Tokyo people don't talk about Wude

Chapter 424. Important Students

Amid the cheers and praises from the protesters, Hong Zhongjin left the Shibuya intersection in a dashing manner.

Enjoying people calling him "Hero of Ashes", Hong Zhongjin's smile under the mask became more and more hideous and weird.

It seemed to the hero that this was a curse that he could not escape no matter what.

Chen Jiuzhou, a kind and powerful martial artist, was hailed as the "Great Hero of Yanhuang" for subduing the gunman in the Akihabara Massacre.

Kyushu Makoto, an unlucky and cowardly spineless man, even after experiencing endless abuse from fate and being transformed into a monster by the KJ organization, his last wish was to be a "fake hero".

Hong Zhongjin, an undead who was destined to become a weapon of killing, even though he killed countless people with cruel means, has now once again become the "Hero of Ashes" that people hope for.

"Hahaha, damn it!" Walking on the chaotic and anxious streets, Hong Zhongjin laughed heartily:

"Did you hear that, Chen Jiuzhou, Jiuzhou Cheng! This [hero] thing is as cheap as shit! The great title that you spent your whole life to earn, I now have it too! Even if I'm a murderous demon, they still want to call me a hero! Hahahaha!!"

"You did a great job, Hongzhong."

After returning to the base, Kajiya Otonari expressed his gratitude to him as soon as possible.

Due to working non-stop for many days, everyone in the base was not in a good condition, but they were still forcing themselves to work.

Only Xiaojing was missing, but her personal belongings were still at her workstation. She must have gone to rest as she couldn't hold on any longer.

During these few days, they slept less than five hours a day on average, and Bonye Otonashi worked 24 hours a day without a single moment of leisure.

"So, is there any other work?" Hong Zhongjin threw off his coat and leaned back in his chair with his legs crossed:
"Or do you want me to go somewhere else to 'show my worth in public'?"

Hong Zhongjin has already guessed that the reason why Bonye Otonashi asked him to handle the difficulties in the parade was not because of lack of manpower, but to arrange a "heroic appearance" performance opportunity for him.

These days, Bonfire Night Otonashi has used media outlets to package Red Jin as the "Hero of Ashes" who is willing to save the world even with a crippled body.

After all, for these ordinary and powerless people, only by creating a "superhero" can they be given hope and motivation to continue fighting.

"Haha~ Your performance tonight was impressive enough. People all over the country have seen your heroic spirit." Bonfire Otonari said admiringly:

"Tomorrow night will be the final battle. You don't need to worry about the rest. Before that, you should rest and recuperate."

"Really? Then I'll go out for a walk." Hong Zhongjin waved his hand and prepared to go out again: "Bye."

"Wait, can't you just stay here and wait for orders?" Hillis stood up hurriedly and slammed the table, saying, "Now is not the time to go out and wander around. What if you are discovered by KJ's people..."

However, Shilis's rebukes became weaker and weaker, because Hong Zhongjin didn't even listen to her, and didn't even bother to refute her with threatening words like before.

"Forget it, let him be. I believe he knows what he is doing." Bonye Otonashi sighed:

"Of course, I will keep a close eye on him to prevent any accidents."

"Then I'll trouble you." Silis sighed with a headache, holding her forehead and said, "This bastard still makes us worry! It's hard to imagine that this kind of person is the hero we need to rely on."

Xiujin College, Staff Meeting Room

Although it was late at night, all the faculty and staff of the school gathered here and were holding a meeting in a heavy atmosphere.

Ever since the national live broadcast four days ago, Wano Country has been in complete chaos.

More and more conspiracy theories and evidence of evil deeds of the Wano government appeared online; people were encouraged to protest and march in the streets, and even people from other regions gathered in Tokyo; streets and cities were destroyed, and many shops and companies were forced to suspend operations.
At this time, although their government made some ambiguous excuses, it never responded directly or provided evidence. The government's recent series of sudden actions, including the closure of all airports and martial law on Tokyo Tower, are only going to make them confess.

In these stormy days, Xiu Jin Academy naturally cannot remain immune.

This is the third general staff meeting of Xiu Jin College this week, which is used to discuss the school's countermeasures and follow-up policies in the face of this national disaster.

However, faced with this unprecedented change, no matter how many meetings they held, they could not reach a conclusion.

In the meeting room, the teachers and staff who had the right to speak were divided into three factions.

