Chapter 10:

Youhei stepped out of the shower, and sank to the bed. It had been a long day. Adjustments for the next step had just been completed, and just needed a timetable, to commence. As he had expected, Sawada Shin had made his move. He knew who the older man's spies were, and the way things looked, the lawyer must already have a pretty good idea what their goals were, and reason behind his enrollment at Shirokin...and now, his interest in his homeroom teacher.

If he played his cards right, one way or another, he would have her. Her. The Ooedo. Shirokin, and Kamiyama-chou...eventually. After he succeded his father.

At first, they felt a bit hesitant to move against the Ooedo, due to Sawada's connection with the police. He was unsurprised to find this would eventually work in their favor.

One of his men had found out that the Police Commissioner wanted to have his son succeed him, and as long as Sawada Shin's status was unconfirmed with the Ooedo, it would still be possible. And that the Comissioner had already set a plan in motion to get his son back. If pressured, Youhei knew Shin would give up his association with the Kamiyama-chou's Ooedo Ikka, if it was his presence that would endanger the group. This was the main reason why almost 70 of Ooedo business were already legal, and the conversion continued. Within the next three months, The Ooedo Kumi would become completely legal, and the only thing that could possibly get them in trouble, would be if the police were to get their hands on the "black copy" (the original spreadsheets containing Ooedo Business, income/outflow of funds, expenses, and illegal activities) of the kumi's financial activities.

Since this was Sawada Shin, he was sure the original records have already been converted from actual documents, into computer data possibly stored in an external, lightweight device (like a flash drive), so that their computerized records were immaculate and easily accessible by the authorities (if it came down to it), while they kept track of their illegal doings. With the acquisition of it, Sawada Shin would successfully be removed from the Ooedo, the Police Commissioner, would get his heir restored, and make things easier for their group.

With Sawada Shin gone...they could finally make their move. And...once that was accomplished...everything else he wanted would be in his grasp, willing or not.

(A memory of her flashes briefly in his mind, as he touches his lips with a finger, hands wanting, needing to explore her skin.)

Damn it. He didn't understand it, this obsession with her. She was a plain-looking woman at best, and he'd had others who were more attractive. He remembered her laughter. Unrestrained, and honest. And the charming glint of determination in her eyes, when she had decided to do something. And for the first time, he could admit that what attracted him was her spirit...and the need to bend it to his will - even if he had to break it, to do so.

He heard a light knock at his door.

"Waka." The voice of one of their stay-ins called, hesitantly. "Your tutor is here."

He didn't really need one, and they knew it. But this was...convenient for him. Especially at this very moment. He smiled in the darkness of his room, as he removed the towel from his head, and unlocked the door.

"Good. Send her up." He answered. He returned to the bed, not bothering to bring out his books, or turning on the light, as he heard footsteps approach. None of it mattered. for now, he had his toys. And he would make sure to occupy his time usefully with them... ...until that day, when he wouldn't have to.

0o0o0

Kumiko secretly watched, as Shin typed away on his laptop, every now and then signing or checking some document-or-other, while she completed her lesson plan. Every now and then, he would ask her about some things needed for the succession ceremony, (obviously, one of the reasons he was working here, on the patio, with her) then go back to...whatever.

A small smile graced her lips, as she marveled at how absorbed and serious Shin was about his job. There was a part of her that was a little afraid to deal with this...thing between them, because she didn't want things to become weird, but strangely enough, very little had changed, since that afternoon at the rooftop.

He was still obnoxious, every chance he got. He still annoyed and bullied her, if he could, but he did his job well, and they could still talk normally. He called her 'Ojou' when they were out on Ooedo business, but reverted to the usual 'Yamaguchi' when they were with the kumi. He didn't try anything weird (although he'd taken to holding her hand, every now and then), and their daily schedule more or less consisted of him, dropping her off to work, coming by for lunch, and picking her up in the afternoons. They would either spend some time on the rooftop, talking like they used to, or if they were really busy, they would head home, and work on the patio (and talk a little bit, after. sometimes).

As usual, he had understood what she had meant. It wasn't that she didn't feel anything for him, the timing was just a bit too complicated, and there were pressing matters to attend to, that couldn't be ignored. So he had indulged her, like he always did, and she allowed him these little things he never asked permission for, but did, anyway. And, as the days passed, she noticed that she seemed to be watching Shin more and more. And if anyone in the kumi noticed the change...no one was saying or doing anything about it (no one wanted to jinx it).

