Standard disclaimer applies.
Summary: [Gokusen 3/ROOKIES] When Ren becomes bored, people go out of their way to entertain him. It's always been that way and it'll always stay that way. Poor Yamato's only just realized that people avoid Ren for a reason what that happens, even his sister. It's a Tuesday morning and for a reason unknown to him, they themselves staring up at a cement sign that says: Futagotamagawa Gakuen, in the presence of a girl who used to be referred to as Goldilocks, but is now known as Yagi Touko.
667: Neighbour of the Beast
By REIVEN
Part I: It isn't the things you do; it's how you handle taking the credit after you've done it.
It was a beautiful morning. The sun was shining; the breeze blowing gently rustled the leaves of the large trees that lined the streets. Flowers were in bloom that day, painting an almost ethereal portrait of colours across the sidewalk stones. Cat meows and dog barks filled the air like music before a big white cat came leaping out a bush and disappeared in a flurry of hisses and spits into the underbrush across the street. Not two seconds later and brown dog appeared out of the same greenery, sniffing the air around it and followed the white tabby into the scrubs it had scampered into.
Given the weather, Yamato would be inclined to feel happier if he wasn't, at that moment, trailing after his ex-enemy, currently-best friend, like a newly hatched duckling. As it were Yamato would have gladly followed the white cat into the safe sanctuary of the bush, especially now that Ren wasn't looking.
As if he could hear what Yamato was thinking, Ren turned from the scenery he was admiring at that exact moment to grin at his friend.
"Thanks for accompanying me, Yamato."
Yamato's eye twitched. "Yeah…no problem," he said. I wish I was in Yankumi's class right now, he added mentally. "But all the same, where are we? And better yet, what are we doing here?"
"Oh, come on. Where's your sense of adventure, Yamato? Haven't you ever wanted to do something just for the hell of it? Tried something just because you felt like it? Live a little! We're only alive once."
Yamato wanted to say; My dog ate it, but instead he huffed and gave a resigned shrug. "Whatever man. But if Yankumi catches us, you're taking the blame."
"Is that what you're afraid of? And everyone calls me the Yankumi sympathizer," Ren laughed and clapped Yamato on the shoulder. "Don't worry; Kura and Icchi's got it covered."
Isn't that all the more reason to be worried?"But why here? We could have just gone to the Pachiko Parlour…or the mall?" Or stayed at home and slept? Did I turn off the Snooze button on the clock this morning?
"Tch. The arcade, the Pachiko Parlour, the ramen shop, karaoke… That's what we always do. Don't you want to try new things, go to new places? Pick up new hobbies? I heard baseball's all the rage this season?"
"Baseball? You and what team?" Yamato nearly laughed, trying to image Kura and Icchi, or Honjo and Kamiya for that matter, attempting to play.
"Hah. Me? Baseball? Don't be stupid. Just because it's everyone's favourite sport doesn't mean that I want to play it. Are you retarded?"
"Funny that you call me retarded when you're the on who brought it up. And for the record, I'm smarter than you."
"Right. So tell me, Mr. Genius. If you're so smart, then how come Kura and Icchi managed to trick you into entertaining me today?" At Yamato's bemused look, he added. "I know about their secret evil plans. You think I don't hear them moan and groan behind my back when I complain that I'm bored? We've been friends a long time. Besides, why else do you think I act so insufferable about it?"
There was a moment's pause before Yamato said; "You're an asshole," and walked on ahead, not even noticing that they had stopped.
Ren grinned. "Takes one to know one," he said and jogged to catch up.
It was a small street they were on. The shop houses on the side selling everything from fruits and flowers to magazines and snacks. They passed the occasional vending machines stacked with cigarettes and drinks.
It seemed to be a peaceful neighbourhood.
People smiled at them when they passed and bid them a good morning. A young boy bowed in apology to Ren when he knocked into him while coming out of his house at top speed, and was still muttering an apology when he disappeared around the bend.
It was a scenario so unfamiliar back home, where they were well known delinquents. There shopkeepers eyes them suspiciously when they passed. Some even stood protectively in front of their bananas and hissed snappishly when someone from class 3-D strayed too close. People were merciless and cruel and all of them had no choice but to be merciless and cruel right back.
