Discovery & Confession

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Gokusen

Discovery

"How about we go to the arcade after school?"

Honjo's suggestion was met with enthusiasm all around, with two exceptions:

"Sorry, I'm not up for it," came Ren's reply.

"Yeah, I have some things to do as well," said Yamato.

All heads turned in their direction.

"What gives?" Kamiya demanded. "You never want to hang out anymore!"

"Yeah..." Ichimura said thoughtfully, tapping his finger against his chin. "One could almost think you were avoiding us..."

"What? No!" Ren replied, laughing, just a tad too quickly. "I've just been really busy, helping out Sis and such."

"Yeah, same here," Yamato said, clearing his throat. "Been helping my mom at home."

The others let the subject drop for the moment, as Yankumi just walked in to start the class, but during lunch break Honjo, Ichi, Kamiya and Kuraki huddled together, staring suspiciously at Ren and Yamato, who were standing apart from everyone else, talking quietly.

"Those two are definitely up to something," Kuraki whispered.

"Definitely," Kamiya agreed. "They've been in an weirdly good mood, lately, too. Especially Yamato. He's usually so damn serious, but lately he's been smiling and laughing all the time."

"Hey!" Honjo shouted, and was immediately shushed by the others. "Hey," he repeated, lowering his voice, "do you think they've met girls?"

The others were silent.

"Girls..." Ichi said after a moment.

"...and that's why they never want to hang out..."

"...because they're going on dates."

"Damn them!" Honjo growled. "They've met girls, and they're keeping it secret from us! We're buddies! If they've met girls they should at least tell us, and maybe ask their girls if they have friends to fix us up with!"

Kamiya glanced at the two, then looked back at the others.

"Maybe we should find out the truth for ourselves?"

"You mean follow them after school?"

The four grinned and giggled conspiratorially.

After school the plan was set into action. Ren and Yamato excused themselves from their friends, saying vaguely that they had "things to do at home". The four followed them at a distance, ducking behind trees and garbage cans to avoid being spotted.

"I knew it!" Honjo hissed. "They're going off together! If they had things to do at home, Ren would have gone off in the other direction."

"Yeah," Kuraki agreed. "They're definitely hiding something."

"Shut up!" Kamiya said, waving his hands. "Let's go, before we lose them!"

They followed the two as the turned a corner, and were forced to duck behind a dumpster as Yamato suddenly turned around.

"What's the matter?" Ren asked

"Thought I saw something..."

"What?"

"Not sure..."

"Forget it then. Come on, I'm thirsty," Ren said, indicating a vending machine close by. The two bought drinks, then kept walking.

"That was close!" Kuraki sighed, as the group kept following.

Ren and Yamato turned into a narrow alleyway.

"Hey, I think I know where they're going," Ichi said. "That abandoned house where we hung out a couple of times... isn't it here?"

"Yeah, you're right... but I don't know of any girl who would want to hang out there..."

Slowly sneaking after the two secretive friends, they saw that the abandoned house was indeed where they were going, as Ren and Yamato crept through a busted window. It was a dusty old empty house used only a few times by class 3D students as a hangout during Stop Delinquency weeks and such, to avoid being harassed by teachers of the opinion that students shouldn't be having fun in their spare time. But it definitely wasn't an ideal place to bring dates.

"What the hell could they be doing here?" Honjo wondered, scratching his head.

"Let's find out."

They made their way over to the window, and carefully crept through. Once inside, they tiptoed out of the room they were in, down past a hallway towards a larger room which was the one they had used for their hangouts in the past, since there was an old couch there. They stuck their heads around the door frame, and peeked inside the room.

Ren and Yamato where there. And it did indeed look like they were on a date. But not one like the boys had assumed.

Ren was stretched out on his back on the couch. Yamato was lying on top of his, lips mashed against Ren's, wet noises issuing from their joined mouths. Ren had one hand tangled in Yamato's hair, and the other had crawled up under the back of his shirt. Yamato moved his lips from Ren's and instead began kissing the nape of the other boy's neck, making Ren moan, and his lips spread into a delighted smile.

Honjo, Kamiya, Ichi and Kuraki stared, stunned, at their two friends in the process of full-blown making out. And, of course, lost their balance and tumbled over each other into a pile on the floor.

The pair on the couch sat up with a start, so quickly that Yamato fell off the couch with a thud.

"What the hell are you guys doing here?! And why is she here?!"

"What are you talking about?" Kamiya said, turning around.

"YANKUMI!" Kamiya and the other three yelled at the sight of their teacher, getting up from the floor behind them where she too had fallen, dusting herself off.

"Where did you come from?!" Kuraki yelled, pointing at her.

"Well... I saw you guys following Kazama and Ogata, and I got curious..."

"Oh."

They turned around to stare at Ren and Yamato.

"Uhm... were you guys making out just now?" Honjo asked hesitantly.

"No, I was choking on something and Yamato tried to fish it out with his tongue. Of course we were making out, dumbass!" Ren sighed.

