"I love you," gushes Yuki as she feeds Ryu a spooful of meat.

"I love you more," chuckles Ryu as he pecks her cheek.

"No, I love YOU more," returns the blushing girl.

"'No I love you more, no I love you more, no I love you more'" mocks Hayato annoyed.

"ENOUGH!" Kosuke whines.

"We're glad you guys are happy but it really reminds us that we don't have girlfriends!" Tsucchi groans.

"Yeah or that our girlfriends aren't in our class," Takeda pouts.

"Sorry guys, but I just love Ryu so much!" apologizes Yuki, but causes the guy to groan in frustration again.

"Hey, do you think the school heard about the fight with Kudo last night?" Ryu suddenly asks, bringing a veil of silence over the group.

"Most likely," answers Hayato. "It's impossibile for something like this to happen and not hear a word from Sarudori..." Everyone quietly nods and look at each other with worry. "Come on guys, let's go to school. We'll deal with it when it comes."

~In Class~

Everyone was dead silent and glaring at the floor. Just like Hayato predicted, Sarudori heard of the news and was rumored to be dealing with their class today.

"Your good looks don't come through with you looking like that," jokes Yankumi, trying to lighten the mood, but the silence continued. Suddenly the door slid open, grabbing everyone's attention. "Superintendent."

"You've done an unbelievable thing," he states.

"Superintendent, I apologize," Yankumi rushes.  Hayato was about to stand up for her sake, but sat down when Ryu places his hand on his. Yuki, too, then places her hand on Ryu's for support. "But please don't believe everything the newspaper says."

"It is true that they were involved in a head-on fight," he observes.

"No duh," Kosuke mumbles under his breathe.

"They should've known what was going to happen, responding to a prank call from that punk," lectures the vice principal, angering even Yuki.

"We understand your feelings," Sawatari says, interrupting Yankumi. "But to think that it's okay to fight for the sake of your friends may lead to an affirmination of violence."

"That wasn't violence," states Yankumi, but everyone knew her defense would mean nothing if no one believes them.

"Your head-on with those guys was totally inappropriate," growls the superintendent. "And has hurt our school's honor. And thus you all are hereby expelled." Gasps erupted around the room.

"WHAT?" Yuki demands and stands up angrily.

"Please wait a minute!" pleads Yankumi, but stops when Yuki holds up a hand.

"Let me say it Yankumi," the new Yuki states. "What do you mean they're expelled? Yes they may have been involved in violence, but they have done such wonderful things for the school too! They've changed for the better, they were involved in so many good things you never acknowledged! They finally have a goal for their futures, you can't shut them down right now!" The class stares in shock as their shy classmate suddenly begins to shout at the superintendent.

"Excuse me, Ms. Kudo," the superintendent begins, but is pushed by Yuki.

"YOU WANNA BE EXCUSED?!" shouts the small girl. "What the -BEEP- is wrong with you, you -BEEEEEEP- and -BEEP-! What on -BEEP- do you -BEEP- think you -BEEP- doing? HUH? All this -BEEP- happened because you -BEEP- couldn't -BEEP- take care of -BEEP- Kudo! The reason he changed is because of this class! So for your -BEEP- statements, you better -BEEP- take it back or I'll -BEEP- show you what excusing you means! Don't you dare expel my friends! They've all worked too hard for this! You got that you -BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP-?!" Panting, Yuki slowly gets her calm demeanor back, however the class is still staring at her in shock.

"I wish you the best of luck Ryu," Takeda quietly whispers to his friend, earning nods from the guys. However the superintendent thought differently of her performance.

"I was actually going to allow you to graduate Ms. Kudo since you were not a part of the fight," he speaks angrily. "But from what you have just done, I hereby declare you expelled also! All of you are expelled and that is final!"  Ryu begins to stand up, but is pulled down by the rest of his friends.

"That's fine with me!" retorts Yuki. "I rather be expelled with my friends than graduate solo and leave them behind!"

"Superintendent!" Yankumi begs. "So many of these students have already chosen their future paths, please don't expel them! I beg of you." She bows down, angering the class even more. How dare this old walking time machine walk in here and cause their beloved teacher to degrade herself for their sake? She then turns to the head principal for support.

"This time," Sawatari says in a regretful tone. "There's nothing we can do about it." With that, the three begin to leave the classroom and Yankumi becomes speechless. Yuki runs to their teacher's side, glaring at the three and hugging Yankumi, who was holding back tears.

"Please wait!" Yankumi suddenly says as all eyes turn to her. "I will take responsibility for all of it."

"What?" gasps Yuki. "Yankumi, no you can't do this." However Yankumi continues on as if Yuki wasn't even there.

"It is all my fault for not teaching them properly," Yankumi apologizes.

"I see," the superintendent says with a smile. "In other words, you will take responsibility by quitting."

"Yes," Yankumi bravely says, causing Yuki to sink to her knees and Ryu to rush to her side.

"Very well," the superintendent says, which brings Hayato to his senses as he stands up.

