| Fan Fiction |
by Reisa
“Morning!” the big blonde said to me, his eyes nearly hidden by his dimples.
“Good morning Kana!” his younger brother and sister greeted me before running out the door to make it to school on time.
I closed the door behind them and went to grab my apron from the back. Another day had begun.
Oh, and who am I? I'm Nakajima Kana, former student of Yankumi's in Shirokin's Class 3-D. Nine months had gone by since our graduation. Nine long months. I had been doing random jobs here and there during that time, but I could never find something that I really wanted to stick with.
Kuma had offered me a job at his restaurant a few months back, and I found that I really enjoyed it. The hours were flexible, the pay was pretty good, and of course, my boss was one of my best friends. It wasn’t a really tough job. I would come in the morning to help Kuma’s mother prepare for the busy lunch hour, run a few errands, and clean up around the restaurant. A little before noon, Kuma and I would make deliveries before returning to the restaurant to face the lunch rush of businessmen, friends meeting for lunch, kids grabbing a bite to eat, etc. The rest of the afternoon consisted of cooking and more deliveries and such until Kuma’s brother and sister came home from school. After that, I was pretty much free to leave, but I often stuck around so I could continue to help out while they did their homework.
Shin, before leaving for Africa, had given me the keys to his apartment and asked me to live there. I accepted gladly, since I had begun renting out the café space to other people.
Otherwise, life was pretty smooth…almost dull compared to the time as a student. I saw my former classmates from time to time, but they all had their lives to live. I was still a bit unused to living without Shun by my side, but I managed, somehow. But of course, my daily routine was about to be shaken up quite a bit, though I didn’t know that yet.
“Hey Kuma, today’s Yankumi’s first day at Kurogin, isn’t it?” I said.
“Yeah, I totally forgot!” Kuma said. “Wonder if it’s going well?”
Shirokin had been torn down because their Co-ed transition program hadn’t worked (I was the only girl, after all), so the 1st and 2nd years had been dispersed to other schools. The best of the best had gotten into Kurogin Academy, a rather prestigious school on the richer half of town. Though she had been teaching elsewhere since our graduation, Yankumi had been offered a job at Kurogin and she had gladly accepted.
My life had been forever changed by Yankumi at Shirokin, so I wanted to everything I could to support her at Kurogin. It was the least that I could do.
Hours later, Yankumi stumbled into Kuma’s restaurant, looking exhausted. Luckily, she had come when there were only a few other customers. I rushed to get her a drink of water, which she drained immediately.
“So how is it?” I asked her. She groaned.
“I thought Kurogin’s a prestigious school with good students!” Kuma said.
“Yes, all except my class,” she answered. “I’m homeroom teacher for Class 3-D…the class with all the delinquents.”
“Sounds just like our class,” I remarked.
“Yes, but a lot worse,” she admitted. “They greeted me with baseball bats and golf clubs.”
Huh? Baseball bats?
“Apparently, they were planning to beat up their new homeroom teacher because they were expecting a male teacher. But it’s not like they welcomed me either…they said I wasn’t good looking and that they wouldn’t appreciate me unless I wore a miniskirt or something.”
I let out a laugh. The last time Yankumi had worn a miniskirt had been disastrous.
Kuma brought out a bowl of ramen and Yankumi began to chomp, a little more energized.
“The class leader’s name is Yabuki Hayato,” she said between mouthfuls. “I might have a little trouble with him if we both run out of patience.” She suddenly sighed. “But the sad thing was, when I asked them if they had any school memories or dreams about the future, they said they didn’t and they didn’t care that they didn’t…These kids need lots of guidance.”
“Then you’re the perfect teacher for them,” I said, smiling.
“Besides, it’s just three months, right?” Kuma added.
Yankumi groaned. “Three months…”
“Oh, come on, Yankumi! You survived us, didn’t you?” I teased.
She looked up at us and nodded. “I’ll just have to do my best,” she said more cheerfully.
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A few days later, I came across Yankumi on the way back from a delivery. She was so perturbed and lost in thought that I had to wave my hand in her face several times to get her attention.
“What’s up?” I asked her.
“I never knew high school boys had so much drama,” she said dejectedly. “This student named Odagiri Ryu hasn’t shown up since I started teaching. When I asked the other teachers, they told me not to worry about him. Apparently, he had gotten into a huge fight with Yabuki and hasn’t come to school since. Because his father holds a high position or something, Odagiri’s allowed to graduate without attendance. I went to his house, and it’s this huge mansion. One of the workers at his house told me that he doesn’t come home until morning.”
“Sounds serious,” I commented.
“When I asked Yabuki what happened, he became angry and left the room. The class told me that the two had been best friends until Odagiri had backstabbed him. I wonder what he did,” Yankumi said. “Anyways, they told me that Odagiri is currently working with a bunch of shady people.”
