Disclaimer: I am not the creator of Gokusen, that right belongs to one Morimoto Kozueko. Though I do own Shiraga Ryuuiji and any other character not recognized in this fandom.

---

"That woman,what was her name? The new teacher." Kuma began, chewing noisily.

"You mean Yamaguchi Kumiko? With the glasses?" Minami piped up from beside the larger teen.

"I don't think she'll come back anymore." Kuma went on to say, remembering the look on her face when she had realized that a ball had been thrown at her head.

"Yeah, Kuma really scared the crap out of her." Uchi commented with a shake of his head.

"One hundred yen on her not coming back." Minami goaded the group with a sly grin.

"Two hundred yen for me, then." Noda said, upping the stakes a bit, though his eyes were focused completely on the laptop situated on his lap. His eyes widened slightly as a picture popped up on the scree. "Oh, I got it!" He exclaimed. The picture was of a woman, with a voluptuous figure clad in skimpy clothing.

"Yeah, cool! You did a good job." Minami cheered as both he and Uchi crowded around Noda to get a better look at the picture.

Kuma, who was busy eating turned to the stairway where both Shin and Ryuuiji sat quietly, looking as though they were both involved in a heated staring contest. "How about you two? Shin, Ryuu-kun?"

"I'll pass." Sawada murmured, breaking eye contact and tilting his head to acknowledge his friend.

"Sah, I don't like teachers much, but she doesn't seem like the type to quit just 'cause she had a bad day." Ryuuiji told the group, a sly grin on his lips. "Two hundred yen on her returning~."

Though they couldn't see her, Yamaguchi-sensei listened to the whole conversation. A small frown dancing upon her lips.

---

"If x squared is -5, what is the value of x?" Yamaguchi-sensei murmured to herself, the very next day, voice loud enough to carry over the noise of her obnoxious students. She turned to her students expectantly, after she'd finished writing the equation on the board. "Can someone solve this problem?"

The class was just as obnoxious as they had been the day before, most student were chatting amicably with the person next to them, completely ignoring the female.

"No-one?" Yamaguchi-sensei pressed, after sighing. "Hey, is anyone listening?" She went on, after getting no response. "Are you listening? Can you hear me?" After a pause her face dropped from polite to stern in an instant and she opened to bellow, "I am asking if you are listening!" The class silenced immediately and she plowed forward. "When someone is talking , you look at that person. Don't you guys know that's common courtesy?"

The entire class, with the exception of Shin and Ryuuiji of course, most of them surprised by the outburst. The two watched with slightly narrowed eyes as the females own eyes widened, and then she fumbled for the attendance book laid out before her. "Kumai-kun." She called out after scanning the sheet,"Come forward and try this problem."

"Then say please." Was the large boy's snarky retort.

"Huh?"

"When you ask someone to do something, you say please." Uchi told the woman, using her words about 'common courtesy' against her. "Don't you know that's common courtesy?"

"I'm not asking you, but commanding you." Yamaguchi-sensei told the boys, her voice sounding only a bit stern.

The teens stood up angrily, wondering why this teacher had the audacity to command on of their own. Kuma himself stood, shoving a desk out of his way as he moved towards the front of the classroom. He made his way past Yamaguchi-sensei, who was smiling at her success, and towards the board where he began to write.

The class sat began to re-seat themselves just as Kuma finished writing his response on the board. "It's done." He told the female and made his way back to his seat. On his way, he received appreciate high-fives from his classmates after they'd read what he wrote on the board.

Yamaguchi-sensei turned to the board, expecting the problem to be solved only to find that the teen had written 'Math !.' "There's an elementary spelling mistake." She murmured to herself after looking over the kanji before her eyes.

The class burst into uproarious laughter, most of the students banging their hands on the table. Shin remained quiet, not finding the situation that amusing, though he turned with a raised eyebrow when he heard Ryuuiji chuckling softly beside him.

The other teen caught his eye for a brief moment, and then smiled at the leader widely, waggling his fingers in greeting. "Ohayou Shin-kun."

Shin nodded in response, before he stood up. The sound of his chair scraping across the floor caused the laughter to come to a halt. Shin ignored this, instead stretching. He then made his way to the back entrance, ready to leave.

"Chotto matte.* We are in the middle of class." Yamaguchi-sensei told the boy, after she'd turned around to see where the sound had come from.

