Apologies

I crashed into Fujiyama Sensei as I ran out the door.

"What?" she gasped.

I raced on without really looking at her. She must have been shocked that the guys would ditch her class, of all things.

I met Sawada halfway to the bus station.

"They're out by one of the warehouses by the harbor," he said as we continued to run. "What happened exactly?"

I explained to him about Yagyu and how the class went to get revenge. Then I fell silent. How would I even begin to explain what happened next? Uchi's hateful words, the judgmental stares, the uncontrollable rage, all culminating in the feeling of my knuckles hitting Uchi's cheekbone.

"And what happened to you?" Sawada asked.

"I tried to stop them…" I said. I didn't elaborate, and Sawada didn't ask.

We came across Yankumi when we were almost at the harbor. I did a double take. Her hair was down, flowing over her shoulders, and her glasses were gone. Suddenly, she actually looked very Ojou-like.

"The class also went to get revenge, because Yagyu got attacked by them last night," Sawada informed her.

"Those guys…" she muttered, before she began to run again. We followed her, and our footsteps thundered in my ears. I tried ignoring the way my legs were protesting after having run so much yesterday.

"I couldn't stop them…" I said, feeling guilty and bracing for the bashing from Yankumi.

Instead, she gave me a nod. "At least you tried, instead of just letting them go."

I bit my lip, concentrating on her words. I had grown up with the notion that attempts were worthless unless they were successful. It was one of the first times I had been, in a way, praised for unsuccessful effort.

We finally got to the row of warehouses. But which one could it be?

"Don't think you can get away with this!" we suddenly heard Uchi's voice loud and clear.

When we got to the right warehouse, we saw that Uchi and the rest of 3-D were advancing on a group of seven to eight guys wielding metal poles. Those were Shinguji students for sure.

"Kuma!" I let out a gasp. He lay between the two groups, immobile and incredibly beat up.

"Don't move!" Yankumi shouted as we ran into the warehouse.

"Kuma," Sawada said, crouching by him and shaking his shoulders. I pressed my handkerchief to his cuts, but it didn't look like he would stop bleeding anytime soon. I stared up at the Shinguji students. They looked more scared about 3-D than remorseful for what they had done. I clenched my fists.

Yankumi walked up to 3-D and said, "What do you guys intend to do here?"

"Don't get in the way," Uchi said, stepping forward. "All of those incidents of people getting beat up were done by them!"

Yankumi turned and stared at the Shinguji students, who flinched.

"They even beat up Yagyu and Kuma!"

"You can't expect us not to do anything about it!"

"Don't you see? If you start a fight here, you'll sink to their level. Then they'll get back at you and it'll become a never ending cycle. Where will it end? It won't, no matter how many times you fight one another," Yankumi shouted.

3-D fell silent. We all stared at her. There was something about her and her voice that demanded respect.

She then turned to the Shinguji guys, who all took a step back. "You've caused a lot of harm to my students," she said, stepping towards them.

"A teacher?" disbelieving voices muttered.

"Aren't you guys ashamed?" Yankumi asked. "You can't fight one on one, so you gang up on people together? Is that fun?"

"Shut up!" one of them shouted. "Those guys aren't going to do crap in society anyways!"

"And who are you to judge?" she shot back. "I really pity you guys. You don't even know how to fight properly!"

"Shut up!" they shouted, and one of them lifted his metal bar and swung it at her. She dodged and grabbed his arm, pushing him to the ground. Another aimed straight at her, but she ducked and punched him in the stomach before tripping him to the ground.

"What the? She's so strong!" Shimazu said in disbelief. Oh right. Only a few of us knew that she could do this. But every time she did, I could only stare in awe. This was the yakuza heiress side of her that she kept hiding from us. Gone was the dorky clumsy math teacher and in her place stood a formidable woman.

One of the Shinguji guys suddenly let out a frustrated growl before standing up and lunging forward at her, fist raised.

