March 5th, 2002                                                                                                                                              

The atmosphere around him was cold with a draft blowing through the window. He shivered a bit but within his arms was a bundle of warm, chessboard coloured floof which instantly took away all the coldness he has ever felt.

The floof was suprisingly quiet, calmly sucking on the pacifier in his mouth. Inspite of his cool nature, Masamichi Yaga could'nt help but crack a small subtle smile. He noticed, it was getting pretty late and he had to go back as there were early lessons the next day.

He gently laid the baby panda down into his cot and swaddled him with a small and soft blue cloth. The panda abruptly moved and cooed but eventually went back into serene slumber. Yaga went ahead and closed the window as he feared he might catch a cold. Opening the door, he looked back at the cot for once and gently closed the door shut.

As Yaga walked back to his quarters, the thought of naming the baby popped up into his mind. He was a practical man so he thought

"Why not Panda?"

And that's how our Panda was literally called what he was meant to be called.

11 years later

A man with chestnut brown hair strode into the campus. He already felt tired enough, although it was barely even six in the morning.

The all nighter had really put a strain on him. Missions and returning alive were his biggest source of stress he pondered as he sat down in front of the steps beneath the shade of the old wooden roof. He stared out at the sky, cracked his neck and took out a lighter. He huffed as the pack of cigarettes were yet again lost in the humungous pockets of his tan trenchcoat. As he finally found it and lighted one a figure dressed in a black suit with a red tie around his neck emerged.

"Good morning Kusakabe-san ! Hope the mission went well. When you have had enough rest, please do file down the mission brief whenever its suitable for you.

"Ah! Thanks for the reminder Ijichi. Please take some rest yourself it looks as if a bus ran over you."

"Oh it is absolutely fine, I am used to it. I nearly forgot, Yaga sama has called for you at 10:00 am sharp."

"Is it? Do you know why he has called me?"

"Ah! Sorry, but I have no idea as to why he called you Kusakabe-san."

"Don't be sorry. You know what,you sometimes apologize even for nothing at all. Don't feel as if you have to apologize even for your existence, you certainly should not do that."

Kiyotaka Ijichi looked at Kusakabe with wide teary eyes. Controlling himself he said

"Thank you Kusakabe-san, may you have a good day!"

"Good day to you too Ijichi!"

As Ijichi walked away from the open space he sighed with relief at least some responsible adult men remained in this understaffed chaotic world, unlike the cocky white haired Satoru Gojo who surprised him at every turn.

Just as he sat down the blindfolded man stormed into his office and a feeling of dread settled into Ijichi's gut. No rest for now, he thought.

10:00 am Yaga's office Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College

The day had grown increasingly hotter. Atsuya Kusakabe was sweating in his stuffy suit and trench coat, so he took off the trench coat and went to Yaga's office.

On entering, the room around him was relatively cooler than outside. It was dimly lit with only the Edison bulbs left on. In the midst of it all sat Yaga, sewing and knitting his cursed dolls as usual.

"Good morning Kusakabe.

Good work on the mission.

Sit down please."

Kusakabe sat down on one of the comfortable cushions in the room as Yaga continued with his work. For some time, the only thing which filled the silence of the room was the sound of the two needles hitting each other after a stitch.Both of them sat in this comfortable silence for a long time. Kusakabe observed around the room, and noticed certain details he had never seen before, like the picture kept on the table near the window. A subtle beam of sunlight fell on the carefully preserved frame which scattered the light flashing it in the observer's eyes making the details of the photo seem blurred. Still, it could be figured out that in the picture stood a young beaming lady hand in hand with a young, but rather stoic man who could have been no one else but Yaga.

His attention was broken when Yaga cleared his throat and looked straight at him through his black sun shades.                       

"Are you a man of your word, Atsuya?"

"I assure you of that, Yaga-sama."

"Whatever you see and do today has never happened. I hope you understand."

The next words which came out of Yaga's mouth were suprisingly in a gentler and much smoother tone, than his usual raspy one. Hearing his call, a mediocre sized doll came forward and took a seat on the divan beside his table.

"A panda?"thought Kusakabe as he stared at the doll which sat and curiously perked at him.

"This is Panda, Panda this is Atsuya Kusakabe, a first-year teacher who will be accompanying you today".

After the intoduction,the panda stood up and bowed and Kusakabe followed suit.