309 Chapter three, 2017, conflict: 10 (1/2)

Principal Kareyoshi read the answer to his request from two weeks earlier. He sighed. The day had started so well with that vulgar foreigner offering an opportunity to suspend her on a silver plate.

To be certain he hadn't missed anything he read it a second time.

***

While we respect your wish to formally withdraw Himekaizen Academy from the cooperation with our cultural exchange club, your request that we forbid our students to contact the former members of the Himekaizen Cultural Exchange Club is unacceptable.

The student union requested that the headship address the problem. Hence I have to advice you that I have brought this matter to our board of directors. They have given me their full support, and I have informed the exchange club here that they are to remain in contact with their Japanese counterpart as they see fit.

Given that two of the former members on your side might still be Swedish citizens, the board of directors have escalated the matter to our embassy in Tokyo as well as our foreign ministry.

Best Regards

Anneke Santos-Granstedt

Principal

***

That was, as far as Principal Kareyoshi was concerned, a threat. A very blatant threat. He had been threatened before, and the principal from an unknown school on the other side of the world didn't matter much. Just to be safe he had the school checked up.

That was when the gravity of his situation slowly became evident.

Founded 1869 and in the same building since 1875. That gave him a start. Your run of the mill high school didn't have a 150 year pedigree, and unsurprisingly he found out that it was a private school. One of the two traditionally high profile private high schools in Gothenburg.

He also learned that Sony's Chief of Operations Northern Europe had his daughter there. Apparently she was a third year student and a member of the Swedish side of the exchange club, and a member of what passed for a student council there.

Going up against a global dragon in high tech wasn't Kareyoshi's idea of having a good time.