High school: William is caught unawares

Finally, after a nine-year plight at the boarding school, William was relieved to go to high school, the place of dreams.

The Academy of Avernus was eager to accept William - his grades were flawless, because he had not had a social life. Moreover, he had received a scholarship, which was funded from his father's will.

Sitting on his own wooden desk in his first Japanese lesson, a language he knew he would enjoy for years to come, William felt contented until he suddenly smelled burning. He glanced around the room, but nobody else seemed to have clocked that apparently, somebody had left biscuits in the oven for too long.

"May I go to the toilet, sir?" William put his hand up, and asked meekly.

"Be hasty," replied the master.

Down the corridor, William followed the burning smell as best he could. He was led to the room where many chemicals for science lessons were stored. He did not yet realise that he was putting himself in a lot of danger. Pushing open the door, William found himself face to face with several bottles of liquid, labelled with the radioactive or skull symbols. And behind them, an inferno burned. The odour it gave off was such that it forced William to pull the front of his jumper over his nose and mouth. It was spreading quickly, and William jumped when a roof-beam fell off.

"Oh no..." it occurred to William that it would get very hard to escape this situation.

Alas! As bricks started falling, William made a dash for the door. He did not know whether to be surprised, horrified, or indifferent when he saw the same thing happen in the corridor. High-pitched fire alarms started to sound, and William ran. Students came pouring out of classroms, down the stairs, onto the schoolyard.

By the time William reached the schoolyard with the thousand-strong crowd, the school was already in ruins. The flock of crows fleeing through the billowing smoke created a dramatic contrast. However, he seemed to be the only one who had not grabbed their possessions in the rush. They had both their possessions and their lives; he had only the latter.

With no majestic school building, the headmaster announced that they would temporarily be using the former district leisure centre as a base for education.

William took his Japanese class in what was formerly a changing room. Needless to say, the subject did not excite him nearly as much. It was cold in there, and the benches were hard. Nobody at all was motivated. In fact, the most invigorating thing that happened that particular day, was the moment that Inspector Mike Kevinson first poked his head around the door.

He stood tall, well-built, in his early twenties, and dressed in black, under the doorway; an undeniably attractive man. His shiny dark hair was swept by the wind, and his face sharply cheekboned and stubbled. Between his fingers, he held a cigarette.

"Excuse me," quipped the school's stout headteacher, who had suddenly appeared behind this brooding hunk, "could you put that cigarette out, please? Health and safety regulations..."

Mike Kevinson ignored him.

Instead, he proceeded to walk forward and say, in - coincidentally - a Japanese accent, "an audience with William Xiu, please."

William, sitting on the bench shuddering with cold, began to tremble with fear. What on earth would this intimidatingly handsome man want with him, possibly the nerdiest high-school child in south-eastern China? Nervously, he got up from the cold, hard bench.

Outside the classroom, Mike Kevinson subjected him to an icy, long glare. William raised his eyebrows, and was then led to a room that had comfortable-looking chairs, but a decor lacking personality. They sat down.

After a silence of about one minute, William cried, "what do you want from me?!"

Mike Kevinson, whom nobody had noticed bin his cigarette, got a packet - Lucky Crows - out of his pocket, extracted a new one, and lit it.

"I want to ask you about what has just happened to your school."

William looked puzzled. "Erm... it burnt down, sir?"

"Well, obviously. This is what I meant. William, did you have anything to do with it?"

"No."

"Are you sure? You can tell me."

"I'm sure. With all due respect, sir, I want to resume class. I like Japanese a lot. I hope to visit Japan one day."

Mike Kevinson took a drag on his cigarette. He scratched the back of his neck, averting the gaze of his interrogee for a moment, then looked back at him with his expressive eyes. "It's nice there. You can probably already tell I'm Japanese. Grew up in Kyoto."

"Wow! Lucky!" William was filled with glee. Perhaps he could make friends with Mike, and he'd show him round Japan, it would be so cool, and -

Three short, sharp knocks at the door. It was the headmaster, holding a cup of tea. "Time's up,Inspector Kevinson."

"Alright. I've got all the information I need."

William smiled, thanked Mike Kevinson, then left. When the headmaster was certain that William was out of earshot, he hissed, "I thought I told you - no smoking on the school premises."

"Very well," said Mike Kevinson. With that, he dropped the still-red cigarette into the headmaster's cup of tea, and left.