Some people support leading students to protest and fight; some people still firmly believe that the "Gensokyo Plan" is a fabricated rumor and ask everyone to trust the government and stop the protesting students; some people feel that they have no right to intervene in such a major national event and plan to stand idly by.

While they were arguing fiercely, Teacher Jiang Niao sat quietly by the window. As a young teacher, she had no chance to speak in this meeting.

Her haggard eyes unconsciously fell on the window. Through the night, she could see protest signs scattered around the school and makeshift roadblocks made of desks and chairs.

In recent days, many students have been incited to join the rebels, and some faculty and staff have also provided covert assistance.

Teacher Jiang Niao was assigned to assist in the "graduation ceremony operation", but after that, she did not receive any other task instructions.

But now, does all this make sense? Will their plan succeed? Can everyone really escape? And what should I do?

Joukiko Etori was thinking in a tangle.

Ever since she learned that Kyushu Makoto was alive, her heart, which was about to wither and rot, finally began to beat again.

But when she learned the truth and saw with her own eyes the boy who had now turned into a monster, her heart seemed to be pierced by a thousand needles.

Jiuzhou Cheng. This is a young man whom she will never forget in her life, her important student.

She had felt guilty towards this child. He was so pitiful and helpless, as if he was shrouded in a deep dark sky. Even if there was a ray of light shining into his life, he would be saved.

However, although she had such a noble profession as "teacher", she did not become the light in the boy's life. Instead, because of her past hatred, pain and selfishness, she became a part of the dark sky.

The young man's light was not given to him by anyone, but was snatched back by him with his own hands, tearing apart the dark sky.

Not only that, the boy was clearly already covered in blood because of his own misfortune, but he still broke into her teacher's nightmare regardless of the past and became her light.

Whenever she thought of the boy, Etori Jokiko felt that she was not worthy of being a "teacher" and was not qualified to shoulder the responsibilities of an adult.

But every time she thought of the boy's smile and encouragement, she wanted to continue on this path, and even thought about breaking the contract with Jiuzhou Cheng. Jiuzhou Cheng once ordered her to resign from the teaching position after graduation, but she selfishly wanted to continue to be a teacher for life, doing her best to love and cultivate every student, and cultivate them into the most colorful flowers. Overdrawing life and exhausting oneself to death is also a kind of relief.
She thought that before she struggled with how to express her thoughts to the boy, she could at least wish him a happy graduation with a happy face, just like the scene she had expected countless times in her dreams.

But now that things have come to this, what does it all matter?

The boy disappeared for a year and returned as a madman. Are they still teacher and student now? Does he still consider himself a teacher?
Joukiko Etori scratched the window sill with her fingers, her eyes falling on her calloused fingers and rough nails.

In the past two years, in order to be a "good teacher", she almost did not wear makeup or take care of her skin, and has become an outlier among women of the same age.

Why am I working so hard?

It's to atone for the sin, to compensate and thank the boy.
This is certainly an undeniable reason, but is it just that?
The noisy chatter in the conference room never stopped, almost piercing Etori Jokiko's eardrums, causing her to close her beautiful eyes and frown.

No. That's only part of the reason!

The reason why she was willing to work so hard was because she wanted to be a good teacher and train her students with all her strength! This was her dream!
It was precisely because he realized this that the young man was willing to spare his life and give himself a chance to reform.

In an instant, something seemed to open up in Etori Jokiko's mind, and she already knew what she wanted to do and what she should do!
Several older teachers were arguing with each other until their faces turned red. The chairman of the board of directors was sitting at the head of the meeting room with a cold expression. The atmosphere in the meeting room was extremely depressing.

"Snapped--!"

Teacher Jiang Niao suddenly stood up and slammed the table heavily, like a sudden spring thunder.

In an instant, whether it was the confused eyes of the young teachers, the angry and dissatisfied eyes of the senior teachers, or the sharp eyes of the chairman like an eagle, everyone's eyes were fixed on her.

However, facing the sharp gazes of the crowd, Teacher Jiang Niao stood still, his thin body like a thousand-foot-high mountain.

After taking a deep breath, Mr. Jiang Niao looked at all the other teachers, straightened his chest and said:

"Everyone, before arguing whether this series of events is true or false, or whether we should participate in it, are you missing an important fact?"

"Teacher Jiang Niao, why are you suddenly like this? What exactly do you want to say?" The dean of studies straightened his shirt collar and asked sarcastically.

