AN: I have edited this! Especially the breaks and wrong info!! Thank you everyone!

Disclaimer: I do not own Gokusen. I also do not own japan, or wherever the setting is. But I do own this fic so please bear with the wrong info. After all, what matters is the story right? RIGHT? Ehehe. 

Age Matters?

Chapter 1

The Reunion

"Oooh…Nice morning!" Yamaguchi Kumiko exclaimed as she woke up, seeing the sun's rays filtering through her screened wooden window. She gpt up and got dressed in her usual—jeans and a shirt underneath a sweater, and proceeded to do her early morning chores. After cooking breakfast for everybody, she tied her hair in pigtails, slipped on her glasses and carried the backpack she always brought to school. It was already her sixth year in teaching in Tomoeda high school, and all of the hardest and most violent students were given to her, but so far, she has handled all of them. You could say that these troublesome sections were her forte. Why wouldn't she, when she has all of the years of practice of gang battle behind her, as the heiress to the Ooedo clan. So far no wrong people had discovered her secret, only that one guy in the very first section she had handled—Shin Sawada. She was inexperienced then, but now she had mastered the art of hiding her true identity from her class. Still, she did not regret that Sawada and his gang knew. His class was her first, and that was the class that she held very dear to her heart. They were the first students she had; she was the first teacher to sympathize with them and control them; and in the end they had all became good friends.

"I wonder where they are now; they should have finished their studies in college three years ago. I wonder why they have not returned to see me or Shiroken," she said. But deep inside, she knew. Her boys suffered many hardships in the school—abuse by the teachers and withering looks from their classmates—that's why they grew up to be the tough guys that they were. "They should be twenty-four by now. My high school boys! They will be all grown up and probably working now. Funny what five years does to you and to the people you know. It was just five years ago when I started being a teacher, when I met those dear boys. I wonder where they are right now; I hope they could visit their old teacher by and by." But truth was, as she walked to the school, nothing much has changed to the Yankumi (as her students fondly called her) outside. She was still the same small, skinny, perky girl. Five years has only made her mature experience wise, but she still had the same hidden beauty she had five years ago.

Skipping towards the school entrance and all the way to her desk in the office she said hello to everyone she knew. It was a happy day—she just knew it. Something good was going to happen to her. And it was beside the fact that it was her twenty-sixth birthday. When she reached the office, she was surprised by her co-teachers with a large birthday cake, while they were singing, "Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday, Kumiko, Happy Birthday to you!"

"Oh, guys, you shouldn't have, I'm surprised, thank you very much!" She said, grinning to everybody. A full swing celebration then took place, ten minutes just before the bell rang. Wine was passed in so early in the morning and all the teachers and staff was happy for Kumiko, greeting her personally as they approached her.

"Happy twenty-seventh, Kumiko!"

"Yes, happy twenty-seventh, though you don't look a day older! You're still the perky Kumiko!" Said her two girl co-teachers. Kumiko just smiled.

"Twenty seven and still very pretty!" Detective Shinohara said.

"Oh, Detective you're here!" Kumiko exclaimed, while blushing at what he had just told her.

"Yup, I couldn't miss this little party, you know. Especially Kumiko's birthday. Happy twenty-seventh!" He smiled. Again, Kumiko blushed and slapped his arm, "Oh, you shouldn't have, what about your duties?"

"They can wait—this is an important occasion."

"Anyway, I'm glad you're here." Kumiko told him before moving on to talk to the other teachers. She was grinning to herself. They think I am 27 when I am actually 26. She had forged her age so that she would be accepted as a teacher in the school five years ago at the age of 21. She was smart, and she was accelerated by a year when she was younger. The administration did not receive applicants under the age of 22 so she tweaked her resume and birth certificate a little to say that she was a year older so that she could fulfill her dream to be a teacher. This was also one of the many things the administration, and come to think of it, anyone, has still not found out about her.

The bell rang, and everyone scrambled to get to his or her respective classes, and Detective Shinohara said goodbye to everyone. They shouted goodbye back to him and everyone said "Happy Birthday" again to her. Everyone is so sweet. Kumiko thought. Especially Shinohara. They had gone out for a few times, but aside from a petty happy crush, he was nothing more than a friend to her. She had pretty much gotten over him, but still there were little flutters in her heart whenever they flirted together. Both of them had admitted to each other what each other felt—just overanalyzed admiration. Both were back to becoming friends—closer in fact, than they were ever before.

She would never admit to herself that the one for her was Shin. During the night she would often stay late, wondering where her former student was. He was smart, and as long as he checked himself every so often he was going to be okay—successful in fact, if he played the odds right. Yes, she was his teacher years ago, and as they grew closer, as she finally understood the real Shin, she gradually harbored a crush on him. But she often set aside this feeling as another feeling of admiration for all of the things Shin had put up with. And it did not help that Shin was the only person who truly knew her—who had seen her cry, had helped her in distress, had seen her fight, and fought alongside with her. Yet she still brushed it away—excusing it as just a feeling of fondness for the quietest but smartest student in her first class.

