Disclaimer:I don't own Gokusen… But if I give you a cookie, would you let me own it…? Nah… Probably not… Hehehe… Nevertheless, I own this story! Wahaha! Fight o!

Author's notes:Thanks a lot for the reviews, midnight solitaire, miss koneko, Zhahyjiah, Kawaii Selene and Indygodusk! And for all those who read andreviewed! Really appreciate it… Anyway… I really hope that this fic will kick some booty as you said… Hehehe… Here yah go!

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The Only Way

by Nia Ashin

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The cool breeze… The clear skies… The afternoon sun shining gently and casting its stray rays over his face… Perfect. Just the perfect moment for a---

"Shin Sawada!"

Damn…

Not again.

He had been brooding for the better part of the afternoon, skipping his last two classes in exchange for a breath of fresh air. The classrooms tend to get hot in the afternoons, so sleep wouldn't be as much comfortable as he wanted it to be.

Or so he thought.

He knew that his skipping in his classes had its reasons too. And that is avoiding a certain female whom he had… well... he had played a prank on. Hiding Yankumi's glasses seemed to be not a very good plan after all.

She hadn't noticed until it was lunchtime. And that's when she started getting hysterical, shouting things like 'that damn brat!' and 'so that's why I can't see a good deal with their math papers!' Apparently, Fujiyama-sensei had noticed it when the track-suited Math teacher almost came slinking inside the boy's washroom during lunchtime and the English teacher had to drag her away. Sawada had seen this and he all but thought to run away lest he wanted to get his head ripped off.

And now…

It looked like his luck had already run out.

She stood before him with that demon-face she has when she's angry or frustrated or just simply irritated. He had sat up from his position and was now facing her. Her dark eyes burned with anger as she stared at him that he shrunk a little. He felt not unlike a mouse facing a very ferocious cat.

"What?' he asked in a quiet voice. Trying to speak nonchalantly while your heart is beating fast in the case of nervousness is not an easy feat. He felt the fear creeping up his spine, threatening to crack his poker-faced expression.

"Hand it over, Sawada," Kumiko demanded. "Now."

"What?' he asked. "Hand what over?"

Kumiko felt her anger rise. What the hell?

"Don't play games with me, you brat!" she shouted. "Give me back my glasses!"

Shin had to fight to bite back a laugh. Her face was red in frustration and she seemed to have lost it already.

"I don't really know…" he stated lazily. Toying with her seemed to be interesting at the moment. It was rare that he get to see his precious teacher get so worked up.

Kumiko's eyes grew wide.

"I said…" she said in a dangerous tone. "Hand it over!"

Shin definitely heard the warning in her words. He looked her over. She looked all ready to fight in her stance right now. Sighing, he stood and walked towards her. This didn't seem to bother her as she stood her ground defiantly, waiting for him to come nearer. When he was standing right in front of her, she all but fought back the urge to punch his lights out.

"What makes you think I have it?' he asked her in a whisper.

Eh?

Kumiko sneered. "You were the one who removed it earlier."

Shin rolled his eyes.

"So?'

"Give it back, Sawada," she demanded. "Or else."

"Or else what?"

He heard the faint sound of knuckles cracking.

"I really don't want to hurt you, you know," Kumiko said. "But you're really pushing it this time, brat."

Sawada smirked at her.

"You're really serious, eh?"

He watched as she removed her hair tie and threw them over her shoulder. He knew he had to face her eventually anyway. Why not now? And maybe she'll calm down after venting out her frustration on him.

He stood there, waiting for her.

She stared at him for a moment. Now, she really has no choice. She'd beat him into submission if she had to.

"Come on, Yankumi," he taunted.

Hearing the jeer, she threw out the first punch, which he blocked easily with one arm. She swung again and tried to hit him on the head. Again, he blocked. And on it went, with her throwing all the attacks and him defending himself from her assault.

So… he can really stand against me, eh? Kumiko thought as they continued to their weird exchange. Interesting…

He was getting tired from blocking all her punches already and he felt that her attacks were getting closer and closer to actually hurting him. He avoided a punch to the side and caught her wrist with a hand.

"Oi!" she cried.

"Don't think you can easily beat me, baka," he pinned her arms on her sides as he caught the other one right after. He stopped her movements easily by pulling her closer and using his body as a leverage to actually pin her to himself.

"Bastard!"

He smirked. No way he'd let her win on this one. She'd have to experience losing in a fight sometimes.

"Stop smirking like an idiot!" she bellowed.

He had, as he did not have any choice, to pull her close when she struggled to release herself from his grasp. He didn't really understand why he felt funny in this very compromising position. Shin had to fight back a blush when he noticed that their faces were mere inches apart. He can almost feel her breath mingling with his own now.

"Let go, stupid brat!"

And that's when he noticed… eh? Was her face really flushing?

