Episode 6: First love… Protect the one dearest to you!
The very next morning as dawn approaches, Hinako finally got her senses back as the sun rays broke into the room. She yawned and stretched until noticing that she slept in the living room on the sofa. 'I've never slept here…' Hinako thought to herself as she noticed that she was covered with one of her big blankets. "That's odd." She mumbled, sitting up and stretching out her back. In a blink of her eye, she noticed her two buttons were undone. Hinako dipped her head, confused. "How did I get home last night? I was…the accident…and the blood…" She murmured sending herself a scurrying for another seat across the room.
She couldn't move or breathe. And yet she has to get up and go to school, but she couldn't. However, she wasn't ill with a cold or anything else. Even with a fever, she would never miss one single day of school. Hinako wasn't weak, when it comes to sickness. The only thing that's been draining her was her terrible nightmares and sleepless nights. Being the fearless girl that she is, Hinako made up her mind to go to school no matter what. So, she took her clothes off and put them in the washer, then she took herself a quick shower and a nice warm bowl of ramen for breakfast.
On the other hand, Yamato didn't sleep much that night. Thinking about the unconscious Hinako, it kept her mind busy all-night long. He was remembering all of Hinako's reactions, seeing her weak moments when she sees blood, lots of it. Even though she sees it, she still remains fearless. 'How can she be so fearless?' Yamato thought to himself, getting more pissed thinking about her. Girls are supposed to be all cute, sweet and very pretty. But Hinako was a bit too self-centered, very fearless, and always spoke her mind out loud. She was indeed pretty and maybe a little cute, but her persona outrage those things, or she's just a girl with no fear. Yamato was speechless, pissed though, but bewildered by her courage.
"Who is she?" Yamato asked himself, more curious than before. He wanted to know why she was scared of blood. His curiosity grew more than ever before. He got up, got dressed, and then rushed to school. When he got there, he went straight towards his desk and chilled.
Moments later, Hinako walked in. She still didn't feel good but manages to have a cracked smile on her face. She waved at everyone in class and sat down at her desk. Then, she felt tired and decided to take a little nap. The boys thought it was strange for Hinako to take a nap early in the day. Including Izumi. But the group of seven let her be.
~Minutes Later~
"Big announcement!" Hinako yawned from her light sleep as she heard Kamiya yells out loudly over the noises of the rest of the class. He stood right where Yankumi usually takes attendance.
Hinako couldn't help it, but she was a tad bit curious of why Kamiya looks so happy about, and what's the big announcement is. When Kamiya got the silence that he wanted, then he proceeds.
"I've got a hook-up party!" He yelled. Izumi rolled her eyes, and Hinako's ears start ringing as the rest of the class (expect for Yamato) cheered loud with joy. Kamiya held up his hands to silence the entire class. "Don't be shocked when hear this. This time there's 4 groups. Everyone here right and now will be able to take part!"
The girls have learned that Kamiya is known as the master of arranging hook-up parties, the fact that he could get a group of girls from a different school to go out with a bunch of Akadou boys have always amazed them. They don't know how he does it.
"You did it, Kamiya!" Ren cheered as he stood on top of his desk.
"Nice going, Hook-up party ring leader!" Ichi cheered, nearly in Hinako's ear.
Honjo nodded in agreement. "The girls! Who are the girls?!" He chanted, excitedly.
"First up, Momo girls." Kamiya placed a poster with a drawing of the girls on it on the chalkboard. "Then, Elize Girls school, Seijun Girls High, finally, Grace Music School." He placed three more posters on the board.
With all the girls posters hung up on the board, all the 3-D boys rushed to the front of the classroom to pick which group they want to join for the hook-up battle party.
"Oi, oi, oi! Yamato!" Honjo called over his shoulder. "Which one will you join?"
"Um…I'll pass." Yamato shrugged his shoulders as he turned away from his crowding classmates.
"EH?" Yamato didn't answer to his classmates as he walk to one of the desks in the front and sit down, staring off into the distance, bored.
After a few seconds of silence, Ren spoke up, breaking the silence as he was sliding across one of the desks across from Yamato. "I see! Well now, are you afraid of getting embarrassed if you're less popular than me?" He asked, messing with Yamato's hair.
Izumi giggled softly as she saw Ren preying on Yamato's ego like that, which also made Hinako really angry at him, that she wanted to beat Ren's ass right there and now.
'How dare you prey on Yamato on that?!' Hinako thought to herself, feeling angry.
"What!" Yamato snarled out as he slowly raised from his seat making it very obvious just what Ren has been doing by making his comment. Yamato found it impossible to turn down a challenge at being number one, if they challenged him to a match of popularity among the girls he won't be able to turn it down…would he?
"I'm less popular? That's impossible!" Yamato growled.
Nope, he wouldn't. Yamato was gonna take the challenge.
Ren smiled when he heard that. "Then…let's have a battle at the party!"
"Sure, why not!" Yamato growled smugly as Hinako's heart completely drops. "I'll show you!" He added not at all seeing Ren giving the rest of the 3-D boys a thumbs-up from behind his back.
"I'm getting fired up!" Honjo yelled out as he jumped in gleefully.
"Alright! Let's put more spirit into it!" Yamato cheered.
"Oh!"
Hinako was worried that Yamato will find himself a girlfriend at the Hook-Up Party.
"Let's get some girlfriends!" Ren cheered.
"Oh!"
"Kura, Kura!" Ichi called out to him. "What about you?"
