Episode 7

I was so happy. The happiest I've ever been. I was with the guy of my dreams. He would walk me home every night, and we would talk on the phone and text way after mid-night. I would feel the real Yamato come out when we were together. He never turned his tough guy act on me. It was funny when we officially announced our relationship to the rest of the class. All the guys, even our crew, cheer almost as if they saw our relationship coming. They even put my desk to the right of Yamato's. Yankumi, on the other hand, was dazed. First she started wondering when the idea of me and Yamato being together began, then she started wondering how I could be with my destined guy and she couldn't. Since I was in a wonderful mood at the time, I let it slide.

Today, I was sitting in class talking to Yamato. He had his chair and whole body turned to me so he could only focus on me and not the snickering idiots behind him. We were talking about anything and everything, when Yankumi walked in carrying a poster. She placed it on the board. It was a poster for the Akadou festival. Wait...our school has a festival?

"Finally, the Akadou festival will be held this week," she announced then cheered, "yay! Yay," she waved at us to join her, "c'mon, you guys, too! Yay," we silently watched her until she calmed down, "class, what do you wanna do? You have to decide today. What does everyone want to do? Go ahead and speak up," everyone looked around bored by the idea, "at least be somewhat excited. Anything's fine. Try remembering things from your 1st and 2nd year."

"I don't remember anything," I whispered to Yamato, "do you?"

He just shrugged leaning back in his chair.

Honjo spoke up, "we have the school festival every year?"

"I don't remember."

"Yeah, I dunno."

Yankumi's spirit about the festival dropped just a bit, "you guys cut class and didn't participate in the festival?"

"No, no. I don't remember cutting...either," Kura laughed.

Yankumi gave a dramatic sigh, "the school festival is an impressive event that's representative of your memories of high school!"

Yamato stretched and looked at her, "we don't need memories," he glanced at me then whispered, "unless they really matter."

I dropped my head to keep him from seeing my blush. I could feel him smiling at me.

"What are you saying," Yankumi stepped forward, "don't you guys have at least one or two memories that you hold dear from this school?"

"Nothin' special," Ren said sounding bored by the subject.

"Nope."

"Not really."

The other agreed, "none."

"What about you Saitou," I lifted my head, "isn't your new relationship with Ogata a memory?"

Everyone turned to me.

I laughed, "that was because of the school?"

Everyone laughed shaking their heads saying that me and Yamato got together without the school's help.

"You guys are really pitiful."

"Huh?"

"But don't worry," Yankumi gave a dramatic pose, "you still have time until graduation. With this school festival, I shall show you how important it is to make memories with everyone."

"Sorry, but I don't wanna bother with that," Ichi said.

Kura nodded, "we're sorta busy."

"We're all guys, you know," Honjo said making me and Yamato send a glare his way, "I mean besides Sai-chan."

Kamiya snapped his fingers, "right! We want memories of falling in love like these two."

I blushed at the comment. Yamato started scratching the back of his head.

A guy agreed with Kamiya, "but there's no girls...," I glared at him, "no available girls around."

Yamato hit his desk getting the guys attention, "but aren't girls coming to the school festival?"

The guys quickly looked at him with interest.

Ren pointed at him, "that's right! That means girls will be coming as guests!"

Yankumi spoke up, "right! They'll be coming in mobs!"

Kamiya shot up, "I'll participate!"

The rest of the class rose from their seats, "me too!"

Yankumi smiled and turned to Yamato, "Ogata, nice follow-up!"

I laughed as he gave her a thumb's up.

"Alright, guys," the guys sat back down, "what do you want to do?"

"A maze," Ichi suggested.

"Troublesome..," Kamiya groaned.

"A planetarium," Kura yelled out.

"You can't hit on girls in the dark," Honjo argued.

"How 'bout a coffee shop," one of the others suggested.

"If it's just a coffee shop, you won't be able to capture girls' hearts," Yamato pointed out.

They groaned.

