Episode 6

It's been a couple of days since the night Yamato walked me home, and ever since, I started to feel weird. Like if what Kaoruko said, about me liking Yamato, was true. My heart would start beating faster when I'm around him, and my face burns up went he looks at me. Maybe I do like him....no, there is no maybe. I do 100% like Ogata, Yamato. Now if only I had the courage to tell him.

"Big announcement," Kamiya called from the front of the class pulling me out of my thoughts, "I've got a hook-up party," I rolled my eyes as the class cheered, "don't be shocked when hear this. This time there's 4 groups. Everyone here right now will be able to take part!"

I felt my heart drop a little as the cheering grew louder. What if Yamato went and he fell for one of those preppy girls?

"You did it, Kamiya," Ren cheered as he stood on his desk.

"Nice going," Ichi cheered in my ear, "hook-up party ring leader."

Honjo nodded in agreement, "the girls! Who are the girl?!"

"First up, Momo girls," he placed a paper with a drawing of the girls on it on the board, "then Elize Girls school, Seijun Girls High, finally, Grace Music school."

The guys ran to the front to pick their groups.

"Hey, hey, hey! Yamato," Honjo called, "which one will you join?"

"Um...I'll pass," he said sitting away from them.

Even though I was just sitting in my desk looking bored, on the inside I was jumping up and down like a little school girl, but that went away once Ren jumped in front of him.

"I see! Well now, are you afraid of getting embarrassed if you're less popular than me," he asked messing with Yamato's hair.

I wanted to beat Ren's . Preying on Yamato's ego.

"What! I'm less popular? That's impossible," Yamato growled.

Ren smiled, "then...let's have a battle at the party!"

"Sure, why not," my heart completely dropped, "I'll show you."

"I'm getting fired up," Honjo yelled.

"Alright! Let's put more spirit into it," Yamato cheered.

"Oh!"

"Let's get some girlfriends," Ren yelled making me want to crawl in a hole and die.

"Oh!"

"Kura, Kura," Ichi called, "what about you?"

I turned to see Kura was still in his desk, which was very strange. Kura, usually, would be the first one to be in a group.

"What," Kura waved his hand, "ah, I'll pass."

This shock everyone, even me. Kura never missed a chance to go to a hook-up party. The guys ran to him and circled his seat.

"Hey! What's wrong, Kura," Kamiya yelled.

Ren put his hand on Kura's forehead, "do you have a fever or something?"

Kura removed his hand, "I'm not sick"

"Ohayou," Yankumi called entering the classroom.

The guys went silent and cautiously turned to her.

"What's everyone all worked up for," she asked.

"It's nothing," Yamato answered for us.

"You don't have to hide it," she laughed.

"It's pointless to tell you," Kamiya stated, "since it's about love."

That only made her more interested.

"It wouldn't be 'pointless.' Don't hesitate to ask me anything about love. C'mon, don't hold back."

Ichi raised his hand, "by the way..."

"Yes, what is it, Ichimura-kun?"

"Yankumi, do you have a man?"

Yankumi went silent. I silently laughed to myself already knowing the answer. There was no way she had a man.

She gave a small chuckle, "we're having a pop quiz."

We groaned.

"Okay, please take your seats!"

As everyone took their seats, I watched Kura. He was smiling really goofy.

"Something's up with Kura," Yamato whispered to me and Ren.

After school we got the gang together and followed Kura. It was getting really weird. At one point, he started skipping. We hid in some boxes that were laying on the side of the road. He looked at his cellphone then started running. We rose from our hiding place after he pasted. We looked like a cosplay fail photo.

"Where's he going," Yamato asked.

"Dunno...."

"Let's go after him."

We started to move with our boxes, but Kamiya fell over. Kura stopped and turned to us, but luckly, we hid before he could see us. He ran off, and we followed. He lead us to the hospital. We hid behind a cardboard person as he went up to a girl. We peaked around and smiled.

"I see," Yamato laughed, "so it was this."

"That Kura didn't even say a word to me," Ichi said shaking Yamato in joy.

"That's why he hasn't been around with us lately," Honjo stated.

"Damn. She cute too," Ren whined.

"But what are they talking about," Kamiya wondered.