The girls turned to see Kura was still sitting at his desk, which was very strange and unusual. Because Kura would always be the first one to be in a group.
"What?" Kura waved his hand. "Ah, I'll pass."
When he said that, everyone in the whole classroom was completely shock, including the two girls. Kura would never ever miss a chance to go to a hook-up party. The boys ran up to him and circled around his desk.
"Hey! What's wrong, Kura?!" Kamiya yelled out.
"Do you have a fever or something?" Ren asked as he put his hand on Kura's forehead.
"I'm not sick!" Kura replied as he removed Ren's hand.
"Ohayou!" Yankumi called out, entering the classroom.
The whole class went silent and cautiously turned to her.
"What's everyone all worked up for?" She asked, curiously.
"It's nothing." Yamato muttered as he answered for them, dismissing Yankumi's question.
"You don't have to hide it!" Yankumi chuckled out.
"It's pointless to tell you." Kamiya mused in response. "Since it's about love."
His classmates all nodded their heads agreeing with what he just said. But it only made her more interested, since the subject is about love. The boys are now in dangerous waters.
"It wouldn't be 'pointless.' Don't hesitate to ask me anything about love." Yankumi said, sounding both offend and excited. The 3-D boys all shook their heads. "C'mon, don't hold back!" She urged them to speak up about love.
"By the way…" Ichi's head popped up from above the crowd of his classmates.
"Yes, what is it, Ichimura-kun?"
"Yankumi, do you have a man?" The girls winced when they heard that question. He went there. To make matters worse, the rest of the boys laughed while shaking their heads at the question. Yankumi went silent for a few seconds. Though the girls already knew the answer, there was no way she had a man, but the two wouldn't say something like that to her, because if they taunted with their teacher comes with consequences after all.
Yankumi gave a small chuckle and then her smile faded. "We're having a pop quiz."
There was the consequence as the boys groaned.
'That's what they get.' Izumi thought as she sighed.
"Okay, please take your seats!" Yankumi said, walking to the front to take attendances.
As everyone took their seats, Yamato watched Kura, noticed that he was smiling really goofy.
"Something's up with Kura." Yamato whispered to Ren and the girls.
"There's something up with that boy." Izumi whispered as the others nodded in agreement.
Right after school, the five boys accompanied by their two female partners in crime followed Kura. It was getting weird, because they saw him skipping and humming. They all hid in some boxes that were laying on the side of the road. Kura looked at his watch than he starts running. The 7 teens rose from their hiding place after he pasted. They almost looked like a failed cosplay photo.
"Where's he going?" Yamato asked, curiously.
"Dunno…"
"Let's go after him."
They started to move along with their boxes, but Kamiya couldn't get out of his box and fell over. Kura stopped and turned back to them, but luckily, they hid before he could even see them. Then, he looks at his watch and ran off, with the seven quickly got out of the boxes and following him. He leads them to the hospital. As they got inside, the seven hid right behind a carboard person as Kuraki went up a cute-looking girl. The seven peaked around and smiled while watching the scene between Kura and an unknown girl unfold.
"I see." Yamato grinned darkly. "So it was this."
"That Kura didn't even say a word to me." Ichi grinned, while shaking Yamato in joy.
"It explains why he hasn't been around with us lately." Hinako stated.
"When did he find a cute girl like that?" Honjo added.
"Damn. She's cute too." Ren whined.
"But what are they talking about?" Kamiya wondered.
Kamiya and Ichi who held the hospital carboard person in place raised it a bit to move it forward so the group could inch close enough to listen in on the two lovebirds conversation, but one false move would spell their end. Kamiya tripped over the carboard person and tumbled forward taking Ichi with him along with the rest of the group tripped over the fallen boys and fell into a large pile the only one remain standing was Hinako who bit down on her lip hard when she realized they've been caught. The group brought the carboard person down with them, loudly gaining Kura's attention. He eyed at them like an owl pointing.
"Hey! What are you guys doing?!" Kura shouted.
The boys did their secret wave to Kura. "Hello…"
Hinako just rolled her eyes and thought to herself. "Idiots…"
"Get off me…" Izumi mumbled, laying on the floor with them.
After they got up, the seven were introduced to Kura's girlfriend. Her name is Saki.
"So, Saki-chan you've been admitted for 2 weeks?" Hinako asked, with a sweet smile on her face.
"Yup." Saki said, nodding her head.
"What are you sick with?" Honjo asked, like an idiot he was. He quickly receives a bunch of slaps to the back of his head by the group of six.
"Baka! How could you ask that?!" Ichi asked, with a disappointed look on his face.
"It's nothing serious." Saki-chan smiled.
"Sooo…" Hinako moved closer to Saki-chan smiling sweetly at the girl. "How did you meet this guy, Saki-chan?" The others moved closer as well, waiting for the answer. Saki-chan exchanged looks with Kura and they both smiled at each other.
"Well, actually it was when I had a cold last week." Kura explained how he and Saki-chan first met. "At that moment, an angel swooped down right in front of me."
"A fateful encounter?" Yamato asked, by smiling.
"It's not like you at all!" Ren cackled pointing teasingly at the boy, the rest of the boys laughed along with him.
"Shut up!" Kura said as he stood up with the rest of the boys goofed around with each other.
As the boys wrestle about with one another laughing and teasing each other as they did. Saki-chan turned to the girls.
"Do you two have boyfriends?"