I laughed, "I'd listen to Yamato's advice guys because out of everyone in here, he is the only one with a girlfriend."

Yamato gave me a secret smile.

Ren stood up, "wait up! Wait up! We should tack something on that girls like to the coffee shop."

Yankumi smiled, "good idea!"

"Like...Comedy Cafe."

"Dance Cafe."

"Hunk Cafe."

Yankumi raised her hand, "fundoshi cafe!"

Everyone froze, "fundoshi?!"

"A man reminds you of a fundoshi, and a fundoshi reminds you of a man. It's a sure hit," no one said anything, "huh? What do you think, Saitou," I covered my face trying not to think of Yamato in a fundoshi, "not interested?"

"Who would be," Yamato asked.

I lifted my head, "how about you guys think of something appealing about yourselves?"

Everyone nodded and started thinking.

One guy raised his hand, "well, I'm good at fighting."

I rolled my eyes, "you can't sell that..."

"Being stupid," another guy yelled out.

I groaned, "that's not appealing..."

Kura jumped up, "how about our hotness factor?"

"Hotness," I looked at Yamato, "they have that factor?"

He laughed.

Ren shot up, "yeah! That's it!"

The guys agreed, "yeah!"

Kamiya stood, "alright! How does the name "Hottie Cafe" sound?"

"That's awesome," Kura said, "it totally fits us!"

The guys cheered in agreement, "totally!"

Yamato looked at Kamiya, "for real?"

"It's in bad taste to call yourselves that," Yankumi lectured, but they ignored her.

"Aren't you all excited," Honjo called out.

Ichi clapped his hands together, "alright! We've decided on "Hottie Cafe"!"

"Yeah!"

"Let's go," Ren started chanting, "hot ramen soup!"

"We're hot!"

"Hot ramen soup!"

"We're hot!"

"Hot ramen soup!"

"We're hot!"

I sank down in my chair in embarrassment as he continued chanting. That, ladies and gentlemen, is the boy I claim as my brother. I looked over at Yamato. He was laughing in amusment at the whole situation. Despite the loud chants, I could still hear Yankumi.

"You know...you aren't that "hot"."

After calming everyone down, the guys practiced for the festival. I, of course, sat out with Yamato, who claimed to be bored with the whole idea. It was funny to watch because their practice customer was Yankumi.

She opened the door.

The greeting group didn't even look at her and spoke in a bored tone, "welcome..."

Kamiya walked up to her, "for 1. Miss?"

She nodded, "hai."

"I see," he pointed to the space behind him, "well, please sit anywhere over there."

"Eh?"

Yankumi walked over to the two desks we put together to make a table and sat down. Honjo's group, the waiters, walked up to her.

"Hm...I'm sorta thirsty."

Honjo slammed the menu down, "what do you want?"

She looked at the menu, "let's see... Iced coffee please."

Honjo snatched the menu from her, "iced coffee please."

The group in charge of making the food and drinks responded boredly.

Yankumi clapped her hands, "stop. You're not in role at all. Do you really want to do this?"

"There's no ambiance," Kamiya whined.

"We can't really get into it with you as a customer," Honjo pointed out.

Yankumi glared at him, "geez, even when I'm going to the trouble of practicing with you..."

Everyone ignored her.

"And besides," Kamiya added, "Yamato won't let us practice with Sai-chan as a customer."

"Like I'm going to let you guys flirt with my girl," Yamato growled.

I chuckled at his posessiveness.

"Oh," Ren stood up and smiled, "I have a good idea."

Ren had Yankumi call down Aoi-sensei and Sakura-san so they could be the customers. Yankumi called them then sat down beside me and Yamato to see how the guys would treat them. The door opened.

The welcome group bowed respectfully, "welcome! How many guest will it be?"

"Two please."

The group went into host mode, "table for two please!"

The waiter bowed as the two made their way to the table, "welcome to the Hottie Cafe."

"Wow. It looks like they can do this," Yankumi said in surprise.