Shin ignored her, as did the rest of the group. They all stood simultaneously, following after the silent teen. They exited the back entrance easily, causing Yamaguchi-sensei to leave her post at the front of the class and try to persuade them back inside. "Chotto matte." She called, looking up at the teens. She looked at her roll call sheet briefly, and then back up at the leader. "Sawada-kun."

The teen stopped, looking down at the rookie teacher with a blank face. He then brought his hand up, one holding the watch on the wrist of the other and showing her the time. At that very moment the bell rung, signaling the end of class.

He then continued on his way, rolling his eyes skyward. The group followed. Uchi motioning to his wrist where a watch sat, Noda grinning goofily, Minami smirking, Kuma rubbing his stomach, and Ryuuiji smiling apologetically.

Yamaguchi-sensei stared after, releasing a heavy sigh.

"Oi! You guys owe me, I told you she'd be coming back!" Ryuuiji called after the group, throwing a grin the females way before sauntering after his companions.

---

As Yamaguchi-sensei made her way to the roof she could hear voices. The voices of at least three of her students.

"Thanks." The voices chorused together, sounding anything but grateful.

"Ano*, five hundred yen per person..." An unfamiliar voice said, hesitantly.

"What! You mean you want money for the lunch?" From where she stood, she could see Kuma, Minami, and Uchi surrounding a boy that looked vaguely familiar to her. She crouched down, hoping they wouldn't see her until she was ready to reveal her presence.

"When those Kita High students were hassling you, who came to your rescue?" Uchi spoke as Noda stood off to the side, he had his arm wrapped around the shorter teen's neck. His mouth was close to the boy's ear.

"You shouldn't take money from your benefactors. Ne?" Minami scolded, coming up behind Uchi to smirk at the boy.

"It's not good to forget your duty and compassion, is it?" Noda asked haughtily, finally speaking.

"Oh yes, I remember now. Duty and compassion." The teen stated, smiling nervously as he pulled away from Uchi's grasp.

"Yeah. That's a good boy." Minami grinned, patting the nervous teens shoulder, along with the others.

"Ano...these guys sure are capable..." Yamaguchi-sensei murmured to herself after having witnessed the scene. She shook her head at that thought, making her way up the stairs and through the opening, just as the teens settled down to enjoy the food. "Hi boys." She greeted.

"Nani?*" Was the reluctant response she received from Noda, who had his feet resting on the tables sat out before them as he opened the container he held.

"Well, the Head Teacher is missing some money he was in charge of." Yamaguchi-sensei told the group, striding over to where Kuma sat.

From his sprawled position on the bench, Shin sat up listening to the woman word.

"Ah~. Don't tell me." Ryuuiji grinned from where he sat slouched close to Kuma, munching on an Onigiri filled with Tenmusu. He swallowed noisily before speaking again, "He suspects it's one of us? The trash of Shirokin, ne?"

Yamaguchi-sensei blinked, wondering how the slighter teen knew that much, after all they'd both come to the school at the same time. "A-and then..."

"Why are there sesame seeds on my rice?" She was interrupted by Minami's whine.

"So...I mean..." She trailed off, not knowing how to phrase it.

"So, you suspect we did it, ne?" Shin spoke up for the first time, bringing Yamaguchi-sensei's eyes to him. The teen was up, and walking towards her with a blank face.

"Eh? No, no. I don't mean that." She denied. "You don't know anything, do you?" She asked, turning to address the other boys who were focused on the food they were currently eating.

"No, we don't!" Kuma stated loudly, glaring at the woman.

"Perhaps someone besides you..." She offered, voicing sounding suggestive.

"I said we didn't know!" Kuma growled, setting his food down roughly and moving forward to address the teacher at a closer range.

"Even if we knew, we wouldn't sell him out." Shin told the teacher, placing a hand on Kuma's shoulder to stop him from doing anything he might regret later. He moved past the larger teen to stand before the female with defiant eyes.

The two gazed at each other for a brief moment before Yamaguchi-sensei smiled. "I see. Sorry about that." She then turned to leave, though not before confronting them about what she had witnessed. "Five hundred yen each. I'll give it to him." She told them, holding out a hand.

Minami set down his food angrily, standing up. "What did you say?"

Yamaguchi-sensei's face hardened slightly. "It'd be fair to add something for fetching the food. Demo, since he seems to owe you something we'll call it even. So, five hundred yen."

