Shitty Brat Guidance Protocol

Tarosuke would never admit being a little bit frustrated that he had actually found Hanasaki to legitimately be a challenge. He was a former olympic athlete, sure, Tennis wasn't his discipline, but he was an adult in good shape and he considered himself adept with his body and generally talented for sports.

"You really are incredible," he said, as he conceded the final point of the game, giving Hanasaki the win, the first she had ever gotten ever since she had started the rehabilitation protocol.

The correction was well underway.

She was even properly wearing the bloomers under the tennis skirt now, even though she had initially attempted to use the fluttering of her skirt to distract him, now she was just playing her heart out, and after all of that, she had finally managed to obtain her first win, dazzling him with her body's form and performance, not its looks, as well as the heart and soul she put into the work.

Grabbing a towel and wiping at her face, Hanasaki offered her coach a smile, not one of the mischievous smiles she had worn so often, especially early on, but instead, an exhausted and genuine smile, the kind that she only got when she was playing her heart out. The hard surface of the school's tennis practice pitches had also become the source of quite a few scratches that dotted her legs.

Tarosuke absent mindedly smiled as he remembered how at first she would quit as soon as she tripped, or got a scratch, or when she started getting tired, and now, she was finishing up a stellar performance in practice ahead of the qualifying rounds for the nearest tournament, where she would represent the school as part of the Tennis club.

"You're just flattering me Mr. T," Hanasaki replied, winking at him, swinging her racket a little, then spinning it in her hand, throwing it up and catching it again, swinging it once more.

Tarosuke let out a big sigh. "I might not be available every day starting soon," he explained.

"I've seen you looking at that kid... Ruriko right?" Hanasaki said. "Don't tell me all this time I just wasn't your type, Mr. T, you're gonna break my heart. Here I am, trying my hardest and you're just looking at some other girl? Are you gonna cheat on me?"

"Someone could misinterpret your words. If you don't wanna be doing laps again, you better watch how you speak," Tarosuke said, crossing his arms over his wide chest and glaring at her.

"Yeah, yeah," Hanasaki said, "ugh, I really need a shower," she said, her nose scrunching up, "I stink."

She used to come to practice wearing perfume, too. Didn't do that anymore.

"But yes, you're correct," Tarosuke said, "in fact... you actually can help me. I need you to confirm - Togashi doesn't change for gym with everyone else, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, she usually stays behind and changes when the others leave," Hanasaki said. "What about it?"

"I have reasons to believe her father, or both parents, might be abusing her, and I need confirmation. For obvious reasons, I can't just go into the locker room and check myself."

"So why not just send a female teacher or the principal?" asked Hanasaki, moving towards the nearby benches near the wire fence that separated the pitch from the observers on the gallery, keeping them safe from stray balls. Apparently built when the school was way more into Baseball. "Wouldn't that be faster?"

"Fast, yes, but not productive. If she's hiding something, she's wary and aware that teachers might be trying to look into her," Tarosuke explained, "I won't go into detail on the topic."

If she was being abused by someone who was in a position of trust, authority and control over her, then chances were that she had also been trained to avoid tripping alarms or raising awareness of her situation, and that she was threatened or cowed into covering for her abuser. There were dozens of tactics utilized to try to perpetuate such behavior, and stepping too quickly and warning her abuser could put her in further danger.

Tarosuke could not help her if her parents pulled her out of school, and he could do nothing without any sort of proof to bring to the authorities for an investigation to even start. Unfortunately the ways of the people were to keep things quiet, to not make a mess, to not stand out and to handle everything internally and without outside interference.

As a teacher, Tarosuke had some degree of ability to influence Togashi's situation, but only so much, and if he acted too quickly, without due care, he would only make it worse.

Even if it ate at him to delay and not immediately put a stop to it.

"So what do you want? You want me to get some pictures of her naked or something?" Hanasaki said, grabbing her phone from her tennis back and waving it about. "'cuz that'd be easy, I just sneak in and wait for her I guess."

"No, never, and you should never even think about doing something that nasty and cruel to someone," Tarosuke said, as he moved towards his own tennis bag, starting the process of cleaning his equipment and gathering the stuff he'd need to clean up after training.

"Ehhh? But it happens aaaall the time, you know?" Hanasaki said. "There's this kid that keeps sneaking into the lockers..." she said, "he's getting blackmailed by some of the upperclassmen last I heard."

