Arima was seated at the head chair behind a long table listening to some of the worst (and least entertaining) business proposals he had ever encountered. He'd entered the company at a young age, and due to his brilliance in the financial field as well as product management, he'd quickly climbed the employment ladder until he stood - sat - where he did today...
...watching stoically as a beautiful Friday morning slowly - very slowly - progressed into afternoon.
It was more than any sane man could bear, especially since this was generally how his entire week had been spent.
He was about to make some reasonable excuse to leave the room - a lunch break, perhaps - when his cell phone rang. The speaker giving the proposal fell silent, because in the business world, a cell phone was a tool, and tools had to be respected and treated kindly.
Arima pulled out a slim model cell phone and flipped it open. "Yes." Not a question; a command to expedite the call, although now that he considered the alternate, listening to a proposal to create sticky notes in the shapes of popular boy-band members' faces...
"Is this..." A shuffle of papers while the caller looked up the information. "Arima? Arima Kishō?"
"Yes."
"This is the Seijou Pre-School."
"..." Briefly, he wondered if the school would be interested in an advance shipment of sticky notes in the outline of Justin Bieber's face. He doubted it.
"You are the father of Arima Kaneki, are you not?"
Hearing his son's name startled him slightly, but he eased back into the chair. "I am." He pictured Kaneki in his mind, his soft tufts of white hair in contrast with his dark eyes. Though he was young, he was already starting to show signs of the person he would become...a person, it seemed, much like his quiet-minded father.
"There was an...incident...in his class, and I'd appreciate it if you could come to the principal's office to resolve the conflict. Your son will be waiting for you there. I'm sorry to have to call you about this. I hate to interrupt-"
"You aren't interrupting anything." Anything...productive, he silently added. "I'll be there in fifteen minutes," he said, closing the phone before he could hear the secretary's reply, as he stood up, adjusting his jacket as he slipped the phone into his pocket. "I have urgent business," he announced shortly before heading toward the glass doors.
"Wait!" the speaker called out, his anxiety clear. "What about the proposal?"
"Denied," Arima smoothly rejected on his way out the door, already preparing to thank his son for getting him out of an unbearable meeting.
***
Arima entered the school building, nodding at the secretary and striding past her toward the door with PRINCIPAL stenciled on in white block letters. He knocked on the door and waited for the "Come in" before slipping into the room.
Sitting behind the desk was a woman of larger proportions, a feature that made her seem somewhat motherly rather than intimidating, which Arima supposed was appropriate for an elementary school. Sitting in a child-sized chair against the wall was Kaneki, and the woman who was crouched beside him and patting his head was-
"Arima!" Akira said, standing up and eyeing first him and then the principal. Despite having been married for fifteen years, she still addressed him by his last name - the last name she'd also taken on. Moving closer as the principal gestured for them to take their seats on the other side of the desk, she brushed invisible flakes of dust off her her prim skirt and sat down, glancing over at Kaneki every ten seconds as though to reaffirm herself of his presence.
"I'm sorry that I had to call both of you here today," the principal, looking sincerely apologetic. "But I believe we have a serious matter on our hands."
Arima adjusted his glasses. He didn't appreciate the woman's use of our. A school was in charge of dealing with the problems of children, was it not? Any problem with Kaneki - not that he would ever cause any problems - was on the school's hands. He tried to make eye contact with his son, but Kaneki kept his head firmly down, eyes affixed to the bland carpeting in guilt and shame.
"Kaneki, will you please tell your parents what you did wrong?" the principal tried, smiling at the parents uneasily.
Arima quickly found out why as he turned slightly to find Akira glaring at the principal.
Kaneki just remained silent.
The principal sighed, rearranging a few papers on her desk before clasping her hands together. "You were both called here today in order to discuss Kaneki's future at this school."
"What do you mean, his future?" Akira snapped. "He's a good student, and what's more, he's a good kid."
"That may be true," the principal conceded, "but-"
"It is true," Akira bit back.
"Akira," Arima said softly, but the word had weight as he carefully put his hand over hers.
Akira, frowning tightly, leaned back in her seat.
The principal swallowed. "Kaneki bit another student today."
"What do you mean he bit another student?" Akira asked, her eyes bright with fury. "Are you accusing my son of-"
"Unfortunately, Mrs. Arima, we have proof."
"Proof? What kind of proof could you possibly-"
The principal held down an intercom button. "Ms. Mary? Could you please send in Jackson? Thank you."
A moment later, the door opened and a boy from Kaneki's class walked in, his mother following closely behind.
"This is Jackson Irvine and his mother, who just came from the nurse's office. Jackson, please show your arm to Mrs. Arima."
Jackson, sending a terrified glance toward Kaneki, stepped forward quickly and pulled off a bandage, revealing teeth marks and a patch of broken skin when Kaneki's teeth had pierced Jackson's arm. Just as quickly, the skittish child hastily put the bandage back on and hid behind his mother.
"Now, I'm sure it was just an accident-" Mrs. Irvine said politely, but Akira scowled.
"If you're asking for an apology, you're not going to get one," Akira snapped, crossing her arms.
Mrs. Irvine's smile drooped into a tight frown. "Excuse me, Mrs. Arima, but your child bit my son! An apology is required, both to Jackson and to me!"
"Then you owe Kaneki an apology for making such harmful and defamatory accusations!" Akira demanded back.
"I owe your son an apology? Ha! I don't think so!" Mrs. Irvine said, clearly irritated. "That boy is an uncivilized brat who should be taught some manners - and you could use a refresher as well!"
Akira stepped up. "Excuse me? If you're talking about my refusal to apologize for Jackson being bitten, then I most certainly won't, because with the way that kid looks, I would have bitten him too! Can't you do anything about that hair?! It's falling into his eyes!"
Arima decided that now was not the best time to mention that Kaneki's hair was growing a bit long as well. While the two women yelled back and forth, Arima calmly consulted the principal on Kaneki's options for attending other nearby schools.
***
Half an hour later, Akira walked out of the room, holding Kaneki in her arms. "It's okay, honey," she said, scowling with an expression that said anything but okay. "That woman and her son, saying such mean things about you...Tch!"
Her cell phone rang, and her mood turned even worse. She tried to ignore it, but after the second call, she resorted to gently setting Kaneki on the ground. "Arima? Watch my baby for a second. I need to take this." She hurried off to a more secluded corner of the room while Kaneki stared at Arima and Arima stared at the son he was now stuck with.
It wasn't that they didn't get along; it was simply that they didn't know what to do with each other.
Hesitantly, Arima crouched down and slowly tousled Kaneki's hair.
"Papa?" the boy asked softly.
"Yes." Arima cringed, realizing that he'd used his no-nonsense business voice on his son. Is that how I'm supposed to talk to him? That's not how Akira speaks to him...But he just couldn't bring himself to say the words "my baby" out loud.
"I'm sowwy," the boy murmured softly.
"Pronounce your r's more clearly," Arima scolded before immediately hesitating once more. He's only three. Maybe I should be less strict. "It's...okay," he said when he realized the boy was waiting for a response. "Come on," he said, standing up and reaching out a hand for Kaneki's as Akira hurried over.
"Okay, we can leave now," she said before noticing the bonding moment between her husband and son. "Awwww, you two are so cute~"
Arima's mouth tightened but he refused to reply, but he didn't let go of Kaneki's hand for the rest of the way home.
***
Because Arima was so tall and Kaneki so short, Arima actually had to bend slightly for their hands to meet, but because he wasn't sure how to hold his son in his arms properly, he was forced to walk with bent knees for the remainder of their return home.