Graduation SP

I couldn't believe it. Graduation was only a few days away. I also couldn't believe that it was only a month ago when little Yuri was born. She was so cute. Sure she was always crying and waking me and Yamato up in the middle of the night, but I wouldn't trade one second. She was definitely a daddy's girl. From the second we got her from Yamato's mom's after school to the second we dropped her off before school, Yamato was spoiling her, and once the guys got over the shock of her being a girl, they were spoiling her too. This baby was one pampered little princess. I smiled.

"What's that smile for Heza?"

I turned to Yamato who was sitting on top of Ren's desk.

I shook my head, "nothing. Just thinking."

He smiled. I turned to the class and laughed. Despite the fact that graduation was only a few days away, they were running around being crazy. Somethings never change.

Ren laughed, "we're still kids even though we're about to graduate, aren't we?"

Yamato turned to him, "we haven't matured at all."

"No kidding," I added.

Suddenly Honjo and Kamiya busted through the door, "guys! I found something interesting," Honjo held up a red book, "we got the graduation album!"

"Oh!"

They walked to the desk in front of Ren and everyone gathered around.

"Samples have come in, so….I brought on here secretly!"

I rolled my eyes. Yep, something's never change.

Honjo opened the book revealing the many pictures it contained. He flipped through until Kura stopped him.

"Look, these are from the sports competition."

Ichi nodded, "I remember the sports competition the best. Yankumi was really enthusiastic at that time."

We all looked up remembering the day.

Flashback

"Right now, our hearts have to be one, and let's aim for victory," Yankumi cheered.

I got into my cheer outfit with Ren and Yamato. We stood in line with some of the others while the rest of the guys were out on the field.

"Hurray! 3D! Okay! Hurray, Hurray, 3D!"

"Wah!"

The other team walked on the field. My jaw dropped at the size of them. I was so glad I didn't have to play. The team started to shrink away.

"Don't lose hope," Yankumi shouted, "you guys look good, too! In terms of our facial expression."

Ren looked at her so confused, "what?"

"What does that have to do with rugby," Yamato asked.

The team started to pump themselves up, but in the end, they were flattened. We ran to them.

"Hey! Are you guys okay?"

"We could've gotten them if it had been a fist fight…," Honjo pointed out.

Ichi laughed, "don't bother putting up a good front."

"Don't worry about winning or losing," Yankumi said, "it's important to not give up and to keep fighting till the end."

"That's right," Baba-sensei said coming to stand beside Yankumi, "I'm truly touched! It was a great match!"

Yankumi smiled, "it was, wasn't it?"

He nodded, "the 3D guys didn't even resort to foul play and played fair and square."

Yankumi's smile dropped, "huh?"

He walked in front of us, "alright guys, let's take a picture!"

We crowded together and smiled.

End of Flashback

We looked at the picture Baba-sensei took.

"We smiled with our best faces on," Yamato commented.

Everyone nodded.

"But you know for me," Honjo turned the page, "what I remember most is the Akadou festival."

"Hottie Café," Ren said.

"Not that, not that….," Honjo shouted, "the mysterious red mask!"

Kura poked Honjo's cheek, "ah! Is it that? Huh?!"

Honjo nodded then began to tell us the story.

Flashback

Honjo and Kura were carrying boxes to Hottie Café when Kura turned to Honjo.

"Hey."

"Hm?"

"Heard of the rumor of the Red-masked Giant that's been appearing recently around here," Kura asked.

Honjo nodded, "ah, I've heard. He suddenly appears when shakedowns occur, beats down punks and disappears."

Kura gasped, "no way. I hear he's a 2 meter giant."

Honjo's eyes widened, "really?!"

"Really!"

"What kinda freak is that?"

"I dunno."

Suddenly someone rammed into Honjo and Kura.

"O-Ouch," the guy and his friend turned to Honjo and Kura, "watch where you're going..."

"Um...what do you mean," Honjo laughed nervously.

More guys joined the two and circled Honjo and Kura.

"We bothered to come to this boring school festival," the first guy said, "you pay us for it!"

Honjo laughed nervously again, "what are you saying?"

"Shut up and give us money!"

"Hey you guys. You've gone far enough," a familiar voice said.

The boys turned to see Yankumi in all red.

The punks gathered together, "who the hell are you?"

"An ally of justice," she said behind her mask, "the people call me, 'The Akadou Mask'! If you leave now, I will overlook your crimes."

