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To Protect What is Important
Without warning, someone begins banging on the entrance to the warehouse. Shocking, the thing comes off the hinges. Hiro and company are unnerved. Yamato, who is on the verge of passing out, barely has enough strength to get a glimpse of his teacher before he passes out.
She is outraged. “A gang of adults beating the shit out of a high school boy…it’s despicable.”
While she’s talking, she takes off her wig and earrings…at least she would have if she lived in the inner city. She takes the bands from her hair and tosses aside her glasses. Wonder!Woman Yankumi is gonna to kick some ass tonight!
Hiro wants to know who the hell she is. “I’m his homeroom teacher.”
Hiro can’t believe what he’s hearing. Clearly, he doesn’t recognize that his life is in danger. She demands that he hand over her precious student. Hiro doesn’t buy into that and tells her not to make him laugh.
He doesn’t know when to quit. “School doesn’t mean shit. These guys don’t have any future ahead of them anyway, high school or not. This guy’s no different from us…no good half-assed scum.”
She’s going to make him eat those words. “Don’t insult him! To make up for the things he did, he came here alone to confront you. He suffered a beating at your hands to help a buddy. He’s decent.” In her eyes, despite the mistakes Ogata has made, he still has a chance to have the Japanese dream. He can still be a part of ordinary Japanese society. There’s still a place for him.
A few of Hiro’s friends rush forward as he tells her to watch her mouth. She starts kicking asses and talking names. She grabs one by the arm and tries to twist it off. “Whether you’re a failure or half-assed scum, you can still start over.” Hmm…I’m not so sure about that, but this is fiction, after all.
They call her all kinds of bitches in the process, but she beats her way over to Hiro. Before she takes him out, she makes sure he and the others understand the situation. “Heae this. If it’s to protect my precious student, I won’t hold back.”
Stupidly, they tell her to shut up and even more of them get beat down. It’s amazing what a tiny little woman can do. Finally, it’s down to her and Hiro. He runs a short distance, picks up a pipe and tries to decapitate her, but she’s too fast.
He loses sight of her momentarily. She’s behind him. He tries to whack her with the pipe again, but she’s still too fast and too strong. Then she does that palm to ribcage thing that can take anybody out! Hiro goes down like a piece of shit flushed down the toilet.
She stands over Yamato for a moment. When he comes to later, they are being sheltered under an absolutely gorgeous cherry tree with other beautiful ones in the background. He immediately asks about the guys. She wonders which guys. He says the mugger and his crew. She lies and tells him that by the time she got there, the police had already arrested them. That doesn’t jive with Yamato’s memory though. He saw her come through the door.
Yankumi teases him by saying he’s reckless and thanks him for finding the real mugger. He insists it had nothing to do with her. Even so, she says she was happy. Yamato doesn't know what to make of that. She points out that he believed in Ren. Stubborn as ever, he said he just wanted to right a wrong. She accepts this because she doesn’t want to hurt his pride.
He groans in pain as he gets to his feet. She tries to help him, but he jerks away from her. He says he can get home by himself. He’s not a kid. She gets that. “That’s true, but you’re my precious student. You and Kazama both.” He says, “Stop joking” and walks away.
She whispers, “No matter what, I’ll protect you.” Teachers protect their students.
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