"... that's good to know, if you know who those people are I'd appreciate names, so I can report it to the principal," Tarosuke said.

Hanasaki hummed. "Yeah okay. But you wanted something with Ruriko right?"

"Yes. I want you to investigate some rumors on Togashi for me, I can't do it myself because students won't talk to me about it," he explained, "specifically, I want you to investigate the rumors that she's engaging in compensated dating, and if you can, to confirm for me whether she has bruises under her clothes."

"I guess if you just went about asking, nobody would give you a straight answer on that, huh? But with my reputation..."

"It pains me to have to put you through this," Tarosuke said, "but you're the only one I can trust."

"You trust me, Mr. T? Really? I thought you would be afraid I would, like, relapse or something!" Hanasaki said with a giggle. "Or maybe you want that? hm?"

"Absolutely not. You're a good girl Hanasaki, and you know better than that, I have zero doubts about your capability," Tarosuke responded, giving her a big smile.

"Eh-"

She blushed bright red. "Y-You really do?" she asked.

"Of course. I've been here with you every week, I know how hard you've been training, I know how much effort you've put into getting back in shape, and I know you're gonna smash those qualifiers and you're gonna outperform everyone else," Tarosuke said. "If betting was allowed here I'd put all my money on you."

"Damn Mr. T, no pressure huh?" she joked, turning away and scratching the back of her neck. "What if I'm not what you think, huh? What if I'm still wearing microskirts where you can't see me?"

"Then that's your business, as long as you wear regulation length skirts at school," Tarosuke said, "I'm not about to tell you what you can and can't wear in your own time, and I'm not here to make your life a miserable hell of rules, regulations and boredom, I just want you to be the best you that you can be," he said, clenching his fist, "whether that's you hitting #1 in the rankings as a Tennis star or whatever else it might be, I want you to get there."

"O-Oh..." Hanasaki stuffed a bunch of stuff in her bag, including her racket, and then pulled it up and onto her shoulder. "You're just flattering me!" she said.

"Oh I could give you a three hours recital about how well you play and how I'm so happy about your dedication and hard work, or the love and care you put into your equipment," he said.

Tarosuke hardly ever looked at her to judge her looks, but what he could say was that she was already in excellent shape once again, and she had already recovered her musculature in full and was developing even further, she had stopped dying her hair at all and was now starting to wear it in high ponytails on the regular.

"S-Shut up!" Hanasaki said. "Ugh I can't stand you anymore, I'm going to get cleaned up and leave!!"

"Alright, make sure to get a good and full meal tonight, and remember to rest well tomorrow," he said, "especially rest your legs and only do the exercises I showed you, half time."

"Y-Yeah! I'm not a total idiot, I know how to rest at least!"

She didn't know how to rest, that had become rapidly evident, and she had come dangerously close to injury because of it.

When she left the pitch and headed through the gallery into the locker rooms, Tarosuke watched her walk, just to make sure she wasn't hiding any injury. Hanasaki had a bad habit of trying to force herself to keep playing even when she really needed to take a break, it seemed like despite her flippant attitude, she was very nervous about how she could perform and wanted to be as ready as possible.

Which unfortunately meant she was risking injury by overtraining.

Tarosuke had to make sure she was receiving plenty of both his attention and guidance, she was still a bit desperate for the former and she absolutely needed the latter. Unfortunately he could absolutely not rely on her parents for just about anything, they were almost criminally neglectful and useless, the fact that Hanasaki had gotten to the point she had was terrible.

So much talent, such a good kid, and her parents didn't even realize the gem they had.

A little annoyed, upset and more than a tad bitter, Tarosuke went about continuing his own day, getting a shower for himself in the locker rooms, knowing that no students were around, but still following the protocols he had set up for himself...

And it was a good thing he did, because when he got into the shower, he noticed someone else's presence in the locker rooms.

Of course, he couldn't quite tell who it was until they opened the door to the stall he was using and walked into it, and then he was immediately able to tell who it was.

"Hey there coach..."

Not for the first time, Tarosuke was glad that he had resolved to never, ever, be completely naked on school grounds, no matter the circumstances. Even if that meant he had to wear swimming trunks under his clothes at all times, he would still do it, just in order to avoid situations where something might go terribly wrong and something that could ruin the school's reputation could occur.

