Episode 3: Falsely Framed

A few days have passed since 3D accepted Ryu back into the group, the boy couldn’t be more happy. Ara High stopped bothering Kurogin ever since Yankumi confronted them, Takeda was forgiven by the rest of his classmates, and Yabuki once again was Ryu’s best friend and the co-leader of the class. Everything seemed to be like it was previously in the past. Well, almost everything; even though Odagiri spent most of his time with his friends, he had not forgotten about Mitsui Yue. The woman was interesting, just like Yamaguchi… only the teacher was way more annoying.

After the fight with Ara, Ryu met Yue only once – the meeting was short and Ryu hasn’t said much, but there was no need to report anything. The moment Ryu came inside the shop, Yue smirked at him and congratulated on dealing with the opposing school. He was a little surprised, but quickly understood that it was highly possible that the girl had heard or seen something. After all, she was quite well informed about many things.
 

Ryu walked slowly towards school, his school-bag carelessly thrown over his shoulder, his other hand was tucked in the pocket of his pants. Like always the boy ignored his surroundings, engrossed in his own thoughts. He stopped in his steps only after hearing a familiar voice shouting behind him.

“Ryuuuu~” The boy turned around to see his friends waving at him.

“Take…” The redhead spoke quietly and nodded at the smaller boy who skipped towards him happily, followed by the rest of the group with Hayato at the front who greeted him with his famous rabbit sign.

“Yo!” Hyuuga greeted Ryu with a smile and Tsucchi slumped his arm over the redhead’s shoulders.

“What’s up, Ryu? You were so out of it that you didn’t even see us. Any girl in mind?” The tallest teased, but Ryu only shrugged his arm off with a scowl. The rest chuckled. Tsuchiya backed off; even though Odagiri wasn’t usually up for fights, he was still really strong. While in the bad mood, the redhead was scary and extremely dangerous; Tsucchi didn’t want to risk getting punched by him.

“Oi, guys!” Hayato exclaimed catching attention of his friends. “We’re skipping today’s classes.” The boy ordered, Ryu raised an eyebrow in question. It’s not like he was really eager to go to school, but his attendance was rather low and he didn’t want to have to repeat a year.

“Eh? It’s not like I’m against it, but why so suddenly?” Take asked.

“We haven’t welcomed Ryu back yet! Not to mention that Ara High is finally off our backs. We need to celebrate it!”

The redhead rolled his eyes at his friends’ enthusiasm – they were all cheering loudly. Nevertheless, he let himself be led away towards the park. He knew that even if he said ‘no’, the guys would either go alone or find a way to drag him with them. Why should he make it more troublesome by arguing with them?
 

Ryu was walking next to his friends who were talking enthusiastically; they were obviously enjoying themselves. Take was skipping happily, Hyuuga was describing some girl he met a day before, Tsucchi was fanning himself and listening to the smaller boy, while Hayato was mostly listening and, from time to time, interrupting Hyuuga’s monologue. Ryu was silent but no one really seemed to mind; the redhead had always preferred to observe anyways.

Suddenly, Take ran towards one of the trees and waved to the rest of the group so that they would follow him. Hayato looked at Ryu, but the boy only shrugged before speeding up to catch up to Take. Stopping next to the younger boy, he looked up in the direction Take was pointing at. Tangled on the branch, was a white-yellow kite. If Ryu wasn’t wrong, and he rarely was, it was in quite good shape.

While the guys were trying to get the kite down, the redhead looked around searching for a possible owner. Despite his status as a delinquent and co-leader of 3D, Ryu wasn’t like his friends; he wasn’t selfish. Well, Yabuki and the rest weren’t exactly selfish but when they found things they often tend to forget that the item could belong to someone else. Such situations showed that Ryu was more mature than the rest and more sensitive and caring for people around him. Of course even if someone saw it, and Yabuki or Takeda were rather smart at times, the person wouldn’t say a word. Ryu’s punches weren’t the lightest after all.

Finally, Tsuchiya knocked the kite out of the tree. Immediately, Hyuuga and Take moved to check it for possible holes. Just like Ryu had predicted, the kite was not damaged; and after looking around, he didn’t find anyone who looked like they were missing the kite. Shrugging his shoulders, Ryu made his way towards a clearing where the two boys could play with the flying toy while he, Hayato, and Tsucchi could just lay down and relax. The boys followed him without a word, too used to the redhead’s antics.