"No, I don't have a boyfriend." Hinako said as she secretly looked at Yamato.
"Me neither." Izumi added, secretly looking at Ren.
Saki-chan followed both their lines of sights. "I see." She turned toward the guys, smiling. "I see you're good friends."
"Good friends?" Kura laughed. "It's more like dorks just messing around."
"Must be nice…" Saki-chan looked down sadly. "I want to go out, too."
"Is that so? I can take you out any time." Kura said, trying to cheer her up.
"Really?" Saki-chan smiled as Kura nodded. "Ah! I have to head back because my dad's coming."
Kura looked at the time on his watch. "Oh. That's right. See you tomorrow. Bye bye."
She waved and left.
"Kawaii…" The boys mused.
Hinako and Izumi couldn't help but they both roll their eyes at what the boys said.
"She's definitely a cutie, isn't she?" A new voice joined the group.
The boys nodded.
"When I'm serious, this is what I can get." Kura said.
"Hey!" Hinako yelped loudly as she jumped back along with Izumi and the boys from the person who just popped up beside them. The new voice was Yamaguchi sitting very casually as if she had been there the whole time. Hinako found herself behind Yamato.
"Don't just pop up like that." Yamato barked at Yankumi trying to stay steady on his feet while he had Hinako gripping the back of his blazer tightly. Yamaguchi didn't say anything in response to the yelling. She grinned pushing herself off the couch and drawing close to Kura.
"You rascal!" She smiled at Kura. "Well done Kuraki! Was that your girlfriend?"
"No, it wasn't."
"Yeah, right." She nudged the boy, playfully.
"Yamaguchi-sensei?" Another new voice joined the group.
"Hai." She answered.
Suddenly Yamaguchi paused in her light teasing to Kuraki and gain a dazed look as one of the doctors approached her. The look on Yankumi's face, she was definitely in love. At least the eight knew what the reason why Yankumi was here at the hospital.
"What's the matter?" The doctor addressed her.
"Natsume-sensei!" The gang of eight eyed Yamaguchi very curiously as she practically floated in front of the doctor. "Um…you forgot this…"
"Ah…" The doctor, Natsume-sensei smiled brilliantly when Yankumi offered him a book. "Sorry that you went to the trouble of returning this."
"She's acting really weird all of a sudden, isn't she?" Izumi muttered, the rest of her friends and classmates nodded in agreement.
"I think she's in love." Hinako muttered, as she suggested. Yamato glanced back at her and then back at the two adults. Strange…it kinda looks like they're having a tug of war with the book rather than Yankumi handing it off to the doctor. "How romantic…" Hinako gushed.
"Yeah…" Yamato rolled her eyes. "If you call one-sided love romantic…"
"You…you look great in your white lab coat." Yankumi muttered to the doctor still refusing to let go of the book.
"Oh." Natsume-sensei muttered humbly. "This is the first time seeing you in your jersey."
"Eh?" Yankumi finally released the book and Natsume-sensei stumbled back from the sudden lack of pull from her. "Oh, no…I apologize for being dressed this way!"
"What is she doing?" Izumi muttered as she was watching her teacher sank to the fetal position as if to cover up to her clothes out of embarrassment.
"No, you look good." Natsume-sensei assured Yankumi despite how embarrassed she looked. "You look like you're ready to seriously take on your students." He tells her.
"What?" Yankumi lifted her gaze, as Natsume-sensei smiled at her.
"I really like you in jerseys, Yamaguchi-sensei." But judging by the look on Yankumi's face, she didn't hear a word past 'I like you'.
While still standing there, Yamato and Hinako both made a face at their teacher and it was not at her stumbling around the hospital like she was drunk.
"Our homeroom teacher is sooo…weird…" Hinako tells him.
"You're just now realizing this?" Yamato snorted.
~The Next Day~
It was the day of the hook-up party. Yamato, Ren, Honjo, Ichimura, and Kamiya stood before the rest of the class going through the hook-up party rules.
"Alright! It's time to battle today! Is everyone ready for this?!"
"Yea!"
"Let's start the Hook-up Party Info session!"
"Yea!"
"Tch." Hinako sucked her teeth and was sitting in the back of the classroom with Izumi and Kura, watching all of this unfold before her. The 3-D boys were all so organized and serious about this it was amusing to watch as well. Kamiya pull a string from a scroll unraveled and revealed something that made the girls laugh quietly.
"First!" Kamiya shouted out. "They hate pushy guys!"
"They hate pushy guys!" The class repeated.
"Second!" Ichimura reveals the second scroll. "Put on a bright smile!"
"Put on a bright smile!" The rest of the class repeated. The two girls were trying even harder to keep from laughing aloud at them.
"Third!" Honjo called out, unraveling the next scroll. "Have intelligent conversations! Dirty jokes are banned!" It was rather ironic how he said this and made a rather obscene gesture to his pelvis.
"Have intelligent conversation! Dirty jokes are banned!"
"Don't you dare mention the name 'Akadou' that is absolutely important!" Ren unraveled the next scroll as he said this. "Alright! Today we'll get everything right!"
"Yea!"
"They're going to utterly bomb this party." Izumi muttered to herself giggling all the way.
"What's so funny Sakurai?" Izumi glanced over herself where Yankumi suddenly appeared with a smile just as large as the one Izumi was holding right now. Izumi simply grinned on nodding her head in the direction of the class. "What are they doing?"
"Hook-up party Do's and Don'ts." Izumi read the banner aloud to Yankumi.
