Whew! Finally!

Ooh, I really am so sorry it took me so long to update. As I've mentioned at the heading of the last chapter, I've been very busy. Quizzes and assignments and activities were eating me up, literally. I thought I'd finish this chappie before I get even more flooded. So there!

Yay! Thanks for all those encouraging reviews! You don't know how they all mean to me! I'll try to update as soon as I can, so please bear with me? I will finish this fic!

As usual, if you note any errors (spelling, grammar, etc), please notify me so that I may mend them immediately.

Oh, I almost forgot the disclaimer so….

Gokusen ain't mine, never was, never will be.

Without further ado, here is the 6th installment! Chow!

Reconciliation

Inwardly as she moved slowly through the dark staircase, a strong feeling of indignation began seeping into the teacher's head. Soon, she decided that she was fuming. How dare he speak to her that way? Kids these days, she spat decidedly. If they ain't idiotic and rebellious, they're stupid and disrespectful! A whole bunch o' assholes, they are!

But of course, she knew that it was unfair to think of all teens in that general belief. Not all of them were idiots, really.

"Of course they aren't!" she simmered indignantly, stomping onto the corridor. The nearing sounds of shouting and shrieks escaped her ears as she murdered Sawada again and again with her grandfather's katana in her imagination. With an exasperated sigh, she added before swinging the door open. "My kids are nice. Sawada's pro'ly just a bad influence—" But the idea died on her lips as the first angelical hymn reached her sensitive ears.

"FOCKIN' SHITHEAD—"

It took her a full minute to register the catastrophe before her eyes. Had she been a lesser human being, she would have fainted on the spot. Fortunately, or rather unfortunately, she wasn't, and so Kumiko was glued to her place, staring with an appalled and eye-popping stare that would have rivaled Inuzuka's scary expression.

Words were not enough to describe the scene. The nearest thing that did pop into the rookie teacher's head was "brawl" but it was too much of an understatement. The fact that every student was busily punching, kicking, and shitting any person they could grasp into one cyclical mess was just too—unorganized to the eye of a math teacher, alternatively a yakuza ojou. It didn't help that Inuzuka, sporting a huge black-eye that made his scary-face even scarier, was flailing and hitting any one within reach with his baseball bat while lying flat on his back. Crowding (hitting and getting hit, mainly) above him was Uchi and Minami, both sporting and spitting a lost tooth or two. Noda was on one corner getting pumped by two or three more students, who were likewise hitting each other. Kuma was lying unconscious (sleeping?) somewhere, getting stepped on or serving as a cushion to flying and falling students. Other students were even wielding broken chair legs! To her utter dismay, even Tsuruta, grunting in gorilla-like rage, joined the madness as he circled someone overhead and threw it across a bloody pile (of more 3-4 students).

Of course, their "brawl" consisted of so much shouting and cursing, add up the thuds and bangs; it was so loud the gods would've done mass genocide just to shut their ruckus. Kumiko wondered why no one came to reprimand the noise.

Even Baldy's alien half would've melted at the sight, she observed wryly and sidestepped agilely to avoid another torpedoed student. What the—did no one see me coming?

She sighed and cleared her throat. "Hey—"

"BASTARD! EAT MY—"

"H-hey! I'm back. I'm here—"

Whack! "Yer dick's so small yah coulda peed through yer nose—"

"YAH SUCKING—" Blag! "PIECE O'—" Crack! "SHIT!"

Jumping over a fallen object/student. "Hey, stop it—"

"YAH, ASSHOLE! Yah bashed my Gameboy!"

"It ain't even yours—"

Hello? She gritted internally. Lookie here! "I'm baaack—"

Thug! "I'M NOT TALKIN' TO Y—"

"Hey—GIMME THAT BAT!"

Stomping to the front, she strained. "—hey! I said quiet!"

Thump! "NOOO!"

"FUCK! Damm—"

"RAHHHH! I said, SHUT UP, YAH BUMBLING IDIOTS!"

That masculine/feminine roar (they couldn't determine what kind of voice it was) followed with a loud bang caught everyone's attention. All their bloody hatred transformed to sweaty fear as they saw a devil-faced Yankumi burning with rage. Their eyes almost popped when they saw that her fist was buried through the blackboard. In the heated spoils of war, a cold gust of wind entered through the windows and everyone shuddered.

"G-GAHH!" shrieked Uchi, spit flying in all directions. "Yankumi, we didn't see you!"

Inuzuka returned to his usual cute face and wailed, pointing to the freckled teen. "He started it! He was trying to follow you and—!"

"Whaddya sayin'? You bashed my Gameboy!"

"Yeah, how come you put a freak of nature in charge?" demanded Minami.

