| Fan Fiction |
by Reisa
“Yeah, long time no see,” Tsuchiya said to me.
“Hey guys, how’ve you been?” I asked.
“Same as usual,” Hyuuga said. I smiled. He seemed completely fine after what had happened with Mikaeru.
Odagiri was watching me with a questioning look on his face. I shook my head slowly and he sighed.
Wasn’t it good enough that I came to talk to her? So what if I wasn’t able to tell her everything?
I pushed those thoughts aside and changed the subject. “So Tsuchiya, you have a job interview tomorrow?” I asked.
He nodded. “All I need is a photo for my resume.” He pulled out his school picture, which captured him with a scary glare.
“What kind of face is that?” Yabuki asked.
“So no one can look down on me, of course!” Tsuchiya answered. I laughed along with the others.
“That won’t work for sure,” Hyuuga laughed, pointing at it.
“I know how you feel, though,” Odagiri said to him.
“You do?” Yabuki asked him in surprise.
The whole to be intimidating instead of intimidated concept…but that wouldn’t quite work for an interview.
“Use this one!” Takeda said to Tsuchiya, handing him a photo.
“Thanks!” Tsuchiya said cheerfully.
I couldn’t contain my giggles for this one. “Where did you take that?”
It was a photo of Tsuchiya pretending to kiss Takeda’s cheek, and they had drawn hearts all around it.
“That won’t work either!” Odagiri remarked.
“Haha…but Kana’s laugh is so cute,” Yabuki said. “You actually sound girly.”
I glared at him but he just smiled back. Seriously, that kid...
“All right, come on,” I said to them, dragging them towards the business district. “We are going to take some proper photos.”
I called Kuma to let him know that I would be a little late. We found a phone booth soon enough, and after taking a few fun group photos, we let Tsuchiya take his proper resume photo. He seemed pleased with the outcome.
“Alright! Let’s celebrate Tsuchiya’s interview for tomorrow!” Yabuki said.
“Who does that?” Odagiri asked.
“Oh come on, Ryu,” Hyuuga said. “Let’s have some fun!”
“Karaoke!” Takeda said.
“Hey guys, I have to get back to Kuma’s. I have work, you know,” I said.
“Awww, then come join us later!” Tsuchiya invited.
As he was about to put his resume and pictures in his school bag, they slipped from his hands onto the floor. When he reached down to pick them up, a foot stepped deliberately onto them.
“Well well, if it isn’t the guys from Kurogin,” the guy sneered, his friends standing behind him.
“Tanabe from Todoroki,” Tsuchiya returned with a glare.
The boys wearing white school uniforms looked like trouble. Yabuki looked more than eager to back Tsuchiya up.
“After graduation, you punks plan to work?” Tanabe said mockingly, picking up the pictures and resume from the ground.
“None of your business,” Takeda snapped in the meanest voice I had ever heard him use.
“Don’t make me laugh,” Tanabe scoffed, tearing the photos and resume in one fluid movement.
“What the hell?!” Yabuki demanded, grabbing the guy’s collar.
“Yabuki, stop it,” I said, grabbing his arm. “These guys aren’t worth your time.”
“And you are?” Tanabe jeered. “What are you, their plaything?”
Odagiri stepped forward, but I yanked him back. “You think I’d be offended by anything these jerks have to say? You guys attack, you’ll all regret it,” I warned the Kurogin guys, but Yabuki and Tsuchiya paid no heed. Before I knew it, the first punch was thrown and the two groups of schoolboys were at it like dogs.
Someone grabbed Odagiri, but I knew he could handle the other guy, so I ran to get between Hyuuga and his opponent. I ran back and forth, pulling the boys off of each other. The Kurogin guys had the advantage by far, since Yabuki and Tsuchiya were exceptionally talented in this field, but it didn’t make the situation better. I saw that Odagiri was trying to pry Yabuki from his opponent but failing to get him to stop fighting.
I heard some people passing by remark about “kids these days” and “teens are so violent”. I silently agreed, letting out an exasperated sigh.
“Idiots!” I spat at the five after the Todoroki guys ran, or rather limped, off. “Especially you, Tsuchiya! You have an interview tomorrow!”
“They pissed me off, alright?!” he returned angrily, picking up his torn photos and resume.
Yankumi said that I had to control my temper, but I found myself doing it a lot better than these guys.
----------
I was surprised when the five boys walked into Kuma’s restaurant the next day in the middle of the morning. They sat glumly at a table as I brought them glasses of water. I was confused. Wasn’t Tsuchiya’s interview supposed to be going on right now?
“I hate to say it, Kana, but you were right,” Tsuchiya said.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Two of the interviewers saw our fight with the Todoroki guys last night and recognized me today,” he said moodily. “Didn’t even give us a chance to be interviewed.”
I sighed. There was no way that they’d hire violent students.
“And then? Why did you all ditch school?” I asked.
“And then we got lectured by Yankumi about taking responsibility for our actions,” Takeda said.
“And then the principal came in and threatened us that the next time something like this happens, we’d get expelled,” Hyuuga said angrily.
“Yankumi won’t allow that,” I said, the words spilling out of my mouth faster than I thought.
Odagiri looked up at me. “That’s exactly what she said. She said it was her dream to see us graduate and move on to a better future.”
I saw Yabuki’s fists clenched so hard that his knuckles were white.
“What’s wrong?” I asked him.
“What’s one dream when everyone else expects us to fail?” he growled. “Just because she’s so worried about our futures doesn’t mean society is going to comply. We’re not worth it.”
“So are you going to give up?” I demanded. He fell silent. “Because I know that she won’t.”