The guys pulled out their seats, "please. Have a seat."

The women sat down, "thank you."

Honjo knelt down, "pardon me," he slid the menu to them, "this is the menu."

They smiled, "all of you waiters are so nice."

"No...not really."

"What's this? They're totally different from earlier," Yankumi said getting irritated.

I felt my chair move away from Yankumi. I looked down to see Yamato's hand pulling my chair. I silently laughed.

"Move, move, move," Kura called getting the guys out of the way as he carried a tray to the table, "sorry to keep you waiting. This is 3-D's Hottie Parfait Special."

"But we haven't yet ordered."

"Don't worry. This is a free service offered only to beautiful customers."

"Thank you."

"Kawaii!"

Yankumi slammed her hand down and stood, "okay. Stop! We can't make money this way. Please start it from the top again."

"What?"

"What do you mean "what"? C'mon, from the top."

Yamato and I laughed as the guys reluctantly started from the beginning. After school, I walked up to Yamato.

"Ready to go."

He nodded. We were about to leave when Ren popped out of no where.

"Sorry Heza, but we need to borrow Yamato tonight," Ren said pulling on Yamato's jacket.

Yamato shook him off, "for what?"

"Um...," Ren looked at me then at Yamato, "it's a secret."

I raised my eyebrow, "what is this secret?"

Ren scratched the back of his head, "well, if I told you that, it wouldn't be a secret."

Yamato sighed, "whatever, just let me walk Heza home, okay?"

Ren smiled, "okay. You two love birds have fun, but Yamato meet us downtown when you're done."

When Ren left, Yamato grabbed my hand, "let's go."

I nodded. We walked laughing as we thought about Yankumi's face when the guys treated Aoi-sensei and Sakura-san better than her. When we got to my apartment, we turned to each other.

"Don't let them get you into trouble," I laughed.

He smiled, "don't worry. I'm sure it's something stupid anyway," he kissed me on the cheek, "good-night."

I kissed him on the cheek, "good-night. Have sweet dreams Yamato."

"Only if you do the same."

After a few more minutes of just say good-night, I walked into my apartment and went to bed.

---

The next day I woke up to a text from Honjo.

Sai-chan,
Do you know anything about a Goda who graduated a few years back?
Honjo.

I texted back.

A little but not much. Why?
Heza

I got up and started to get dressed when he texted back.

We got into some trouble with him and his gang after we left the Maid Cafe last night.
Honjo

I re-read the text. They took Yamato to a maid cafe then got him in trouble. I felt my anger reach it's limit. I stormed to the school and went to the classroom. Everyone was decorating for the festival, but when they saw me, they froze. I went right up to Ren, grabbed his ear and dragged him out into the hallway.

"Ow," he cried, "Heza, let go of my ear. What's wrong?"

I let him go and faced him. He saw my glare and whimpered backing up some.

"You took Yamato to a Maid Cafe," I yelled at him, "then you got him in trouble with Goda and his gang?"

"Um...who told you about that?"

"I doesn't matter who," I screamed making him jump back, "is it true?"

He quickly nodded knowing the trouble he would be in if he lied to me.

"Kazama, Ren!"

He screamed.

"What's going on out here," Yamato asked coming out in the hall.

Ren quickly ran behind him, "she's going to kill me."

Yamato looked at Ren then me. I guess he pieced it together of why I was so mad because he took my hands and told Ren to go back in the classroom. After Ren ran back inside, he started to talk.

"I'm sorry. I should've told you about our run-in with Goda. You don't have to kill Ren because we got into a little trouble."

"That's not why I'm going to kill him," he tilted his head, "I'm going to kill him and the others for taking you to a Maid Cafe," he started laughing, "don't you laugh Ogata, Yamato. I'm serious. I'll..."

He pulled me into a hug, "that's what you're upset about? You should know that there is no other girl I would look at besides you. I mean I didn't when we weren't going out. Why would I do it when we are going out?"

"You mean..."