"Yankumi," he breathes out. "What are you saying?" Everyone begins to protest, telling her it wasn't her fault, except Yuki who was still in shock.

"Be quiet!" Yankumi yells. However everything begins to fade out in Yuki's mind. Before they realized, Yuki blacks out and feels herself drift away, with Ryu calling her before everything mutes itself and turns black.

~Next Day~

"YANKUMI!" Yuki shrieks as she jolts up. "Yankumi no don't quit because of us!"

"Yuki!" a male voice cries in shock and Yuki feels arms wrapping themselves around her. "It's me, Ryu! Calm down."

"Ryu," she breathes out. "What happened? Tell me it's all just a dream."

"I wish I can," he says, choking back tears, and the couple embrace each other while crying in each others' arms. "Yankumi quit for our sake."

"We can't graduate without her," sobs Yuki. "But if we don't, we'll be disappointing her. What do we do?"

"For now let's get dressed and go to school," suggests Ryu. "We'll know what to do when we're there." Nodding, Yuki follows his instructions and the two go to the school where their teacher no longer waited for them. However on the way to the class, Ryu and Yuki found 3D just walking out of the building.

"Where are you guys going?" asks Yuki.

"To the superintendent," Omori answers.

"We're not graduating without Yankumi," states Hayato, but that's all he needed to say. The couple share a look and join the group, who saved them a space next to Hayato. "Let's go!"

Once they reached the office, Tsucchi slams the door open, surprising all the teachers.

"What is this all about?" demands Baba-sensei, but they could see he was shaking.

"We have a request," Hayato states.

"Please revoke Yankumi's resignation," Ryu requests politely, but sternly.

"Please!" the rest of the class chime in.

"We're the ones responsible," Hayato admits.

"So," Ryu begins. "You can expel us."

"Are you all crazy?!" demands the superintendent.

"Anyway the ceremony is about to start," pleads one of the teachers. "So please go to the hall right away."

"If you don't revoke Yankumi's resignation," Kosuke threatens. "Then we won't attend graduation!" The teachers began to riot in fear and tried to reason with them, but nothing worked. Finally Takeda found his courage.

"Please don't fire Yankumi!" he yells, stepping out of the group.

"What's so special about an unaccomplished teacher?" questions the superintendent. That question hit the mark for Hayato.

"She's not unaccomplished!" he shouts in his face.

"She was," Ryu explained. "The first teacher to ever accept us as we were."

"So you won't attend the ceremony no matter what?" asks the superintendent, causing the class to repeat their request. Yuki narrows her eyes at the old bat in suspicion.

"We'll wait in the classroom for your answer," states Hayato as the class departs from the office.

"Wait!" Yuki suddenly cries out, getting their attention. "You had this all planned out didn't you?"

"Excuse me?" laughs the superintendent.

"You knew that if you threatened to expel all of us, Yankumi would offer herself as the sacrifice and quit didn't you?" questions Yuki as she finally figured it all out. "You've been targetting Yankumi ever since you saw her didn't you? That's it! You wanted her gone, so you've been looking for an excuse to fire her, but you knew it wouldn't be easy! So when you heard of the fight, you jumped at the opportunity and threatened to expel us, when really you wanted Yankumi gone! You never wanted us at the ceremony anyways, so this way is killing two birds with one stone!"

"What are you talking about?" Ryu asks with amazement that his girlfriend had figured out such a complex mystery.

"This old man knew Yankumi would take the fall," she accuses. "That's why he said he'd expel us. Then after Yankumi resigns, he knew we would threaten to not attend the ceremony to get Yankumi back. This way both Yankumi and 3D cannot be a part of the graduation ceremony. This old bat never wanted any of us there in the first place!" Her accusation were spot on. Anyone can tell by the amount of steam coming out of the superintendent's ears.

"Well it worked," Hayato announces and begins to walk out. "But we won't let your plan succeed."

~In the Classroom~

"I CAN'T BELEIVE IT!" Takamori cries in anger, kicking a desk. "We fell for his plan?!" The class seem to be in a riot once Yuki explained her suspicions.

"Well it's too late to turn back now," Hayato yells, annoyed. "All we can do now is just sit here and let the school continue as it is." Grumbling, everyone sat in their desk and stare the floor down. After glaring at the ground for ten minutes, the doors slam open to reveal Yankumi.

"What do you guys think you're doing?" she demands angrily, but the class had a happier reaction. "Hurry up and go to the gym!"

"There's no point," Hayato denies, "to a graduation without you."

"Don't joke around," she begins, but is cut off by Ryu and Yuki.

"We're being serious!" he yells.

"Yankumi, you've always been there and had our backs," Yuki explains. "This time we're going to prove a point for your sake."

"If it was really for my sake, then go to the gym right now!" Yankumi pleads. "I quit just so you guys can graduate so don't make my efforts be for nothing!"

"If you weren't for you, I wouldn't even come to school," Ryu reminds her. Everyone then began to reminds her of how different things would've been without her.

"If it weren't for you, none of us would've graduated except for Yuki," Kosuke points out.

"We're not graduating without our beloved teacher," concludes Hayato.

