A New Start

Summer vacation passed in a blur.

I hardly had a day at home to rest because I had to pack to head out to Shonan with Sho the next day. Shun told me to do my best and to not cause any trouble. I nodded, but couldn't help but notice the dark circles under Shun's eyes. Was he not sleeping well? But before I could ask, he pushed me out the door and towards Sho's car. Shun and Massan waved as we took off.

Working at the beach house with Sho was so great. And being so far from Shirokin and home meant forgetting all of my worries and just focusing on the present. Sure, I had to deal with the occasional drunk customers, but it never got that bad because the manager was very good at dealing with those issues. There were also lots of college kids who were part-timers like me, but they learned quickly to keep things very platonic when Sho would glare at them. There was hardly time to chat anyway with the constant flow of beachgoers every day. But it was also nice chatting with girls my age, something I hardly got to do anymore back home. And they were so different from the catty girls I met at my old school, so I found myself genuinely enjoying their company during work.

Massan visited once with his girlfriend, surprising me and Sho. He introduced Sho as a former housemate and me as a former coworker...which made sense. It wasn't easy describing our relationship to other people. But his girlfriend was incredibly cute and kind as far as i could tell from our short interactions and it was the first time for me to see Massan's face light up so much when talking to someone. It was almost a little embarrassing to see something so intimate about him, but I was really happy for him and I could tell Sho was too.

And spending time with Sho was always my favorite part. During work, we barely had time to take a breath because of the constant waves of customers, but after work, even though we were exhausted, we'd get a little bit of time to just chat and enjoy the night waves from the deck of the beach house. And we'd get a day off every now and then and the manager was nice enough to let us take the same day off most of the time. And on those days, Sho would drive us around to less crowded areas, though everywhere was crowded during summer, and we'd explore the areas we'd never get to go to otherwise.

One night, we were sitting in the lounge of the dorms we were staying in during the summer. Sho was pretty drunk already from the dinner party in the dorms earlier and he was still working on a can of beer. Suddenly, he turned to me and began to ask me about the future.

"What do you see yourself doing in five years? Do you think you'll still be at the house?"

"...I've never thought about that far. Do you think I can still live there?"

"Shun treasures you so much," Sho said, voice full of emotion. "I'm sure he'd let you. But I know he wants to support whatever you choose."

"What about you?" I asked, a bit embarrassed by his answer. "Are you planning to stay?"

"I'll stay until you graduate so don't worry," Sho said slowly, taking another sip of beer. He glared as I took the can from him and took a sip.

"But after…" I asked tentatively, putting the can down.

Sho closed his eyes and I was worried he had fallen asleep.

"It's painful living in a house with someone you love who will never look at you like that," he said finally.

I froze. Sho was in love with someone from the house?

"But I don't want him to worry about how I feel or feel bad for rejecting me, not when he has so many other things to take care of, like you," Sho said and it hit me. He was talking about Shun.

I stayed quiet for a long time. I had no idea that Sho was dealing with all of this this whole time. And Shun...he hadn't been in a relationship the entire time I had been in the house. Was it possible that Shun could accept Sho's love? But before I could respond, I noticed that he had really fallen asleep this time. And Sho was impossible to wake up once asleep.

"...I want you to be happy," I whispered as I covered him with a blanket.

I wasn't sure if Sho remembered what he had said to me the night before when I saw him the next morning, but neither of us brought it up so it remained undiscussed. I wasn't sure if he'd ever talk to me about such things again, but I wanted to be there for him just like he was always there for me, even though I was powerless to do anything.

The rest of summer went quickly by, and it was time to go home.

"Kana-chan, you've changed so much since last year," the manager said to me thoughtfully after my last shift. "Last year, other than when interacting with customers, you barely talked to anyone. But this year...you're softer. It's a good thing," he added quickly when I gave him a confused look.

I laughed a little to myself, thinking how mad the guys would be if anyone had called them soft. And how mad it would have made me even three months earlier. But something about me had changed. And I found myself missing the guys a lot.

They had messaged me constantly throughout the summer, or at least Minami, Noda, and Kuma had in our group chat, even if I didn't respond most of the time. Uchi chimed in occasionally and Sawada only responded when absolutely necessary. There were complaints about summer classes and how bored they were, which made me laugh.

Just once, Sawada had asked me how Okinawa was. The text was sent separately from our group chat and I knew he was doing this on purpose.

Sho asked me what's wrong when he found me glaring at my phone.

"Nothing," I said, snapping a photo of the Shizuoka sea in front of us that Sho had driven us to that day. I sent the photo to Sawada with no message. There was no way of knowing what sea it was. It could be Okinawa for all he knew. He didn't reply, which I expected.