"This whole time I have only had eyes for you, and I always will," he kissed me on the forehead, "let's go back in and help out."

I smiled, "okay."

When we walked in, Honjo ran up to me.

"Sai-chan, didn't you say you knew a little about Goda."

"Hai."

"Wait," Ren called out, "it was you. You told Heza about last night."

"I thought she might have information about Goda," Honjo said not piecing together the situation.

"It's alright Ren. Yamato calmed me down," Ren sighed in relief, "now as for Goda, I know only that he was the head of all the surrounding schools.

The guys froze

"Goda," Akatsuki-kun asked after Ichi explained what happened to the rest of the class.

"Yeah," Kamiya said.

"Isn't that bad," one of the guys asked Akatsuki-kun.

"Huh? You know of him," Kura asked.

"Of course I do," Akatsuki-kun said, "like Heza-chan said, he was in control of all the schools around here."

"He was called the Legendary Ring leader of Akadou," another guy said.

I started to feel uneasy about the situation. The guys messed with some one who had that kind of power? For all we knew, he could come back and get revenge on them. After thinking that, I really started to feel uneasy. We started to help decorate, but the guys began to worry.

"That guy was the legendary ring leader," Kura mumbled.

"I had no idea," Kamiya whispered.

"Do you think we went too far," Ichi asked them.

"It'll be alright, I think," Ren gave a fake smile trying to cheer them up.

"Yeah. Right...," Honjo turned to Yamato.

Yamato nodded, "yeah..."

I could hear it in his voice that he wasn't so such that it was alright. After a few minutes of a depressed silence, I stood up.

"Come on guys. Where's your festival spirit," they sighed, "you know being a girl, I'm finding this cafe's atmosphere not very likeable," their heads picked up a little, "and to think, I thought you guys would've gotten some girlfriends because of this cafe. What a shame."

Kamiya stood up, "we will get some girlfriends. Won't we guys?"

"Oh!"

I laughed, "alright then. Let's get decorating."

"Oh!"

After that, everyone started laughing forgetting all about Goda and his gang. I helped Yamato make fliers for the cafe while the others decorated.

Kura ran in, "everyone! We're done!"

We all ran out into the hall. It was amazing and colorful. The spray paint was covered by posters and pictures of the guys. I laughed at one of Yamato.

He playfully shoved me, "shut up."

"This is great," Yankumi said popping out of nowhere.

"Isn't it?"

"Trying something like this is pretty fun, huh," Ichi asked us.

Ren agreed, "yeah. It's unexpected."

We all agreed.

"Everyone," we looked at the end of the hallway to see two guys carrying boxes, "the Hottie Cafe aprons are done!"

We cheered and took them inside.

Honjo opened one of the boxes, "this is cool! It totally fits me, right?"

"I have a good feeling about this," Kamiya smiled.

Yamato grabbed one and gave it the seal of approval, "it's not bad."

As the guys grabbed their aprons, Yankumi came up beside me.

"Everyone looks so happy."

I nodded, "yeah, but now comes the hard part."

She tilted her head, "the hard part?"

I laughed, "getting girls to come."

After school, everyone got a stack of fliers and went to the mall. It was funny to watch. As I walked around to see how everyone was doing, I notice the only group getting results was my group. After a while, I started to get bored because since I'm a girl, I really couldn't help pass out filers.

"Hey guys, I'm going to go get something to drink," I announced, "do you guys want anything?"

They shook their heads. Yamato reached into his pocket and gave me some money.

"What kind of drink do you want," I asked.

He shook his head, "it's for you. Spend that, not your money."

I smiled, "thank you, Yamato."

As I walked away, I could hear the guys teasing him then five huge smacks. That'll teach them. I got my drink then started walking back. When I got back, there was another group I had never seen before in front of them. They were talking then suddenly the guy in purple grabbed Ren. I dropped my drink and ran up to them. I grabbed the guy's hand.

"Let my brother go or I'll break your hand."