But again, not seeing him for five years did not wane the feeling. In fact, it seemed to grow stronger as the days went by. Now, she couldn't seem to sleep without thinking of Shin, and she often gazed and smiled at their class picture, where there he was at the center. He was just standing with his hands in his pockets, his signature pose, but he was smiling. And his smile was genuine, which was a sight since he only smiled sometimes. Stop it Kumiko! He is too young for you. But the truth is, the age gap was not that big—two years, if based on her true age. But what Shin knew was that she was 27, not 26, and a three year gap is big when you come to think of it. She sighed. She really had to stop thinking about that quiet guy with the most handsome face she had seen whenever it smiled. She had harbored many secret crushes over the years in different men, but it was not as long as she kept this one. Imagine, five years! I have really lost my grip. I have a crush on a twenty-four year old boy, who I have not seen for five years, and kept it for that time! Not to mention that he was my former student. But his face and antics still returned to Kumiko every now and then, such as this time. Absence does make the heart grow fonder. I miss him badly, badly than my other students. I could scoff to myself right now for even having delusions about Shin Sawada. But I will not admit that I am in love with him. He was just a petty crush years ago that seemed to have never left me. She tried to convince herself over and over again as she went to her classroom. She was very preoccupied when she went in and proceeded to just go to the blackboard and wrote out the outline of the day's lesson without so much as a greeting to her students. This was not what she always did, since she often met class with a perky smile and "Hi!" when she went in. But now she was very preoccupied with thoughts of Shin Sawada that she just up and wrote on the blackboard. She was about to voice out what was written on the board (still facing it) when she heard a very familiar voice shout out, "Yankumi!" The very voice made memories rush back to her. Memories of a fat guy with a very round, fat face that you couldn't almost see his eyes anymore. A boy who was crying for his dead father, promising to her and to everyone that he will take over their family business of noodles after taking culinary arts at college, vowing that he will make his father very, very proud. And as these very memories flooded her, she slowly turned her head around, very, very slowly, to see the class 3D, the first class 3D that she handled, in front of her.

"Kuma?" Am I dreaming? She blinked her eyes two, three times, but it was really what she saw, everyone in back in their same place—Kuma, Minami, Noda, Uchiyama, everyone, in their respective places and desks, in the same positions as they had five years ago, with nothing changed except for their faces, which matured a little. And way, way out in the back, in the lone desk he always occupied, with his elbow propped in the desk and his half-asleep eyes staring at her, was Shin Sawada, ever handsome.

Again she blinked her eyes many times, causing Shin to say out in that quiet monotonic voice of his that always held her entranced, "Yankumi, are you sick?" It really was them, she was not dreaming, it really was her section 3D! Her eyes watered, and she proceeded to cry out.

"You guys, it really is you! Where have all of you been for the past five years! Why haven't you seen me in all of those years? What happened to your dreams? Have you finished college? What has happened to all of you?!?!" This she said while bawling out in front of everyone, fresh new tears streaming from her eyes down to her face.

Eventually everyone came rushing to the front, to comfort the crying Yankumi.

"Yankumi, aren't you happy to see us?"

"We went here to see you, since we haven't seen you for many years, we wanted to surprise you, aren't you happy you saw us?"

"We have missed you very much Yankumi!" They all chorused together, but in the end, Shin's voice became audible as he said, "Are you okay? Why are you crying?"

That boy. How can he say those words and sound very concerned even when he stands aloof from everyone?

After sniffling out, she answered, "Guys, I'm just very happy to see you, that's why I am crying now, so don't worry okay? But where have all of you been? I have missed all of you so, so much!" And she began to cry again.

------

The moment she had walked in the door, Shin couldn't take his eyes off her. Five years had not done much to her; she was still pretty much the same beautiful Yankumi who was his homeroom teacher years ago. She was still perky, and the fact that she was supposed to be 27 didn't make her any bit older. Shin was not surprised that seeing her again made his feelings spark up even more. For five years he had tried to go away from her, very afraid of his strong feelings for his former teacher. Long ago, he had realized to himself that he had fallen in love with his teacher, but knowing that student-teacher relationships were a definite no-no in any society, he told himself to keep it. But that did not stop him from vowing to himself that he would at least confess his feelings to her. But after graduation, he went away, partly because of college, and partly because he wanted to test himself and the feelings he had for her. He often controlled himself from going over to their house and visit, and never went to see her. He only contented himself with little pieces of gossip he always heard from other batchmates and schoolmates, and was very hurt to find out that she and Shinohara were going out. As much as he wanted to go and interrupt them, he held himself, controlling himself, trying to test his feelings if they were indeed true. She was the first woman he had ever tried to love, and he was very wary of love as a feeling. He tried not to think of her every night and every time of day that he would drift off into dreamland, but all of his effort was clearly in vain. For five years he did this, only to find out that he indeed loved her, not only in the past tense, but also in the present. Boy, was he happy when he heard that nothing came out of Yankumi and Shinohara's dates. He shook his head. Kumiko, he said to himself, I must call her Kumiko for she is no longer my teacher. But this reminder did not stop him from calling her Yankumi when he talked to her. He sighed. She is only going to think of me as her student again. This was what hurt him more, that Kumiko was only going to think of him as her student. If only he could tell her his true age. Yes, his true age. I am not 24 as you think I am, Yankumi, no Kumiko. I am 26, just one year younger than you, not three, as you have always thought. He had to skip school for two years because he wanted to flee from his father's clutches. But he had not told the school this. He had faked the documents so that he could be accepted, thus, continuing his studies. Instead of 21, he wrote 19 years old in the school forms. Little did he know that this nonexistent age was going to be the reason why he could not be together with Yankumi. Kumiko! He scolded himself. Must call her Kumiko!

