The next day when Hayato Yabuki walked into class, no one could deny that all eyes were on him. The room was eerily silent as each boy shot Yabuki a look of resentment, fear, awe or disgust, and each looked away when Yabuki tried to make eye contact. Eyeing the strangely accusatory class, he gave a little grunt and slumped down in his seat, crossing his arms condescendingly and slamming his schoolbag on the desk, as if challenging someone to make a remark. And of course, in class 3-D, no one backed down from a challenge.

Hyuuga was the only one brave enough to take the first move. "So...Yankumi, huh."

But it was Yabuki's turn to be surprised at the words that came out of his classmate's mouth. His eyes widened, and he sucked in a sharp breath. "I-... I don't know what you're talking about." At those words, the class immediately became rowdy, even climbing over each other to get a chance to throw a piece of evidence at the arrogant teenager.

"We followed you to where you're staying!"

"Yankumi's house, right?"

"You're living with her. You guys are dating?!"

"Isn't that, like, illegal?"

Yabuki swore under his breath, praying that no one found out about poor Yuri. He didn't care what happened to him, but Yuri would surely die from the embarrassment. "Yeah. I'm living with Kumiko. What's it to you?"

Please don't find out about Ando. Please don't find out about Ando.

"And here we thought you were in cahoots with Ando-chan!"

Yabuki breathed out a sigh of relief, but put his guard back up after a split-second, once again regaining his mask of indifference. There was no time to waste. He stood up abruptly, causing the other students to back away in fear that he would land a well-aimed punch at the nearest jaw. With a smirk that could rival even the most dangerous of American criminals, he coolly made his way to the front of the class, leaning one hand on the side of Yankumi's desk, giving each and every one of them a stony glare.

"I told you before. Ando and I are just friends who met at a photo shoot. Therefore, gentlemen, you all are free to make a move on her." He inwardly smiled at the fist pumps and cheers that erupted from the boys who were taken with the porcelain-skinned girl. It was obvious that most of the guys were absolutely taken with her; it was obvious from the way the anger that was perpetually etched onto their faces was replaced by a soft flush when they were talking with her. "But if she has a crush on me, that's not in my control." There were loud whines from the class, and this time Yabuki let himself show a small smile. After all, building up talk about Ando would help to draw attention away from his living conditions.

"And what's up with you and Yankumi living together?"

Yabuki rolled his eyes in annoyance at Hyuuga's question. There was always that one nosy one. He'd have to somehow give them an answer that they'd accept, so he figure he might as well tell the truth.

"Well, I screwed up and hit some old drunk guy square in the jaw the other day. Turns out it was my dad's coworker, and he threw me out of the house indefinitely."

It was obvious the class didn't believe him. All around Hayato were shouts and yells and the occasional poke that he made sure to punish.

"There's no way!"

"You lie to us all the time, Yabuki! We can tell when you're doing it already!"

"That's right, that's right!"

"Tell us the real reason you're staying at Yankumi's!"

"We want the real reason!"

The shouting was too much for Yabuki to handle, and as soon as he was about to shout at the bastards, who would pop her head in but the yakuza princess herself.

Perfect.

"Fine," said Yabuki. He grabbed the clueless Yankumi's wrist and yanked hard, pulling her into a tight hug and circling one arm securely around her waist.

"Eh?!" Yankumi screeched at the sudden contact, but quieted down after Yabuki's initial plea for her to play along. "But I-"

"Kumiko," growled Yabuki in a low voice that only she could hear. He then turned back to their audience, whose eyes were just about ready to pop out of their sockets.

Time for the final show.

"Kumiko and I…. are dating."

And without another word, he turned his head to press his lips firmly against his teacher's.