Title: Stumble and Fall
Author: Avelynn Tame
Disclaimer: I do not own Gokusen.
Summary: A new teacher has arrived at Shirokin, and he's not bothering to hide his attraction to the homeroom teacher of a certain delinquent class. 3-D greet him with their usual kindness and warmth, but Yankumi is far more interested in the reaction of one Sawada Shin…
Author's Notes: I should mention that Shinohara is not in this story, partly because he annoys me and I couldn't bring myself to include him, and also because I've got another multi-chapter story planned which will deal with the Shinohara/ Kumiko/Shin triangle. So the lawyer will have to wait his turn…
Chapter One
The following Monday, Kumiko ran late as usual; by the time she arrived at school she knew that the faculty meeting would be over and so she sprinted straight to 3-D's classroom to do the attendance register.
"Late again, Yankumi," Uchi called as she nearly collapsed out of breath against her podium. "What kind of example are you setting for us?"
"Ah, you want an example, huh?" she panted, shrugging off her heavy sweater and glaring at the few students who dared to start humming a suggestive tune. "How about this for an example, then – a double pop quiz in your maths class today. Is that a good enough example for you?"
"Aww, Yankumi..." he started to complain. "Too harsh…"
"Yes, Yankumi, it does seem very unkind. Surely only one pop quiz is necessary?"
"Ehh, don't kid yourself," she muttered, reaching into her bag for the register. Then her brain seemed to catch up, and she turned suddenly to the doorway, and the owner of the voice. "Y-You!" She pointed, her mouth dropping open in shock. "What are you doing here?"
A man was leaning against the doorway, a small smile playing about his lips. He looked to be about Kumiko's own age, with thick dark hair and bold, black-framed glasses. His clothes were casual – black jeans and a white shirt – and they suited his cool, calm demeanour. "Didn't they tell you?" he asked lightly. "I'm the new teacher." His mouth curved up into a grin. "Please take care of me, Yamaguchi-sensei."
The way he said her name made a strange tingle travel down her spine, but she brushed past it. "But... senpai, you're not a teacher – are you?"
"Actually, I just finished my postgraduate course." He grinned. "So I guess you can call me 'sensei'." He pushed away from the door and came into the classroom, glancing curiously at the students who had stopped what they were doing to watch the scene in front of them.
His eyes, darker than she remembered, returned to her; they swept over her slowly from head to toe, and her stomach flip-flopped in response. "Still the same woman I knew at university," he murmured at last. "I guess you'll always be my kouhai, huh?"
She lifted her chin indignantly. "Technically, Maruyama-sensei, since you're still a trainee teacher, I think that makes me your senpai."
He raised one eyebrow, apparently intrigued. "Well, then, I hope you'll tutor me sometime, senpai."
"Ah, no can do." She shook her head apologetically. "That'd be special treatment. It'd be unfair."
He moved even closer to her until there was hardly any space between them, and she had to tip her head backwards just to see his face. He was still looking at her in that strange, almost heated way. "Shame," he said in a low voice. "I was hoping it'd be like old times." He lifted a hand to her glasses, pushing the bridge up her nose slightly. "Haven't seen these before."
"I got tired of the contacts," she explained. She was starting to feel a little self-conscious at the way he was standing so close and ignoring her students who were watching in silence. She cleared her throat. "Anyway, senpai, what made you decide to apply to Shirokin?"
"I saw the poster," he said, glancing around the classroom at the graffiti and the mess as he spoke. "Actually, I saw your name on the poster and thought it would be fitting. It was you who made me want to become a teacher, after all."
She blinked at this revelation. "But what happened to your research at the university?"
"It didn't really hold my interest. Something was missing."
She beamed brightly at him, and the sheer force of it seemed to knock him off balance. "And you found that something in teaching!" She clapped her hands together. "That's wonderful. Anyway, senpai, we can catch up later – for now, let me introduce you to my most important students." She turned away, and thus missed the brief glimpse of frustration that passed across his face. "This is 3-D, as I'm sure you know. They're wonderful boys; just ignore what all the other teachers say about them. Oh, and don't pay any attention to what you read in the newspapers, either."
"Oi, Yankumi," Minami interrupted. "Is this you trying to say nice things about us? Because you kinda suck at it."
"Oh, shut up," she scolded. "You know I think you're great – you don't need to hear me say it." She gestured to the man standing next to her. "This is Maruyama Takumi. He'll be with us for the rest of the school year while he trains as a new teacher, so please take good care of each other, and please listen to him as you would listen to me –" She sensed the potential for a fairly liberal interpretation of this, and fixed them with a hard glare, adding, "– or you will face my wrath."
The bell for the first lesson rang loudly. "Ah, that's our cue, Maruyama-senpai." She quickly filled in the register, picked up her bag and gestured to the door. "Our first class is 2-B – ah, Fujiyama-sensei!" She smiled at the English teacher who had just arrived. "Good morning."
