• Summary version 1 by Hitoshi Doi, 1990.04.22
• Summary version 2 by Hitoshi Doi, 1991.12.08

On Saturday, Yawara went on a date with Kazamatsuri. Kazamatsuri tried to find out more about Yawara's judo abilities, but Yawara avoided all of his questions and pretended that she didn't know anything about judo. When they were walking down the street and Yawara tripped on the sidewalk, she didn't catch herself and fell down like a normal girl. Kazamatsuri could not believe that this girl was a judo expert. But when Kazamatsuri was helping Yawara up, he saw the scars on Yawara's arms. So he tried to attack her thinking that Yawara would throw him. But instead of throwing him, Yawara thought that Kazamatsuri was trying to kiss her. So she backed into a tree and waited with her eyes closed.

All of the newspapers had headline articles about Sayaka's judo match. Since Sayaka had openly challenged Yawara, everyone was trying to find out more about who this mysterious Yawara was. Matsuda went to Yawara's house to try to get a scoop. Jigoro told him that the Yawara everybody was getting excited about was his granddaughter. When Matsuda asked for a special interview, Jigoro refused saying that since Sayaka made a sensational debut, Yawara's had to be better.

Jigoro went to the TV station and presented a three hour special TV show about Yawara. The producer took one look at it and threw it back to Jigoro. Jigoro got mad and sat down in the lobby of the TV station. Before he was going to get thrown out by the guards, Matsuda and his photographer came and dragged Jigoro out.

At school Yawara was talking to her friends about her date with Kazamatsuri. She said that she almost got kissed. Then all of her friends told her that he must really like her. Meanwhile, Matsuda and his photographer were sneaking around Yawara to try to take pictures of the moment that she used her judo. Yawara got mad and yelled at them.

At home after her judo practice, Jigoro told Yawara that he went to the TV station to talk about her special program. Yawara got mad at Jigoro and said that she will never do judo again. Then she stormed out of the doujou. Outside, she spotted a man sneaking around in the bushes. Yawara thought that it was one of those newspaper reporters again and went after him. When she caught up to him, Yawara threw him. Then Jigoro ran out and directed the light from his flashlight onto the intruder's face. They found out that it was Kazamatsuri. Then from out of the bushes, Matsuda and his photographer popped out with joy as they finally got a picture of Yawara in action. Matsuda also said that Kazamatsuri was Sayaka's coach and that this was a great story for his newspaper. Then Kazamatsuri also ran away, after telling Yawara that he wasn't really trying to hide anything or spying.

The next day, the Nikkan Every Sports newspaper featured an article about Yawara. In the morning many reporters showed up at Yawara's house. Yawara had to run away from the reporters to go to school. At school, a lot of the boys teased Yawara about the newspaper article. Then Hanazono-kun came and chased everyone away.

After school a lot of reporters were waiting for Yawara at the school gate. When Yawara was surrounded by reporters, Hanazono-kun came and started throwing the reporters off of Yawara. Then a man riding a motorcycle came by and helped Yawara by giving her a ride away from the reporters. Yawara was very happy and thought that Kazamatsuri had come to help her.

At the Honami mansion, Kazamatsuri was telling Sayaka that Yawara was too strong for her and that she couldn't beat her. He said that he had never been thrown like that before. Then Sayaka said, "No! I don't like it. I have to win. There hasn't been anything that I haven't been able to do until now. I have to take victory away from her, and also you.." Kazamatsuri thought about it and said that there may be a way for Sayaka to win. It was to get Jigoro as her coach.

The man on the motorcycle tried to take Yawara to a place where she can be away from the reporters. But there were reporters everywhere they went. Finally the man on the motorcycle revealed himself to Yawara. It was Matsuda. Yawara got very angry at him and blamed him for starting all of this. Then Yawara threw him over her shoulder when Matsuda tried to stop her from leaving. Yawara shouted, "Don't ever appear in front of me again!" and walked off. Matsuda was lying on the ground thinking that Yawara's throw was much better and refined than he had ever thought. He thought that with this kind of throw and skill, Yawara can win the gold medal in the Olympics.

Yawara turned around and went to Matsuda to see if he was all right. Then she forgave him because he had tried to help her. Since there was nowhere else for her to go, Yawara went to Matsuda's apartment. Then Yawara cleaned up Matsuda's very messy room and cooked dinner for him. During dinner, Yawara told Matsuda that she didn't hate judo, but that she just wanted to be an ordinary high school girl. She also told Matsuda that she had practiced judo every day since she could remember and that she threw her father when she was five years old.

That night Jigoro had been invited by Sayaka and her parents for a fancy French dinner and was asked to be Sayaka's coach. The next day, the TV news aired a story saying that Sayaka had been negotiating with Jigoro to be her coach. Yawara was saddened when she saw this in Matsuda's room. Yawara had stayed overnight in Matsuda's apartment, and Matsuda had to slept outside.

Since Yawara wasn't feeling too happy, Matsuda took Yawara to an amusement park. There he told Yawara to fight a match in front of everybody, and lose. Matsuda said that this way people will not keep bothering her any more after they find out that she was not really that good.

When Matsuda returned to the office at night, his boss yelled at him for missing the biggest news of the day. He told Matsuda that he will be fired unless he finds Yawara. But Matsuda said that he had just been with Yawara. Matsuda also said that he had arranged for Yawara to fight in a judo match against Toudou Yuki, the over 72 kg champion, at the Saikai University Judoujou.