"We didn't just work hard to graduate," starts Yuki. "We worked hard for YOU to see us graduate."

"A diploma in exchange for your resignation doesn't mean a thing!" Kosuke cries.

"We're the ones who caused the problem, so we should be the ones to take responsibility," Ryu states maturely.

"Don't talk as if you know everything!" Yankumi yells angrily. "Did you think you went to school on your own? Didn't your parents pay for it by working hard? Are you going to put it to waste?" Everyone stared at her, ashamed that they forgot about their parents. "Do you know how your parents supported your high school life?" Once again, Takeda tears up, thinking of his mom just like Kosuke is. Hayato bites his lip, secretly wandering about his father. "Listen, graduation has a bigger meaning in life than you think. That's why we have graduation ceremonies. You may think it's boring, but it's a ceremony to thank your parents for what they've done for you. It's a ceremony where your parents can be proud of how they raised you. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Hayato says, in a guilty tone. "But..."

"Yankumi," Ryu says, finishing Hayato's thoughts. "You went as far as to get fired for us."

"You still don't get it!" yells the frustrated teacher. "Your graduation is worth me getting fired! To think that it's okay for me to get fired for you guys there's no greater happiness than this! That's why, I want you guys to graduate feeling proud of yourselves." Her words seem to have hit their leader, for he stood up first.

"Let's go," Hayato says.

"Feeling proud of ourselves," Ryu states, pounding his heart and grabbing Yuki's hand, "let's get our diplomas." Everyone push themselves off their desks and stand up.

"On one condition," yells Yuki. "Yankumi has to go with us." With that condition, everyone erupted in cheers and ran to grab Yankumi in case she disagrees. They made a throne for her and decided to walk over to the gym just like that. As the gang chanted Yankumi's name, she ends up hitting her head on the door as they leave the room, but they continue in that manner anyways. At the gym, they dropped Yankumi down to enter together. Yuki grabs Ryu's hand, who in turn grabs Hayato's hand. Just like that, the chain continued until the class all held hands.

"Fighto," begins Yankumi.

"OH!" the class yells and open the doors to the ceremony.

"Please wait!" Yankumi yells, pausing the ceremony.

"What do you want now?" the superintendent asks. "You've already resigned from our school."

"I apologize," Yankumi yells. "Please let these students graduate." Her request sent murmers across the room as everyone began to talk.

"This is no place for you to be-" The superintendent is cut off by by Sawatari running and pushing him to the side, surprising 3D. After a few words, the superintendent angrily allows their class to continue. Who knew Sawatari liked them after all? Yuki gasps in shock and hugs Ryu tightly. Yankumi quickly reminds them of posture and manners before allowing them to go to their chairs.

"Class 3-D! 28 students!" announces Sawatari. The class responds politely and stand up. "Class representative, Yabuki Hayato!" Hayato nervously fixes his blazer as Yuki gives him an encouraging poke from behind Ryu.

"Yes," Hayato replies, trying to hide his nervousness. He slowly walks up to the podium. They all watch as their leader receives his diploma. Yuki smiles and looks over to Ryu, who smirked at his best friend's ettiquete. Never had they seen Hayato so respectful and poised. They watch proudly as Hayato comes back down, tears in his eyes.

"This concludes the presentation of diplomas!" announces Sawatari. However his next words surprised everyone. "Continuing on, I'd like to ask the retired teacher to speak a few words. Yamaguchi-sensei." Everyone turned their heads toward their beloved teacher's direction just as she was about to leave. As always, Yankumi never fails to bring tears to her students' eyes. They all listened attentively as they listened to her encouraging speech one last time. As soon as she was fone, 3D was the first to stand up. The class turned around the room, thanking everyone. Finally they faced their savior, their teacher, their mother.

"Thank you very much!" Hayato sobs out and leads the class in a final bow. The ceremony soon ended and the class follows Yankumi out to the gates.

"Let's take a picture as keeper!" suggests Yuki as she pulls out a camera. The class cried out in agreement and tears.Grinning, Yuki asks a random parent passing by to take a picture for them.

"Wait!" Hayato yells. "To Yankumi!" Suddenly he runs toward her, and the others seemed to have gotten the same idea. The class soon swooped in and all of them, except Ryu and Yuki, lifted their teacher up. "You can take the picture now!" The parent laughed, took the picture, and returned the camera to Yuki. Everyone crowded around to peek. They laughed as they saw their teacher's face, and in the front were Ryu and Yuki, who were kissing.

"Ewww!" Tsucchi teases.

"You better give us copies of this Yuki!" Takeda threatens jokingly.

"You guys can all get your copy at our wedding next week!" Yuki announces proudly.

"Here are the invitations," Ryu says and begins to pass out the little cards alongside Yuki while the class pushed for it.

"I guess graduation turned out perfectly didn't it?" Yuki asks Ryu, giggling.

"It sure did," Ryu says and pecks her.

"Now that we're all happy, let's run off into the sunset!" Yankumi cheers, and everyone runs after her, even though there was no sunset. "FIGHTOOOO OH!"