"Good morning, Yamaguchi-sensei," Fujiyama greeted her. "Maruyama-sensei." Her eyes darted between the two of them and she winked at Kumiko. She leaned in and whispered, "Sneaky minx, snagging the only good-looking one in the school!"
"What?!" Kumiko spluttered. "What are you talking about?"
"Ah, Yamaguchi-sensei," said Maruyama, placing a firm hand on her shoulder. "Shouldn't we be going?"
"Oh, yes, you're right." She was still flustered, sending confused distress signals to Fujiyama. "Uh – see you later, class." She hardly noticed the way that Maruyama stuck close to her as they left.
Fujiyama did, of course, and she smiled to herself as she was preparing to start the class. "Good morning," she said in English.
Normally at this point, they would all eagerly respond in English, but today they were shifting restlessly. Fujiyama frowned. Even their desks were in their normal positions instead of being pushed close to the front as they usually were for her class.
"That guy," said Kuma, "who is he?"
"You mean Maruyama-sensei?" Fujiyama asked, beginning to hand back the class's assignments. "He's a new teacher – he has to complete part of his compulsory training here. Didn't Yamaguchi-sensei tell you?"
There was very little response. "OK," she tried again in English. "Let's begin. I want to talk about the environment. Uchiyama, which issues are important in terms of the environment today?"
"How does he know Yankumi?" Uchi asked, sticking obstinately to Japanese. "She called him senpai."
Fujiyama's mouth pursed as she gave the class an exasperated look. "They were at university together," she admitted reluctantly, remembering what he'd told the other teachers that morning at the faculty meeting. "Maruyama-sensei was in the year ahead of Yamaguchi-sensei and they were friends. That's all I know. Now," she steeled herself for a third attempt, "the environment. Uchiyama?"
At morning break, Kumiko found herself without Maruyama, as he had been whisked away by the physics teacher for a tour of the science labs. She had to admit, she was slightly relieved. It had been wonderful to meet him again, but she'd hardly had a moment to herself. Now, at least, she had a few moments to lose herself in her thoughts.
Or, specifically, to reminisce.
She'd first met Maruyama Takumi when he started dating one of her friends. He had been fun to hang out with – always easy to talk to and quick to make a joke, even at his own expense. Of course, he'd been attractive, too – back then, his hair had been a little longer and wilder. His black glasses, which might have looked geeky on anyone else, suited his dark features. She had been instantly attracted to him, but she'd kept quiet about it since he was taken (and by one of her friends, no less).
Shortly afterwards, he and her friend had broken up for reasons never divulged. But although her friend opted not to spend time with him anymore, Kumiko and Maruyama had maintained their friendship. He was in the year ahead of her, with a double major of maths and physics – as they were both studious types, they spent a lot of time together in the library, which was how he ended up tutoring her.
She'd often wanted to tell him how she felt. She'd had enough opportunities – all of those days they spent sitting close to each other in a secluded corner of the reading room, comfortable silence wrapped around them like a much-loved blanket. But somehow the timing had never felt right. When he finished his degree, he had stayed at the university to do research, but by the last year of her degree they were both so busy that they hardly ever saw each other. Then she had been offered her first training position at Okida Gakuen, and he'd gone away on a trip to Europe with the university – all that considered, they'd never even been able to say goodbye properly.
At that time, Shinohara had also been in the picture, and that had been unrequited, too. She'd just chalked it up as something that wasn't meant to be, and had done her best to forget about it.
Now that he was back, she would freely admit that there was still a small smoking ember of attraction remaining, but it was nothing compared to the torch she had once carried for him. Most of her memories of their time together were good, warm, positive memories. Their friendship had been strong and wonderful – she hoped that they could pick up where they'd left off as far as that was concerned.
She'd been so surprised to learn that he was a teacher now. And more than that, she – his junior – had been the reason for it. "At first I didn't understand why you had such a passion for it," he'd told her as they walked to 2-B. "But then one of the professors at the university asked me to go with him to one of the high schools to promote science degrees, and we decided to demonstrate an experiment." He paused a moment, remembering, and sighed. "The looks on their faces… I thought I wanted to see that every day. And then I remembered how dedicated and enthusiastic you were about teaching, and I decided to follow in your footsteps."
She grinned up at him. "I'm really glad."
When he smiled at her, she felt her heart jump. Bad idea, she'd thought. It was one thing to have a crush on someone outside the workplace, but if you brought those feelings to work, it could have a detrimental effect on your ability to teach, not to mention relationships with colleagues.
And now, two and a half years after they had last seen each other, here he was again – this time as her colleague. She was surprised by how much he remembered about her – all of her little likes and dislikes, her habits and mannerisms. He had teased her about the pigtails. "They make you look young," he told her. "They're cute – but don't people confuse you with a student?"
"Not unless they also think I look like a boy," she'd replied with a quirk of her lips. "This being an all boys school."