"They're getting ready for their group dates tonight." Hinako added.
"Must be tough, recruiting girlfriends." Kura chuckled from his desk in the back of the classroom, who won't be taking part in this event, because he has Saki-chan.
"Kuraki, you're relaxed, aren't you?" Yamaguchi mused by grinning at the boy. Of course, Kura being the boy that was brushing his teacher off and turned away from her.
"Not really." He grumbled.
"Today, will you be meeting with that girl again?" Yankumi went on talking not bothered by Kuraki brushing her off so easily. Hinako and Izumi leaned over to see Kura's face and found him grinning like a big fool.
"Probably." He mused.
"Love is so wonderful." Yankumi sighed turning to gaze at the rest of her class going over the rules that they had come up with for their group date. Kuraki hummed in agreement by nodding his head.
"When you fall in love, why does everything seem fun?" Kura spoke up.
"That's so true." Yankumi nodded to this, even the stupidest things felt enjoyable with someone you really liked.
"The desire wells up to protect her at all costs." Kuraki went on his smile just spreading with each thought or feeling as Yamaguchi nodded in agreement. "Also, just being able to see her smile makes me happy."
"You're really in love, aren't you?" Hinako smiled at the boy sullenly. Kuraki nodded his head as he was still smiling.
"How romantic!" Izumi said as she squealed.
"Kuraki, Takaishi, Sakurai." Yankumi beamed turning to the three with one of her fierce looks of determination she would have often. The three looked at her curiously as she held up her fist as if she was getting ready to fight. "Let's all do our best!"
"Yes!" They chorused before high-fiving each other but then the thought came to them.
"Our best?" Kura repeated the teacher arching a brow like the girls did. Yankumi simply gave the three the peace sign in response to their questioning looks.
The girls hoped that the man Yankumi was aiming for would prepare for her.
Kamiya asked Hinako and Izumi to help them get girls. They agreed, only under one condition. The five boys would have to wear exactly what the two girls tell them to wear.
Later that day, the time for the hook-up party came quickly. The five boys grouped up with the Momo High girls. But before doing their group date, Yamato, Ren, Honjo, Ichi, and Kamiya wanted to see how the rest of the class was doing in their group dates along with their two girls Hinako and Izumi. The seven checked the first room with the first group, which was the girls from Elize Girls School. They look through the door because they had windows and saw some of their classmates looked like they were making faces, some looked like they had mental problems and the rest of them just looked…psychotic! The boys leaned across the table eagerly at the Elize girls, while the girls bundled up together in fear, obviously.
"Oi, oi. It's really tense in there." Kamiya said as the others nodded in agreement.
"Besides, that isn't even a smile." Yamato added.
In the second room which was next door, and they saw the girls from Seijun Girls High. But they already look very nervous about this group date, they didn't even the school the boys went to.
"Well, let's start introductions with me first." One of the boys stood up.
"Hey, wait!" Another boy stood up as he growled in a scary pit-bull kind of look. "I'm supposed to go first."
"Hey, don't cut in line!" Another one stood up as he yelled out loudly.
Less than a second, the rest of the boys in there were screaming and yelling at one another, fighting among themselves like they didn't have a group, the group of girls in there sitting on the couch across from the boys, watching them with great fear.
"Geez, this isn't the place to be fighting." Ichi said, watching through the door with the others.
"Got that right…" Hinako added, looking at the boys in that room with disappointment.
The seven checked on the third group which had the girls from Grace Music School in there, and they saw the boys in there with them were being very, very pushy.
"It was love at first sight. Please go out with me." One of the boys said.
"I can't live without you." Another boy added, while holding a microphone.
"Please, I beg you." Another boy said as he stood up.
It was obvious they were trying to be romantic, but all the girls were utterly terrified by the boys as they all backed up into a corner of the room, from the mass of boys. But the boys pushed on, trying to pursue the girls to go out with them, but they were being pushy.
"They're too pushy!" Ren said, looking disappointed.
"That just leaves you five…" Hinako added, as she got up with an idea.
After a while, Hinako and Izumi come back with a pile of clothes for the five boys.
"Alright boys, here you go." Hinako said as she and Izumi gave them their clothes.
When the boys got their clothes, they looked at them in disgust. Izumi laughed out loud because she thought their reactions were just hilarious.
"You two are kidding, right?" Honjo asked, looking disgusted.
"No, we're not kidding." Izumi shook her head. "Now you five get dressed so Hinako and I can fix your hair, got it?" She gave them a dark glare which the boys left quickly in fear.
When the boys came back, both Hinako and Izumi wanted to laugh their asses off, but when they saw Yamato and Ren came out, they thought they both looked so cute! The girls fixed their hair, and then they gave both Yamato and Ren fake glasses. The girls hoped it would make them look nerdy or dorky, but it made them even cuter!
"Are you girls alright?" Ichi asked, looking worried.
"You both look like you really want to cry." Kamiya added.
"We're fine." Hinako said as she took a very breath. "Right, Izumi?"
"Oh, yeah." Izumi added giving them a thumbs-up. "Alright boys, in you go."
After that, Izumi found a vending machine that has beverages right down at the end of the hallway and got herself and Hinako a drink, then they stepped out to get some fresh air. On their way out, they pasted by a couple of delinquents from another school. Hinako thought they were going to their own hook-up party, so she and Izumi just ignored them and kept on walking. Once they got outside for fresh air, they found a little bench all to themselves right in front of the building.
