Gotta Whip These Students into Shape

Hey, Cerrine. Something's been bothering me.

Yes, what is it, Aldo?

That kid's been following us this whole time, hasn't he?

Ah! You called?

Uwagh! Madame Cerrine! Ya told me to be ready to do whateve...

I also told you to stop calling me Madame!

Ack! Really?

Goodness me, what a forgetful child.

Aw geez...I'm sorry...

I still can't believe how different he is from when we first met him.

Isn't he just? Such are the fruits of loving nurture.

(Oh, Madame Cerrine! I'm honored, I really am!)

Hey, no Madame! Not even inside your head!

Wah! How'd ya know?!

Look, if you won't do as I say I won't allow you to serve me anymore, okay?

Ooh...okay.

Oh! I gotta get to my next class!

*sigh* He's a handful, that one.

You can say that again.

Professor Cerrine.

You have visitors. They say their daughter is in one of your classes.

All right, thank you. I suppose they're in the entrance hall?

Yes, at the front desk. Please feel free to speak with them at your leisure.

Do you think they're the parents of that girl with the pigtails.

Most likely. Anita, the girl in question, has been avoiding me since we last saw her. I asked her parents to come in so I could speak to them about it. You see...

Oh, it's just so frustrating! I just want to have her so frightfully taken with me that she can't bear to be away from my side! If I could only train her as I do the others.... *giggle*

Cerrine, you're at school!

Just kidding. *sigh* Why is teaching so hard when training is so easy and fun?

Of course it's hard. Why'd you become a teacher if you thought any different?

That's because...

No matter how much I asked, she'd laugh it off and never tell me.

Huh? What are you talking...

Now then. To the entrance. I can't have Anita's parents wait all day.

Oh, Professor Cerrine. Anita's guardians are right over there. Please go ahead.

Are you Miss Cerrine?

Yes. Thank you for coming toda...

Please, you've got to help us! Our daughter, she's...

What? Has something happened?

She left a note saying she was running away, and we haven't seen or heard anything from her since!

That certainly is alarming. Do you have any idea as to why she would run away from home?

......

To tell you the truth, Anita...

Anita is adopted. We took her in when she was young and raised her as our own ever since.

I...

We always planned to tell her when she was older, you see. But about a year ago, when we did, it put a strain on our relationship. Our family's never been the same since.

After she met you, she changed a little. But recently, out of nowhere, she went back to being angry again and her behavior became increasingly uncontrollable.

It all makes sense now. That's why she trusted me to...

Wait, what?!

Oh, nothing.

We didn't know what to do, since we couldn't tell her we knew how she felt... And no matter what we said she refused to listen. Now she just does what she wants.

But when we thought of how hurt she must have felt, it was so hard to come down on her strict.

......

What about her destination? Do you know where she might have run to?

That's what we were hoping to hear from you. In light of the circumstances we decided to look for clues in her diary. When we did, we saw that she'd written something about wanting to visit "the one place closest to Miss Cerrine's heart."

We're begging you, Professor! Tell us anything you might know about where our daughter is!

......

I'm sorry. Nothing immediately comes to mind so you'll have to give me some time to remember. In the meantime, I'd ask you to see what more you can learn about Anita's potential destinations. If I think of any myself, I'll get in touch with you immediately.

Hey, Cerrine. I'm pretty sure I remember you saying you didn't know Anita very well. But if she was confiding in you about her life and problems, that can't be true.

Well, in a way. She and Cerrine were rather close.

What's that supposed to mean? But you're...

Time for us to be off, Aldo. We'll have more luck finding clues as to Anita's whereabouts elsewhere.

Not so fast. What did you mean by, "She and Cerrine"?

......

I'm not Cerrine. Cerrine was my younger twin.

Which makes me her older sister.

You're kidding me?! Then where's the real Cerrine?

My little sister, Cerrine... Passed away not long ago. Quite unexpectedly, too.

......

Her dream was always to become a teacher. And yet, not even a year after it came true, she...well, the accident...

I... I'm so sorry.

It's all right. It's just, I would have given anything for her to be healthy and happy.

But if she's no longer here, why would you become a teacher in her place?

In her last moments, Cerrine said she was worried about her students. Said she felt guilty for abandoning them.

So I told her she didn't need to worry because I'd to take care of them in her stead.

And, well, there you have it. My sister was able to breathe her last with no regrets and a smile on her face as a result.

I understand.

But, as you can imagine, assuming Cerrine's identity was a lot easier said than done.

I had to enlist some underworld help to fix our Citizen IDs.

I also had to make it appear as though the elder of us twins had died, not her.

And it worked. Nobody's realized that you switched places.

