| Fan Fiction |
by Reisa
I came across her one day sitting next to Minoru and Tetsu’s takoyaki* stand.
“Ah, Kana-chan,” they said, greeting me affectionately. I smiled and sat next to Yankumi on the bench.
“You don’t look too good,” I said, seeing how stressed Yankumi looked.
“Not only am I really tired…my class didn’t go so well today,” she said. “First thing in the morning, Kyotou* called me over to tell me that I didn’t need to bother with Odagiri, and all I had to do was keep 3-D out of trouble until graduation. He called them trash, Kana…and of course, I immediately rebuked him for doing so, but when I got to my classroom, even I began to have doubts. They were so rowdy and violent and wouldn’t listen at all. So I lost my temper and yelled at them for their childish behavior. Yabuki retaliated by walking out, as did the rest of the class…”
“Yankumi…” I began, but I didn’t know what to say. If it had been me a year ago, I would have done the same thing as they did. They needed to learn for themselves how much Yankumi cared about them.
“Well, I’m off to my job,” she said, standing up.
“What job?” I asked.
“Construction,” she answered. “Drilling, directing traffic, and such. The pay is starting to add up. I think I’m about halfway to the amount Odagiri needs.”
“Don’t try too hard,” I said.
“I can’t give up now,” she answered before walking off.
“She hasn’t been sleeping well at all,” Tetsu told me as we watched her walk away.
“I wonder if she’ll be alright…”
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A few nights later, I spotted Yabuki and the three others ahead of me on the street. It was snowing slightly, and the four were merrily chatting as they walked.
The tall one with the short dark brown spiky hair spotted me when he turned around to throw something in the trash.
“Hey, it’s Kana!” he said, causing the others to stop and turn. I walked up to them.
“Hey,” I said. “Never quite caught your names, except for Yabuki.”
The tall one smiled proudly. “I’m Tsuchiya Hikaru. This chibi here is Takeda Keita, and that’s Hyuuga Kosuke.”
Takeda was the short one with the light brown spiky hair while Hyuuga had short black hair.
“You can call me Hayato,” Yabuki added.
“First names come later,” I said. After all, it had taken me nearly two months before I called my best friend by his first name: Shin*.
We walked a little bit before Yabuki suddenly stopped.
“Hey, it’s Yamaguchi!” Tsuchiya said. “Guess teachers have part-time jobs nowadays too.”
I watched her as she worked the drill on the cold concrete pavement, fiercely concentrated on her task.
“Yankumi…” I said softly. All this for Odagiri…
“Maybe she’s got someone she has to pay,” Hyuuga joked, with implication in his tone. The guys laughed.
I turned. “Don’t laugh…just don’t laugh,” I said quietly. The guys stopped and stared at me. I took one last look at Yankumi before walking away, leaving the confused boys behind.
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“Here Yankumi,” I said when I saw her days later. I handed her an envelope, which she took and opened.
“Kana…I can’t take this,” Yankumi said, trying to hand it back. I shrugged.
“I owe you a lot. If you want Odagiri in your class, you’ll need it.”
“I’ll pay you back,” she promised. I laughed. She had done so much for me already.
“Is that enough?” I asked instead.
She nodded vigorously. “With this, it’s just the right amount. I’ll give it to Odagiri today after school.”
“I can’t go with you to get fetch him, but call me afterwards,” I said. She nodded.
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“What’s wrong, Kana?” Kuma asked me as I checked my phone for what seemed like the hundredth time.
“Yankumi should’ve called me by now…” I said. “She went to get Odagiri, you know.”
“She might have forgotten in her ecstatic state,” Kuma smiled. True…
As I cleared the tables, the phone rang. Kuma picked up and talked a little while before hanging up.
“New customer wants a delivery,” he informed me. “Do you know where Frentzen is?”
“That’s where Odagiri works…or used to,” I said. “It’s got some dangerous foundations…”
Kuma looked troubled. “A customer’s a customer…”
“I’ll go with you, since we’re not so busy right now,” I said. He agreed.
When Kuma and I entered the club, we overheard the gang’s conversation.
“Ryu-chan, wow. Didn’t think you had it in you,” one guy said. “A teacher actually brought you sanjyu-man [3000 USD]!” They laughed.
I was confused. Odagiri was still here? Why? Had Yankumi no come yet…but the teacher they were talking about HAD to be Yankumi.
“She’s just a stupid teacher,” Odagiri replied.
“You should have asked for hyaku-man [10,000 USD] while you were at it!” someone joked. More laughter. I clenched my fists. Odagiri WAS a backstabber. No wonder Yankumi hadn’t called me. I couldn’t even imagine that state she was probably in, knowing that he had tricked her…
“I’ll treat you guys today,” Odagiri said, and the gang whistled their approval. He approached us at the entrance.