He looked at me then let go of Ren. I dropped his hand. He looked at me closely.

He smirked, "so you're the girl who got into Bakadou."

"Bakadou?"

"I guess if a pretty little thing like you is in that school, it wouldn't be so bad," he reached for me, but Yamato pulled me behind him, "oh, so she's your girl?"

"What do you want from my students?"

We looked to see Yankumi standing behind the group.

"Who are you?"

"I'm their homeroom teacher," Yankumi answered.

"A teacher," they laughed.

"If you want something from them, ask me instead."

The guy glanced at us, "taking part in the school festival with a teacher? Akadou delinquents have gone downhill, haven't they? Even if you pass these out, no one will come to Bakadou festival."

With that said, the guy and his group walked away. Yankumi walked up to us still watching them.

"Who was that?"

"A former grad from Akadou, Goda-san," Ichi explained.

My eyes widened, "that was Goda?!"

Ren and Yamato turned to me nodding their heads.

"And are you crazy," Yamato asked, "now you're in the same situation as us with those guys."

I looked down, "gomen."

Ren sighed, "she didn't know Yamato."

"I know," he took a deep breath, "I just don't want her to get hurt."

I looked at him, "gomen."

After passing out the rest of the fliers, we went to our usual place. Yamato laid on the couch as the others sat down or played darts. I walked over to Yamato and sat down by his legs.

"I'm really sorry Yamato," I whispered so the others wouldn't hear, "you're right. I was crazy."

"No, I'm sorry," he sighed, "I should've never said that to you. I just don't..."

"Want to see me get hurt."

He blushed, "yeah," he grabbed my hand, "I care about you, Heza. More than I've ever cared about anyone."

I smiled and laid down beside him placing my head on his shoulder. He kissed my forehead. I closed my eyes to get some sleep when his phone started ringing. I groaned and got up.

He laughed, "gomen," he answered his phone, "Matsukata," he suddenly sat up, "Goda..."

This got everyone's attention. Yamato hung up his phone and ran out. We followed his to a parking garage. We saw Matsukata and his crew laying on the ground.

We ran to them, "Matsukata!"

I knelt down to check their wounds, "are you okay?"

"Sorry..."

"That was late," a voice laughed behind us.

We turned to see Goda and his crew smirking at us.

Yamato threw his bag down, "these guys aren't even involved!"

"You have nerve to drag these guys into it, bastards," Ren yelled.

"We've got to do something about you punks not taking us seriously," Goda stepped forward and punch Yamato.

Once the fighting started, I moved Matsukata and his crew away from everyone, but Goda's crew started to pull us back. I turned and punched the guy holding one of Matsukata's crew. He got up and punched me back. I tried to kick him away, but he grabbed my foot making me fall. Before he could kick or punch me, two police officers ran up.

"Hey! What are you doing?!"

I stood as Goda's crew ran away. Goda took one last look at me then ran off. The police shined their flashlights on us.

"You guys...are Akadou students, right?"

I groaned. This was just great. I knew we were going to hear about this in the morning.

---

I wanted to cry when I walked into the school. Everything, everybody's hard work was destroyed. I ran up behind Yankumi and the others. Our hall was hit the hardest.

"It's them," Yamato growled.

Yankumi turned to us, "them," she saw our faces, "why are you guys injured?"

We didn't say anything. We went to our room and explained it to her there.

"I see. So it was Goda."

Ren nodded, "yeah. Goda messed Matsukata's crew up."

Yankumi looked at them. They looked like mummies.

"They do awful things," one guy said.

"This is unforgivable."

"Why did they get everyone else involved," Kura asked, "it was a fight between us."

Kamiya shook his head, "the others are not involved."

Ichi sighed, "it's us that pissed them off."

Honjo kicked a chair, "damn it!"

"They'll pay for this," Ren yelled.

Him and the other five started to leave, but Yankumi stopped them.

"Where are you guys going?!"

"Isn't it obvious?!"