Honjo and Kura looked at each other dumbfounded.

One of the punks walked up to Yankumi, "what are you babbling about?"

Yankumi hit him in the stomach making him roll backwards. She beat up the others into a nice pile.

"Evil is destined to destruction! See you later, young men. Carefully listen to your mothers. Alright," she said to Honjo and Kura before she turned and started walking away laughing.

"Wait Yankumi," Honjo called.

She stopped and turned, "what?"

Her eyes widened. She was caught.

"So you're the Red Mask," Kura asked as Honjo laughed.

"No...um..," she pulled her mask down, "how did you know?"

"It was only obvious no matter how you saw it," Honjo explained.

"What?"

End of Flashback

We laughed at the story. We looked at the picture of us during the festival. Honjo and Kura were on either side of Yankumi. They were wearing the Red Mask's mask and bandana pointing at Yankumi.

"It was funny."

"And she thought she disguised herself," Kura said.

"It's just like Yankumi," I laughed.

Everyone nodded.

Ren crossed his eyes, "what I remember most is teh senior trip."

"That was the worst," Yankumi commented.

I nudged him, "you weren't the one who was seven months pregnant at the time."

Flashback

I was sitting on the charter bus beside Yamato when it finally came to a stop.

"Everyone, we've arrived at Kiyomizu temple," Yankumi explained, "get ready!"

We cheered. Suddenly Sawatari came on the bus and told Yankumi something. She looked at him shocked. He turned to us.

"Everyone! It's unfortunate, but it looks like the Kiyomizu Temple is closed today," he explained.

We groaned. Ren suddenly jumped from his seat looking out the window. We followed his gaze to see a rivial school. The guys opened the windows and started shouting at the rivials as the bus drove away. When we arrived at the next stop, my legs were numb.

"Everyone, we've arrived," Yankumi said, "please exit the bus."

We cheered, but Sawatari once again came on the bus and talked to Yankumi. She gasped.

"We've canceled," he called.

"What?!"

The guys started to complain until Yamato pointed out the window. Outside were a bunch of highschool girls with short skirts. The guys, except Yamato, pressed their faces to the windows. As the bus drove away, I sighed. Yamato turned to me.

"What's wrong?"

I crossed my arms, "nothing."

"Then why are you pouting?"

I looked him in the eye, "you think I'm fat, don't you?"

He looked at me shocked, "eh?!"

"Just admit it Ogata, Yamato. You think I'm fat and ugly!"

My outburst got the attention of the other guys in our group.

"I...I.."

I started to cry. Yamato turned to the others for help, but they inched away from us. Yamato turned back to me.

"Why do you think that?"

"Because you looked at those girls."

"I sat here the entire time."

"But you pointed."

He sighed wrapping his arms around me and then whispered, "remember when we were talking out in the hall the morning after the guys took me to a maid cafe," I nodded, "remember what I told you," I nodded again, "it was true then and it's true now. You are the only girl I will ever look at, and you're not ugly or fat. No where near, okay?"

I sniffed, "okay."

He let out a sigh of relief. I snuggled closer to him.

"Pregnant girls are crazy," I heard Honjo whisper.

The others nodded.

End of Flashback

We looked at all the phones of the trip.

"You know, after all, we were on the bus most of the time that day," Yamato commented.

"Who knows, we could've gotten girlfriends on the trip," Ren whined.

Kamiya nodded, "damn Yankumi, she's too much."

"We're graduating without even getting girlfriends," Honjo said, "except Yamato, he's the lucky one."

I rolled my eyes as the guys began to whine.

"You guys are asking too much," Yankumi said.

We jumped back, "Yankumi!"

"When such a beautiful lady is nearby," Yankumi continued.

Ren tilted his head, "who do you mean? Heza isn't a lady."

I punched him in the arm before turning to Yankumi, "ya know, don't pop out of no where."

Yankumi ignored me and when for the graduation book.

"You guys look good smiling. Ah! This one is the best," she said making the guys smile, "oh! Look at that smile. Maybe model material," the guys began to laugh sheepishly, "I mean, me."

"Huh?!"

"You, a model," Yamato laughed.

"This takes me back...This was before summer break...," her face suddenly dropped, "why is the graduation album here? You guys took the sample album without asking?"

"Got caught," Kura whispered.

"What do you mean, "got caught"?!"

"Dont' be so uptight."

"You guys...Listen, you have nine more days till graduation," she lectured, "don't let your guard down and go wild, okay?"