“You’re going to look for him, aren’t you?” I said. She nodded and I smiled. It was so like Yankumi to worry about each and every one of her students. “After work, I’ll help you look for him,” I offered and she accepted gladly.
Since we were going to look around the business district, I changed into more “appropriate” clothes so I could blend in more with the nightlife.
We looked all around, and Yankumi even had a picture of Odagiri to show people when asking about him. While we were searching in an arcade, Yankumi suddenly stopped, and I turned to see what she was staring at.
Three students in the Kurogin uniform were bullying a kid from a different school to let them “borrow” money. Another Kurogin student stood coolly at the side, playing pool.
Yankumi went up to them and grabbed the tallest guy’s arm. “Are you going to give him an IOU?” she asked. “For borrowing money, it seems a bit forceful.”
He glared at her but couldn’t wrench his arm from her iron grip.
“Fine fine, I’ll give it back,” he muttered and shoved the money at the kid, who ran off.
“What, you’re going to follow us around outside of school too?” the guy playing pool scoffed.
I stepped forward before Yankumi could answer, and he sized me up with a smirk. The other three were nudging each other behind him, grinning.
“Are you Yabuki Hayato?” I asked and he leaned against the pool table.
“I am,” he answered with a smile, “and you are?”
“I’m Kana,” I said simply. “Yankumi and I are looking for Odagiri Ryu. Where can we find him?”
He immediately scowled. “I don’t know,” he muttered, turning back to his pool game.
“I heard he’s hanging out with some dangerous folk,” Yankumi continued.
“Do you know or not?” I asked, looking at him. He looked straight back at me.
”If you really want to know, I’ll tell you,” he said. “He’s working at a club called Frentzen. Take the Umedago bus to the last stop.”
Frentzen…yup, shady folk, alright. This could be dangerous.
“Thank you!” You helped us a lot!” Yankumi chirped. “You guys are not that bad after all!”
“Let’s go,” I said to Yankumi. I gave Yabuki a long look. Yankumi was right. He would be one to cause trouble. He smirked back at me.
“Bye Kana!” the other three said excitedly, though I had paid no attention to them. I gave them a peace sign.
“Not that bad after all?” I muttered as we walked out of the arcade. Ha.
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When we reached the club, the bouncer stopped Yankumi.
“Sorry miss, but you can’t go in dressed like that,” he told her. She looked at the girls walking in and became conscious of how different she looked compared to the other girls dressed like me.
I took her aside. “I’ll go in and look around. There’s always the back door,” I said with a wink.
I entered the club and weaved my way around the dancing crowd. In different corners of the room, I spotted the gang members that ran this club. Luckily, this club was far enough away from our town that they probably wouldn’t recognize me.
I went up to a bartender and asked him if Odagiri Ryu was around. He gave me a peculiar look.
“Ryu-chan? He’s probably out back, working.” He suddenly grinned. “You his girlfriend or something?”
I shook my head and mumbled my thanks before turning to go back outside. I walked to the back of the building and found a small alleyway leading to the back entrance. Yankumi was talking to someone, and I stood there, listening to the conversation.
“Ha, like I can believe a teacher,” I heard the other person say.
“Will you give a chance then? I will never betray you. I intend to protect you from anything,” Yankumi said. Silence.
“I want to go to school,” the reply came finally. “But I can’t. I can’t until I pay back the gang the money I owe them.”
“How much is that?” Yankumi asked.
“None of your business,” was the reply.
“How much?” she persisted. I braced myself for the answer.
“Sanjyu-man,” he said. [Equivalent to about $3000 USD]
“So if you have that money, you can cut ties with the gang and come to school?” Yankumi asked. He said yes.
I decided to walk forward to see what this Odagiri Ryu looked like.
“You,” I said, staring at the guy before me. He was the one who had, a few days ago, bumped into me in front of Kurogin. He seemed to recognize me and nodded. Now that I looked at him carefully, he was a pretty cute kid, but he had a dark expression on his face.
“You know each other?” Yankumi asked me.
“Not really,” I answered. “Let’s go, Yankumi. We’ll miss the last bus.”
“I’ll try to do something,” she told Odagiri. “Don’t you worry. I’ll make sure you can come back to school soon!”
I stared at him as he stared back. He certainly seemed sincere, but one could never tell with appearances. I hoped for the best. After all…where was Yankumi going to get that much money?
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First chapter! Hope you enjoyed it. It was definitely more filler for the transition between the first one and this one.
Oh, I changed the time period between the two dramas, Gokusen 1 & 2, to be a year. I think in the actual dramas...there was like, a span of two or three years.
As you can see, one episode will be split into several chapters. I try to update twice a week, and if I can't, I try to update at least once a week.
However, I'm going to Korea on Tuesday, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to update before then. Hopefully I can!
Thank you for your comments! :D