"Yankumi!" Sawada shouted in warning, but she made no sign of moving.

I winced at the crack that came when the guy's fist connected with her face. When I opened my eyes, I was stunned to see Yankumi still standing, her long hair falling back into place to reveal a bloody lip. The guy stood a distance away, clutching his fist with the other hand and shaking in pain.

"It hurts, doesn't it?" Yankumi said. "Of course it does. Not just your arm, but your entire body. To fight using your bare hands causes pain. If you don't even understand something that simple, don't go around with metal sticks!"

Her voice resonated in the warehouse. The guy that had punched her slid to his knees, still clutching his hand in pain.

"Kuma…" Sawada said suddenly as Kuma stirred. I helped Kuma sit up, trying to avoid the bruises on his arms.

"You're a real man, Kuma," Yankumi said, crouching by us. "You fought to protect that girl, didn't you? That's the true meaning of fighting."

I looked over and saw a girl in a Momojou uniform crouching behind a box nearby. So this was the rumored Ami…

Yankumi stood up and addressed all of us, both Shinguji and Shirokin. "Listen up! There will come a day when all of you have to fight to protect something. It will test your worth and your limits. Fights are meant to be hand to hand combat so don't group it with meaningless violence. To protect something you love is the true meaning of fighting."

To protect something I love…did I even have something like that?

At Yankumi's words, 3-D began to move. Uchi and Noda and some others stepped forward to help Kuma up while Minami and Hattori and others went to see if Ami was okay. I took a step back, suddenly feeling no longer needed or wanted. I couldn't look any of my classmates in the eyes anyway, not after knowing what they thought of me.

"Let's go," Yankumi said, smiling as she looked at us.

"What about these guys?" Uchi asked. "We're not turning them into the police?"

"They're not stupid. They've learned their lesson," Yankumi said. She turned to them. "Make sure you guys sort this out yourself. You know what you have to do."

She began to walk out and the class followed her. I turned to look back at the Shinguji students.

Shun and Chiba and the others would have come by here later and completely destroyed these guys. It would have been in the name of protecting the town too.

But Yankumi had let herself be hit…I didn't understand but it was so new to me.

I was stunned when I realized I was glad Yankumi had gotten to them first.

When I walked out of the warehouse, Class 3-D stood watching as Ami thanked Kuma for protected her. After she had walked away, they began to tease him.

But when I took a step towards them, the teasing faded away into uncomfortable silence.

It was something so immediate and awkward that even Yankumi didn't miss it. "What's going on?" she demanded as we all avoided each other's gazes. When no one answered, she raised her voice. "I'm asking you what the hell is going on?!"

"It's fine, Yankumi," I began to say but she didn't believe me.

"She didn't want to come with us to get back at them for Yagyu," Oishi finally said. "She doesn't care what happens to us."

"But she's here now, isn't she?" Yankumi snapped.

"Kana's the one that told me that you guys were coming here," Sawada said. "I don't know what happened at school, but she didn't have to come and she did."

When the guys didn't answer, Yankumi came to a realization. "Don't tell me that this is about the Abe thing again," she said sharply.

"She picked him over us," Uesugi grumbled.

"What does that even mean?" Yankumi demanded. "Does that mean she had to pick one of you? Or does that mean she no longer is a part of this class because she wants to date someone else?"

"But that Abe hates us!"

"Then have you asked her why she's dating him? What if she really likes him, huh? And if you still think her reasons are wrong, would you give up on her as a friend? Wasn't she there for you guys when you guys made mistakes? Especially you guys, Uchi, Minami, Noda. Wouldn't you rather watch over her and make sure she's okay than throw her away because you don't like who she's dating? What kind of friends are you?"

I wanted to disappear into the ground. I couldn't believe Yankumi was getting so angry on my behalf. The last thing I wanted was to make this an even bigger deal than it already was.

But she then turned to me.