Sho drove us home a few days before my second term at school would start. Shun was home and seemed to be deep in discussion with Massan and Hiro and a few of the other guys when we arrived.

"You both worked hard," he said with a smile as he greeted us. "How was it?"

"It was hard work but I enjoyed it a lot," I said. He nodded and smiled, but I didn't miss how tired Shun looked and the long glance that he shared with Sho that seemed to dampen the happy reunion we were having. But the moment was gone before I could ask about it, and I found myself being ushered to the back to go shower and unpack. I gave an uneasy glance towards Massan, but he smiled at me, giving me a thumbs up as if to say everything is okay. But from that day on, I could feel an unfamiliar coldness in the atmosphere at home and I couldn't put my finger on it.

Before I knew it, it was September and the first day of second term at Shirokin.

"Kana did you get tan?!" Noda exclaimed the moment he saw me in front of the school gates.

I nodded. I had tried to avoid the sun as much as possible but it was inevitable.

"Now you look even scarier somehow," Minami said, but took it back when I smacked his shoulder with my school bag.

Kuma exclaimed in delight when I took out presents for them. I told them that instead of Okinawa like our original plans, we had gone to Shizuoka, to which the boys exclaimed that they could have come down for a visit, but I insisted that my grandparents would have been suspicious why I have no female friends and that shut them up. I avoided looking at Sawada but he didn't ask about the photo so I didn't bring it up.

I found that Uchi and I were able to interact normally again and was thankful that the distance didn't maintain or increase the awkwardness from before summer vacation. He apologized for not texting much, but I told him not to worry about it since I was so busy - I wouldn't have had time to check my phone throughout the day anyway.

Yankumi was exactly the same, which was to be expected since I had only been away for a little over a month. But seeing her again was very refreshing for some reason. I grinned to myself when I found myself wondering what the yakuza do during summer vacation.

"You guys, it's the start of second term! You've come so far since the beginning of school. Keep it up and I'll see all of you graduate together!" she said passionately.

This kind of speech would've been laughed off and ignored at the beginning of first term, but somehow, I could tell that it was being felt by every person in the class, even if we tried not to show it.

We only had school for a half day for the opening ceremony so I was able to hang out with the guys afterwards. I found myself laughing a lot at their stories from summer vacation and my heart felt lighter. For once, I found myself not wanting to go back home all that quickly and whether the guys noticed or not, they obliged in spending time with me until the evening.

"Kana...don't you have to go home soon?" Kuma asked, suddenly noticing the time.

"Yeah, we don't want you to get in trouble or anything," Minami said.

I bit my lip and willed myself not to tell them that Tochigi was all a lie. And I was irritated that we all acted like we didn't care about getting in trouble yet in times like these, they put me and my fake situation first.

"Kana?" Uchi asked softly.

"Yeah, I'll go home," I said, grabbing my schoolbag. "See you tomorrow," I said in their general direction before heading out before anyone could say they would walk me to the station. Another term of me enjoying their company, another term of me having to lie to them. I sighed as I headed home, heart heavy.

When I arrived at school one day a week later, I found many of the students outside practicing various sports.

"What's going on?" I asked Uchi when I got to class.

"The school's annual sports tournament," he replied. "Soccer, softball, basketball, and ping pong doubles."

"Oh. So, does the winning class get anything?" I asked. Uchi shook his head.

"But we get lots of class time off, right?" he grinned. Ah.

"The sports tournament is coming up next week!" Yankumi announced during homeroom.

"YES! The sports tournament!" Kuma shouted and everyone cheered.

Yankumi looked surprised. "Wow, you guys are all fired up! Let's do our best!"

I smiled a little at her enthusiasm before continuing my card game with Noda. Yankumi quickly realized that no one was paying attention.

"Hey hey, what's going on?" she said, coming over to us.

"We hate sweating, you know," Noda said, discarding a pair of cards.

"Sweaty guys aren't very attractive," Uchi agreed while peering over my shoulder to point at cards I should play next.

"But I thought you guys were happy just now," Yankumi said.

"We're happy because we get an entire day off of class," Sawada explained. The guys chorused in agreement. She looked so disappointed and I felt a tiny bit bad for her.

"Yankumi, why am I under ping pong?" Hazama said suddenly, staring at the posters on the board. All the guys stood up to see what it was all about.

I looked up at Yankumi who had her arms crossed with a satisfied smile. "I considered your skills and personalities and grouped you into the best teams."

