Title: Change in the Wind
Author: El Scribe
Rating:PG-13
Spoilers: Not sure yet, cutting to be safe
Summary:This story is an attempt at making the dorama as it stands eventually conform to the spirit of the manga. In other words, a sequel. Six years after Yankumi watched her first class graduate, her grandfather passes on and she's forced to make a final decision to either accept her birthright or follow her dream of being a teacher. Guilt-ridden at the prospect of destroying the livelihood of the friends who are her family, she determines to become the fourth generation head of the Oeda family. No sooner does she make the decision than Head Teacher throws her a loop that will teach her what dreams are all about.
Disclaimers: This is a nonprofit, recreational story, using character that I do not claim are my own.

Fight-oh!

Change in the Wind

Chapter One

Three days ago and three days to go, Kumiko thought, moving several large chunks of meat around her plate. The week of mourning was half done. It was so strange to realize that this time last week, her grandfather was sitting at the empty place across the table from her, smiling quietly as Tetsu and Minoru locked chopsticks over a piece of chicken from the hot pot. Did he know, as he sat so calmly, that it would be the last time he would ever eat with them? Could he have known when he went to bed that night that he'd never wake up again? If he did, how could he have still had the same serene smile on his face when Wakamatsu found him cold the next morning?

They'd had hot pot for dinner every night since then. It was one of the many small things Tetsu did to try to bring a smile back to Kumiko's face. He'd even gone overboard on the meat, so that Kumiko wouldn't be disturbed by any fights at the dinner table.

It wasn't working. The quiet click of the chopsticks and the polite murmurs of conversation just seemed to remind her that things were not as they used to be. They never would be again.

She laid her chopsticks next to her plate and placed her hands on the edge of the table, preparing to stand up.

"Oujo, you aren't finished!" Minoru protested, earning an elbow in the gut from Tetsu.

"I've had enough," she said quietly, pushing away from the table and standing up straight. The three men tensed, expecting a tsumani of violence to crash over them for their presumption. But Kumiko just bowed and headed for her room, laying down on her futon fully dressed, even though the sun hadn't set.

The three men exchanged worried looks and silence descended upon the house.

Tetsu cleared his throat. "The week of mourning isn't even over yet. We can't push her too hard to get over, ya know? I mean, with her parents dead and everything, Boss was her last family."

"Sides us" Minoru objected.

"Her last BLOOD family, I meant, idiot." Tetsu corrected, smacking his crony over the back of his round bald head.

Wakamatsu cleared his throat. "That's got some truth, Tetsu," he began cautiously. "But I don't know how much longer we can wait. Some problems can't be iced. Not even for seven days. We all know Boss wasn't just some regular grandpa. We're gonna have some serious problems if we don't get his affairs in order before one of the other families decides to organize them for us."

"We'll take care of it ourselves," Tetsu said firmly. "There ain't no need to bother Oujo with it. She decided a long time ago what road she's gonna take - and this... There's no reason she should have to worry. She's a teacher, not the next family head. That's what she wants to do, and Boss supported that. Business is our problem."

Minoru nodded his head vigorously in agreement.

"I know that as well as you. But there could be problems." Wakamatsu scratched his neck and Tetsu suddenly sat up straighter.

"Problems? What do you mean?"

"Well, as long as we've been part of the Oedo family, it's always been the top dog, right?"

Minoru grinned. "We're the best."

"Exactly. we've always been the best. D'you know why that is?" Wakamatsu didn't wait for a response. "A big part of the reason our family's been so powerful is because the Yakuza respect tradition, and we've been around for three generations - damned near a century of Kuroda bosses calling the shots in this area. Once we break the family line, we go from having the oldest and most respected chain of command to being a first generation family."

Tetsu gulped. "First Generation?"

The term was like a dirty word. First Generation families were nothing - pissants. Complete nobodies grasping for whatever nickel and dime operations they could scrape together. No first generation yakuza boss would ever be taken seriously by the other families. Their status would plummet.

"But we've got territory, manpower, influence," Tetsu sputtered.

"You mean Boss had them." Wakamatsu corrected. "How many of our men do you think would stay loyal to a new head with no more ties to the Kuroda than they have?" He waited for a response. "Exactly. We've got to figure out a way to deal with this without losing everything the Boss spent his whole life trying to build up. And... there's another thing."

"What else could there be after that?" Tetsu asked in a daze.

"Oujo - we know that she doesn't want to be the new head. But can we be sure the other families believe that? The Koru family has always been a true ally of the Oeda, but the Mitzu have really only rolled with us out of fear. You may not remember, since it was before you two were old enough to join up with Oeda, but when Akira Komizuki first took over leadership of the Mitzu he pushed the limits of his territory as far as he could before Boss put him in his place. He's a really ambitious character and I wouldn't put it past him to do something dangerous to make sure that Oeda stays as weak as possible."

"You mean - Oujo?" Minoru gasped. He jumped to his feet with a floor-shaking pound and ran to grab a katana from the wall.

"Sit down, Minoru," Wakamatsu ordered. "Do you want to start a turf war before Boss' body is even cold? But yeah, I'm worried that they might try to do something to Oujo to make sure she doesn't take her place as the family head. Do you really think it's fair for us to keep her in the dark when her life could be in danger? And it's not just her life - it's all of ours. Because I know for damned sure no one's hurtin a hair on her head while any of us three is breathing."

Minoru sat back down with a sorrowful look.

"What're we supposed to do?" He asked pleadingly.

"I don't know, Minoru. But we have to figure it out. And soon."

Kumiko rolled over on her futon and stared at the wall, trying to process what she'd overheard. How could she have been so selfish? In her grief over losing one member of her family, she'd put the rest of it at risk. Was her dream of being a teacher really more important than the lives of the people she loved? She was always telling her students that they had to take responsibility, but she'd spent the last six years doing whatever she wanted without thinking about how it affected others. Maybe it was time she learned her own lesson.

To Be Continued...