Chapter three, 2017, shards: 5

Thomas had grabbed Ulf in his class room, and he in turn threw a quick call for Yukio and Kyoko while they ran down the stairs, through the cafeteria and towards the pool. When they reached the pool Ulf managed to get through to Ryu and had him and Christina run for the dressing rooms in case the information about where Jennifer had been called to was wrong.

'Damn! For all her cheekiness she's too damn trusting.' Ulf wondered what made the girl believe she was immune to the rampant bullying sanctioned by Kareyoshi and his goons.

Racing to the gym he noticed four girls beelining in their direction as well. Then he was around the corner.

'Not again!'

A sudden roar from his right made him flinch and when he recovered he saw Thomas ahead of him screaming with rage.

It wasn't Noriko this time, and they were too late as well. Six boys held down two girls while a seventh and eighth raped them.

Thomas threw himself into the group. There was nothing as schooled as what Ulf had learned, but the former professor held some dark secrets of his own. Between raging roars the boys fell to the ground one by one, and Ulf barely arrived in time to kick away the legs of the last one standing.

When that student fell to the ground Thomas had already beaten the boy raping Jennifer into something hardly resembling a human face.

Ulf kicked the second rapist unconscious just as shrieks caught up with him, and in moments four girls were busy covering Jennifer and the other girl up. Once again girls reminded him in the most humiliating way possible how he always got his priorities wrong.

"Thomas, please stop! You'll kill him." Ulf didn't move an inch to stop his junior from beating the unconscious boy into an even bloodier piece of pulp.

One of the girls hugging Jennifer to her stared at Thomas, and in her face Ulf saw a predatory grin of satisfied approval which scared him into action.

"Thomas! Jennifer needs you."

That got through. He rose from the prone body and crawled to where his girlfriend cried hysterically in the arms of her temporary safe haven.

A little bit away three girls sat in silence, two of them cradling the third who stared ahead with all light gone out from her eyes.

'It could have been Noriko.' Ulf sensed the relief in that thought, and that in itself filled him with self disgust. To clear his mind he settled for giving any assailant stirring a vicious kick to the abdomen while he made a phone call.

"Behind the gym. Where you found me last year. I'll call for ambulance." He killed the call and dialled 119. It took two tries to convince the other side that half a dozen ambulances were needed.

As he finished that call he looked up and met the stares of Ryu and Christina who had arrived. From further away the sounds of agitated voices grew closer and Ulf realised more than Yukio and Kyoko were on their way.

"Christina, please help her!"

The look he got in return was colder than anything he'd ever seen in her face, but when she walked over to Jennifer, making an effort to trample the nearest heads of the prone boys, Ulf realised Christina's anger wasn't directed at him.

He felt helpless and decided to walk away a bit unless he'd start maiming people to vent his rage and frustration. From the cafeteria Yukio and Kyoko arrived with some of the staff in tow.

'Those are Kareyoshi's goons. I don't like this.'

Three teachers came running. One of them had a dark rumour clinging to him that he actively participated in the bullying in his class. Ulf didn't know if that was true. Himekaizen had become a hotspot for rumours since Kareyoshi became principal.

Then they arrived, and Ulf immediately got reasons to believe in the rumour.

The teacher stared at him. "Who started the assault?"

Ulf shook his head. "We interrupted a rape. There were eight of them and..."

"Can you prove that? You have a history of violence."

'What? Ah, yeah, Red Rose.' "Eh, that was another rape situation."

The first response was a growl. "You know, you're quick to accuse your victims of rape."

'This isn't happening.' "You fucker. What about you being a bit more considerate of the girls here?"

The teacher glanced at the girls sitting on the ground. "I don't see any girls here. Some cheap sluts and whores, sure."

It took the combined strength of Yukio and the two other teachers to hold Ulf still after he kicked the arse to the ground.

When the police arrived, accompanying half a dozen ambulances, both Ulf and Thomas were promptly shoved into a car each. Aggravated assault, the teachers reported. A female officer stood surrounded by the girls taking notes of what they said when the car Ulf sat in drove through the back entrance and towards whatever police station they were headed for.

Halfway there Ulf gathered his thoughts together. Kareyoshi again. And where had he found students who'd go as far as committing the atrocity? What kind of infighting used children as tools to be abused to reach a goal? Was there even a goal worth scarring kids for life? Ulf didn't think so, and even if there was he refused to accept it.

At least the rapists would see long prison sentences ahead of them. Not that it helped the girls at all. Sometimes Noriko still showed that haunted look in her eyes, and Ulf couldn't even begin to understand what kind of thoughts and feelings went with it.