Title: Stumble and Fall
Author: Avelynn Tame
Disclaimer: I do not own Gokusen.
Summary: A new teacher has arrived at Shirokin, and he's not bothering to hide his attraction to the homeroom teacher of a certain delinquent class. 3-D greet him with their usual kindness and warmth, but Yankumi is far more interested in the reaction of one Sawada Shin…
Author's Notes: Thank you so much for all of the reviews! I can't tell you how happy it makes me to open up my inbox and find your comments. This chapter is dedicated to elebelly – I hope you got the GCSE results you wanted! And anyone else out there who has been enduring the stresses of exams, let me know how they went.
Chapter Three
When she walked into the 3-D classroom the next day and yelled "Good morning!" over all the noise, she noticed that a number of the students seemed to be peering over her shoulder, as though they were expecting someone to follow her in.
"Maruyama-sensei won't be with us today," she told them. "He'll be with Nakano-sensei in the science labs, since he hasn't decided which subject he wants to teach yet."
"So we're stuck with just you, then, Yankumi?" said Uchi belligerently – although, in Kumiko's opinion, he looked somewhat brighter than he had done yesterday.
In fact, the whole class seemed to be in high spirits this morning. She was pleased, of course, but it made her wonder if – as Fujiyama-sensei had suggested – they hadn't liked Maruyama all that much. It's just a matter of time, she reminded herself. "Yes, you are stuck with me, ungrateful brats. You know, one day you'll thank me for the time I've dedicated to you."
"Nah, we'd rather have a free period," Minami declared.
"Not going to happen," she shot back quickly. "Ask me for a maths test instead."
"'Not going to happen'," he repeated mockingly, but the smirk on his face was friendly.
She rolled her eyes. "All right, pay attention, because today we're covering material that will definitely be on the exams. So don't say I didn't warn you."
Naturally, their definition of 'pay attention' differed hugely from her own, but it wasn't as though she wasn't used to it. Having said that, although they were messing around at the start, they began to settle as time went on, and she had a pleasant surprise halfway through the lesson when she turned around and found that they were actually concentrating on what she was saying.
It was a good class, she decided when the bell rang. She glanced at them as she left, and felt her heart swell with pride. Such good kids. I think I got the best ones in the whole school.
It put her in a good mood for the rest of the day. The other teachers had commented on it, but scoffed derisively when she'd explained that 3-D was the source of her positive attitude. Even Maruyama had seemed sceptical, but she'd brushed it off with a smile.
At the end of the day she breezed cheerfully into 3-D's classroom, called the attendance register with gusto, and was even able to grin happily when Noda suggested that she had taken drugs by accident. "This, my precious students," she announced, "is what is called 'job satisfaction'. Accept nothing less in life!"
She was busy ignoring mutterings of "weirdo" and "strange woman" when there was a soft knock at the door, and it opened to reveal Maruyama on the other side. "Hi," he greeted her. "Are you done for the day?"
She pretended to consider it. "Hmm, am I done taking abuse from my ungrateful students? Yeah, I think so." She rolled her eyes at the class. "To think, I've been singing your praises all day, and what do I get in return? Insults!"
"But you are weird," Minami told her. "That's not an insult, it's just a fact."
She huffed petulantly, and stuffed her papers into her bag. "I'll remember that 'fact' the next time you call me from the police station at two in the morning." She stood and turned to Maruyama. "Okay, I just need to stop by the faculty room to drop the register off, and then I'm ready."
"Great." He clapped his hands together. "You want to go for okonomiyaki? I found a great place yesterday on my way home."
"Sure." As she shouldered her bag, her stomach growled loudly. She laughed and patted it. "Perfect timing, huh?"
Maruyama waved at 3-D as she ducked past him through the doorway. "See you tomorrow, class. Your teacher needs to be fed, or she'll turn nasty."
"Oi." Kumiko smacked him on the arm. She stuck her head back into the classroom to say goodbye, and was surprised to find them all still sitting in their seats. They were watching her, a sullen expression on every face. "Hey, you know you can go home, right?" she teased. "See you tomorrow!"
But their gloomy faces stayed in her mind as she walked away, and even until sometime later that evening, when she was adding a layer of noodles to her okonomiyaki and Maruyama was shaking his head sadly.
She wondered what had happened to bring about such a sudden downturn in their mood. They'd been so bright and chirpy at first, and then the atmosphere had become so morose. She wondered if they were having problems – a fight with students from another school, perhaps, or maybe someone was having family trouble and they just weren't telling her about it.
She clenched her fists, her eyebrows knitting together in a frown. When were they going to learn? She was their teacher; they were supposed to tell her this kind of stuff so that she could help them deal with it. Keeping it a secret helped nobody –
Maruyama snapped his fingers in front of her face. "Yamaguchi-sensei! Are you all right?"
She blinked, tuning back into the here and now. Abruptly, she realised that her food was burning, and she hurried to move it off the grill. "Yes, I'm fine, thank you. Just… thinking."
