Seeing as how Tomoko wasn't really interested in tournaments, Sodachi skipped that slot, so he left Majima to do the rest of Tomoko's training as he saw fit. Day in and day out, Tomoko was pushed to her absolute limit. Punching bags, push ups, sit ups, bike riding, sprints, lectures... She went through it all. All in all, she spent a little over three weeks there, 22 days she spent training. But why 22 days?
On that 22nd day, Majima had decided to teach Mokocchi another move. He was confident in her training, so he figured she could do with a much stronger and fancier move. As he was about to come up with a move to teach her, she came up to him. With a steely look of determination, Tomoko said to her sensei, "I-I've got a move of my own... T-t-that I want to try out..."
Ooh, now this was interesting! Majima agreed to let her try out this new move. Like last time, he called in for a random thug to use as the guinea pig. Humorously enough, it was the same thug that Tomoko punched last time. He came in, saw Tomoko with a big, scary smile on her face, and he immediately wanted to leave. Too bad, because his boss was the Mad Dog himself.
Tomoko was still a little nervous, but her training had hardened her. She looked the thug in the eye, "I want you to charge at me...! L-like you're trying to get me!"
"You sure kid?"
"D-don't hold back!"
Majima chimed in, "You heard Kuroki-chan! Don't hold back! If she isn't happy with your performance..." He smiled wickedly at his lackey. The lackey's imagination would handle the rest. He turned back to Tomoko, "Alright kid... No holding back." He let out a war cry, and charged towards Tomoko. Part of her wanted to immediately jump out of the way, but she needed to stay still. In order for this to work, she needed to stand her ground, she needed to let him tackle her.
His shoulder went into her gut, but she knew how to roll with it. Thinking quickly, she took the opportunity to slip her arm around his head, in a pseudo headlock. She "rode" along, letting him carry her until she reached the dojo's wall. She slammed her feet into said wall, stopping the lackey's momentum and completely throwing him off. Using both her strength and weight, Tomoko forced the man's skull to come down brutally onto the floor. Luckily, the padding kept serious damage from happening, but that didn't stop it from hurting. As soon as the move was complete, Tomoko was completely and totally overjoyed. She had done it! Sodachi and Majima both applauded Tomoko, and her ingenuity. With that, the 22nd day of training was over.
Tomoko, Sodachi, and Majima all slept in the dojo, as per usual. However, Tomoko was merely pretending to sleep, something she mastered back in school. Once she was certain that both men were asleep, she wrote a note. Specifically addressed to Majima. She, at the very least, wanted to thank him. For everything that he did. She thought that Majima would've tried to stop her. Would he? Maybe, maybe not. She wasn't going to take that risk. She also knew that going around Kamurocho at night was also a bad idea, but with her newfound strength she wasn't too worried. She left her note, along with a bit of cash. She had just enough for the taxi ride back to Makuhari.
Tomoko's mother had given the school information on her daughter's whereabouts, telling them that she was "studying elsewhere." It was half-true. But, that's unimportant. What was important is that the students were completely left in the dark. As a result, many rumors were created. Some say she was sick, some say that she died. All of them were far from the truth.
School was coming to an end. Yoshida never paid much attention to rumors, she never cared. What she did care about was Tomoko. Sure, they butted heads on more than one occasion, but the thought of Tomoko being dead was something that made Yoshida sick to her stomach. She didn't show it, but she was worried. Very worried.
"Hey, is that Kuroki-san?"
Yoshida whipped around almost instantly. She was digging in her locker, near the front doors, when she heard someone say that. Indeed, Tomoko was standing there. But there was something off about her. Namely, everything about her. She stood tall and confident. All eyes were on her, plus Yoshida's. Another thing that was off, though, were her eyes. They ignored the others, instead focusing right on one, specific woman.
Tomoko stomped towards Yoshida, her teeth gritted and her fists clenched. Before Yoshida could even get a single word in, something no one expected happened.
Tomoko punched Yoshida. Hard.
The students around them gasped. Yoshida, after regaining her bearings, turned to Tomoko. "The hell was that for?"
Tomoko didn't answer. All she did was continue to stare at Yoshida. Yoshida answered back by charging back towards Tomoko.