The others stood up as well -minus Shin and Ryuuiji-, moving forward as if to intimidate the female. "Hey! Don't mess with us." Uchi barked her sternly.

The female looked at her palm for a moment before her eyes hardened and her lips formed into a thin line before she looked up at the four. "Five hundred yen." She repeated, her voice sounding slightly threatening.

The teens looked at her, blinking at the sudden change before digging into their pockets to pull out the amount of money demanded from them reluctantly. Uchi being the defiant young man that he was, tossed the coin so that it landed near her foot with a huff.

"Don't toss money your parents earned!" She snapped, causing the teen to flinch slightly. The other in a breath, surprised by the outburst. Shin himself let his ey widen slightly at the passionate outburst. Yamaguchi-sensei sighed, before she bent over to pick up the coin. "Well, at least you're willing to pay." She then turned to the others expectantly holding out her hand. "You guys, too. All right." The others scoffed, before they too followed Uchi's example, though they didn't drop it like he had.

---

"Fight-oh!" Yamaguchi-sensei murmured to herself the very next day, and then she made her way towards where all of 3-D sat.

"Hm. Good." Both Noda and Kuma commented with nods of their heads as they each took a bite of the food they held.

She smiled brightly at them before moving to sit next to Kuma. "Looks like you guys are eating some good stuff." She said, setting the triple-stacked bento box down in front of her.

"What is it?" Minami grumbled, looking away from the teacher.

"I thought I'd eat with you guys. See? Try it." She smiled, pulling the top stack off and presenting it to Kuma.

"Baka." Kuma snorted, turning his head away from the proffered meal.

"Eat alone." Uchi huffed, turning away from the woman and sitting so that his legs hung off the side of the bench and over the ground.

"How come? I wanna talk with you guys." She then proceeded to unstack the rest of the bento and set them side by side.

"She's nuts." Minami scoffed, flinging one leg over the other and moving closer to the edge of bench.

"Aren't you insane." Noda grumbled from his position near Kuma.

Ryuuiji, who sat just next to Minami's side of the bench grinned, "Ya think? She's like a stand up comedian." He hummed cheerfully. He himself had his own homemade bento, which consisted of vegetable frittata, lentil snacks, asparagus, and strawberries.

"Ne, Sawada. Are you eating all right? She asked, turning her attention to the boy who sat with his back against a pole, after gazing at the slighter teen curiously. Said teen sat with his legs crossed one one another, sipping at a can of black coffee.

The teen ignored her, releasing a relieved sigh before going back to nursing the beverage.

"Just coffee?" She questioned, raising an eyebrow.

The teen continued to ignore her, setting down his can and looking at the two men in suits who approached them. "Kumai, Shiraga. Come here."

"What?" Was the bigger teens response.

"Eh?" Ryuuiji murmured, his grin dropping into a frown.

"Yamaguchi-sensei. Please come also." Washio-sensei instructed, face stern.

The female blinked, just as Shin sat up. "Hai."

After noticing that the two had yet to comply, both Head Teacher and Washio-sensei moved forward. Washio-sensei going for Kuma who immediately began to struggle, and Head Teacher moving towards Ryuuiji who snarled in response.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Ryuuiji ground out, trying to pull away from the Head Teacher whose grip was surprisingly strong. He was ignored, instead being dragged towards the building and into the faculty office along with Kuma.

Kuma himself was struggling against Washio-sensei, pulling the teacher every which way in an attempt to be released. When they made it to the desk, each of the men shoved the teens towards it, resulting in the desk almost tipping over.

The other faculty members looked on curiously, wondering what all the fuss was about.

"So noisy!" Fujiyama-sensei grumbled to herself, eyes focusing on the scene before her.

"Can teachers use violence?" Kuma growled, as both he and Ryuuiji straightened from the manhandling they'd just received.

"Violence? Wat about what you two did? Theft, that's a crime." Head Teacher scoffed, raising a brow, daring to be challenged.

"Theft?" Yamaguchi-sensei repeated, gaping slightly.

"Theft?" Ryuuiji snarled. "I didn't steal anything! So don't start accusing me." He moved to grab the Head Teachers jacket, only to be stopped by both Yamaguchi-sensei and Washio-sensei. "Do you understand me? I'm not a thief!"

"These two are the culprit." Washio-sensei piped up from beside the woman, struggling to push the unusually angry teen away.

"I don't know anything." Kuma told them, and immediately Ryuuiji ceased his struggling at the tone of voice his friend had used. His posture still remained stiff, ready to pounce.