"What's the point of retaliating," I whispered.

"It's our fault that this happened," Yamato replied, "we can't do nothing about it!"

I felt tears in my eyes, "so will you guys just neglect the school festival then?"

"What's the point, Heza," Kura yelled.

"It's just a festival," Ichi added, "just like every year!"

"It's not "just" the school festival to me this year," I yelled back, "after who knows how long, everyone was laughing and having fun. We all came together to create something instead of destroying it. We were creating memories. Doesn't that mean anything to you guys?"

I wiped my tears and began pick the desks up.

Yankumi spoke up, "Saitou is right! You guys finally came together and did your best to get to this point. Don't just throw it away because of this!"

Yankumi walked up and started helping me. The guys just stood there watching us. Then the door opened and in walked Sawatari.

"Yamaguchi-sensei. The Superintendent is calling for you," he turned to the guys, "yesterday, it seems a big fight broke out. We were notified by the authorities."

Yankumi went to the office with Sawatari. I stopped straightening and just sat down. Yamato came and sat down beside me. No one said anything for a while. Honjo was the first person to speak.

"I wonder if...they'll cancel the school festival."

"If that happens, it means it's all our fault," Kamiya said sadly.

I stood up and started to walk out.

"Where are you going," Yamato asked.

"Out for a walk."

I walked into the hallway and stopped. I hear Yamato coming after me, but Ren stopped him.

"Let her go. When she says she's going for a walk, it means she wants to be alone."

I smiled and silently thanked Ren. I walked out of the school and down the street. I ended up at the park. I sat down under a tree when my phone started ringing. It was Yamato.

"Moshi moshi."

"Come back to the school."

"Is something wrong?"

"No. Nothing's wrong. They decide to continue the festival."

I smiled, "that's great."

"Yeah. Now hurry back."

"Okay. Bye-bye."

"Bye-bye."

I started to make my way back to school when someone grabbed me from behind and put a cloth over my nose and mouth. Everything went black. When I woke up, I was inside a warehouse. Why does it always have to be warehouses?

"Oh, you're awake."

I turned to see Goda and his crew smirking down at me. Goda nodded to one of them. The guy picked me off the ground and held my arms behind me. Goda looked to the right of me then to the left. He smiled then put his hand in my pocket pulling out my cellphone.

"Let's call the boyfriend, shall we," he laughed.

I struggled as he found Yamato's number and dialed it. He put it on speaker.

"Moshi, moshi. Heza?"

"Yamato, don't come. Don't...," the guy put his hand over my mouth.

"Heza?! Oi, Heza!"

Goda smirked at me and put the phone to his ear, "don't think it's all over."

He hung up and threw my phone across the warehouse. I bit my capture's hand and kicked him in the chin making him release me. I made a run for the door, but Goda grabbed me.

"Now, now. Hold on a second. I'm your sempai, and you should take care of your sempais, but here's your punishment for threatening to break my hand the other day," he laughed as I struggled harder.

He threw me to his crew who started punching and kicking me. I started to cry as their kicks and punches hit the same place over and over again. I couldn't help but take back what I said before. I wanted Yamato come. Come and save me.

Goda grabbed my hair, "now, let's have some real fun."

He began to rip my jacket off. I started to cry harder. Yamato, help me! He threw pieces of my shirt to his crew. They cheered. I crossed my arms, but Goda had a guy hold my hands above my head.

"Let's see what you're hiding down here."

He moved his hand down my stomach to my skirt. I closed my eyes. Suddenly his hands stopped.

"You know, I think I'll have my prize once I take care of that school. Make sure she doesn't leave," he laughed, "let's go."

I heard them walk away, but the man holding my arms stayed. Suddenly I heard running footsteps enter the warehouse. I opened my eyes to see Yamato and the others stop at the entrance.

"What's with you guys," Goda asked, "a raid with only 6 of you?"

"These guys are really stupid, aren't they," the guy holding me laughed.