"Oh, yeah. The guys want to meet us, tomorrow. You wanna go, after school?" he asked, as he continued to type.

"Where's it gonna be?" She asked, as Tetsu brought them tea to drink. She moves all the paperwork from the table and hands him the cup, as her eyes stray back to him.

"At Kuma's." He replied, taking the cup from her. The slight contact of their fingers renders her mind to go all fuzzy, as if the world has gone slo-mo. Her face feels slightly warm, seeing Shin's brow furrow a little, as he takes his eyes off the screen, for a moment, to look at her.

Shin stops typing for a moment, wondering; What the hell was up with this woman, now?

"Oi. You okay? You look like you need a break." She hears him ask, suddenly conscious that he has caught her looking at him, as she makes a mental note that black hair, does look pretty damn hot on him. Why hadn't she noticed that before? She tries to swallow, but her throat feels dry.

O-kay. Her eyes are all soft and she's blushing a little. She doesn't have a fever, does she? Shin wonders. Due to a lack of response, he flicks her on the forehead with a finger.

"OI." He tries again. "Wake up."

"H-huh?" He hears her respond dully. What the hell was she spacing out for? He knew she was looking at him, when he told her about tomorrow, so he was sure she'd hear him.

"Oh. Y-Yeah. Kuma's. Tomorrow." She continues. Shin saves his work for a moment, snaps the laptop shut, and gives her his full attention.

"Okay. What is it, now?" He asks, irritably (translated: i'm worried, but i don't want to show it).

"Are you feeling sick, or something?"

At this, her mind snaps to attention, and (realizing that she had been STARING at him) blushes more prominently, as she stammers a reply.

"YES! I m-mean NO! W-Why would you th-think that?" Her mind, on the other hand, has begun flashing warning sirens, as she goes on PANIC mode. Oh, kami, I WAS STARING! DID HE NOTICE? DOES HE KNOW WHY? DAMMIT, THAT JERK CAN READ MY MIND SO WELL!! WHAT COULD HE BE THINKING?!

He watches her hastily try to put the steaming cup of tea to her mouth, and extends a hand out to stop her.

"Hey. That thing's still hot." He says. unfortunately, she can't hear him. Her heartbeat was pounding in her ears, at the moment, and the message repeated itself over and over (specifically:Oh, kami, I WAS STARING! DID HE NOTICE? DOES HE KNOW WHY? DAMMIT, THAT JERK CAN READ MY MIND SO WELL!! WHAT COULD HE BE THINKING?!).

Noticing that he had completely lost her, he pries the cup out of her hands, and smacks a hand over his face. Ugh. This was hopeless. And what was this odd behavior? Okay, it really wasn't so strange, coming from her, but for the first time in his life, he had NO IDEA where this spazzfest was coming from. So he tried to look back on past experience, to try to get to the bottom of this.

And the conclusion his mind had come up with, wasn't exactly...pleasant.

"Forget it." He snaps. He closed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose, and frowned. He promptly opened his laptop, and resumed whatever it was he was working on, choosing to ignore her. At this, she slowly stops panicking, and begins to wonder about this abrupt change in his manner.

What is this about? She thought.

"N-ne, Shin? Are you upset?"

-Silence-

At the lack of response, she began to worry. Was he upset because he thought she wasn't listening?

"Hey. I was listening. I answered your question, didn't I?"

Eventually, she silently added, hoping he'd let her off, anyway.

Shin, on the other hand, had stopped typing. He understood why she would wonder about his sudden change of mood. It's been a long time since the last time he had ever felt this way, but damn it, it still irked him, everytime she felt all mushy-gooey over Shinohara Tomoya. It was the only thing that produced that dumb look on her face anyway. The only time she ever looked at him like that, was during the golden ball festival, and he wasn't wearing that damn fundoshi at the moment, so it couldn't possibly be him.

(a/n: yeah. for a change, they're both misunderstanding things. poor Shin.)

"It's not that. Look, would you just drop it?" He answers stiffly. He continues typing, hoping she'd get a clue, and leave him alone. She grabs the hand nearest to her.

Well...if she ever got a clue...she'd probably be someone else. He thought. So he stops typing, as she pulls him a little, to get his attention. "Hey," He hears the concern in her voice, as she asks; "What's wrong?"

The moment she willingly took his hand, his temper had begun to subside, and is now even a little happy at the contact, as he squeezes her hand to reassure her he's okay.

He wonders if he should tell her he's developed a complex against Shinohara Tomoya, because of her. He decides against it, and saves his work, snapping the laptop close a second time, and putting it away. He then turns to her, and answers.