"We know."

"Don't worry."

She smiled, "alright. Smile and graduate together!"

"Oh!"

The lunch bell finally rang. I quickly got my lunch and waited on the others.

"I want to eat the pork cutlet sandwich," Honjo said, "but it's hard to ignore the fried noodle stuffed bread!"

"Hurry up," Yamato called.

"Alright, I got it," Honjo cheered, "I'll get this."

He went for the fried noodle stuffed bread, but someone took it before he could. Honjo stood there shocked for a second before walking after the person, who was a second-year.

"Hey," he turned the boy, "hey, I was about to buy that fried noodle stuffed bread!"

"But I grabbed it first," the boy said as his friends came up behind him.

Kamiya and Kura came up behind Honjo.

Honjo laughed, "for a second-year student, aren't you being cocky?"

Honjo grabbed his jacket. I sighed as me, Yamato, Ren and Ichi walked to them.

"Shut up and hand over the bread," Kamiya commanded.

"C'mon, just pick something else...," Ichi said trying to calm Honjo down but Honjo shrugged him off.

Kura jumped in the middle, "a grudge over food," he took the bread out of the boy's hand, "can be scary, you know."

A hand shot out and grabbed Kura's wrist. We looked at him. I took in his arua and came to the conclusion that he was the leader.

Kura glared, "what's with your hand?"

"Can't you tell from looking," the new boy asked taking the bread from Kura before throwing his arm down.

"Don't mess with me, bastard!"

They were about to fight until a familiar voice broke through.

"Yummy!"

We turned to see Yamkumi eating. I looked at the boy's hand to see the bread was gone.

"No wonder it's so popular. Very yummy!"

"Why are you eating my fried noodle stuffed bread," Honjo whined forgetting about the second-years.

Yankumi turned to us and tore the bread in half, "want some? Here."

"Who'd want that?! Stupid," Kura said.

Ren laughed and went for the bread, "then I'll take it!"

The others went after him.

"I want it! I want it!"

I sighed and shook my head at them. I looked at Yamato. He was looking at the leader, who was looking right back. The boy dropped his gaze and turned to his friends.

"Let's go."

They left.

"Do you know him," I asked Yamato.

"I'll tell you later."

After school, we got Yuri from Yamato's mother, then we decided to go to Kumai-san's. Even though it was hours ago, Honjo was still complaining.

"Ugh! Those 2D bastards really piss me off!"

"Let's kick their asses before graduation," Kamiya said.

Kura agreed, "yeah! Let's kick them in the real good!"

I rocked Yuri, "don't get so worked up. You're upsetting Yuri."

The three dropped their heads, "sorry."

"It's not long before the graduation ceremony," Kumai-san said who was listening to the conversation with Ami-chan who was holding their daughter, "don't make Yankumi worry."

Honjo lifted his head, "but ya know, we have pride as seniors."

Yamato snickered as he took Yuri from me, "I wouldn't call it pride since it's over fried noodle stuffed bread."

Honjo blushed, "shut up!"

We laughed.

"Hey, hey. Has everyone here decided on their futures," Ami-chan asked.

Ren nodded, "yeah, Kuraki and I both found jobs at the same moving company."

"Really! That's great," Kumai-san said, "I bet your sister is really happy."

"She is," I laughed.

"Congrats," Ami-chan said.

"I just got my driver's license so I can work hard now," Kura cheered.

"I'm going to college," Ichi said.

Honjo straightened, "I'm starting my training in tofu making at my dad's shop!"

"Ogata and I are going to vocational schools," Kamiya said coolly.

"It's out of character, I know," Yamato said taking his chopsticks out of Yuri's hand, "but I thought I'd try studying for a bit."

Kumai-san turned to me.

"I've decided to wait a few years, so I can stay home with Yuri," Yuri gripped my finger in her small hand, "when Yuri gets bigger, is when I'll go to college."

Kumai-san nodded, "alright! Today, to celebrate your futures, eat all you want and it'll be on the house!"

The guys began to order a lot of food. I took Yuri back so Yamato could eat.

"We're surrounded by a bunch of gluttons," I told her.

She smiled making me smile. Once everyone was full, we left. We were walking around laughing.

"We've almost graduated," Ren said.

Yamato adjusted Yuri on his arm, "I dunno what to think of it."

"I didn't think that we would graduate up until recently," Honjo laughed.

"Hey, hey, hey," Kura and Ichi jumped in front of us, "let's surprise Yankumi before graduation."