However, they didn't sit out there for long when Hinako's phone started buzzing so suddenly. Hinako took her phone out of her blazer's pocket to see that it was a call from Yamaguchi.
"Moshi moshi?" Hinako answered.
"Takaishi, I just got a call from the hospital. Kuraki took Saki-chan out on a date and then she collapse just as her chest starts hurting and couldn't breathe."
"Is she alright?!"
"I don't know, I just found out minutes ago. I'll meet you and the others at the hospital."
"Okay, ja ne."
After she hung up, Hinako turned to Izumi. "Izumi, we need to get to the hospital right now."
"Why, what happened?" Izumi asked.
"It's Saki-chan…she collapse…" Izumi's eyes widened when she heard that answer.
"Oh no! We got to tell the boys."
"I'm with you." Hinako nodded. "Let's go."
Hinako and Izumi ran back into the building until they bumped into the delinquent boys that they saw earlier. But this time they looked scared, very scared. The girls ignored them once again and kept on running. They saw their five boys standing right outside of the room, looking very sad.
"Boys, we need to go to the hospital right now!" Izumi panted.
This quickly alerted the boys.
"What's wrong?" Yamato asked, as he and the other boys look concerned.
"Kura took Saki-chan out, and then she collapse when her chest start hurting." Izumi stated.
"Come on, we need to get to the hospital now!" Hinako added.
After the boys quickly changed back into their normal clothes, the group of seven ran straight to the hospital. Yankumi was waiting for them. She lead them straight to Saki-chan's room, where Kura and Natsume-sensei were standing in the hallway. They ran towards them.
"Kura!"
"What do you think you're doing?" Yankumi asked Kura. "Taking a sick person out like that?!"
"It's okay." Natsume-sensei reassured her. "She's just fatigued since she hasn't been out in a while. I think that's why she was experiencing painful heart palpitations and breathing."
"Um…" Kura hesitated. "About Saki-chan's condition…"
"She has heart disease." Natsume-sensei answered sadly.
Everyone's hearts dropped after hearing that, especially Kura's. The door to Saki-chan's room opened and Saki-chan's parents walked out. Yankumi stepped forward to them immediately. "Excuse me." They looked at her. "I'm Kuraki's homeroom teacher, Yamaguchi. I'm truly sorry that this happened." Then Kura stepped forward to speak. "I'm sorry. I…I…"
Before he could say anything else, Saki-chan's father grabbed Kura and charged towards the wall by slamming the boy to it very loudly.
"Oto-san!" Saki's mother hurried forward, trying to stop her husband from hurting Kura.
"You! What are you trying to do? Do you know what you've done?" He shouted at Kura.
"Fujimura-san." Natsume-sensei pulled the man off Kura, with the help of Fujimura-san's wife. Kura looked like that he wanted to cry right there and now.
Fujimura-san went to the school with Yankumi and Kuraki to sort out the situation. While Yamato, Ren, Honjo, Ichi, and Kamiya huddled outside the faculty room along with the girls Hinako and Izumi. They were listening to the adults through the door.
"I truly apologize for this." Sawatari said as he bowed.
"What on earth are you teaching here at this school?" Fujimura-san asked. "It's too late after something happens!"
"You're absolutely correct." Sawatari bowed again.
"He's being really hard on them in there." Izumi muttered from beside Hinako. "I…I don't understand this, she's okay now, isn't that what matters?"
"It's still a fact that Kura took Saki-chan from the hospital in the first place." Hinako muttered back, before the two of them continued to press their ears against the door to listen to the conversation within.
"I hear that this school has a bunch of uncontrollable students. Certainly…You can just tell that they're that way. I won't get the police involved since my daughter said not to. However, I have faith that your school will properly punish him."
"Yes, of course." Sawatari said.
Hearing enough, the boys barged into the office, while the girls stayed behind at the doorway.
"Hey, hey, hey! What are you saying?" Ren snarled, leading the line up as the rest of the boys followed him.
"Kura isn't the bad one here." Yamato said.
"She was the one that called Kura out." Ichi explained.
"Stop!" Yankumi pleaded them.
"We can't be quiet about this!" Honjo shook his head.
"How can we accept this!" Kamiya added.
"It's fine, guys." Kura said, trying to calm his friends down.
"Boys…" Hinako mustered up enough courage to enter the room as well as having her left arm held firmly to her chest as a wall of protection. "Yamato, come back outside and wait…" But she was ignored. Saki-chan's father slowly turned to look at the boys and scuffed lightly.
"I'm amazed that your friends are the same way." He said.
"As a school, we'll properly punish him concerning this incident." Sawatari bowed.
"Please do so."
"Um…excuse me, sir?" Izumi took the little space on the right beside Hinako speaking softly under his hard stare. "You must understand, Kura did that for Saki-chan." She tells him as her best friend Hinako nodded in agreement.
"For my daughter?" He eyed the girls at his scowl never once leaving him, he turned his attention back to Kura. "If you care for my daughter, don't ever see her again."
With that said, Kura looked up at him sadly. Fujimura-san grabbed his bag and walked by the boys to get to the door. But before he went out, he looks back at the girls. "As for you two ladies, I would suggest you both stay away from these hoodlums." He added in his still harsh tone. "Before you end up in the hospital as well."
"What did you just say?!" Ren yelled out.
"Kazama!" Yankumi said.