But walking here, in the unfamiliar place among these unfamiliar people, Yamato felt safe…happy. It was like they weren't loathed school rejects for once; just two ordinary students walking to school, stopping occasionally to get a snack and trying to recall if they have any assignments due that day.
By the look on Ren's face, Yamato could tell that he was on the same train of thought.
But he still did not know what they hell they were doing there.
- - - - -
It had been ten minutes of silence, sighs and the occasional double-take when a pretty girl passed (on Ren's part at least—Yamato wonders what kind of girl Ren would find attractive, especially living with such an attractive sister).
"Hah?"
It took Yamato a good five seconds to realize that Ren's incredulous look was aimed at him and that he's voiced his wonders out loud.
"Are you ill?" Ren asked, lifting his hand to Yamato's forehead as if to check his temperature.
"Am not," said Yamato, slapping the hand away indignantly.
"You're not in love with my sister are you, Yamato? Because that would just be…disturbing and completely weird."
"No, I'm not," said Yamato slowly, as if he were talking to a petulant two-year old who was insisting that he'd taken the last cookie in the jar. Not that the description was too far off.
"Good. Keep it that way," said Ren seriously, not trace of humour anywhere in his voice.
"Don't worry. It's staying that way." She isn't my type anyway…too tall. Yamato realizes that his height had never been an issue until he started hanging out with Ren and occasionally meeting his sister. Both of them are abnormally tall. Ren's shoes don't help anything either, neither does his sister's heels.
Speaking of heels, that hard thing that came flying out the alley and hit his bag with a thump looked like a woman's heeled shoe. But since when did shoes come flying out of deserted alleys by themselves?
"Did you hear that?" Ren said, stopping Yamato in his tracks with a hand to a chest, and from mentally berating his own idiotic thoughts. "It sounded like a girls' voice."
It was a girls' shoe. Yamato wanted to say, but one look to the side showed an empty spot where Ren had stood not a second ago. So he grabbed the shoe, for a reason he was sure would come to him later, and disappeared into the alley following his unpredictable friend.
The further he walked into the alley, the louder he heard the voice Ren had mentioned before. It was a girls' voice and from the sound of it, she was distressed. And from the sound of the accompanying voices, it was obvious that she wasn't alone. Her status of not being alone in a dark alley, shouting for help and evidently missing a shoe, accompanied by a chorus of laughing male voices indicated that she was being harassed by a group of immoral villains looking for cheap thrills and enjoyment at the expense of another person.
Yamato decided that he would become a Private Eye one day. Like Magnum P. I. or a Detective like Holmes.
But there was still the mystery of how the shoe had gotten from all the way from over here, to all the way over there where he and Ren were standing. About a hundred feet out.
"Yamato!" whispered Ren viciously for him.
He found the streaked hair, source of his frustration that day about a meter in front of him, glancing to something around the bend and out of his line of sight. Just ahead he saw a discarded school bag, a few cans of upturned garbage, and on closer inspection, a couple drops of blood on the white pavement.
He threw aside his own bag (and the shoe) upon reaching Ren and looked to see what the other boy was looking at.
Up ahead, backed against a metal fence was a girl, she looked about their age. The buttons of her vest had been torn off and the white shirt underneath smudged with dirt. Cornering her were three big guys. One was too blonde, one was too bald and another had a large, bleeding wound on his forehead in the shape of a heel, but otherwise he was just right. In fact, they looked like they could play the part of the three bears in a live stage show about Goldilocks. The girl could be Goldilocks, despite not having gold coloured locks. But never in any storybook Yamato's mother had read to him when he was small, did Goldilocks knee any of the three bears in the gonads.
Ren and Yamato physically cringed.
Goldilocks had pushed her was past two of the bears still standing and was about to make a get away, before one of them grasped her on the upper arm and threw her roughly into a mountain of black plastic bags on the side.
The unfortunate bear; the one with the heel-head-wound and the newly acquired soprano voice, staggered to his feet, eyes flashing with anger and disgust as he limped over to where the two other bears had Goldilocks pinned to the ground.
At that moment it occurred to Ren and Yamato that maybe, had they intended to do anything, this was the time for them to do it.