"Actually, we have a good idea," Ichi cheered.

Before we could ask, Kamiya got our attention. He pointed down from our postion on a bridge.

"It's him."

We looked down to see the 2D leader. He was hanging out with boys who looked too old to be in highschool.

"Isn't it that cocky 2D bastard," Honjo asked.

"Reita..."

We turned to Yamato.

"You know him," Ichi asked.

Yamato nodded, "he's a childhood friend."

"The others are former Ara High guys, right," Ren asked, "I heard rumors of Ara High graduates getting themselves into some deep ."

"Why is he hanging out with them," Ichi wondered.

"Reita was at Ara High up till summer," Yamato explained.

"So that brat transferred from Ara High," Kura sneered.

We watched the boys below until Yuri started to fuss. Yamato and I went home and put Yuri to bed. We started to get ready for bed.

"Are you okay," I asked.

Yamato turned to me, "what do you mean?"

"Finding out your childhood friend is...well...like we were."

He kissed my forehead, "don't worry about it, okay?"

I nodded and we went to bed.

The next morning went normal. We dropped off Yuri and went to school. Everything was normal until one of the other guys came running into the room. He told us that Ren and Kura won't get their jobs after they graduate.

Yamato stood, "really?"

He nodded, "they were talking about it in the staff room."

Kamiya sighed, "I wonder if they're doing okay."

"Kura was really happy about it," Ichi said.

"Ren too had a job secured, we thought...," Honjo paused.

We all looked down sad for our friends. The day just turned horrible. After school, we got Yuri and started walking around. Kura walked ahead of us with Ren bringing up the back. I stayed beside Ren with Yuri in my arms as the others tried to catch up to Kura.

"Hey, Kura! Kura!"

He kept walking until a group of boys knocked into him.

"Bastard, that hurt," he yelled turning to the boys.

Getting closer, I saw the group was the 2D boys from the other day.

"You guys again," Kura growled.

The boys went towards him, but Reita stopped them.

"You're the one who bumped into me, you know," Reita said coolly.

Kura started to get more annoyed, "what kind of comment is that? You're not even sorry for bumping into me?!"

Kura grabbed Reita. Yamato quickly got inbetween them. Kamiya and Honjo tried to grabbed the other 2D boys but Ren stepped in.

"There's no point to associate with these bastards!"

Everyone stopped. Reita got closer to Ren.

""These bastards"?"

"I'm sorry but I don't have time to associate with brats like you."

"Try saying that again, bastard," Reita growled.

Kura pushed Ren out of the way, "I don't wanna hear your cocky mouth!"

He went for Reita again, but Yamato stopped him.

"Stop it, Kura!"

Yuri started to fuss in my arms.

"Hit me," Reita yelled, "c'mon, try hitting me!"

Kura struggled in Yamato's grip.

"What are you up to?!"

We turned to see a pair of cops.

We started to run. We went one way, and the 2D boys went the other. Yamato stopped making me stop.

"Reita?"

Reita turned to him for a second before running after his friends.

"Yamato, come on," I yelled.

We ran after the others before the cops could catch us. We finally stopped, but Yuri was still fussing.

"It's okay now. Calm down Yuri."

Yamato gently took her out of my arms. He started to rock her making her fall asleep.

"Thank you."

He nodded.

The next morning, Yamato didn't say a word. When we reached school, he went straight to the classroom. I sighed.

"Heza!"

I turned to see Kura, "oh hey, Kura. How are you?"

He gave me a weak smile, "a little better."

We started walking.

"Hey Kura! Sai-chan," we turned to see Honjo and Kamiya running to us, "morning!"

We started walking again. We stopped when we saw the 2D group waiting on us. Kura glared at them. I quickly went in front of him.

"Kura, please not now. Please."

He nodded. I put my hand on his arm for support as we walked past them.

"Oh? Ignoring me," Reita snickered making the boys stop which made me stop, "how lame!"

Kamiya turned to him, "hey you. What do you mean?"

"Kamiya stop."

I was ignored.

Reita walked towards us, "you talk all cocky, but you're scared to fight because it's almost graduation."

"3D isn't a big deal, after all."

"Was it a lie that you controlled Akadou?"

They laughed. More 3D guys gathered around.

"Don't get carried away," Honjo yelled.

"Honjo please st..."

"We were...," Reita cut me off, "planning to destroy your graduation ceremony," he smiled at us, "look forward to it."