"Principal," he responded. "You understand I have to lodge a formal complaint about you being in this room right?" he asked.

The principal was... well, she was being horribly unsubtle. She had been in the swimming club in her school days and definitely looked like she hadn't lost the habit, but since then she had traded the sensible and practical school swimsuits for the more racy kind that only a mature, grown and fully developed woman could wear properly, the kind where you wonder if it's even viable to swim in, especially with her generous and voluptuous chest stretching the front.

"Oh I'm sure we can come to an understanding," the principal said with a wink. "Besides, it's just you, me and the janitorial staff," she said, leaving the door open but stepping back, sitting on the bench in the middle of the locker rooms, a double bench type so the boys had a place to sit and which could support their weight if they needed it. "So, how's Hanasaki's progress?"

"Better every day," Tarosuke said. "Have you been able to look into Togashi at all?"

"A little. There's not much I can find on her mother that's of note."

Togashi's mother was a somewhat famous voice actress, who was kept damn near permanently busy, and clearly wasn't doing much of anything to raise her daughter.

"What about her father?"

"Bit of a nasty piece of work, temper issues mostly," the principal responded, running a hand along the curves of her swimsuit, the red design allowing her body to stand out even more, "some rumors about how he treats the employees, but it's a black company, so nothing out of the ordinary."

Indeed, the man was a manager at a black company, the kind that massively exploits workers. He himself was probably under just as much stress as he put his employees under, and most likely, he wasn't just taking it out on them, considering the state of his daughter.

"Hm. Well, every bit helps," the coach explained, as he rinsed the soap from his body. "So are you just going to look at me while I'm washing up or what?"

"Oh, you want me to join you in? Don't mind if I-"

"No, I want you to leave so I can wash my junk in peace," Tarosuke responded, glaring at the principal.

"I could wash your junk for you," the former teacher said, wagging her eyebrows.

"Fine. My racket and equipment's over there, thank you for the help," Tarosuke said.

"Alright," the principal replied, laughing, grabbing onto the bag Tarosuke pointed at, with his dirty clothes, racket and other equipment, and taking it as she left the room. "I'll leave it by your apartment door once I'm done with it."

"Thanks, that helps a lot."

With that, the principal left the room, laughing as she did.

Sighing, Tarosuke rolled his eyes, as he went about cleaning up the parts of his body that were covered by the swimming trunks, now that he had a little bit of privacy.

As he suspected, before she left, the principal had left a file on the bench she'd been sitting on, probably the entire reason why she had dropped by in the first place. Toweling himself off so he was dry enough to sit and read, Tarosuke sat on the bench and grabbed the file, opening it up and reading it through. It contained not just the information that the principal had rattled off, but some more on the girl herself.

The decline of her grades, her stopping all extracurricular activities, the rumors, some reports on incidents with other students as well as suspicious activity with older students... Things he had noticed, and things he hadn't. Much like Hanasaki, Togashi had started to dress differently, but where Hanasaki mostly seemed to just want the attention, Togashi didn't quite flaunt herself the same way, and in fact had taken to wearing stockings even during summer, long sleeves all the time, she had cut the hair she once wore long short, and had taken to wearing heavy makeup.

Not quite gyaru style, but definitely enough that it was easy to tell she was overdoing it.

Furthermore, it also contained a little bit of extra information, such as her being absent from school during certain dates, then showing up and being more withdrawn, standoffish and having more discipline problems than usual.

Her pictures across the years also told a story by themselves.

Maybe the plans for Togashi would have to be hurried up just a tiny bit more. Tarosuke, sighed and put the file down, clenching his fists. Dealing with her parents would be... problematic. It was by no means her first time. But in some ways, Hanasaki was easier, her situation was simpler. She just needed someone to see her for the bright and wonderful girl that she was.

But for Togashi...

Well, she'd definitely need a gentler hand than Hanasaki. Handling her with care was paramount.

But if Tarosuke was afraid of a challenge, he never would've become the man he became, if people hadn't taken a chance with him, he wouldn't be where he was. He owed it to the school, he owed it to the people who helped him, he owed it to himself... but most important of all, he owed it to an innocent who never asked for that life, he owed it to Togashi herself.