His was probably flushing too. But Shin continued to hold her firmly, a part of him fearing what she might do should he let go and another part, a larger one at that, just liking the way they are right now.

He had never been this close to her before. Well, if you rule out the time when he tried to pry her away from punching Noda when he caused the hostess problem, this might be the first time he held her this close to him. And that time, he had held on to her back. But this is different. He was not trying to stop Yankumi from hitting anyone. He was stopping her from hitting him. And man, did it feel good to hold her like this!

"Yankumi," Shin said, steadying her.

"Don't you try, Sawada!" she spat. "Let me go now!"

Her eyes burned into his and for a moment he became lost.

When had she started to affect him like this anyway?

And when in heaven's name did he ever find Yankumi's anger both delicious and frightening at the same time?

All the fight seemed to fade away from his system and self-consciousness began to settle in. Her furiously blushing façade surprised him and he failed to realize that he had loosened his grip on her already.

Wrong move.

Feeling the loosened grip of her captor, she used the only method she knew in this time of complete desperation.

She used her knee to kick him… there.

Fortunately enough, Shin knew she would attempt this attack the moment she felt his loosening grip, so he had moved away just in time. But her attack was nonetheless effective when he doubled over, having been kneed right in the stomach.

"Kuso…" he cursed as he fell on his knees. He held his stomach gingerly.

For a moment, Kumiko wore a smirk of victory. But it quickly faded when she realized what she had done.

"Oh…" she covered her mouth. "Sawada?"

His face red and there was a grimace of pain in his expression.

What the hell have I done! Kumiko thought in frustration. That's two today!

She fell on her knees beside him and held his shoulder.

"Sawada?" she said. "Are you alright?'

Shin raised his eyes to her .

I really hope she's joking… he thought as he looked at her incredulously.

"If you're trying to be funny," he rasped. "It's not working, Yankumi."

Kumiko raise her hands in front of her.

"I'm really sorry," she said quickly. "I didn't mean to--- Hey!" her tone changed in an instant. And her expression turned to irritation. "Why am I asking for your forgiveness anyway?" she spat. "If only you'd have given me what I asked for! This wouldn't have happened in the first place!"

Shin shook his head at her.

"Can you at least help me up here?" he said. "I'm hurt, you know."

She let out a sigh before she grabbed his arms to help him stand. When she let him go, he just brushed himself off and rolled his eyes at her.

"I can't believe you'd go that far, Yankumi," he said. "You could have seriously hurt me."

Kumiko's eyes widened.

"It's not my fault, brat!"

Shin grimaced.

All at once, her irritation vanished and concerned settled in.

"Are you alright?' she asked timidly.

"I'll live."

Kumiko looked at him for a moment and when she's sure he looked all right enough, she nodded.

"Well then," she said, sticking her hand out. "Hand it over."

Shin raised an eyebrow.

"Hand what over?"

"My glasses."

Shin looked at her disbelievingly for a moment before shaking his head.

This woman could be so unbelievable sometimes… he thought as he reached inside his pocket for the cursed glasses. I got beaten up because of her stupid glasses…

A small voice at the back of his mind was laughing hard and saying that it was partly his fault for getting beat up. He shut off the voice quickly, irritated by the truth it spoke of.

"So much for glasses, Yankumi," he said. "Really."

"Shut up, brat."

Kumiko waited impatiently for him, keeping her eyes determinedly on his.

But when she noticed that Shin's usual mirthful smirk had vanished and had been replaced by something she could only describe as a look of pure horror, she could only deduce that something had gone terribly wrong. He pale face made him looked like he had just seen a ghost.

"Oi, Sawada," she said. "What's wrong?"

Shin made a small noise in his throat.

"What's the problem now?" she asked.

He took out his hand slowly.

"Eh?' Kumiko voiced when she looked at his hand, which he opened rather reluctantly.

It was only then that she saw… that her glasses had snapped cleanly into two.

Shin could only look at her in fear for a moment before he slowly backed away. He was so sure he wouldn't live if she got her hands on him again. So while still she's still in shock, he chose this time to make his escape by backing away from her. Maybe she wouldn't notice until he was gone…

But he was wrong… again.

He was about to run away when he heard her call him back in her stiff yakuza accent.

"Sawada. Get. Back. Here. You. Bastard."

At that moment, he really couldn't think of anything else as his life flashed before his eyes.

Eh? Am I about to die? He thought.

He turned around to face the all-too-quiet woman behind him.

"Oh… crap…" he whispered as he saw her staring at him, her dark eyes flashing. He vaguely wondered why the hell he could see a danger sign pasted right in her forehead.

I think… I really am about to die… he thought as she slowly advanced towards him.

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Author's notes:Well? How was that? Hope you liked this chapter, my readers! Don't worry though. I love Shin Sawada too much that I won't let him die… Besides, Yankumi loves him too, ne? HeheheAnyway… I'll see you on my next update! Till then! Fight o!