Kamiya, Kuraki, Honjo, Ichi and Yankumi moved closer, sitting down on the old wooden crates surrounding the couch that had been used as chairs when the 3D students had used the house as their hangout.

"So... are you guys, like... together?" Kuraki asked.

Ren and Yamato exchanged a glance, then took each other's hands.

"Yes, as a matter of fact we are. Anyone got a problem with that?" Yamato asked, narrowing his eyes.

"No, of course not!" Ichi exclaimed, everyone else nodding. "Is that why you kept it a secret? Because you thought we would?"

Yamato sighed.

"Maybe. We hoped you wouldn't, but you never really know how people will react, do you? Besides, this is kind of a big deal for both of us, and we weren't really ready to tell. But I guess forced us to, now," he added, glaring at them.

"We're really sorry, we had no idea, we... we followed you because we thought you'd found girlfriends," Kuraki said sheepishly. Ren rolled his eyes, shaking his head.

"So, you're both... you know... like..." Honjo trailed off awkwardly.

"Gay. The word is gay, Honjo," Yamato sighed.

"Yeah. So, you're both gay? I've wondered about you, before, Yamato, because you've never really shown any interest in girls, and you never want to go to group dates or anything... But Ren... I always thought you liked girls."

"I do. But I like guys, too. I'm bisexual."

"Oh."

There was a delighted squee, and everyone turned to Yankumi.

"This... is so wonderful!" she chirped, and got up to stand on the crate she'd been sitting on.

"Heeeere we go..." Ren muttered.

"Just think... at first you were bitter enemies," Yankumi said, gesturing wildly and brandishing her fist in the air, "but under my patient guidance, you managed to set aside your differences and become friends. And now, that friendship has blossomed into romance! Don't worry, my precious students! Whatever happens, Yankumi will always be there to help protect the delicate, sweet flower of your youthful love!"

"That's... that's great, Yankumi, thanks," Ren said.

"I would wonder if she's of her rocker, but then again, she's always been like this," he thought.

In fact, Yankumi was so delighted with the idea of two of her students dating, that she decided to treat them all to ramen over at Kuma's place. The group were gathered around a table, slurping their ramen with relish and enjoying each other's company.

"So, how long have you been together, really?" Ichi asked Ren and Yamato. Ren smiled mischievously, nudging his boyfriend's side.

"Yamato confessed to me when I was at home recovering from surgery."

"No kidding? That would just make it... three weeks, right?"

"Right."

"Best day of my life," Yamato thought to himself, smiling at Ren.

Confession

Yamato was stretched out on Ren's bed, occupying himself with reading a manga while Ren was asleep. Ren had been released from the hospital two days ago, and was slowly but steadily recovering from his surgery. All the students from class 3D had been grounded by their parents for getting suspended for two weeks because of the Goda incident, but Yamato had been given permission by his mother to stay at Ren's house and look after his friend, since Ren's sister was unable to take any more time off work. Yamato was grateful for that. He felt much better being around Ren, making sure he was healing.

Yamato himself hadn't quite recovered from what had happened with Ren. Pulling Ren out from under those pipes, seeing him being loaded inside an ambulance, waiting outside the surgery for news... he had never been so scared in his entire life. Because other than his mother, there was no one Yamato cared about as much as Ren.

They hadn't been able to stand each other's guts at first. They were both used to being the class top dog, so when they were both placed in 3D, it naturally caused a lot of friction. When Yamato discussed Ren with Honjo and Kamiya, he used to refer to the other boy as "skunk head". Except somewhere deep inside Yamato there had been a burgeoning respect and attraction for the other boy – but he'd be damned if he would admit it to anyone, including himself.

Then Yankumi came to their class. This weird, passionate, track suit wearing teacher who actually believed in them, who thought they were somebodies instead of nobodies. Somehow she had managed to make them stop behaving like jackasses and bury the hatchet, and in what seemed like no time at all, Yamato had realized that his former enemy had become his very best friend. Ren understood him; he always seemed to know when something was bothering Yamato, and Ren always seemed to know how to cheer him up, at least a little. But with friendship came more. As he had gotten to know Ren, the attraction that had been lurking underneath the surface even when they were enemies had all but exploded, and pretty soon Yamato was forced to admit to himself that he had fallen head over heels in love with his best friend. His best friend who was crazy about girls.

As far as Yamato had noticed – and he spent a lot of time observing Ren – he had not seen a single indication that Ren might be attracted to boys. And so, before all the mess with Goda happened, he had decided to keep his feelings to himself, because he didn't see that there was any chance whatsoever of them ever being returned.

Yamato was out to his family. He had been so shortly before he and Ren had become friends. His father's dislike of him wasn't solely because he was a delinquent who went to a school with a bad reputation like Akado. It was now also because of his sexuality.

"You just keep finding new ways to disappoint me, do you?" his father had said in disgust. His brother's reaction had been about the same, only a little more restrained. His mother, however, had stuck up for him:

"Nothing will ever change how I feel about you. You're my son, and I love you just the way you are."