Right. Naturally there are still a few kinks to iron out here and there when it comes to imitating my sister. She was timid and quiet, the complete opposite of my character. So I can't ever be myself around school.

Even these glasses are hers. My eyes are fine so the lenses are just for show, but they're a sort of memento of her, I guess.

Now I know that's not who you are, should I call you by your real name? Come to think of it, what is it?

There's no point in telling you when it no longer means anything to me. I'd prefer if you kept calling me Cerrine.

And besides, hearing that name... Makes me feel closer to her. Sometimes it's almost like she's still here.

I understand, Cerrine.

But that brings us back to the matter at hand. The real Cerrine was Anita's confidant, not you.

So we're kinda in a pickle. I don't know where or what this special place she talked about with Anita is.

Isn't it likely that it's somewhere you both went together?

Let's see, somewhere we went together... The Last Island, maybe? It was quite a while ago, though.

It's better than nothing. Let's try going to the Last Island!

Ah, this takes me back. The view looks just the same as it did when my sister and I came here. I remember we spent so much time digging our toes into the sand and just talking for hours on end.

Was there any particular reason for you guys to go so far away from home?

At the time Cerrine and her guardians were fighting, so to take her mind off things I decided to invite her out here.

Guardians?

We were also adopted. With no parents or relatives to claim us, we were placed in an orphanage as babies. We were raised there until one day my little sister happened to meet her adoptive parents, and they decided to take her in.

Not at all unlike Anita.

Yep. No doubt that's why my sister was so eager to look out for her. I remained at the orphanage for the rest of my childhood, but the two of us kept in touch and were close.

Huh? Miss... Miss Cerrine?

Anita! Thank goodness you're all right!

What are you doing here? I told you to leave me alone, didn't I?

Now, listen here! Cerrine never pushed you away, okay? She loved ALL her students until the very end! And I won't have anyone thinking otherwise, so just stop! Please!

Wha?

Y-You're lying... She's dead? So it wasn't really her who was treating me differently... You're a different person?

Yes. I specifically made the decision to keep my distance from her students so nobody would realize I wasn't really her.

No... Miss Cerrine...

*sob*

W-Wait!

Aren't you gonna go after her?

For what? I'm not a real teacher, Aldo. I don't know what you're supposed to say or what to do to help a kid...

That's nowhere near the truth! You've been doing your best to help Anita up until now, haven't you? That means you should be the one help her now, more than anyone!

Me? But...

Look, we have to go after her before we lose her again. Let's go.

Is that...?

Mom! Dad! What are you doing here?

Professor Cerrine sent a message telling us to go to the Last Island.

As soon as it came through we rushed to get here as quickly as we could. Anita, darling... Why would you run away from home?

Do you hate us so much that you don't even want to be under the same roof as us?

......

That's right! The only person who ever knew how I felt was Miss Cerrine!

You lied to me!

I hate the pair of you!

We're so, so sorry, Anita.

We never meant to hurt y...

No, I never want to see your lying faces again! Just get lost!

...What?!

N-No! Get away from me!

Anita!

Anita, darling! Run!

B-But...

No buts, GO!

Aaah! Mom! Dad!

Anita, get...

Get out...of here...

Somebody! Help them, please!

Don't worry, I'm here!

You!

Behind me, now!

We've got this! Claws up, ugly!

Anita? Are you okay, honey?

Oh, thank goodness you're not hurt!

......

I don't know how we can ever thank you, Professor. You saved not just our girl but our entire family.

No, Dad, that's not her! She's not Miss Cerrine!

What?! What do you mean? Explain yourself right now, young lady!

Who cares, just don't call her that and don't waste your gratitude on her!

That lying woman and the both of you are all the same! You never cared about me, you just lied and pretended to!

......

That's it. You will shut your mouth right now, you rotten, spoiled brat!

Cerrine?!

I will NOT tolerate this nonsense anymore! You're nothing but an ungrateful, overgrown baby with a temper tantrum problem and I'm sick of it!

What makes you think you have the right to say that to me? You have no idea what I've been through, you liar!

You're right, I don't have any idea! I don't know what it's like to have a loving family! I always bitterly envied my sister. Why? Why was she chosen by someone to be loved and cared for and I wasn't? You don't know what that's like, do you?!

I...

You're just like her. A selfish diva of a girl who never appreciates how lucky she truly is. That's why...

I've no choice but to teach you how to be grateful with some VERY harsh disciplining techniques!

......

F-For real?

*giggle* For real.

Now, now, Professor! Don't worry, we'll give her a stern talking to at home, I promise you! No need for violence!

Really? Amazing. I didn't know the spineless could grow backbones that quickly.

E-Excuse me?

W-We've just always tried to do what we think is best for our daughter.