Ryu was lying on the grass watching the dark clouds that were floating slowly in the sky. Hayato decided to lay next to his best friend, he always wondered what Odagiri was thinking about; he was sure that he knew him very well but the latest issue showed Yabuki that there are still parts of Ryu that he didn’t understand. So maybe watching the sky will help him understand the boy better?

Suddenly both leaders sat up with startled expressions on their faces. They looked around in shock, searching for the source of weird vibes that came to them. Ryu couldn’t help but feel tense about the uncomfortable feeling.

“Just now…” the boy started and Hayato looked at him; since the redhead rarely spoke, Yabuki learned that when Ryu said something, it was usually important. He ignored this rule once and he had regretted it. “I felt a chill up my spine.” Hayato nodded completely freaked; Ryu always had acute senses, it was better to follow his instincts.

“You two probably just caught a cold.”

Tsuchiya spoke to them from his spot, lying on his side and fanning himself. The two boys looked at him and Hayato nodded, preferring the tallest boy’s explanation than his best friend feelings. Ryu wasn’t so sure about the cold thing but hearing Tsucchi’s loud sneeze he decided that maybe, just maybe, the boy was right and it really was just the beginning of the flu.
 

They played and relaxed in the park for a few more hours, avoiding policemen that were patrolling around and looking for ditching school students. One would think that it’s a hard job to avoid them, but 3D students not only had years of practice but also knew most of the routes the policemen took during their patrols. Sometimes hiding behind one of the trees was enough to become invisible to the men that hadn’t even thought of changing their routes during patrol.

The boys were walking towards one of the fountains. Since most of the students, while going home, passed by the place that also meant that girls from Momo High frequented it as well. Being young guys, Hayato, Tsuchiya and Hyuuga, decided that the best way to spend their free time was to pick up girls. Take happily followed the trio but in contrary to them, he wanted to find a girlfriend and have stable relationship instead of competing over who’s going to get more phone numbers. Ryu just walked at the back, uninterested.

The redhead leaned on one of the trees while his friends stood a few steps further, waiting for the coming home girls. Meanwhile, they discussed about types of girls they liked.

“She should have nice, not too big not too small s, you know the one that you can easily grab,” Tsucchi said while fanning himself with a lopsided grin.

“I prefer them with nice backsides, hmm~” Hyuuga started daydreaming.

“She should know how to shake her hips and have long legs,” Hayato added, wriggling his eyebrows suggestively and smirking.

“I want her to be sweet and kind.” Take smiled at the image of his perfect girlfriend while the rest looked at him weirdly before laughing loudly. After a moment of teasing comments, Hayato looked at his best friend standing a meter or two away.

“What about you, Ryu? What’s your type?” Take asked, Yabuki snorted.

“Yeah, like he has a type. He doesn’t even go with us on a group date.” Take shrugged his shoulders but the question, or rather the answer, made the four friends look oddly at the redhead. Odagiri only raised his eyebrow he had no intention answering but when the guys didn’t give up, the boy sighed and said the first things that came to his mind.

“Dark hair, nice smile… more mature than you.”

Ryu smirked, bemused by the guys shocked expressions – not only because they got an answer from the usually silent boy, but also because he called them immature. Well, he was actually right but the sentence wounded the gang’s pride. Before the guys could start protesting, they were interrupted by a couple standing next to the bench some meters away from them. Normally you wouldn’t hear them from such distance but a woman suddenly raised her voice, looking angrily at her partner.

“You idiot! You promised me and what?! You were fired again!”

“I wasn’t fired you stupid woman! I quit myself. Those pansies ordered me to work until 9 for the same salary. I have better things to do than working my off at this hour!”

“Yeah, like smoking and getting wasted with your ‘friends’. Or maybe you just want to meet with those es that you claim are ’only old acquaintances of mine’? Do you think I don’t know that you’re screwing them behind my back?!” the woman yelled, completely ignoring her surroundings.

“You’re not a saint yourself! After all it was you screaming ‘harder, harder!’ when that boss of yours was ing you senseless in our bed!” the man lit a cigarette while the woman opened in shock.