They started to walk away, but Kura stopped them.

"Hey bastard! Wait one sec."

"Guys come on. They're not worth it."

But they didn't listen. They led the 2D boys outside. I quickly ran to the classroom.

"Bad news! Kura and some of the others took the 2D guys out to the back!"

We quickly made our way to the back. When we got there, they were already fighting. We trying to get them to stop. Eventually Yankumi and some teachers came out and stopped the fight. We went back to our classrooms. The ones who fought stood at the front of the class. Sawatari and the chairman came in.

"What were you doing at such an important time," Sawatari scolded.

"It is preposterous to be fighting within the school," the chairman said, "I hear that you seniors were the ones that called them out."

"But they provoked us," Kura growled.

"They started it," Honjo argued.

"Kuraki! Honjo," Yankumi said making them shut up and drop their heads.

"I will not overlook your actions," the chairman continued, "everyone," she motioned to the ones who fought, "is suspended until graduation day," we looked at her in shock, "please seriously reflect on your actions."

She then walked out with Sawatari. After a few seconds of silence, Honjo kicked a desk over.

"I can't accept this," he said"

"Why single us out," Kamiya added.

They walked to their desks and sat down.

Yankumi stepped forward, "this isn't the time for you guys to be fighting anyway."

"We can't keep quiet when the juniors are making fools of us," one of them yelled.

"They're the ones who challenged us first!"

"Hey, let's finish it."

"Stop," Yamato yelled, "if we cause a problem now, we probably won't all graduate together!"

Ren stepped forward, "I'm sorry. The fight probably started because of me. I said a little too much to those guys yesterday."

Ichi spoke up, "it's not your fault! You didn't even lift a finger."

"Don't even deal with the juniors," someone said.

Honjo stood, "what? Stop acting like adults."

"It's you guys that are childish!"

Honjo grabbed the guys jacket.

"Cut it out," Yankumi said.

Honjo let go.

Kamiya sighed, "I don't care about myself, but withdraw Kura's suspension."

Honjo nodded, "that's right. This will affect his job search."

I took a deep breath before speaking, "if you're worried about Kura's job search, then why didn't you listen to me and stop before the fight happened?"

They looked down. Yankumi stepped forward.

"Kuraki, you have to do job interviews starting now. Do you plan to interview with a bruised face from a trivial fight?"

Kura slammed his fist down on his desk.

"Kura," Ichi leaned on his desk, "I understand what you're feeling, but just chill out."

"You understand," Kura stood, "don't make me laugh. Do you guys understand how I feel?"

"Don't sulk about it forever," Ichi said.

Kura laughed, "you're looking down on me, aren't you," he grabbed Ichi, "is going to college that great? Don't act like an honor student bastard!"

He shoved Ichi, who shoved right back. A fight broke out.

"Stop this nonsense," Yankumi yelled making them stop, "what on earth has gotten into you guys? You guys can be here together for another week only. And yet, you guys are fighting like this...What are you doing wasting this time you have left?! The graduation ceremony is coming up."

Kura glared at her, "what's your point? The graduation ceremony is over-hyped anyway!"

"It doesn't matter if we show up," Honjo added.

Kamiya nodded, "we can graduate even if we don't show up.

They left followed by the rest who fought. We tried to stop them but they just ignored us. I sighed. How did it become like this?

Yankumi walked into the classroom the next day looking happy.

"Morning!"

We stayed silent. She went to the front desk.

"Let's march through today! Let's see. Please open your textbooks to page 56. We'll start with the review from the last time. Let's take a look at the example: x+y=1. 2x squared-y squared=..."

I really didn't pay attention anymore. A few days past. We knew that Yankumi started looking for jobs who would take Ren and Kura after graduation, so Yamato, Ren, Ichi, and I walked up to Reita and his group.

"What do you want," Reita asked with a smug look on his face.

Yamato took a step forward, "we are serious about graduating."

"So please don't give us any more trouble," Ren added.

Reita walked up to Yamato, "did that teacher put you guys up to this? I don't believe in teachers. At my old school, if students caused trouble, they would be expelled and thrown out. All teachers are the same. They're scum."

"You're wrong," I yelled, "they're not all the same."

Ichi stepped forward, "Yankumi is different from them."

Ren nodded, "there's adults that you can trust."

Reita looked at Yamato before walked past us with his group. After school, I was walking out of school with the others when I saw a girl standing beside the gate.