"He started the fight!" joined Kuma who had woken from the roar. "He started hitting us—"

Someone interjected. "Hey, Yankumi, Noda here stole my cookie bar—"

"Fuck. How many times do I have to tell yah that it was a frickin acci—"

"Accident my cock!"

"Yankumi! He started it—"

"No! He did—he took my—"

"—that sucker touched my tits!" added Terada, pointing to Kinoshita, his usually handsome face swollen.

"—was an accident! You don't even have tits."

"Yankumi—!"

"—Yankumi!"

"YANKUMI!"

BANG!

Everyone flinched again as she buried her fist loudly through the blackboard again. Slowly, she unclenched her hand, flecks and splinters falling from her skin and scattering to the ground, and moved it from the board and rested it on the table. They could hardly see the dark expression on her face, and they couldn't help but sweat as they anticipated another whack. But they were hardly prepared for her next words.

"Yah amateurs!" she exploded and they all flinched though the same question wandered through their heads. Amateurs?

"Is that what yah call a fight?"

Again they all stared.

She continued zealously. "If yah were caught in a yakuza shootout you'd all be corpses by now! I've been wantin' to tell yah a long time ago and I just remembered—yer all lousy fighters. That looked more like a sleazy brawl—kids in third grade woulda done better. And who was hittin' who? I can't believe this! How are yah gonna survive, huh! No wonder yah guys always get beaten up by other schools! And—"

As she continued her rant, the bloodied students of Class 3-4 looked as though she suddenly grew horns on her head. What the fuck is she saying?

"—was not the proper way to hit a person! You won't be injuring any fly if you hold 'em like that! Another is—"

"Why don't you teach us then?" came a soft drawl from the doorway which made Kumiko jump.

In the chaos of the classroom, no one noticed his arrival. He leaned lazily at the doorway, smug as ever with hands tucked deep into his pockets. A hardly readable expression marked his face but she could swear there was a hint of amusement along the corners of his mouth. Her eyes widened for a moment and she wondered how long he had been there.

"E—eh?" she squeaked. That'd blow my cover!

He sighed exasperatedly. "You called us amateurs. So why don't you give us a "professional" tips to learn from?"

It took 3-4 a moment to register Shin's words before Uchi broke the silence. "Yeah! I'm GO for whatever Shin says!"

"W-wait! Does Yankumi even know how to fight?" asked Minami doubtfully.

Tsuruta and Inuzuka shuddered while Shin smirked. "Maybe. Why don't you ask her?"

Someone sniggered from the back, and a single vein twitched in her forehead. Do they really have to underestimate her too much?

Duh! Smacked the voice of practicality in her head. Isn't that how it's supposed to be?

"Ah—yeah—ah, I mean—n-no! I dunno how!" she stuttered, realizing her foolishness.

"Eh? But weren't yah just tellin' us 'bout the right moves and—"

"SHUT UP! I mean—hehe—no, gods no! I just ah, yah know, saw that from—from—"

"Yakuza movies," supplied Shin, with a slight smile.

"Ye—yeah. From movies. Yah know, it's like—washa!" and proceeded to sloppily demonstrating the lamest moves possible, adding more "washas" after every strike. "See? I can't teach yah anything like that, neh?" She punctuated her sentence with a severely false laugh.

"Um. Yeah. We see now, Yankumi," said Uchi, hoping Kumiko would stop creeping him out.

"If yah don't believe me, see Wife of the Yakuza, episode 35, oh, and then there's a really action-packed scene—episode 58…and…"

While she blabbered incoherently, Shin sighed and gave silent orders to clean the room up. "Hey, Yamaguchi," he murmured to her privately, gesturing her to go with him. She raised a brow, her irritation returning. She can't easily forgive him for insulting her.

"Why should I?" she snapped.

He sighed. "Don't be stupid. You're acting childish."

"Heh. Don't act all mature-ish on me, Sawada. You'll always be just a kid."

Shin grated his teeth and smirked to hide the pain in his features. "Think what you like." In the most offhanded manner possible, he shrugged and walked out of the room.

"That kid!" fumed Kumiko. Feeling a dozen and more pairs of eyes staring at the back of her head, she looked around and saw her students staring at her strangely. "What?"

Uchi gave her a goofy smile while Kuma grinned. Does she look that weird? Has the world gone flat? Is my chest that flat? She wanted to scream in irritation.

"Minami. Spit," the boy shook his head.

"Noda? Kuma—you!" They both retreated, the bigger boy muttering something about wanting to pee.

Just as she was about to explode a fresh bomb of threats, Uchi spoke, much to her relief.

"Hehe. Y'know Yankumi, looking at you 'n Shin talking like that…yah know, it makes me wonder..."

"—actually, it makes us all wonder." Added Inuzuka from a corner.