He sat forward, a sympathetic expression on his face. "If you need to talk about it…"
A small smile tugged at her lips. It was nice to have Maruyama around again – to have a friend who would listen to her little worries. She loved her family, but their approach to her problems wasn't always… appropriate. "To tell the truth," she began, "it's about 3-D. I mean, they were fine for most of the day, and then –" She broke off as she realised that he now looked less sympathetic and more exasperated. "What?"
"Yamaguchi-sensei…" His mouth twisted thoughtfully. "You worry about them an awful lot. They're just kids, they're fine! You shouldn't have to think of them outside school as well."
"But I do!" she argued. "No-one else will – sometimes even their own families don't seem to care. My job is to look after them."
"But you can't be at their beck and call twenty-four hours a day," he countered. "They need to learn to look after themselves as well. And you need to be able to have some time to yourself."
She sighed. It wasn't that she couldn't see where he was coming from; she could. But she couldn't agree with everything that he said. "You're right – they do need to look after themselves. But they can't do that without someone helping them on the way. Sooner or later they'll get to the point where they don't need me. But right now, they still need a lot of help. That's what I'm there for. Besides…" her lips twitched, "you know me. Even if they were fully grown men, I'd still worry."
He grinned at her. "They're lucky kids, having you for a teacher."
She laughed as she cut her pancake up, carving out the burnt bits. "Yeah, now if we can just get them to realise that…"
After that, he didn't raise the issue again, and instead tried to distract her by recalling memories of their classmates at university. But her mind insisted on wandering to her students, until finally she resolved to sort things out once and for all. The best way to do that, she had learnt, was to first talk to Sawada Shin.
3-D had hoped that Wednesday would be another Maruyama-free day, but they weren't so lucky. The period before lunch saw him leaning casually against the wall while Yankumi drew triangles on the board. "I know you all hate trigonometry," she was saying, "but it has to be done. So just grit your teeth and take it like men, okay?"
They whined unhappily; however, since this was a marked improvement on how they would have reacted when she first arrived – i.e. by walking out of the classroom – she let it slide.
"So," said Maruyama suddenly, "the name 'Yankumi', then. Where did that come from?"
Yankumi made a pleased sound. She jabbed her thumb over her shoulder. "They thought of it." With one arm stretched to reach the top of the board, she half-twisted to look at them. "It was the first present they ever gave me." Her smile became a scowl. "And the last. Fujiyama gets presents from her class every other day." She sniffed and turned back to the board. "Not that I care, or anything. At all."
"When you're as sexy as Fujiyama then you'll get presents from us," Noda told her. "That is… if you even know what sexy is."
Yankumi swivelled on the spot indignantly, hands on her hips, ready to defend herself. But Maruyama got there first.
"Yamaguchi-sensei can really pull out all the stops when she wants to, you know." He laughed, half-drifting into reverie. "She used to complain about getting dressed up when we were at university, but she still managed it pretty well." He raised an eyebrow at the class. "I've got photos. Shall I bring in the albums for you to see?"
Yankumi cleared her throat loudly, and in turning to look at her, Maruyama missed the expressions of irritation and disgust on many faces in the class. "Sure, bring the albums in," she said kindly. "Bring them in so I can burn them, and then kill you. Not necessarily in that order, either."
"Hmm…" He pretended to think about it. "It could be worth it. I'm pretty sure I've got a photo of you from that Halloween party, the one where you wore –"
"Oh, God," she intoned, sounding horrified. "That's it. I'm killing you now. Class, avert your eyes."
Maruyama held up his hands in a mock attempt at self-defence. "Okay, let's not be too hasty, Kumiko-san. I haven't committed the crime yet."
She cracked her knuckles, advancing on him dangerously. "I think in this case it would be justified. No court would convict me."
Shin, who had briefly lapsed into deep thought as he tried to imagine what she could possibly have worn that would be so embarrassing, snapped back to attention. While he wouldn't mind seeing Maruyama – a guy who'd made it pretty clear that he wanted to do less-than-professional things to their teacher – die a horrible death, he'd rather that Yankumi didn't actually touch the guy.
"Oi," he said in a voice that carried across the classroom. "Can you kill him later? Aren't you supposed to be teaching us?"
Yankumi turned, and gave him a look that Shin liked to think she reserved especially for him – exasperation mixed with amusement, fondness, and maybe even a little curiosity. "Murder versus education?" She put her hands on her hips. "I guess I ought to stick to legal activities for now." She jabbed a stern finger in Shin's direction. "But I'll kill you as well if he brings those photos in."
He smirked coolly. "You're welcome to try."
The small smile he caught on her face as she turned back towards the board suggested that she was a little bit proud of him.
Maruyama was looking between the two of them as though he was struggling to understand what had just gone on. Shin met his stare defiantly, and almost snorted with disgust when Maruyama flinched and looked away.
Then he appeared to dismiss Shin altogether, turning to focus on Yankumi.
Mistake, Shin thought irritably. First rule of any battle – don't turn your back on your enemy. Even a little kid knows that.
But then, Maruyama probably didn't even know there was a battle – which was his second mistake.
It was no skin off Shin's nose if Maruyama underestimated him; in fact, it would probably make his life a lot easier. What was really annoying him at this point was that Yankumi herself hadn't realised that either of them were interested in her.
