Episode One
Gokusen 3 Remake
Episode One
"Ohayou," I skipped up to my friends: Ren, Kura, and Ichi, "ready to go. We're already late."
They nodded. We started walking to school.
"Do you think that teacher is going to be there again today," I asked Ren as we walked through the front gate.
Yesterday was our first day of our senior year and the school didn't waste any time pissing us off. They sent the ugliest teacher to our classroom to be our homeroom teacher. What really pissed me off was the fact that he thought he could 'control' us with some pretty words.
"No way," Kura exclaimed, "we totally scared him off, right?"
"Right," Ichi agreed, "I hope we get a new teacher with a body like Nurse Sakura-san."
Ren and Kura nodded in agreement. I rolled my eyes.
"Is that the only thing you boys think about," I huffed.
"Like you said Heza, we're boys and boys like b...."
"Okay I get it," I held my hands up cutting off Ren, "you're a bunch of erts. I get it."
"OI!!"
They began to protest, but I started running to our class laughing. They chased me until we got to the door. Ren walked right in swinging his bag. The boys in the class began make path for us as we walked to our desks in the back. We got this special treatment only because of Ren. In both our freshmen and sophmore year, he was the head of our class.
We sat down. The boys immediately began to glare across the room. I turned in my seat to see Ogata, Yamato and his gang, Honjo, Kengo and Kamiya,
Shunsuke, glaring back. Apparently, Ogata was the head of his respected classes during the last two years like Ren. Sooner or later, they were going to
fight to see who would be the head of Akadou, and I'm betting on sooner than later.
"Are you four late?"
I looked up to see a woman in a red jersey standing at our desks. She looked just plain dorky. She wore thin, round glasses and had her hair in low pigtails.
Ren glanced at her then turned to the boy behind her.
"Akatsuki-kun," the boy turned and saluted Ren, "who's this?"
"The new homeroom teacher," he stated.
'At least it's not the ugly guy again,' I thought as she introduced herself.
"My name is Yamaguchi, Kumiko. Nickname: Yankumi," she smiled, "nice to meet you."
The boys turned and began to talk about the other female teachers' bodies ignoring the dorky one in front of us. Kura took out his cards and was about to deal them when she took them stating that cards were for break. Kura stood and went to punch her, but she ducked in time sending him flying over her. She stood back up holding a coin.
"I found a 100 yen," she said like nothing happened.
Kura stood back up and went to grab her, but she grabbed his hand. He tried to brake free, but her grip was strong. She finally laid his hand in her's. She placed the yen in his hand before going back to the front. Being the short-tempered person that he was, Kura kicked over a deck only to hurt himself.
"My achilles," he moaned.
"How lame," a voice laughed.
"Who said that," Kura yelled as Ichi jumped up.
Honjo did a tiny wave. Kura and Ichi yelled at him causing him and Kamiya to stand. The class started cheering and chanting as the four got in each other's faces. I looked at Ren to tell him to stop them, but he was too busy glaring at Ogata, who was glaring right back. I groaned hitting my head on my desk. This was going to be a long year.
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After Yamaguchi left, we decided to skip. We went to the arcade to play some pool. Kura and Ren were the first to play. We laughed when Kura missed his target sending the white ball in the hole.
"Hey Ren, are you really planning on going one on one with Yamato," Ichi asked.
Ren smiled, "yeah. I definitely won't lose to him."
I leaned again one of the other pool tables, "does being head of the school really mean that much to you?"
The three raised their eyebrows at me.
I continued, "I mean can't we all just get along? This is our senior year."
"Are you feeling okay, Heza," Ren asked leaning beside me.
Kura placed his hand on my forehead, "she's not running a fever."
I shoved his hand away, "whatever. I'm going home."
I got off the pool table and grabbed my bag. I started walking away when Ren pulled my arm stopping me.
"Are you okay," he asked.
I looked at him, "I'm fine. I just want to go home right now."
He let go of my arm, "well I'll walk you."
"No, that's okay, " I started walking away again then turned and waved to them, "ja ne."
They waved back, "ja ne, Heza."
I walked out of the aracde and went home. I was almost to my apartment when I heard a young voice cry out for help. Sighing I followed the voice until I
reached an abandoned alley. I glanced around the corner to see a little girl being thrown to the ground by an older man. I balled my fist as he kicked her in the stomach. I got out my cellphone and dialed the police. When I was done telling them the situation and the directions to the alley's location, I walked up to the man. He had his back to me so I kick him in the sending him flying over the girl like Kura flew over Yamaguchi earlier today. The man groaned. He stood and looked at me.