"Come off it!" Head Teacher snapped, tired of the denial.

"Head Teacher, do you have the goods on them?" Yamaguchi-sensei asked, moving to stand beside the lean teen just in case, as the rest of the teacher in attends grew more attentive.

"Goods?" Head Teacher repeated, moving his head abruptly to look at the woman.

"I mean...do you have the evidence?" She rephrased, after a moment's pause.

"There's a witness who saw Kumai downtown yesterday carrying a yellow bag just like the collection bag." Head Teacher told the female sternly.

"What exactly do I have to do with this?" Ryuuiji grumbled, folding his arms across his chest, after noting that the man had yet to point out why he was being accused of such a deed.

"We all know Kumai is to dumb to have thought of something like this on his own, and since you two live so close it's obvious that you are partners in crime." Head Teacher stated, his tone matter-of -fact.

"Why you little-!" Ryuuiji seethed, preparing to launch himself at the man once again, only to be held back by the two teachers beside him.

"No way! The bag I was carrying looks like the collection bag, demo it wasn't. It was a bag I carried cigarettes and a lighter in." Kuma told the man, after a brief moment of hesitation.

"Cigarettes? Why you!" Yamaguchi-sensei stepped in, her voice sounding appalled.

"Then, show me the bag." Head Teacher ordered.

"I threw it away."

"Threw it away?" Washio-sensei repeated skeptically.

"Un, because it was so old and had holes."

"Can't he come up with a better story?" Fujiyama-sensei murmured to herself from where she stood.

"Kumai, if you tell the truth, I'll let both you and Shiraga off this time." Head Teacher bribed.

"I am telling the truth."

"Do you wanna be expelled? Dragging Shiraga along with you?"

"No. Expulsion is not good. If we lose two students, our school revenue will be that much less." Shirakawa Gonzo said, finally stepping forward.

"Principal, give me a break." Head Teacher scoffed, sidling over towards the shorter man. "Because of these guys, we aren't able to recruit new students." He pointed at the two teens who stood before him, "They are trash."

"Trash?" Yamaguchi-sensei repeated, disbelief evident in her voice.

"Do you know what happens if trash is left undisposed?" Head Teacher pressed on, his tone showing his distaste for all of 3-D. "Bugs will come and contaminate the whole environment. Killing the bugs won't solve anything if we leave the trash alone."

Yamaguchi looked back at her students, noting how Kuma looked helpless and how angry the usually grinning Ryuuiji seemed.

"They should be dismissed from school and taken to the police immediately."

"Chotto matte kudasai!" Yamaguchi-sensei snapped, stepping forward. "Without hard evidence, are you going to snitch on Kumai and Shiraga?"

"Snitch?" Head Teacher blinked, looking down at the woman with confused eyes.

"They said they didn't do it." She plowed on, ignoring the quizzical expressions she received. The other members stayed silent, wondering why this woman was protecting the teens so fiercely.

"Do you believe the word of trash?" Washio-sensei asked with a snort.

"Demo there's useful trash, too. This is an era of recycling." Kawashima-sensei drawled from her position near the entrance.

"Unfortunately, they're the useless kind." Head Teacher retorted easily.

"I quit!" Kuma said suddenly, his voice grew louder as he continued. "This is bull! Bakas!" He snarled kicking a trashcan as he moved to leave the room.

"I don't know how much more of this I can take..." Ryuuiji ground out, following after the other teen.

"Ah!" Washio-sensei cried, surprised by Kuma's outburst. "You're out of control!"

"Kumai, Shiraga!" Yamaguchi-sensei called, following after them. The two came to a stop simultaneously, and the woman came to a halt just a few feet away.

"What?" Kumai sighed, turning to face her.

Ryuuiji ran a hand through his hair with an irritated sigh. He didn't face the woman, but he tilted his head to the side to acknowledge her.
"Is it true?" She asked the larger teen. "You guys really didn't do anything?"

"How many times do I have to say it?" Ryuuiji bit out harshly, turning his head to glare at the woman.

"I said I didn't!" Kuma exclaimed.

"Where did you throw it?" Yamaguchi-sensei asked, turning her focus to Kuma.

"Huh?" The large teen blinked, not expecting the question.

Yamaguchi-sensei moved quickly, grabbing the collar of Kuma's jacket urgently. "Where did you throw the bag?"