"Go ahead," I told them, "I have to do something."

They nodded and started to walk away. I walked up to her. By the look of her uniform, she was from Momo High. She saw me coming moved back a little.

"Can I help you?"

She nodded timidly before handing me a folded piece of paper, "can you give this to Takasugi-san?"

I looked at her shocked, "Takasugi as in Takasugi, Reita," she nodded, "sure I can give it to him."

"Thank you," she bowed, "oh and please tell him 'thank you'."

She left. I placed the paper into my pocket before running after the others. We picked up Yuri and started walking around. Soon it was dark and we decided. We went up to Kura, Kamiya and Honjo and told them to follow us.

"What's going on," Kura asked.

We stopped outside a building.

Yamato pointed, "look at that."

They looked to see Yankumi constantly bowing at a man. Everytime he would walk away, she would quickly get in front of him and start bowing again.

"Everyday, she's been going around to various places like this," Ren explained.

"Even though the graduation is tomorrow, she's not giving up," Yamato pointed out.

Ichi smiled, "it's just like Yankumi."

I nodded, "she's always thinking about us," we turned to them, "for Yankumi's sake, let's all show up together at the graduation ceremony. Without you guys, it won't be our 3D graduation," I looked down at Yuri, "isn't that right, Yuri?"

She gave a little laugh making the guys smile.

Kura nodded, "okay."

"Sorry," Honjo said.

"Me, too," Kamiya agreed.

We all smiled bigger. We watched Yankumi until something caught my eye. It was Reita.

"I'll be right back."

I walked up to Reita, who was watching Yankumi. He glanced at me.

"What?"

I reached into my pocket and took out the paper, "I have this for you," he took the paper confused, "I don't know her name, but she said 'thank you'."

His eyes widened a little before looking down at the paper. He pocketed it and gave me a nod before walking away. I walked back to the others, and we went home.

The next morning, I woke up late. I told Yamato to take Yuri to his mom and then go on to school. I quickly got dressed and made my way to school. I was almost there when the Momo girl from yesterday came running to me. She looked frightened.

"He...help," she panted.

"What's wrong?"

"They took Takasugi-san."

"Who and where?"

"The group he was hanging out with. He told me that he was cutting ties with them last night, and they must've been mad," she pointed in the direction where the old warehouses were, "they took him that way."

I nodded, "okay. I need you to go to Akadou and go to class 3D, and tell a Ogata, Yamato and a Kazama, Ren what you just told me."

She looked more frighten, "but..."

"You have to do this if you want to help Reita."

She nodded and took off. I ran in the direction of the warehouses and spotted the grads. They pulled Reita into a building. I snuck in. They started beating him. I was about to help him when 3D busted into the warehouse.

"Reita," Yamato called as I came out of my hiding place to stand with them.

The grads and Reita looked at us.

"Who are you guys," the leader asked.

Yamato stepped forward, "we are Akadou Acadamey, class 3D."

Ren stepped forward, "we're his upper-classmen now."

Next was Ichi, "can you guys lay off him already?"

The leader laughed, "you Akadou guys came here to start a fight with us Ara High grads?"

"We didn't come here for that reason," Honjo said.

"We came to get him," Kura added.

"So...can't you let up on him now," Kamiya asked.

"Please," I said as the rest of the class walked up behind us.

The grads started to disprese. We ran over to Reita.

"Reita," Yamato knelt down beside him, "are you okay?"

" out," he replied.

"How can we out," Yamato help him to his feet.

Ren turned to the leader, "sorry, but we're taking him."

"That's not happening," the leader laughed.

Suddenly one of the grads shut and locked the door. The rest came out of the shadow with pipes in their hands.

"I still haven't taught him a lesson!"

The grads came at us. They were mainly after Reita, but we kept pushing him out of the way and taking the plows. I kept Reita with me. Two grads grabbed us, but Yamato and Ren pulled them off of us.

"Hurry, go! Escape! Both of you," Yamato yelled.

I started to help Reita to the door, but we were kicked down by the leader. He grabbed a pipe from the ground. I covered Reita as the leader went to hit him. Suddenly a loud bang shook the warehouse. I moved off of Reita and smiled.

'Yankumi.'

By the look on the rest of 3D's faces, they all thought the same thing. Everyone froze as a small part of the roof caved. The dust cleared and on the rubble stood Yankumi.

"You guys have done more than enough."

"What are you," the leader asked.