"You ," he snarled.
He raised his fist to punch me, but a hand shot out and grabbed it. My eyes widened at the person.
"Who do you think you are hitting on girls? Are you gay," he growled.
"Ogata," I whispered.
He looked at me, "get her and get out of here."
"But..."
"GO!!"
Without hesitation, I picked up the girl and ran out of the alley. I heard sirens and ran in their direction. The cop car stopped in front of me. The cop got out.
He looked at the girl in my arms.
"What happened?"
I explain to him what happened before handing him the girl and running back to the alley. When I got there, Ogata was gone, and the man was laying on the
ground beaten. I ran to the other end of the alley which lead to the Shirokin Tunnel. I looked around to see if I could spot Ogata, but he was long gone. I sighed and walked on home.
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"Are you alright, Heza," Ichi asked as we waited for Ren with Kura.
I nodded my head, "I'm fine. Why?"
He shrugged, "you just seem out of it. Did something happen yesterday?"
"I bet she met up with some guy," Kura poked my nose playfully, "ne?"
I felt my face turn red, "no!"
They started to laugh when Ren decided to join us. He looked pissed.
"What's going on," he pointed to me, "why is Heza blushing?"
Ichi and Kura started laughing harder until they saw the stern look on Ren's face, "it's nothing."
"Whatever. Let's go."
We got to the classroom and Ren walked right up to Ogata.
"Let's sort out once and for all who heads Akadou," Ren stated.
Ogata let out a laugh as he stood, "you want a one on one with me?"
Ren smirked, "yeah."
Ogata's face went stern and serious, "sounds good to me. Let's do it."
Ren's face mirrored Ogata's, "after school, come to Shirokin park."
As the two glared at each other, Ichi and Honjo started glaring at each other followed by Kura and Kamiya. I rolled my eyes at them as the door slid open. Yamaguchi walked inside.
"Ohayou. Everyone take your seats."
The six boys ignored her and kept glaring at each other. She spoke louder thinking they didn't hear her. She stepped towards us as the door slid open again
and in walked Sawatari and Yajima.
"Kazama come with us," Sawatari ordered.
Ren turned his glared to Sawatari, "huh?"
Yamaguchi stepped forward, "what's going on?"
"The police want to question Kazama about the serial muggings," Yajima explained.
Ren rolled his eyes before following them out of the classroom with Yamaguchi. I sighed leaning against a desk. It became silent between our gang and
Ogata's as the rest of the class continued with their conversations. After a few minutes, I broke the silence.
"Why do they always accuse us first," I crossed my arms, "Ren didn't do anything."
Ogata huffed, "don't be so sure."
I turned to him, "nani?"
Before he could reply, the door slammed open and Ren stormed in with Yamaguchi right on his tail.
"Kazama don't leave," she said trying to calm him down, "I'll talk to the Director. Don't leave."
"I don't believe in what a teacher says," Ren growled before grabbing his bag and walking out.
Yamaguchi was about to go after him, but Ichi stopped her.
"Hey! Why don't you leave him alone," she turned to him, "what can a teacher do?"
She looked around the room, "why? Why can you all still be smiling," the class went silent and she continued, "a comrade who didn't do anything wrong was just suspended!"
"Comrade," Ogata smirked, "we happen to be in the same class. That's all."
The class nodded in agreement.
"Even so, don't you feel anything," she argued, "don't you think anything of it?"
"Not really," Kamiya replied.
"It happens a lot," Honjo stated.
The class laughed and nodded their heads.
Yamaguchi pointed to the door where Ren exited, "that guy was falsely accused and then tossed out! Don't you think it's wrong?!"
"Man she's fired up," one of guys said making the class laugh.
Despite the class' laughter, she tried to make her point, "why not rebel at a time like this!"
"Quit with the sermon already," Kura shouted.
Ichi slammed his hands down, "whatever we say won't change anything."
"It's not like you damn teachers ever listen to what we say anyway," Kura stated.
Yamaguchi walked up to him, "is that why you're telling me to drop it?"
"Oh, by the way," we turned our attention to Ogata as he stood, "he was near the Shirokin Tunnel at the time of the incident. I saw him with my own eyes."