She had said the same to his father when he got on Yamato's case, and always defended him, even though it ultimately led to divorce. Yamato was grateful for her unconditional love, even though his father could never give him his.

Though Yamato had never had any intention of saying anything to Ren about his feelings for him, everything that had happened with Goda had changed his perspective a little. Ren had almost died. Even now, thinking about it, he felt rage claw at his heart and couldn't help wishing death upon Goda for what he had done to Ren. But he was glad Yankumi had stopped him from taking a pipe to Goda's head. He couldn't keep himself from wishing Goda would die, but at least he no longer wanted to be the one to make it happen.

That day, after Yankumi had met them outside the hospital to announce that Ren had come to and was out of danger, he had gone home and broken down in front of his mother. He'd sobbed into her arms like he hadn't since he was a child. And it had all come out: his anger, his fear, and how he felt about Ren, and that these feelings were with all certainty one-sided. She had listened, attentively, and told him what she thought:

"I wish I could tell you what to do. Sometimes we have these decisions that are so hard, we just want someone to tell us what to do, so we won't have to decide for ourselves. But unfortunately they can't, just like I can't now. This is your life, Yamato, and you will have to decide on your own, which course you think will be best for you. But I will say this: Kazama-kun is a good boy, and he cares deeply for you. You know him better than me, of course, but I can't see him ever judging you or distancing himself from you if you were to tell him how you felt. I think he'd be glad that you'd feel comfortable enough to tell him something this important."

Yamato had thought about his mother's words, and eventually decided to confess to Ren, even if Ren couldn't return his feelings. He had almost lost Ren, and the thought that Ren would never have known just how much he meant to Yamato made him feel awful. He couldn't keep it to himself any longer. He wanted Ren to know.

He glanced down at Ren sleeping quietly beside him, his pink, plump lips slightly parted. He looked so peaceful. Suddenly, Yamato felt uncomfortable looking at Ren like this while he was sleeping, and decided to take his manga book with him to go to the kitchen, and make himself some tea and read there instead. But then Ren's eyelashes fluttered, and the other boy awoke with a great yawn.

"Hey... how long have I been asleep?"

"Not long. 45 minutes, an hour."

"Sorry, I'm lousy company."

"Forget about it. You've had surgery, of course you're tired."

Ren smiled and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, sitting up.

"So, what you want to do? Want to watch a movie?"

"Actually... there's something I want to talk to you about."

"Oh?"

Yamato nodded.

"Okay... here we go. I can do this."

He took a deep breath.

"Ren... the thing is..." Another deep breath, then Yamato forced himself to meet Ren's eyes. "... I'm in love with you."

Silence. Then Ren's eyes widened with surprise.

"You mean... like... in love with me... for real?" he stammered.

Yamato nodded slowly. He looked down, unable to look at Ren.

"I'm not saying this because I expect anything from you, I just wanted you to know. You're my best friend, and I don't want anything to come between..."

"Yamato!" Ren interrupted. Yamato glanced up at the other boy.

And the most amazing thing happened.

Ren smiled.

And it wasn't a smile of pity, or anything like that. It was a wide, dazzling, overjoyed smile.

And then it was Yamato's eyes that widened with surprise, as he Ren leaned over and pressed their lips together. But only for a second, then his eyes closed and he stopped thinking and just drifted away, as he slowly moved his mouth against Ren's. The kiss was soft, and warm, and intense, and unlike anything he'd ever felt before. His heart was beating so hard he wouldn't be surprised if Ren could hear it.

When they broke apart, they both smiled shyly at each other.

"Uhm..." Yamato licked his lips. "I thought that... you were only interested in girls."

"That's what I used to tell myself. But... since knowing you, I've become ready to admit something to myself: I like guys too. And... I feel the same."

Ren took his hand.

"I'm in love with you, Yamato."

Yamato smiled so wide his cheeks hurt. He was happy. Deliriously happy. He hadn't been really happy in a long time, and he'd never been this happy. For the rest of the afternoon, the two best friends who were now boyfriends, stayed in Ren's bed, kissing and unable to take their hands off each other. They had to be careful not to overdo it on account of Ren's healing surgical wounds, but that was easy. It was all very new for them, and they were content with taking it slowly.

In the evening when Ren's sister came home from work, Ren immediately told her everything. She wasn't the least bit surprised. She just smiled, told them she was glad and invited Yamato to stay for dinner.

And now, several weeks later, Yamato was sitting with his closest friends and Yankumi, having ramen with his boyfriend. They knew, and like his mother and Ren's sister, they didn't judge them for being themselves. They accepted him and Ren without thinking twice. He and Ren couldn't have asked for anything more.

He looked up at Ren, smiling that amazing smile of his. Honestly, that smile could melt glaciers. Ren met his eyes, and his smile softened. Yamato's heart fluttered pleasantly.

Reaching under the table, he took his boyfriend's hand in his own.

And he didn't let go for the rest of the meal.