[u][b][h3]Emiko and Jun-Tao Zhao[/h3][/b][/u]

A tall Chinese man dressed in a neatly maintained business suit looked upon the gathering crowds of protesters from afar with utter disdain. [color=9e0b0f]"They never cease."[/color] He spoke to the girl next to him. [color=9e0b0f]"So much hot air, all so they might object to a public program meant to improve their own lives as much as any other. All because they cannot stomach the existence of people like us. It's enough for me to yearn for how we handled these things back home."[/color] 

[color=C0C0C0]"Um, they're not going to see us, are they?"[/color] The girl asked him. 

[color=9e0b0f]"No. They're foolish animals, with their eyes fixed on the front gate. I doubt they've even considered the possibility we might have pulled a fast one on them."[/color] He gestured for the girl to follow him. [color=9e0b0f]"Come, Emiko. The side entrance awaits."[/color]

They continued on their way to the side entrance, mercifully free of any interruptions. Emiko would have raced on into the entrance without a second thought, if not for a hand on her shoulder just before she wen't in.

[color=9e0b0f]"You remember what I told you, right?"[/color] He asked sternly.

[color=C0C0C0]"Daddy, do we have to go over this so much?"[/color] Emiko whined.

[color=9e0b0f]"Yes, we do. And the fact you just called me that demonstrates why."[/color] Her father looked around quickly to make sure there was nobody to overhear them. The coast was clear. He then straightened his back and prepared to lecture his daughter once more.

[color=9e0b0f]"Once we go through that gate, I am not "daddy", "dad", or "father". We cease to be father and daughter. You become [i]student[/i] Emiko Zhao. I become one of a few things..."[/color] He held up his fingers to count as he spoke. [color=9e0b0f]"Sensei, Zhao-sensei, Sergeant, or Sergeant First Class. This is for your sake as much as mine. Understood?"[/color]

[color=C0C0C0]"Yes, d-Zhao-sensei."[/color] Emiko replied petulantly.

[color=9e0b0f]"Good. But fix that attitude, and be ready to great your teachers with enthusiasm. Now, I will go in first. You will follow shortly after. Then we become student and teacher."[/color] With that, Zhao-sensei turned on his heel and headed through the side entrance ahead of her. 

His fellow teachers would see him appear first. [color=9e0b0f]"[i]Tongzhi[/i]."[/color] He spoke to them in greeting. "Tongzhi" effectively meant "Comrade". It was the word Zhao-sensei used to refer to his equals in the army, and so he felt it was the most appropriate word he could think of here, and could not fathom an appropriate Japanese equivalent. Those that knew him from the previous year would know what it meant and be used to him referring to them by it, while the others would just have to get used to it.

He joined the teachers in their line up. Now those entering would see a supposedly content astronaut with a friendly outward demeanor, a government suit, possibly the largest and most brutish foreigner anyone had ever laid their eyes upon, and a stern and austere looking Chinese man in a neat business suit.

A while after Zhao-sensei joined them, Emiko would slip inside with her ID at the ready. She was number 4. A very unlucky number. But she wasn't about to let that get her spirits down. [color=C0C0C0]"Thank you, Senseis."[/color] She said to them as they welcomed her into the school, and bowed deeply. She made a conscious effort not to look at her daddy. Once waved through, Emiko would carry on into the campus like anyone else. It seemed she was the second one to arrive.