“Here,” he said, handing Kuma a wad of bills. “Keep the change,” he added.
“Sorry, but I can’t take this,” Kuma said firmly. “This is money that your teacher worked hard to make for you. Not every teacher would be willing to do construction work just for a student!”
“Construction?” Odagiri asked, staring at us in bewilderment. Kuma shoved the money back at him.
“Pay me back when you can make your own money,” he snapped before walking out.
Without another word, I grabbed Odagiri’s collar. I would’ve liked to punch him then and there, but I knew that I wouldn’t get out so easily if I did. He stared at me as I glared at him.
“I’m not forgetting this,” I said fiercely before releasing him and walking out.
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I felt terrible for Yankumi. I wanted to call her, but I didn’t know how to console people. Rather, I had always been the one being consoled.
“What should I do, Uchi?” I asked over the phone.
“Just give her some space. She’s got her whole clan to back her up if anything, and it’s Yankumi we’re talking about. She’s never depressed for long,” he said soothingly.
“I wish I could do something for her though…”
“Don’t we all…we owe her so much,” Uchi laughed. “Tell her that if her new class doesn’t behave, her old students will come and make them behave.”
I smiled. “I thought we were over that fighting phase.”
“Hey, when worst comes to worst, and we need to protect something, we fight, don’t we?” Uchi said.
“For you, that’d be Rie,” I teased.
I could almost see him blushing on his side of the phone. “Shut up.”
“Thanks Uchi,” I said. “Take care.”
“You too.”
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I left my apartment early just so I could catch Yankumi on her way to school. I felt like I really needed to see her in order to ensure that she was okay.
“Yankumi!” I said when I spotted her walking through the park.
“Ohayou*, Kana!” she said a bit too cheerfully.
“…I heard what happened,” I said. She looked surprised. At first, I thought it was because she didn’t know I knew, but then I saw her looking past me.
“Odagiri…” she murmured.
I turned around and sure enough, the backstabber himself was walking towards us.
“What do you want?” I snapped.
He held out his hand and in it was an envelope. He handed it to Yankumi.
“I used some of it, but I’ll give back the rest,” he said. “Never come near me again.”
He glanced at me before turning and walking away.
“Are those guys really your friends?” Yankumi hollered at his back. “I don’t think so! I can’t just obediently do what you want! I’m not giving up until you come to school!”
I stared at her. He had lied to her face, betrayed her. How could she be so…persistent? But as her former student, I knew I should know by now; Yankumi never left any of her students alone.
“He needs his true friends back,” she murmured.
“I’ll see you later,” I said to her and ran after Odagiri.
“Hey,” I said, grabbing his shoulder and making him stop. “do you really think giving back the money is enough?”
“What do you want me to do?” he asked, his voice rising with frustration. “What else is there?”
“Do you even know how much you hurt her by betraying her trust?” I demanded. “You can give back money, but you can’t fix emotions that easily.”
“I don’t care,” he scoffed.
“You know what you have to do.”
“What?” He stared at me. “Do you have any idea--?”
“Yes, I know exactly what will happen to you if you do it,” I said, looking him straight in the eyes. “That’s why you have to.”
“…You’re crazy,” he muttered and walked away.
I sighed. It didn’t look like Yankumi’s wish was going to come true anytime soon…
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Later in the afternoon, Kuma went to deliver to Frentzen again. He assured me that he would be fine and could go alone, so I stayed behind to help his mother serve food.
I heard my cell phone ring so I wiped my hands and took the call. Kuma’s name flashed on the screen.
“Hello?”
“Kana, listen to this!” he said urgently.
“Is it okay if I quit?” I heard a voice say. Odagiri…
“Ryu-chan…do you know what that means?” a gruff voice asked him. “Who took care of you when you family neglected you, when your school abandoned you?”
“I’m sorry,” Odagiri replied.
“We’re not going to let you off that easily!” the man threatened.
“What should I do?” Kuma whispered to me.
I took a deep breath. I never thought that Odagiri had the guts to actually do it.
“Get out of there and call Yankumi,” I said. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
Yankumi and I arrived at about the same time. Kuma told us that he had no idea where they had taken Odagiri, but the gang was no longer in the club. We saw a man walk out, and Yankumi asked him where Odagiri was. He refused to tell us until Yankumi grabbed his arm and pinned him against a wall. He yelped out the location and we took off toward the place. Kuma couldn’t keep up, so he shouted that he would wait for us back at his restaurant.
The warehouse he had given the name of was locked from the inside, but the walls were thin enough that we could hear the beating and the cheering from outside. They certainly weren’t going easy on him.