Like idiots, the guys started walking forward to hear but tripped over each others feet and fell, leaving me standing.

Kura pointed at us in shock, "hey! What are you guys doing?!"

We did our secret wave, "hello."

After the guys got up, we were introduced to Kura's girlfriend. Her name was Saki, and she was admitted in the hospital for 2 weeks.

"What are you sick with," Honjo asked like an idiot.

We all hit him on the head, "baka! How can you ask that?!"

"It's nothing serious," Saki-chan smiled.

"How did you meet him," Yamato asked.

We got closer waiting for the answer. Saki-chan turned to Kura. He smiled.

"Well, actually it was when I had a cold last week," he explained, "at that moment, an angel swooped down right in front of me."

"A fateful encounter," I asked laughing.

"It's not like you at all," Ren pointed out.

"Shut up!"

As the guys goofed around, Saki-chan turned to me.

"Are one of these guys your boyfriend?"

I looked at Yamato, "not exactly."

She followed my line of sight, "I see," she turned to the guys, "I see you're good friends."

Kura laughed, "good friends? It's more like dorks just messing around."

"Must be nice..," Saki-chan looked down sadly, "I want to go out, too."

"Is that so? I can take you out any time," Kura said.

"Really," Kura nodded, "ah! I have to head back because my dad's coming."

Kura looked at the time, "oh. That's right. See you tomorrow. Bye bye."

She waved and left.

"Kawaii..."

"She's definitely a cutie, isn't she?"

The guys nodded. Then we jumped back from the person who popped up beside us.

"Don't just pop up like that," Yamato told Yankumi.

She smiled at Kura, "you rascal! Well done Kuraki! Was that your girlfriend?"

"No, it wasn't."

She nudged him, "yeah, right."

She laughed until a doctor called her name. Suddenly she began to fumble over herself and that only meant one thing. This guy was Yankumi's crush. We watched as she embarrassed herself. It was hilarious. When he told her that he liked her in her jersey, her face was priceless. I bet she went home that night and tried on every jersey she had in her closet.

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The next day was the night of the hook-up party. Kamiya asked me to help them get the girls. I agreed, but under one condition. They had wear exactly what I tell them to wear. Tonight was going to be fun. The time for the hook-up party came quickly. My guys were grouped up with the Momo girls.

"Alright boys, here you go," I gave them their clothes.

They looked at them in disgust. I laughed.

"You're kidding, right," Honjo asked.

I shook my head, "no, now go get dressed so I can fix your hair."

They left. When the came back, I want to laugh my off, except when Yamato came out. He looked so cute! Why did my plan have to fail?! I fixed their hair, and gave Ren and Yamato fake glasses. I hoped it would make him look nerdy and ugly, but he looked cuter.

"Are you alright, Sai-chan," Kamiya asked, "you look like you want to cry."

"I'm fine," I took a deep breath, "alright, in you go."

Not able to watch, I stepped out for some fresh air. On the way, I past a couple of drunk guys from another school. They were probably going to their own hook-up party, so I ignored them. Once I was outside, I sat down on a bench in front of the building. I wasn't sitting for long when my phone started buzzing. I took out my phone to see it was a call from Yankumi.

"Moshi moshi."

"Saitou-chan, I got a call from the hospital. Kuraki took Saki-chan out and her chest started hurting."

"Is she alright?"

"I don't know. I'll meet you at the hospital."

"Okay, ja ne."

I ran back in the building. I bumped into the drunk guys only they didn't look drunk. They looked scared. I ignored them again and kept running. The guys were standing outside their room looking sad.

"Guys, we need to get to the hospital," I panted.

This alerted the guys.

"What's wrong," they asked at the same time.

"Kura took Saki-chan out, and she got hurt. Come on."

After the guys quickly changed back into their normal clothes, we ran to the hospital. Yankumi was waiting for us. She lead us to Saki's room, where Kura and the doctor from yesterday, Natsume, were standing outside in the hall. We ran to them.

"Kura!"

"What do you thing you're doing," Yankumi asked Kura, "taking a sick person out like that?!"

"It's okay," Natsume reassured her, "she's just fatiqued since she hasn't been out in a while. I think that's why she was experiencing painful heart palpitations and breathing."