"Really. It's nothing. I'm just tired. Maybe I need a break, too."

He sees the questioning look on her face, knowing she's unconvinced, but aware that this was probably one of those things he would tell her in his own time.

"Okay." She says.

He hands her back her cup of (now lukewarm) tea with his free hand, as the other one still held hers. She allowed him this little thing, wordlessly, her eyes straying to their hands, as a blush bloomed on her cheeks.

Oh. So that's why. He finally understood. Although he understood what she didn't say, at the rooftop (That she did not deny having feelings for him, and the fact that she DID NOT reject him, and was, instead, bargaining for time), apparently, after all this time, there was still a part of him that was afraid that maybe it was all just wishful thinking on his part. Even now, despite all this, he wasn't completely unconvinced that it wasn't.

"I'm sorry. You know...for...just now." He said, hesitantly.

She feels a bit surprised and touched at the almost unsure tone in his voice. It must've been hard, She realizes. That after all the times she's pushed him, even Shin had moments like these. That Shin was also human, and not always calm, and collected. That even he had moments of doubt. Whatever it was he felt unsure about.

"S'alright." She replies...squeezing his hand, to reassure him, this time. He looked up at her, to find a warm smile on her face, as she looked at him. He felt his chest constrict, wondering how he was going to go through with this. Right now, the plan was progressing as it should, but he knew that he would have to leave her again, pretty soon. As things stood, he didn't know if she'd forgive him, this time. If things went the way they should, he would be able to come back, and once he did, he would finally be back, for good, and things would all be taken care of. But one wrong move, and it was game over. One miscalculation, and things would end up badly.

Worse, she would feel deeply betrayed by him, but he couldn't tell her any of these things, because her ignorance of what was about to happen was an important part of the plan. Especially since he would be dealing with that bastard, Kagami, and his son...who happened to be her student. And just when things seemed to be working out, too.

"Kumiko." He called, softly, hoping she'd allow him to call her that. He watched her face register some surprise at this. "You know that you can trust me, right?"

"Yeah." She answered nervously, her heartbeat beginning to race. It was the first time he had ever called her by name, and (feeling like he needed it) allowed him this small thing. Besides... She strangely liked the way he said her name. But what was this about?

"Look. Just always remember that. Okay?" She hears him tell her, as he strokes her hand with his thumb. At this, her eyes meet his, as he tells her; "You are the only thing in this world I will never give up."

She gasps as he slowly lets go of her hand, untwining his fingers from hers, gives her a somewhat awkward smile, and resumes his work. She could remember clearly, the look on his face. It seemed as if he had just made a hard decision, and was vaguely trying to prepare her for it, but in typical Shin fashion, he was once again going to keep whatever it was from her, and was going to try to handle it, himself. The old Shin would have kept things to himself, and just did what he had to do, without telling her anything about it, and she would just find out about it when everything was said and done, and was more or less fixed.

Was it that serious that she might hate him for it? But what could it be? there was nothing going on with the other groups, and school was fine (okay, she still had to investigate Ogata and Kagami, but aside from that...) It couldn't possibly have anything to do with that, did it?

No. This was something else.

"You know that you can trust me, right?"

"You are the only thing in this world I will never give up."

Those words made her worry. There was something seriously wrong. something big was going down, but by the looks of things...Shin was on top of it. Maybe she was just overreacting to this uncommon behavior from him. In any case, she had to stay calm. If Shin needed help, even if he didn't want her involved with it, the Young Chief, and the others were there to support him.

And if there was one thing she could believe in, it was that she could trust him. Them. Shin, the Young Chief...everyone. Despite all this secrecy, not once did they ever push her to make a decision she didn't want to take, and everything they had ever done had always been for her (and/or the group's) benefit.

She had once heard her grandfather say that a good Leader knew when to trust their subordinates. Shin had never led her wrong. nor had the Young Chief ever disappointed her. She would let them handle this...for now. While she had other fish to fry.

She would trust them.

She would trust Shin to do the right thing. Because she knew he would always, always deliver.

"You are the only thing in this world I will never give up." Her memory played, again. She took comfort in those words, and continued grading papers, as they both worked in companionable silence.

0o0o0

A/N: Yo, Minna!! Here's the latest chapter for the story. I have some bad news, though. If you guys think I'm not updating regularly, you are right. Not only that, it will get much worse, since the time for Cheerdance has come again. Just as SWD got held up a bit last year because of it, here it is again. But, as an offering, I will at least, try to upload a new chapter every 10th, and 25th of each month. Come November, I promise to be good and try for a wekly update. No promises, yet, though, but I'll try. Please bear with me, until then.