When Yawara got home, she told her grandfather that she will appear in an exhibition match. Jigoro got mad that Yawara was going to debut in such an insignificant match. When Yawara said that it shouldn't matter to Jigoro because he was now Sayaka's coach, Jigoro said that he refused Sayaka's offer because he doesn't like to teach judo to weak people.

That night Matsuda was drinking with his photographer Kamoda at an oden yatai. He told Kamoda that Yawara was going to lose on purpose. He said that it was the only way that Yawara can become a normal girl. When Kamoda asked if Matsuda had fallen in love with Yawara, Matsuda tried to hit him. Then Matsuda became sad and said that there won't be another super star like Yawara even if he waited ten or twenty years.

[yatai = a cheap, outdoor, drinking stand]

Matsuda's headline article about Yawara's debut match surprised everyone. The reporters went around asking the various people's opinions of the outcome. Tokunaga read Kazamatsuri's statement saying that the 20 kg weight difference will be no problem for Yawara and that she will win. Toudou got mad that she even had to fight against Yawara, and said that she'll win in less than 30 seconds. When Jigoro saw Toudou on the news, he said that Yawara will win in less than 10 seconds, and got upset at Nikkan Every for picking such an easy opponent.

Matsuda and his photographer where searching the old newspapers to see if they can find out anything about Yawara's parents. Matsuda had his suspicions that Yawara's father must have been a judo expert too. Then, Matsuda found out that a previously unknown Inokuma Kojiro had made a sensational debut and won the Japan championship in 1974. However Kojiro had mysteriously disappeared the following year.

The day before the match, Matsuda met Yawara at a coffee shop and asked her about her father. Yawara said that her father had disappeared and has never come back home since. She also said that her mother has been searching for him all this time, and that she comes homes only a few times every year. When Matsuda asked if she knew the reason why Kojiro had disappeared, Yawara said that she didn't.

On April 12 at the Saikai University Judoujou, the judo match was about to begin. In the dressing room before the match, Yawara and her friends were talking and getting ready for the match. They told Yawara to just cry and run away if she was scared. Then Kazamatsuri came to Yawara's dressing room with a bouquet of flowers. Kazamatsuri told Yawara that her opponent is more than 20 kg heavier than her, but she can still win. Then Kazamatsuri and Yawara walked together toward the doujou. There were a lot of reporters and cameramen surrounding the judo mat. Yawara's high school judo team, Ganryuuji's judo team, Yawara's friends, Sayaka, and Saikai University's judo coach Yutenji were all there.

The match started and Yawara had a chance to throw her opponent right away. Jigoro thought that Yawara will win, but Yawara didn't throw Toudou. Instead, Toudou landed on top of Yawara and got a yuukou. Yawara had a lot of chances to win, but the match continued with neither getting an ippon. Yawara was waiting for Toudou to throw her, but Toudou couldn't. Yawara thought to herself over and over, "How can this girl be so bad?"

Coach Yutenji said that he had never seen a perfect lockup like the one Yawara was using. He said that there was no opening. But when Yawara threw Toudou and landed with just a yuukou, Yutenji suspected that Yawara avoided the ippon on purpose. After watching some more of the match, he thought that Yawara was trying to lose on purpose.

Jigoro finally figured out that Yawara was trying to lose on purpose. He told everyone what Yawara was up to, and tried to stop the match because this was not the judo that he had taught Yawara.

Matsuda could not stand to watch the match any more. He left the doujou to take a walk outside. As Matsuda was feeling very depressed, a middle aged woman came up and asked him for the directions to the doujou. The woman started to watch the match from a window.

Just when Yawara was finally setting herself up to be thrown for a loss, she caught a glimpse of the woman's face in the window. Yawara yelled "mother" and inadvertently threw Toudou for a ippon. Yawara immediately said that it was an accident and that she didn't do anything, but it was too late. Yawara had won.

Outside, Matsuda had heard the loud cheer from inside and thought that Yawara had lost. He got his resignation letter ready and started to cry. Then he heard a bunch of footsteps coming his way. When he turned around to look, he saw Yawara and the middle aged woman running away from the reporters. After Yawara ran past Matsuda, he ran to catch up with her and asked what had happened. Yawara told him that she had won. Matsuda caught a taxi for Yawara to help her escape. Then all of the other reporters caught up to Matsuda and got mad at him for trying to keep the story for himself again.

Coach Yutenji's eyes full of tears as he praised Jigoro for coaching Yawara to this high level. Then Jigoro told him to do a better job of coaching so Yawara will have some competition. A groggy Toudou who had just recovered went up to Jigoro and said that Yawara just got lucky. She said that she can beat her next time.

When Matsuda returned to the office, he looked at the pictures of the match that Kamoda had taken. He was so glad when he saw Yawara's ippon throw. But he didn't understand why Yawara had won. Then Kamoda said that he heard Yawara shout "mother" when Yawara threw Toudou.

At home, Yawara was happy to see her mother again, but she was also disappointed because she had won the match. Yawara and her mother were talking in the kitchen when Jigoro came home. Yawara's mother said that it was up to Yawara whether she continued judo or not. What is important is that she doesn't lose her kindness. Jigoro yelled at Yawara for what she did during the match. But the Inokuma family enjoyed their dinner together for the first time in a long while.

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