I had a bad feeling and stood up to see where I was. Sawada pointed at my name under his for soccer. Soccer?

"I thought basketball would be too much contact, ping pong too much attention and softball not your thing," Yankumi said to me. I was a little impressed, although she got me wrong about softball. But there was no way she'd know about me spending time at batting centers, so I cut her a little slack.

I peered at the lists again. Sawada and I were under soccer. Uchi, Minami, Noda, and Kuma were under basketball. And Yamaguchi…Yankumi?!

"Hey, you're playing?" Sawada asked her.

"Oh, you noticed?" she asked sheepishly.

"It's so obvious," Uchi said, pointing at her name exaggeratedly.

"We have one less person than other classes, so I'm filling in," she said. "I'm playing!"

"Well that kills any motivation to do this," Minami said as everyone groaned and sat down, not willing to participate. Yankumi gave me a pleading look, as if to beg me to do something...maybe because of the school festival? But I just shrugged and turned back to the card game.

It was one thing to do something as a class, but it was another thing to be forced to do things with other classes. I had a feeling things would get a little bit too rough if our class participated anyway. Perhaps it was better this way.

I came home to Shun and Massan having another serious talk which they stopped the moment I walked in.

I narrowed my eyes. I was starting to get more and more irritated at being left out, but I knew Shun wouldn't just tell me, and if I got mad, he would get mad too.

"Hey, how was school?" Shun asked nonchalantly, but I didn't miss the warning look in his eyes.

I sighed and dropped my gaze to the glass of water Massan had poured for me.

"Our school's doing a sports tournament," I offered.

"Oh, it's that time of year?" Shun asked. "What sport will you be playing?"

"Soccer."

Shun and Massan both laughed but stopped when I glared at them.

"It's just hard to imagine you getting super into soccer," Massan said lightly, holding up his hand defensively.

I sighed. It was true. "It's not like our class is going to take it seriously anyway."

"Why not?"

I smiled as I thought about how excited the class was about the day off. "Well, it's a day we don't have any classes while the rest of the school is off participating."

I noticed Shun watching me and tilted my head at him. "What?"

He gave me a small smile. "You seem happier."

I looked at him questioningly. "Really?"

"Yeah."

I shrugged. Was I happier? Maybe. I smiled a little. Maybe because of a certain class and teacher. But I looked up warily at Massan who came over and put a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"Just focus on school right now," he said cheerfully, but I knew it meant not to pry into their business. I brushed off his hand and went to my room to get ready for my shift in the cafe. If they weren't going to tell me, then fine. I would have to eventually find out for myself. But I didn't know that things were about to get real busy at school and I wouldn't even have that time...

During homeroom the next day, Yankumi brought up the sports tournament again, writing "Aim for the championship!" on the board in big letters.

"Starting today, we'll do daily practices for the sports tournament!" she announced.

"What? Why? We don't have time for this," the class grumbled. I nodded in agreement. I had no time to stay after school, not with the cafe.

"Of course, there's a prize," Yankumi said. Everyone perked up. "If you win, you get a kiss on the cheek!"

"From who?" Kuma asked.

"From me, of course," Yankumi answered.

The class sat back with a groan. Half of them stared at her disgustedly and the other half refused to look at her. I covered my mouth and bit my lip to keep from laughing. Uchi stood up to face the back wall.

"What…oh I see. You guys won't settle for just the cheek…" Yankumi said thoughtfully.

"That's a punishment!" Uchi shouted from the back. I burst out laughing. Even Sawada was grinning.

"Punishment?" Yankumi asked, bewildered.

"Yankumi, I certainly don't need a kiss from you, and I'm sure the guys don't either," I said. The guys all chorused their agreement loudly.

"HEY! Even if Yamaguchi Sensei's not here, you have to be quiet during homeroom!" Saruwatari shouted suddenly from the doorway.

"I am here," Yankumi said, waving. "Sorry. I was just pumping them up for the sports tournament."

"Hmph. Like they actually want to participate," he scoffed.

"Of course they do, they most certainly do!" Yankumi insisted.

"There's no point in letting them participate anyways," Sawatari said. "They might as well not play, since they won't win."

At that, the class fell silent. Hell, it was one thing for us to decide not to participate, but a whole nother thing for someone else to decide that for us.

"Why do you always say things like that?" Yankumi asked him through gritted teeth.

"These guys, they'll break the rules and will only cause problems. Look at them. They're useless."

This infuriated the class and they marched up to Sawatari. Uchi pushed to the very front. I stood in the back, fists clenched.

"If we win, what will you give us?" he demanded.