She started to walk towards him, "me? I am their teacher."

"Huh? You're a teacher," the grads laughed, "miss. teacher. We're just teaching Reita a lesson."

"A lesson?"

"We treated Reita as a friend even after he went to Akadou, but he tried to leave us with one simple phone call."

She looked at Reita, "Takasugi..."

He looked away.

"We can't let the brat look down on us," the leader continued as he handed the pipe to another grad, "miss. teacher. You better go home if you don't wanna get hurt."

He put his hand on her shoulder. Big mistake. She twisted his arm and shoved him to the ground. He got up shocked.

". I won't go easy even if you're a woman!"

"That is my line," Yankumi said, "in order to protect my beloved student, I won't go easy on you."

The grads started to attack her, but she easily beat them to the ground. The leader was the last one, but he turned and ran. The other grads ran after him.

"Why," Reita asked, "why would a teacher come to such a place?"

She turned to him, "for my students, I will go anywhere and do anything. You guys are worth that much to me. These guys," she motioned to us, "were rebellious at first and they wouldn't even listen to a single word that I said. 'Shut up' and ' out' were the only things that came out of their mouths. But...all of them always butted heads with me. Their roots are very straight and they are honest to the point of naivety."

Everyone started helping each other up. They came and circle Reita and Yankumi as I stood. I went to Yamato's side who wrapped his arm around my waist bringing me closer to him. Yankumi knelt down in front of Reita.

"Takasugi. Do you understand the reason why they came here and neglected their own graduation," he stayed silent, "they wanted to tell you something important," she looked at us and stood, "isn't that right?"

We all nodded.

"When we look at you," Yamato started before helping Reita to his feet, "we remember how we were. That's why we couldn't ignore this."

"We've done something similar loads of times," Honjo explained.

"But...we've found life-long friends at Akadou," Ren added.

"We're all idiots, though," Kura laughed.

"Who are you call an idiot, idiot," I said making everyone laugh harder.

"Takasugi. You've also made that step courageously, haven't you," Yankumi asked, "those feelings...Cherish them, and the friend who help you take that step."

Reita looked at him confused. I stepped forward.

"It's not like we magically appeared here. We had help," I turned to the door and motioned for the girl to come in.

She timidly made her way to us. Reita's eyes widened. She went up to him and held out a handkerchief.

"Are you alright?"

He slowly grabbed the handkerchief. He stared at it for a few seconds before looking at her. He gave her a small smile before nodding.

Yankumi smiled before turning to us, "alright, let's go. It's graduation time."

"What?"

"But looking like this," Honjo asked.

"We're going," she said.

Ren nodded, "let's go! Everyone together."

"That's right," Yamato smiled, "let's go with our chests up."

Yankumi smiled bigger, "alright. Let's go!"

"Oh!"

We started to run to the school, but I stopped and turned to Reita and the girl.

"Will you be alright now," I asked Reita.

He huffed at my question.

The girl laughed at him before turning to me, "I'll make sure he gets back to school, Miss."

"Okay and don't call me 'Miss', please. It makes me feel old. Call me Heza."

"Okay and you can call me Yuki."

I smiled, "alright. Bye Yuki. See ya Reita."

She bowed as he gave me a nod. I ran after the others. I caught up to them outside the school. The chairman was talking to Yankumi.

"Up until the last minute...Were they fighting?"

"No, they weren't."

"We can't let them into the ceremony looking like this," the chairman said.

"Please wait. There's a good reason. They fought to protect something important," Yankumi explained, "they couldn't make it to the graduation ignoring it."

"Miss. Yamaguchi, are you saying that these kids are qualified to participate in the graduation ceremony?"

"Hai."

The chairman looked at us before looking back at Yankumi, "understood."

I felt my heart sore.

Yankumi bowed, "thank you!"

We all sat in our section and waited for Sawatari to call our class. After what seemed like forever, he finally called us.

"Class 3D."

We stood. Yankumi called out names one by one. We went up to the chairman who handed us our diploma and bowed to her. When Yankumi called my name, I felt like crying.

Once everyone had their diplomas, Sawatari continued.

"Now to continue...the congratulatory address. Representing the faculty, class 3D's homeroom teacher, Miss Yamaguchi."

Yankumi walked up to the podium. She held up a paper and started reading.

