A new beginning

The day before summer vacation ended was Yuko and Mikey's date.

After receiving Mikey's call, Yuko grabbed her bag and went out, taking the helmet Mikey handed her. He was always against wearing a helmet, but Draken and Mitani had insisted that he wear one, earnestly persuading him.

"Even if you don't wear it, you still have to take care of Yuko."

"Since you're dating her, you should act like a man and take responsibility for her."

Mikey couldn't help but scoff inwardly at what the two had said. They didn't need to say anything; he'd never driven at his normal speed when he was giving her a ride.

Yuko put on her helmet, sat behind him, leaned down and whispered, "Do you want to go buy a pair of matching helmets?"

Mikey knew she was subtly telling him to be careful in the future, and although he felt it was a bit unnecessary, he didn't refuse.

They drove all the way to the car dealership. After parking, Mikey, who was walking ahead, stopped as if he remembered something and reached out his hand to Yuko.

Yuko paused for a moment, thinking he was asking her for something, but quickly realized he wanted to hold her hand, so she placed her hand on his without hesitation. The ring on her right hand and the ring on his left hand complemented each other as their hands clasped together.

They looked up and smiled knowingly. Hand in hand, they walked into the store.

He bumped into Shinichiro, who was walking out with a cigarette in his mouth. He was a little surprised and was about to speak when he noticed their hands were clasped together. Shinichiro choked on his cigarette and almost coughed up his lungs.

He pointed at Mikey: "You...cough cough...you guys!"

"Ah, we're dating." Mikey said with a forced smile.

Shinichiro erupted in another fit of earth-shattering coughing. After finally managing to stop, he covered his mouth, mentally calculating how to escape a beating from Genji if he found out about it—not because he couldn't win, but because he felt guilty!

Finally, he put a hand on Mikey's shoulder and sighed, "Manjiro, I've sacrificed so much for you." He then raised his chin and looked at Yuko, "If this kid bullies you, just tell me, and I'll definitely teach him a lesson for you."

Upon hearing this, Yuko raised her hand and made a muscle-flexing gesture: "Don't underestimate me, Mr. Shinichiro."

Shinichiro chuckled at her antics, glancing at Yuko, a strange unease creeping over him towards Mikey. The older brother was still single, yet his younger brother had gotten ahead of him. He reached out and ruffled Mikey's hair, and just as Mikey was about to react, Shinichiro abruptly withdrew, leisurely walking away, tossing out, "You guys play by yourselves."

Mikey made a face at his back.

After leaving the store, he took Yuko to the beach.

After getting off the bus, Yuko found a place to sit down. Mikey parked his car and came over to sit next to her. Yuko handed him the taiyaki they had bought on the way. The two ate it bite by bite without saying a word.

The distant waves crashed and surged, stretching the sea to the horizon as if without end. Before the vast ocean, how insignificant humanity is! The worries and sorrows of such insignificant beings seem utterly trivial. This is why many people feel inexplicably relaxed and at peace when they come to the seaside.

Mikey said softly, "Sometimes I come here alone to space out."

Yuko blinked after hearing this: "You must be so free."

Mikey: ...

Then he laughed out loud; his girlfriend was always so unpredictable. So he pretended to be sullen and replied, "I'm the Chief of the East Wing, I'm very busy!" Then, taking advantage of Yuko's inattention, he snatched the taiyaki from her hand and ran away.

Yuko realized what was happening and immediately got up to chase the thief. The two circled the open space like in a chase. Mikey let her catch up, but Yuko got a little angry during the chase and punched his arm twice in frustration after catching up.

"Let's go back." Mikey put his arm around her shoulder. Yuko told him to wait a moment, then took out her phone.

The two faced the camera; Mikey flashed a peace sign, revealing eight teeth, while Yuko, with his arm around her neck, smiled with her eyes narrowed. The shutter clicked, creating their first photo together.

After their date, Mikey safely escorted Yuko home and watched her walk in before leaving. When he got back to his own house, he had just parked his car when he saw Emma standing at the door.

"You're in a good mood, Mikey." Emma crossed her arms over her chest.

"good."

Emma looked at him for a moment, then pounced on him and clung to him: "You didn't get into any fights or cause any trouble, did you?"

"I mean, do I look like that stupid?" Fighting on a date—he's not exactly fearless, but he's not one to cause trouble. Not to mention there was a girl with him.

“Mikey,” Emma whispered close to his face.

"how?"

"You can't bully Xiaoyou."

"..."

“If you make Xiaoyou sad, even if you’re her brother, I’ll be angry.” Emma puffed out her cheeks.

One or two. Mikey sighed, but still replied to Emma, ​​"Okay."