I looked up and Kuma nodded at me. Yankumi had seen a class like ours graduate. She would do everything in her power to make it happen for these guys too.
------
I was walking past the local shrine the next day after my deliveries the next day when I saw Tetsu and Minoru working at their takoyaki stand.
“It’s Kana-chan!” Minoru said, greeting me happily.
“Hello,” I said, bowing my head. I was sure that they knew about my rift with Yankumi, since they lived with her and all, but if they did, they gave no implication of it. “How’s Yankumi nowadays?”
“She’s busy every night either searching for places that might interview her students for jobs or going to businesses herself to ask them if they can hire one of her students,” Tetsu told me.
“We keep telling her that if she’s not careful, she’ll wear herself out,” Minoru said worriedly.
“But that’s what sets Ojou apart from the other teachers who give up on these types of students,” Tetsu affirmed.
I nodded. “You guys take care, okay? And tell Yankumi to take care too,” I said after a pause.
“She’s worried about her students,” Tetsu said. “All of her students.”
I knew that he was talking about me, but I walked away, trying not to think about it. I decided to take the route through the park as a shortcut back to Kuma’s and was surprised when I saw Odagiri sitting alone on a bench.
“Hey, where are the others?” I asked.
“I’m not always with them, you know,” he told me. “They’re over there buying meat buns.”
I looked and saw them across the park at a vendor. So this was his definition of “not always with them”?
“You don’t look too happy,” I commented. It was rare that Odagiri smiled, but that didn’t mean that he always looked unhappy either. But today, I noticed a darker look on his face.
“Yamaguchi was encouraging our class today about the kinds of jobs we should go for. Even the guys who just wanted to work wherever were able to narrow down their choices based on their interests. And she said she would help them find places to fill out job applications according to what they like to do,” he said, leaning back on the bench.
I sat down next to him. “So what are you interested in?” I asked.
“That’s the thing,” he said. “I don’t know.”
That made sense. No wonder he was frustrated. It was easy to find jobs according to your hobbies and interests, but if you didn’t know what they were, it could be difficult.
“There’s no rush, you know,” I said quietly. “People make it out like there’s some huge pressure to know exactly what you want to do right away, but there really isn’t. Some people try lots of things until they finally discover what it is that they truly love. And all of that trying doesn’t go to waste, because you become experienced in lots of things. The important thing is to not give up.”
“…You sound like you’re talking about yourself,” Odagiri said.
I was a bit startled by his comment, but I laughed it off. “Maybe I am…” I thought about how at his age, only a year ago for me, I had thought that I’d spend my life working at Shun’s café. And then all that had shattered. But perhaps it had liberated me. I just needed to take that extra step to get out of my comfort zone. I wondered when the time would come.
When the other returned, Takeda handed Odagiri a meat bun.
“If we knew you were here, we would’ve bought you one too!” he apologized.
Odagiri wordlessly tore his meat bun in half and handed me the other half. I looked at him in surprise but he didn’t say anything and bit into his own. I smiled and supposed it was his way of thanking me, though there really wasn’t anything to thank me for.
“I’ll be going now,” I said. “Guys, don’t give up on yourselves just yet. There’s still time.”
All of them except for Odagiri stared at me blankly, having no idea what I was talking about, but I just waved and left. Focusing my time on them wasn’t a bad thing. It helped me to not take my mind off of my own problems.
--------
A couple days later, I went to deliver ramen to Yankumi again at Kurogin. I found the class celebrating for one of the guys who was able to get a job.
“Thanks Yankumi!” he said brightly, and she ruffled his hair.
“Oh yeah, Tsuchiya!” she said to the five who stood in the back. “The company that you were going to get interviewed for is allowing you another chance tomorrow.”
“Did you ask them to?” he asked her in astonishment.
“Of course. I am your homeroom teacher after all,” she said with a smile.
“Thank you,” he said gratefully. The other four remained silent but stood next to him in front of her.
“What’s up?” Yankumi asked, noticing the peculiar mood.
“We’re going to make it up to you,” Yabuki said. Yankumi looked at him questioningly.
“We’ll all properly graduate,” Odagiri explained.
“Can’t let the principal get his way,” Hyuuga said.
“So we won’t fight with anyone until graduation,” Yabuki said solemly.
“That’s a promise,” Takeda smiled.
“You guys,” Yankumi said, tearing up a little. They all smiled sheepishly.
But I knew by their serious expressions that they meant it. Though Yankumi and I weren’t at the best terms, the least I could do was help the five keep their promise.
-----
That afternoon, I spotted the five walking toward an empty warehouse. But they weren’t alone. I clenched my fists as I saw them surrounded by the Todoroki guys. I left my delivery box outside the warehouse and ran inside. There, I saw the Todoroki guys holding metal sticks, lined up in front of the Kurogin five. There were a lot more of them than last time.
“We’re here to repay you for the other night,” Tanabe sneered.
Of course, the moment they promised not to fight, the Kurogin guys were faced with this ultimate test. I had a really bad feeling about this.
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Yay! I'm really happy that this chapter seems to bring me out of my slump! lol. Yay for action!!! Woot!!!
I tried making a poster for this story too. It turned out pretty good.
http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/893/gokusen2poster.jpg
So I started my new story. It's called Satomi Hakkenden and it's based on a book and a fairly recent movie. It's about the struggle against corruption in feudal Japan. I'm using pretty well-known actors & actresses for the cast, so if you get a chance, check it out! I have to say, though, that it's REALLY different from this story, as in the style, so don't be too surprised. :D
The story is here:
http://www.winglin.net/fanfic/satomihakkenden/
Thanks for reading and commenting! *hugs*