Is that so? Then ask yourself, what went wrong? At this point this young lady is the source of her own unhappiness because she lacks the proper skills to communicate. The only way to teach her now...

Involves some blunt trauma and a whip in a firm but loving hand!

......

Louder! Louder! Tell the class how you really feel!

......

I...

I just wanted you to scold me! Like you did before whenever I did something bad.

But you changed after you told me that I was adopted. You stopped scolding me. And I thought that maybe that was because you stopped thinking of me as a real daughter too.

Oh, honey...we're so sorry.

There you go. See? Was that so hard?

Listen to me, Anita. Just because you aren't of the same blood doesn't mean you aren't family. Your parents were ready to lay their lives down for you as they would for their own child. Never forget that.

......

Come on, Aldo. Let's give them some privacy.

I'm surprised you didn't try to stop me back there. That was unlike you.

Well, I can't say I didn't think about it.

But in the end I knew that no matter how excessively forceful you can be at times, you'd never do anything to hurt somebody on the inside.

My, my. Well, isn't that nice?

You dangle the carrot rather well, Aldo. I bet with some training you could show some skill with the stick, too.

T-Training?

Indeed. One day.

Anyway, I imagine this is the end of my career in education.

Just like that?! After everything you just did?

I think bringing this whole Anita debacle to a close counts as honoring my sister's dying wish. The only thing for me to do now is to hand in my letter of resignation.

......

Is this... A notice of resignation?

Yes, I've decided to retire. Ensure that it's properly processed, please?

A-Absolutely. That's such a shame. We'll all miss you.

You're not really quitting are you, Cerrine?

I am. I think a former gangster from the dirty underbelly of society just isn't cut out to be a teacher.

I don't know, I think you fit the role pretty darn well. You're caring and attentive, and definitely enthusiastic. Isn't that what students need?

Well, maybe not always to the extent you go to. But my point still stands.

The only reason I was doing this in the first place was to honor my sister's final wish. Dragging out this farce any longer won't be anything but trouble.

So come on, let's get out of here already.

I guess this is the last time I'll be seeing this place. Funny, I sort of miss it already. Interacting with all the different schoolkids had its moments. I see now why my sister always wanted to become a teacher so badly.

Deep down, you don't want to quit, do you?

......

What's next for you now?

Hmm. I suppose I'll stick around your group. It's not like I have anything else to do.

Sure thing. You're always welcome with...

Professoooooor!

Anita? What are you doing here?

Well, I... I wanted to say thank you. And, um, I'm sorry, too.

Thank you for what you did. I promised myself I'll be honest about how I feel with my parents instead of shutting them out from now on.

I'm glad to hear that. And wherever she is, I'm sure my sister's glad too.

Uh huh. Actually, my apology was about your sister. Miss Cerrine.

It must have hurt to say that you were jealous of her adoption. I'm sorry for lying the way I did.

......

That... That was true. I really was jealous of her.

What?!

She was always overthinking stuff and trying to please other people. It was just the way she was, I guess. I always said that putting herself first was one thing she could never do. So when I heard that someone wanted to adopt her, I pushed her to accept the offer. But when she left, I still couldn't help but begrudge her for saying yes.

Silly, isn't it? We were twins, so I guess we were actually pretty similar at heart. We didn't know how to be happy. Since I felt that way, I wanted to do what I could to make her happy. And when I finally thought she was, she...she...

No, Professor, you've got it all wrong! Miss Cerrine really was happy, despite everything. I'm sure of it! She told me she was super grateful to her big sister for everything she had. And that you're really good at making other people happy too!

She... Cerrine said that?

Yep! You helped her find happiness. And her dream was to help her pupils find happiness, just like you did for her. That's exactly what she said.

I... I see.

Oh yeah, my parents told me to say thanks on their behalf, too. For helping our family and stuff. So, now I've said it, I'm gonna split.

Bye, Professor! See you in class!

You know, maybe Anita wasn't the only thing the real Cerrine entrusted to you when she died. Maybe she wanted you to take on her dream of being the best teacher she could have been as well.

......

I don't know. Even if I try my best to help her students find happiness and keep her dream alive... What if my best isn't good enough?

You can do it, Cerrine! I know you can. Believe in yourself a little. Your sister did.

Thanks, Aldo.

Besides, I keep telling you: I really think you've got a knack for teaching kids. Honest.

It's a shame you're never gonna get to explore that potential now.

Oh, come on! Why not?!

Buuut...I guess if you hurry you might just make it in time.

Ugh, I take it back. The stick really isn't for you, Aldo! Not one bit!

Suffering a sudden bout of amnesia, Cerrine? You just handed in a resignation letter. Remember that?