"Um...About Saki-chan's condition...," Kura hesitated.

"She has heart disease," Natsume said sadly.

I could tell everyone's heart dropped hearing that, esspecially Kura's. The door opened and a couple walked out. I assumed it was Saki-chan's parents. Yankumi walked up to them.

"Excuse me," they looked at her, "I'm Kuraki's homeroom teacher, Yamaguchi. I'm truly sorry that this happened."

Kura stepped forward, "I'm sorry. I...I..."

Saki's father grabbed Kura and shoved him into the wall, "you! What are you trying to do? Do you know what you've done?"

Natsume pulled the man off of Kura, "Fujimura-san."

Kura looked like he wanted to cry right then and there. Fujimura called the school. Yankumi told us to go home while she went to the school with Kura and Fujimura, but we went anyway. We listened to the adults through the office door.

"I truly apologize for this," Sawatari said.

"What on earth are you teaching here at this school," Fujimura demanded, "it's too late after something happens! I hear that this school has a bunch of uncontrollable students. Certainly...You can just tell that they're that way. I won't get the police involved since my daughter said not to. However, I have faith that your school will properly punish him."

"Yes, of course," Sawatari said.

Hearing enough, we barged in the office.

"Hey, hey, hey! What are you saying," Ren demanded.

"Kura isn't the bad one here," Ichi said.

"She was the one that called Kura out," I explained.

"Stop," Yankumi pleaded.

Honjo shook his head, "we can't be quiet about this!"

"How can we accept this," Kamiya added.

"It's fine, guys," Kura said trying to calm us down.

Fujimura turned to us, "I'm amazed that your friends are the same way."

"As a school, we'll properly punish him concerning this incident," Sawatari bowed.

"Please do so."

Yamato stepped forward, "but Kura did it for her!"

"For my daughter? If you care for my daughter...," Fujimura turned to Kura, "don't ever see her again."

Kura looked up at him sadly. Fujimura grabbed his stuff, walked by us and left. We left a few minutes later. I went on home. I didn't get a lot of sleep that night. All I could see when I closed my eyes was Kura's sad face when he was told to never see Saki-chan again. I kept thinking about if I was told never to see Yamato again, how I would feel and how Kura must be feeling right now.

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It was a sad day for us. Kura didn't come to school. We just looked at his empty desk. I wanted to go out and find him, but Yankumi said that we need to give him some time. She said she would go after school and talk to him. It was hard, but we waited for the bell to ring. We went to our usual place and waited. After a few hours, Kura walked through the door. We greeted him, but he didn't say anything. He sadly walked to the bar and sat down. We went over to him.

"Hey, Kura. We've been worried," Ichi patted his back.

Honjo playfully shaked him, "because you haven't been at school."

"Where have you been," Ren nudged him.

Kura still didn't say anything. I sighed when his phone started ringing. He looked at the screen then hesitatly answered it.

"I told you to not call me anymore!"

This got our attention. He hung up.

"Hey, Kura. What's wrong," Kamiya asked.

"Saki-chan...," he started, "snuck out of the hospital again."

"What?"

"She said she wants to apologize to me so she's waiting at the park."

With that said, Kura got up and ran out.

"Kura!"

"This is bad. What should we do," Honjo turned to our two leaders.

"Contact Yamaguchi," Yamato said.

We all ran out to find Kura as Yamato called Yankumi. We ran to the park. I looked around, but Kura and Saki-chan wasn't anywhere. We stopped in front of Yankumi.

"Where's Kuraki?"

We panted and shrugged out shoulders.

"Look," Yamato called picking something off the ground, "this is Kura's."

"Let's find him," Yankumi turned to me, "Saitou, go to the hospital and get Saki-chan's father. We'll call you when we find them."

I nodded and turned to Yamato, "be careful."

He nodded as the guys whooed.

"Shut up," he barked.

I ran to the hospital as they ran the other way. I found Fujimura.

"You need to come with me," I panted.

"You're one of those kids from yesterday," he growled.

"We don't have time for this. Saki-chan is in danger. You need to come with me."

He hesitated a little, but then nodded. After a quick call from Ren, I lead Fujimura to an old warehouse on the other side of town. We ran to see Yankumi in her serious mode standing over a couple of thugs. I ran over to the guys as Fujimura stood there and watched. I noticed Kura's protective position in front of Saki-chan and hoped her father was seeing it too.