"To all the graduates, and people here in attendance, congratulations for today. On this day, looking at all of you, fine young people, about to leave Akadou Academy...," she paused and looked at us for a while before laughing, "you guys...couldn't help but do something reckless to the very last minute, could you," she placed down the paper confusing everyone, "I'm sorry, that they're here on this formal last day looking like this. But I...can only be proud of them. Not being slick or shrewd, these students face various obstacles everyday, but still try to go down the straight path. I'm glad I became a teacher from the bottom of my heart. I can't say that the surrounding environment for children is great these days. However, I don't want you to blame the present age. What's important shouldn't change depending on the time. No. It should never be changed. Knowing one's pain. Thinking of your friends. Thinking of your family. Not lying about things. Trusting in people. These might be embarrassing to say. But we must tell these things straight without embarrassment and fear. I believe that it"s an adult's duty to convey these things to them. Listen carefully guys. Once you're out in society, you'll be lost and troubled and sometimes at a standstill. There may be times when you want to give in when everything goes wrong. This is what life's about. But...don't be afraid to change onwards. If things don't go well, don't blame it on someone or something. With confidence in the things you learned at school, I want you to live facing forward. You guys should've learned. That no matter where you are or what you do, you can change if you put your mind to it. That if you courageously take that step, new possibilities await. What's most important is what's inside of you. Congratulations on graduating."

Everyone was silent until the teachers started clapping then stood. The parents stood up clapping. I felt something on my cheek. It was tears.

'Mama. Daddy. I've done it. I've gradutated.'

We went back to our classroom. We sat in our desk with our diplomas and graduation albums on our desks. Yankumi walked in and stood at the front. Before she could say anything, Sawatari walked in.

"A second, Miss. Yamaguchi," he handed her some papers, "these are companies who have offered interviews. Please hand it out to Kazama and the others."

We looked at him in shock.

Yankumi smiled, "head teacher, why?"

He quickly gave his excuse, "it's obvious that these lost souls will go off-track if we throw them out into society like this. Our school's name will be tarnished if that happens. Please don't misunderstand. I'm doing this for the school's honor..."

Ren cut him off by slamming his hand on his desk. He stood.

"Thank you."

Kura stood, "thank you."

Sawatari huffed, "it's too early to be relieved. It's only interviews."

He went to leave, but Yankumi stopped him.

"Head teacher Sawatari. Thank you for giving them strict guidance."

She bowed.

Yamato stood, "thank you."

Sawatari and Yankumi turned to us as the rest of us stood.

We bowed, "thank you!"

"You give me the creeps," Sawatari said trying to hide his smile, "listen you guys. You've graduated admirably. Don't you come back."

He left. We rose and smiled. We left the classroom and made our way to the gate. We stop before we got to it and turned to Yankumi.

"This is where we part," Yankumi said.

"Yankumi," she looked at Ichi, "we have something to show you."

"What is it?"

"Over there," Honjo said pointing towards the school.

She looked to see someting on the Akadou tower.

"Ready, set...3, 2, 1, 0!"

The banner dropped. It said 'Thank you Akadou Academy' and 'Thank you Yankumi' with a picture of Yankumi and a big '09 at the bottom. We smiled proudly at it as Yankumi stood there stunned. We started crowding towards Yankumi.

"It's a masterpiece, isn't it?"

"Everyone made it for this day."

"We thought we might not make it on time."

"Now lastly," Ren walked in front of Yankumi and put his hand out, "c'mon."

We all crowded around and put our hands out toward his. Yamato put his hand on top.

"Akadou is...our alma mater!"

Yankumi put her hand on top of his.

"Fight-oh."

We threw our hands up in the air, "oh!"

We broke apart and said good-bye to Yankumi. Before I made it to the gate, I was pulled back. I turned to see Yamato.

"There was one more thing I wanted to do before we stepped into the world."

He handed his diploma and book to Kamiya and grabbed a small box from Ren before going down on one knee. My heart stopped. He opened the box to reveal a simple diamond ring.

"I'm not really know a lot of things. But I do know that I love you. So will you, Saitou, Heza, do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

I smiled, "duh."

Everyone laughed as he stood and placed the ring on my finger. Everyone started to cheer. I hugged him tight. We parted. Yamato got his stuff from Kamiya before we all took that step outside the gate. That step out into the world together.

This is the end, but don't worry. I will be making a sequel (Gokusen The Movie) and a side story for Reita and Yuki. So please wait for those. Thank you all for reading, reviewing, favoring, and following. Hope you liked my story because I had lots of fun writing it. Thank you again. -bows- ~Heza-chan