"Shut up, yah crap!"

"What?" The relief she felt earlier was dying with the dreaded suspense. C'mon. Why can't yah just tell me I look shitty and move on with it?

With a dramatic breath, Uchi batted his lashes dreamily, "You look like a couple."

"Uh, ok—WHAT?" Kumiko stared, flabbergasted.

Noda nodded. "Yeah. More like a couple on an LQ, or something."

Her head spun. Was she really hearing this? "LQ?"

"Geez, Yankumi. LQ—love quarrel. Seriously, are you that old?"

"So, Yankumi," grinned a black-eyed Minami. "Are you—you know—really with Shin?"

"C'mon—we ain't tellin' no one!" screamed some freak from the back. Kumiko felt heat and ire rise from the roots of her hair.

"W-what are you saying?" gulped Kumiko. Everything felt like a weird horror movie—only she wasn't frightened, only unsettled, and this was what scared her. In the height of her confusion, she struck the table with her bat (everyone forgot about it) and screamed. "Enough! Just clean yourself up or you'll spend the rest of the afternoon running on burning coals!"

"That. Was. Weird." muttered Uchi dully when the teacher made her fast exit.

"Damn right that was. That bitch is crazed," wondered Minami shaking his head.

"Hehe, bet ya'll she just escaped so she can't answer us," added Noda.

"Oi, yah brat, what are yah doing with that bat?" Inuzuka was inching towards the bat that Kumiko left on the table.

"Uh—ah, just thought that—that—" the boy sweated.

Kuma stood up and dusted his pants. "Never mind that. Let's clean this all up."

"Yeah. Shin told us. Almost forgot."

"I don't wanna run on any coals," wailed Terada.

Tsuruta was already straitening the chairs and patching up the windows while muttering with an almost zombie-reminiscent mantra. "Obey, obey, I'll obey…"

"What the hell's wrong with that guy?" whispered Uchi.

"The cootie's gone to his head."

"Gah. Let's just clean up. Royal Couple's orders."

The boys, including Inuzuka, looked at each other and sniggered.

ooo0O0ooo

His keen ears picked up fast approaching steps; she finally came. Shin knew her too well to know that she would come for him. Butterflies fluttered at his stomach; he still wasn't sure why he wanted to talk to her. He had done something wrong—he had insulted their friendship, insulted her. He didn't want any war to be waged between them; if he let it go as it was, they would be estranged and he didn't want that. But how should he apologize?

Apologies are for fools, muttered his old philosophy and he bit his lip. This was no time for pride.

Kumiko materialized in front of him, and coldly examined him, arms akimbo. He suddenly felt more nervous.

"You came," he uttered lazily, fighting to remain calm. Shit. I don't sound sorry.

The pigtailed woman raised a brow, clearly irritated by his coolness. "You wanted to talk to me. Spill it."

The atmosphere went ominously cold. "I wanted to tell you that…"

There was a long pause; Kumiko felt the first strains of impatience. "What?"

Tell her you're sorry!

Shut up! I'm at it!

"...uh, that you shouldn't be too obvious," He slapped himself mentally. What?

"What?!" The limber woman in front of him looked like a blowfish, all too ready to blow.

"I mean, you're too obvious. If you really don't want anyone to know who you are, I think you should sharpen your senses a bit." He agonized as the words fell shockingly out of his mouth. It was mostly blabber; he was still slightly loose-tongued, thanks to his hangover. Mentally, he swore never to get drunk again, unless he felt like it.

"You're acting skills need some practice," he added, not sure how to make sense.

Damn it. What the hell is wrong with me? The headache that never left him pounded his skull more than ever.

A large green vein throbbed on her forehead. She advanced menacingly at him, anger freely flying in waves. "Oh, so everything comes down to this, huh? First you disown our relationship, then call me a bad teacher, and now you say I need practice? You know what I think?" There was a sharp pain and a crack as her open palm came in contact with his face. The slap doubled, tripled the pain in his head; his eyes watered. But Shin felt too stunned to react. It was his fault after all. "Screw you," she added spitefully.

On her side, Kumiko made an internal cringe. "Screw you" didn't exactly sound mature, nor did it sound like something she would say in normal circumstances. Nor did the fact that it was the first time that she had ever intentionally physically inflict injury upon her redheaded friend—student. She sighed. How did it all start again? She wasn't really sure. All she knew was that last night brought her to a bad mood, even though the best thing that could possibly happen in her adulthood—that is, Shinohara's unexpected proposal—happened. Do bad things happen when you get what you want? She thought dolefully.

A question drowned her skull on impact. Is it what you really want or was it just something you wanted a long time ago?

"I've no time for this," she muttered furiously to him and to herself. With a last disgusted look at him, she turned to leave. With that movement, Shin, as though in a daze, woke up in a snap.

