*YOUR POV*

“Be my girlfriend, and I’ll tell you where Yuuki is,” Kazuki whispered.

“Y-you know where she is?” I gasped.

He grinned. “At first when she was sold, Harumi freaked out because she didn’t mean for that to happen. After doing a lot of research, I found her. Now break up with your boyfriend and be with me,” he breathed down my neck.

I wrenched my hand free, glaring at him. “Hell no, man!”

“You’re going to regret that!” With a flick of his hand, he ordered his boys to start attacking. I grabbed a fist coming at me and used his momentum to carry him over my back and onto the floor. Spinning around, I flipped over a guy, landed, and used him as a shield against his own comrades.

“Stop right there,” an icy voice drifted out, freezing everyone in their place.

Yankumi walked in, her eyes holding a frosty blade within. “Return my students to me, please.”

Kazuki stood straight and scoffed. “You’re their teacher?”

“Return my students to me,” she repeated.

“Yankumi,” Yabuki whispered.

An Ara High student stuck his hand out at Yankumi. She easily dodged it. Guys began to drop to the floor like flies as she made her way towards us. Kazuki’s eye widened with fear and he grabbed a bat. Yankumi calmly caught it and held it with a tight grip.

“What the…” Kazuki tried to yank the bat back to no avail.

“Don’t use petty weapons like this, boy,” Yankumi lectured. “Using bats and bars, ganging up on only a few opponents, hah. Don’t think you’re the strongest because you can deal damage. Even five-year-olds can do that. Fighting, true fighting is only to protect something or someone you cherish.” She swiftly pulled the bat from his grasp and tossed it to the floor.

She advanced toward him as he backed up, frightened. “Leave my students alone, got that? Because I will go the entire length to make sure that they’re safe.” She paused and looked around. “YOU STILL WANT MORE?”

Kazuki held up a shaky hand and motioned toward the door. They instantly all scampered away.

“Odagiri!” “Yabuki!” Tsuchiya, Takeda, and Hyuuga stood in the doorway, peering at us anxiously.

Yankumi squatted beside us. “You guys okay?”

The two guys nodded. I stared off into space, disturbed by Kazuki’s words.

… He said he knew where she was…

“________?” Odagiri crouched in front of him, a worried expression on his face.

“Huh?” I snapped back down to earth. “Oh sorry, what were you saying?”

“Let’s go.” He helped me up, not looking at my face.

We left the building, Odagiri and Yabuki leaning on their friends while I lagged slightly behind with Yankumi.

“About last night…” I began saying.

“Grandfather came home with your grandfather,” she nodded. “Apparently they met up as your grandfather was leaving the place. Once he heard about what had happened, he turned ten shades darker and stormed back in, demolishing the gang and the building. My grandfather was very impressed,” she chuckled.

“Ah… I see. Everyone was okay?”

“A few bruises now and there, no serious damage. Seiji woke up.”

Startled, I looked at her. “Is he okay?”

“Yep. The first thing he said was ‘is she okay?’”

“That better be what he said first,” I laughed. “I trained him well.”

Yankumi smiled. “He’s a good kid.” She glanced at me. “So is Ren.” She yawned and stretched her hands to the sky. “You know… never mind.”

“Hm?”

“Nothing,” she beamed, shaking her head.

We ran into the boys who had stopped in front of us.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. I looked up.

Kikwang and some of his friends stood before us, confusion flickering across their faces. “Ah, sorry,” they apologized as they stepped aside.

“It’s okay,” Take said cheerfully.

“You guys okay?” An adorable guy with blonde hair asked, concerned.

“Ah! ________!” Kikwang bounded to my side, hugging me tightly. “What happened? Are these your friends?”

“Hey Oppa. Yeah, they’re my friends and this is my homeroom teacher,” I gestured toward Yankumi, who politely nodded her head at them and introduced my friends.

“Hajimemae!” Kikwang named his friends for me, pointing to each one. “This is Yoseob, Doojoon, Hyunseung, Junhyung, and Dongwoon. They’re from Korea,” he explained.

“Anneonghaseyo!” I bowed. “I’ll call you soon, okay? I really think these two need some first aid right now.”

“Yeah, they really look like they do. I’ll see you around!” Kikwang waved and disappeared with his striking friends.

I looked around. “I guess we can go to my house…”