AN: A fundoshi is a traditional Japanese loincloth. Also: MASSIVE spoilers for Volume 8 Chapter 10. If you haven't read it yet, pick it up on my site Whip of Love. There should be a link to it on my info page (the actual link might just say 'Gokusen').

Have you ever had that dream where you're standing in front of your entire class, and suddenly you realize you're wearing nothing but your tightie whities? Well, I'm having that dream right now. Just replace the underwear with a fundoshi and toss out the classmates in favor of a band of yakuza.

Wait, did I say I was dreaming?

I wish.

You see, right now I'm caught in the middle of such a "fundoshi moment". And believe me, the fact that all of the yakuza currently "checking me out" are also wearing fundoshi doesn't make me feel any better. If anything, it's making me feel worse. I'm seeing way more of these men than I ever wanted to see.

I feel utterly ridiculous, standing here pale and scrawny and hairless among these big and burly men. Not a single chest hair to my name...how embarrassing.

I can't even believe I let myself be convinced to do this in the first place. How could I be so stupid to believe that Yamaguchi would see me as a man if I put on one of these things? I mean, I know she's weird and stuff, but isn't that just a bit...well, freakish? For all I know, she drew that creepy picture of the fundoshi corpses right after one of these corny festivals.

But when Shinohara said that anyone in the family who didn't participate in the festival wasn't a real man...well, I couldn't lose face, right? Right? On the off-chance they're telling the truth, Yamaguchi might add another hundred years to her manliness clause. It stung enough when she added the first hundred, and I really don't want to get hit with that again.

"It feels reassuring to have the fundoshi close to your skin!"

I actually give Kyou's declaration a thought, but before I can finish it, a breeze wafts into the room and blows across my bare ass cheeks. I grimace.

"Actually, I feel a little uneasy..."

Understatement of the year.

"Hey Kyou-san! It's about time to go!"

My head whips around, and there stands Yamaguchi with her grandfather. He's mildly surprised, but she looks a bit pissed.

"SAWADA!"

Shit, here it comes. I'm gonna get berated and kicked out in front of everyone. What am I doing? I shouldn't have done this stupid thing in the first place...

It's quiet.

A little too quiet.

Where's that lecture I was expecting?

I slowly open my eyes that I hadn't even realized were clenched shut.

Yamaguchi is looking at me funny. Really funny. Is my cock hanging out? Is there a pimple on my butt? No...she's not laughing...that can't be it.

It's unlike any expression I've ever seen on her face before. It surpasses any look she's ever thrown at me, and it's certainly a lot more intense than the adoration that Shinohara gets from her. Her cheeks are crimson, and her eyes are glazed over. Unless I miss my guess, Yamaguchi Kumiko is...

Entranced.

I can't believe she's actually looking at me this way. ME. Not Shinohara. She's gazing at me and blushing and I think she's drooling too. Yeah, she's definitely drooling. I want to reach out and touch her, and pull her into my embrace. But I don't, because that's sort of sappy, and it'd really piss her off And I really don't want her to stop looking at me like that – like I'm a MAN, and not some boy, not some student, but a man she actually finds attractive.

It doesn't look like she's going to stop staring at me, either. I wonder what's running through her head. Is she fantasizing about me? Does she want to tear off this stupid strip of cloth and have her way with me, or did her brain completely shut down?

Maybe I'm thinking too much.

Maybe this moment is lasting just a little too long for comfort.

I wait a bit longer. I don't think she's going to stop drooling any time soon.

"HEY!"

"Eh? AH!"

There. That seems to have knocked her back to her senses.

"Hn...looks pretty good."

Wait...that's it? That's all she has to say? She's walking away from me like nothing happened! Well, at least she didn't say I looked like an idiot...

"LOOK!"

OW! I really wish Kyou wouldn't slap my back so hard...

"Considering the look on her face, you just gained 99 years!"

"...Really? Just because I wore this?"

That settles it...Yamaguchi is a freak. The woman I want to be with is a total freak. Still, if this thing turns her on, I'm gonna have to invest in one. If all "fundoshi moments" are like this one...if she'll see me as a man again, I'll wear it again suffer through that little bit of embarrassment.