Ren took off first with Yamato trailing close behind. Yamato was adamant that the only reason Ren always took off first was because he had longer legs and was, thus, faster. When Yamato was adamant, there was no changing his mind…except when it came to Ren, because the boy could be persuasive if he wanted to, and if he that didn't help, he'd just irritate the other person into complying.
"Hey, you!" yelled Ren before plating his fist into Bleached Blonde Bear's nose. He collapsed backwards with a groan and was immediately knocked out when his head collided with the edge of a fallen garbage can.
Yamato thought it was rightly appropriate, like it was the garbage can's way of taking revenge.
Bald Bear went next. Yamato buried a fist in his stomach and one under his chin, sending him flying back into a pile of festering garbage.
That, too, was appropriate.
Soprano Bear was last. His expression of unconcealed shock and panic was obvious on his face as he looked at his fallen bears, then at the two lean boys standing before him like conquering heroes.
"You…bastards!" he growled, his meaty hands in fists as he lunged at Ren, identifying him as the biggest threat despite his pretty-boy looks.
Ren almost laughed because it seemed like such a one-sided fight. Soprano Bear had a good sixty pounds on him, but it was almost like taking candy from a baby. Or as it were, taking Goldilocks from the Three Bears.
He was down before he even knew what hit him.
It was Ren's fist, then his elbow being unceremoniously introduced to the back of his head.
And that was the end of the Three Bear.
"Yeah!" whooped Ren, pumping his fist in the air. "Did I tell you, Yamato? Adventure, excitement, exercise. Would you have gotten that if you'd stayed back at school?"
No. Quiet, peace of mind and breakfast. Either one would be welcomed right now. "Whatever."
A sniffle caught they attention and both turned to the girl, slumped dejectedly on the ground with her arms around her knees.
"Hey…" said Ren, kneeling down beside her but careful to leave a foot length between them. Years of sexual harassment accusations had educated him. "Are you okay?" he asked, looking to Yamato and back at the girl.
Yamato walked over and crouched down beside Ren, but he didn't say anything. Years of tolerating visits from his older girl cousins with new make-up sets and hair pins had put the fear of God in him.
Or women, at the very least.
Goldilocks took a moment to compose herself. The sniffling ceased and she slowly lifted her head, looking back at Ren and Yamato through bloodshot eyes.
"Are you all right?" Ren asked again, his face sympathetic. "Don't worry about them," he motioned to the Three Bears. "We took care of them."
Goldilocks just nodded, not yet finding her voice. Her hands unfurling from around her knees as she straightened up.
Ren and Yamato noticed the lack of buttons on her white button-up shirt before she did and considerately looked away. Ren took off his jacket and handed it to the mortified girl without a word and keeping his eyes averted.
Yamato thought it almost an impossible feat, but he decided that even Ren knew when it was an appropriate time to look and when it wasn't.
Goldilocks pulled the dark jacket over her arms, the hems hanging almost to the middle of her thighs and kept the front folded across her chest.
"Thank you," she croaked, sniffling and wiping her tears on the back on her hands.
Yamato unconsciously handed her a handkerchief. He'd forgotten that he brought one to school everyday and that absolutely no one knew that he did. If there was ever someone Yamato adamantly wanted not to know something, it was Ren; because he would tease him mercilessly then Kura and Icchi would join in. Now, being affected by Ren's sardonic humour, Yamato was sure that Honjo and Kamiya would join it too.
But Ren didn't say anything, and Yamato didn't deign to remind him.
"Are you okay? They didn't hurt you, did they?" asked Ren again.
Yamato was almost touched by the sympathy in his voice. But then Ren looked at him, at the handkerchief (which was not only blue but also embroidered in the corners), back at him and flashed a mischievous grin, Yamato felt nothing but irritation and a fine dose of anxiety at what was to come.
"No. Just some scratches. Thank you again. I…I…" Goldilocks sniffed, covering her face with her hand, the other keeping the jacket covering her torn shirt in place.
"Do you need to go to the hospital or somewhere? Home? We'll accompany you if you want."
"N-No. I should go to school. It's nothing. I just…I just…" she trailed off. Ren and Yamato thought they heard the name 'Kei-chan' being muttered.
"Come on. We'll walk you to school."
"You don't have to," said Goldilocks. "We've already done so much."