"It doesn't matter where." Kuma shot back.

Beside him Ryuuiji clenched his fists, wanting to speak up but knowing that it wasn't the right moment.

"Where?" She snapped loudly, determined to get the answer.

"The Sakura River."

Yamaguchi-sensei let out a sigh, and then she released the blond. "The Sakura River, is it?"

"So what?" Kuma asked, not understanding what she was fussing about.

"Head Teacher." She called out, turning to address the man.

"Nani desu ka*?" He asked, his tone sounding disinterested.

"I believe Kumai and Shiraga." She said, casing both teens eyes to widen in surprise.

"Believe them? Based on what?" Was the man's haughty reply.

"Because it's a teacher's duty to believe the students."

Ryuuiji couldn't help but feel a blossom of hope in his chest at those uttered words. Was it possible that he had been lucky enough to come across a teacher dedicate to her students? The kind of teacher that he'd thought didn't exist. "Yamaguchi-sensei..."

"Unbelievable..." Fujiyama-sensei murmured quietly so that no one could hear her.

"That's ridiculous." Head Teacher retorted with a smile of utter disbelieve.

"Do whatever you want!" Kuma huffed, unable to stand being in the same room as the Head Teacher for much longer. He turned to leave.

Ryuuiji stayed put for a few seconds longer before he too left the office. "Kumai! Ryuuiji!" Yamaguchi-sensei called after them, following with hesitation.

As the two stormed out of the office they came upon Shin, who had been waiting nearby instead of being in class. "Kuma! Ryuu!" He called out. moving forward to catch up to both of them.

"Shin..." Kuma murmured, trailing of.

In response Shin smiled, though it was barely noticeable, and put a hand on his friends shoulder.

"Kumai! Shiraga!"

"Urusai! Call the cops or whatever!" Kuma snapped angrily as the woman came to a stop in front of the three.

"I didn't come here for this . I'm not a ing thief!" Ryuuiji snarled, his face scrunched up in anger.

"I said I believed you."

"Stop the nice act." Kuma told the woman, knowing that that's all it was.

"I believe you." Yamaguchi-sensei repeated.

"You pretend to be nice and play dirty tricks." Shin cut in, stepping in front of his companions. "You, grown ups." The two gazed at each other steadily. "We won't be fooled any more." He then turned around, placing both hands on Kuma's shoulder, motioning for Ryuuiji to follow. "Ikuzo, Kuma. Ryuu."

Yamaguchi-sensei watched them go, remembering the words that her grandfather had said to her just the night before. 'If you can't trust someone, you can't gain trust from that person in return.' She thought the words over, and then murmured to herself. "I believe you guys."

---

"You son of a !" Ryuuiji roared once the three of them hadentered the classroom, startling not only Kuma and Shin, but the entire class as well. He grabbed the lapels of the larger boys jacket, pushing forward so that Kuma was stumbling back, bulldozing through the desks. Everyone jumped out of the way, trying to avoid the new kid who resembled a charging bull. "You stole it, didn't you?"

"O-oi!" Minami called out after he'd recovered from the shock. Both he and Uchi moved forward. They struggled in their attempt to get the smaller teen off of their longtime friend and briefly, in the back of their minds they wondered how the lanky youth had managed to carry the larger teen from the front of the classroom to the back.

"ing bastard!" Ryuuiji continued, gripping tightly to the lapels. His visible grey orb was swirling with emotion, resembling the sky during a powerful hurricane. "Dragging me down with you, I'll kill you if I get expelled." He growled viciously, and then he let go of the other teen who was too ashamed to speak. "How pathetic are you? Stealing? From a school official at that?" He continued to rant as he moved towards his desk and gathered his things.

Shin observed the happenings with a blank face, though inside he was just as shocked as the next person. This was Ryuu. The Ryuu who he could remember always smiled, who never got angry at anyone. What had caused him to change so much over the time they hadn't seen eachother that he seemed like a vicious snarling animal when he did get angry?

"Then you can't even come up with a decent lie!" Ryuuiji went on, storming out of the back entrance.

There was silence all around the class before Noda decided to break it up. "What...the hell was that all about?"

---

Author's Note: Second chapter up, gonna go work on the third chapter right now~. Ja!

*Chotto matte- Means 'wait'.

*Ano- Means 'Um' or uh'.

*Nani- Means 'what?'.

*Nani desu ka- Means 'what is it?'.

Review please~.