"And what about you, Kana? If you think your friends are mad at you for the wrong reasons, why don't you tell them that? Why don't you try to clear up the misunderstanding? If you don't think they'll listen to you, shout it at them until they get it! You have to fight for your friends!"

I was stunned by her words, but deep down, I knew she was right. I had let this happen to me. Sure, I had done my best to take preventative measures, but once the damage was done, I hadn't even really tried to defend myself. I just let 3-D be mad at me because I was too prideful to explain what had actually happened. But seriously, how could I?

The silence was broken when Uchi stepped towards me awkwardly.

He stared at the ground for a little while and swallowed hard. "I…I had no right to treat you like that," he said, his gaze wavering as if it hurt him to look at me. "I'm really sorry!" he shouted, bowing his head deeply.

"Even if I did sleep with Abe?" The words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop myself.

Yankumi gasped and Sawada immediately shushed her.

"…even if," Uchi said, voice a bit unsteady.

I let out a sigh before I spoke. "It's fine," I said quietly. "It can't be helped if that's how people see me. I know you guys are just being nice because I'm a girl."

I cringed as I said it. It finally came out. The real fear I'd been carrying with me from day one. I was never sure if anyone in my class liked me for who I really was – or at least, for the person I allowed myself to be while at school. It was like I got a free pass for whatever I did because I was a girl. If I had been a guy, I felt like 3-D would have hated me from the beginning…

"That's not true!"

I jumped a little at how quickly and loudly the protest came.

"I know we act girl-crazy, but we've all had our share of crazy ex-girlfriends," Minami said.

"Yeah, we wouldn't have liked you if you were the kind to start drama for no reason," Oishi said.

"And it's cool that you never tried to change us so you'd be more comfortable," Chikamatsu said.

"I guess we all took that for granted after a while," Shimazu said. "It's really our bad."

"We're sorry!" the class chorused at me, bowing their heads.

I was so unused to being apologized to that it caused me to tear up a little. I blinked them back rapidly. I wouldn't cry in front of them.

"Thanks…I'm sorry it looked like I betrayed the class and for not explaining my actions and not fighting to clear all of the misunderstandings…I didn't sleep with Abe by the way," I added for good measure, looking at Yankumi.

"Goodness, you were about to give me a heart attack!" she said, slapping my shoulder. Ow.

The guys all straightened up and we all sort of smiled nervously at each other. There was still a lot to talk about but at least we were now on the same page for the most part.

"But seriously, the most shocking thing was Yankumi!" Uchi said, stretching his arms.

"Yeah, where did you learn to fight like that?" Minami asked her.

She turned around, eyes wide. "Um, um, um…I watch a lot of Bruce Lee!" she said, doing a couple of cheesy moves, complete with sound effects. The magic was broken and she had returned to the dorky teacher we all knew. She then turned. "You guys won't tell the school what happened, right? I mean, it's bad if they found out about my fighting…"

"Of course we won't tell," Noda said. "Don't worry about it."

Yankumi smiled in relief. It looked like her secret would be safe for another day. "Let's go back to school," she said.

On the way back, the guys began singing a song to tease Kuma about Ami. I hung back behind the group with Yankumi and Sawada, thinking about everything that had just happened.

"Why did you lie to them?" Sawada asked Yankumi, putting an end to my processing for a moment.

"Huh?" Yankumi said.

"It's that bad if they found out that you're the successor to the Oeda Household, huh?" Sawada continued. I stared at him. Why was he bringing that up?

"Of course it is," Yankumi answered. "You guys…YOU GUYS! Why the heck do you know?!"

I looked at her. There was no use in hiding it now that she knew. "Who do you think delivered your phone, huh?" She was speechless.

"But we're not going to tell anyone. If you got fired, school would be pretty boring," Sawada told her in that expressionless way of his.

Yankumi wiped away dramatic tears before pushing to the front of 3-D.

"Let's race to that big sun in front of us! Are you with me? GOOOO!" she shouted and took off.