"Nonsense," said Ren spiritedly. "We're just your regular, hometown helpers. Always ready to lend a helping hand!"
Yamato half-expected a loud guffaw at the end of the sentence; Ren's arms on his hips and his chest puffed, laughing to the sky.
"Where is your school?" asked Yamato for the first time in that alley.
"It's not far, just a few blocks up," explained Goldilocks. She was straightening out her skirt and brushing off the dirt and sand from her legs and knees before running her fingers through her disheveled hair. Her eyes were red and puffy, but dry thanks to Yamato's handkerchief.
"We are here for some fresh air. A little walk would do us good. Eh, Yamato?"
"For the record, I still don't know where we are and what we're doing here."
"Adventure, man! Thrills! What, would you rather be sitting in a boring classroom hearing Yankumi break out into another of her 'my precious student' speeches between the explanations of Pi and algebra?"
"No—"
"Do you prefer watching the guys fight over another Gokon Kamiya's arranged to walking free under the sun, breathing in the fresh air and looking at the girl not bound by Gokon obligation? And where there're girls, there're skirts and where there's a breeze, there're always panties being flashed!"
Yamato almost smacked his own forehead with his open palm. Goldilocks either didn't hear Ren hearty speech or chose not to listen. Instead, she walked over to where her bag and school things were scattered on the ground and began gathering them and putting them back into the bag.
Yamato suddenly remembered the projectile shoe and went to get it along with his and Ren's bags.
"Here," he said, walking back over and holding out the shoe to Goldilocks…or would it be Cinderella now? One thing was for sure, Yamato was not going to slide the black shoe onto the girls' foot. Ren could be the Prince Charming if he so wanted.
"Thanks," she said, sparing him a small smile.
"Aaa. No problem."
"Ready?" asked Ren, rolling up the sleeves of his red shirt as he strolled over.
Golderella gathered up her last book, put on her shoes, tightened the black jacket across her chest, tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and nodded.
"Alright. Let's go!"
Golderella gave a small chuckle and Yamato rolled his eyes.
Why me?
"I'm Yagi Touko, by the way," Golderella said as she walked towards the alley exit, the two boys flanking her.
"Kazama Ren, and Mr. Happy over there is Ogata Yamato, but we all just call him Smiley."
"Shut up, idiot."
Yagi Touko let out a real laugh then, the first time in all the while they'd known her. It was appropriate though, to commemorate the first time she wasn't referred to as Goldilocks or Cinderella or Golderella or 'she'.
"You two remind me a lot of the guys at my school," she said, turning to look at Ren. "Where do you go to school? I don't think I've ever seen you around here."
"We go to Akadou. It's…not around here."
"Why aren't you in school?"
"We're skipping. Got bored. Trying to find different means of recreation. Karaoke and games can become so tedious if done everyday."
"I'm just here because I lost Rock, Paper and Scissors."
"Shut up, Smiley. No one asked you."
"I go to Futagotamagawa Gakuen. We just call it Nikogaku."
"Very cute," said Ren. "We just call out school Akadou. Why do you need a complicated name for a school anyway? As if a longer name makes it more interesting."
Yagi Touko laughed again. Her swollen eyes were returning to normal and the redness was fading. Besides her new school uniform accessory, Yamato estimated that she'd be as good as new in about ten minutes. Enough time to get her to the school without any evidence of wrongdoings (again, despite the new uniform jacket) and get the hell out before a misunderstanding leads them to get the shit beaten out of them.
She did say that he and Ren reminded her a lot of the guys at her school. And judging by the ball-crunching knee-smash earlier, she must have seen a lot of fighting.
Get in. Get out. That was the plan.
"What do you guys do in school?"
"Besides sleeping? Not much."
"I mean activities? Are you in any clubs?"
Ren scoffed. "Do we look like rule-abiding club members? We fight mostly. Sometimes we vandalize school property when we're in the mood. We've flooded a bathroom or two in our time too. Besides, Sawatari would probably throw us off the building roof and himself along with us if we ever considered joining a club."
"Really? That's too bad."
"Uh…what about you?"
Get in. Get out. That was the plan.
Ren being nice, sociable and friendly to the girl?
Not the plan.
"I'm in the baseball club. Well, I'm the manager really. You should come and meet out teacher and coach. You're going to love him! He's funny, nice, supporting and a bit strange."