The leader of the thugs glared at Yankumi, "damn you..."

She glared back, "you guys probably have no idea what's going through his mind while fighting, huh? I will not allow you to crush his desire to protect someone important to him."

When she said that, I could've swore I felt a pair of eyes on me, but I shook it off and watched Yankumi.

"I won't go easy on you," she yelled.

"Shut up," the leader attacked but in vain.

The thugs got up and ran for their lives. I couldn't blame them. We ran over to Kura.

"Kura! Kura!"

Kura ignored us and turned to Saki-chan, "are you alright?"

She nodded, "I'm sorry. I...just desperately wanted to apologize to you."

"Are you stupid," he asked, "you should be worrying about yourself not me," Kura looked up at us, "I'm really uncool, huh."

Yankumi stepped forward, "no, you're not. You fought with those guys by yourself to protect your girlfriend. That was a very cool thing to do."

Kura looked at Saki-chan. I smiled at the couple, but it dropped when Fujimura stepped forward.

"Saki..."

"Father! Father, Kuraki-kun wasn't bad," Saki-chan said defending Kura, "everyday has been fun since I met Kuraki-kun. I thought it's nice to have a friend. I've started thinking that I want to get well soon and go back to school again."

Yankumi decided then to step forward, "he's still immature, and he makes mistakes. But he really knows how to love people. That's what I think. Please, I beg you, please don't judge only from appearance and words. Please see Kuraki as a person," she bowed, "please, I beg you."

Fujimura walked up to Kura, "so, you protected Saki risking yourself," he handed Kura his handkerchief, "thank you."

Kura slowly took it and blowed a little. Saki smiled and hugs her father. We all smiled.

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The next day class 3-D stood outside the bus station. We were saying good-bye to Saki-chan.

"How come she's suddenly going to Fukuoka," Kamiya wondered.

"Her father's being transferred," Ichi replied.

"She's continuing treatment at another hospital," Ren added.

Honjo sighed, "just when Kura was spared a punishment."

Saki-chan's parents got on the bus, but she stayed. Yankumi pushed Kura towards her. He slowly walked up to Saki-chan.

"I might be attending school again around summer," Saki-chan said trying to lighten the mood.

"Really?"

"Yeah," she smiled, "will you take me out again when I'm all better?"

Kura nodded with a smile, "sure, anywhere you want."

"See ya."

As Saki-chan got on the bus, Kura called out to her, "do your best!"

The bus took off. Kura yelled bye after it. We ran up to him.

"Don't cry Kura," I nudged him.

He sniffed, "I'm not crying."

"Damn! That was so sweet," Honjo yelled.

"Now I want a girlfriend too," Ichi yelled shaking Ren.

"Crap," Ren barked, "why can't I get a girlfriend!"

Everyone laughed. We started talking amoug ourselves when Kamiya pointed to something behind us. We looked to see Yankumi and Natsume smiling at each other. We whooed and got their attention.

"Hey, don't show off," Yamato laughed.

Ren held his fingers up like a picture frame, "it's finally Spring for Yankumi?"

"You guys," she ran at us, "how can you say that to your teacher?!"

We ran away laughing with her right on our tail. I was almost out of breath when I was pulled behind one of the pillars of the bus station. I turned to see Yamato. I tried to keep my heart-beat down.

"Na...," I cleared my throat, "nani?"

"You know watching Kura protect Saki-chan today made me want to protect my important person too," he said trying to stay cool.

I looked down, "so you met someone at the hook-up party?"

"No," I looked at him, "I technically met her on the roof of our school."

My eyes widened, "you mean....," I pointed to myself.

He smiled and nodded, "Saitou, Heza, will you be my girlfriend?"

I couldn't say anything so I slowly nodded. He smiled bigger and hugged me. I wanted to stay like that forever, but of course, class 3-D had to ruin the moment.

"Whoo!"

We broke apart.

"Who's showing off now," Ren laughed.

Yamato laughed, "shut up."

That night he walked me home, but it wasn't like before. This time he held my hand and kiss me on the cheek when he said good-night.