And when she did eventually get a clue, Maruyama would be leagues ahead of Shin; Yankumi might be able to deal with a colleague who was in love with her, but one of her younger students?
She would freak out.
P.E. had traditionally been one of 3-D's favourite periods – not because they had any great desire to actually participate in any of the sports on offer, but because it gave them an excuse to go and sit on their asses in the sun for an hour or so while they watched all the other suckers running around on the field. No-one had dared to try and force them to participate, not since that incident two years ago when Baba-sensei had been left tied to a goalpost – upside down – for a whole afternoon.
After that, 3-D had been allocated an area of the field just for them; they didn't bother the other students, and the other students didn't bother 3-D. It was a very peaceful and convenient arrangement.
But today, just as they had settled down for some quality time slacking off, something caught their attention.
Some distance away, Maruyama and Yankumi were walking slowly across the field carrying sports equipment and talking.
"Aw, man," Uchi complained. "Do we have to put up with him out here, too?"
Shin watched intently as Yankumi nodded to where Baba-sensei stood with the football team. He waved and approached her and Maruyama, appearing to thank them for bringing the equipment. He gestured to the spot where they stood, and turned to go back to the other boys. Yankumi put down the armful of short metal poles she was carrying; Maruyama had hold of a bag of footballs, and small plastic cones. He dumped them both on the ground, then reached into the bag and pulled out a football, bouncing it on his knee.
They heard Yankumi laugh and say something that sounded sarcastic.
Maruyama let the ball land on the grass, and kicked it idly towards her. She caught it with her foot and they kicked it back and forth between them for a few minutes.
Then Maruyama said something, grinning mockingly at her. She put her hands on her hips, issuing a retort.
Maruyama took a few steps closer to her; Shin, still watching them like a hawk, braced his arms against the ground and felt the muscles in his legs become tense as he prepared to spring to his feet if Maruyama got even one inch closer to Yankumi…
Then, in a sudden blur of movement, Yankumi took off at a run, kicking the ball ahead of her. Maruyama gave chase, but she was already too far in front and aimed a successful kick into the back of the net. She punched the air with both fists, smirking triumphantly at Maruyama when he eventually arrived.
He was sulking, his arms folded across his chest, and from the petulant tone of his voice, he was apparently complaining that she had been unfair. The occasional twitch of his lips gave his amusement away.
Yankumi's smug grin was fixed in place, however, and she merely shrugged as if to say 'what am I supposed to do about it?'
Then she spotted them, and the grin fell away to be replaced with a stern look. She began marching swiftly in their direction, followed closely by Maruyama.
"Uh-oh," Minami muttered under his breath. "Is it too late to run away?"
"Looks that way," was Shin's only reply as he stared fixedly at their teacher. In truth, he didn't mind being yelled at if it distracted Yankumi from Maruyama. Really, that guy was getting more and more annoying every day.
"Are you guys slacking off?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, coming to a halt in front of where they were sprawled on the grass.
"Yeah," said Uchi belligerently. "What's wrong with that?"
She rolled her eyes. "Honestly – twenty-six young, healthy men can't even get off their asses once in a while? You're in the prime of your lives! Some day in the future, when you're all old and decrepit, you'll wish you'd taken these opportunities when you were able to."
"Oi, what about you, Yankumi?" Kuma asked, idly pulling blades of grass out of the ground. "Don't you have a class you should be teaching instead of playing around out here?" His eyes flicked briefly in Maruyama's direction.
"Nope," she grinned. "Got a free period. Baba-sensei asked Maruyama-sensei and I to bring the equipment out – plus, it's kind of nice to be outside. You should take advantage of the time you have," she said pointedly. "Stop being so damn lazy and play some football, would you?"
"We'd only scare them," Shin pointed out, nodding at the football team who kept glancing across at 3-D nervously.
"Then play as one class," she suggested.
They still did not look keen.
"I'll be the referee," Maruyama offered brightly. "I used to be on the football team at university – Yamaguchi-sensei will tell you."
She folded her arms and squinted up at him. "You were on the bench for the whole season!"
"But I was still on the team," he persisted.
"In any case, you're supposed to be using this time to do your lesson plans," she told him.
His face crumpled miserably. "But I don't want to, Yamaguchi-sensei," he whined, sounding like a little boy complaining about homework.
She sighed, exasperated. "Well, like it or not, you have to. Come on." She began the walk back to the main school building, tossing a look back over her shoulder at the boys on the grass. "At least walk, or run, or something if you're not going to do any real exercise, okay?"
"Sure thing, Yankumi," Uchi lied easily.
She gave them a fond smile, knowing that they never would. Once again, Maruyama trailed after her.
"'I'll be the referee'," Noda mocked, once the pair were out of earshot. "Give me a break."
Shin couldn't help but agree.
Author's Notes: The trouble with Gokusen is that it gives me unrealistic expectations of what it might be like to teach at a high school. I don't think, for example, that a high school class would react all that well if I (as their teacher) went and beat up their enemies. Rather, I imagine that they would regard me as a psychotic freak who might snap on any given day and kill them all. Good job I don't plan on teaching high school, I guess.
On a separate note: please review!