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Misconduct, Punishment and a Lie
Before she can accomplish anything, Sawatari and Ushijima enter. She’s surprised. Sawatari is angry and tells Kazama to come with him. Ren is taken aback. He hasn’t done anything yet. Yankumi asks them what’s going on. Ushijima is happy to deliver the news. “The police would like to ask him some questions regarding the recent muggings.”
All eyes, even those of his allies, are now on Ren. Yamato stares at him knowingly. After all, he saw Ren come out of the tunnel.
Commercials. Ode to the grand sponsors.
Ren is sitting at a table glancing at newspapers with stories about the serial muggings. Sawatari asks him where he was and what he was doing last night around 10 p.m. Ren doesn’t answer that question. Instead, he says he didn’t do anything. Sawatari asks him again.
Ren ignores him, leans on the table and asks the detective in front of him if he’s a suspect. The man says he isn’t. They’re investigating because witnesses said that the assailant looked like a high school student. Ren is confused and wonders why they came to him. After all, high school students grow on trees. They said the assailant was about his build and his description was similar. Ren’s confusion mounts. To him, that isn’t evidence.
The second detective brings up the fact that Ren was arrested for assault in junior high. This is news to Yankumi. This isn’t a joke. Ushijima, tires of the game, asks Ren again where he was at 10 p.m. last night. Yankumi asks him to please tell them. The detectives stare at him intently. Ren says he was at home. The first detective asks if he has proof, an alibi. Ren says he doesn’t.
Angry and humiliated, he rises and looms over the first detective. “Then I’ll ask you. Do you have proof I did it?” They laugh and mock him. Their mistake. In a rage, he grabs the guy and drags him to his feet. Yankumi and Ushijima grab Ren’s arms in an effort to restrain him.
As the detectives bid them farewell, they leave a parting shot. “It’s that kind of attitude that puts you in our sights in the first place!”
Ren replies with a resounding, “Fuck you!”
The teachers are having difficulty restraining him, thus, the detectives take their leave. Ren isn’t quite done yet. “Next time, come with the proof, you bastards!”
The Rijichou, who has been silent until that moment, hurries across the room and shuts the door behind the detectives. She is extremely displeased. “The police…here! This is unprecedented at our academy!”
Yankumi places herself her student and the Rijichou and tells her that Ren didn’t do anything. Sawatari doesn’t care. The fact that Ren was being questioned at all indicates that his daily actions are a problem. It was the very crux of the matter! He even went so far as to assault a detective.
The boy makes no attempt to apologize. Standing eye-to-eye with the Vice Principal, he smiles. In the process, he makes himself more and more beautiful.
The Rijichou, who is judge and jury, hands down a verdict. She is suspending him for a week. Ren is visibly distressed for a second or two. Amazingly, despite being bad as hell, school is important to him. Yankumi tries to intervene, but he says it’s all right with him. “I don’t care if you suspend me or what. Do what you want.” That said, he storms away, kicking a chair on the way out.
Yankumi and Sawatari call after him. She then turns her attention back to the Rijichou. She thinks this is extreme because Ren said he didn’t do anything. The Rijichou is ready for her, “Miss Yamaguchi…to punish and to eliminate…these are also forms of education.”
Yankumi stares angrily at the Rijichou, but she says nothing. She’s new at that school. She can’t help the boys if she’s dismissed. She must not cause too many waves, too many ripples. At least, not now.
In truth, the Rijichou is giving Kazama Ren a second chance because she could have easily expelled him without explanation. As a private institution, it is within her power to expel a student if he no longer fits her school’s criteria. The choice is his and his alone. He can either learn to abide by the rules and the principles set by the school or he can be tossed out on his ass.
Ren stomps into the classroom with Yankumi on his heels. She tries to get him to calm down, but he says he doesn’t care if they expel him. She tells him this isn’t a joke. She wants him to stay while she talks to the Rijichou. Ren’s got a deeper issue though.
“I don’t believe anything a damn teacher says.” He uses the word “senko” for teacher instead of “sensei,” clearly indicating his disdain for her and her profession.
He doesn’t trust Yankumi because apparently no teacher has ever stood up for him. As he pushes past her and out the door, his friends tell her to leave him alone. Ichimura asks a pertinent question, “What can a damn teacher do?”
For a moment, Yankumi is speechless. He’s right. What can she do? She can’t truly protect Ren because there’s no one to protect her at the stage of the game. The Kyoushokuin Kumiai doesn’t appear to be willing or able to protect teachers anymore. Thus, she, like many teachers feel they have no choice but to ignore certain behaviors around them.
True to her nature, Yankumi focuses on what is truly important and is incensed when the rest of the class seems unperturbed by Ren’s suspension. She wants to know why the hell they’re still laughing.
“Your buddy was suspended although he didn’t do anything wrong.” Ogata is amused. “Buddy? We just happen to be in the same class.” That’s not good enough for her. “Even so, don’t you feel anything? Doesn’t this bother you?” It doesn’t. It happens to them all the time.
Yankumi’s anger intensifies. “Don’t you think it’s unfair?” The boys are amused because she’s so fired up. She can’t believe how callous they are. “Why don’t you protest to the teachers?” Kuraki, clearly hurt by his friend’s dismal, jumps to his feet. “Get off your high horse!” Ichimura backs him. “Whatever we say isn’t going to change anything.” Kuraki continues. “You damn teachers never listen to anything that we have to say.”
She understands that they’ve been hurt in the past, but that isn’t the point. “Even so, are you going to abandon him?”
Ogata reveals what he knows. “Actually, he was hanging around the Shirokin Tunnel around the time of the incident.” She’s shocked, but he continues. “I saw him with my own eyes.” Flashback.
She asks if it’s true and he says it is. She’s completely crushed. Never in her wildest dreams could she imagine that a student of hers would lie so blatantly. Furthermore, even if he did, she should have been able to recognize it. Has she been blinded by her own optimistic view of the world and Kazama Ren’s protests of innocences.
The students don’t give a damn about her angst. They file out the classroom, one by one, behind Ogata. With Kazama out of the picture, he’s the leader. Honjo even tries to comfort Kuraki, but he pushes him away. Friendship is possible…it just isn’t easy.
Page 1 - Hell is an
Page 2 - The Return of Yamaguchi Kumiko
Page 4 - Don’t Turn Your Back on Them
Page 6 - Cheers, Crime and Boyz on the Loose
Page 8 - Misconduct, Punishment and a Lie
Page 12 - The Fight to Save an Innocent
Page 13 - Redemption: A Leader is Born
Page 14 - To Protect What is Important