“You… you…”

“Stop stuttering, darling. And close your mouth, I don’t really feel like doing it now but you can always go to that sissy. I bet he will take you up on the offer,” the man said with a smirk not hiding the meaning of his words.

“Argh…!” the woman was fuming angrily, her hands turning into tight fists. “Whatever you jerk! What are you planning to do now? It was your third job this month!” The man just shrugged his shoulders and threw his cigarette carelessly on the ground.

“I will find something but…” he smirked and took out an envelope showing it to the young woman.

“What’s that?” even though she asked, her eyes were sparkling knowingly.

“Let’s say that I took what they owed me for this job.”

“You didn’t?” she asked disbelieving but smiling.

“Oh, I did. So…” the man moved closer and pulled the woman by her waist. “What do you say we go and spend it on something enjoyable?” the woman giggled and brought her arms around his neck.

“You read my mind, honey.” She kissed him before pulling her head back a little and asking with a pout. “But what with... you know. I don’t want to be disturbed~,” the woman whined.

“Don’t worry. We will just send that brat away for the night. It’s not like we didn’t do that before.” The man rolled his eyes and the woman grinned.

They pair started walking away, loudly laughing. The woman squeaked when her partner slapped her playfully but clung to his arm afterwards looking like a lovesick puppy. Ryu and the gang were looking at the scene with disgust – maybe weren’t the nicest guys on Earth, but the couple’s behavior was just sick.

Hayato, Tsucchi, Take and Hyuuga forgot about the pair the moment girls came into the view. They were observing them and trying to ask some of them out. They were mostly unsuccessful since the girls were rather scared of them, seeing silver badges of Kurogin. Of course, Kurogin was one of better schools in Tokyo, but it was more known for the fact that Kurogin’s 3D class was full of impertinent delinquents.

Ryu, on the other hand, observed the couple until he lost the sight of them. If he understood correctly, the pair had a child or lived with someone who could walk on them by accident. He wasn’t sure what they wanted to do with the money but he was guessing it was something illegal or inappropriate. He pitied the mentioned ‘brat’, especially if it really was a kid. The youngster surely didn’t have an easy life with such people by his side.
 

It was slowly getting darker. The boys, who became bored again, went to the nearest playground and relaxed on monkey bars. Hyuuga was lazily swinging his legs, Hayato was biting on a piece of straw he picked up earlier, Take observed the passersby and Tsuchiya, like always, was fanning himself. Ryu just stood still on the side watching his friends.

Geez… they always want to skip but at the end they don’t even know what they want to do. Tsk!

The redhead looked at Hayato, hearing a soft sound of rustling clothes, and narrowed his eyes just slightly. Yabuki was up to something or at least considered doing something stupid – his eyes were slightly unfocused and shining with hidden mischief. Ryu didn’t like that kind of gaze - it mostly meant troubles.

“Guys, we’re going.” Yabuki suddenly stood up and looked at his classmates.

“Where?” Take asked curiously.

“I’m bored. Let’s find some nerd and borrow money from him so we can play pool or something.”

Hayato smirked and the rest followed him eagerly. Ryu only rolled his eyes deciding that it would be better to have an eye on them. The redhead wasn’t exactly into stealing or ‘borrowing’ money, like the guys used to say, but he preferred to tag along to make sure that they won’t do something even more stupid or dangerous. Of course, Ryu could just simply give them the money – he was rich after all – but they always declined his offer saying that they would never let their friend pay for them. But getting some random guy to pay for you is okay, huh? Those idiots… Even if it wasn’t exactly fair, Ryu felt warm spreading inside him just by thinking about it – the guys were lovable even if they would beat him up for saying it out loud.
 

While walking out of the park, the gang saw one of Kurogin’s 3A students, Honda, pulling a bike next to his side. They stopped immediately and Ryu stared at his friends – Hyuuga’s and Tsucchi’s eyes were sparkling with interest and, without further thinking, they walked up to the boy, grinning widely. The redhead rolled his eyes knowing perfectly well what’s going on his friends’ minds. Next to him, Hayato smirked and Take just smiled awkwardly.