'So that's what he meant before,' I thought, 'and the alley did lead to the tunnel, but that means....'
"It can't be," I said.
"You calling me a liar," he glared.
I avoided his eyes.
"Really," Yamaguchi spoke up.
"Yeah," he snapped before grabbing his bag and leaving.
I felt tears coming to my eyes. Ren was going to get expelled and leave me. He was going to make me graduate on my own and after we promised to
graduate together.
Flashback
We stood at the edge of Sakura River. I was trying to skip rocks but failing miserably. Ren laughed every time my rock made a big splash.
"Don't laugh," I yelled at him, "it's not funny!"
He laughed louder, "yes it is."
I glared at him. I walked behind him and pushed him in the river. Sensing what I was going to do, he turned and pulled me in with him. I let out a squeal. He splashed me causing a splash was to start. Of course, Ren won. We laid in the grass catching our breath.
"Hey Ren."
"Nani?"
"Promise me that we'll graduate together."
"What are you talking about," he sat up, "of course we're going to graduate together."
"No I mean you can't get yourself expelled," I sat up and looked him in the eyes, "promise me."
He nodded, "alright, I promise."
I stuck out my pinkie. He wrapped his pinkie around mine.
"I promise, Heza. We will graduate together."
End of Flashback
Thinking back to that day, I knew it wasn't true. Ren never broke a pinkie promise. Never. Right then and there I made a decision, I was going to prove Ren was innocent. What I didn't know was someone else also made that vow.
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The next day was kind of weird. I walked in the classroom to see everyone crowded at the front watching Yamaguchi, who was handing out a piece of paper to them. I made my way to Ichi and Kura.
"What's going on," I whispered.
Ichi gave me the paper. It read, 'Looking for a witness.' There was a drawn picture of a man in a hoodie and beside that was two other pictures of a skull necklace and a tribal tattoo.
"I'd like everyone to help prove Kazama's innocence," I looked up at Yamaguchi.
Honjo laughed, "This....isn't he lying?"
"He's not lying," she said.
"Why do you believe that," Kamiya raised his voice.
"I can tell from looking at his eyes," she said plainly.
Kamiya stepped forward and got in her face, "I smell an idiot."
The class laughed as he made his way back to his spot.
"Lend me your hand. Please," she bowed.
Everyone, except me, Ichi, Kura and surprisingly Ogata, threw the paper up in the air and left. I stood there stunned. She, a teacher, willingly bowed for Ren. She didn't even know him, yet she bowed and pleaded for his sake. She slowly raised her head and began to pick up the papers off the ground. Swallowing my pride as a teacher hater, I leaned down and helped her.
She looked at me and smiled, "arigato."
I handed her the papers as we stood, "I'm not doing this to help you. I'm doing this for Ren."
Her smile widened, "you like Ren, don't you?"
I huffed, "before you get the wrong idea, I'll have you know that Ren is like, no is my older brother, and I'll do what it take so we can graduate together like we promised."
"Yoshi," she handed me half of the paper, "you can take the area around the Shirokin Tunnel and I'll take downtown. That okay with you?"
I nodded, "hai."
For the next couple of days, Yamaguchi and I passed out papers and asked people to help find the real culprit. We would start as soon as school ended
and until midnight and on weekends. One day after school, we decided to work one area, and she started asking me questions.
"So Saitou, how did you end up at an all-boy school," she asked as she tired to hand a paper to a woman but was ignored.
"No other school would take me," I handed a paper to an older man who seemed to be more interested in my legs, "keep walkin' !"
At the tone of my voice, the man quickly walked away.
Yamaguchi chuckled slightly, "well I see why you were placed in 3-D."
"No. The reason for that is I punch a teacher," she gasped, "he placed his hands on Ren violently."
"Oh, I see," she smiled, "so you were just protecting your friends."
"Yeah."
She was about to say something when her phone rang. Her eyes went big suddenly, and I immediately knew there was trouble. She hung up her phone
and took off. I followed her. We stopped in front of the police station. A taxi pulled up and Sawatari got out followed by Ren.
"Kazama."
"Ren."
Ren looked at me then dropped his gaze. Sawatari grabbed his arm and began pulling him towards the station. He kept his gaze forward, but started talking to Yamaguchi.
"You knew didn't you, Yamaguchi-sensei. That Kazama was near the crime scene," Yamaguchi tried to think of a reply, "the police heard it from Ogata,
Yamato."