In class, he also liked to banter with her in a gentle manner. The other students had seemed amused by the way that one of their teachers fired off a shot and the other would make a return just as quickly. It was all good-natured, and it made the atmosphere relaxed. To her surprise, she'd been able to get the whole class involved with the lesson. It made her look forward to the rest of the day, and especially her afternoon class with 3-D.
The 3-D boys were the students she was most fond of. If they liked Maruyama… well, it would be a sign of a truly good teacher. Of course, some days she wasn't even sure that they liked her, but she had to at least try.
"Ugh." Fujiyama plopped into the seat next to Kumiko. "Your class were worse than usual this morning."
Kumiko blinked. "3-D? But… you never have any problems with them. Or any class, for that matter."
"Exactly!" She glared at Kumiko as though it was all her fault. "They wouldn't do any work. All they wanted to do was talk about you and Maruyama-sensei."
Kumiko grinned. "Aww, they liked him too, huh? I thought they would. And after such a short meeting, as well. I guess he makes a good impression."
Fujiyama frowned. "But that's the weird thing – the way they talked about him, I don't think they do like him." She gave an annoyed grunt. "If Sawada had been there, it wouldn't have been so bad – he can usually keep them under control."
"Eh? Sawada? But… he was in this morning when I did the register." She smacked her palm against her thigh. "Damn him, sneaking out of class. When I get hold of him…" She shook her fist. But a few moments later, she got to her feet. "I'll go and see if he's still around. If Maruyama-senpai – I mean, sensei – turns up, can you tell him we've got 1-A next? If he goes straight there I'll catch up with him."
She knew where to look for Sawada, of course – the roof was his main refuge. Sure enough, she found him leaning against the railing, staring down at the courtyard below. "Sawada," she greeted him, "If you're in school, you might as well go to class, don't you think?"
His face was stony, although he wouldn't look directly at her. "Then I guess I'll go home."
"Hey –" she grabbed his arm. "What's up with you?" She stepped closer, trying to get a good look at him. "Sawada, if you're having problems with your family –"
He wrenched his arm away. "Leave it alone, will you? It's not my family – it's personal. So… can't you just stay out of it for once?"
"Sawada…" Her mouth set in a grim line. "You know me too well now – do you really think I'm the kind of person who'll say, 'Ah, well, okay, I'll let you deal with it on your own, don't forget to do your homework, bye!'?"
He let out an involuntary huff of laughter, and some of the tension seemed to ease. But he still wouldn't look at her. "It's just…" He looked to be wrestling with some great inner demon of his, and finally came to a decision. "Girl stuff. You know?"
"Oh." That was kind of surprising. Wasn't this the same Sawada whose disinterest in girls was well-known – almost legendary, in fact – both within Shirokin and apparently at some of the nearby girls' schools as well? (She had overheard a group of Meibi High girls giggling about what a coup it would be to snare Sawada Shin, a boy who was not easily impressed.) "You can ask me for advice, you know."
He gave her an odd look. "No, thanks."
She decided not to push too much on this one. "Well, if you change your mind, let me know. But at least listen to me when I say this: don't ask those friends of yours for help. Something tells me they'll only make the situation worse." She wrinkled her nose, thinking. "Kyou-san wouldn't mind giving you advice."
"I'll think about it," he said reluctantly.
She changed the subject. "So what was up with 3-D this morning? Fujiyama-sensei was saying that she had trouble dealing with them."
He shrugged, but she caught his lips twitching as though he was amused. "Something must have got them all worked up. Or someone." For the briefest moment his eyes met hers, and she thought that he was trying to make a point.
Whatever it was, she didn't get it. "Well, I hope they've calmed down by this afternoon – Maruyama-sensei will be in our class, and since I've done nothing but rave about you guys today, it'd be a shame if I had to knock some heads together." Her glasses gleamed, and she was so busy cracking her knuckles that she didn't notice the way Sawada's shoulders became stiff and his jaw clenched. "That goes for you too, Sawada – if my star student doesn't turn up, what does that say about me, huh?"
A distant bell rang, and she cursed. "I'm late – see you later, Sawada!"
She thought she heard a murmur of acknowledgement, but she was already flying down the stairs. She sincerely hoped that he would be there this afternoon. In his own way, he exerted a very calming influence over the rest of them, and even herself at times. It was often a relief to see him sitting in his seat, either lazily watching her from under his unruly mop of hair, or just sleeping. If 3-D were in one of their moods, it was a lot easier to settle them if he was around.
It was the kind of ability that would make him good with kids, she thought, amused. Then she smiled as she imagined how horrified he would be if he could hear her thoughts right now.
Sawada Shin, kindergarten teacher.
Class 1-A were somewhat startled to see their maths teacher burst out laughing as she walked through the door.
Author's Notes: Love it? Hate it? Got sent to this page by accident and don't care? REVIEW!