Ryu sighed and started walking away. Even though, Ryu still didn’t exactly gain back his previous status as a co-leader, both Hayato and Take didn’t have a problem with following their friend without a question. Soon, Hayato and Take passed Ryu who slowed down on purpose. He wasn’t fond of having people walking after him. It made him uneasy; he couldn’t see who was behind him so he didn’t know their reactions and expressions.

When the three friends were passing the bridge, they heard the mixed voices of Hyuuga and Tsucchi.

“Hey, hey, out of the way!”

Ryu looked behind himself, Hayato turning his head seconds later. Despite such short time difference, Ryu needed to take a single step to the right to avoid being run over while Hayato had to quickly jumped away. Take, who hadn’t seen the bike to the last seconds, was lucky enough to avoid it but the guys startled him a little.

When the duo passed by their friends, Hayato tried to stop them. Ryu wasn’t really sure if to ride the bike himself or to punch them for almost killing him. The thought that Hayato might actually just wanted to stop them so they wouldn’t get into trouble never even crossed his mind, even when they saw a cop stopping nearby.

“Hey, you guys, get off! No double riding on a bike!” the guy called out to them.

Hyuuga opened his mouth in shock while Tsuchiya had a faced visibly showing that he wanted to run away. Instead of getting of the bike, Hyuuga sped up, trying to lose the cop. What he didn’t predict, the cop to follow them in quick steps and asking other policemen for help.

“Wait there!” the guy shouted after the duo but panicked Hyuuga didn’t slow down.

“No, no! Don’t do that!”

Another policeman came from the other part of the bridge, trapping the guys in the middle. They quickly got off the bike and standing back to back, put their hands up in a surrender gesture.

“Oh, no, we’re finished. We won’t do it anymore. Sorry.” Tsucchi apologized and changed places with Hyuuga who was now facing the first cop.

“Don’t worry.”

Ryu, Take and Hayato who were observing the whole exchange, came closer to try help the guys but before any of them could speak up, class A’s Honda ran towards the bike. The situation got even more complicated when the policemen realized that the two boys had actually stolen the bike from the other boy. Hayato and Take tried to explain the situation to the cops but when they mentioned to belong to Kurogin’s 3D class the cops took Hyuuga and Tsucchi to the police station immediately.

Ryu sighed tiredly and elbowed Hayato slightly, mentioning to the gaping boy to move forward. After all they couldn’t leave their friends in the cops hands. Hayato winced slightly at the nudge, more startled than hurt, before obeying the silent command. When they came to the police station they tried to speak to policemen working there but, like always, a simple mention of Kurogin’s 3D, made policemen to think of the boys as criminalists.

They walked out of the building and started thinking of the way to get out Tsuchiya and Hyuuga out of the station. Hayato quickly got frustrated and started kicking random pebbles. Ryu just rolled his eyes at the sight of his slightly dumb friend but had to admit to himself that he didn’t have any good idea either. Take, on the other side, bit his lip and looked at his friends uncertainly. He had an idea what to do but he wasn’t sure of his friends’ reaction. Ryu quickly sensed something wrong and looked at the younger boy with a small frown.

“What’s wrong?” he asked Takeda who focused his eyes on the red-head. Hayato stopped his little game and looked up.

“Well… I think that… maybe we should call… Yamaguchi?” Ryu and Hayato stood frozen, staring at the boy. “I mean, she’s our teacher so people respect her and she helped us once already. Maybe she will be able to pull Tsucchi and Hyuuga out as well?” Ryu and Hayato exchange a glance.

“That’s not a bad idea, Take. At least they might listen to her.” Hayato replied.

“Do you have her number?” Ryu asked and after getting a positive response he started wondering how much Take trust their teacher to have Yamaguchi’s number in his phone.
 

The three boys stood in front of police station, waiting for their teacher. The night was cold. Take tried to warm himself up by moving while Hayato hissed through his teeth, shivering slightly. Ryu felt cold too but didn’t let the guys see it by turning his back to them. In the distance he could see Honda and, even further away, a black silhouette. The person looked familiar and soon Ryu realized that it was Yue. He probed his cheek with a tongue observing her movements. He was sure she was going home.

Before the boy was able to excuse himself and maybe go greet the girl, he heard steps coming from his left. He turn his head to see Yamaguchi. Very serious, scary and angry Yamaguchi. Takeda grabbed his and Hayato’s shoulders and pulled closer to himself, trying to hide behind them. The trio just watched the woman in fear, almost completely frozen.