Again, the continuous support is really touching, and thanks so much for it.

Anyway, on to review replies.

To Noona: Hey! I'm glad to hear from you! I guess it's my fault for taking too long to update, that I feel as if I haven't heard from people. Heh. Can I use that line about Shin hitting her with a piece of log? So funny! True, too. They are so OOC this chapter that I'm grinding my teeth in dismay, but hey, something big is almost upon them, which is why Shin feels uncharacteristically agitated. I hope you stick around to find out, so you can tell me if their behavior this chapter gets justified. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you still enjoy the story!

To mysterygal02: yeah! I think so, too. I just don't figure Shin as a sappy kind of sweet guy. I think he's more awkward with his feelings so he picks on her, instead, hehehehe. Thanks for the review!

To kk: To be honest, I've always wondered if you really have an ffnet profile, but hey, whether you log in or not, I definitely appreciate you taking the time to review. I'm glad people are happy that there is some plot to this story, since I'm aiming for a more balanced story this time around. Thanks for always supporting my work! Hope to hear more from you next time!

To ivy avalon: No need to worry! In my world, it can only be SHINKUMI! By the way, the shingumi made a song for shin, and I have no idea if I should post it. It's funny, and I have to look for it first! I do love shin as a jerk, but I'd like to see him show a vulnerable side, sometimes, hence the second part of the chapter. Anyways, thanks for the continuous support, hope you enjoy this chapter, and please let me know, either way!

To shooting star 0160: I'm glad you like this story enough to want a longer one, but if you've never read my standard refrain on Shall We Dance, here it is. Unfortunately, I do not plan these chapters. I just turn them out as my brain makes it up. BUT I WILL TRY MY BEST!! I'm very happy that you're falling in love with the story. It has always been my goal to write stories that can make people feel, and relate to, somehow. I can only hope I do a better job of it, in the days to come, though I feel as if I am getting worse. In any case, please let me know what you think of this chapter, as well, and again, thanks!

To missymace: Thanks for the short but amusing reviews. It gives me the idea that you are a perky, fun kind of person. And of course, since I love the love, it made me feel all squiggly inside, you saying those nice things. I bet you anything you're gonna hate Youhei's guts, after this. He's a twisted little git, he is. But no worries. He's just a plot device. Shin and Kumiko will straighten him out. Thanks for the reviews, and please stay tuned!

To konARTISTE: So, do you agree with me? Isn't Hyun Bin just the HOTTEST?! He's a Calvin Klein Model in Korea, too. He's Sam Soon's love interest . My goodness, but he can turn me into a puddle of goo. And THE INSOLENCE he exudes!! Love it so much!! And I find it positively hilarious, how he lets his mom beat him up, in the series!! Anyway, back to the review replies, I know what you mean. I have no excuse, except for: I AM A LAZY GIT, AND MY MIND JUST CHURNS IT OUT. I PROBABLY NEED A BETA, BUT AGAIN, I AM A LAZY GIT. , besides, if there was any resentment on my part, I could just ignore you, but I don't. I NEED these criticisms, too. And I won't be like other people who can't admit their mistakes. So I can say that I will try to be more conscious of what my hand types, from the words my brain forms, and go from there. Hehehehehe…also, after asking about Kumiko's grandfather and his girlfriend…I make it a side story just for you, and you did not review. Mew. I merely did as you asked, and I didn't even get a measely little review for it. Mwehehehe. Of course, I'm not really that upset. Well…maybe just a teeny-tiny bit. please feel free to let me know what you think of this chapter, too, and thanks for always reviewing. Believe it or not, I DO look forward to it.

To KAT-TUN Lover: Heya!! Thanks for dropping me a review. You sure you like it as much as SWD? I have to admit, I still like SWD better, myself, but I am happy that you like it. Please let me know what you think of how the story progresses, and thanks again for reviewing. I love the support, especially from the regulars. Gives me hope that maybe I'm not doing too bad of a job.

See you guys next chapter, and please wish me luck!!

Oh yeah, one more thing. Does anyone have an ebook of anything by ANNE BISHOP? OR 'Breaking Dawn' and 'Midnight Sun' by Stephenie Meyer? if any of you guys do, could someone send it to (my email)? I'd really appreciate it. REALLY. I will be eternally grateful!!