Yankumi found the entrance and began to push on the door. I helped her pull until the chains that held the door shut broke and the door slid open. There was a stony silence as we walked in. Odagiri was on the floor, surrounded by his “friends”. He looked badly beaten, but still conscious.
“It’s the teacher from last time!” the gang laughed.
“Please let him go. I beg you,” Yankumi said, bowing.
I didn’t bow but instead looked at Odagiri, who stared back at us.
“Look, a teacher’s bowing to us,” the men laughed. I clenched my fists.
“He’s one of my precious students. He’s still a kid and has lots to learn. Please give him back to me,” she said.
“It’s not that easy…but if you’re willing to work in his stead…” a man who I assumed was the leader said, placing a hand suggestively on Yankumi’s shoulder.
Her eyes flashed and she grabbed his arms, twisting it from her shoulder. She punched the other guy who stood near her and pushed them away.
“What are you?” the men gasped. Yankumi smirked and tossed me her glasses.
“Like I said, I’m his homeroom teacher,” she said as she undid her ponytails. “But I guess I have no choice. In order to protect him, I won’t go easy on you.”
With that, she strode towards them. They attacked her over and over, swinging metal pipes and such, but they were no match for her. In the heat of the fight, I ran to where Odagiri lay and landed a few punches on those who guarded him, and stayed by his side. He made no sound, just stared at Yankumi taking down the entire gang.
In a short while, Yankumi looked around at the men that lay about. She smiled and nodded at me as she tied up her hair. I tossed back her glasses and we helped the half-conscious Odagiri out of there.
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We sat by the riverside as Yankumi tried to clean Odagiri up. He shrank away from her touch when she tried to dab the blood and dirt from the cuts on his face.
“Does it hurt?” she asked. He scowled and told her not to touch him and stood up.
“Why did you come? I betrayed you!” he said, staring at her. She smiled.
“I promised you that I would protect you no matter what, didn’t I?” she said.
“Are you stupid?” he demanded. I stood up angrily, but Yankumi stopped me.
“Promises are meant to be kept. You said you needed money, and if you had it, you could come to school.”
“Who would be fooled by that?” he scoffed.
“I believed you then, and I believe you now. You can laugh all you want, but I’m your teacher, and I believe my students. Besides, you’re the one who broke off ties with the gang, aren’t you?”
“I don’t trust teachers,” he said stubbornly, turning to leave.
“I believe in you, Odagiri,” she said after him.
“Well…that was fun,” I said, looking at her. She looked so content and trusting that I didn’t want to bother her. “See you later.”
“I still can’t forgive you completely,” I said when I caught up to Odagiri. He looked at the ground. “But…you did good,” I said, patting him on the shoulder. “Take it easy.”
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As I walked to Kuma’s the next morning, I came across Odagiri. He looked a lot happier and he was even wearing his Kurogin uniform.
“So you decided to go,” I said casually.
“Shut up,” he said. I grinned as I saw him smile for the first time. We walked up to Kurogin’s gates.
“See you,” he said, and walked in.
“You’re not supposed to be here!!” a group of teacher shouted at him. He ignored them and walked up to where Yankumi stood.
“Ohayou, Odagiri. You came for me,” she said.
“Not for you,” he muttered and walked up to his classmates that had gathered in the courtyard.
“Long time no see,” Yabuki said with a sneer. “This is sudden. As for me, I’m not about to forgive you.” He socked Odagiri in the face. It only took a few moments before Odagiri struck back. The other students tried to separate the two, while the teachers shouted loudly at them to stop.
Suddenly, a large wave of water splashed the entire class, causing them to stop.
“What was that for?!” Yabuki yelled at Yankumi, who stood smiling down from the roof holding a large bucket.
“Now that all of you are present, listen carefully. You will not graduate until you are able to make good high school memories and hold a dream for the future. I’ll teach you how important those things are. We begin now!” she shouted.
I walked away, grinning. Things would get interesting from now on…
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*takoyaki: Octopus balls (pieces of octopus wrapped in little sphere shapped flour pancake like things)
*Kyoutou: Vice-principal
*Shin refers to Sawada Shin, the main student protaganist in Gokusen 1.
*Ohayou: Good morning
Sorry if that was a little long. I wanted to get this story done before I left. Since I'll be in Korea for a study tour, I won't be able to post for two weeks! *tears* I'll try to get over my jetlag fast when I get back, so I can post sooner. Next up is the power struggle between Odagiri and Yabuki.
For all those wondering about the pending relationships in this series...well, I promise a little more romance in this one. ;D but don't get too excited, because I might not write it too well. lol.
Thanks for your patience and great comments!!