"Ren!" Izumi said as she and Yankumi moved as fast as they could to the now angered Ren with Izumi standing between him and Saki-chan's father while Yankumi was standing right behind him, just in case he began swinging. As he proven his point, Fujimura-san scuffed again and then he headed out the door and left.
Following these events, the group of eight decided it was better for them to go their separate ways for the night. Ren said that he was going home but judging by his body language he would most likely be destroying trash bins on his way just vent his current anger, Izumi followed him just to be safe. Kura sulked away without saying goodbye and everyone else big sullen goodnights before heading on their homes as well.
The only ones left walking around was Hinako and Yamato. The two of them walked in awkward silence for quite a while, until Hinako speaks up and broke the silence.
"Saki-chan…" Hinako's voice caught Yamato's attention. "She must be feeling sad right now…"
"What makes you say that?" Yamato asked.
"Kura got into big trouble today, and all he was doing was spending time with his girlfriend." She answered, shadowed with a sad look on her face. "But then she collapsed, and probably blaming herself for it, not Kura."
Yamato understood what Hinako was trying to say. Well, when he thinks about that, it makes perfect sense. If Saki-chan thought it was Kura's fault, then she would let her father press charges. Hinako rambled on talking. "It…must be so painful to think you're the only one who sees the good qualities in someone, no matter how hard you try…no one sees the goodness in a person the way you do…" Hinako stopped walking and soon did Yamato, who turned and watched her curiously as she hung her head and gripped on the fabric of her blazer tightly, like her heart was hurting. "Why is always the same…?"
"Hinako…" Yamato spoke her name softly as he tipped his head as he dig both his hands into the pockets of his blazer. Hinako raised her hung head enough for him to see a look of guilt and almost unbearable anguish cross the girl's face. "You sound like you've experience something terrible." When Yamato pointed that out, he could tell that much from her face. When he tells her this, Hinako blinked as she release her tight grip from her blazer, and like a light switch, her expression quickly changed and painful look was completely gone like it never existed.
"E-Eh?!" Hinako stammered rubbing at her face, oddly. "D-Do I?" She added a nervous chuckle to this conversation. "Sorry about that, I've always had a natural talent for empathy." She offered this answer to Yamato while adding an obvious strained smile. She continued to rub both her cheeks and face for a moment more giving both cheeks a slight pat and let both her hands drop to either side of her body.
"Daijōbudesu ka?" Yamato arched a brow at her strange behavior, she nodded her head in response.
"Mm…yeah I'm fine." Hinako shows a small smile. With that said, Yamato didn't ask any more questions to her.
"Still…I can't blame people for thinking what they do." Yamato sighed out sadly, turning his gaze to the starry sky above. "When people look at us, they don't just see us. They see the school that we go to and its reputation with it."
"Labels really suck!" Hinako shouted.
When Yamato heard that, he didn't bother to hold back the snort and slight laugh that came out in response to Hinako's comment. But he agreed with her.
"They sure do." Yamato nodded in agreement. "I mean I used to listen to labels too, but now at this point in my life, I realized that they kept me from having some really good friends and meeting very interesting people."
"Mm…now that I think about it I'm kind of curious…"
"Eh?" Yamato looked at Hinako again, and he noticed how close the two of them stood together. Even in the darkness, Yamato could see her face was bright red as he leaned forward bringing his face close to her face to examine.
"What label does Hina-chan have?"
"W-What label I have?!" Hinako stammered out eyes wide as dished.
"Hai." Yamato nodded. "What was Hina-chan labeled back at Kuro Saigai? Were you a fearless fighter there as well?" He asked her by teasing and chuckled to indicate it.
"Yeah…I was."
"Where did you learn to fight?" He asked curiously.
"Well it's kind of a complicated story." She replied simply. "I'll do you that another time, ok?"
Yamato knew there was something up with her, but he decided to it slide because he didn't want to force her to tell him. As they got to Hinako's apartment, she tells Yamato goodbye and goodnight. Once she got into her apartment, she got herself ready for bed. However, she didn't get any sleep that night. All she could think of was Kura's sad face when he was told to never see Saki-chan ever again.
Kura didn't come to school the next day, his marked up desk was empty as his friends spent most of the class period looking at it in slight worry. Kura ignored everyone's calls all morning, so they decided that it was better to leave him be for now and give him some time alone. It was hard for them to wait, but they waited the bell to ring. After school, the boys along with their female tag-alongs went to their usual hangout place and waited to see if Kura would show up. Cause if he needed them then he would let his friends know, and they will be there to help him out.
A few minutes later, the door opened, and it was none other than Kura himself walking in through the door. The group of seven waved and called out their usual greetings to their friend, but he just ignored them preferring to take a seat on one of the bar stools instead of joining his friends at the table they were all sitting at.
"Kura-kuuun." Izumi was the first to move sliding out of her seat with a wine and scurrying over to Kura before tapping on his shoulder with a feather light punch. "Where were you, huh?"
"Yeah." Ichi was close behind Izumi with the others. "We've been worried." He patted his back.
"You haven't been at school." Honjo joined in, by shaking him playfully.
"Where have you been?" Ren nudged.
Kura still didn't say anything, probably because he didn't want to, and he was still heartbroken. Hinako sighed when suddenly Kura's phone started ringing.
"Who is it?" Hinako piped peeking over Kura's shoulder. "Payphone, huh?"