All of us just stood there, watching her run. Some of the guys waved as she ran farther and farther away. I smiled. She was so strange. But she had taught me so much already. For the first time in my life, I was beginning to appreciate a teacher.

"Why did you tell her?" I asked Sawada. "I thought it was a secret that we knew, even from her."

"I don't know," he shrugged. "Wouldn't you hate it if someone didn't tell you that they knew something important about you?"

I was quiet. That was true, but…it wasn't like we had anything to gain by telling Yankumi.

"There's a lot we don't know about you," Sawada said quietly.

"I know," I said, looking at the ground. The less I said, the more they would have to assume.

"You know, if you need to talk, we're always here," he said. I looked up, surprised. I couldn't read his expression, but I could recognize the kindness in his words.

"Why did you…allow me into your group?" I asked slowly, genuinely curious. Sawada didn't look like the person who would hang out with or trust just anyone.

"You remind me of someone," he said matter-of-factly. "A little rebellious, a little short-tempered, a little bit insecure but incredibly stubborn. Besides, you fought to for Minami and to clear Uchi's name and you barely knew us then."

I was satisfied with his answer, at least for now. I was definitely curious about who I reminded him of but it didn't look like he would tell me so I didn't ask.

"Hey Kana," Uchi said awkwardly, walking over to us. "I…sorry. I was really out of line. I feel like I don't even have a right to talk to you."

"You already apologized," I pointed out softly. Apologies were so new to me. "It's fine, really. I punched you too, so I really think that makes us even."

Sawada raised an eyebrow, noticing the slight tinge on Uchi's cheek for the first time.

I looked over to the where the rest of the class were hanging around. Now that Yankumi was gone, I knew that I at the very least owed them the truth.

"If you could call all of the guys here, I'd really appreciate it," I said to Uchi, who looked at me in surprise.

"Hey guys," he said immediately, rounding them up.

I stood there awkwardly, not sure how to begin. I knew I wanted to do this once I found a chance, but I didn't realize it would come so soon.

"Umm…there's something I've been hiding from you all," I said finally, trying to address them properly. "I was sleeping on the roof the other day, and Abe came and took a…compromising picture…but I didn't want you guys to see or know and he said he would delete it if I went on a date with him but it was the worst date I'd ever been on and when he took me to the hotel, I ran away so he still has the picture and I just wanted to deal with this myself because I was embarrassed and I'm sorry."

I ran out of breath at the end of my run-on sentence. I closed my eyes, afraid to hear what would happen next.

"Did you think that we would judge you?" Uchi asked, definitely sounding hurt.

I opened my eyes but kept my eyes on my shoes. "Yeah." How silly it all sounded now.

"That Abe, who the hell does he think he is?" Noda grumbled.

"What should we do about him?" Oishi asked tentatively.

I looked at them, watching them be uncomfortable with the fact that they probably wanted to put Abe into the ground but not being sure if that would go against what Yankumi had just taught us.

"But it's enough for me that you guys know now," I said. "I don't need you to do anything. I'm going to meet up with Abe and finish this. We have to take Kuma to the infirmary as soon as we can anyway."

"I'm fine!" Kuma insisted. "You should be more worried about yourself. What if Abe tries something again?"

"That won't happen," I said, firmly. The guys looked at each other skeptically.

I would show them that I could handle it.

Author's Note

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving (to those that celebrate it). I definitely ate too much...

Nothing is for certain yet, but I might be working in Japan starting next year! It's a very exciting thought.

Thank you so much for reading and commenting! I am definitely thankful that people are still reading my story even though the drama aired such a long time ago.

And yes, dealing with Abe has been put off but it is definitely happening next chapter! For those that thought 3-D and Shun's group might have their first clash this time around, I hope you weren't too disappointed. I felt like it was too early for that to happen, and because of the fight between Kana & 3-D, it would have been a little too crazy. It would have been really easy for 3-D to write Kana off as a "gang member" when they're already mad at her.

Please let me know what you thought via comments/PM! Thank you! ^^

- Reisa