“Yankumi, she seems… really angry.”

The woman was getting closer with each step. When she stopped in front of them, the guys stayed quiet. They hadn’t seen her like that before. The sight was rather terrifying and even Ryu, who kind of got used to her weird personality didn’t make a single step, staring at the woman in surprise. He only dared to move when Yamaguchi spoke.

“What happened? Explain the details.”

“We were on our way home from the arcade.” Hayato answered the question, describing the situation, while Ryu pulled his jacket back trying to hide from the cold wind. At the moment he turned his head, he noticed that the girl already disappeared.

“Those idiots!” Yankumi shouted, catching Ryu’s attention. “Obviously, when you’re riding in two and then having the cop chase you is asking for trouble.”

All three of them avoided looking at her, embarrassed. They knew that they should stop Hyuuga and Tsucchi but… Well, Ryu was pretty sure they wouldn’t listen and he wasn’t really the one to yelled and wake up the whole neighborhood. It didn’t change that he felt bad for letting his friend end up at the police station.

“So… why haven’t they been released?” Yamaguchi asked trying to calm herself down a bit.

“That’s because… the cops mistook them for bike thieves.” Take said uncertainly, afraid of his teacher’s possible reaction.

“What?” The woman looked shocked hearing about her precious students being thieves. “They stole it?”

“They didn’t steal it. They just borrowed it from Class A’s Honda. Right?” Yabuki answered, annoyed that the teacher suggested something like that, before he turned towards the mentioned boy. Ryu, Take and Yankumi following his suit.

“Yes. They threatened to beat me up if I didn’t lend them to them.” They boy answered honestly.

Hayato started laughing strangely while Yankumi looked shocked for the second time. Take looked up tensing up from nervousness. Ryu hang his head down knowing perfectly well that Honda just dig his own grave. The poor guy should know not to oppose Hayato. At the same time Ryu wished that Yabuki wouldn’t lash out at the other in front of their teacher. Who am I kidding… He wouldn’t care if someone sees him, anyway… And he was right. Hayato started to roll up his sleeves but before he could go beat up the boy, Take grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled back. Ryu looked at his best friend and sighed whispering:

“Idiot.” It was loud enough to hear by Yamaguchi and his friends but not enough to be heard by Honda. Yankumi took a breath and spoke to the Class A’s student.

“Honda, sorry for the trouble. You can go home now.”

“Okay.”

The boy walked away. For some reason Ryu followed him with his eyes. He didn’t know why he did it until it occurred to him that he wasn’t really looking at the guy but behind him, kind of hoping that he still might catch a glimpse of Yue. When Ryu realized that, he turned his head back, trying to ignore a sudden desire to see the older girl. Instead of analyzing his own weird behavior, he tried to concentrate on the situation at hand. Though, he still wondered why he thought of Yue so suddenly.

“We explained it properly, but the cops wouldn’t listen to us. Right guys?” Take wanted to protect his friends.

“When we told them we were from Kurogin Class 3D, they started yelling: ‘Come to the station’,” Hayato added while Ryu turned his back to them.

“I see. That was unreasonable. Alright.” Yamaguchi got into her ‘fighting for justice and students’ mode. “No matter what happens, I’ll get them back at all cost. You guys follow me!” They boys watched their excited teacher with surprise.

“No, you’re a teacher, just go in like a normal person.” Hayato quickly said kind of afraid that she will make even a bigger mess. The woman suddenly stopped and came back to her students with her head hanging low in shame.

“Yes,” she said timidly, Hayato and Take looking at her weirdly. Ryu stopped himself from rolling his eyes. That woman’s impossible… Does she think she’s a part of some Yakuza movie?
 

“I’m their homeroom teacher, Yamaguchi.” Yankumi bowed to the policeman. “I’m extremely sorry for all the trouble they’ve caused.”

Her apology was sincere but with the way Take, Hayato and Ryu were leaning against desk with hands in their pockets surely wouldn’t help with convincing the policeman at the station. They might be actually happy that the man ignored them completely in favor of filling in the documents.

“The students are still being interrogated.”

