went dead.
On the other end, Yujiro crushed the phone in one hand. "Send my son to school? What kind of joke is that?"
He fixed his gaze on his son with an expression that was equal parts ferocity and excitement. The muscles of his back surged into the shape of a demon's face, splitting his shirt apart entirely. "My beloved son, let your father show you some affection!!!"
Back in the chairman's office, Ryunosuke exhaled with deep relief at the sound of the dial tone.
(Thank goodness. That monster isn't coming to this school after all. What a relief.)
He dropped into a chair and stared at nothing with a blank look. He knew this world operated on crossover logic, but bringing in Hanma Yujiro was a bit much. That was a man who could shatter bulletproof glass with his face.
If his son Baki actually enrolled here, Ryunosuke genuinely could not imagine what the place would turn into.
Though perhaps he didn't need to worry too much. Based on what the source material established, the force of Yujiro's punch sat around 1.1 tons, with peak output reaching approximately 10 tons. His son hadn't reached that level yet, likely still well under 1 ton. Meanwhile, Ryunosuke's own leg strength could hit around 1.38 tons. And given that Ayanokoji had blocked his kick without much difficulty, and had also taken Hiratsuka Shizuka's iron fist, which came in at around 1100 kilograms, Ayanokoji was clearly no lesser. If anything, perhaps somewhat stronger than Yujiro's son at his current stage.
That thought settled him down. He went back to casually reading through documents. Narumori, for his part, paid no attention to the failed call and was already dialing the next number, entirely ignoring Ryunosuke. He was extremely busy right now, and the fact that his own future son-in-law was the reason for that made him even less inclined to be pleasant about it.
Ryunosuke waited patiently until the work slowed down before raising his own matter. Narumori eventually set things aside and looked at him.
"All right. What did you come here for?"
Ryunosuke didn't drag it out. "Is there any way to change the school rules? I'd like to see the end of exams that result in expulsions."
Narumori adjusted his glasses and answered with a resigned sigh. "Don't worry. Even without you saying anything, I had no intention of doing that anymore. I barely have enough students as it is. I can't afford to expel anyone else."
Ryunosuke exhaled. "Good. Could you make an announcement over the school broadcast? So that everyone knows."
Narumori frowned. "Why would I go to the trouble of that?"
Ryunosuke explained the situation with Hirata. After hearing it, Narumori understood and gave a small nod of agreement. It wasn't a difficult thing, after all. Just an announcement over the school intercom.