A/N : This should be posted last week but suddenly nausea hit me and made me lay on my bed for almost a week. I couldn't even lift a finger and I don't have my brother to help me to post this, too. So, sorry, for the late update~

Kumai looked at the door before turning back to Shin, who was silently tapping the table with his fingers in a steady rhythm.

"Don't you want to greet her?"

Shin chuckled slightly then slumped on the bar table. "Honestly I'm scared. It's okay if she kicks me, or punch me, or whatever she wants to do to me, but what if she doesn't say anything and just leave. What do you think should I do?"

The fat man curved his mouth up. "Love is complicated, isn't it? I remember that I fought a lot to get Ami's parent agreement for marrying her. In your case, it's the reverse. I believe her grandfather will receive your proposal right away but not Yankumi, especially after you left without leaving any word."

Shin sighed heavily. He knew he was wrong. He was too young to understand a mutual relationship needed understanding from both side, but that's not an excuse. He was too afraid to admit that he fell in love to her. He was too afraid that his feeling was just a shortly and would disappear right after he confessed, but once again, that's not even an excuse. He was just running away from his feeling. He was afraid because he was falling in love with his teacher. He wasn't an obedient kid, and honestly he was always against all the odds, but fell for his teacher wasn't something he could take it lightly. She was a woman, a matured woman despite of her innocent acts.

He was too much thinking about what others said. It's okay if the people were badmouthing him but he couldn't imagine what would happen if they ever touch her. He couldn't stand of imagining her suffering for his stupid feeling. Okay, that' not even the reason again, but that was what he felt years ago.

Each day he tried hard to forget about her. He worked harder and harder, moved from one place to another, made contacts with so many people, listened carefully so many experiences from his new friends, in hope that he had agreed himself that he had taken the right decision to leave her and everything related to her. It was a wrong love.

However, he was wrong. He was definitely wrong because the harder he tried to erase her form his mind, the stronger she stubbornly appeared in it. Her face was always drawn in his mind and couldn't be erased. Her voice was suddenly ringing in his ears every time he felt too tired and wanted to give up. Everything about her was always swallowing him each day.

Until one morning, yesterday morning, he woke up and decided that he should get back and straighten his feeling. Even when he stepped his feet back in the places where he remembered as memorable places he was still swimming in his doubt. What should I do if I suddenly meet her here? What should I do if she suddenly pops out of nowhere like she always did? All of the questions were fulfilling his mind. However, when he heard her voice again few minutes ago, he decided to admit that he was falling in love too deep with her and decided to confess whatever the consequences are.

I can't run all my life. I have to face this. I can't hide anymore. It is now or never.

If all was as easy as he imagined.

He sighed heavily and once again slumped on the bar. "I still couldn't imagine what I have to do if she just leaves without saying anything."

"But if you don't say anything, if you don't tell her, you won't know about her feeling. What if she actually loves you too? You don't know that, do you?"

He turned to the staircase where Ami went down with her daughter in her arms. He had to admit that she looked very beautiful that way. He silently cursed for his best friend's nice fate for having her as a wife.

"You have to try, Sawada."

"Just Shin, please."

Ami smiled at him and sat beside him. "You really should try. You won't get anything if you stay mute. You have to voice out your feeling. She is a woman. I am a woman. I understand what she thinks. As you know that we will think that it's not a love if a man doesn't voice out his feeling. Okay, some of us don't need words to know your feeling but we will have this feeling of unsure and will back off silently if we don't get any insurance that our feeling is welcomed. We don't want to fight for something absurd. We want to make ourselves assured at least fifty percents that a man has the same feeling with us."

Shin didn't know what to say. She's not just beautiful but also smart. Everything she said was very reasonable and he could understand easily what she tried to tell him.

"She is different. She doesn't think like most of us who annoyingly demanding all of the attention from our men, but she is a woman, especially a woman in her age. You have to know, Shin, that she had reached an age where she will take any chance she gets. She is in an age where she won't care about love anymore."