Girl asking them to stay longer than necessary?
Not the plan.
"His last name isn't Yamaguchi is it?"
"Huh? Err, no. It's Kawato. Kawato Koichi. Why?"
"No reason."
Yamato thought he saw Ren exhale a bit too sharply.
"So…what happened back there?" said Ren again. Yamato would have marveled at his subtle topic-changing skills, if he had any.
"They were asking her out on a date," said Yamato.
"Shut up, Smiley. No one asked you."
"You know…just guys showing off and wanting something they can't have."
Ren and Yamato both nodded. For some reason, the image of Sawatari immediately came to mind.
"Lucky that you guys came when you did. Otherwise…I'm grateful."
"It was nothing," said Ren, basking in the glory. Yamato could see it.
"It's just up ahead, over there," Yagi Touko said, pointing to the large school building in the horizon. The marble sign on the gate entrance embedded with the words 'Futagotamagawa Gakuen'.
Ren and Yamato both shared a look and glanced to the girl jogging up to the entrance. Both followed at a more cautious pace.
"Should we just walk straight on ahead?" asked Ren.
"What about your jacket?"
He thought for a moment. "Yeah…it is my favourite one. You have no idea how hard it was sewing the purple material inside."
"Right. Looks nice though," said Yamato without even thinking of his words, leaving a space wide open for Ren.
Surprisingly, he didn't take advantage. Instead the mocking stayed within the usual territory. "I like your handkerchief too. It brings out the colour of your eyes."
"Shut up, asshole."
"Did your mom embroider it, or is it a personal hobby we don't know about?"
"I hate you."
"Hey, guys!"
Both looked up at the voice. Finding Yagi Touko standing in front of the gate waiving them over.
"Too late to turn tails and run now, Smiley."
"I'll smother you in your sleep, you asshole."
Ren didn't satisfy Yamato with an answer. Instead he flashed him one of his insufferable grins and jogged up to meet Yagi Touko where she stood waiting.
"They're practising now. You should come and watch. It'll be fun. Maybe you can even join your own club back at school."
"Sure. My heart flutters in anticipation."
Yagi Touko just gave him a knowing smile; her eyes dry and already returned to normal. "That what they all said."
"Who?" asked Ren, raising a questioning eyebrow.
"You'll see," she said and walked into the compound of Futagotamagawa Gakuen, leaving the two truants staring at her back.
Ren opened his mouth to speak but Yamato beat him to the punch.
"Call me Smiley again and I'll be you to death with your own boots."
Ren laughed and held both his hands up, showing that he'd meant no harm…and that he wasn't armed.
"Going then?"
"No choice. Too late to run," said Yamato, sighing and resumed his steady stride, both hands tucked comfortably into his pockets. "'Kind, supportive and weird.' Can't be worse than Yankumi."
Ren scoffed. "Don't you know, Yamato, everything can always 'be worse' once you've say that. Murphy's Law: what can go wrong, will go wrong. I thought you said you were the smart one?"
"I'm smart enough not to believe in superstitions."
"It's not a superstition. It's a fact of life."
"Yeah, whatever."
"'If one advances confidently in the direction of one's dreams, and endeavours to live the life which one has imagined, one will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.' By Henry David Thoreau!"
The closer they got to the baseball field, the clearer the voices became. At first it was a loud determined voice, speaking a quote so cheesy it put Yankumi to shame twice over. After that came a chorus of laughter, followed by an indignant argument over how beautiful such a quote is, as is the person who originally spoke it.
Yamato wasn't partial to meaningful quotes, especially ones talking about love, dreams and fate. Ren hated them too. He always said that people who wrote poems weren't getting any in real life, otherwise, why would they be writing poems about love and sex in the first place?
He had a point there, Yamato had to admit that. That's why both of them got along so well. Both were intellectually on a different plane than that of Kamiya and Icchi. Honjo and Kura were in a different category all together.
"Didn't I tell you? Murphy's Law."
"Shut up."
…to be continued.
I wrote this on a whim for about 8 hours in a row. I started at about 11 and it's 7.44 A.M. right now. But I finally finished it! I split it into two because I want to be evil like that. So the second one is coming soon. Wait for me, everyone!