"Yamaguchi, I'm not finished with you yet," he strained, hoping that she would stay long enough to hear him shatter his pride.

"I am finished with you, Sawada," came her voice dangerously. "Goodbye. And I do not want to see you meddling with any of my affairs again."

His plan was falling apart. This is it. She is leaving—and she'll go to her Shinohara later and give her answer…

This thought was just the right formula to destroy his doubts. Standing up, he stumbled into a run and, in one breathless, thoughtless moment, pulled her by the waist into his arms.

Thud-ud. Thud-ud. The blood was pounding too loudly into his ears, and Shin wondered if she felt the same. Slowly, he buried his nose into her nape and sighed shakily; he had never done anything as stupid and as liberating as this before. Inhaling her fresh scent was enough to restore a thread of bravery into his senses. Hiding his head down into her jacketed shoulder, he muttered. "Kumiko, I'm sorry."

Kumiko Yamaguchi was speechless. She couldn't move, she could hardly breathe, her heart was beating too loudly and too fast to be recognized as heartbeat. This element of surprise was just too much for her. His words seemed to echo in her head: Kumiko, I'm sorry. Kumiko, I'm sorry. Kumiko, I'm—

Her breath caught in her throat as his warm breath wafted through the sides of her neck. All her frustration, anger and disappointment seemed to evaporate as she unwittingly savored the contact. The tension and stress of last night and the morning's lack of sleep and occurrences seemed to die, too. She felt him nuzzle the side of her neck and she bit back a groan. Thousands of other emotions and thoughts rallied in her skull. This is wrong. This is just wrong! I'm a—I'm a—

What? An ojou?

A teacher!

There is nothing wrong with a hug, came a familiar sneaky voice.

…embrace.

—brotherly hug.

…affectionate embrace.

…warm…

…comforting.

Shin…she gulped.

Shin snapped his eyes open. The adrenaline rush was slowly dying in him, but he still didn't want to pull away from her. Reason pointed out that hugging his teacher in school grounds would be damaging for her reputation. If she wouldn't hate him for holding her (of course she would, stupid), she would definitely hate him for sullying her good reputation as a teacher. Reluctantly, he snaked his arms away from her waist and promptly clenched his hands in his pockets.

When she turned around to face him, he saw that redness was spread across her face reaching her ears, and hung his head. He probably looked much worse than that. "I—whatever I said at the rooftop, I didn't mean it."

Kumiko nodded numbly. "Hnn." Sawada, is that all you have to say?

As if reading her mind, he muttered. "That's all."

Uncomfortable silence lapsed between them. Shin frowned in discomfort. "I don't care if you don't forgive me. I've said my piece, is all."

To his annoyance and surprise, Kumiko suddenly burst out laughing. He raised a brow, feeling himself redden to the roots of his red hair. "What?"

"N-nothing," said Kumiko between gasps. "It's just that you look so—so funny when you're tryin' to be contrite."

He made a face. "I'm not contrite."

"You are! Haha! Don't try to be in denial!" She continued to laugh lustily at him, enjoying his obvious discomfort. Shin heard her hiccup and he had to look up at her again. Tears were swelling on her eyes and there were pink puffs on her cheeks. Snot trailed from one nostril; Shin wasn't sure whether to feel sorry for her or laugh.

"You really are a stupid kid," she sniffed.

He shrugged. "So I've heard. Stop crying, will you? You're too sentimental." Without thinking, he pulled his hand from his pocket and tried to brush the wetness from her face, snot included.

This time, it was her turn to make a face. "So what? It's one of my charms. That's why you like me so much." Her eyes widened, and she wondered where the idea came from. Duh! You always tease him. What makes this so different?

There was a strange expression in his face as he stared at her. The fact that his palm was still pressed against her cheek was not helping.

Finally, he retracted his hand from her, and she felt both relieved and disappointed. And cold.

"Don't you have a class to teach?" he reminded.

"Oh!" Kumiko slapped her forehead. "Damn, I almost forgot!"

"You really forgot."

She ignored him. "3-2's my next. You better take care of your classmates for me. You're all in trouble if the room ain't fixed."

As he watched her run off, he contentedly buried his fists further in his pockets. Her words came back to him as he made his way to 3-4's classroom.

That's why you like me so much, she had said.

"You have no idea," he breathed. "None at all."

Wait, I need to get a protective shield before you throw anything at me. For those expecting a lengthier span of argument between 'em (like 2 or 3 more chaps), sorry if this is disappointing. Hehe, anyways, there will be more to come despite this slow development.

How was it?

Carrots?

Jackfruits?

Durians?

Fly papers? (Uhh, I'm not sure where this came from.)

Please review!