Amaya closed her phone and looked at Princ.i.p.al Nakagawa .

You old goat, she thought . You got the kids hurt again . The heads.h.i.+p's office felt more like a prison than the centre of power in a high school . When she entered, or even just prior to her phone call it hadn't .

Advertis.e.m.e.ntTo protect the kids she had to betray them . It didn't matter that two of the kids were senior to her by twenty years . In this world they were still kids, and her responsibility . "There won't be any more a.s.saults, at least for a while," she said, "but there's a price to pay for that . " Once more Amaya felt disgusted with herself for what she was about to do .

"Yes?" Nakagawa asked? His salt and pepper held more salt than when Urufu was admitted to Himekaizen less than half a year ago .

"Our contacts in Red Rose will hamper their actions as much as possible, but they refuse to be flushed out in the open," Amaya said . She wondered if her face contorted as if she had bit into a lemon .

Princ.i.p.al Nakagawa grimaced . "b.l.o.o.d.y cowards! That's why I despise the other faction . " Then he locked eyes with her . "The price . Spit it out!"

Amaya looked down at her lap . She hated it . "I'll have to hurt them both . In return for the Wakayamas to stay safe they want us to make sure the arrivals don't cooperate too much . " There were tears in her eyes now . "Arrivals! It's my little Urufu they're talking about, and Kuritina is just as sweet a girl . "

Nakagawa rounded the desk, and Amaya felt his hand on her shoulder . "What did they ask you to do?"

"I have to . . . " The tears ran down her face freely now . "I was told to ask you to help me break them up . "

The hand on her shoulder tightened . "And if I refuse?"

Amaya looked up at the older man . His face was all blurry through her tears . "If we refuse they'll target Kyoko-chan and Noriko-chan again . " There was no stopping her sobs any longer . "They said they'll make sure the arrivals won't be a.s.saulted, but any friends of them are valid targets . "

Nakagawa sat down on his feet beside her like a man several decades younger than his age . It had to hurt . "What should we do?"

She knew what they had to do . Urufu would never accept any other way . "We hurt the children we love . We destroy their love . What else can we do?"