Our Teacher is a Yakuza Princess

Chapter 23

He went to bed that night looking forward to sleeping in as late as he wanted. He loved weekends. Which is why when his phone rang at 6 am, he only grabbed it in order to smash it on the floor. Blinking, he stared at the caller ID. Why was Yankumi calling him this early on a Saturday?

"Hmm?" He groaned into his phone, ready to kill his teacher if this was a prank call or if it had anything to do with her stupid interview.

"Sawada! Thank God you answered. Call the other boys and meet me at the hospital as soon as you can."

"What? Why?" He asked, sitting up slowly.

"It's Kuma's dad. He… well, Kuma just called me and…"

Trying not to panic, he took a breath and asked sharply, "What is it, Yankumi?"

"…He's dead. Kuma didn't say much but he was so upset and he's at the hospital and I'm on my way and I don't have everyone's numbers and I don't know how to tell them and I'm so worried about him and-" She was running out of air and sounded on the verge of tears.

"I'll be right there." He told her as calmly as he could manage and hung up. The other boys were in just as much shock and swore they'd be there in minutes.

They all met at the entrance and ran down the hall to the waiting room. There, sitting alone on one of the benches, was Kuma, staring at the floor.

"Kuma," Yankumi spoke softly. He looked up slowly, then turned back to the floor.

"It was a heart attack." He said in a heartbroken voice. "He didn't come downstairs as he usually did… When Mom went to wake him up… he was already…" He couldn't finish.

"That can't be." Uchi whispered.

"We just saw him yesterday." Minami said.

Noda was blinking rapidly. "He was full of spirits then."

Kuma glanced up at the wall. "The last words I said… 'Shut up, you shitty old man'… What the hell was that? Can't I apologize to him anymore?" They could all hear the anguish in his tone.

They heard footsteps and saw Kuma's mother and sister and brother coming out of an office. His mother saw them, then bowed slowly. They all bowed in return, at a loss for what to say.

Yankumi went and knelt down next to Kuma. "Kuma, pull yourself together, okay? You gotta help your mom and your siblings. Alright?" She told him gently.

"Damn it." Kuma muttered, then did his best to not sob.

Shin couldn't take it anymore. "Kuma," he said, stepping forward.

"Damn it!" Kuma shouted, then ran past his teacher, his friends, and his family as they all called out to him.

A week passed, and even though the mourning period was over, Kuma's seat remained empty.

"He can't get over the shock." Noda murmured as they all stared sadly at his desk.

Yankumi looked around. "Do you guys know how he's doing?"

Shin spoke. "Yesterday I stopped by his place. According to his mom, he's been wandering around all day." He didn't mention that his mother looked like she hadn't slept in days and was still trying to run the restaurant, and that when she said Kuma was wandering around, it meant that she hadn't seen him for days.

"I hope he doesn't do anything rash." Uchi said.

"His little sister and brother are still quite small." Minami commented.

"Isn't there anything we can do for him?" Uchi asked with a sigh of frustration. If it was a gang or a test or anything else, they would know what to do, but with this… no one had any idea.