His laugh brought Yamato's eyes to me. I could see him start shaking in anger. The others followed his gaze and saw me. They clinched their fists.

Goda smirked at the sight, "you coming all this way...saves us the trouble."

Yamato glared at Goda, "you're only pissed at us, right? Don't drag the others into this. Now let her go before I rip your arms off!"

Goda ignored his threat, "it doesn't matter what happens to the school, does it? It's pointless to go to that school."

"It's not pointless," Ren yelled, "school just started becoming interesting. Now let go of my sister!"

"I've always been embarrassed about attending Akadou," Ichi admitted, "but it's different now," he glared, "let Heza go!"

Kura stepped forward, "it's kinda fun going there, and you better let Heza go before we make you."

Kamiya agreed, "for me too, and we will protect Sai-chan!"

Honjo nodded, "I feel the same way, and you better let her go before Yamato and Ren kill you."

"We feel that we can find something worthwhile there," Yamato glanced at me then glared back at Goda, "so, we won't let you guys get in the way of that or touch her again!"

"What did you say, you bastard," Goda growled.

"They're saying that they won't let you go near Akadou, you sick bastard," I yelled spitting at him.

"What kind of BS is this, !"

As Goda started kicking at me, his crew ran towards the others. Goda only kicked me twice before Yamato punched him off of me. Ren took out the one holding me. He tried to get me to safety, but two others grabbed us. Goda punched Yamato to the ground.

"Gimme that," one of his guys gave him a pipe and held Yamato down.

I screamed, "Yamato!"

"Don't you dare touch my students!"

Everyone stopped and turned to the entrance. Thanks to the distraction, Ren and I broke free. I went over to Yamato. He pulled me closer to him trying to cover me.

Goda walked towards Yankumi, "what is this, a teacher?"

Yankumi got into her serious mode, "you've been...extremely affectionate with my students, haven't you?"

"Why would a teacher come here of all places?"

"I would go anywhere to protect my students."

Goda laughed, "the students are stupid. So is the teacher."

One of his guys went to grab Yankumi, "go home."

She twisted his arm and punched him to the ground. It doesn't matter how many time she does it, it's still amazing.

"Do you guys understand what they're protecting?"

"What nonsense are you saying?"

A couple more guys attacked her, but ended up on the floor beside their buddy, "what they're protecting is the high school memories of 29 people, and the person who showed them that they could create those memories at Akadou."

Yamato held me closer to him as more guys attacked Yankumi. Once they were out of her way, she continued her speech.

"The six of them marched here for them...for her," the rest, except Goda, attacked her. When she was done with them, she turned to Goda, "you guys have no right to call them stupid!"

As she stared Goda down, the rest of 3-D ran in. They looked at us then at Goda's crew.

"You bastards!"

"You've done more than enough!"

"Don't you guys dare get involved," Yankumi demanded making them stop.

Goda's crew got up and ran away leaving their leader to face Yankumi.

"Goda, why are you so unhappy," she asked.

"Why don't you shut up," he yelled attacking her.

Yankumi dodged his attack, "do you have some grudge against school?"

"Yeah, I do. After I got out of that useless school nothing has gone my way!"

He attacked Yankumi again but again, she dodged, "don't use that as an excuse to run away from reality."

"Shut up!"

He went to attack her again, but she hit him right in the stomack knocking the air right out of him. He hit the ground.

"Listen, Goda. School isn't just a place that you go to, to study what's written in your textbooks. You make friends, you laugh with them, you fight with them, and accomplish something together. There's dozens of lessons to be learned. But...if you don't look forward, nothing will ever begin," she looked at us, "these guys are just starting to learn what's important at Akadou now."

"Like memories," Yamato whispered in my ear.

Yankumi knelt down to get eye level with Goda, "you should also live your life looking forward."

Goda got up and simply walked out of the warehouse. 3-D ran to us.

Yankumi smiled, "geez, guys. Everyone of you always does things your way..."

"We couldn't keep still," one guy laughed.