"If you win?" he asked. "Alright, if you win, I'll wear honey in my hair instead of pomade, and I'll bury myself in the flowerbed for an entire day."

"You said it!" the class began to shout at him. "We'll show you."

"But Yamaguchi Sensei, each student can only participate in one sport," Saruwatari continued. "Where's Nakajima-san?" The crowd at the front parted a little so he could look at me directly. "Nakajima-san, I'm sure you don't want to participate in such a rough event with these…rowdy losers," he said with a creepy smile.

"I'm under soccer. I'm playing," I said immediately. Inwardly, I sighed. What would I tell Shun about my cafe shifts?

Saruwatari looked a little stunned but quickly regained his composure. "Fine. And Yamaguchi-sensei, teacher's cannot participate."

"But we don't have enough people for basketball so we can't win," Noda pointed out.

"And that means we can't win the tournament. That's playing cheap!" Uchi growled. "No wonder he was so confident in his offer."

"No worries. We actually have another student in our class named Yuuki," Yankumi said. Huh?

"Yuuki? Who's that?" Uchi asked. The class mumbled in wonder. Since when was he in our class?

I saw Minami and Kuma exchange a look out of the corner of my eye.

"You mean you guys don't know him? Well, he doesn't come to school now, but I intend to bring him back," Yankumi replied earnestly.

"Again, saying irresponsible things like that," Saruwatari scoffed.

Yankumi's eyes seemed to burn with passion. "Listen up, you guys. Let's settle this once and for all with all 27 members of 3-D!"

"...settle this?" Saruwatari asked while we stared at her blankly. Her passionate bubble seemed to pop and she looked incredibly stuck trying to explain herself.

Sawada and I shared a look as we realized it was her yakuza side coming out again. Stupid, Sawada mouthed.

"Anyway, let's do our best! Oh!" she said weakly just as the bell rang. She packed up quickly and told us to meet in our respective teams before she left with Saruwatari who gave us a condescending look as he went out the door.

"Who does that asshole think he is?" Noda grumbled, kicking at his desk.

But it was better motivation than that kiss that Yankumi offered, I thought to myself. Now the class was actually motivated to win. But was that Yuuki guy even going to show up?

I glanced over at Minami and Kuma who were still staring glumly at the floor as everyone got ready to go to this special "practice" for the sport tournament. Sawada caught my eye and shook his head silently as if telling me not to ask.

Just more people with secrets to add to the list...not that I was one to talk.

"Hey Sawada, I can't stay today, but I'll try to start coming to soccer practice tomorrow," I said. He nodded. Uchi and Noda waved to me as I left, but Minami and Kuma barely looked up. I wondered if they would be okay.

I dropped by the nurse's office to turn in my health forms for the second term.

"Are you going to participate in the sport's tournament?" Kawashima asked me and I nodded. "You don't have to force yourself, you know. It's going to be a mess of testosterone."

"We decided as a class," I said.

She smiled. "Guess 3-D can do anything if they put their mind to it."

I smiled a little at what she said.

"Hmm, guess you can smile too," she said lightly. I realized she wasn't the first person to say something like that to me recently and I covered my mouth. Was I subconsciously smiling that much more now? "It's nothing to be embarrassed about," Kawashima insisted. "But maybe you'll have more boy problems from now on," she said with a wink. I shook my head and bowed before taking my leave.

When I walked past the gym as I was about to leave, I saw Class 3-C practicing. They were doing pretty good, as much as I hated to admit especially since Abe was on the basketball team...and they even had Shinohara-san, the detective Yankumi was crazy about, coaching them. He had dropped by our class briefly during the school festival and it was cringe-worthy how much Yankumi had gone out of her way to try to get his attention.

3-D's basketball practice on the other hand…Minami and Kuma lay around as Uchi and Noda took turns rolling the basketball to knock down batons set up as bowling pins. I sighed. This was a winning team? But of course, more than that, the main question was whether or not Yuuki would come. Without him, all these hours of practice would amount to nothing.

Author's Note: And we're back to the plot of the drama! Things are heating up at home for Kana too so these next couple of arcs might be a lot to handle!

Also I have received comments about who Kana ends up with in this story. I have chosen not to say - not to be a tease about it, but because to me, that's not the main focus of this story. I think that all of the people Kana gets close to have a huge impact on her life, regardless of the type of relationship she has with them. Sorry if that's a disappointing answer or if you're reading the story just to see a certain pairing...I can't promise anything but I hope I make each interaction realistic and personal.

Thank you as always for reading! I appreciate any thoughts if you have any! And I hope all of you are safe and healthy wherever you are at this time.