She slightly gulped. The woman was totally right. He knew Yankumi was different. She had a different way of thinking than any other woman in the world, but still, she was a woman. She's not ordinary woman but she was a normal.

Ami tapped his arm and smiled to him. "Get all the help you can and fight. Don't stay silent because she won't know how your feeling is if you don't tell her."

A bunch of young worker entered the shop. Kumai left to serve, leaving him watching his friends in awe. He smiled slightly about his change. In his memory, his fat friend considered as an almost selfish person who only cares about food. Everything would go fine with him as long as foods served in front of him. He wouldn't complaint, he would do everything you want as long as you gave him food.

Now, that boy turned into a very responsible man. With beautiful wife and daughter, he looked confident to face this hard life. He looked very comfortable with the fact that he should work hard every day to earn money for their life, despite the fact that he once felt ashamed to the fact that his father was selling ramen.

No. He couldn't see his selfish friend anymore. He was seeing a newborn person.

I guess I've lost completely to him. He is great. I'm nothing compared to him now. I'm just a selfish human being who is always trying to run away from my own feeling. I'm now feeling ashamed of myself for always too proud of myself.

"I guess I'll take a little walk."

Ami smiled and nodded before putting her daughter in her baby stroller to help her husband serving the customer.

Outside the shop, once again Shin breathed deeply and felt the fresh air fulfilling his lungs. He looked to his both side before decided to walk to the right, and decided that the park would give him another reason to admit that he fell for him true to his heart. It was the place where he spent his days the most when he was young, with his friends or just to walk alone when he felt suffocated with his life. The park gave him an unexplainable comfort.

He stopped in the middle of the street along the park and looked around. It didn't change. It was actually the same as when he was younger. It was still green and shady. The only thing that made this park different from his time was that so many people passed by this place now. Not only students but also workers, or just old people who were trying to find comfort like what he just did.

He closed his eyes and a picture of a woman with her pure smile flashed in front of him.

"Sawada?"

He opened his eyes and stunned. The person who was swimming in his head was standing right in front of him, looking at him in surprise, and suddenly jumped to him and punched his arm slightly.

"Wow! When were you back? Why don't you call me at all?"

Every thought he had disappeared suddenly and he could only blink many times, tried hard to find a good word to retort back.

"Why should I tell you that I'm back?"

The question slipped off his mouth easily like always.

Stupid! You shouldn't say that!

"Of course you have to tell me. You don't say anything and just left, and now you just appear again here, don't you think it's appropriate for you to stay silent. You should call me."

She looked matured than years ago. He had to admit that she grew beautifully too, despite the fact that she looked older now. He tried hard not to look too excited since the woman called him. Yes, he's excited, much, but his pride told him not to show it. Not in front of the person.

"Come on, you have to come to my house. Everybody will get excited if they know that you've back." She grabbed his hand and pulled him.

"Yankumi?"

Both of them stopped and turned to be faced by five persons who were staring at them with big question marks drawn all over their face. One of them pointed at her hand, which was hugging the latter's hand.

"What's that?" Honjo pointed once again to her hand.

Yamaguchi followed the finger and smiled sheepishly when she found out what her former student referred.

"Ah, this is Sawada Shin, my former student from Shirokin."

"Shirokin?"

"Yes. He's Kuma's friend."

Everybody nodded together, understood of the situation.

"This reminds me of Odagiri."Ichimura mumbled loud enough for everybody to hear.

"Yeah, yeah." Honjo suddenly turned into hyper. "I remember clearly how I bulge my eyes into this big when I saw them walking together side by side." He raised both of his hands and made fists in front of them.

A jealousy crept out of Shin's heart suddenly. He took a glance to the woman and his heart sunk right away when he saw a sheepish smile tugged on her lips.

"Oh, come on, guys! Do you think I can't be that close to my student? He was my student, and will be my student forever." She reached his hand and pulled him once again to walk away. "I treat you equally, you know, because you are precious for me. All of you, no one left."