"That's Saki-chan isn't it?" Izumi said as Kura hung his head slightly. "You should answer it…"
Without even bothering to consider the boys' feelings, Hinako reached over his shoulder and she pressed talk for him. Kura sent Hinako a slight glare, but she shrugged it off and motion for him to speak. "I told you to not call me anymore!" He yelled into the receiver as the group of seven watched him with baited breaths as Kura listen to whatever Saki-chan was saying. "Eh?" A few more minutes more and Kura gained a face that looked very troubled.
"Ne, ne, Kura-kun…" Izumi nudged the boy as he pulled his phone away from his ear and slowly closed it. "What's wrong?"
"Saki-chan…snuck out of the hospital again." He tells them.
"What?"
"She said she wants to apologize to me so she's waiting at the park."
Without warning Kura abandoned his bag and ran as fast as he could out of the room. He ran out too quickly to hear his friends' calls to him. "Kura!"
"This is bad. What should we do?" Honjo looked from the door that Kura just run out to his friends.
"If Saki-chan's father finds out that they met again, Kura could get into big trouble." Izumi said as she bit down on her bottom lip with a worried look on her face.
"Contact Yamaguchi." Yamato suggested. "And then we'll catch up with Kura…"
"I'm on it!" Hinako was already digging through her bag for her cell phone. She was only on the phone with Yankumi for a couple of seconds, enough to get the message across, before she hung up the phone and nodded her head confirming Yankumi's awareness of the situation. Then they all ran out of the door and start running as fast as they could to the park where Kura was probably heading right about now.
When they arrived at the park, they saw that Yankumi was already there but alone, there was no sign of Kura and Saki-chan around in the area.
"Yankumi!"
The seven stopped in front of Yankumi.
"Where's Kuraki?"
They panted and shrugged out their shoulders.
"Look." Yamato called as he bended down, scoop something up from the ground and holding it out for everyone to see. It was an orange and yellow phone ornament. "This is Kura's."
Hinako stepped forward and gently took it from Yamato's hand. "Saki-chan made it for him."
"That means they were here." Izumi added. "But where did they go?"
"Let's find him." Yankumi said as she and the others start to run to find Kura.
It took a bit of running through the area, but thanks to Izumi who use her phone to track down Kura's phone, she leads them to an old warehouse on the other side of town. When they got inside, Izumi held her breath as what she saw, a gang of thugs were laughing and taunting Kura, even punching him and kicking him as he tried to keep them as far away from Saki as they could.
"If you try to even lay one finger to her, you'll be sorry!" Kura shouted out.
"Kura…" Yamato muttered.
"Kuraki…" Yankumi muttered seeing him being beaten up like that yet hold his ground.
"Bastards!" Yamato's snarl brought Izumi back quickly as both he and Ren moved to step into the battle. But Izumi and Hinako stopped them, and the rest of the boys by quickly holding their arms out and blocking their path.
"Stand back." Hinako tells them. "This is his fight, let him protect what's precious to him."
"Protect what's precious?" Yamato looked at her very doubtfully, but Hinako nodded as she was turning to them slowly.
"Like how Ren protect his sister and like how you protect me." The two exchanged looks of understanding even though Yamato had just called Hinako an idiot, but he understood what she meant. "And besides…none of you boys need to get your hands all dirty for this load of trash…let Yankumi take care of this." She added.
"Yankumi?" Izumi muttered, they forgotten about their homeroom teacher. They noticed Yankumi stepping forward and walking toward the gang of thugs.
"Don't you dare touch my precious student!" She shouted out, catching their attention.
"Who are you?" One of them sneered.
"Me?" Yankumi repeated, the glasses were coming off. "I'm his homeroom teacher." The hair was loose and just like that, Yankumi was ready to battle in her serious mode. "Don't you think it's dirty to gang up and corner one person?"
"Do you want us to do the same to you, huh?"
"Yankumi…"
"Stay back." Hinako spoke sternly holding an arm out and keeping Yamato back.
"That's my line!" Yankumi snapped at the punks. "I'll let you go if you leave now. Get away from him." She warned them.
"Don't make me laugh!" One of them charged at Yankumi with a pipe in his hand.
He swung at her, but she ducked out of the way delivering him a sharp jab to his gut and taking him down. Another charged at her after unarmed this time and began swing at her with his fist but Yankumi dodged without so much as a look of worry, finally she had enough and caught his first bending it back to a painful angle before jabbing him in the side and flipping him over her shoulder slamming on the ground hard, the next came and Yankumi took care of him in a similar fashion. It took a while, but Yankumi was handling them well.
Then something or someone caught movement out of the corner of Hinako's eye. She looked and saw that it was Saki-chan's father. He simply watched as Yankumi glared the last of the thugs down and noticed Kura's protective position in front of Saki-chan and hoped her father was seeing it too. The last thug glared at Yankumi.
"Damn you…!"
"You guys probably have no idea what's going through his mind while fighting, huh?" She glared back at him. "I will not allow you to crush his desire to protect someone important to him! I won't go easy on you!" She yelled out.
"Shut up!" He charged at her, but she didn't bother to humor him with a sight, she instead kicked him swift and hard in the gut and ended the fight with ease. After the thugs got up and scrambled out of the building as fast as they could, the group of seven wasted no time running over to their friend's aid.
"Kura! Kura!"
"I'm sorry." Saki apologized as soon as she assured Kura that she was okay. "I just desperately wanted to apologize to you."