“They didn’t do anything.” Take reacted immediately, trying to defend his friend. Ryu looked at the policeman, waiting for his reaction, wishing that his friend didn’t offend the man and they would soon see Hyuuga and Tsucchi.

“That’s what we’re checking now.”

“Hurry and let them go, you clumsy old man.” Ryu couldn’t agree more but at the same time he wanted to slap Hayato for his stupidity. Who in their right minds say something like that to the cop?! Of course, Hayato does. What an idiot… This time, he was thankful for having Yamaguchi as their teacher…

“Stop it, Yabuki. Don’t oppose the okami.” …Or maybe not that thankful after all… The three boys looked at the woman in disbelieve. They all were shocked but Ryu also got more suspicious of Yamaguchi. There was not many people that would use such language and Ryu started to wonder whether she’s a die-hard fan of mafia-movies or… Tsk! That’s impossible. Why did I even thought about it? No good. The class stupidity is starting to get to me.

“Okami?” The trio asked and Yamaguchi got flustered being watched by her students and the policeman.

“No.” She laughed nervously. “They really didn’t steal the bicycle, right?” she tried to avoid explaining her slip and she was successful. The boys just wanted their friends back.

“Right.” Take and Hayato answered calmly.

“You believe these guys?” A sudden voice interrupted them. They looked at the doorway. A guy came into the room and sat on a chair by the desk putting his legs on top of it. Ryu looked at legs laying next to him and couldn’t help feeling disdain towards the policeman. The guy was really impolite, even more than Ryu’s friends, and being taught good manners from early years, Ryu had a huge urge to say something to the older man. Or at least to tell him to put his foot down.

“My students don’t lie.” Yankumi immediately answered with confidence but trying to calm her anger – she didn’t like when someone .

“You believe them so easily. They must be taking you for a fool at school.”

“What?” Yamaguchi was surprised by the words taking it as the offence.

“You’ve gotta take control. Your class has quite a reputation, ya know.” Now not only Yankumi felt offended. Even though there was some true in the man’s words, they weren’t THAT bad. “I hear that your class is bunch of hopeless cases. There are unbelievable kids in high schools nowadays. Fleeing from an officer is evidence that they are up to no good.” Yabuki ignored the words, never really respecting the police, Ryu also choose to not react but he really wanted to show the man that he’s wrong while Takeda glared at the man coldly, barely managing to keep his harsh words at bay.

“What did you say? Try saying it again!”

“Yankumi.”

The woman shouted and tried to came closer to the policeman. It was obvious she wanted to fight him so the three boys quickly grabbed her by the shoulders and after turning her around, Ryu had to remind her about her own words. Thankfully, after staying silent most of the time, Ryu’s words had huge impact on almost everyone around him.

“We aren’t supposed to defy the okami, right?”

“O-oh yeah. That’s right.” She admitted taken aback; not many of her students would think rationally when they friends were in jail. Ryu patted her back, feeling relieved that the teacher hadn’t lashed out on the impolite man, and let her go back so she could speak to cop. “Anyhow, there’s no proof and they’re still underage, so why don’t you let the two of them go home?” she asked with a fake smile. Ryu nodded slightly – she was talking reasonably and politely enough so Ryu was sure it would give nice effects, even if the policeman would be as ill-mannered as before.

The man looked at the teacher and not saying anything back to her, he ordered one of his underlings to release the boys while he himself stood up and walked away. Yankumi bowed after him in respect but she was very angry inside. Takeda was glaring at the man as much as Hayato who wanted to punch the guy for implying that they were criminals. Ryu was annoyed as well, not only for accusing his friends of being pests of society but also because the man offended a person that was actually someone full of justice. Tsk! Maybe she’s a teacher but she doesn’t judge anyone just by looking at them. That guy should learn to keep his mouth shut, arrogant …

A few minutes later, Hyuuga and Tsuchiya came out from the police station. Take immediately jumped to hug his friends while Hayato only make his famous bunny sign. Ryu smirked in welcoming gesture but it was barely noticeable.
 

Yamaguchi, still feeling offended, decided to drag the five students to Kumai’s shop for a bowl of ramen.

“Come on.” Kumai served the dish.

“Eat up.” Yankumi added, giving ceramic bowls to her students.

“Extra meat is on the house.” Kumai exclaimed, happy to see his teacher with her new troublemakers.

