Yuuki YamamotoA reimagined Robin Hood

By:Ashley EllisNicole MoranNikki Diehl

Once upon a time there lived a man. He was no ordinary man, he was a janitor. In fact, he was the head janitor of the largest hospital in Tokyo, known as Fujita University Health Center. Yuuki Yamamoto had worked at the hospital for ten years under the supervision of the despicable hospital manager, Shouta Wantabe. Dono Wantabe was a greedy man who did not care about the patients that came and went from Fujita University Health Center.

Fujita UniversityHealth Center

However, not every employee at FUHC was greedy. Misu Marian Brown, an American citizen working at the hospital, was a dedicated and caring nurse. Yuuki was quite enamored by her love for her patients. One day, Yuuki found himself staring at Marian through a glass window as he was mopping the hallways.

“Yamamoto! Get back to work. These floors won’t clean themselves!”“I’m sorry Dono Wantabe,” began Yuuki.Mr. Wantabe did not allow him to finish, “If I catch you not doing your work again, you will be fired!”

Yuuki turned to see Marian watching him.“Just ignore Wantabe, you know he only likes to hear himself talk.”“True, maybe we should invest in earplugs! Have a good day Misu Brown.”Marian quickly nodded her head and strode off to see her next patient. Yuuki reluctantly watched her leave and returned mopping. As he was mopping the entrance to the hospital, he noticed an otousan and his souchi walking out of the hospital. The souchi was leaning into his otousan crying; he couldn’t have been more than 7 years old. Before Yuuki even realized what he was doing, he approached the otusan and souchi and asked if they were okay.

“My souchi has walking pneumonia. I do not have health insurance so the hospital will not treat him. I have already lost everything: my job, my house, and my car in the tsunami that hit in 2011. I cannot lose my souchi as well.”

“I’m so sorry for your misfortunes. Is there anything I can do?” asked Yuuki.

The man paused and answered, “There’s nothing anyone can do.”

With that, the father and son walked out of the hospital with a look of dismay on their faces. Yuuki couldn’t help but noticed how famished and exhausted they looked.

The 2011 Tsunami that hit Japan was the strongest Tsunami in Japanese history. Nearly 600,000 people lost their homes.

Yuuki felt a strong sense of responsibility for that shuzoku, and immediately went to speak to Dono Wantabe“We have a hybrid health system, one of the most advanced in the world. You pay your taxes and a percentage of your paycheck, and then you receive health benefits. That’s how it works. No exceptions!”“But sir, he lost his job in the tsunami—“Mr. Wantabe slammed his hands on the desk and glared at Yuuki.“Don’t be so gullible. If I believed every sad story that walked through here, this hospital would never make any money. Now get back to work.”

Yuuki went home that night, but could not forget that otousan and souchi. He did what he always does when faced with a difficult problem; he meditated. Yuuki focused on his beautiful cherry blossom trees in his back yard and began meditating. Minutes later, he heard a voice…

They need your help. Look for these symbols: the lobster, bamboo, the carp

fish, the mandarin duck. Find these symbols, and you will find help as well.

Yuuki awoke the next morning believing this all to be a dream. He went back to work, just as any other day.

But it was not a normal day. As he punched his time card he saw Mune Aka, the director of Information Technology. Yuuki had never noticed before, but Aka had a picture of Ponyo, his pet lobster. He thought it was just a coincidence, and went about his day.Later on that day in the cafeteria, Yuuki was eating his lunch and looked up to see Chicchai Jon, a cafeteria worker, serving carp fish. He then started to wonder why he had seen two symbols from his vision. While he was packing up his lunch, he noticed an old Bhikkhu strolling in with a bamboo walking stick. He became so flustered he ran out of the cafeteria right into Marian Brown.

“I’m so sorry Marian. I’m running late!”“Slow down Yuuki,” as she glanced at her watch which had an image of mandarin duck, “it’s only 12:45, you still have fifteen minutes before your shift starts.”After seeing all four of the symbols, Yuuki knew that his vision had not been a dream, and he set out to fulfill his destiny. He asked all of the people he had seen that day to meet him in the janitor’s closet, and surprisingly they all came.

Yuuki explained his vision, and everyone was astonished. Yuuki then told them about the struggling family and his endeavor to help them. They all began arguing with each other, until Bhikkhu pounded his bamboo walking stick into the floor.“We have all been chosen to offer aid. We will do this. It is our calling.”There was no arguing with the monk, so they all agreed to participate.

The plan was simple really. First, Marian would steal the boy’s antibiotic from the communal medicine cabinet. She would then toss the medicine into the trash where Yuuki would retrieve it. Then Mune would hack into the hospital’s database to find the address of the family. Chicchai would smuggle extra food from the kitchen and prepare meals for the whole family. Finally, in order to keep Yuuki’s identity a secret, Bhikkhu Ikkyῡ would deliver the food and medicine.

The plan was very successful, the boy received his medicine and soon got better. The otousan was so thankful for their futoppara. Despite their best effort to keep this act a secret, it was not long until other families approached Bhikkhu needing help. Soon Yuuki and his band were stealing from the hospital every week.

Marian BrownBhikkhu

Chicchai

Aka

Dono Wantabe noticed his supply of medicine disappearing, and he became suspicious. He began watching his employees more closely.One unfortunate day when Yuuki and his band were carrying out their activity, Yuuki’s trash bag ripped, spilling all of the medicine onto the floor. Dono Wantabe witnessed this act and he immediately fired Yuuki and called the police. Yuuki was arrested for theft.

The Shuzokus that Yuuki had helped heard of his arrest. The only thing they could do was to write a letter to the owner of the hospital, a man called Nushi, and begged that he drop the charges. Marian, Bhikkhu, Mune, and Chicchai all went to the owner. They explained the reasoning behind their actions and took responsibility.

Marian spoke out, “Since you fired Yuuki, you must also fire us.”

Nushi, being the kindhearted man he is, replied, “Although I do not agree with your methods of stealing from my hospital, I can see you had good intentions. I’m friends with the police commissioner, so I will be sure to mop this mess up.”

The entire community rejoiced on the day Yuuki was released from jail and promoted to the head supervisor position. Mr. Wantabe, however, was not as pleased with his new position as a janitor.On his first day back, Yuuki was approached by Nushi.“I want to thank you for all the good works you have done. Next time there is a problem, however, please come talk to me first before committing a crime.”

Yuuki and his nakama would always be on the lookout for a needy family that they could help without breaking any laws. With Yuuki at the head, people actually enjoyed coming to the hospital because they knew they would always receive the help they needed. And they all lived happily ever after.

THE END

Glossary/Symbol GuideDono – Mister Lobster- Old AgeMisu- Miss Bamboo- VirtueSouchi- Son Carp Fish- StrengthOtousan- Father Mandarin Duck- LoyaltyChicchai- LittleShuzoku- Family

Bhikkhu – MonkFutoppara- GenerosityNakama- Circle of Friends