As much as he missed her, he could not hug her in front of everyone without bringing suspicions to himself, so he just returned to his high-school-Shin mode—an aloof and quiet guy. But he didn't expect that she would cry and break down. The strong Yan—Kumiko had broken down when she saw them. In a flash he realized how tormented she must have been in not seeing her former students and not having heard news from them.

He was glad that he had arranged for this surprise on the day of her birthday. All of his other friends and classmates were very enthusiastic of this plan. It turned out that they, too, had missed Yankumi, and wanted to see her, but have all been very busy in college and work to come see her. Although at the first two years some people visited her, the visits began to slow down because of various responsibilities. So they were very happy when he called every single one of them and proposed (commanded, really) that they go surprise Yankumi on her birthday. And so here they were.

When she started to cry he felt his defenses crumble, and he rushed to comfort her—but he wasn't the only one. The people in the front were the first to get to her, and offered comfort and explanations. He was concerned, very concerned, but eventually everything became okay because it turned out she was very happy to see them. She should be angry, really, because they had not talked to her for years, but here she was, happy that she had seen them at last. And believe me, Yankumi, I am also very happy that I saw you at last.

------

It turned out that Shin had planned everything for her—the surprise.

"You know, Shin, you should be reprimanded for giving my students the day off today, but right now, I am happy I will allow you to do such things. Oh, how much I missed you guys!!!" She exclaimed in just one breath, and proceeded to hug everyone she could put her hands on, including Shin.

"Whoa, Yankumi, okay, okay, just stop crying okay?" He said, his skin tingling from her unexpected touch. His wish to hug her before was fulfilled—only that it was she who hugged him.

"Okay, I will stop crying." She sniffled, herself surprised by what she just did. Kumiko, calm down, you are acting like a teenage girl!

------

"Hahahahaha! What students Yankumi!" Noda exclaimed. They were now celebrating in a shabby restaurant somewhere, drinking and eating to their heart's content and laughing at her present students' antics.

"You guys, you know drinking is bad but since you aren't high school students now, you may do it. But remember it is still bad!" Yankumi reprimanded.

"Oh, Yankumi, will you stop and just celebrate?" Uchi said.

"Oooh, you guys!" Her eyes were starting to get teary again. Beside her, Shin rolled his eyes.

------

It was already two o'clock as Shin carried the now-drunk Yankumi back to her house. As he was the only one who knew her address, he was the only one who did it. And besides, he was the only one who remained sober. The others offered to help him, but they were also inebriated so he just shooed them all into their respective houses.

As he opened the house using her keys, he didn't bother to wake up her family, since they will just be shocked seeing their heiress drunk. For a person who reprimanded us for drinking earlier, she sure is knocked out. She was now drifting in and out of consciousness. But apparently, she knew it was he who was carrying her. She is so light, even though drunk. Shin couldn't help but feel the tingle he felt earlier when she hugged him. Her side was pressed against his side as he carried her up the stairs, through the door and finally inside her room and down to her bed. He couldn't very well undress her so he just laid her down, took off her sweater and shoes and covered a blanket around her. While he was putting her down she latched her arms around his neck and hung her head over his shoulder. Shin sighed. He was determined not to react to her drunken "advances", if they can so much be called as advances.

"Yan—Kumiko, let go, I have to put you down." He said. She slowly lifted her head to look him unflinchingly in the eye.

"Kumiko, eh? You starting to grow up, Sawada?" She looked in his eyes, her own half-drooping. He held her gaze, and it dropped to her lips. As she pushed back a lock of his stray hair from his forehead, he started to lean towards her. But in the next split-second her head hung once again, destroying the moment. Shin shook his head. Man, control, Shin, control! He reproached himself and proceeded to lay her down the bed. He tucked in the covers around her, and before she drifted to sleep she gave him the sweetest smile he could ever imagine. He chuckled to himself and shook his head. And before he could regret it, and before he had a chance to think and stop himself, he swooped down and kissed her on her smiling lips.

Kumiko was already dead to the world as he went out of the bedroom and out of the house, careful to lock everything as he went out.