He was my student and will be my student forever.

The words mingled in his head repeatedly, as if reminded him about the truth. Shin pulled his hand from her and walked silently beside her. So, this is how I've been in your heart. Your student?

"Do you still make any contact to him?" Kuraki nudged her in her side.

"Of course! He even went to my house many times after that. He even called me unexpectedly some times. Not saying anything, just asking me if I'm free or not then hung up."

Everybody praised her in awe, for having such a deep affection for her students.

"And thank to you for coming to Akadou. You saved us." Kamiya smiled at her genuinely.

"Oh, come on, guys! Don't praise me that much! I'm flattered!" She slapped him on his side, made him wobbled.

"Yamato said the same too, you know, and it's rare for him to praise someone like that."

"And that stupid Yamato got away too fast." Ren grumbled silently behind them.

"Don't you think he's been too secrecy lately?" Kuraki jumped and blocked them. "You know, he never tells us anything again. I don't remember he brags about his life, or his school, like we always did when we decided to meet. He just smiled and listened for what we told him but never once he tells anything about himself."

"Guys, please," Yamaguchi cut them right away, "he's trying to cope up with everything, okay, with the sudden change of his life. He doesn't want to make you worried. Isn't this just like him as usual?" She didn't really like they fell into wrong guess which she knew that it wasn't wrong at all before. They weren't her students anymore but she was still feeling that they were. That's why she hated when they said they felt something was wrong then something was usually really wrong.

"Yankumi, don't you see that he is too silent lately? This is odd, you know. Okay, he is a silent from the very beginning but this time he is more silent. He smiles at our jokes but it's sour. It is really sour. I don't know. I just feel something is not right with him."

Everybody stopped walking and turned to Ichimura who looked at them seriously.

"I'm not kidding with my feeling. Since the divorce of his parent, he changed. He turned more silent than before."

Shin silently furrowed his eyebrows. Divorce? What's this? I never heard about this.

"Honjo, do you know something?"

The said person looked up and sighed. "Actually he called me around two weeks ago. He said nothing important, just asking about my relationship with my dad, and the store, and then he hung up."

Everybody looked at each other in wonder.

"Come on, guys, he's trying okay? Why don't we just let him be for a while? He will come to you when he really needs a hand to lend." Yamaguchi tried to cheer them up.

"Yeah, right, like he will do that willingly. The last time we needed to force him to spill everything, but still he didn't say anything. He closed his mouth tightly even when we pleaded him to say something. He still stays silent even when he knew that we knew he was hurt."

"About what? Why I never heard about this?" Now Yamaguchi who was the one who blocking them.

The five of them sighed and rolled their eyes as the result.

"We saw him being cornered by his father again."

"Eh? What happened? Did they fight again? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Nope." Ren walked forward with a frown on his face. "It was just like before. He said something awful to Yamato but this time Yamato didn't do anything. He just bowed to him and say I'm really sorry. He looked pained but said nothing to defend himself. I don't like this at all."

Ichimura followed Ren who was walking ahead in annoyance step. "Me too. I prefer what he did before when he punched that bastard on his face than just keep silence like the last time. He's scary when he said nothing like that. I feel like I'm watching a ready to explode volcano but tried hard not to explode."

This is not good at all. Yamaguchi stared at them in silent. "Do you know where he lives?"

They looked at each other and sighed before shook their head together.

"Then call him and tell him that he has you beside him. I guess that's the best thing you can do now."

"I'm sorry, but I have to leave."

Yamaguchi turned to the speaker. "Eh? Where are you going? You should come to my house first."

"I will, but not now. I'm sorry, bye."

Shin turned before Yamaguchi could stop him and walked away fast. I have to find him soon. He took his phone and scrolled through names.

"Yo, what's up?"

"Where are you?"

"In my room in my apartment. Is there something wrong? You sound worried of something. Is a lion preying on you right now?"

Shin didn't give him any answer. He closed his phone and suddenly ran.