“Thanks, Kuma.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

The man went back on his place in the kitchen and Yankumi sat at the end of the table looking at five friends. Hyuuga and Tsuchiya didn’t touch their dishes, still upset about the whole stealing accident. Take and Hayato were also a bit down so they didn’t have appetites. Ryu, on the other hand, was really hungry, barely remembering to thank for the food. Many people didn’t know that despite his slim frame, Ryu could eat a lot, especially when he felt upset.

“By the way, that cop… was absolutely ridiculous.” Ryu couldn’t agree more with her.

“Yankumi still hasn’t changed.” Kumai said at the memories of his high school years.

“Yeah. Even if he’s a cop, there’s things he shouldn’t say. You guys don’t mind him.”

“We’re not.” Hyuuga answered but it was obvious that he did mind.

“It’s always the same.” Hayato added between the bites, while Ryu didn’t even look up, talking and cooling his noodles at the same time.

“We’re used to it.” It was true and Ryu knew it pretty well. Even though his voice stayed normal, he really wanted to say something nasty about the annoying cop. But eating was a better choice.

“Since they suspect us, we feel that we might as well do something bad.” Tsucchi admitted and Hyuuga agreed with him.

“Don’t say stupid things.” Yamaguchi scolded them. “But it’s all good since they let you go home safely.”

Hayato stopped eating and took a glance at the woman. Maybe she wasn’t a perfect teacher but she helped them today and was defending them in front of the police. It was something no other teacher would do for them so Yabuki put his extra meat in Yankumi’s bowl – she earned it today.

“Huh?” the woman got surprised by Yabuki’s nice gesture.

“Sorry for troubling you.” The boy said quickly, not taking his eyes from his ramen.

“Was that to thank me?”

“Shut up.” If Ryu wasn’t so focused on his own bowl, he would smirk at Hayato’s embarrassed behavior.

“Then me too.” Hyuuga was grateful that she helped them.

“Eat up!” Tsuchiya gave his part along with Take.

“Me, too. Here.”

The boys looked at Ryu. When the boy sensed it, he gazed at his friends and reluctantly put his own meat on his teacher’s plate. His friends smiled victoriously, knowing how hard it was to make Ryu to share his food when he was hungry. But it was one of the rare times when Ryu knew his friends were right, and Yamaguchi really deserved extra meat. She really did well today. Eat up, senko.

The woman smiled widely, surprised by her students behavior. Somehow, she was sure they were much better than half of adults. She was really happy knowing that even if they were reluctant towards her, they slowly started to trust her; even if just a little.
 

“I’m stuffed.”

“See ya guys, go straight home.” Yankumi shouted after them.

“See ya.”

“Okay.”

“Later!”

The boys looked back at their teacher still walking away. It was the best idea since metal poles were placed in the middle of the pavement. Ryu, who saw it earlier, simply avoid the pole. He couldn’t contain a wide smirk that blossomed on his lips when Hayato tripped over the metal bar. The boy might be a 3D’s leader but, just as Ryu was an eater, Hayato was really clumsy. He always tried to act cool in front of people but Ryu has knew him since they were still small kids. Idiot, watch where you’re going. Really… you haven’t changed much; you’re still stumbling over everything. Ryu thought with a smile. He was probably the only one who saw all of Hayato’s accidents and probably the only one in front of who Hayato didn’t mind acting dorky.

It was late and the boys had already enough adventures for one night. They bid their goodbyes and went their ways. Ryu walked slowly. Now, when he was full and much calmer, Ryu’s mind went back to thinking about the time in front of the police station. The boy couldn’t figure out why Yue had occupied his mind at that moment. Yeah, he saw her just a few minutes earlier walking home but why he hope she would appear again? He was confused.

I barely know her. Why so suddenly… Damn! Something must be wrong with me. Eh… maybe I wanted to see her because she might know how to get Hyuuga and Tsucchi out of jail? She seemed to know stuff… Or maybe I’m just tired and that stupid brain of mine decided to play with me.

Ryu shook his head and walked faster. He really was tired after the whole, not exactly good, day and he could feel how heavy his eyelids became. After he got home, he immediately went to his room and after taking a quick shower, he laid on the bed. He needed only a few minutes to fall asleep and nothing was able to wake him up until the next day came.