Teacher Jiangdori looked at him and asked, "The person who gave a speech on the national channel of NHK Radio that day was Kyushu Makoto, the second-year student of our school who disappeared a year ago, right?"

"That's what he calls himself." Another teacher said, "And he does look a bit like Kyushu Makoto."

"So what?" The Dean of Studies asked in confusion, "This has nothing to do with the topic we are discussing."

"It's not that they have no relationship!" Teacher Jiang Niao slammed the table again and argued anxiously: "He is Jiuzhou Cheng, my important student!"

"So it has nothing to do with our topic." The dean was quite annoyed with the female teacher who banged the table.

Teacher Jiang Niao ignored the dean and turned to look at the other teachers: "You are all experienced teachers. You all have some impression of Jiuzhou Cheng, right? In your opinion, what kind of student is he?"

The teachers looked at each other in bewilderment, and Ushiwakamaru was the first to speak up to break the silence: "Well, he's a good kid who loves to mess around, but he's kind-hearted and very sincere. Everyone can see that, right?"

Other teachers followed suit:

"Yes, the student union often told me that thanks to Kyushu Makoto, the number of malicious incidents on campus has decreased rapidly."

"Actually, I used to hate his misbehavior, but now that I think about it, Kyushu Makoto should be considered a very good student."

"I feel quite sorry for him. He works so hard to get into school despite his poor family background. I wish those bottom-ranked students in our class could be half as enlightened as him."

The Dean of Studies interrupted their discussion: "So what? Jiuzhou has been missing for so long, he must have been expelled from school a long time ago, right?"

"That's not true!" Teacher Jiang Niao retorted, "Teacher Tomioka, Kyushu's student file is still in our school, right?"

"Oh, yes." Mr. Tomioka, who is in charge of managing student information, nodded quickly. "Because many teachers and students jointly requested it, and the chairman of the board agreed, we made an exception and retained Kyushu's student status for two years. If he is still missing after two years, we will cancel his student status according to the regulations."

"Thank you for your explanation, Mr. Tomioka." Mr. Jiangniao nodded and said, "As everyone can see, Jiuzhou is still a student of our Xiujin Academy and a student I am responsible for!"

"So what?" The Dean's face was filled with confusion and bewilderment: "After going through so much trouble, what exactly do you want to say?"

"What I want to say is that since Jiuzhou Cheng is still my student, I have no reason to abandon him!" Teacher Jiang Niao said firmly:
"He must have suffered a lot of grievances and pain in the past year. As a teacher who should have guided and protected him, I was powerless to do anything."

"To this day, when he appeared before us again that night, what I saw was not some monster or terrorist, but my most important student!"

"I saw him standing in front of me alive. I heard him crying to me. The scars all over his body told of the suffering he had gone through. I clearly heard him asking us for help!!"

"At this point, shouldn't I, as a teacher who is responsible for his life, stand up for him? Isn't this a decision we should make without thinking?"

"But why? Why are we arguing here, arguing about whether he is lying, arguing about whether he is right or wrong, arguing about whether we should help him?"

"In my eyes, he is not Red Ember, nor is he the [Great Evil] as some people say, nor is he the [Hero of Ashes]! He is Kyushu Makoto, he is just a child, my important student, nothing more!!"

"Teachers, have you forgotten your original intention and the promise you made when you became teachers? Now that things have come to this, why do we hesitate and retreat when students need help the most, or even condemn them?"

"So, no matter what the outcome of this meeting is, no matter what you decide, no matter what happens afterwards, I have already made my decision!"

"I want to stand with Jiuzhou Cheng and my important students!"

After saying all his true feelings in one breath, Teacher Jiang Niao's face turned red and he was almost suffocated.

In such a school staff meeting, as a young teacher, she should not have spoken in such an impolite manner. This not only disrupted the order of the meeting, but also was disrespectful to her seniors in the workplace, which was a serious crime in the workplace of Wano Country.

But she couldn't care less about that. She just felt annoyed by her colleagues' indecision, and she had to be brave for once for the sake of her most cherished students.

Even though the boy no longer recognized her as a teacher.

"That's all I have to say, and this is also my unshakable attitude towards this matter." Teacher Jiang Niao bowed solemnly and turned to leave the meeting room:
"I'm very sorry, please forgive my rudeness. But I don't want to waste my time with you guys on such a meaningless topic anymore."

"Farewell."

(End of this chapter)