"Are you stupid?" Kuraki shot back. "You should be worrying about yourself not me." He offered Saki-chan a smile and she returned it. "I'm pretty uncool, huh?" He directed this toward his friends.
"No way, that's a lie!" Hinako was the first to speak up with a bright smile on her face. "You fought all those guys on your own to protect Saki-chan." She explained. "That's super cool if you ask me, ne Saki-chan?"
"Saki…" Fujimura-san finally found his voice from behind everyone else.
"O-Oto-san…" Saki said as she and Kura both stood up when they finally noticed him there, he approached them. "Oto-san…Kuraki-kun isn't bad." Saki spoke up before her father could deal down a hammer of anger of Kuraki. "Everyday has been fun since I met him. I've started thinking that I want to get well soon and go back to school again!"
"Saki…" Her father could only mutter his daughter's name.
Yankumi took in a deep breath and then sighed.
"He's still immature." She casually stepped forward. "And he makes mistakes. But he really knows how to love people. That's what I think. Please, I beg you, please don't judge only from appearance and words. Please see Kuraki as a person." She bowed. "Please, I beg you."
Fujimura-san took in the look that Yankumi gave him before he approached Kuraki. "So…you protected Saki and risked yourself?" Then he handed Kura his handkerchief. "Thank you."
Kura slowly took it and Saki smiled and hugs her father. They all smiled.
~The Next Day~
Yankumi and Class 3-D stood outside the bus station, saying goodbye to Saki-chan.
"How come she's suddenly going to Fukuoka?" Kamiya wondered.
"Her father's being transferred." Ichi replied. "She's continuing treatment at another hospital."
"Just when Kura was spared a punishment." Izumi sighed.
Saki-chan's parents got on the bus, but she stayed. Yankumi pushed Kura towards her. He slowly walked up to Saki-chan.
"I might be attending school again around summer." She said, trying to lighten the mood.
"Really?"
"Yeah." Saki-chan smiled. "Will you take me out again when I'm all better?"
Kura nodded with a smile. "Sure, anywhere you want."
"See ya."
As Saki-chan got on the bus, Kura called out to her. "Do your best!"
The bus took off. Kura yelled bye after it. The rest of Class 3-D ran up to him.
"Don't cry Kura." Yamato said as he and Hinako nudged him.
"I'm not crying." He sniffed.
"Damn! That was so sweet!" Honjo yelled out with joy.
"Now I want a girlfriend too!" Ichi yelled while shaking Ren.
"Me too!" Kamiya added while shaking Ichi.
"Crap!" Ren barked. "Why can't I get a girlfriend!"
Everyone laughed.
"That's adolescence." Yankumi gushed as she watched the boys poke fun and jeer at Kuraki.
"It really is." A voice said.
"Natsume-sensei!" Yankumi yelped by jumping and whipping around to see the good-looking doctor standing beside her.
"I came to see her off, too." He explained. "They're good students, aren't they?"
"Yes." Yankumi nodded. "I'm proud of all of my students." She grinned up at Natsume-sensei just to show how proud she was. Suddenly they heard a lot of whooed that got their attention. They look over to see Class 3-D doing it.
"Hey, don't show off!" Yamato laughed.
"It's finally Spring for Yankumi?" Ren added as he held his fingers up like a picture frame.
"You guys!" She glared at them. "How can you say that to your teacher?!"
"Wait! Damn, you guys! Wait!" Yankumi said as she was chasing her class.
Class 3-D were laughing with Yankumi right on their tail. Hinako was almost out of breath, when suddenly someone pulled her hand from behind one of the pillars of the bus station. She turned to see that it was none other than Yamato.
"Na…Nani?" Hinako cleared her throat.
"Shhh!" Yamato quickly covers Hinako's mouth as he looked back to Yankumi running past the pillars. Once she was gone, he grabs Hinako's hand and took off in another direction.
Once they lost Yankumi, they stop running.
"That was close." Yamato said, still holding Hinako's wrist.
"That's for sure." Hinako replied.
"You know after watching Kura protecting Saki-chan today, it made me want to protect someone important to me." Yamato stated.
"So you met someone at the hook-up party?" Hinako asked as she looked down.
"No." He turned to looked at her. "I met her on the roof of the school…"
Hinako's eyes widened. "You mean…Me?" She pointed to herself.
"Yes." He smiled and nodded. "Takaishi Hinako…I'll protect you… Ok?"
Hinako didn't know what to say so she slowly nodded.
"Now let's head to our usual place. Cause we don't hurry, we will lose them to Yankumi." He stated.
"Right!" Hinako smiled as she nodded again.
With that said, Yamato still holding onto her hand, the two of them took off together after their friends. Unknown to them, Yankumi was watching from a corner, and she couldn't help but smile from where she stood watching her adorable students.
"My, my." Yankumi hummed. "It's looks like Spring as come for you too Ogata-kuuun…"
~Author's Notes~
In this chapter, Hinako was holding back a dark secret from Yamato. What was she like back at her old high school? What is she hiding? Well, you gonna have to wait and find out later in the story. Cause I don't want to spoil anything.
Sorry it took so long, I've been busy. But I appreciate you all being patience with me. In the next chapter, we'll be seeing a new character and later on within the story. Thanks for reading!
Thanks for reading!
Please comment to tell me what you think of this story so far. I'd appreciate any thoughts/concerns if you have them.
~Cultural Notes~
Baka means idiot/stupid
Girls would often write love letters and stick them in the guys' shoe locker in Japan.