In the months that passed since Tomoko and Yoshida's grand battle, the two girls continued to grow closer. Not like they were girlfriends or anything. This ain't that kind of story. Yet... For the time being, they tolerated each other's presence just a bit more. Tomoko herself also had been given a little bit of a confidence boost; her battles with Majima had strengthened everything about her, even down to the way she walked. She still walked with her hunch, but it was less pronounced. Occasionally, she wouldn't stutter when a stranger greeted her in the hallway. Little things that showed that she was growing.

Everyone close to the girl had noticed the change. From her brother Tomoki to her friend Yuu, they all saw how Tomoko was finally getting out of her funk. Maybe, just maybe, there was a chance for her to become a decent human being.

That would have to wait.

The Kuroki siblings were walking home from classes one day. As said before, Tomoki had noticed her subtle shifts in character. Sure, she was still annoying, and still pissed him off to no end... But that only happened sometimes. It wasn't an everyday thing, like how it used to be. Never again did she make weird and disgusting conversation with him, but her topics were still a little uncomfortable. Stuff like, "When are you going to get a girlfriend?" He had no interest in that stuff, he just wanted to play soccer and hang out with his buddies. The idea of a girlfriend was actually pretty low on his priority list.

That got a little out of hand, didn't it? Aw well. My point is, Tomoki wasn't overly apprehensive about spending time with his sister anymore. To the point where walking home with her didn't bring him horrible agony. SOMETHING would be bringing him agony today, though.

"Oi! Scumbag!" Tomoki and Tomoko turned around to see what the hubbub was. To both of their surprises, the voice belonged to a rather angry looking highschooler. He wore a different uniform, so he wasn't from around here. He had some buddies, too. And he was yelling at the Kurokis. At least, he was yelling at one of them. "That's right, look at me you son of a bitch! You remember me? Remember when you fucking BROKE my ANKLE?" Tomoki remembered... In this Yakuza-affected timeline, Tomoki didn't choke the soccer game that day. He went on to put Makuhari on the map by winning the Chiba prefecture preliminaries and a few games after that. He sadly didn't win the full competition, though. Needless to say, his victories and perceived "dirty-tactics" earned him a few enemies. This guy was one of them.

Tomoki took a little caution... This guy and his seven friends were armed. All of them looked fit AND pissed. He considered finding something to distract them so he and Tomoko could slip away, but something broke his train of thought.

"Heh... Heh heh heh... HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE!" Tomoko broke into a screeching laughter. She was trying to imitate Majima-sensei. "Y-y-you know, it's been a while since I've fought someone who wasn't Majima-sensei..." Shoving past her brother, Tomoko charged into the group of guys, who all were NOT expecting the weird-looking girl to be the one to make the first move.

Training with Majima had allowed her to develop her own style. Derived from his "Thug" style, hers focused more on dirty fighting: biting and cheap shots. Were the style be named, it would probably be called "Rafflesia."

But I bet you want to actually read this style in action!

Tomoko moved like a snake in the grass, probably looking like a horror movie monster to these goons. The guy she came up to first actually managed to get the first swing off, but Tomoko dodged it. She reached up and grabbed the man's hair, bringing his face to meet her knee several times in the span of a little over a second. Another guy tried to hit her to get her off of the poor mook, but by the time he started swinging she had already moved. He hit his buddy by accident.

Tomoki himself was shocked to see Tomoko fight so well, but then remembered her "training." He shrugged, and decided to enter the fray, as well. It'd been a while since he had a good fight.

The elder Kuroki had already taken out another guy after her first KO, and moved on to her third foe. At this point, they were all starting to panic. It was like a wild animal had been unleashed on them. She literally pounced on top of her opponent, and sunk her teeth into his cheek. He screamed in pain and terror, before she hopped off of him and pushed him over, using his pain as "leverage." Tomoko then rapidly stomped on his face, breaking his nose before knocking him out. "Y-y-you're all pathetic. You can't even beat a girl! Eheheheh...~"

Tomoki himself wasn't doing too bad. These guys might've had weapons, but they went down like flies. He didn't even need to take his hands out of his pockets, his kicks were all he needed. He Tomoko whittled their numbers down one by one, until finally only one guy stood, while his six other buddies lay on the ground- Wait, six guys down, and one guy up? Weren't there eight?

The whereabouts of the last guy would be answered when Tomoki felt something hit the back of his head. Afterwards, everything went dark for him. "Ha! Gotcha!" The lucky goon shouted. Tomoko was about to finish off the last guy when she saw her brother go down like a sack of potatoes.

It was a sobering experience for the shut-in. Even during a fight, she never really thought of the consequences. She thought she was untouchable, that those around her were untouchable. But now, Tomoki, her brother, was on the ground. She was distracted. So distracted, the sixth man she was about to pummel slipped away and next to his buddy, who held the unconscious Kuroki sibling hostage. "Ha! Alright bitch, stay put or else your bro here ain't waking up!"

Despite all of her shit-talk, Tomoko still loved her brother. She stood still and silent. They dragged her brother off, and into a car. Once they started to pull away, Tomoko pulled out her phone and took a picture the best she could, and called the cops. After calling the cops, she had another call to make.

"M-majima-sensei!"

"Ah, Kurrroki-chan! Wait, you don't sound too-"

Tomoko broke into sobbing over the phone, the shut-in unable to properly process the weight of the situation.

I have returned.