My eyes widened. Ogata told the police and crushed our chances of proving Ren's innocence. The police came and took Ren away. I felt the tears coming,
but i refused to let them drop.
"Ogata."
I turned to where Yamaguchi was looking to see Ogata watching us. He dropped his gaze and began to walk away. I walked after him. Sensing me following him, Ogata walked faster.
"How could you," I shouted after him, "you bastard! Now, thanks to you, they think Ren is guilty. I thought you were an okay guy because you saved that little girl, but no! You're just a selfish bastard! Ren is innocent, but you threw him under the bus. I'm talking to you," he stopped walking and I stopped, "you may not believe in Ren, but I do and so does Yamaguchi, and we will do anything to prove his innocence! What happened, Ogata? What happened to the guy who saved that little girl?!"
I turned and walked away. I whipped my tears away. I heard fast footsteps behind me. I turned to see Ogata running towards me. He ran past me.
"Matte," I yelled running after him.
He slowed just a little, "what? I thought you wanted to find the real culprit."
I smiled. We ran to the downtown area and began our search. We went to a club and looked around. I went up to the bartender. He said he doesn't have a clue about the culprit. I thanked him. I turned to leave when Ogata came up beside me. He glanced over to his right. I followed his gaze to see an older man with dark hair. He reached across the bar to reveal a tribal tattoo. I looked at the paper. It was a match. The man left the club. We followed.
"You should get out of here," Ogata whispered to me as we followed him down the street.
"I can handle myself," I whispered back, "I don't see why you care."
He rolled his eyes, "do what you want."
The man turn down an alley. We quickly followed not wanting to loose him, but when we turned the corner, he was gone. We ran down the alley to see if we could catch up to him.
"So you two are ones following me."
We turned to see the man behind us. I heard footsteps behind us. I turned to see two guys walking towards us. I turned back around to see two other guys behind the dark-haired man.
"You're the one responsible for the serial muggings, aren't you," Ogata asked.
The man stepped forwards, "what if I am?"
We were grabbed from behind and dragged to a warehouse. A bunch of other guys were already there. They closed and locked the warehouse door and threw Ogata to the other guys. The men began to punch and throw him around. I struggled against the man holding me. He laughed.
"Seems like this girl wants to join her boyfriend, Hiro," the dark-haired man turned to us, "what should we do?"
Hiro smirked, "toss in with him."
The man threw me in the crowd. They began to punch and toss me about like Ogata. I tried to find my footing, but it was impossible. They finally threw me to the ground by Ogata.
Hiro pulled Ogata's hair so he would look at him, "have you and your girlfriend learned your lesson yet?"
"Because of you, someone else has been falsely accused," Ogata groaned.
"So what," Hiro snapped.
"I'm going to...," Ogata grabbed Hiro's jacket, "take you to the cops."
Hiro threw Ogata off making Ogata roll on the ground.
"Don't with me," Hiro yelled kicking Ogata in the stomach earning a cheer from his pals.
I struggled to my feet, "stop it already!"
The men looked at me. Hiro laughed and looked at Ogata.
"Looks like your girlfriend still has some fight in her," Hiro smirked, "watch as I beat it out of her."
Ogata coughed, "stay away from her. Your fight is with me, you bastard."
Hiro kicked Ogata in the side making me snap. I jumped on Hiro's back.
"Don't touch my nakama!"
Not getting a good grip on Hiro, he easily threw me to the ground. He began to kick me +until a loud bang shook the warehouse. Thanks to the distraction, I
crawled over to Ogata, who was barely conscious. Suddenly the warehouse door blew open. I quickly covered Ogata to protect him from the debris that came at us. I looked up to see Yamaguchi standing in the doorway. She looked at us then at Hiro.
"So many adults ganging up to beat up two high schoolers, and one of them is a girl," she pulled out her pigtails, "you sure are pathetic."
"Who the hell are you," Hiro asked.
"Me," she asked taking off her glasses, "I'm their homeroom teacher."
I looked down at Ogata to see he was unconscious then back up at Yamaguchi and Hiro's gang.
"Homeroom teacher," they laughed.
Yamaguchi did a slight head toss, "I'd like you to give back my precious students."
Hiro narrowed his eyes, "don't give me that "precious student" crap. Don't make me laugh."