＊

Soon, the group of middle school students returned to school.

Wudao, Yuko, and Hinata are still in the same class.

During this time, the three of them had a meeting to discuss the matter of Kisaki.

“Kisaki was sent to a mental hospital by her family,” Yuko told them. She had naturally sent people to monitor, or rather, control, the subsequent developments of the incident.

"How could this be..." Wudao was unaware of what Yuko had done in private and was very surprised by the news.

"The matter is considered resolved." Yuko had no intention of explaining; they didn't need to know. The mental hospital would be Kisaki's life imprisonment, and he would never have the chance to commit evil again—that was Yuko's verdict. More than Kisaki, whose situation was now resolved, she was curious about something else: "Is Mudo-kun going back to the future? Or is he staying here?"

Wu Dao responded, "Although I'm very reluctant to leave everyone, I still have to go back. I can only feel at ease when I see a definite future."

“I see…” Yuko looked reluctant, then a little troubled, “I don’t know how to get along with the past you.”

Hinata said with a smile, "Whether it's the past or the future, it's always Hanagaki-kun."

However, human cells are constantly renewing themselves, and after about seven years it's like becoming a completely different person. But saying that at this moment would be too insensitive, so Yuko thought for a moment and still couldn't help but remind her: "Just in case, if Takedo-kun goes back to the future and finds it's not safe, please be sure to find out the reason before you come back."

The three chatted for a while longer before the school bell rang. Back in the classroom, Yuko breathed a sigh of relief, hoping everything would go smoothly.

But what happened next made her nervous again.

She stared blankly at her quiz score. This time, Yuko had scored an unbelievable low, a record low.

That's right. She didn't attend any tutoring classes this summer and just played around, so it would be unreasonable for her grades not to drop.

Although they all understood, Yuko still felt frustrated. Even Mikey and Draken, who came to pick her up from school, noticed that Yuko was obviously depressed.

"Was she bullied at school?" That was the only thing the two could think of.

Yuko shook her head and sighed. She was already some distance from her dream, and now it seemed even further away. Dejectedly, she said, "To be precise, I've been defeated."

"There really are guys like that?" Draken asked in surprise. "Tell us, and we'll take care of it for you."

Looking at their serious expressions, Yuko couldn't help but think to herself: "How silly, but also so cute." Then, a rare mischievous thought crossed her mind: "Are you sure you want to help me? It'll be difficult."

"So what exactly is it?" Mikey urged.

Yuko took the test paper out of her bag and handed it to them: "This is the guy. I got a real beating from him."

Draken looked at the score: "86, not bad."

"But I've never scored below 95, and that's a subject I'm good at," Yuko said sadly.

Mikey/Draken, who fly at low altitudes year-round: ...

"You're a year ahead of me, right? It's decided, we'll have study sessions from now on." Yuko said to them with a smile, "You promised, right? You'll help me teach this guy a lesson."

Mikey slapped his forehead: "Jianzi, isn't there something we haven't done yet?"

Draken, being a capable second-in-command, immediately reacted: "Yes, yes, we have something very important to do..."

Just as the two were about to slip away, Yuko, who had anticipated their move, quickly grabbed one of them with each hand and said, "Do you think you, the dignified Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff of Dongwan, can cheat us? No way."

Draken immediately shouted, "Mikey, Yuko is your woman, right? Think of something right now!"

Unable to resist, Mikey had given up and nonchalantly said, "You know I don't hit women."

Draken: ...

The saying goes, "Sharing the burden is one's duty." These two felt they couldn't suffer alone, so they coaxed and tricked all the captains of Dongwan into joining them. After learning about this, Nono, Emma, ​​and Tachibana Hinata also joined the battle one after another.

Every day after school, everyone would gather at Yuko's house.

The situation on the scene was as follows: Faced with this group of students who had difficulty learning, Nono lost her patience first and started to roar like a Spartan and hit them with a paper fan. Emma made sarcastic remarks from the side, Yuko, who was naturally gifted, added insult to injury, and Hinata also changed her usual gentleness and pointed out their mistakes in a righteous manner. In short, the captains of Dongwan's group were completely suppressed by the four girls, and there was a lot of groans.

Surprisingly, he took the situation very seriously. Even when scolded, he held his temper and didn't argue back or get angry, whereas, given his personality, flipping the table would have been the norm.

"It's because of that," Nono told the girls privately. "Kei said he wants to be a teacher in the future."

"It probably happened in Okinawa," Nono guessed.

Former delinquent teacher Onizuka set an example, as if demonstrating to others: Look, I am GTO (Great Teacher Onizuka).

More than a teacher, he's like a hero who saves others. By a twist of fate, he's planted a seed of possibility in the hearts of many.