"The Akadou festival would mean nothing if all of us weren't there," another explained.

I smiled, "sorry guys."

"What're you sayin'? C'mon, get up."

They pulled us to our feet. The guys quickly looked away when I stood. I looked down and remembered that I didn't have a shirt on. Yamato quickly took off his jacket and handed it to me without looking. I said thank you and put it on buttoning it almost to the top. I kept two buttons ed. Once everyone stopped blushing, Yankumi spoke.

"Alright, guys! Let's go back to school and enjoy the Akadou festival."

"Oh!"

When we got back, I tended to the guys wounds. Once I was done, we went and changed. I gave Yamato his jacket back.

"Thanks Yamato."

He grabbed my hand and led me to a chair in a corner of the room.

"Sit."

I sat down as he walked off and got the first-aid kit. He knelt down and started to apply the medicine.
He placed a bandaid on my neck. I hissed.

"Gomen."

I laughed, "that seems to be the main thing we say to each other now."

"Gomen," we laughed.

He sighed, "are you alright? He didn't...um.."

"No, you guys got there before he could do anything else."

"Good," his face became serious, "I'm not letting you out of my sight ever again."

"Yamato..."

"I mean it. I'm going to walk you to and from school. When you go on walks, I'll come with you. I'll stay at a distance if you want to be alone, but have you in my line of sight the whole time."

"You sound like a staker."

"I'm serious."

"I know, but," I took his hands in mine, "Yamato, you can't let what happened today effect you like this."

"But you could've been..."

"But I wasn't and I'm okay," I kissed him on the forehead, "I promise. Now go, customers should be arriving soon."

He smiled, "okay," he started to walked away but then turned to me, "I'm still walking you home, right?"

"Of course."

Once he was with the others, I took a deep breath. I was fine. I was okay. I stood up and got in my place to greet customers. It had already been 20 minutes and not one customer came in. I started to think no one was coming until I heard voices coming down the hall. When the door opened, we bowed.

"Welcome."

We looked up, and the guys faces dropped. Instead of high school girls, it was a bunch of old women and young kids. Since none of the guys stepped forward, I went up to them.

"How many, ma'am," I asked the closest woman to me.

She smiled, "two. It's just me and my son."

I knelt down and smiled at the boy, "what's your name?"

"Yuta. Can I choose where to sit?"

"Go right ahead."

He ran off, "yeah."

As I followed the boy with his mother, I sent the guys a look that said get-your-asses-in-gear-or-you-will-hear-it-later. The guys quickly started asking the women how many seat and taking their orders. After a while, I had to get away and stepped out into the hall. I opened the door and saw Yamato sitting in the hall.

I closed the door, "looks like we had the same idea."

He smiled, "looks that way."

We just smiled at each other in silence until Yankumi walked up to us.

"Hey, how's it going? Any customers?"

Yamato pointed to the door, "look for yourself."

I opened the door, and her face was priceless. She watched how the guys were playing with the kids, and how they were treating the customers.

She smiled, "Oh!"

Our group came over to us.

"No female high school students and college students came," Honjo huffed.

Kura whined, "even though they said they would!"

Ichi cried on Kamiya's shoulder, "girls are liars...except you, Heza."

I laughed, "but this will become a fond memory!"

Yankumi nodded.

Yamato smiled, "yeah, you're right."

"I guess it's okay," Ren said.

Yankumi started to laugh, but stop when she saw a certain doctor sitting at one of the tables.

She walked up to him, "Natsume-sensei! You came!"

I watched as he stood to greet her.

"It's a big success, huh?"

"Yeah. What would you like to order?"

He looked at the menu, "how about some iced coffee?"

"Sure," she did a pose, "no problem!"

When she turned to get Natsume's order, she bumped into Ren who was carrying a strawberry cake. The cake went fly off the pan towards us. It was like the tennis ball all over again. We ducked and it hit the wall. We all slowly turned to Yankumi.

She gave a slight smile, "oops..."