"School is meaningless," one of his pals added, "they don't have much of a future after high school, anyway. I mean, these guys are no different from rejects
like us, anyway."
"Don't think of them as one of you," Yamaguchi yelled, "In order to take responsibility for his actions and for the sake of her friend, they came here alone.
Even though they were beaten this badly, they tried to save a comrade! That's pretty respectable!"
The men approached her, "don't look down on us!"
I watched in amazement as she dodged, kicked and punched her way threw the men to Hiro. Hiro picked up a pipe and swung it at her. She easily dodged
every swing. She then hit Hiro right in the gut making him drop to the ground unconscious. I smiled at her as she walked to us putting her glasses back on
her face.
"The police are on their way. Let's get out of here," she said before slinging one of Ogata's arms over her shoulder.
I weakly got up and slinged Ogata's other arm over my shoulder. We walked out of the warehouse. We kept walking until we came to a sakura tree on a hill.
We placed Ogata at the base of the tree so his head could rest on a root. I sat between him and Yamaguchi.
I turned to her, "where did you learn to fight like that?"
"Could we keep today a secret," she asked putting her hair back in her pigtails, "I could get in trouble with the school for fighting."
I shrugged, "whatever. It has nothing to do with me, anyway."
She smiled. She was about to say something, but a groan cut her off. We looked at Ogata. He opened his eyes.
I sighed in relief, "oh good, you're awake."
"What happened to those guys," he asked sitting up.
Yamaguchi raised an eyebrow, "those guys?"
"The culprit," he said a little irritated.
"When I got there, they had already been apprehended," she lied.
"Huh? But...," Ogata looked at the ground like he was remembering something then back at Yamaguchi.
She smiled, "you two...going overboard. Thank you though, for finding the culprit."
He looked away from her, "it has nothing to do with you."
"I was happy."
He looked back at her, "huh?"
"You believed Kazama, didn't you," she asked.
"I just paid for what I had done," he said trying to act cool.
"I see," she smiled not believing him.
He started to stand.
Yamaguchi quickly stood to help him, "can you make it home by yourself?"
He shoved her away, "I'm not a kid."
She sighed, "even so.... But you are one of my precious students. You, Kazama and Saitou."
He glanced at me as I stood then met Yamaguchi's eyes, "don't make me laugh."
He grabbed his bag then made his way down the hill. I followed him after saying bye to Yamaguchi.
"Arigato," he stopped and turned to me, "for helping Ren."
"Whatever," he mumbled before walking off.
I smiled and then went home.
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I look around confused. Before class even started, everyone was called down to the gym. Sawatari stood on stage.
"I have an announcement," he announced in the mic, "you might already know this... A student from 3-D came under suspicion for the serial muggings.
Thankfully, the real culprit has been captured, but even being under suspicion is a shameful thing!"
Before anyone could blink, the boys of 3-D started shouting. They made their way up to the stage only to be pushed back by the male teachers. The teachers
tried to calm them down.
"How can we calm down after having our comrade falsely accused?!"
That pissed me off. They didn't care before, but now that Ren was proven innocent, they want to defend him. I was about to yell at them when Yamaguchi's
voice cut through the chaos.
"Don't make me laugh!"
We all turned to the entrance to see Yamaguchi. 3-D walked up to her glaring.
"Can you guys really talk that big? What did you do when Kazama was suspended? Was there a single one of you who believed him besides Saitou," the
boys' dropped their gaze in guilty especially Ichi and Kura, "was there anyone who tried to defend him saying he wasn't the culprit? Don't say he's your
comrade when it's convenient," she shouted getting her point across.
She walked and got up on stage, "You guys. Clear your ears and listen carefully. You don't call yourselves comrades, if you're just hanging together to have
fun. Real comrades take each other head-on, have complete faith in one another, and develop a lifelong relationship. Don't live a meaningless life, not
knowing that much! You still have a lot of time until you graduate. It's not too late. Make some real invaluable comrades. I'll be with you guys until the very
end. Don't run away!"
I smiled, 'this is going to be one interesting year."
I looked at the entrance again to see Ren and Ogata. I ran to Ren throwing my arms around him. He laughed pulling away then frowned when he saw my
face.
"Who gave you these bruises," he demanded.
"The culprit, but don't worry. Ogata got him for me," I said turning to Ogata.
Ren mumbled a thanks. Ogata shrugged it off and walked away. I rolled my eyes at both of them.
'Boys.'
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